Being a digital imaging technician (DIT) is a unique experience. Working on all preparations before shooting the film is difficult, but impressive. I would do the same all over again, but I`m sure it won`t be as challenging and fascinating at the same time as this experience. This was said today by Krzysztof Włodarczyk, DIT of the Polish film „Zone of Interest“, directed by Jonathan Glaser, who was featured in the main selection of the „Manaki Brothers“ Festival. At the Manaki Cinema in Bitola, he presented what happened behind the scenes as well as during the preparation before the start of the filming of this remarkable film.

„The director wanted the whole film to be shot with natural light, that is, to use the natural light that is available at night and during the day. In such a project, it is important what choice of equipment you will make. We chose 10 SONY Venice cameras, and we needed more cameras. We knew we had limited space in the house where we filmed: for the cameras, for the crew working on the film, so we had to work with small cameras. We had to know how big was the house we were filming in, to plan well for the space we had. There was no film crew on set when this film was shot, the actor himself was doing it all“, Włodarczyk said.

He said that the size of the cameras used during filming was important. It was important that the cameras were as small as possible, so that they could be easily hidden, in order not to defocus the actors. The idea of the director of the film was not to cut footage and repeat scenes. That is why there was a lot of recorded material at the end, about 400 terabytes (0.6 petabyte).

For the filming, a thermal imaging camera was used at night, which is very specific. It was adapted for film use because, primarily, it is not intended for filming. That experience for the filming crew was an easy experience, but it was challenging for those working in post-production.

Włodarczyk said SONY`s cameras did a good job, given that daylight changes during the day. He showed photos from the shooting of the film, which show that several cameras were mounted on a car, ready to shoot a set, and this was possible because they were small and could be mounted and used in the same place at once.

The director of photography of the film „Zone of Interest“ is Łukasz Żal, a Polish cinematographer known for the film "Cold War" (2018), which earned him an Oscar nomination, an award of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) for outstanding achievements in cinematography in theatrical editions and a BAFTA nomination. In addition to this film, he is also the cinematographer of the film „Ida“ (2014, Oscar nomination, ASC Spotlight award, EFA Best European Cinematographer award and BAFTA nomination).