Harris Savides - Watch out - You'll get a hug!

I first became aware of Harris Savides in the June 2007 edition of Total Film. He was the person Jake wanted to hug on the set of Zodiac - until 'Watch out, you'll get a hug' Fincher put a stop to it.



So who is this Harris Savides, this guy that, for some unfathomable reason, David Fincher wanted to protect from the electricity and danger of the Gyllenhaal Hug? Read on, and Beware of Spoilers.

Harris Savides, ASC, is the cinematographer of Zodiac and, in the April 2007 edition of American Cinematographer, he discusses in detail the difficulty and challenges involved in capturing David Fincher's vision for the big screen. The aim was to be impassive - neither Fincher nor Savides wanted to present Zodiac through the eyes of the killer; instead, they wanted the 'Dragnet style - Just the facts, ma'am.'

Zodiac was one of the first Hollywood movies shot with the 'uncompressed-HD-to-drive digital-acquisition system'. I know, I don't know what that is either, but it meant that all of the action was viewed on set through a 32-inch LCD HD monitor and any takes that didn't make the mustard were instantly wiped. Everything is in real time.

In this article, Savides discusses the novelty of working with 'the Viper' video camera, and its limitations - the thing was huge and unwieldy and too new, and too electrical. The whole crew had to deal with the repetitive irritation of having to reboot the thing when faced with any kind of problem. The challenges of making this futuristic movie weapon reproduce the 'reality' of the 1960s and 1970s were also awkward.

The play of light and dark, sun and shadow, are apparent to any movie novice when watching this clever film. Mood, fear, danger, suspicion and confusion are everything.

What's also interesting is that Savides is 'no fan of screen violence' and he frequently found himself wondering what he was doing on set at all. 'But this film isn't about titillation or exploitation: it's trying to represent a story in a realistic way, and the story involves murder.' In the end 'you just have to hope the audience is involved in the characters and the story and willing to go down the rabbit hole with you.'



Do yourself a favour and seek out Total Film UK and American Cinematographer US while you can.

Zodiac is, at last, released in UK cinemas on 18 May. We will, no doubt, hear more in the meantime.

Here are some thumbnails - click 'em and they'll be bigger (when the hoster decides to cooperate of course)...