American Cinematographer - April 2020 - 40

Rehired Gun

Regarding the material set in Cuba - which was shot in Jamaica and on a backlot at Pinewood Studios - gaffer David Sinfield notes, "Linus wanted it to feel as
much like Cuba as possible, so we used lots of color. There's a large centerpiece bar
in which we used Cool White fluorescent tubes, Bi-Color [LiteGear] LiteRibbon and
100-watt ES Pearl practical tungsten bulbs in chandeliers and wall fixtures for a mix
of warm and cool light. We lit the whole thing so we could shoot as close to 360
degrees as possible."
Outside, looking to create soft ambience and a natural feel, the crew had Lee
Lifting cranes holding six 12'x12'x8' light boxes, each containing eight Arri SkyPanel
S60s projecting through Full Silent Grid Cloth and blacked on the sides with deep
skirts. Beneath each box hung two BMFL Blades to bring up the level in spots or
provide an edge light. Another light box held four SkyPanel S360-Cs with Chimeras to
enhance the neon from building signs.
"Many of the practicals on the exterior Cuba set were a mixture of the Cool
White fluorescent tubes, old-school tungsten bulbs, and streetlights that were a
mixture of 150-watt 6,500K LED bulbs or 2K Blondes dimmed down to around 30
percent," says Sinfield.
40

April 2020

American Cinematographer - 100 Years

The lighting setup for the Cuba set, constructed
on a blacklot at Pinewood Studios.

led by director-cinematographer
Alexander Witt, ASC, ACC - was
just as big as the main unit, and logistics prevented them from occupying
the same location at the same time. In
the case of the Matera car chase,
Witt's team traveled to Italy first to
shoot the wider vehicle stunts,
including helicopter footage, before
the 1st unit came in to shoot the
majority of the scenes, including
vehicle stunts with Craig and Léa
Seydoux (playing Madeleine Swann).
The stunt cars in the film were
all built or modified by special-effects
and action-vehicle supervisor Chris
Corbould and his team. "They built
eight stunt DB5s with roll cages,"
says Sandgren. "The bodies were
custom-built by Aston Martin in
carbon fiber, and the chassis had been
fitted with fixed pick points to hold
camera rigs. Thanks to Corbould's
team and to the innovative mind of
my key grip, David Appleby, we
were able to quickly mount the heavy
Imax cameras anywhere on the car.
We also had custom rigs on motorcycles that could handle Imax cameras
affixed to their front and rear."
In the sequence, Bond drives
the armed Aston Martin DB5 introduced in the 1964 installment,
Goldfinger. As Bond and Swann are
pursued through the narrow streets
by an enemy motorcycle and sedan,
007 accuses Swann of betraying him.
Craig did as much of his own driving
as was determined to be safe; otherwise, the stunt team had a driver in a
pod atop the car steering the vehicle.
"Daniel is a very good driver
and could do stunts on his own,"
says Olivier Schneider, supervising
stunt coordinator. "He spent time
with [stunt coordinator] Lee
Morrison rehearsing parts of the
chase. He had to manage the presence of the camera while focusing on
his lines and his acting, as well as
safety. It was a lot of pressure."

American Cinematographer - April 2020

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