American Cinematographer - February 1988 - 54

"Specifically, we wanted a lens
that would give us a really close shot on her
in the beginning. Then as she goes back to
the window and slumps down the wall, we
wanted it to become a two shot. You could
do that with

CHAPMAN THAN,

MERCURY, ZEUS, NIKE
& OLYMPIAN CRANES

a dolly or a lens change and a
dolly. I personally don't care to take her to
the window and have the camera pulling
back. She winds up going one way and the
camera goes the other. This way, she goes
to the window and the shot grows by virtue
of the focal length to accept the two shot.

That

was

the criterion

we

that lens. Let's face it,

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lot of

As for his filmstock, he said,
"I've tested the 5247 every way it's possible
to test it. I am comfortable with the consis¬

tency of the product. I'm still in the process
of testing 5294.1 think you can get by most
times with 5247, and 94 is nice to use for

-

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art and

say borrow." For example, Cronenweth finds
that great paintings can inspire him on some

pictures, but not others. Television can be

look to it. The shadows in 5294 tend to

some

take on color. The shadow area in 5247
is beautiful." Those beautiful shadows

little time."

were

extremely important to this high-

contrast scene.

the

source

of ideas: "I find there is

really good work on TV. It's amazing
because those cinematographers have so
In a final note on his choice of
material for the seminar, Cronenweth con¬

light in this

cluded, "The thing is, a lot of new camera

unusual set-up, Cronenweth used both an
incident light meter and a spot meter. He
arrived at his stop with information from

people make the same mistake - they over¬
light. Lighting can be simple. You can do it as
simply as that was done and have a very

both. In this case,

effective result."

To

measure

though, he was partic¬
ularly interested in the readings from the
shadows. "How much are you going to see

A

in the shadow area? So I read that area and

compute my stop, taking into consideration

highlights, but concentrating primarily
the shadow area."

One of the most important steps
getting the right image on the screen
involves the relationship between the cine¬
in

matographer and the laboratory. As Cronen¬
weth told it, "It's like being married. I get
involved with the lab when I start testing, if
I'm going to start testing. We discuss things
like:

'Why is it so red when it's supposed to
Why is it so blue when it's sup¬
posed to be red? Why is it so dark? Why is it
so light? What are you doing to me? You're
killing me!"'
Out of this friendly discussion
comes enough information to set printing
lights for the dailies. Every cinematographer
has his or her own method of arriving at the
printing lights. Cronenweth uses the pro¬
cess

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a multitude of influences on their
craft. Cronenweth explained, "I see
tons of movies and I steal every good idea
that I can. I shouldn't say steal - I should

with them

another

be blue?

PRODUCTION SERVICES

day and sometimes it takes several days to
get in the groove. There are so many
variables that affect the way film looks. I'm
glad there are - because if it were easy
anybody could do it."
Directors of photography do not
begin pictures with a clean slate. They take

night scenes - exteriors with available-light
backgrounds. I think 47 has a little better

on

VIDEO PROMPTING
SYSTEMS

a

photography is simply by feel."

the

MOUNTS

used to choose

though,

and you move them to either underexpose
or overexpose for the next test. Then you
have a pretty good idea what your lights
are. But there is nothing like actual shooting.
On the first day's dailies you try the lights
that you tested. If they work, fine; if they
don't work, you time the day's work and go
to the next day. You try a one-light the next

of elimination. "I shoot

a

series of

and have them printed and
timed so they all look the same. You can see
whether your lights are too high or too low
exposure tests

WAY, BLDG. 4
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30315

2000 LAKEWOOD

February 1988

Things To Come...
done it.

They didn't know they'd
They didn't even have a

movie camera

but

or a

they made

star, or a story,

movie anyhow.
The year was 1879 and it really
was the very first motion
picture!
a

Read all about it in the March is¬
sue of American
Cinematographer.
The locale was Leland Stanford's
farm near Menlo Park,
California. The record of those
trotter

trotting horses launched the his¬
tory of the movies.
American Cinematographer - February 1988

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 1988
