American Cinematographer - May 2013 - 53

figure out which technique was best for
a particular scene.”
Though the main unit carried an
Angenieux Optimo 15-40mm T2.6
zoom lens, a prime lens was usually on
the camera. “I want the audience to feel
the movie as the character would, so I
tend to use primes,” says Burgess. “For
42, I used Ultra Primes ranging from
20mm to 40mm, but I tended to shoot
with wider lenses. Some of the baseball
action required longer focal lengths, but
I stayed wider as much as I could.”
Naturally, a large chunk of the
movie consists of day exteriors to document the baseball aspect. But there also
were important interior sets, particularly
Rickey’s office. Brightening that dingy
space with streams of light whenever
Rickey opened the blinds was important
thematically, says Helgeland. “Rickey’s
office was his whole world,” he notes.
“The first time we see that space, it’s
fairly gloomy, and when he meets with
Robinson, he opens the blinds and lets
light flood in. Rickey loves baseball, but
segregated baseball makes him feel there
is something unfair about something he
loves, so signing Robinson and addressing the issue is like shining a light of
truth on the matter.”
Tynes notes that the lighting
effect in Rickey’s office, which was built
onstage in Atlanta, “was a tungsten
setup, mostly 20Ks through the
windows and lights, usually Blondes,
above muslin ceilings, along with practicals in the set.
“Rickey’s office and the locker
rooms had the same kind of feel: hot
light through the windows and lit backings outside,” continues the gaffer. “The
locker rooms mostly had white backings
or blown-out windows. To backlight
TransLites, I used 5K Skypans spaced 8
feet on center that lit up the backings
nicely. And because it was a tungsten
set, we had everything on dimmers.”
The baseball sequences incorporate extensive footage shot by the second
unit, which was led by director Allan
Graf, cinematographer/camera operator
Michael Burgess (Don’s son), and
camera operator Bob Scott. The second

unit’s mission was “to stage a lot of
running the basepaths and stealing
home, the pitcher-batter duels, and
other classic baseball moments,” according to the senior Burgess.
Michael Burgess says the team
used every means at its disposal to “keep
up” with Boseman on the field. “We ran
two cameras at all times, using
Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm T2.8
zooms and the Ultra Primes, depending

on the shots. We used cranes, dollies,
handheld, cradle rigs and electric carts.
The Epic was ideal for all this work
because it’s small and lightweight. We
could handhold it while hanging off a
golf rocket going 20 mph, all while
maintaining a quality image.”
Indeed, the “golf rocket,” an electric golf cart that facilitated camera
setups from multiple angles, was a
crucial tool. On occasion, Moriarty
http://www.mactechled.com http://www.mactechled.com
American Cinematographer - May 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2013
