Cinematography workshop to focus on creating a look
Shape of Water camera operator coming to Banff’s Story Summit this weekend
Gilles Corbeil never got to see his first production as camera operator.
He was in Grade 3 and on a school trip to a Huron Village in Midland, Ont., in the 1960s. His teacher enlisted him to record it all for posterity with a Super 8 camera. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the budding camera operator, the film immediately jammed and nothing was actually recorded.
“I tried to make it a bit more interesting,” says Corbeil, in an interview from his home in Toronto. “I had people jumping over the camera. It had nothing to do with the location. It was about the kids all running around. I wish I could see the film. I remember every shot.”
While that project was not a triumphant success, it did provide the early spark for an impressive career for Corbeil, who would eventually study at Ryerson’s film school and embark on a 40-year-plus journey as a camera operator. In 1997, he worked with Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro on the acclaimed horror film Mimic. More than 20 years later, Corbeil has become Del Toro’s go-to camera operator for his recent projects, including this year’s Oscar winner, Shape of Water. The fantasy drama, which tells the story of a mute janitor (Sally Hawkins) who grows attached to a human-like amphibian creature (Doug Jones) being held at the topsecret laboratory where she works, was nominated for 13 Oscars and picked up four on Sunday, including one for best picture and a bestdirector win for Del Toro.
Despite Del Toro’s success with blockbusters such as Pacific Rim and Hellboy, Shape of Water was a relatively low-budget affair. It was shot in Toronto and Hamilton, occasionally using repurposed sets from Del Toro’s TV series The Strain.
Corbeil also worked with Del Toro on Pacific Rim, Crimson Peak and The Strain. So by the time he went to work on Shape of Water, he had developed a shorthand when it came to communicating with the acclaimed director. While Del Toro runs a relaxed set, the crew had to be on their A game because of the tight shooting schedule, Corbeil says.
“I did a year or a year-and-a-half solid if you connect all the films,” says Corbeil, who will be one of the guest speakers at the Story Summit at the Banff Centre, which runs from Friday to Sunday. “We’ve spent a lot of time together and we’re pretty used to each other and I know how he likes to work and he’s easy to follow. He’s very good at explaining himself. The actors know how he works and there is no guessing. You know exactly where you stand when you are on the set.”
“It’s about rhythm and what values are brought to the table that are important to the camera and important to the film,” he adds.
With Shape of Water, the ever-meticulous Del Toro came to set with most of his ideas fully formed, Corbeil says.
“On Shape of Water, he wanted to make it feel like (the camera) was floating on water,” Corbeil says. “Very subtle movements, always migrating around trying to find the best angle at any given moment. He’ll always plot out the move with the grips and the focus puller. Everybody is on board, everybody is on board before you are shooting. It’s not a documentary at all. It’s very well plotted out and that’s how he likes to work.”
The Story Summit is organized by the Alberta Media Production Industries Association and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativi- ty and brings international experts to town for workshops that loosely revolve around “new approaches to storytelling, innovating with technology, and creating sustainable creative production and business models of media content.”
Corbeil will be holding court with fellow camera operator Stephen Campanelli, a longtime collaborator with Clint Eastwood who recently worked on Martin McDonagh’s Oscar-winning Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The workshop, dubbed “Creating That Look,” will explore how camera operators work with directors of photography to create a feel or look onscreen. Both Corbeil and Campanelli were nominated by the Society of Camera Operators for its top prize this year, which ended up going to Roberto De Angelis for Baby Driver.
Corbeil, who lives in Toronto, has a lot of experience to draw from. He has worked in film and television for more than 30 years on a variety of projects, including Zach Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead, Sylvester Stallone’s 2008 Rambo reboot and the 2015 Oscarwinner Spotlight. He is currently working on Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, a superhero series starring Ellen Page and Mary J. Blige. He also hopes to work with Del Toro on upcoming projects.
“Sometimes on other shows, people will ask me ‘What would Guillermo do?’” Corbeil says. “It’s pretty interesting when people ask me that because I’m still learning and every show is a little different. So I’m not going to start saying ‘This is what Guillermo would do’ because nobody really knows what he’s thinking. He draws everything out on his little book at the start of the day. That’s how he plots things out. It allows him to organize himself visually and storywise. He has done it with every one of his films. I don’t know how many books he goes through on a project. But he’s always drawing and it’s pretty cool to watch.”
The Story Summit runs Friday to Sunday at the Banff Centre. Visit storysummit.ca
On Shape of Water, he wanted to make it feel like (the camera) was floating on water. Very subtle movements.