page_title: Love & Mercy (film)
section_title: Filming
hierarchical_section_title: Love & Mercy (film) / Production / Filming
caption_attribution_description: English: 16 mm Film Camera Arriflex 16SR-3
context_page_description: Love & Mercy is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed by Bill Pohlad that focuses on the Beach Boys' co-founder and leader Brian Wilson and his struggles with mental illness during the 1960s and 1980s. The film derives its title from Wilson's 1988 song of the same name, and stars Paul Dano and John Cusack as the young and middle-aged Wilson, respectively, with Elizabeth Banks as his second wife Melinda Ledbetter, and Paul Giamatti as his psychotherapist Dr. Eugene Landy.
  The film alternates between Wilson's production of the album Pet Sounds and his treatment under Landy's 24-hour therapy program in the late 1980s. Wilson called the film "very factual." He had little involvement with its making, whereas Ledbetter was relied upon for the 1980s portions. The cast and crew maintained that nothing in the film was a "Hollywood" embellishment and that everything was intended to be as factual as possible. Conversely, Landy's son Evan felt that his father was unfairly portrayed. Some minor historical inaccuracies were noted by critics, a number of which relate to the minimal coverage devoted to Wilson's family and collaborators.
context_section_description: Looking for a seasoned director of photography, Pohlad sought cinematographer Robert Yeoman, who is best known for his credits on Wes Anderson films. Yeoman recalled: "I loved the script and the take on the story. Bill had a lot of great ideas and I felt it would be an amazing film to be part of." He strongly felt that the film should not be shot in Louisiana for tax incentives, and also resisted digital capture, explaining: "The story takes place in an analog time, so I felt we needed the grain and texture of film to give [the settings] a realistic feel." Every scene set in 1960s recording studios was shot in Super 16, as well as a few other select scenes. In contrast to Pohlad's desire for the decade to look warm and romantic, the 1980s scenes were given a cold white and blue cast.
  The film's studio depictions strove to recapture Wilson's elaborate recording processes during the sessions for Beach Boys albums Pet Sounds and the unfinished Smile. To this end, the scenes were shot "documentary style," and real musicians were hired to act as the session musicians Wilson used. They were also filmed in the actual studios where the Beach Boys' music was recorded in the 1960s, such as the Studio 3-room at EastWest Studios, which was then known as United Western Recorders. Pohlad claimed that they were real sessions with direction largely improvised by Dano, who instructed the musicians based on his impression of Wilson's tone and the way that he worked: "We had two Super 16 handheld cameras going, and for most of that we were just able to grab shots as we would if we were shooting a documentary." About the musicians, he added: "We didn't really rehearse with them, or tell them much what we were doing. They brought their instruments, and we dressed them in period clothing, and we basically sat them down like they were there for a session." Yeoman was "purposely kept out of the rehearsals, so he never really knew what was coming – he just had to get it," Pohlad says. Fly on the wall documentary films such as Sympathy for the Devil (1968) and Let It Be (1970) were used as references.
  Principal photography began on July 15, 2013 in the Hollywood area and expanded to various locations around Southern California. Shooting lasted for 35 days. Wilson announced the film's wrapping through his Twitter page by posting a photo of himself and his wife along with Cusack. The film's wrap party featured a special appearance by Wilson, who performed a solo live set. In January 2014, Pohlad reported that he was currently editing the film in New York. In July, a casting call was made for additional filming requiring a depiction of 1980s period cars.
caption: 16 mm film shot by an Arri 16SR3 camera was used to give the movie's 1960s setting a period-authentic feel[20]
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