You also used the ARRI Master Grips for the film. Could you tell us a bit about your experiences with them?
Yes, they are an exceptional tool! I wanted a system that would allow me to freely choose my lenses. This was the case with Master Grips. With the zooms, I mainly worked at 35 mm, which gave me the ideal distance from the characters. The challenge in “Animal” was to film people in their ecosystem. With the 35 mm, I was able to stay close to their faces without bothering them. At the same time, I kept a relation with the organic background; the setting was still present in the background. With the Master Grips, I could activate the zoom, crop the shot, adjust the focus. I worked a lot at T 2.8 to isolate the characters. This forced me to make adjustments all the time. At this aperture there will be blurring, but we still recognize the environment, even if it fades. The Master Grips allowed me to play with this all the time in the moment. It is the ideal tool when working handheld while being very responsive.