American Cinematographer - May 1988 - 72

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rector' is

very emotionally loaded
phrase," Gruszynski says. "It's an
extremely difficult situation to be
in. Andy (Fleming) has done an
extremely good job. You could tell
on the floor that he knew
exactly
a

what kind of film he wanted. He

prepared. That elevated every¬
body's level of confidence. The
strength of a director is that he be in
control of what other people give
him; and not necessarily in telling
everybody what to do."
A flashback sequence (lat¬
was

from the film) was shot over a
two week period, and involved the
er

cut

use

well

motion control camera, as
two sets. The character

walks down the ruined stairs of

to a

foyer, and walks past a wall. Sud¬
denly, the house is no longer a

optical
if the

shot in one fluid take.
optical work, includ¬
ing fire sequences that were shot on
stage, were done by Fantasy II.
"From the point of view of
my responsibilities as cinematogra¬
pher, I have to draw the line be¬
tween what gives me 100% satis¬
sequence was
The

faction

how 1 would've lit the

scene,"
I

can

Gruszynski says, "and how
get the scene done to the

satisfaction of the director, so it will
work. So, compromises are in¬
volved. The job of the cinematogra¬
invisible

as
you can get.
"You have to be adamant

about certain

things in lighting and
you also have to

composition. Yet,

stored stairs, past Rubin, as two
kids run down the stairs. This se¬

mise and where it is

done in

single shot in

"This

zynski
trol

was

"using

says,

done," Grus¬
a

motion

con¬

You have the shot of

camera.

Jennifer Rubin walking down the
stairs of the completed set with the
camera

panning and tilting with

her. The

camera

movements

are

be able to draw the line between
when it is reasonable to compro¬

imperative to
fight the compromise. That's the
balance
you
have to teach
yourself."
Gruszynski also believes
that filmmaking requires a special
discipline for a cameraman. This is
the discipline of not allowing the
visual style to overwhelm the sto¬
ry's through line. "You can distract
the audience with visuals. There
lot of visually stunning films

programmed into the computer.
The lighting is recorded."

are a

One week later the actress

there

returns to the set which is

dressed

now

burned out ruin. "The

as a

duplicates her previous

situation is

strange because the

actress has to walk to the move¬

ment

of the

need

the

camera.

You almost

device to remote control

the actor.
same

Every step has to be at
speed that was previously

recorded."
The first half of the full set

take is

scrapped, except for the

movements

recorded with the

tion control

camera.

mo¬

The end of the

first take is saved. This is the foot¬

age

panning past Rubin and

East Coast

seem

burned out husk, but is restored to
the way it had looked 15 years ago.
The camera pans back up the re¬

camera," Gruszynski says. "The

Crocker,
Valencia, California (805) 257-1444

to both takes. The

dissolve makes it

pher is to make those compromises

a corner

movements to the motion control

A Division of Camera Platforms International, Inc.

dissolve hidden in the wall that is
common

actress

28145 Avenue

take,

where Rubin walks down the fire
ruined stairs, is married to the last
half of the first take by an optical

the ruined stairs, turns

real time.

Including generator, battery pack & towing
equipment. Plus 100 FREE MILES per day.

running down the stairs.

burned out house. She walks down

quence was

HEW SHOTMAKHI
CUSS C CAMERA
CARS. SUPPER
DM COMPUTE.

the kids

The first half of the second

May 1988

that

extremely forgettable, and
examples of compelling
that are badly photographed.

are

films

are

The stories

can

survive the cine¬

matography, but not vice versa."
This is a key concept for
Gruszynski, one that he maintains
is becoming more and more appar¬
ent as MTV style
cinematography visuals that

are affectations for the
sake of affectations
seep into so
-

many movies. He sums up his feel¬
ing about this style of cinematogra¬
phy in a simple statement: "What
film making is about is not a series
of pretty pictures. If you want to
see pretty pictures or have a
solely
visual experience, you can buy a
postcard or go to a museum." A

American Cinematographer - May 1988

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