Practical Experience:

Experience and advice from Hagen Bogdanski (“The Lives of Others”)

“The Lives of Others” is the fourth movie you shot with Hawk lenses. Where does your interest in the anamorphic technique stem from?

‘Scope is a dream for every cameraman, but it wasn’t practical in Germany. That only changed when Vantage launched the Hawks on the market in 1994. I was a customer from the very first moment...

Which Hawk optics did you use for “The Lives of Others”?

We worked with C-Series lenses and complemented them with V-Series 30mm and 180mm lenses and the Hawk 55-165 Lightweight Zoom. We were able to combine them without any trouble.

Did you shoot at full aperture?

Yes, we did. Hawk Anamorphics are characterized by an enormous technical precision.

You work in widescreen quite frequently. What do you like about it?

In my opinion, it’s the best medium to transport a true cinema feeling. Widescreen in real CinemaScope is the ultimate cinema format.

In several scenes you’ve deliberately made use of the shallow depth of field that results from the anamorphic technology and…

…that creates focus shifts and a feeling of depth that is not possible on Super 35mm.

Anamorphics don’t need as much light as Super35, because you can work with higher film speeds.

Exactly! With CinemaScope, you shoot with 500 ASA material — and you can’t see the slightest trace of grain!

How was the post production?

I opted for a classic color timing. And even in post production, CinemaScope has the advantage: absolutely no costly conversions for the projection copies. We simply produced an analogue master and made 190 screening copies. The premiere copy as well as the mass copies are outstanding in quality.

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