Let There Be Natural Light
“Fuck it, I’m going for it.” That, says cinematographer Yves Bélanger, was his response when presented with the challenge of shooting Dallas Buyers Club using only natural light. But aided by the ALEXA digital camera and his freewheeling director Jean-Marc Vallée, Bélanger handily shot the entire film without the heavy equipment usually associated with movies starring the likes of Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner. No tripods, no lighting kits. His only artificial source of illumination: a small Kino Flo he used at the beginning of each day to shoot his color charts to make sure the color balance was correct. […]