Dune: Part Two Cinematographer Reveals New Details About Those Black and White Scenes

Greig Fraser talks crafting Giedi Prime's aesthetic.

By Jenna Anderson

Dune: Part Two has easily been one of this year's biggest cinematic hits, with director Denis Villeneuve's vision for the franchise breaking records at the box office and earning critical acclaim. The epic film surprised audiences while bringing to life some grandiose sequences from Frank Herbert's source material. This included a handful of exterior scenes set on the Harkonnen home planet of Giedi Prime, which was rendered in a black-and-white aesthetic utilizing infrared technology. While speaking with ComicBook about the upcoming home release of Dune: Part Two, cinematographer Greig Fraser spoke about those Giedi Prime sequences, and revealed that they did create an interesting behind-the-scenes shift for him and his camera crew. 

"It did massively, actually, for focus," Fraser explained in our interview, which you can check out above. "I'm not a scientist about this, but I do understand a little bit, but infrared focuses its beams at a different point in the camera to visible light. Because red, green, and blue, when they all focus together on a sensor is when you get a good image. But infrared, I believe, focuses deeper or closer. Somebody can probably correct me on that. I know that, for my focus puller, all the markings of lenses were wrong, they were all out. So he had to spend a lot of time prepping new focus points. Even then, because we were shooting with a three-dimensional 3D rig, like a stereo rig, if there was a small shift in the rig, it would change the focus. As you know, it's not a scene where [Feyd-Rautha]'s standing still. He's moving around a lot. So the focus was a massive, massive challenge on it."

Will There Be a Dune 3?

As fans of Herbert's books know, the grand narrative of Dune extends far beyond the events of the first book, which has led to a lot of speculation about whether or not Dune: Messiah could become the franchise's next film. Villeneuve has teased that a script for Dune: Messiah exists, and that he is focusing on telling the best possible distillation of the source material.

"I'm working on four different screenplays -- I know that Dune: Messiah will be one of them, I don't know if it will be the next or the second next," Villeneuve shared in an interview earlier this year. "My job was to try to keep the spirit of Frank Herbert alive as much as possible -- the whole meaning of Dune becomes clear with Dune: Messiah."

What Is Dune: Part Two About?

Dune: Part Two explores the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee. 

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The big-screen epic Dune: Part Two includes Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Dave Bautista, Christopher Walken, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and Léa Seydoux, with Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem. Denis Villeneuve directed from a screenplay he co-wrote with Jon Spaihts based on Frank Herbert's iconic novel. 

Dune: Part Two is available now on Digital and on 4K UHD May 14th.

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