American Cinematographer - October 2014 - 77

Photo courtesy of Brian Hamill.

Willis and members of his Annie Hall camera crew
capture a shot from the back of an El Camino, whose
low suspension made it the cinematographer's
favorite vehicle for moving-car shots.

not only revealed myself to be a rookie
but a clumsy one at that, Gordon was on
his way from the camera room to the set.
He made his remark in response to my
letting a 4"x5" Panavision matte box slip
from my grasp. It bounced several times
on the floor with an echoing clank that
spun every head in the building.
Being a born-and-bred Brooklyn
boy and, thanks to my documentary
experiences, quite well-traveled at that
point, I was not easily intimidated. But
this was a memorable moment.
Gordon's legend as a superb cameraman
had long preceded him, but here he was
in the flesh ... and he was cool. If I blew
it with the Panavision matte box, big
deal - it was hardly the first impression
I'd never get back. As for the one he
made on me, the shock waves set off by
that encounter still resonate today.
During the 12 years I spent as an
assistant cameraman, I had the great
good fortune to work alongside Gordon
many times. But on that initial experi-

ence, I was forever spoiled by his working methods - which, as I would later
discover on other films, were unique to
him and a complete anomaly across
every level of the industry. If the atmosphere on most of today's movie sets is
akin to being in the cheap seats on
dollar beer night, Gordon's sets were
paragons of decorum. It was like
attending a high mass; in their silence
and orderliness, crewmembers showed
respect for what was taking place. Even
a casual visitor knew that serious people
were doing important work and distractions would not be tolerated. I've always
contended that the tone on any production is established at the top. But no
matter how hard I've tried, I've never
been able to equal - nor have I
witnessed anyone else equal - the
absolute control Gordon exercised over
the moviemaking process. It was a farreaching effect, too, moving across all
borders and departments. Set design,
art direction, makeup, hair, wardrobe,
editing and even scheduling were
brought to heel to serve his ends. Given
the number and variety of egos roiling
around the average production, it's
amazing he was able to subjugate his
collaborators so regularly and with what
seemed like such little effort.
The day would begin with a
private rehearsal on set for the director
and actors only. At a certain point,
Gordon and the director would begin to
discuss how to break the scene into its
components. Eventually, the crew was
invited in and the shots would be settled
upon; marks were placed on the floor
specifying actor and camera positions,
lens focal length and distance from the
players. Once again, all of this took
place in respectful tones and continued
for as long as it took to knock out the
bugs. When that point was reached, the
real work of lighting began. The great
thing about this method was that it
allowed people to think through what
they were doing, to reach down into
themselves and come up with their best
effort regardless of the position they
held. That Gordon often would take
several hours to light a single shot never
77
http://www.wamcoinc.com http://www.wamcoinc.com
American Cinematographer - October 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2014
