American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 18
Top: Ledgard’s daughter (Blanca Suárez) escapes his watchful eye at a party to take a fateful walk with Vicente (Jan Cornet). Bottom: Director Pedro Almodóvar (right) looks on as Banderas and Elena Anaya run through a scene involving Ledgard and his captive patient, Vera. This large fluorescent source was typical of Alcaine’s approach to Vera’s room.
of four 36-watt Lumilux tubes, 8-banks of two 36-watt Lumilux tubes, and a variety of 18-watt Lumilux tubes. “We had 3,200°K tubes and 5,500°K tubes, and if we needed to get an in-between color temperature, we mixed them on the banks,” says Alcaine. Among the film’s most inspired sequences, from both a conceptual and technical standpoint, are scenes of Robert in his bedroom at night, watching Vera on a giant monitor that covers one wall. Vera
18 October 2011
knows Robert watches her, and she often stares straight into the camera, as if meeting his gaze. “We shot Vera in her room and Robert looking at her on the monitor at the same time, and the actors were, of course, in two separate spaces, so Pedro had to coordinate their performances perfectly,” says Alcaine. For the smaller monitors in the kitchen, he adds, “we shot the video footage first and then played it when we were filming the kitchen scenes.” The camerawork in each space also
American Cinematographer
had to be precisely synchronized. At one point, the video camera (a Panasonic AGHVX200) pushes in on Vera until her face fills the frame while the Arri pushes in from behind Robert, who is standing in front of the screen. In another scene, Robert watches as Vera sits with her back against the arm of her divan, her legs stretched out in front of her; Robert also has a divan in his room, and the camera remains behind him as he sits down in a position that mirrors hers, except that he is on the opposite side of the frame. The two characters appear to be facing one another. Vera is almost always lit with fluorescents placed at the edge of the frame and usually aligned with her eyes. Lighting Robert’s bedroom required ingenuity because of the blue cast emitted by the massive monitor. “To make it work, I had to make all of the lighting [in the room] that same color,” reports Alcaine. “[I did this] by lighting with 5,500°K [tubes] placed behind Antonio and at his sides. That way we didn’t have light all over the room, which also helped [eliminate] reflections. The crew dressed in black for the filming of these scenes.” Alcaine notes that The Skin I Live In marks his first digital intermediate with Almodóvar. Their four previous collaborations — Volver, Bad Education, Tie Me Up!
American Cinematographer - October 2011
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2011
American Cinematographer - October 2011
Contents
Editor’s Note
President’s Desk
Short Takes: Woolite “Torture”
Production Slate: The Skin I Live In • Margin Call
Road Warriors
Man of Action
Home Invasion
King of New York
Post Focus: Restoring A Trip to the Moon
Filmmakers’ Forum: Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC, BVK
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Takuo “Tak” Miyagishima
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Xavier Grobet
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - American Cinematographer - October 2011
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 1
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 2
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 3
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 4
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Contents
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 6
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 7
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Editor’s Note
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 9
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - President’s Desk
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 11
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Short Takes: Woolite “Torture”
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 13
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 14
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 15
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Production Slate: The Skin I Live In • Margin Call
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 17
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 18
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 19
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 20
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 21
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 22
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 23
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 24
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 25
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 26
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 27
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Road Warriors
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 29
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 30
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 31
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 32
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 32a
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 32b
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 33
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 34
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 35
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 36
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 37
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 38
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 39
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 40
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 41
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 42
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 43
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Man of Action
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 45
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 46
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 47
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 48
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 49
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 50
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 51
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Home Invasion
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 53
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 54
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 55
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 56
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 57
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 58
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 59
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 60
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 61
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - King of New York
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 63
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 64
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 65
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 66
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 67
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Post Focus: Restoring A Trip to the Moon
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 69
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 70
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 71
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 72
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 73
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Filmmakers’ Forum: Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC, BVK
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 75
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 76
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 77
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - New Products & Services
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 79
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 80
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 81
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - International Marketplace
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Classified Ads
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Ad Index
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 85
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - In Memoriam: Takuo “Tak” Miyagishima
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Clubhouse News
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - ASC Close-Up: Xavier Grobet
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Cover3
American Cinematographer - October 2011 - Cover4
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