American Cinematographer - January 2009 - 18

Above: Frost (far left) sits down for a strategy session with his team, which includes (left to right) author James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell), producer John Birt (Matthew Macfadyen) and consultant Jack Zelnik (Oliver Platt). Below (from left): Santoni, Rowlands, Totino and 1st AC Dominic Aluisi at work. “Energy” also describes Frost/ Nixon’s guiding principle, and for Totino, that meant “moving the camera, handholding the camera whenever possible, making the viewer feel he’s in the room with the actors, and rolling on the first rehearsal and letting everything develop from there. We didn’t want a documentary feel; we just wanted to make everything feel a bit more visceral, a bit more spontaneous.” By way of example, he points to the scene in which Jack Zelnik (Oliver Platt) and James Reston Jr. (Sam Rockwell), two consultants hired to educate Frost about Nixon, meet Frost for the first time. The scene takes place in a suite at the Plaza Hotel, a set that was built onstage at Century Studios in Culver City. “We decided to not block the scene,” recalls Totino. “I had watched Ron rehearse the actors, and he said, ‘Let’s just start shooting and see how things fall in, and we’ll build on that.’” Acamera operator Andrew Rowlands, SOC was handholding an Arricam Lite in the room as Platt and Rockwell entered from the hallway, followed by Totino on another Lite. “I yelled out, ‘I’m coming through the door! Make sure you don’t see me!’” recounts Totino. “Andrew and I moved around the room, falling into different shots, building the scene [as we went along]. Somehow, we never got in each other’s way. It was like excellent couple’s tennis!” Totino was working with Rowlands for the first time, and he says, “Andrew is an incredible operator. I did Angels and Demons with him after that, and I hope to do the rest of my films with him! We work well together, just instinctually.” Using two cameras is a hallmark of Totino’s style. “I especially like to do ‘overs’ with two cameras; I feel you get great performances out of the actors that way. It gives them a ‘live’ feeling, almost as though they’re onstage and this is their one performance.” One sequence — a long, late-night phone conversation between Nixon and Frost — was actually shot live, with Langella on one set and Sheen on an adjoining one. Nixon is in his San Clemente home when, fortified with a few drinks, he picks up the phone and calls Frost at the hotel. “Ron suggested we shoot both ends of the conversation at the same time, and it was a great idea,” says Totino. “The sets were right next to each other, and I put two cameras on Langella and two on Sheen.” (All four cameras were on dollies.) The cinematographer kept the lighting simple. Nixon was lit by moonlight coming through a window (5K Fresnels gelled with light CTB) and a small practical (a lamp holding a 40-watt bulb bolstered by a small Kino Flo behind it), and Frost, sitting in his hotel suite, was lit with practicals and a small Kino Flo. According to Totino, the lighting goal throughout the shoot was “to make it feel real.” Because most of the film takes place in Southern California, that meant a lot of sunshine. Nearly all day interiors, whether on location or onstage, were lit through windows with 12-light Maxi-Brutes and a 20K Fresnel. Inside, Totino occasionally added a 2K Fresnel bouncing off bleached muslin. “When I was looking toward the windows, that gave a little wrap around the actors.” Night interiors were lit with practical lamps inside and a bit of moon¢ light outside. 18 January 2009

American Cinematographer - January 2009

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