American Cinematographer - February 1990 - 56

tured the scene, you can have tre¬
mendous impact because you're
wider. A wider shot also includes
the feet, eliminating the need for
another closeup and cut."

Triumph of the Spirit, in
addition to being the first feature
allowed to roll cameras inside the

gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, was
the first to use the Aaton 35mm
handheld camera. Aaton initiated
the project at the request of Jean
Luc Godard, who wanted a

mobile

and

ubiquitous 35mm camera to
help in his search for le point de vue
juste. The camera, which is smaller
than

a

Betacam,

was

still in the

development stages and hadn't
been tested in the field. Clark re¬
calls the events leading up to get¬

ting the camera:
"A major effort had been
made to get the camera ready for
us to use, and we
got it at the earli¬
est possible moment, although we

Above: Lens
choice

was

tated by a

dic¬

could have used it even earlier.
Bob [Young, the director] was very
enthusiastic about using it; he also
comes from a
documentary back¬

desire to

include the

omnipresent loca¬
tion. Right: Care¬
fully blocked me¬

ground. We both know the Aaton
16mm very well; in fact, I own one.
We know its capabilities and flexi¬

dium shots often

replaced closeups
to convey dehu¬

bilities, and

manization and

a

35mm version

lack of privacy.

seemed like the

This

trip to see the camera when it was
still being constructed."
The plan was for Clark
and Young to use an assembled
"field-prototype" for the purpose
of working out design and engi¬
neering bugs. "We first got the

woman was

caught stealing
another's clogs.

camera on a

answer.

I made

a

short stint, when we

on the 180
degree reverse, it's
startling. So when the person who
took the clogs is identified, you feel
that there's a psychological POV
experience on the part of the audi¬
ence
an
empathetic experience

ter of survival. It's not

with the character. This can be very

dramatic, and we make a very cal¬
culated attempt to do this," he

knowing that she's probably going
to die. Allegra and Elena can't look
at her, knowing what they've done

shooting the arrivals into
Birkenau, the train platforms, the
first major night shoot. This cam¬
era
provided us with a documen¬
tary type of shooting flexibility -
a
responsiveness to the event
which would have been virtually
impossible to get with the Panaflex
camera. It's not
just the size, it's the
profile. We were in the jostle, in
amongst the people inside the rail
cars. We were able to
capture the
urgency and disorientation of
people desperately trying to find

reveals.

to

"There's a poignant
moment after the two sisters get
the shoes back, which focuses on

were

her death. The shots that
chosen go from that woman,
from Allegra and Elena's

lost loved ones. We also used it to
shoot closeups that would have
otherwise been difficult due to

their mixed emotions. After all,
this is a terrible thing to do to

doesn't isolate either from their

They're signing her

the image axis between cuts, but
for the impact of the situation, it
doesn't need to be a closeup.

were

pregnant expectation to what
they're looking at, and when you
hit it

-

someone.

death warrant, but if they don't get
the shoes back, Elena will die. She's

Someone proba¬
bly stole her clogs, and it's a mat¬
anyone being

a

matter of

evil.

"A scene outside in roll
call follows, where the woman is

standing there with bandages

on
her feet and tears in her eyes,

ensure

seen

POV, back to the sisters, but it
context.

They're still dominant on

something that belongs to
you, so you're vindicated and jus¬
tified in doing this. But can you

Sometimes if it's wider, having
established other shots along this

American

February 1990

taken

54

blame the culprit?

Cinematographer

line, and having carefully struc¬

space

restrictions in the barracks.
"Some

to be made
not

-

a

changes did have
couple things were

working, things that couldn't

be corrected

on

back. When it

location. So it went

came

back to us, it

running very well and very
reliably. We didn't have any prob¬
lems with losing the loop or
was
American Cinematographer - February 1990

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