American Cinematographer - February 1990 - 48

lens and

T-stop, while a camera
pulled focus by remote

assistant
control.

the

Because of the mobility of
and the wide area of

camera

there was no place to
hide lights on the floor of the leg¬
islative chambers. Wexler used
coverage,

sunlight coming through big win¬
dows as his keylight. That gave
him a natural look with backlight
in most directions. He augmented
the sunlight with a single 12 K unit
placed high in one corner of the
chamber. Wexler also used a little
smoke for atmosphere and overall
diffusion.
He recorded this scene on
Eastman color negative daylight
film 5297. The film is rated for an
exposure
vamps in a dazzling
spotlight. Right:
With Newman in

a

tender
moment. Produc¬

more

tion

index of 250 in daylight.

Since he didn't need an 85 B color
correction filter on the camera lens,
the light level was sufficient for
Wexler to pull a deep stop at T-4.
That gave him good front to back

Above: Davidovich

sharpness in the big room.
Even though it took two
full days to shoot, the intensity,
direction and quality of light had
to match since the footage was cut
into one composite scene. Wexler

design

recreated the
American South in
the 1950s.

used translucent shades on the
windows to keep the level and

quality of light consistent. "We
used

a

spot meter to measure the

light coming through each win¬
dow, and if it was too bright, we

closed the curtains until we got to
the right level," he said.
Most of Blaze was shot on
Eastman EXR color negative film

5296; about 300,000 feet in all. It
There

Newman and Davidovich walking

many actors

and talking.
with bumps

and extras

the frame at the end of the shot.

Newman walks down

"Putting the Steadicam on
a dolly gave us the freedom to run
one long, moving shot with cover¬

way

The street was filled
and holes. It wasn't
possible to lay tracks or boards
because they would have been in

age from every angle we wanted,"

Wexler said. "A normal dolly shot
without tracks would have been

bumpy and noisy, and it would
have been an entirely different

moving around in the

scene, and the camera was also in
constant motion to create a sense of

visual excitement. In one sequence,
a
long hall¬
into the chamber. At that
point, there is a 360 degree pan
which quickly establishes the set¬
ting, and allows the audience to see
it through Long's eyes.

Much of the time, Wexler
worked from a wheelchair, having
a
ligament in his ankle early
production. He had a video tap
rigged to transmit images from the

torn

look if we had shot this with a
Steadicam on Steve's body."
Wexler also used the

in

Steadicam/dolly combination to
shoot a key scene in the chambers
of the state legislature. Production
was done during a long weekend,
which was the only time the cham¬

Sony Watchman with a liquid crys¬
tal display. Wexler was in two-way

bers

46

were

were

American

available.

Cinematographer

camera

viewfinder to

a

hand-held

was one

the

new

of the first major uses of
film. Wexler tested it at

indices of 500 and 1000.
use it as a
500-speed
film, as recommended by Kodak,
in part because of the suggestion of
the color timer he was working
exposure

He decided to

with at DuArt Labs in New York.
That allowed the lab to work at a

printing light in the low 40s.
Wexler shot the majority
of Blaze with

an

Arriflex 35 BL 4

mainly with a new
Angenieux 17mm to 102mm zoom,
which he primarily used as a vari¬
able focal length lens. Footage shot
with this lens intercut seamlessly
with film exposed through super¬
camera,

speed lenses.
Occasionally, Wexler

radio contact with the operator so
he could give him directions re¬

used the

garding framing and motion.

tion

Usually, Wexler handled the zoom

in those instances, use

February 1990

zoom

lens for combina¬

pan/dolly/zoom shots. But,
of the zoom
American Cinematographer - February 1990

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