Finch opens on Apple TV+ today. I first worked with director Miguel Sapotchnik on a music video for James Lavelle’s project “Unkle” in 2007. Just for some deep history,
@kob7 and I used to go to The Blue Note on Hoxton Square in East London where James Lavelle
@unkleofficial hosted a Mo’Wax night once a month. Miguel and I didn’t manage to do anything else until 2019. So life goes, but it was worth the wait. “Finch” has scale and we did some big sequences, and it’s an adventure, but it’s mostly a very intimate and small film about life. It’s much more philosophical and reflective than driven by plot and adventure. At least that’s how I experience it.
@davethompsonsoc, A camera operator, myself and Miguel did a zoom call for the Society of Operating Cameramen talking about the experience on the film. They’ll post it on their website. We had 2 actors, a dog, and a big crew behind them to make this little movie happen. Finch is played by Tom Hanks whom I can’t say enough great things about. Jeff the robot, was brought to life by Caleb Landry Jones. (I also can’t say enough great things about him) And then there was Seamus the dog.
We discussed different methods of shooting the film, but in the end, we felt it would benefit the film to keep it simple, like a family drama. It felt most honest that way towards the characters. We shot mostly hand held, which made it harder for the vfx team led by Scott Stokdyk to integrate the robot, but ultimately this style makes you forget the robot is a CG character. We shot on T-series anamorphic lenses that
@dan_sasaki @panavisionofficial expanded to fit the 4k Mini LF sensor. All these elements kept us away from being too fancy and glitzy. Everything is a bit beaten up. Just like life: perfectly flawed. In the DI, colorist
@davehussey @company_3 kept us away from the trappings of wanting to be all cool as well. Just put yourself on the couch, put a warm blanket around you, relax, and just enjoy it. We need movies like these right now. Thanks to the great crew on this film in New Mexico. It wasn’t always easy in the dust storms, but ultimately it was a nice trip in the RV.