American Cinematographer - February 2008 - (Page 31) his palm. When he took his hand away, I had a beadboard positioned right in front of the carbine to bounce light back onto him.” “To stay in character with the single-source lighting, [key grip] George Patsos, Mo and I were bouncing 6P flashlights off 1-footsquare beadboards or off the ceiling to provide the faintest little reflection on the top of Will’s head,” he continues. “When the camera is following Will, there’s no light apart from what’s coming out of the flashlight and hitting the corridor, furniture or walls — if Will isn’t lighting it, it’s not being seen. At any given point, he was 2 to 4 stops under, so we were running close to the edge of capturing information. It’s a testament to the negative that it’s all there. Francis said he wanted a scary scene, and I certainly found shooting the scene scary, albeit for other reasons!” Another interior location that proved demanding was a Manhattan apartment Neville enters in his never-ending search for food and other supplies. Styled in a contemporary manner, the apartment was a large, open space with low ceilings, exposed-brick walls, wood beams and large windows running down one wall. The space is dark when Neville cautiously enters, and he rips down the window blinds, letting sunlight flood in. “In keeping with other shots in the film, Francis wanted this scene to be covered in masters using the Steadicam,” says Lesnie. “I knew I’d need a lot of light through the windows because we were shooting wide and moving around a space with low ceilings, so there was nowhere to hide lights inside. “Mo suggested using Arri 18K Pars, which are the same size as 18K Fresnels and put out a staggering amount of light,” continues the cinematographer. “The sheer intensity of their output meant the light reached the far end of the apartment. The lights were positioned to come in at Above: When Sam chases a deer into a dark, abandoned bank building, Neville is forced to follow. “At any given point, [Smith] was 2 to 4 stops under,” says Lesnie. “It’s a testament to the negative that it’s all there.” Left: HMI cube balloons boost the ambience in the Temple of Dendur in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Neville’s favorite fishing hole. American Cinematographer 31
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.