Interview with Dan Macarthur; Cinematographer of Thala55
In Australia, Dan Macarthur is known as an award-winning cinematographer, for his collaboration with academy award winners Russell Crowe and Cuba Gooding Jnr, and also as a writer-director of the soon-to-be-released English feature film Nice Package, a gangster comedy. But in Tamil Nadu, Dan Macarthur is unanimously known as “The Thala 55 Cinematographer.” In a freewheeling conversation with Only Kollywood, Dan talks about his tryst with Indian cinema, how he tasted the best ever food in Ajith’s biriyani, his healthy relationship with Gautham Vasudev Menon and his passion for experimenting new things.
Entry to Indian cinema
For starters, Thala 55 is not Dan Macarthur’s first professional assignment in India. He earlier worked in the Bollywood film Go Goa Gone, touted as India’s first zombie comedy. “It happened through Jordi Cirbian, the Spanish sound designer of the film. I worked with him in Australia and he connected me to directors Krish DK and Raj. It was a lot of fun shooting in Goa,” recalls Dan.
Encounter with Gautham Vasudev Menon
The writer from Go Goa Gone put his name forward to Gautham Menon. “We just spoke on phone and discussed for a while. Then I was here in Chennai working for Gautham’s film with Suriya,” says Dan. Remember Dhruva Natchathiram? That was Dan’s first work in Tamil where he conducted test photo shoots for Suriya. But, the film was dropped. Later, Gautham roped him in as cameraman for Simbu’s Sattendru Maaruthu Vaanilai, but it was put on hold. Somehow, Dan’s entry into Tamil cinema was jinxed, you may think. However, the first successful collaboration between Gautham and Dan happened with the ‘7 UP Party Time’ TVC featuring Simbu. “During test shoots, Gautham was happy that I put together couple of small things very effectively with little lighting and in a quick manner. He really enjoyed that,” says Dan. And then, as you all know, Thala 55 happened and is under progress.
“Our relationship is going on well. He is always relaxed on sets. We agree on one thing – keep it simple and achieve visually interesting results. He is so easy to work with and communicates what he’s trying to go for really well,” Dan tells me about his rapport with Gautham. Having continuously worked in Thala 55 for the past three months, Dan doesn’t find any difference between Bollywood and Kollywood , except that ‘bollywood is in a hurry whereas here people are more relaxed,’ observes Dan. Now, you know why Dan is getting along with Gautham well.
“Sometime I used to chip in with my ideas and if he likes, he incorporates it in the scene. A couple of times I’ve influenced his ideas in a way the audience wouldn’t notice, but Gautham will have his signature in each scene nevertheless,” says Dan.
And, Dan is aware that Gautham Menon will be completing his police trilogy with Thala 55 after Kaakha Kaakha and Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu. In fact, he has seen few scenes from those films, but he wouldn’t risk the ordeal of pronouncing its names. “Gautham has shown me bits and pieces of his films. I’m really looking forward to watch more of his films,” says Dan.
Taking the digital plunge
Dan is using Arri Alexa for the film because he feels it’s the consistently the best digital camera for film and easy to use. “This is Gautham’s first digital experience. We 
started Simbu’s film with the Red Epic camera since we wanted a smaller camera for the project and now moved on to Arri Alexa, which is always my preferred camera for features. Gautham is really enjoying this digital shift. He is learning how helpful it is and how much freedom it offers a filmmaker,” Dan tells us. And Dan prefers digital over film for the endless advantages and avenues the former provides and also because ‘less chemicals = less pollution in the world.’ That’s some perspective the recent digital-vs-film debates easily overlook.
Dan is highly conscious about not giving away anything from the story when we quizzed him about the color tone incorporated for the film. “The film does go into the past a lot and it dwells on the present later. Once you get into the gradient of the film, we have utilized few manipulative techniques to provide viewers different looks. There are a lot of dark scenes in the film,” says Dan.
Ajith, the guitarist
“There are a couple of good songs in the film. I can’t really get them out of my head,” says Dan. And then we quickly informed him that Gautham Menon is a good singer too. “Yes, I’m aware of that. I keep asking him, but I haven’t heard him sing yet,” he says. Dan’s repertoire doesn’t end with feature films. He also has a vast experience working behind-the-lens for a sizeable number of international music videos. Dan has played the drums since he was 10 years old and has been in several bands. In leisure time, Dan and Ajith play music together on sets and we also learnt that Ajith is eagerly learning guitar.
Snow-covered locations up north for the next schedule
Thala 55 has been sho
t across the length and breadth of Chennai – in East Coast Road, Mount road and in few locations in Hyderabad and Malaysia. “The conditions were more challenging to shoot across different locations. One of our biggest challenges was shooting a big fight scene in a hospital which was so hot and incredibly humid. We filmed right in the middle of the heat,” sighs Dan.
“We still got some more travelling to do in the next couple of weeks. We will be going up north; a whole bunch of travelling up there is in the offing. Probably, the most challenging days of the film are ahead. When you are in Chennai, everything is pretty handy but once you get up there, might be a different story” observes Dan. His Go Goa Gone shooting experience was confined to only Goa. He hasn’t been to other locations in north India before for shooting purposes. Though he’s not able to recall the places of future schedules, he’s been advised that they are snow-covered locations and wintry days are ahead. Dan is well-equipped for an invigorating experience and all excited to enjoy the brisk breeze.
Ajith, the fearless racer. Period.
Dan is well-aware about Ajith’s passion for racing and his fateful accidents. “There are few scenes where he’s riding a bike and driving cars. And, I’ve been in the backseat with him – with my camera – in the car sequences. So, when the camera is rolling and goes action, it’s pretty cool and realistic,” remembers Dan.
