London. A gang of lowlifes with varied degrees of capabilities and intelligence tunnel under a woman’s handbag store and clean out a Baker Street vault. Sure, they get fists full of sparkles and a whole lot of bank notes, but also something they hadn’t counted on—juicy stuff on some very important people. Ill-gotten gains in hand, they run from coppers and villains, and more than a few stiff-lipped types from the British secret service.

Directed by Roger Donaldson (The Bounty, Species, The World’s Fastest Indian), The Bank Job is a fast-paced visit to a real mysterious London caper tabbed “the walkie-talkie” robbery (because the thieves squawked on the airwaves like crows). To capture the period of 1971, cinematographer Michael Coulter, BSC (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Housekeeping and his Oscar and BAFTA-nominated Sense and Sensibility) and team ironically used the latest in today’s cinematic technology—the Arriflex D-20 camera with Zeiss MasterPrime lenses, shooting 4:4:4 to Sony SRW-1 decks or Flash mags (for Steadicam work).

Coulter, who tends to like dramatic stories, hooked into the combination of character and caper and a chance to shoot in HD. For him, the choice was simply a different mode of capture. “We approached the shooting in much the same way as on film,” he explains. “The aesthetic was achieved in the usual way with great attention given to period details by the art, costume and make-up departments. Although we did try some different looks in tests, we decided that our approach would not be to adjust any camera set-up menus.”

Still, Coulter had more than a few challenges to work through shooting in this digital world. Monitors, cables, recorders, a new language, and at times, a new set of duties created a bit of a learning curve. So did the lack of a D.I.T. (common in the States, a new grade to be considered in the UK).

“Essential,” says Coulter, now that he’s done a digital shoot. “I would have felt more comfortable with a technician whose dedicated job was to look after the monitors and viewing experience. It is very important that the set-up and matching of monitors is taken care of. After all, we are judging our movie on those monitors. It really should not be the second assistant’s responsibility. Unfortunately, it did fall to my second assistants to look after this and I felt that it impacted on their other duties such as aiding their first assistants

with focus marks, etc. Added to that, there is generally a lot more equipment to move around and take care of when you’re shooting HD.”

When Coulter shot The Bank Job, the loom of cables (picture and sound) going from cameras to VTRs presented a new experience. “Having recorders located in another room because of the operational noise level was almost like when sound was introduced way back when,” he says. “I know ARRI has now reduced this to one single optical ‘umbilical’ but after years of using cable-free film cameras, this was a real bind.”

To contend with the weight of the HD equipment (camera, Flash Mag, MasterPrime), operator Stuart Howell had specially strengthened plates designed for the Steadicam sled. Still, they were just under the weight limit.

What Coulter did like about shooting with the Arriflex D-20 was the optical viewfinder, which is, “essentially the front of a film camera,” he says. Yet, the learning curve was still significant—focus and depth-of-field. Although the D-20 chip is the same size as a 35mm frame, there is a very narrow tolerance. “It is either in or out of focus, even on wide-angle lenses,” he says. “Film, with the layers of emulsions, may be more forgiving than the flat chip.”

What-you-see-is-what-you-get as far as on-set monitors was also something Coulter found interesting. “Julian Bucknall and John Ferguson were at the monitors, pulling focus remotely,” he says. “The film-outs looked fine and didn’t have the characteristics we saw on set, but getting used to the difference was a bit of a hassle.

“I did like that we got a good idea of what we were getting when we looked at the monitor,” he adds, “but then we had the added factor of every department crowding around the monitor, making sure their work held up. It’s great, after years of standard playback, make-up, hair, costume, set can now see how their work is holding up. And, the fact that actors can see things immediately, and go back again without cutting the camera means they can stay focused without interruption.”

Coulter learned quickly how to keep the period edge at a premium in digital. White shirts and dark suits translated into a wide ratio

from light to shade. The monitor or waveform became his closest friend. “When the whites peak, they are gone,” he says. “When there is not enough light on dark fabrics, the subtle details, like pinstripes in a suit, are gone. With film, we’ve learned to work around those problems but HD still has its ‘teething’ problems. However, it is a medium that is here to stay so those finesses are bound to come.”

After a week, or less, of getting to know the digital world, Coulter and team were off and running, shooting this fast-paced caper in five-day weeks, 11 hours a day, over 40 days. They really knew they were ‘in the groove’ when they shot a sequence where the gang fall through a hole in the floor of their tunnel and into the cavern below.

“It tested the camera as far as extreme exposures were concerned,” says Coulter. “It started very dark with a few Kino Flos with ‘black wrap’ wrapped around them to allow just the tiniest amount of light out. Then the gang take one single ‘inspection lamp’ to get a closer look and find that the cavern is full of old skeletons and bones. It then finishes with the gang using a ‘thermic lance’ that is this huge ‘white hot’ rod that is used to cut through concrete.

“The complete sequence was shot on stage and we used our MasterPrimes for the low-light stuff, and our zooms (Cooke 18-100mm and Angenieux 24-290mm) for the portion with the ‘thermic lance.’

“I was constantly riding the stop, but it worked. It was lit the same way that I would have approached it on film, although with the HD monitors, I had the advantage of seeing what I was getting.”

Although Donaldson and Coulter tested in London and did the film-outs in London and Melbourne with the idea of posting in London, things changed. With a portion of the financing coming from Australia (Donaldson is Australian), the DI was moved to Australia. “Unfortunately, I had other commitments, so Roger (who has been a DP) posted it himself. We were on the same page throughout the shoot and his final was what I expected. We were both pleased with the results.”