Sinners

director Ryan Coogler shares the helpful advice he got from Christopher Nolan regarding the use of IMAX cameras. Marking Coogler’s follow-up to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan as both Smoke and Stack, twin brothers who return to their hometown in 1932 to open up a juke joint only to find themselves under seige by vampires. Reviews for the film have been glowing from critics and audiences alike, with a major point of praise being its epic IMAX presentation in theaters.

During a recent appearance on The Big Picture podcast, Coogler delves into the making of Sinners, touching on what it was like to film using both IMAX and System 65 cameras. The filmmaker consulted with Nolan about the use of the IMAX technology, with the Oppenheimer filmmaker sharing some words of wisdom about how best to use these large and noisy cameras. The most crucial piece of advice he shared, Coogler reveals, was to not let the IMAX technology dominate the production. Check out Coogler’s full explanation below:

For this one, man, I talked to Chris [Nolan] and Emma [Thomas] about the format, when large format became something that we were discussing and thinking about. Because they had just navigated both camera packages we ended up using – we used different lenses on our System 65 package, we used Ultra Panavision 276 lens. […] He basically told me not to be scared, you know? And don’t let anybody bow down to the camera on set. He acknowledged that it’s an intimidating piece of equipment, you know, and that—because he uses a lot of handheld camerawork in his history, and those cameras, you can’t handhold, the sync-sound cameras…

Alright, so, I’m gonna nerd out. [Laughs] The catch of the IMAX camera package is that it is technically not a sync-sound camera, in that… I think the new version he has on The Odyssey is, but the one that they sH๏τ Oppenheimer with is the same one they sH๏τ Dunkirk with, it’s the same one they sH๏τ the last two Dark Knights with. These cameras are mᴀssive cameras that are ripping celluloid through the gate, 15 perfs per picture at 24 pictures per second. [Makes loud whirring sound] So, it sounds like somebody took seven weedwhackers and tied them in a steel box, and had them going synchronized. You know what I’m saying? So, if you’re gonna to shoot an over-the-shoulder dialogue scene, that camera is gonna be all over the dialogue, it is automatically gonna be ADR.

The 5-perf, 65mm camera package, the System 65, has two sync-sound camera bodies. Sync-sound. So now these sound like – actually when it’s rolling, you don’t hear anything… Now, all of that soundproofing, because that camera’s doing a lot of work… is heavy, it’s insanely heavy. So, it becomes a 100lb camera system, with zero ergonomics. So, it is impossible to handhold the sync-sound version of that camera, you understand?

And Chris comes from the school that I also come from, the school of whatever works for the scene. So you see some of those movies, he’s handholding that camera a lot, you know what I mean? And when you decide to shoot System 65, and you want a sync-sound camera happening, you’re not handholding that. And you ain’t steadycaming neither… It’s just too heavy. You are on sticks or on a crane. Or the camera on the ground.

And so, he was like acknowledging that, there’s another version of this camera that is the high-speed System 65 camera. Now this is essentially the same camera without the soundproofing, okay? So now this camera is about 60lbs. That camera can be handheld, that camera can be put on a steadycam. But now, your dialogue with that camera, ADR immediately. Because it’s almost as loud as, maybe, if not louder than the IMAX camera.

[…]

So, Chris’ advice to me was to use it like a Super 8 camera. He said use it like you would normally use your camera. And he told me straight up, he was like, man, you’ll see scenes of Oppenheimer where I got that camera right up against Cillian’s face. And yeah, but we got close with that thing, man. That was a part of what the movie had to be.

What This Means For Sinners

The Film’s Reception Explained

Shooting on IMAX adds a degree of complexity to a film shoot, and it is also an added expense. As a technology usually reserved for epic blockbuster productions, Coogler’s decision to shoot Sinners partially in IMAX could be seen as a curious one, but it’s one that speaks to his filmmaking ambitions. Sinners, however, boasts a larger $90 million production budget, and it seems like Coogler’s instincts have paid off to shoot the movie in this way going off of its opening weekend reception.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Sinners enjoys a glowing 98% score from critics, and the audience-driven Popcornmeter score isn’t far behind at 97%. The film also got off to a great start at the box office, grossing $63.5 million globally in its opening weekend. Critics have praised the film for its blending of genres and its musical elements, and for Coogler’s old-school-yet-innovative filmmaking. In her Sinners review for ScreenRant, Mae Abdulbanki awards the film a nine out of 10, highlighting the way in which its presentation complements its deeper themes:

In tandem with cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw, who creates a gritty and lush aesthetic, and editor Michael P. Shawver, whose quick cuts in parts elevate the film’s horror, Coogler has created a soulful, alluring film that has a lot to say and the ability to say it with beauty and coherence.

Our Take On Coogler’s Use Of IMAX In Sinners

The Vampire Movie Should Start A Coogler Trend

Sinners still would have been a compelling horror experience if it was sH๏τ on digital, but the use of film – especially IMAX film – adds to the atmosphere and aesthetic in a major way. The movie, despite featuring some very modern flourishes and stylistic flares, has an old-school feel during many sequences. There’s also one major action sequence that makes great use of the larger IMAX presentation, making it far more immersive and thrilling.

What will be interesting will be seeing whether Coogler continues to adopt IMAX technology in his future projects. It’s not clear what his next movie will be, but he could follow in Nolan’s footsteps and make the larger format a crucial part of his filmmaking toolbox. If Sinners is any indication, Coogler could use it to great effect moving forward.

Source: The Big Picture