American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 38

*|*

A

Lighting the Austrian Spa

merican Cinematographer: Can you
talk about the huge Austrian-spa
set in Pinewood?
Hoyte van Hoytema, FSF,
NSC: The building was three stories
high and mostly glass, and a Translight
background of snowy mountains went
360 degrees around it, from floor to
ceiling. To get convincing Translights,
you need big sizes and distances. The
glass panes in the building also helped
here, because we got reflections of the
Translight from all sides.
How did you and gaffer David
Smith light the Translights for the spa
set?
Van Hoytema: The scene was
meant to [take place on] a clear, overcast
day, so I wanted to light it with daylight
sources to be naturalistic. With a big
Translight, you have to take temperature into consideration - with tungsten or HMI lights, the stage would
have become unlivable. Also we couldn't
use big light sources behind [the
Translight] because we had to keep the
footprint as small as possible. So we
made a giant rib of fluorescents all
around the set.
David, could you detail the
fixtures used on this big glass set?

38

November 2015

*|*

David Smith: Everything was
daylight-balanced. All the fluorescents
and LEDs were fully dimmable and
DMX-controlled. We used Panalux
FloBank fixtures behind the Translight;
FloBanks have two groups of four 54watt tubes.
To give an overall ambient light
- and in case we saw reflections of the
'sky' in the glass - we had a silk above
the set roof with Panalux HiLights
lighting from above. The HiLights
have eight 55-watt tubes. We also had
rows of [Panalux] 2-by-2 LED
TekTiles to give a sense of light direction from the two 'brighter' sides of the
building, and we had six K5600 4K
Alphas beaming down the central
atrium, which we used because you can
[position] them pointing straight
down.
Not pictured on the diagram are
16 18K Arrimax Pars that we moved
around on the floor of the stage outside
the building. They were aimed at
Ultrabounce frames on trusses above
the Translights. We could lower and
angle the frames as needed with electric
motors to get a soft daylight key into
the building.
- Benjamin B

American Cinematographer

Sinister Sect

decided on 35mm anamorphic.
What was it like working with
Mendes?
Van Hoytema: I enjoyed every
moment with him. Sam is smart, witty
and a pure film craftsman. He is very
knowledgeable and is genuinely interested in all the aspects of filmmaking -
a fanatical storyteller. Sam told me once
that, within the whole machinery of
filmmaking, cinematography was very
close to his heart. I can confirm that.
His love for cinematography created
great companionship, trust and access.
There is a classic feel to the look
of Spectre. How did you and Mendes
arrive at that style?
Van Hoytema: We wanted it to
feel more romantic and more classic.
Since Bond used to be a style icon, I was
wondering if we could get some of that
old-fashioned flair back but in an effortless way, not having to try too hard,
without feeling forced and unnatural.
Bond never really has to prove himself,
and I wanted to reflect that effortless
feeling in the visual language. I believe
that we got more powerful results by
being more settled and restrained.
How did you and Mendes work
together to define the camera angles
and movement?
Van Hoytema: We tried to place
the camera exactly where it's supposed
to be, without trying to jazz things up
by putting it in weird positions or
complicated moves. We wanted camera
movement to be functional rather than
decorative.
In the action scenes, we were very
meticulous about screen directions. It's
important that the viewer is able to
understand what's going on. As a result,
you can cut very fast, but you don't get
confused, and the film can be punchier.
This is something I never used to do,
and is very much due to Sam.
And there is no slow motion?
Van Hoytema: Hardly any. Once
again, the idea was to have no unnecessary decoration, just to focus on the
story. There's a phrase by Goethe that I
like a lot: 'So fühlt man Absicht, und
man ist verstimmt,' which translates

Lighting diagram courtesy of David Smith.

◗



American Cinematographer - November 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 2015

Contents
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - Cover1
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - Cover2
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 1
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 2
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - Contents
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 4
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 5
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 6
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 7
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 8
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 9
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 10
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 11
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 12
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 13
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 14
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 15
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 16
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 17
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 18
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 19
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 20
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 21
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 22
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 23
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 24
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 25
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 26
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 27
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 28
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 29
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 30
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 31
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 32
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 33
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 34
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 35
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 36
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 37
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 38
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 39
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 40
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 41
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 42
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 43
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 44
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 45
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 46
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 47
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 48
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 49
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 50
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 51
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 52
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 53
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 54
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 55
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 56
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 57
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 58
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 59
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 60
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 61
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 62
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 63
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 64
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 65
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 66
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 67
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 68
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 69
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 70
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 71
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 72
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 73
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 74
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 75
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 76
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 77
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 78
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 79
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 81
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 82
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 84
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 86
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 89
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 93
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American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 95
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - 96
American Cinematographer - November 2015 - Cover3
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