How ‘Prey’ Cinematographer Crafted Battle Scenes, Epic Visuals 

“Prey” director Dan Trachtenberg needed his “Predator” spinoff, which is ready in 1719, to be shot in a naturalistic means, so cinematographer Jeff Cutter made use of obtainable mild each time attainable — particularly from hearth and the moon.

In the film, Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) tracks and hunts down a killer alien by means of the woods. “I would use fire as much as possible and augment it if we had to,” says Cutter.

A couple of scenes had been fully lit by hearth torches, with no supplemental lighting. For these moments, the DP would advise Midthunder and different actors the right way to maintain the torch with out disrupting their performances.

Throughout, Cutter needed the moonlight to be a presence. “That was important to me because we were going to return to it for the finale and we didn’t want the blue moonlight to feel as if it came out of nowhere,” he says. “So it needed to be this presence in the background.”

The ultimate showdown between Naru and the alien juxtaposed scope and scale. “We wanted specific shots where we’re with her and we see the emotion in these epic stand-off shots,” Cutter says.

In one sequence, Naru is seen on a tree trunk ready for the alien earlier than leaping down. “That gave this sense of this tiny warrior in this big world,” Cutter explains.

With the motion and fight sequences, Cutter knew there have been occasions the digicam would want to alternate between shifting shortly and gradual movement.

Says the cinematographer: “The techno crane helped to give it that visceral energy for the fight, but we always kept in mind that it was the final part of her emotional arc.”