Movie Review: The Girlfriend Experience

Forgive me if this review is a bit different from the norm. I’m going to be approaching this movie from two seemingly unrelated sides. Firstly, a review of the movie it self: the direction, story, acting and such. Then, I’m going to talk about the camera that was used for filming. Normally in reviews the camera that was used is not mentioned, because no one really cares. The use of an Imax camera in the Dark Knight is about the only recent exception I can think of. So then why am I going to bother writing a review in which I’m going to talk in depth about the camera? Because it was filmed on the Red One (…more on that later).

Firstly, the movie itself. The Girlfriend Experience tells the story of high-class escort, who offers a more encompassing girl-friend experience for her clients. For a very high price, she not only provides the usual hooker type activities, but also provides services that are more akin to that of a girlfriend; someone to have dinner and watch a movie with; someone to wake up beside and have breakfast with in the morning. Unlike most prostitutes, escorts, and hookers (I presume) she also has a committed boyfriend who is fully aware of her career. It is not hard to guess where the conflict will arise.

Like many of Steven Soderbergh’s movies, this film has a hook. The escort is played by an actual adult film star: Sasha Grey. In a normal Hollywood film, this would mean nudity and graphic sex, but here Soderbergh attempts to keep it as PG as a film about escorts can be. Since I know you are all wondering, yes there is nudity, but it’s brief and shadowed and as such only got a 14A rating here in Canada. This role really did not demand an actress who was willing to go naked, as the one scene really only served as a teaser and nothing more. Cutting the scene would have had no negative effect on the film.

In what has become a standard art-house tradition, the film is told in a non-linear format, in which the audience is able to watch small parts of the characters lives. Thankfully Soderbergh chooses to use a conflict to move the story forward. While Sasha Gray provides a girlfriend experience to her clients, her relationship with her actual boyfriend is falling apart. He, while accepting of her job, is seeking the experience she gives to the other people in her life. And so, we the audience watches as the conflict arises, grows and eventually reaches its climax.
It is an interesting story, but the jumping around of the timeline only dampens and confuses an otherwise simple plot. Acting, is sparse, bare and for lack of a better word, raw. Sasha Grey is surprisingly good, if a little bit flat in her delivery. However, most of the actors deliver their lines in a rather flat indie-style form and so she fits right in. There is no major dramatics here. The music is limited to a few moments and most of the times it ends up being didactic as well. The few sections of music that are not created on screen are reminiscent of a simplified Friday Night Lights soundtrack.

Visually, Soderbergh chooses to frame his shots in a fashion similar to Ocean’s 11-13 but more exaggerated. Non-traditional angles, lingering shots, focus pulls, deliberate under and over exposures and a moody and dark pallet, make up a majority of the film. It is gritty and the focus is rarely tact sharp. Visually it looks very good and if I hadn’t of known better I would have sworn it was film on 16 or 35mm film. However, I do know better and it wasn’t shot on film. It was filmed on the digital Red One camera.

Anyone who has been around me for the last 2 months as heard me talk about this camera. So for those of you reading this, my apologies for continuing to go on and on about it. But for me it is just something really amazing. For those who haven’t heard of this camera or can’t possible understand why I would bother to take the time to explain what makes this camera unique, a quick recap.

Jim Jannard, who is a majority shareholder in Oakley and was their chairman for over 25 years, is a long time sports and wildlife photographer and videographer. Over many years he amassed a very large collection of cameras and equipment (including a very rare and extremely expensive Canon 1200mm zoom lens). Over those years, he constantly searched for the perfect camera. He wanted a camera that could produce a digital image that was equal or better to 35mm film all within a compact and sturdy camera body. All the available digital cameras for videographer were extremely expensive and didn’t provide him with the image quality or portability he was looking for.

After leaving the management of Oakley he started a new company, in which his goal was to create this dream camera. In the process of making this camera he also added new ideas to its construction such as a modular design. This meant the camera could be stripped down to the bare bones for sports photography or it could be built up with extra parts for use in full productions. Just over a year ago, his company released the first version of this camera: the Red One

And so you have the history of Red. But that is really only part of the story behind what makes the Red One Camera unique. Firstly, the price and specs of the camera are astonishing. For $17,500 you get a camera body (no lenses or other necessary equipment) that is capable of creating a 4k image (4k stands for 4000 lines of resolution). By comparison, a 1080p High Definition TV is just under 2k in resolution. As well, 35mm film negatives are often digitally scanned at 2k or 3k resolutions. Not only is the camera capable of a much higher resolution than the famed digital Thomson Viper, but it also is about 1/5 of the cost and provides footage that is in a raw format. Shooting raw footage allows for colour, exposure and white balancing corrections in post that rival, and usually surpasses what can be done with regular film. As well, the sensor that is used to produce the image is just slightly smaller than a 35mm film strip (The Viper’s sensor is 2/3’ and an Panasonic HVX’s sensors are 1/3’), so the image has a look very similar to regular film (in other words the camera is capable of producing a depth of field almost identical to a regular film camera). Add to all of this that the camera is also capable of doing multiple frame rates between 1 and 100 fps and you have a very powerful machine.

Even with all of that, there is still more about the Red company that makes it unique. The company has been run in an open format, meaning that they would let their potential clients know what was going on in terms of camera development. They started with a plan on what they wanted the camera to be able to do and then told the world about it. Professionals and amateurs alike gave their feedback and the company adjusted. They added features and ideas from the community to help make the camera even better. They were uniquely honest and forthright when issues or changes arose (Their motto became, “Specifications, prices and delivery dates are subject to change. Count on it.”). Jim himself often posts on the companies community forum, answering questions or posting information he believes that the community would find interesting. Pretty amazing when you consider he is worth an estimated $3 billion. (When was the last time Bill Gates posted answers to your questions on the microsoft help forum?)

So you can see that a very unique company created a unique and powerful camera, which attracted the attention of not only the amateur but the professional as well. Early supporters of the company included Peter Jackson [pictured right with one of his many Red Ones], who shot a WWI short with the first two prototype cameras to prove how amazing the new technology was. He is now shooting his big budget WWII movie Dam Busters with them) Those first two cameras were so basic that all that functioned on them was the power and record buttons. From that point on the camera has taken off. It is now used exclusively on filming for several TV shows, including Southland and Vancouver’s-own Sanctuary. Soderbergh first used the camera for his 2 part 6-hour biopic Che. As well, Knowing exclusively used the camera as does the upcoming film Gamer. IMDB lists well over 100 productions to date that have or are currently using the camera in some fashion on their sets.

So now you know about the camera, the question is, how does the footage, for The Girl Friend Experience look when it is being projected in an actual cinema? Pretty dam good. The blacks are actually black and not some dark shade of grey as is typical with most digital cameras. There is no visible clipping, another standard with digital video compression. The colours are strong and clear and high contrast shots don’t seems to be an issue at all. There are moments when the action doesn’t appear completely sharp, however I think this has more to due with Soderburgh’s vision and his choice of lenses than the camera it self. Especially important was the lack of the digital look that non-film cameras tend to produce. Through out the entire film, only one scene towards the end had that slight digital feel and in comparison to other digital films it was hardly noticeable.

All in all, it was really exciting to see footage from my dream camera up on screen and looking amazing. What makes all of this even more exciting is that Red is currently working on a modular and easily upgradable 3k resolution camera that they hope to sell for under $4000. Now, that is revolutionary.