American Cinematographer - August 2008 - (Page 28) Dark Matters Mulder and Scully question Crissman at Scully’s hospital. Roe spent eight years working as an operator before moving up to cinematographer, in 1997, and Spotnitz calls that grounding “key to his talent. Bill has an amazing sense of composition, framing and how the camera should move within space. I didn’t realize until I directed an episode of the show how hard it is to move the camera, and in my shot lists, I had it moving all over the place, but Bill didn’t look at me like I was crazy. In fact, he was excited by the challenge, and he and his crew really rose to the occasion.” Acknowledging that he misses operating “every day,” Roe observes, “It’s not just about finding the frame; it’s also knowing how to get there in a way that makes sense. You have to think backward, in a way.” That ability is especially important on The X-Files, where the camera is seldom stationary, even in simple dialogue scenes. “It’s all about the delivery of information — when, with whom, and for what character — and the camera is often 28 August 2008 telling you the story by delivering that information,” says Carter. “We’ve always used the frame and moves to reveal, to hide, to scare.” In keeping with his approach to the series, Roe had two cameras running all the time on I Want to Believe, and “I think we moved them just about every way you can: cranes, dollies, jib arms, handheld, Cablecam, helicopter, a lot of Steadicam, even a bobsled,” he recalls. “We were talking about it the other day, and I said, ‘Is there anything we didn’t do?’” Fortunately, many of Roe’s collaborators on the feature were already well-versed in the X-Files style because they had helped create it. The production filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, where the series spent its first five seasons, and a number of the show’s original crewmembers returned to the fold. In Roe’s department, these veterans included gaffer David Tickell, A-camera/Steadicam operator Marty McInally (who started on the series as a focus puller), and best boy/gaffer Bill Kassis. In an unexpected turn, Bartley became available to shoot second unit when the writers’ strike shut down his regular gig, ABC’s Lost. “I think everybody in Vancouver worked on The X-Files at one time or another,” says Roe, who came aboard the series when it moved to Los Angeles. “We had a really terrific crew, and I’d had a chance to work with some of them before, on Elektra [2005]. “This was a difficult show,” he continues, adding key grip Dave Dawson, A-camera 1st AC Stephen Maier, and B-camera operator Michael Wrinch to the list of invaluable collaborators. “We shot a lot of six-day weeks, and we were working in freezing cold, mostly at snowed-in locations. Also, we never really got out of nights — a typical day would start at noon and end at 3 or 4 a.m. It’s still painful to think about! You’ve got to have a good attitude in situations like that, and our crew did.” Tickell, the gaffer on the series
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