American Cinematographer - May 1988 - 78

budget horror films prior to State of
Fear.

Schmidt believes that cin¬

ematographic style should
from the script: "Of course,
tain set of choices

come

a cer¬
made be¬

are

of the individual

cinematog¬
rapher's experiences and taste, but

cause

the look of the film should be dic¬
tated

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by the story. A cinematogra¬
pher shouldn't consciously try to
put his imprint on a film solely for
that purpose."
During lengthy discus¬
sions, Schmidt and Cornwell devel¬

oped a conceptual philosophy
which determined a compositional
style to be used throughout the
story is told
through recall and voice-over. This
technique, resulting in image with¬
out dialogue, is
potentially less ef¬
fective at conveying an idea. To
ensure
clarity, Schmidt and Cornwell brought a bold, graphic com¬
positional style to the film.
film. Much of the

"I did not want the visual

character to be

excessively moody.
beginning of the film we
a clean, natural
light," says

At the

wanted

Cornwell. "As the

The Image Bank
&Film Search.

Representing the finest
Cinematographers
in the world,

story progresses,
however, and circumstance closes
in on our central character, the cine¬

matography becomes increasingly
claustrophobic. Throughout, we
tried to achieve a sympathy be¬
tween staging and camera that
would allow

scenes

to evolve in

a

throughout the world.

minimum number of shots. Cuts

More than ever,

story telling was the goal. Most of

the only stock worth

and

close-ups had

the shots and

well

as

or

scenes

Efficient

worked out

better than

planned, and for

watching.

reason.

a

we

as

had

look of heightened realism-
gritty, documentary feel, but a
glossy, efficient look. We generally
used a clean lens with soft lighting,
a

a

to which
111

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that the characteristic

lished

of this

realistic look, then added

a

whirligigs -1200 par HMI lights
aimed at a spinning mirror-to give
the scene an atmosphere of irrita¬
tion and inquisitiveness.
"There
which

felt

we

a

was one

scene

in

clean

would be too harsh.

graphic look
At the Langely

Mansion, Jameson encounters

a

insulated from the war by
her wealth and naivete. We wanted

woman

to create

a

very

cushy and isolated

world -a world removed from real¬

ity. We tried to have everything look
a little too
perfect-the light just
streaming through the window,
and

forth-and

so

we were

happy

with the results. We shot it with a V2
double fog which enhanced that

whole

feeling."
Los Angeles City Hall was

location that demanded

com¬

plex and challenging setups. "City
Hall is

beautiful location," says

a

Schmidt. "We wanted to

capture

the

grandeur of the place. We
brought in a great deal of equip¬
ment

for those shots, and increased

the size of

our crew

accordingly. We

also enlisted the
and

help of Steadicam
Pogocam operator, Jeff Mart."
One

scenes,

told

of the City Hall
through Jameson's

memory, called for a group of sol¬
diers to burst into the grand rotun¬

in

da, round

testing that he could expand his

down

(212) 532-0600

9583 Alcott Avenue. #201 Los Angeles. CA 90035 (213) 550-1947

curve

are

pulled over and interrogated by the
soldiers of the military regime. Shot
in Century City at night, the scenes
required a 12K HMI mounted on a
Condor. Schmidt recalls the night:
"We were very concerned about
getting enough illumination over a
huge area without overlighting and
losing the night feel. We estab¬

as steep as other
high
speed stocks, Schmidt discovered

Telex: 4973657 FILMS Fax: (212) 779-9732

76

incon¬

in which characters

scenes,

stock is not

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City 10016

one

element to achieve a subtle,

quality," Schmidt adds.
Agfa XT-320 film stock
used throughout. Knowing

JTLM SEARC||H
232 Madison Avenue, New York

would add

futuristic

TIB. THE IMAGE BANK. TIB THE IMAGE BANK and FILM SEARCH
are

we

320.) ARRI/Zeiss Super Speed
primes were used for all interior
and night shooting, while for
day
exterior shots, the primary lens was
an
Angenieux HP 25-250mm.
The glossy look is espe¬
cially effective in the roadblock

a

"We wanted the film to
not

manufacturer's recommended El is
ASA

student film,

that's unusual."
have

lighting ratio. This enabled him to
use less fill
light, especially in
close-ups. He overexposed the
stock by Vs to V2 stop to help the
grain and color saturation. (The

May 1988

a

a

corner,

and storm

long corridor. Schmidt says,
American Cinematographer - May 1988

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