WomenCinemakers vol V WomenCinemakers vol V | Page 9

You shot Up on the Roof on cinemascope, can
you comment on this aesthetic choice?
Cinemascope is always my preferred aesthetic
choice for my films. For me, it just gives it the
maximum scale possible a truly big-screen feel. It
Camilla Ruczika
just felt• right for a film set on a rooftop - it affords
amazing opportunities for creative and• cinematic
framing and composition. I can see how it might be a
questionable choice for a film shot in a very fluid,
handheld manner with few characters but one of the
great things about anamorphic is you don’t have to cut
as much and• you can give actors a larger field• across
the frame to work in.• One of the main things I love about
anamorphic in a character-driven film is that you use
much longer lenses than you’d use in a spherical format,
and that gives you more control of the background.
Being able to throw the background out of focus really
helps you be present with the actor.
I really wanted to concentrate on the intimacy of the
performances and anamorphic is perfect for that. The
only issue I had with• the Hawk V-plus• anamorphic
lenses we used was the distortion• of the image in focus
pulls which I really hated, I have since been using
master prime• anamorphics which are far superior for
my preferred style of shooting.
Can you tell us something about the shooting of Up
on the Roof? What was the most challenging thing
about making this film?
The biggest challenge I had with this film, as with all the
others is time. That’s the one thing I never have enough
of! On this particular film we had a massive issue
between the insurance company and the equipment
company so on the first day of shooting everyone was
there at 7a.m but the camera and lighting equipment
didn’t arrive until 4.30pm! Working with kids has its
limitations time-wise so that day we literally had 2 hours
to get 25 shots! It was certainly a challenge - particularly
as that was the day I was working with a group of
teenagers, a young kid and a 97-year-old actor (Earl
Cameron from ’The Interpreter’) - happy to say we
managed to pretty much get it all :) We had an insane
number of logistical issues overall such as our main
rooftop location falling through the day before shooting
- so I certainly learnt to be calm and positive in the face
of a lot of adversity!
interview by Claire•Auvray•(France-Italy)
cinemakers // 23
My filmmaking style is constantly evolving and every
film I have done is quite• different aesthetically and
narratively – for me the story always dictates style.
I have tackled a multitude of genres and it is a
constant• struggle to find the right balance between
saying too much or saying too little - particularly in
terms of shot choices and how much to draw
attention to something. Clarity is as essential as
subtlety.• Every film teaches me something new and
I think the one thing I carry with me is to keep things
simple, and as I said before less is more. As long
as I have done my prep work, I’ve learnt to let go,
to• trust my instincts• and to trust my actors to bring
the emotional depth I’m after. So much can be said
with a simple look…
Up on the Roof depicts emotions in places where
dialogue could not even scratch the surface. How
did you develop your filmmaking style?