Telling the Story - The Art and Technique of Digital Color Correction - page 325

much from scene to scene to scene, so it's kind of meant to be oppressive.
'Cause the world there was oppressive and it never really changes. So,
there isn't like one way to approach a film but mental games that you can
use to spark ideas, basically. Sometimes I play a game of opposites, you
know. I think of all the opposite ideas for a scene: wide angle or telephoto,
blue versus red, fast movement versus slow movement, static shots versus
moving shots, lots of cuts versus very few cuts. And I break down a scene
and try to think which one of those ideas is most appropriate,” Mullen
concludes.
David Mullen
David Mullen has worked as a cinematographer on numerous feature films and televi-
sion episodes, beginning in the early 1990s. His feature work includes Twin Falls Idaho,
The Hypnotist, Northfork, D.E.B.S., Shadowboxer, Akeelah and the Bee, The Astronaut
Farmer, and Solstice.
He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Cinematography twice
for Twin Falls Idaho (2000) and Northfork (2004). He was also nominated for a Chlotrudis
Award Best Cinematography for Northfork.
He became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers in 2004. In
2007, he was invited to join AMPAS.
I asked Bob Festa if he felt that there are visual clues to story that the
audience expects. “I think so. I think generally if you look at American
cinema, Americans are trained on some really stupid levels. They see a
dark blue picture and they know that's evening even though it's day-for-
night. I think those types of associations are pretty popular. But I work
in a primarily commercial and music video environment, so I'm pretty
much product driven. So if you look at the types of things I do that tell
the story, they are generally based around selling the product. The things
that I might do and I might be influenced by are things that heighten or
bring to the surface the product focus. I might use traditional dodging
and burning techniques to bring the product up and not really be so con-
cerned about the general tone because I'm here to sell things.”
I argue that commercials need their stories told even faster than
films and that if the story of the commercial is “Your life sucks until
you use our product,” should one start the spot cool and desaturated
until the product arrives, then have the images go warmer and more
pleasing once the product “saves the day”? “I think in my world where
I've got 30 seconds to tell a story, that's a little too vague,” states Festa.
“I think I practice it on a small scale, but 9 times out of 10 I'm going