When I take on a project, one of the first things I try to do is get an idea of the overarching tone the director is looking for. Then I will break down every scene and try to find its place in the greater symphony. You can think of the scenes as notes within the greater melody of the whole film.
* * *
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods immediately positions itself as a vital work, one that rages against imperialist trauma and crackles with thrilling energy. Within five minutes of the film’s situating, period-specific footage, our cadre of black Vietnam War veterans are back in Ho Chi Minh City after decades, tearing up an ox-blood dance floor to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” snapping in time like Gaye himself on Soul Train. The men dance away from the film’s point of reference and brother-in-arms, Apocalypse Now, into a wild and hybridic now. The scene is a joy, in the same way Blackkklansman’s Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose dance sequence was, and it leaves one wishing the image was soaking a room of strangers, projected forty-five-feet wide.
Da 5 Bloods is never stymied, the film is always in a state of addition with a barrage of perfectly apportioned details, visions, tropes to trample, comedies, and tragedies. It feels entirely vital, from its Muhammad Ali beginnings to its swelteringly defiant jungle soliloquy. Each piece of Da 5 Bloods operates at a high level, from Terence Blanchard’s sweeping score to Newton Thomas Sigel’s dynamic cinematography. Sigel’s work utilizes multiple aspect ratios and formats to create Lee’s vision, this being their first feature together. Below, we discuss Da 5 Bloods and the 1981 documentary El Salvador: Another Vietnam, also shot by Sigel; shooting on film; and Delroy Lindo’s performance.
* * *
How did you begin work on Da 5 Bloods? What was the process of research like?
I’ve known Spike for ages, and we’ve had fun over the years on commercials, but I never got to do a movie with him – something I’d been longing for. When it finally came, it was like, “yeah!!” The tough part was when Spike called, I was still shooting another film in India, Thailand, and Bangladesh. There was very little time for prep, so I dived into the script and all my favorite Vietnam documentaries. I also looked at some films Spike was referencing, like Apocalypse Now and The Bridge Over the River Kwai. Spike was also continuously giving me archival material to look at, so when we both landed in Thailand it was full on.
You were the cinematographer on the 1981 documentary El Salvador: Another Vietnam, which explored the political complexities of El Salvador and its effect on its citizens. The documentary features dramatic, anguished footage of leaders, oppositional leaders, religious figures, and people on the streets. Could you tell me a little about this early work of yours?
In the seventies and eighties, I teamed up with Pamela Yates and Peter Kinoy to form Skylight Pictures. Our goal was to make documentaries about hot spots where history was being made. We wanted to be on the forefront of these struggles and put light where there was none. You have to remember, this was before social media and the omnipotence of the internet. When we went to Guatemala for When the Mountains Tremble, the press had been virtually shut out. When we became the first people to film the Contras in Nicaragua, Reagan was saying they didn’t exist.
We made movies about labor struggles in the south, about the Ku Klux Klan, and did others all over Central America. We scraped together resources to make our own films, but survived by shooting freelance for news organizations – both in the U.S. and abroad.
Da 5 Bloods is remarkably consistent for all its shifts in tone and space – how do a film’s generic or tonal shifts influence the way you approach a scene?
Tone is the essential lifeblood of cinematic storytelling. Not just cinematography, but perhaps the most critical element in a director presenting a singular point of view. A screenplay is words on a page, but how you interpret them can make a film unique.
When I take on a project, one of the first things I try to do is get an idea of the overarching tone the director is looking for. Then I will break down every scene and try to find its place in the greater symphony. You can think of the scenes as notes within the greater melody of the whole film.
We very often talk about “worlds” in breaking down a script and defining its look. For instance, the world of one character may be different from another, each demanding a distinct recipe. But it still has to be within the overall parameters of the film’s vocabulary, which will make everything blend together into one cogent whole.
How did you approach the action sequences in Da 5 Bloods? Does knowledge gained from films like Platoon, Three Kings, and Extraction build and influence the direction the scenes take?
