American Cinematographer - November 2022 - 56

ICONIC INDIES
sex, lies and videotape (1989)
Cinematographer: Walt Lloyd, ASC
Director Steven Soderbergh's examination of sexual repression
and voyeurism shook the industry's Richter scale and
helped make the Sundance Film Festival a prime showcase
for hot new titles and talent. " That film was responsible for
quite a few people's careers, including my own, " says cinematographer
Walt Lloyd, ASC. " I had only shot two features
before that, and they were both low-budget Cannon films.
" In order for a film to get noticed the way sex, lies and
videotape did, it has to be incredibly unique and different, "
he adds, " and it's to Steven's credit that [the movie was so
bold], especially in terms of its subject matter. We knew
going in that it was a 'talking heads' picture, with lots of
dialogue, so we did everything we could to make the story
interesting and build up the tension. One of our techniques
was to always keep the camera moving, but you can hardly
see it because the camera is moving so slowly. Half the time
I was pushing the dolly with my foot, ever so slightly, just to
increase the tension in a scene. I'm not even sure that was
entirely necessary, because the performances were so wonderful.
I've always appreciated the fact that Steven gave me
the opportunity to shoot it. "
Clerks (1994)
Cinematographer: David Klein, ASC
Filmed in just 21 days for $27,000 during off hours at a
real-life convenience store in Leonardo, N.J., Clerks had a
primary crew of three people: writer-director-editor Kevin
Smith, cinematographer and future ASC member David
Klein (then just 20 years old), and producer-editor-sound
mixer Scott Mosier. It surprised everyone, Klein included,
when Miramax picked up Clerks for theatrical distribution
after the film premiered at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival,
which launched Smith's career and became the first of
many collaborations between the director and Klein.
" We didn't know what we were doing - that's why the
camera never moves! " Klein recalls now, with a laugh. " [It's
also] why you have these six- and seven-minute scenes that
are just one shot. I remember one - the 'salsa shark scene'
- in which [actors] Brian [O'Halloran] and Jeff [Anderson]
were on top of an ice cooler, having a conversation, and
Kevin was not happy with it at the end of the night. We decided
we were going to reshoot it the next day. So I asked,
'Well, what do you want me to do with the film?' Kevin just
said, 'Throw it out.' Because we didn't want to pay for the
processing and printing. That's how little money we had. "
Top: Ann (Andie MacDowell) finds herself drawn to one of
her husband's old college pals, Graham (James Spader), in
sex, lies and videotape. Bottom: Actor Brian O'Halloran and
director Kevin Smith on location for the Clerks shoot.
56 / NOVEMBER 2022
SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE STILL COURTESY OF MAXIMUM FILM/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO.
American Cinematographer - November 2022

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