American Cinematographer - October 2017 - 16

Depending on the distance between the light source and the flat side of a plano-convex lens, the light rays are refracted so as to converge upon
themselves (left), project in a parallel fashion (center) or diverge (right).

a person without creating a harsh or unappealing look, although depending on the
size of the fixture and the distance to the
subject, it can produce a rather hard light. A
Fresnel doesn't have the same "throw" that

DIY
The Covered Wagon
Surprising as it may seem, many top
cinematographers frequently reach for
custom, do-it-yourself, handmade fixtures as
their lighting tools. Often these are fixtures
they used early in their careers and still love.
One of the most common custom
tools is the humble batten strip: a simple
length of lumber with sockets attached for a
line of bulbs, like the side of a classic
makeup mirror. These are generally built by
a best boy at the start of a show and
discarded when the show ends. It's not
something you can pick up from a rental
house; you've got to make it yourself.
A variation of the batten strip is the
covered wagon, which adds a length of
chicken wire that is stapled to the sides of
the batten strip; the wire can then be
covered with the diffusion of your choice,
making the fixture look like a covered
wagon from the cowboy days.
These fixtures might not look like
much or have the bells and whistles of
today's professional lighting tools, yet they
show up in the arsenal of many top cinematographers on some of the biggest
projects. On Snow White and the Huntsman
(AC June '12), Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS used
a covered wagon as a key light for Charlize
Theron in the Queen's throne room.
"Initially, we thought we'd hook the
covered wagons to flicker generators and
just use them as additional firelight," Fraser
16

October 2017

a spotlight does, meaning the light doesn't
necessarily travel well over great distances,
and so Fresnel units are more often used
closer to talent or subjects. Fresnel fixtures
can, of course, be used through diffusion or

told AC, "but they put a great light into
Charlize's eyes, so we wound up using them
around her quite a bit.
"We had to be careful to avoid any
sources that felt too electronic," the cinematographer continued. "I'm a big fan of
LEDs for their low power consumption, low
heat and high output, but their light felt too
artificial. The effect of a traditional [tungsten] bulb is very natural and very warm,
both in color and in overall feel. I liked the
covered wagons because they matched the
color and feel of the firelight easily. If we
needed more [output] from them, we'd
simply use higher-intensity bulbs, and if we
needed less, we'd switch those out for 40watt bulbs. We did use a dimmer, but very
little; we didn't want the color temperature
to drop too much.
"Also, I've found that in the DI, I will
often make the image a bit darker than
what we originally intended. If you can put
a bit more light in an actor's eyes on the set,
you have more room to darken the image [in
post] and still keep his or her eyes alive. The
covered wagons were great for that."
Likewise on Hitchcock (AC Jan. '13),
cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, ASC
repeatedly employed a covered wagon.
"When Hitch [Anthony Hopkins] comes to
the shower and starts working the knife, I
used a covered wagon on the floor to
uplight him a bit," Cronenweth explained to
AC. "We used [covered wagons] several
times on this show; they're correct for the
period, they have the right kind of color and
American Cinematographer

in a soft box - such as a Chimera - but,
because there is some light lost through the
lens, they aren't necessarily as efficient
behind diffusion or in a soft box as an openface fixture might be.
➣

A batten strip (top) becomes a "covered
wagon" (above) with the addition of
chicken wire and diffusion.

tone, and they're very convenient, especially
in small locations. They also have a great
feel."
To make your own covered wagon,
start by creating a batten strip - often a
1"x6" plank cut to whatever length you
desire, then fitted with standard mediumbase porcelain sockets. Wire the sockets to a
switch, and then staple chicken wire around
the batten strip's face, with enough air so
there will be some space above whatever
bulbs you choose to use. Finally, cover the
chicken wire with diffusion material;
bleached or unbleached muslin makes for a
beautiful soft glow.
Happy lighting!
- JH

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2017