Meanwhile, director of photography Janet Lucroy, who specialized in lighting THE INCREDIBLES, was facing her own unique challenges. “From a lighting perspective, this film had an enormous magnitude to it because of the large number of sets and shots,” says Lucroy. “In fact, it had about 600 more shots than, say, ‘Monsters, Inc.’”
In addition to the magnitude of the job, Lucroy was challenged by trying to create richly cinematographic, carefully plotted lighting schemes that match the unique look of the film. “We decided to try out a darker, more constrasty look to the film—something different than people are used to in an animated world and more akin to a contemporary thriller or adventure story,” says Lucroy. “We also wanted there to be an intriguing mix of theatrical and naturalistic lighting. So, there are times in the film where we push the theatricality, like in the glory days of the superhero prologue when everything is very contrasty and visually strong. But there’s a huge part of the film where the family is at home or in the office, and for those scenes we used very natural photographic lighting.”
Lucroy was also thrilled to have a chance to create more delicate lighting effects that add to the overall photo-realism and impact of the film. “I really love some of the quieter, more subtle moments,” she says. “There’s a little sequence where Dash and Mom are in the car, and you get the window shadow across her face, but there’s still enough fill light to read her eyes. And then you get the bar across her face. The feel of the sunlight and the bounce coming from the seat onto them is so believable and makes for a very nice moment.”
Movie Database
In Theaters
