American Cinematographer - September 1968 - 26

Very often the unusual or unplanned and unexpected

multiple cameras. We used as many as five at once on
certain intricate sequences. It is always extremely difficult

action occurs. In this event the camera operator must use

to get the best photographic quality when shooting with

his own judgment. After the "take" a quick report from

several

it

each camera is most desirable to properly evaluate the

is possible to light well for only one camera angle at a

coverage. If a second take is planned, sometimes one or

cameras simultaneously

because, theoretically,

time. In practice, you get one camera located and you

more of the cameras is repositioned for either additional

light for it. Then you walk over to another camera set-up

coverage or a more advantageous camera angle. This is

and find that something is all wrong from that angle. If

often dictated by the changes in the action of the upcom¬

you are at all concerned about a consistency of quality,

ing take.

you must then re-evaluate your lighting in relation to the

In shooting

battle action such as that with which we

action. In many cases it is necessary to establish a com¬

were involved, you know that when an explosion goes off

promise.

there will be a certain amount of dust and smoke and
that this may obscure one or more of the camera angles.
In such cases, multiple-camera coverage is extremely use¬
ful because, while you can usually out-guess the wind and
weather to a certain extent, you can't count on out-guess¬
ing the action as it develops within the scene. Sometimes
the camera angle which you visualize as being the best
turns out to be no good at all. Sometimes it is actually too
revealing. For example, in one scene we had a beautiful
explosion, but the camera that "saw" it the best saw too
much.

It showed very clearly that the water tower that

was blown down had no water in it. In cutting, the editor
had to use the angle from another camera that did not
reveal the fact that there was no water in the tower.
The actual

OP&E C

deployment of multiple cameras starts,

of

course, with an analysis of the action and the geometry
or geography of the staging area. Then you decide what
camera angles you feel are necessary in order to cover
that action fully. You may not be able to place cameras
where, ideally, you would like to have them-but, in the
end, the number of cameras used

and where they are

placed depends upon the nature of the action itself.

Battles Filmed Under "Artificial Moonlight"
In our night battle sequences the number of lamps used
was determined by the amount of amperage put out by
the

generators

which

we

had

available

and

had

pre¬

viously determined to be a practical maximum. All of the
lamps

were generator-fed,

since we were far

removed

from any other power source. We were definitely limited
in this capacity and were crowding our luck a good deal
of the time - but, then, that's part of my job.
For shooting the night-for-night battles staged around
the large A-camp "set" constructed at Fort Benning, we
had available a total of 16 arc lights - 14 Brutes end two
Titans-plus some 10-K's, 5-K's, and smaller incandescent
lamps.
The moonlight, simulated by arcs, would be my overall
The Panavision camera shown mounted on Chapman boom, which
made possible fluid follow shots of the spectacular battle action. Where
terrain was too rough for actual dollying, effective follow shots were
often executed by simply swinging the boom arm to coincide with
the pattern o? action.

back-up lighting. I'd hide arcs wherever possible and try
to spot areas that needed lifting. I would use white car¬
bon, but I'd partially filter the light so that it wasn't as
blue as an open arc, but still had a cold feeling to it. This
night

Adding to the challenge of mulliple-camera coverage

stuff

was

our

biggest

photographic

challenge

in

making the picture.

communication

In photographing night-for-night battle sequences, with

that are involved. For example, a definite plan of action

all of the explosions and smoke involved, you are always

having

I transmil this

striving for back-light. But you usually work to keep that

information to each camera position as I check them one-

back-light from striking the lens directly, because of the

are the

by-one

special

problems

been determined
and

brief each

of timing

and

by the director,
camera

operator. This is just a

danger of undesirable flares. A momentary flare

h

gener¬

beginning. If we are lucky the action will take place as

ally permissible, but persistent flares can be a problem.

planned. More frequently inevitable changes will

The elements of modern anamorphic lenses ground from

occur.

I will have already discussed with each camera operator

high-index glass seem especially prone to flare, despite

alternate probabilities and possibilities and we will have

the fact that they have anti-halation coatings. This can

agreed upon changes in camera handling.

be a problem in photographing contrasty scenes.

656

AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER, SEPTEMBER 1968
American Cinematographer - September 1968

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 1968
