In one universe, Li portrays Yulaw, a villain who travels through wormholes to parallel universes where he has killed more than 100 other versions of himself. With each murder, Yulaw becomes stronger and more dangerous as though he is absorbing the vitality of his other selves. It becomes obvious to the audience that Yulaw is destined for a violent collision with Gab, a heroic sheriff, also played by Li.

There are also threads of dramatic subtext weaved into the fabric of the story, Finest (Jason Statham) and Roedecker (Delroy Lindo), agents of the “multi-universe authority” are in hot pursuit of Yulaw. That isn’t necessarily good news for Gab, because Funsch and Roedecker have orders to kill him, too, if he bests Yulaw and develops super human powers that might be misused.

Revolution Studios and Columbia Picturesquely Pictures Entertainment produced The One. It was shot at practical locations and on a set in an abandoned powerhouse in Los Angeles. Rob McLachlan, CSC, used both optical in-camera and digital film mastering techniques to create distinctive looks that differentiate alternate characters and universes. The cinematographer was raised in Vancouver, Canada, where he began his career directing, shooting and editing commercials. He also produced environmental and animal rights documentaries before segueing into narrative filmmaking.

McLachlan earned eight Outstanding Achievement Awards over the past 10 years in annual competitions sponsored by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC). He first worked with Wong and Morgan more than 10 years ago, while shooting an episodic series called The Commish. More recently, they collaborated on the episodic series Millennium and the reality-based independent feature Final Destination.

The One opens with Yulaw escaping from prison. He begins stalking Gabe, his parallel self with Funsch and Roedecker in hot pursuit. In one universe, people drive electric cars and banners proclaim that Los Angeles is the cleanest city in the world. In another, Los Angeles is a harsher, grainier and desaturated place.

McLachlan and Wong investigated various possibilities, including bleach bypass, to differentiate the looks of different universes. They also tested extending cinematography into a digital film-mastering suite at Cinesite Los Angeles.

“I’ve probably color-timed more than 300 commercials that I directed and shot, and many episodic series and television movies in telecine suites,” says McLachlan. “I’ve found it very frustrating not having this tool when I was shooting film for print.”

The director and cinematographer decided to color grade key scenes at Cinesite, where a Philips Spirit DataCine TM was used to convert selected sequences to digital data.

“It was an interactive process,” McLachlan explains. “You can isolate anything in any shot, increase or reduce the luminance of light, alter contrast and grain, desaturate or saturate colors. You see the images on an HD monitor calibrated to look like a film image in a screening room. I could say, ‘make that darker or a little greener,’ and (colorist) Mike (Bellamy) would show me what it looked like.”

A Kodak Lightning laser recorder was used to convert the altered digital images to intermediate film, which was cut into the master Deluxe Labs used for release printing.

The One was produced in Super 35 format (2.4:1 aspect ratio). “The story demanded that kind of proscenium, which the audience expects in big action films,” McLachlan says. “Jim (Wong) talked about shooting with anamorphic lenses, but because of the size of some sets and the lighting levels we needed, especially for elements of special effects composites, I suggested Super 35 with a common top line, which assures more consistency in composition of the movie and video releases.”

“Gabe usually had a little more modeling, and I generally used a slightly longer 85 mm lens that isolates him from the background,” he explains. “It is a little more flattering look. I believe the audience know how to read those visual clues.”

A seminal 10-minute scene was produced in the abandoned power plant. McLachlan explains that there were very large windows on opposite sides of the interior, and as it got deeper into the day, there were dramatic changes in the quality and angles of light. Occasional clouds drifting by the sun created three-stop shifts in lighting.

“It was the most stunningly beautiful, naturally-lit studio you could imagine, but it was totally inconsistent for a long scene, incorporating motion control and green photography,” McLachlan observes.

He considered tenting the entire building, but that would have been too costly. As an alternative, they shot that scene at night. Key grip Mike Anderson placed custom-made silks on all windows. Maxi Brutes were used to create shafts of artificial sunlight coming through vents. McLachlan also placed 18K and 4K HMIs on scaffolds outside windows to keep the illusion of daylight consistent.

The film was produced on a 75 day shooting schedule, averaging a brisk 20-plus set-ups daily. McLachlan used a second ARRI 435 camera for additional coverage about 30 percent of the time. He mainly relied on Eastman EXR 200T film 5293 to accommodate visual effects supervisor Eric Durst, who preferred it for composite shots.

The film has a recommended exposure index of 200 in 3200 degree Kelvin light, but McLachlan rated it for E.I. 160 because he wanted slightly denser images. He also rendered night exterior images on Kodak Vision 500T film 5279.

“We had dramatic license since it is a science fiction story, but a too stylized look would take the audience out of the story.” McLachlan says. “Even when we used massive amounts of light in dark and gloomy places, I avoided streaky shafts and smoke.”

Lighting was choreographed to match movements of the actors and characters, with dimmer board operator Scott Barnes responding to the cinematographer’s cues.

Gabe and Yulaw are rarely on the screen at the same time. The main exceptions are fight scenes, which account for most motion control and green screen shots. In one long fight, McLachlan filmed the element with Yulaw at 12 frames a second, and other components at 24 fps. He used the Clairmont high-intensity strobe light system while recording green screen footage of Yulaw at ramped down frame rates. He explains that enabled him to record ultra-sharp images. The images of Gabe, other characters and background plates were filmed at normal speed.

“I prefer to create effects in-camera, because it looks more organic and it is less expensive than creating that illusion in post-production,” he explains. “Violent motions that weren’t lit with the strobes seem blurred, as though Yulaw is moving faster.”

McLachlan says that Li defined the characters in his multiple roles with body language. Gab is calm and meditative. Yulaw is aggressive. They fight in a holistic, circular manner, which the cinematographer visually punctuates with overhead coverage.

“You have to trust your instincts and not think too hard about why you are doing something,” he says. “Jet Li and Carla Gugino (who plays his accomplice) needed different lighting and the camera at different heights on close-ups. On wider shots, we found a happy medium, which I learned by watching my father, a professional illustrator, paint with watercolors.”