Nine Miles Down, the new psychological thriller from acclaimed film director Anthony Waller, delves into the human psyche and explores what happens when fears and superstitions triumph over logic and reason. Although still in its post production stages, the film is already garnering positive reviews. The story starts in a deserted, storm-battered drilling station in a remote region of the Sahara Desert. Filming the interiors, however, took place in a disused champagne factory in Budapest, where ETC’s Source Four® luminaires and Congo lighting control desk helped to create some of the special effects. The equipment – which included 21 Source Four 19° and six Source Four 26° profile spotlights – was supplied through Visionteam (Budapest) and TSF (Paris).
Director of photography Roger Simonsz had a few different lighting challenges to overcome. The brief required him to create the feeling of a building surrounded by a sandstorm as well as an ambience of moonlight with a sinister, paranormal tone – all in the same limited area. A newcomer to the Congo lighting desk, he was surprised at how intuitive it was: “I felt the interface was very clear and making alterations to a chase was incredibly straightforward.”
Having used Source Four luminaires on film sets previously, Simonsz was confident he would get the effects he wanted – and wasn’t disappointed: “I specifically asked for the Source Fours because, when creating the moonlight effect, I needed to have a whole series of light shafts that would be equal.” It is easier to use multiple beam angles of the Source Four to create a specular – almost hard-edged – quality to the light, with very clear optics.
The Source Four is no stranger to the theatrical stage; however it is somewhat of a rarity to see it on the set of a big-budget film, as Simonsz attests: “It’s unusual to use profiles in film, because too often they have quite a harsh beam – so we tend to use Fresnels. However, in this case, that particular effect worked very well for creating moonlight.
“ETC was very helpful and accessible. They were especially accommodating during the preparation phase and invited me to test out equipment at their London offices. This meant that by the time it came to order the kit, I was confident that it could do the required job."