Hamlet in Black and White
Here's a short snippet of this work. We can't share dialogue just yet so enjoy the creepy music instead.
In cooperation with the General Arts Directorate of Portugal (dgArtes), Theater in Palm and the Contemporary Dance Company of Évora (CDCE), Atmosphera Productions’ lead cinematographer Michael Hammond was thrilled to work on this project in Lisbon throughout the month of July 2024.
It’s a dark piece in more ways than one. First, it’s Hamlet so there’s murder, a ghost, family dysfunction. Second, the direction of the film called for high-contrast B&W images with a background disappearing into darkness.
“What the audience will be seeing (in these images) are Hamlet’s memories,” reports Hammond. “And because they’re memories, the director wanted them to be a little surreal and menacing. As much as possible, I kept the backgrounds dark and, more importantly, without form for the eye to grab onto. We wanted to add to the mystery and not have distractions in the background.”
There’s not a lot of camera movement because “the camera is an observer in this film rather than an active participant. The audience should be face-to-face with exactly what Hamlet sees in his mind. We even break the fourth wall several times to draw the audience in.”
This is not a traditional widescreen project. Because there needs to be tension, “the aspect ratio needed to be tight too. The director chose to film in 4:3. For most of the scenes, this meant there wasn’t a lot of room for the characters to ‘breathe’ or move. We wanted the audience to feel that claustrophobia too.“
The final phase of this project is currently underway. It includes the design of choreography for a dancer from the CDCE who will be a second Hamlet (the other Hamlet is on screen and see here in this brief clip) dancing between two large projector screens upon which the filmed content will be shown. The dancer will be interacting with the moving images.
“This is a project unlike any I’ve worked on before,” says Hammond. “The combination of cinema and dance together on one stage is a really exciting idea, and I can’t wait to see it all put together. It’s always a thrill to see your work on the big screen, but this work will be on two separate screens with a professional dancer in between. What a privilege it was to be part of this.”
For more information about Hamlet: Out of Joint: https://ominho.pt/companhia-de-danca-de-evora-estreia-em-famalicao-criacao-inspirada-em-hamlet/
