Digital Video magazine — August 2013
‘Anna Nicole’ Director Mary Harron and the Balance Between Exploration and Exploitation

The Lifetime feature Anna Nicole, which aired on the cable channel toward the end of June, attracted as much attention for its director — Canada’s Mary Harron — as it did for its lurid portrayal of the model/tabloid star and her prodigious assets.

Harron, well known for her interest in society’s outcasts, directed the independent feature I Shot Andy Warhol in 1996, followed by American Psycho (2000) and The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), and in many ways Anna Nicole can be seen as a natural progression for the director.

Based on the New Yorker article by Dan Paul Lee, the script was written by Joe Batteer and John Rice, and filmed in Georgia by Peace Out Productions and Storyline Entertainment in association with Sony Pictures Television. With fewer than 20 days allotted for production, cinematographer Michael Simmonds (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop) employed two Panavised Arri Alexa cameras outfitted with Panavision Primo lenses to capture footage for the project. The production — ruled by the necessities of the makeup and hair department — was kept on the run with multiple locations and minimal time for prep.

“The Alexa is the number one digital camera available,” Simmonds comments. “It’s the easiest on skin tones, and it has the greatest latitudes for bright skies and deep shadows. Even though the Alexa has a lower resolution than some competing cameras it’s by far the more ergonomic, and is so much easier to use as an operator.” (Read full story…)