The Need For Speed

Box office hit, thanks to which Berlin got an Oscar, Ray-Ban glasses - relentless popularity and jet fighters, even those with moustaches, were turned into sex symbols. The epitome of the 80's or, according to Quentin Tarantino, a tale of a young man's struggle against his homosexual tendencies. Without it there would be no Tom Cruise of a megawatt smile, Jack Sparrow nor tipsy men singing You've Lost That Loving Feeling. Top Gun, because that's the film we are talking about, doesn't need an introduction. Tony Scott'sCamerimage festival in 3D version, thereby realizing many viewers' childhood dreams.

After the screening, a meeting with the artists, who made this project possible took place - stereographer Barry Sandrew and cinematographer Jeffrey Kimball himself. Barry Sandrew is a digital imaging expert and a visual effects pioneer. He has over twelve patents to his name, he is also a founder of two production houses, including Legend3D, working in the field of stereo conversion. Even though he used to work on the biggest Hollywood productions, such as Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Transformers 3, he wasn't trying to hide that the main merit should be attributed to Jeffrey Kimball: “I consider myself as a magician's assistant without the sexy outfit" - he stated humbly.


Jeffrey Kimball collaborated with Tony Scott on many films and even more numerous commercials. Together they made Beverly Hills Cop II, True Romance and Revenge. With huge regret he recalled the late director, who committed suicide last year: “This long-term collaboration with Tony Scott was the best thing that happened to me in the business" - said cinematographer. “He was about the bravest filmmaker that I've known. (...) I don't think I ever worked with anybody who was more prepared than Tony Scott. On Top Gun we shared the same room and when I would wake up in the middle of the night he would sit there drawing storyboards. He had a real good sense of what he wanted to do and, as we had worked together for years by that time on TV commercials, he trusted me. He did Hunger in England and than he came to America and did that. I was fortunate that he adopted me."

"When we wrapped the film, we had a wrap party at Company 3 and we were planning Top Gun 2. And in fact, Tony was discussing what kind of film stock he was going to use on the next one. Because he was not going to shoot it in 3D, he wanted to convert it, he loved the conversion process. That was the way it was supposed to happen, unfortunately he left us before we could get into it" - added Barry Sandrew.

The shoot of Top Gun was a real fun for Jeffrey Kimball, but it doesn't mean that there were no challenges to face. He wasn't able to use anamorphic lenses on the planes, so he had to use Super 35 camera instead, while Kelly McGillis owes her beauty to his use of arc lights. With great enthusiasm he would also share anecdotes form set; the listeners found out that he kept bumping into one of the six half-naked Tom Cruise doubles, that the sex scene was shot at the last minute in just...five minutes, and that Tony Scott wouldn't hesitate to reach into his own pocket in order to get a perfect shot. In order to turn back the aircraft carrier he had to pay the Navy 25 000 dollars. “Jerry Bruckheimer said that we is not going to do it, so Tony whipped out his check book and wrote out the check right there. We turned the ship and got the shot."


In 2006, thanks to Barry Sandrew, the method allowing for the conversion from 2D into 3D was created. However, this particular title required a completely different approach. “We just finished Man of Steel and Transformers, we've done superhero movies, heavy visual effects movies, and I can tell you that doing Top Gun was much more difficult than any of those. And the reason was because here you have those long shots, the audience has a lot of time to focus on everyone, and there is anything wrong with it - you're going to see it (...) If you take a movie that has no computerized effects it's extremely difficult to convert." Asked what he thinks about the quality of films, which are converted into 3D after the shoot, he replied: “Typically I don't like to talk about religion, politics and the difference between shooting and conversion. But seriously, both are illusions (...) The thing that I would like to get across here is that this conversion is really a tool of a cinematographer. There are things that you simply can't do with cameras. And in those cases, the cinematographer should be suggesting or requesting or demanding that that conversion is done."

Even though they are both pleased with the final effect, they don't think that the film would be shot in 3D if the technology of that time would allow it. “Tony was an analogue guy. If it were done in 3D, it wouldn't have been Tony's vision or Jeffrey's. It would have been a totally different movie entirely. And I wonder if it would have been that good" - noted Barry Sandrew. “The movie looks entirely different than it did back in 1986, but this is really how he wanted it to look. You'll notice that there was a lot of grain. Some people criticize grain, but Tony was an analogue guy. He loved film and he wanted that grain in there. That was a creative choice."

It was obvious that among the audience there are many fans, for whom Top Gun is an unusual film and an incredible experience, which influences them up to this day. One of them thanked the artists for allowing him to see his favorite film not only in the cinema, but also in 3D: “I was born when this movie came out. I've seen this movie 400 times, 253 times on VHS. So, this is quite a big difference. I always play the opening scene before I go to set. It's big part of my life." One thing is clear: in 3D or not, Top Gun still can take your breathe away.

Marta Bałaga
Camerimage