American Cinematographer - December 2008 - 20

Production Slate Shooting into the Void by Bill Zarchy Nobel Prize winners. All of the interviews are shot on location in high definition — a marked change from the approach used on the earlier, studiobased roundtable show of the same name. PBS member stations began showing the first 39-episode season of this newly revamped series in summer and fall 2008; director Peter Getzels has already shot more than 100 interviews, using local crews in other parts of the U.S. and Europe. Now, over 12 shooting days in the San Francisco Bay Area, we are filming about 20 of these long-form, two-camera dialogues. None of the interviewer’s questions has a simple or short answer. Start in a two-shot as the host asks the opening question, then dolly slowly, slowly, slowly to the right as the contributor, our interviewee, begins his response; gently squeeze in on the zoom as the camera rolls to a vantage point looking over the host’s shoulder. Keep checking the position of the other camera — swinging on a jib arm and focused on the host — to make sure we stay out of each other’s shots. Reset during the follow-up question, cut at the end of each answer, try to vary the pattern for each question, and settle in for a four- or five-hour chat. Host Robert Lawrence Kuhn’s intellect, curiosity and ability to digest and comprehend the most abstruse points of view continually impress me. He engages our contributors in spirited dialogues about quantum physics, string theory or the origin of the universe. Closer to Truth is Kuhn’s “life journey,” his attempt to grasp these beguiling concepts with the help of distinguished thinkers and academicians from across the U.S. and Britain, and even a gathering of cosmologists in Iceland — world 20 December 2008 Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Bill Zarchy. Above: Host Robert Lawrence Kuhn (right) interviews Nobel Laureate and astrophysicist George Smoot at Chabot Observatory in Oakland, Calif. for the PBS series Closer to Truth. Right: Kuhn confabs with philosopher John Searle inside Searle’s home in Berkeley. residents and paupers, musicians and moviemakers, actors and athletes, writers and regular Joes — I’ve shot hundreds of interviews, perhaps thousands, sometimes 25 or more in a single day. But shooting for Closer to Truth, a PBS science series about “cosmos, consciousness and God,” presents a unique challenge. Start with the quest for a dramatic but natural look, while shooting two people talking, with two cameras. P Then add the factor that both cameras are moving constantly. Because the cameras will show more than 180 degrees of background during their slow journeys around the room, there’s nowhere to place stands for backlights. And front light just won’t do — flat and boring is out of the question. Closer to Truth’s fresh visual approach highlights long discussions with some of the world’s great thinkers, scholars and scientists, including five

American Cinematographer - December 2008

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