Vantage Prague provides strong, steady support to remote shoot
The makers of Cry Wolf, an action-thriller series produced in the far north of Sweden near the Arctic Circle, knew that their remote shoot would need the support of a flexible and sympatico rental house. They found such a partner in Vantage Prague, part of the Europe-wide network of Vantage facilities.
“We had a hard shoot, but the material looks stunning,” says director of photography Jallo Faber, FSF, FNF. “This experience showed how invaluable a skilled, human staff is. The Vantage team is made up of people with skills and love who cannot be replaced by apps and internet bookings.”
Line producer Ieva Svitojute agrees: “Working in production is always a challenge of some sort. One usually has a great story on the one hand, and a budget, location and time limitations that must be met on the other. That’s why one has to be very smart about what equipment to use and, most importantly from the production perspective, which partners and suppliers to choose. In our case, working with Vantage not only added the evident value on screen but also great communication and helpfulness in any given situation, which was very important factor in a smooth production process.”
The filmmakers had about 60 days to make six 45-minutes episodes. Due to a tight preproduction schedule, Faber was not able to make extensive lens tests, and the shoot was begun with Hawk Vintage’74 Anamorphic lenses. He had used the Vintage’74s on a previous feature and loved the look. But Cry Wolf director Jesper Ganslandt felt that the flaring and halation was too pronounced for this story, and one week into the shoot a decision was made to switch to Hawk V‑Lites. Despite the remoteness of the shoot, Vantage was able to accommodate the switch without a hitch.
Cry Wolf is based on the debut novel of BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Oskar Söderlund. The lead character is a 54-year-old cop whose quiet, small-town life explodes after an ordinary investigation into the death of a wolf grows into a sprawling and brutal crime case. Ganslandt has been quoted as saying that he “wanted to make a series that moves between dark humor, intense tension and raw violence in the border town of Haparanda,” with shades of No Country for Old Men in terms of the tone.
The tale plays out against natural surroundings, at a time when the sun never sets, but only reaches 15 degrees off the horizon.
“It’s a special place, at the Finnish border,” says Faber. “You feel isolated, on the edge of the world. I realized that cowboy aesthetics were the right visual framework for this story and setting. We didn’t move the camera unless we really had to. We shot with a single camera. We avoided the common TV approach that gets lots of coverage using wider focal lengths and Steadicam, and then finds the scene in the edit. We tried to make everything precise and well thought out. That helped make the edit more efficient and faster, too.”
The Hawk V‑Lites were paired with an Arri Alexa 35 camera. The “cowboy aesthetic” and the flat landscape indicated anamorphic photography and a 2.40:1 aspect ratio.
“The closeup in classic anamorphic doesn’t often go in that close,” says Faber. “You kind of leave it a little more open. We wanted the beautiful compromises that come with anamorphic lenses. They don’t strive for perfection.”
Faber and Ganslandt were convinced that the modern, shallow-focus look is so pervasive these days that the deeper look would feel fresh. “We kept the stop at 5.6 or 8, feeling that keeping it deeper was old-school,” he says. “It’s nice not only for the landscapes, but for the art department. They break their backs creating all these sets for us, so we wanted to see them.”
The shoot was extremely fast-paced, with 20+ setups a day. After five weeks in Sweden the company moved to Lithuania. Vantage also provided a Hawk V‑Plus 45‑90mm zoom lens that enabled a splinter unit to grab some car shots. Eventually, it all came together.
From left: 1st AC Martynas Siauciunas, Director Jesper Ganslandt, Key Grip Tadas Visakavicius and DP Jallo Faber, FSF, FNF
“We thought maybe we were crazy for trying to achieve this,” says Faber. “But Jindrich Čipera at Vantage Prague was with us at every step. When we decided to switch lens sets, he was completely calm and reassuring about shipping all those cases via two or three airplanes and a four-hour truck journey. And he could have overcharged us, because we were stuck. But that’s just not the way Vantage works. Filmmaking is always so stressful – you’re trying to do something artistic in spite of the frantic tempo and gruesomely long days. Time is short so you’re compromising all the time. It makes all the difference to have an understanding and supportive partner at the rental house.”
Watch the trailer here.
camera crew, from left: 1st AC Martynas Siauciunas, Jallo Faber FSF, FNF, Camera & steadicam operator Arturs Lurins, Trainee Benas Griga, in front of camera/selfie operator 2nd AC Vito Vitokas
images: © Nordic Drama Queens - Photo Andrej Vasilenko, Maria Fäldt, Johan Paulin
