American Cinematographer - September 2013 - K3

500T Color Negative Film 5219
wouldn’t fail him in this situation,
as he most often opts for these
particular stocks, knowing their
sensitivities and capabilities like
the back of his hand.
“Typically, one would have
to be in a studio to get that kind
of bright light look,” explains
Smith. “I had to really think
hard, and use a style of lighting
I wasn’t entirely comfortable
with to bring the interior light
up, and to convince the owners
that it wouldn’t be detrimental
to the gorgeous ornate ceilings
and walls. It was a real struggle
to get that look.”
The production wasn’t
Larry Smith, BSC teamed
with Jerusha Hess for her
directorial feature debut
Austenland. The fi lm, which
premiered at the Sundance
Film Festival, is a romantic
comedy about a single, 30something
woman obsessed
with all things Jane Austen.
Keri Russell stars as Jane
Haynes, whose love life is being
ruined by Mr. Darcy — played by
Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation
of Pride and Prejudice — as no
real man can compare. Haynes
decides to spend her life savings
on a trip to an English resort
that caters to Austen fanatics,
and her fantasies of meeting the
perfect Regency-era gentleman
suddenly become more real than
she ever could have imagined.
Smith came up under the
tutelage of director Stanley
Kubrick. Their history was fi rst
cemented on the set of Barry
Lyndon, where Smith was chief
electrician and they spoke in
depth regarding lighting rigs.
He started working on The
Shining as a gaffer about a year
before principal photography,
designing all of the lights using
non-fi lm lights built from scratch
to achieve the effect of being
in a real hotel. After 13 years
of working almost nonstop for
Kubrick, Smith embarked on
new challenges and shot over
a thousand commercials with
such renowned directors as
Ridley Scott, Doug Liman, Adrian
Lyne, Daniel Barber, and Paul
Weiland. Upon reconnecting
years later, Kubrick asked Smith
to shoot Eyes Wide Shut. He
has since shot features such
as The Guard, The Blue Mansion,
Bronson, and Only God Forgives.
Smith takes pride in
purposefully avoiding the
notion to visually reference
other fi lms for a new project. “I
don’t like doing that and I prefer
to approach a project asking,
‘What is the production design
and what does the story call for?’
I like to go in with an open mind.
“For this fi lm, the producers
were going for a brighter,
high-key look for the story,” he
explains. “And toward the end
of the prep period, we basically
realized we might be in the
wrong location for the look
they wanted for the interiors.”
Production took place
in the U.K., just outside of
London. The West Wycombe
House provides a setting that
is the epitome of the typical
old English country home,
complete with heavy drapery,
dark wallpaper, ornate ceilings
and centuries-old relics at every
corner. The descendants of the
original owners still reside in
the house, but it is technically
owned by the National Trust
and considered a museum.
“I know the house quite well,”
says Smith, who has shot there
previously. “Its look lent itself
very well to how I tend to shoot,
which is more contrast-y. There
are large shafts of light through
windows and you can use only
practicals for night interiors.
But for this fi lm, we needed to
make it bright.”
Smith knew KODAK
VISION3 200T Color Negative
Film 5213 and KODAK VISION3
allowed to take anything out of
the house, or to rig from anything
existing in the house, so they
put up minimal lighting rigs far
from the walls and brought in
the coolest HMIs Smith could
fi nd. He colored them to look like
tungsten for night interiors and
bounced the light off the ceilings,
building up the ambient light
inside without making it look lit.
“It’s fi ne to change a style of
lighting for a particular project,”
he adds, “but you’ve got to be
comfortable with the fact that
the style you’ve changed to is
something you’re happy with.
Ultimately, we did reach that
happy compromise.”
Sony Pictures Worldwide
Acquisitions purchased the
distribution rights to Austenland
after its Sundance premiere,
and the fi lm will begin hitting
cinema screens in August.
Photos: Top: (l-r) Georgia King, James
Callis, Jennifer Coolidge, Bret McKenzie
and Keri Russell. Center: Director Jerusha
Hess and Larry Smith, BSC. Bottom: (l-r)
Coolidge Russell and King. (Photos by Giles
Keyte, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics).
American Cinematographer - September 2013

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