American Cinematographer - November 2012 - 72

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Deep Shih Tzu
created the pool of light, while another 5K on the lift pushed light through the bedroom window. At Davis’ request, production designer David Wasco created sheer curtains with a pattern, enabling the cinematographer to project light through them and project that shadow onto the killer’s face. Billy’s graveyard shootout was shot on location in L.A.’s Rosedale Cemetery. “It’s your classic graveyard scene, with lots of blue backlight and smoke effects,” says Davis. “I wanted the lighting to look good, but slightly cheap. I didn’t want it to be too ‘cultivated.’” Most of the lighting was done from two 80' Condors, according to Napolitano. One held a 20K Fresnel and an Arri T12, and the other held a 20K and two T12s. Only two nights were scheduled for the action-packed sequence, which required three cameras, lots of Dutch angles and hundreds of squibs. “We were able to position the Condors so we could light all the action because we had coverage in both directions,” says Napolitano. “There was a lot of movement out there with all the gunfire and craziness. We didn’t have the time to move the lifts, but Ben was able to adjust all the camera positions for the light.” One novelty for Davis on Seven Psychopaths was shooting rear-screen projection. There’s a long dialogue scene as Marty, Billy and Hans drive to the desert to escape Charlie, and Davis imagined shooting it with greenscreen. “I’m not a fan of process trailers,” he remarks. “The car is up too high, the movement of the car is wrong, and the driver’s movements are wrong.” At the line producer’s suggestion, the production hired 24frame.com to do HD rearprojection. First, a car rigged with eight HD cameras drove the designated stretch of road to capture background plates. Then, four projectors and 12'x8' screens were brought to a North Hollywood warehouse and positioned around the car to provide the necessary landscapes and windshield reflections. “It looks really convincing as long as you keep the lights simple and don’t

Top: The crew sets up the lighting in Rosedale Cemetery for a bloody sequence that will reflect Billy’s fondness for bad action flicks. Bottom: HD rear-screen projection provides the background during filming of a night driving scene involving a long dialogue.

the entire bar area red, and then we used a very strong marine blue on the tables.” “We hung some 4-foot 4-bank 3,200°K Kino Flos gelled with Lee Flame Red over the bar, and then we rigged small Dedolights gelled with Lee Steel Blue to hit the tables,” says Napolitano. “Our pre-rig time was really limited, but we got a great crew in there to put up the Kino Flos. I was really impressed with how quickly and beautifully Ben lights. He doesn’t second-guess himself on anything.”
72 November 2012

Classic hard light was required for the film-noir scenes, which were shot on a street on the Paramount lot and on location at a former youth correctional facility in Whittier. “We wanted things to be in silhouette and in shadow,” says Davis. Some shots are direct allusions to Night of the Hunter, including one of Stanton standing under a streetlamp, smoking a cigarette and watching a second-story window. A tungsten 5K positioned almost directly overhead on a 60' Condor
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American Cinematographer - November 2012

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