Alwin Kuchler, BSC on the Set of Sunshine

Ultra Prime 8R

In January of 2006 the Ultra Prime 8R began shipping, with reactions so far proving very positive. Cinematographers have exploited the 8R's unique look for commercials, feature films and television programming. The first to use the 8R on a feature film was Alwin Kuchler, BSC (PROOF, CODE 46, THE CLAIM), lensing the science fiction film SUNSHINE for Director Danny Boyle (28 DAYS LATER, A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, TRAINSPOTTING).

SUNSHINE was written by Alex Garland, who also wrote THE BEACH and 28 DAYS LATER for Boyle. In the film, set fifty years in the future, the earth is in danger because the sun is dying. A team of astronauts is sent to revive the sun with a massive fission bomb, but they fail under mysterious circumstances. Seven years later, a second team is sent on the same mission, but with the added complication of having to ascertain what happened to their predecessors.

SUNSHINE was shot on ARRICAM, 765, 435 and 235 cameras supplied by ARRI Media in London.

Mark Hope-Jones: How did you first hear of the new 8R lens?

Alwin Kuchler: Andy Subratie of ARRI Media called me and suggested I take a look at it.

MHJ: So what made you think it might be useful for Sunshine, and how did you go about testing the lens?

AK: Well we had limited space – we had the classic scenario where you have to shoot sets which after post production need to look far bigger than they actually were, so we had very geometrical sets which were designed to be scaled up afterwards with the help of CGI. It was the lack of distortion in the lens that got us interested. We did some tests on a studio floor – we had the designer there already so we had parts of the sets on the floor, and yeah, it was really impressive. It really did what it was supposed to do – there was no distortion. It keeps all the lines in the frame really straight and therefore creates the sense of a bigger space without giving away the fact that you’re using an extremely wide angle lens.

MHJ: Was the 8R used for shots which would otherwise have been done with a fisheye or regular wide angle lens?

AK: Well, Danny Boyle is a big fan of the 10 mm lens, so he likes wide lenses anyway, more than lots of other Directors. So in the end we used both of them.

MHJ: Can you give an example of the kind of shots you were using the 8R for?

AK: We had one set, which was meant to be the top of a bomb. The film tells the story of a mission to the sun, which is dying, and the idea is to land a fission bomb on the sun to reignite it. The bomb is a cube, each side of which is supposed to be the size of twenty football fields, but we didn’t have the space of even one football field. We had a metallic surface of perhaps 40 feet by 60 feet that we wanted to make look as big as possible, and this is where we used the 8 mm lens. The lack of distortion allowed this image to be scaled up with CGI, so that the section we filmed could be complemented by many other sections.

MHJ: Were you using the 8R at similar T-stops to the other lenses you had on set?

AK: I would have been using it at a stop of around T2.8 and a half to T4, so yes – the same as the others. It’s all sharp at any stop really, and it is just when things get extremely close to the lens that focus becomes an issue. We also used the 8R for some running shots down corridors, where the actors got quite close to the lens.

MHJ: What was your evaluation of the optical performance of the lens?

AK: It was extremely good, extremely sharp from the centre to the edges of the frame, so inter-cutting with images shot on other lenses wasn’t an issue. Again, it was this ability to make a space feel so much bigger without introducing distortion that interested us. Because normally what happens when you shoot on wide angle lenses is the audience immediately spots that the lens is distorting their sense of space.

MHJ: What future applications can you imagine the 8R being useful for?

AK: Well, for action sequences I would possibly think of it. If I’ve got somebody running away from or towards the camera, it looks faster – people look like they’re moving faster because of the extreme difference between being close and being further away from the lens. We also did some tests where we were making very fast pans with the lens, in order to achieve an in-camera effect of people seeming to move from one position to another incredibly quickly. The side-to-side effect is very different from the effect of moving the lens forwards or backwards, or not moving it, like in an establishing shot, so there are several different ways the lens can be used.

MHJ: Thank you for the interview.

Mark Hope-Jones

Main Features:

• The highest quality extreme wide angle lens ever built
  
  
• Extremely wide, but straight lines stay straight
  
• unique look
• covers Super 35
• exaggerates speed: ideal for chase sequences
• exaggerates spaciousness: ideal for establishing shots or small rooms
• wide angle without fisheye distortions: ideal for miniatures & underwater
  
  
• Small size & light weight
  
  
• Smooth & Robust Mechanics
  • high contrast and resolution
  • T* XP coating ensures flare resistance
  • image geometry free of distortions
  • minimized chromatic aberration
  • minimized chromatic aberration
    
    
• Super Color Matched to
  
• Master Primes
• Ultra Primes
• Lightweight Zoom LWZ-1
• Variable Primes
• Ultra 16 lenses

For detailed information, visit the Ultra Prime 8R product page