American Cinematographer - March 2008 - (Page 52)

Tantalizing Television through the first season and alternates shooting episodes with Eric van Haren Noman, ASC. One innovation Peterson brought to the show was colored light; when he first came aboard, only white light was being used. Production initially discouraged the use of colored gels, but slowly, Peterson began adding them, and now that look is part of the show. “Again, I was thinking of Russell Metty,” he acknowledges. The use of colored light coincides nicely with an element of Walsh’s production design: assigning specific colors to each of the female leads. “Tom worked up a color-palette sheet for each of them, and I use only the gel colors that are within each actress’ palette,” says Peterson. The cinematographer is reluctant to discuss the colors assigned to each actress and the specific glamour lighting each face demands. However, he is happy to talk about “Something’s Coming,” the last episode to air before the writers’ strike shut down production. In it, a tornado rips through Wisteria Lane, destroying houses and claiming a few lives. The program opens under uncharacteristically gray skies, which darken as the episode proceeds. “It was a huge undertaking, but we were determined to shoot it in the same nine days we have for every episode,” recalls Peterson. “That meant shooting in full sun all day long, and the street needed to appear overcast.” In the background, his crew hung a 30'x40' silk from a 70' Champion crane; it was on chain motors so its orientation could be changed. Dull overhead light through the silk enhanced the suggestion of cloudy weather, and Peterson relied on telecine to achieve the cold, gradually darkening light he wanted. He used Power Windows to dull any stray sunlight that leaked into the deep background. In the foreground, the crew Top: Preparing to film the tornado sequence on Wisteria Lane. To capture most of the complex sequence, a VistaVision camera was locked off on its side. The finished shot boomed up the VistaVision frame from Lynette and Mrs. McClusky in the foreground to the funnel cloud in the sky. (The actors’ portion of the shot can be seen on page 54.) Bottom: The CG funnel cloud was added to the top of the VistaVision frame. The sky and Universal Studios parking structure were replaced, and blowing debris and street lamplight were also added. filmed at Universal Studios, where it occupies six soundstages and a street that was once used for the shows Leave It to Beaver and The Munsters. Production designer Thomas Walsh envisaged the street as a character in the show and designed it accordingly, building front rooms into what were formerly just façades of houses. These front rooms are permanent sets, allowing a character inside to look out and even interact with somebody walking down the street. Typically, the second floors of the houses are sets built onstage, but the home belonging to Katherine (Dana Delaney), a character who moved to Wisteria Lane this season, contains a whole floor of rooms at street level, and the entire interior of Bree’s (Marcia Cross) house was built onstage. The practical front rooms are lit by interior units and simulated sunlight pushed through the win- dows. Peterson says matching that material to what’s shot onstage is his biggest challenge, and the Litepanels “really prove their worth” in such instances. The rooms built onstage don’t lend themselves to taking out walls, and in them Peterson uses various tricks for creating broad sources. One is the wall wedge: “We’ll pick a wall that the camera doesn’t see and put up an 8-by-8 bounce. Then, at a 30-degree angle to that, we put up an 8-by frame of light grid and pound a big light into the bounce. When it comes through the grid, it creates a large, luminous surface. Two 4-by-8-foot sheets of beadboard work perfectly with the 8-by.” The look of Desperate Housewives was established in the pilot and first few episodes by executive producer Larry Shaw and director of photography Walt Fraser. Peterson was brought on midway 52 March 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 2008

American Cinematographer - March 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Short Takes: Bill Viola’s Ocean Without a Shore Production Slate: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days Production Slate: Chantal: A Night at the Pyramids Magical Mystery Tour Some Kind of Monster Tantalizing Television Making Sitcoms “Sexy” Post Focus: Mega Playground Helps Set Look for Sibling Post Focus: Visual Effects Society Launches White Paper New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: John McPherson, ASC ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Wayne Kennan

American Cinematographer - March 2008

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