I’ve been shooting action scenes for decades, so that experience certainly gives you a leg up. Nonetheless, the action world is ever-evolving, especially as our technology advances and everyone wants to outdo each other.
I have been very lucky to work with some true action geniuses like Master Woo-Ping Yuen on Crouching Tiger, and Sam Hargrave, who directed Extraction. I learn things every day on a set with creative innovators like that.
The boat sequence is a real burst of well-executed chaos as Paul is subsumed by his post-traumatic stress disorder. How do you construct a scene like this, with its small, cramped location and flashes of Super8 footage?
Yes, the boat was certainly a challenge. Not only was it a real boat on the water, but there were a lot of actors crowded in there! We wanted to give them a lot of freedom with their movement because it was such a critical emotional scene. We decided to shoot handheld, but I still had to deal with exposure. You’re looking at a predominantly African American cast, under a canopy, with a background that has blazing equatorial sun. Ouch. I had the brilliant Ian Kincaid helping me with the lighting, and we would work some LED fill into every little opening we could find.
Could you tell me how you went about capturing the spirit of Vietnam’s jungles? At first, it seems quite distant, but as the characters descend, the jungle seems to close in on them.
We definitely wanted the jungle to have a different characteristic than Ho Chi Minh City. The former Saigon is a modern, bustling city, and far different from the one the Bloods experienced 50 years ago. We shot it with the Alexa LF, modern lenses, and in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The image is clean and crisp.
When the Bloods hit the jungle, we switched to the Alexa Mini, with older lenses and a 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Because it’s Netflix, the transition to 1.85 could be done by opening up the top and bottom of the frame. It’s like the jungle is swallowing them up as they take a psychological trip back in time. The effect was further enhanced by doing all the Stormin’ Norman flashbacks in 16mm reversal, with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The same as a newsreel cameraman would have done back in the day.
How did you approach color on Da 5 Bloods and in its different time periods? Greens and reds seem especially vibrant in the film.
While the color in the city was fairly straightforward, albeit slightly desaturated, we wanted the greens of the jungle to really sing. It’s as if the jungle was a living, breathing organism. Red was our accent color – the color of passion . . . and of blood.
Was there any pushback on using 16mm for the flashback sequences? What considerations need to be taken into account when switching from ARRI Alexa to 16mm?
There was no pushback to using 16mm, just challenges with logistics. We were in Thailand and Vietnam, thousands of miles from any film lab, and we were shooting Ektachrome. Developing reversal film is a very unique process, and very few labs can do it. We had to courier the film to Burbank, to a wonderful boutique lab named Spectra for development.
At the same time, we only had a couple weeks with Chadwick Boseman, and we knew we wouldn’t be seeing the results until he was virtually on the plane. You can’t make mistakes with reversal. Exposure has to be perfect, and you have to light for the film stock – not by your eye. 100% different than shooting digital.
A thrilling highlight of the film is Paul’s address to the camera, machete in hand, as he walks deeper into the jungle. Can you take me through the construction of this moment?
The soliloquy was in the script – an incredible piece of writing. But Delroy was on fire, and he took the words to another level, adding his own touches. Spike knew he wanted him looking right in the lens, and we knew he’d be on the move. We did a wide establishing tracking shot, but then spent our real energy on the close-up.
Our steadicam operator, Ari Robbins, had to walk backwards, while Peter Byrne pulled focus on a nearly-wide-open 65mm lens. They both did an amazing job and, much to Ari’s dismay, I encouraged him not to fight the handheld feel the steadicam was getting. But the main thing was for us to put the camera in Delroy’s face and try to stay out of his way. The performance is remarkable, and Delroy crushed it.
For an audience watching on repeat viewing, is there a moment or sequence that you are especially proud of?
Well, nobody likes to say who their favorite child is, but I must say, when Delroy encounters Norman’s ghost down by the water, it was a totally transcendent moment.
* * *
Images courtesy of Netflix.