Interview: Trent Opaloch

Trent Opaloch is the cinematographer for the highly successful film, District 9.

Michael: Could you tell us about yourself?

Trent: My name is Trent Opaloch & I’m a director of photography based out of Vancouver, Canada.  I started assisting my step-father – a nature cinematographer, when I was 15, then went to film school & eventually started shooting music videos before getting into commercials & now features.

M: District 9 has been a huge success, and I’ve heard that it was your first feature film as a cinematographer, what was the experience like?

T: Shooting District 9 was an amazing experience.  We had a fantastic group of people from all around the world & it was a lot of fun.  I feel very fortunate to be able to work w/ talented people like Neill & Sharlto & the rest of the crew.  It’s the best thing in the world to be a part of something that is so interesting, challenging & fun at the same time.

The film has a fantastic gritty and realistic feel to it and the transition from a handheld documentary to a proper narrative was seamless, what did you do to achieve that?

This is a very interesting aspect of the film.  Neill & I discussed this quite a bit trying to get the balance right.  There was also a bit of experimentation which worked w/ the improvised nature of Sharlto’s performance.  We would often change our approach midway if it started feeling too staged.  The original idea was to have two very contrasting feels – very rough handheld for the mnu corporate video bits & then very smooth camera moves in the dramatic sections using dollies, linear bases etc.  But as we got into it, it felt like such a jump that it was really bothering us and we ended up loosening things up quite a bit.  It’s quite funny because I’m such a fan of a measured Kubrick-like camera deployment w/ carefully composed frames but with a film like this, the loose handheld feel really helps sell the reality of the cg characters & elements in the frame.  It also frees things up for Sharlto who can then go anywhere & do anything he feels like in the moment.

It must have been difficult working in the locations you were at, like the slums, did you face any sort of problems?

The part of Soweto that we were shooting in was basically a big garbage dump.  It’s an extremely hostile environment w/ broken glass, barbed wire and animal feces everywhere.  It’s kind of surreal to think of how much time we spent there.  It’s hard on the equipment & difficult mentally because you can never just relax for a moment or set something down anywhere.  That’s where it helps to be surrounded by great people, the sort of people that can make light of the situation & press on with it.

There’s a huge amount of CGI in the movie, what’s it like shooting something that’s not really there? Got any tips?

Peter (Image Engine) & Winston (The Embassy VFX) were a great asset to have on set while we were shooting.  We could have a pow wow as we set things up so that we were all on the same page.  Basically as long as you have trackable geometry in the frame they can lock onto the shot & comp in their elements.  We tried to minimize the amount of roto involved but Neill is very strict about us not getting too precious w/ our framing because he knows it can start to feel setup.  That’s a huge part of the success of the film, Neill knows what the artists & software are capable of & he pushes them to the limits to get the best results.  He’s also very good at describing what will be there in the final image so that we can frame & react accordingly.  Jason Cope performed the majority of the alien parts wearing a skin-tight ball suit and, depending on the scene, would either wear drywall shoes to raise him up or a skull cap w/ a rod rising out of it so that Sharlto & the other actors would have a correct eye-line for the towering aliens.

What was your favourite scene in the movie?

Man that’s tough.  I’ve seen it six times in the theatre now and my favorite scene changes every viewing.  I guess my favorite bit right now would be the alien evictions in the first act.  We shot days & days of that stuff & there were so many brilliant improvised moments between Sharlto & Jason cope.  It’s a drag how much of that stuff you have to leave out of the final film.

District 9 was shot on the Red One, a camera which has attracted a lot of attention, but for yourself, do you prefer Film or Digital?

I actually don’t have a true global preference as a default.  I think at one time I would have answered 35mm without hesitation but that’s changing.  There’s a simplicity to picking up a film camera & going out & grabbing shots that you don’t have w/ a tethered HD camera system but this technology is so new and it’s just climbing and improving at this insane rate & it’s very exciting to see and be a part of.  It’s like tools in a toolbox & you want to be able to reach in and grab the right tool for the job.

What is always in your cinematography pouch?

Light meters w/ backups, batteries, Canon 5D Mark II, iPhone w/ Pcam app & iPod.

In closing, do you have any suggestions for future cinematographers?

The only advice I can give is to shoot as much as you can to learn from your mistakes and grow.  Watch the world around you and how different qualities of light look and feel and how that light interacts with people and different surfaces.  And watch everything you can get your hands on as far as screenings and blu rays and to really actively watch it so that your asking questions like why does this scene feel this way? look this way?  Look at the decisions that have gone into creating these images because the information is all there for you to learn from.  There is so much amazing work out there for you to learn from and be inspired by.