GREIG FRASER, DUNE

Dune is Australian DP Fraser’s first movie with Denis Villeneuve. He was Oscar-nominated once before, for Garth Davis’ Lion (for which he received the 2017 American Society of Cinematographers Award).

Noting that the Canadian director is a longtime fan of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel, Fraser says: “I think he wanted to be Paul [Timothée Chalamet’s character]. He wanted to go on Paul’s journey … and feel like he had big adventures ahead of him and a new world to explore.

“I remember when I watched Star Wars for the first time, just the scale of those worlds … it’s those elements of scale that he really responded to, [plus] that idea that we might feel like we’re a big person, but ultimately we’re tiny little ingredients in this biology of the planet, which is a huge undertone of Herbert’s work.”

Much of the film is set on the harsh desert planet of Arrakis. “During the first meeting, Denis said to me, ‘This desert is not the desert that we all know.’ We want it to look like a terrible place to be, but at the same time, we’re making a film, and we don’t want the audience to be underwhelmed. It has to be good photography, it has to be in keeping with the quality of the writing.”

Production found locations in Abu Dhabi and Jordan’s Wadi Rum for Arrakis, and Fraser shot in sandy, windy and hazy conditions in July and August. Fraser also incorporated large-format photography. “Abu Dhabi probably ended up being the most challenging; we went there with 15 people, and Denis was absolutely diligent about keeping 15 people, which meant we were limited by what we could do,” Fraser recalls. “But those limitations ended up being the best time that we had on the entire movie — going from this big production to this tiny, little film.”

Greig Fraser (left) with Timothée Chalamet.