Vilmos Zsigmond and Marc Shipman-Mueller at the CAMERIMAGE film festival

A gruesome murder in the Hollywood of 1947 with bizarre details that has remained a mystery until this day - what better story could there be for the next Brian De Palma thriller, especially since this one is based on a true story.

The tragic death of Elisabeth Short, who was also known as the Black Dahlia, was photographed on film in the early summer of 2005 by Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC starring Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. Marc Shipman-Mueller had the chance to chat with him about this film during breakfast at the 2005 CAMERIMAGE festival.

Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC (left) sets up the ARRICAM Studio for a shot.

Tell me a bit about the story of the Black Dahlia.
That is a fascinating story. Elisabeth Short was an aspiring actress who usually dressed in black, thus her nickname "Black Dahlia." Like many others she came to Hollywood hoping to make it big in the movies. She loved the Hollywood nightlife and loved to meet men and was known as a beautiful freeloader. In 1947 she was found dead in an empty lot in Hollywood, cut in two at the waist. The coroner’s report showed that she had been brutally abused and tortured. This was one of the highest profile murder cases for the LA police department at the time, but it was never solved.

(left to right) Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart and Scarlett Johansson explore roles surrounding the unsolved mystery of Elizabeth Short's murder.

And where does the movie come in?
The movie is about two cops, Bucky Bleichert, who is played by Josh Hartnett, and his partner, Lee Blanchard, played by Aaron Eckhart. They investigate the death. Bucky finds out that his girlfriend had ties to the victim. Then he begins uncovering corruption and conspiracy within the police department.

Josh Hartnett and Hilary Swank in a night scene from Black Dahlia.

What kind of a look did you choose for this movie?
Black Dahlia has a film noir look, lots of shadows. But I wanted to see detail in the shadows. I used no filters, just sometimes a bit of diffusion for Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. The movie has three different styles. First, there are flashbacks that are almost black and white looking. Second, there is black/white 16 mm film that is projected inside the police department. Third, the look we wanted for the rest of the story (about 80%) is a monochrome, desaturated color. We didn't use any manipulation in photography during production like flashing, bleach bypass, pushing or pulling in development. All desaturation was done through the digital intermediate process.

Vilmos Zsigmond operating an ARRICAM Studio on the set of "Black Dahlia"

I understand you shot this mostly in Europe?
Yes, even though this is a movie that plays in Hollywood, the production decided to shoot in Bulgaria. They had been trying to get this movie made for two years, but it was too expensive to shoot in Hollywood. Economically it was advantageous to shoot in Bulgaria. We built two Hollywood streets on location in Sofia. We had a great production designer, Dante Ferretti, who received an Oscar for The Aviator, and that really helped to create the right period look for the movie. We shot two weeks in Los Angeles to establish authentic exteriors.

What cameras and lenses did you use?
I used an ARRICAM Studio and an ARRICAM Lite, plus a 435. We used the Steadicam a lot. For lenses I mostly used Angenieux Optimo zooms, but I also had some Cooke S4 lenses and some Variable Primes. Occasionally I operated a second camera. I love the ARRICAM. It is a very lightweight and beautiful design. The viewfinder is good, very bright. Our rental house was New Image in Bulgaria. We shot Black Dahlia on Super 35 mm format with 3 perforation pull-down.

Why did you decide to shoot with 3 perforation pull down?
For the film noir look, I wanted to go through a digital intermediate, and I had to sell that idea to the production. Certain things I could achieve with good lighting, but in today's unrelenting shooting schedules they push you to work faster. I thought I would need the time in post to perfect things. During exterior shooting I could not control the weather, and by relying on the DI I could sacrifice certain quality on the set since I would have the chance to correct color, contrast, even shadows later. With this in mind I could keep the company on schedule all the time. By shooting on 3 perforations we saved on cost in film stock and developing, and we used that extra money for the DI.

How did Brian De Palma react to your suggestion?
He said to the producers, "Do what Vilmos wants." He trusts me with the technical stuff.

Director Brian De Palma is known for designing intricate shots for his films.

How was your collaboration with Brian De Palma?
It is always a joy and a challenge to work with Brian De Palma. He does not want to hear that you cannot shoot a scene in a single shot, and that it has to be broken up to many cover shots. He is very creative in designing interesting and complicated shots. I love challenges; everything can be done, even though some of the most difficult shots could take a lot of time to line up. Brian is always very patient, never pushes you, he understands the difficulties of lighting an intricate “master shot.” He loves to do long, uninterrupted shots - sometimes going 360 degrees around the actors with the Steadicam.

Who decided how the camera would move?
Brian De Palma designs his own shots. He is a brilliant director.

What scene was the most fun for you to shoot?
Ah, there were a lot of good sequences. I particularly like the beginning of this movie. It plays in South Los Angeles in 1943, during the Zoot Suit riots. We start with a long shot, high up in the air, camera on the Technocrane and on 100 feet of dolly tracks, looking at the riot in full swing, palm trees and cars on fire, hundreds of people fighting each other. The camera descends to ground level following some running soldiers through the crowd. The arm of the Technocrane extends into a cross street where we find our leading actors in a big fight with some Mexicans. At the end of this fight the camera follows them into a liquor store where the shot ends. 

Lets switch to post production. Most DI is done in 2K these days.
I convinced Brian De Palma that we should scan the DI with 4K resolution. According to some people 2K has enough quality. We did some tests comparing 2K and 4K, and the difference was incredible. It is really amazing if you see 2K and 4K images projected side by side. The 4K has more sharpness, more definition, it looks more like film! The movie just comes alive. I worked with Frank Roman at Laser Pacific. He is a great colorist, I spent only eight days with him to lock in the looks. Of course, he worked several hours every day on his own.

Since cost seems to have been a factor, did you ever consider shooting Black Dahlia in 16 or HD?
To get the right look I had to shoot on film; it is much more difficult in HD to make something look as good as Black Dahlia does. Digital photography doesn’t have the contrast range, the highlights and the shadow details. Film still looks better than any video or digital recording. Maybe 10 years from now we will have a digital recording system in 6K or 8K that looks as good as film. Until then I would rather shoot on Super 16 mm than on HD. You need to shoot film for the big screen, and I like the big screen. I think screen sizes are going to get bigger in the theaters of the future, maybe like IMAX is now, to get people away from watching their DVDs at home.

Thank you, Vilmos.

Marc Shipman-Mueller