American Cinematographer - September 2007 - (Page 68)

Once Upon a Time in Bucharest A unicorn and a mysterious hero also figure into the story. Below: Setting up the unicorn shot in a desert-like stretch of terrain a few hours south of Bucharest. desert location to shoot sequences in which the hero — having been captured, stockaded and humiliated — is thrown out to die. Though graphic and alien-looking, the location was a fairly small geological anomaly amid the verdant Romanian mountains, so we chose angles that would allow us to keep any greenery out of frame. However, because of the site’s remote location and the production’s tight purse strings, only putt-putt generators could be used; this limited us to HMI units that were 4K or smaller. We scheduled carefully to utilize natural sunlight, modifying it as necessary. This approach proved more than adequate for the blazinghot desert effect we needed when the hero, thirsty and hallucinating, first encounters our Barbarella-style heroine. The second full shoot day comprised all the remaining sequences to be shot on the studio backlot. Our approach to these exterior daylight scenes was pretty uniform; most of the time, a scene was staged with the sun as a top/backlight and 18K HMIs aimed at the action as 3⁄4 hard frontlight. Hot edgelights were created with HMI Pars or via shiny boards redirecting the sunlight. The interior sequences entailed a typical saloon scene — including the mandatory bar fight — and a more intimate scene between our hero and his love interest. Having learned my craft in an era of ultra-fast lenses and highly sensitive/broad-ranged film stocks, I tend to prefer the more naturalistic feel of large, soft sources and wrapping bounced light, so shining raw units on actors’ faces was a bit of a departure. Doing something intentionally “ugly” is always a bit terrifying for cinematographers; I always feel I need to create the most flattering lighting and show just how slick I can be! However, as I was lighting the “love scene” in a loft in one of the cabin interiors, it occurred to me that perhaps I’ve been too harsh on the old-school approach. The bedroom loft set had overhead wood rafters where I could rig several 1K and 2K Fresnels to provide the scene’s illumination. This dovetailed neatly with our three-point studio lighting strategy, and I was amused to find myself applying the idea with gusto: if a 1K was aimed at the duo as a key light and any resultant shadow on their faces was too dark, I simply aimed another 1K at them from another angle to create fill. This was a totally foreign approach to lighting for me, and I wondered if I had gone crazy. But after all the keying, filling and edgelighting was done, the result looked quite beautiful. Hewing to the eclectic aesthetic established in Joseph’s treatment, the saloon interior location was dressed as a bizarre hodgepodge of seemingly conflicting genres. The bar scenes feature neon signage, an electronic jukebox that projects holograms of the band, and a hurlyburly clientele. The sequence begins with the nameless hero entering through swinging doors and stepping into a tight close-up. This first shot was planned to include the waning throes of daylight and had to be shot before dark. Adding some toplight-bounced HMIs to raise the ambience of the room, we aimed a half-corrected 5K at a 3⁄4 angle for 68 September 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 2007

Contents Editor’s Note Global Village DVD Playback Production Slate Bourne Again Cultural Immersion Baroque Visions Once Upon a Time in Bucharest Short Takes Post Focus Filmmakers’ Forum New Products & Services Points East International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index ASC Membership Roster Clubhouse News Wrap Shot

American Cinematographer - September 2007

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