American Cinematographer - November 1988 - 69

Below left: Jordan

Cronenweth, ASC.
Left: Cronenweth
and Joanou confer

in the

The U2
nou

well. It is

project marks the

second collaboration between

face cinematogra¬
phy." "We didn't want it to look

Joanou's graduate film,

as

The Last Chance Dance, while the
two were students at USC's film
school. The short went
the award for best
and

an

on

the Nissan Focus Awards for stu¬

Joanou and
capture an

intimacy in the band's interaction
with its surroundings. The goal
was

to create

a

structure for the

work that would hold up to any
dramatic feature film. It would
have rises and falls, twists and

turns, drama and humor, and emo¬
tional impact building to a climax -

yet all without a plot.
have
nou
ness

a

classic narrative

story," Joa¬
aggressive¬

says, "there is an
that has to come from visuals

which

charged with emotions.
captured
them." Brinkmann emphasizes the
It

are

comes

running with the cameras trying to
keep up with the band. Having a
wide angle lens with the frame
shaking as it captures what is going
on creates a
feeling of immediacy in
which you don't know what is
going to happen."
While being aware from
the outset that the 16mm documen¬

from the way we

point: "We liked when

we were

were

re¬

shooting, they began to feel that
perhaps their camera work wasn't
rough enough and they were get¬
ting too good at it.
With Brinkmann

operat¬

ing one camera and Joanou the oth¬
er, the goal was to feature the band
in relation to its environment. "It

important to see what was
around them," Brinkmann com¬
ments. "But at the same time we
was

tary footage would become ex¬
tremely grainy when blown up to

wanted to be able to go

35mm release

Brinkmann credits moments cap¬
tured behind the stage seconds be¬

ers

"Because the film doesn't

moves

Ironically, as
and Joanou and Brinkmann be¬
came more comfortable with the

cinematography

held Arri SR cameras,
Brinkmann sought to

camera

emphasizes.
the tour progressed

award for best narrative at

Travelling with two hand¬

if the

hearsed." Brinkmann

to win

dent films.

aesthetic which Joanou

calls "in your

Joa¬

and Brinkmann. Brinkmann

had shot

an

background.

decided to take

these
a

prints, the filmmak¬

advantage of

properties. "We tried to make

virtue of

it," Brinkmann states.

"We wanted it to look like

war

foot¬

age. It should have a real battlefield
look to it." An emotional element
comes

from the often frantic and

frenetic movement of the
is

a

camera.

It

look which fits the band's music

November 1988

tight to

see

in extremely

the faces

up

fore the band went out to
as

close."

perform
style.

the best execution of this

"We would have

one

camera

ex¬

tremely wide to capture the entire
room and the other extremely tight
on someone's face
or even just the
-

they prepared to go on¬
stage. You get to see the emotions
eyes

-

as

American

Cinematographer

67
American Cinematographer - November 1988

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