There is a driving sequence which amazed Gautham Menon for the way Dan pulled off the shot effortlessly without the vehicle moving at all. To do this, Dan used different lighting techniques aided by cameras spread all over the spot. Gautham’s and Ajith’s reaction were like – “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe it. He did this.” The scene has come out well and will look realistic on screen, assures Dan.
“I also pushed for Ajith’s driving around for real and filmed in the car – to get away from the flatbed. It gives so much realism shooting the real thing from different angles,” Dan tells us. “There are also funny incidents where Ajith used to wake up at 6 AM, just walk around the street, run in middle of the road for a shot and just pack up – before thousands of people woke up,” says Dan on a funny note.
Like Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya, Gautham has done it again in Thala 55 – he has captured candid shots of the leads without their knowledge. “There are times when they will be getting ready for a shot but the camera would have started rolling already. Gautham strives to get a lot of realism for staging his scenes,” tells Dan.
Ajith – the fabulous human being!
Dan has earlier worked with Russell Crowe and his band ‘Thirty Odd Foot of Grunt’, shooting three of their music videos and an international tour documentary. And, he has also collaborated with American hip-hop artist Pitbull and the Kung Fu legend Gordon Lui of Kill Bill fame in the gangster action film Blood Money, for which he handled cinematography. But, Ajith’s immense fan following and his persona has floored him more.
“Ajith is a massive icon here and he truly deserves it. He is so down-to-earth. He is so kind. He treats everyone in the crew exactly the same. When he arrives, he says hello to the unit men, hello to the production people just much as he says hello to everyone else. He’s just been great to work with because he’s such a nice guy, really hard-working and so polite” said Dan.
“And, he is really a good cook. A couple of times, he just made a huge pot of Biriyani for the entire crew and it’s the best food I’ve tasted since being in India,” Dan adds.
Ajith’s photography experiments
And, the photographer in Ajith is currently on an experimenting spree. “He’s been taking a lot of black and white pictures and experimenting with them. He’s been asking me a lot of questions and he said he’s got inspired by my lighting. He enjoys a lot,” Dan observes.
Also, Dan doesn’t find any difference between Ajith’s off-screen and on screen personality. “He acts from the heart. I don’t think he changes his personality and becomes someone else. The person you see off screen is the same person as you see on the screen. He reads the scenes, understands and prepares himself mentally for the shot. He is a really natural actor. Off screen, he carries no ego and helps everyone feel good. And onscreen, obviously, his character is little bit larger-than-life because he plays the hero. He has so much of experience and exactly knows what his fans like. Otherwise, I don’t see any transformation in him off-screen and on screen. He is the same person,” remarks Dan.
“He is just enjoying himself a lot in the film. He jokes a lot on sets, and is always fun to be around. And, there is no yelling and screaming on the sets – more jests and laughs than anything else,” adds Dan.
Dan Macarthur – the passionate experimenter
Dan Macarthur is a busy man. His next signed project in Tamil will be the Gautham Menon – Simbu film once Thala 55 gets completed and he says a lot of projects are waiting in Australia. People are actually advising him to buy a permanent house in Chennai, but we are not sure if he’s mulling over that thought. Dan has a passion for experimenting new things with his camera and lighting. “If you are doing a job and you don’t want to start getting bored, you always should try to experiment every day to make it more interesting,” Dan tells us.
Thala’s all-black hairdo
“Basically, it’s just the different time passages in the story. It comes when he is younger – in the flashback”, says Dan about the all-black hairdo of Ajith. “In the next schedules, we are going back further in time as well. So, he will change his look again. But, it’s all top secret and I can’t let the cat out of the bag,” alerts Dan.
“Trisha’s character comes across as a confident girl and Anushka has an interesting character too and she is a lovely person as well. Ajith and Trisha get along really well. Every time they meet, they have lots to chat about,” says Dan.
Gamut of emotions in Thala 55
“Gautham’s female characters always inspire respect. He has strong female leads. He is so good at capturing emotions in all the relationships, not just the romantic relationships. He has a great insight into capturing the natural emotion, be it the relationship between the father – daughter or between the mother –son. I can’t give it away, but there are a couple of amazing emotional scenes in the film which will leave you teary-eyed. ” notices Dan.
Dan enjoys this ability of Gautham so much – “he can make you laugh, make you cry, make you cheer, make you get angry at the baddies and his gamut of emotions are topnotch,” says Dan.
“Gautham really does push the boundaries hard and I think the audiences are going to be quite amazed by the roller-coaster ride the film is,” says Dan on a finishing note.
Bonus nuggets
- A glimpse of the bike-riding sequence will be shown in the trailer/teaser
- Behind-the-scenes making video is also getting prepared and expected to be out after the shooting gets over
DAN Macarthur BIO: As well as being a highly acclaimed cinematographer, Dan is an artist and musician who studied percussion for five years from a very young age and can play several instruments proficiently and recently composed the soundtrack for his debut feature Nice Package. Has played in several bands since the early nineties but his love of film left his musical interests to a part time hobby he intends to take up more seriously at a later date.Dan recently wrote, produced and directed his debut feature ‘Nice Package’ starring Dwayne Cameron (Tribe) in post production to be released in 2014. Nice Package has been acquired by The Shoreline Entertainment and New Line Cinemas for release. It’s also selected for screening at Cannes Film Market this year. Read a short review of the film from a private screening here.
To view Dan’s latest showreel check out his website at www.danmacdp.com
You can also follow Dan at www.facebook.com/directordanmac
Twitter : @danmac711
Interviewed by Surendhar MK