American Cinematographer - March 2009 - (Page 67) for the most demanding stunts. With a 24-hour reset time after exploding fish tanks, and a five-camera setup that included a top camera traveling on wire rigs, we were able to match the new market with the old one. After arriving, we’d have to work quickly. In the real fish market, there wasn’t much use planning ahead because it would look different every day, but we were able to shoot reactions of the locals going about their business. Paul also brought an old, windup Bolex and grabbed some shots that made it into the final cut. Though the look of Hong Kong was perfect for Push, I realized quickly that I’d had the wrong idea about the way movies are made there. Paul and I are both big fans of Wong Kar-wai, but he can take 18 months to make a movie. On local movies, the crews were on a totally different pace than I’m used to; they’ll shoot for 20 hours and then stop for days. My Canadian gaffer, Sylvain Bernier, had to coordinate some big locations with a lighting crew of about 30, only a few of whom spoke English. My first local gaffer, known as Hong Kong Boy, would get upset with the crew because if he said he needed a light moved a few feet, 10 of them would run to the same place. They were eager to please, but it wasn’t very efficient. Hong Kong is an incredibly polluted city, and I was often disturbed to find our trucks running unnecessarily. The explanation was that if the motors were running, we didn’t need permits for specific places. It didn’t make sense to me, but I needed to put lights somewhere. When shooting night exteriors, it wasn’t easy to get the cooperation of locals. Night filming in those neighborhoods isn’t done much at all, and when it is, residents are not compensated for giving their permission. Another difficulty was filming car scenes on location. Between permit issues and congested traffic, we chose to shoot all the car interiors onstage against bluescreen or greenscreen. Hong Kong is the most traffic-jammed city I’ve ever seen, and you can’t get much cooperation to divert any of it for a movie. Our second unit shot plates for the driving scenes in interesting locations. A end a four-year college that’s as crea ve as you are. Five Towns College o ers the specialized training you need. Contact an Admissions Representa ve for more informa on or visit us at www. c.edu/signup. When you’re serious about music and the performing arts! FIVE TOWNS COLLEGE (631) 656-2110 www.ftc.edu Dix Hills, NY 11746 67 http://www.filmtools.com http://www.filmtools.com http://www.theasc.com http://www.theasc.com http://www.ftc.edu/signup http://www.ftc.edu http://www.ftc.edu
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