American Cinematographer - March 1989 - 57

only the fact that they take
place in New York City, and the
feeling that they would be better
common

served in

Opposite page:
Nykvist and crew
in the streets of

New York. Left:

shorter format. Each

a

Woody Allen and

story does take place in a different
part of the city, but there was no
conscious attempt on the part of

Mia Farrow in
scene

segment.

the filmmakers to reveal New York

through comparison

or contrast.

The

project reportedly be¬
gan in the Woody Allen camp. Ac¬
cording to Nestor Almendros,
"Allen felt it was a pity that films
are forced to be a certain
length.
Why do you always have to have an

hour and

a

half,

or an

hour and

forty-five minutes? There
of

are a lot
better told
you stretch them,

good stories that

in less time. If

that's how it looks
see

many

-

are

stretched. You

films which make

you

think, 'that would have made

a

good short.'''
Since its

beginning, New

York Stories had been veiled in

se¬

crecy. However,
of photography

the three directors
recently consented
to interviews. They were able to
reveal production details in varying
degrees due to contractual obliga¬
tions. The results are a glimpse into
the creative thought processes of
three masters of

contemporary

cinematography.

1974 and 1984. Recent additions to

termine

his

choices, especially in the area of

impressive list include Willy and
Phil, The Postman Always Rings
Twice, Agnes of God, The Unbearable
Lightness of Being, and Allen's An¬
other Woman.
As

comedy, this picture
Nykvist a welcome oppor¬
tunity to shoot in a style not always
associated with him. ''I've always
said that it's very important for a
cinematographer to photograph his
pictures in different ways,'' he says.
gave

"Since he is

Sven

Nykvist, ASC

Woody Allen's segment of
New York Stories photographed by
Sven Nykvist, is a comedy. Allen
plays a modern day New York law¬
yer whose new girlfriend meets
with disapproval from his aging
mother. Information beyond these
sketchy details is difficult to come
by, but Nykvist did his best to dis¬
cuss his
approach to a film whose
plot specifics couldn't be revealed.
Nykvist's comments are
steeped in years of experience, with
numerous references to his
previ¬
ous films,
many of which have be¬
,

come

classics. His credits read like

list of required

a

viewing for film stu¬
dents. Nykvist's famed collabora¬
tion with Ingmar Bergman yielded
Persona, Hour of the Wolf, Scenes
From a Marriage, and The Magic
Flute. His work on Bergman's films
Fanny and Alexander and Cries and
Whispers resulted in Academy
Awards for Best Cinematography in

a

an

absolute slave to the

script, the best cinematographer
can
change his style for every film.
When

we

started

on

New York Sto¬

Nykvist's equipment

film stock. "Because of the interi¬

used mostly Eastman 5294.
picture I'm shooting now,
another Woody Allen project, I've
ors, we

In the

started to

use

5297, and I must say

I'm very

happy with it. We have
mostly interiors with daylight here,
and it's wonderful.

"Before I started Another

Woman, I did a lot of tests with the
two stocks, 94 and 97. My
biggest
question was whether I could cut
from one to the other in the same
film. I found that the 97 has very
fine grain compared to the 94, so in

ries, we had just finished Another
Woman, which is more of a psycho¬

Another Woman I

logical picture, and was therefore lit
a
specific way. Since the new film

I made

in

is

a

much

more

humorous

story, not
serious, I was able to shoot
it in a lighter style. Not cooler, but
without quite as much contrast as a
dramatic picture. The camera
movement is shorter, with quicker
cuts, and perhaps more cover shots,
although not too many, because
Woody is not crazy about cover
shots. This is what I find exciting it's very stimulating for me to try to
change my style to conform to the

quite

so

intentions of the writer and direc¬
tor. Of course, no matter

style, I feel

a

what the

picture should

never
of my rules."
Much of the story takes

'look lit'. That is

one

place inside the New York home of
Allen's mother. This fact helped de¬
March 1989

the whole

just used 94 for

thing. However, this year

new

tests, and

now

I under¬

stand how to solve the

problem.
Using less fill light and controlling
the darkness will make the 97

a

little

grainier, which helps them cut
together. I heard from other cam¬
eramen

not

a

seems

ASA

and from Kodak that this is

problem, and now everyone
to be doing it. I go with 250

on

the 97, and 320 ASA

on

the

94. The 94 is rated to 400

when I shoot at

gray

ASA, but
400, I get a little

in the shadows."
There

are

several

sur¬

prises in Nykvist's shot by shot ap¬
proach, but he echoes other high
caliber

cinematographers by em¬
phasizing artistic rather than tech¬
nical

concerns.

"I

never

count

footcandles," he states. "I look
through the camera and then do it. I

American

Cinematographer

a

from Allen's

55
American Cinematographer - March 1989

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