American Cinematographer - November 1990 - 74

or

her

own

life. So it's

seen

through the psyche of each char¬
acter. The movie doesn't

patron¬

ize and tell you, 'This is what it
looks like: Death.' I think that

would be very childish and
naive."
In a picture for which a
certain mood must be maintained

throughout, location shooting
creates problems which test the
artistic and technological skills of
the production staff. These were
particularly thorny in Flatliners, as

statuary and

Zanetti noted:
"We wanted a feeling of
a dark world, a
wintry world.
When we arrived in Chicago it

distinctive

was

lighting pillars
help to unify
Chicago loca¬

derful, the opposite of what we
wanted, so we had to create our

The

pervading

motifs of marble

tion

scenes

studio

bright and shiny and

world.

with

We

made

won¬

rain,

we

changed the sky with matte paint¬
ings, and I think we got the feel¬

settings.

ing we needed. We also built the
huge bonfires, because it was
supposed to be Halloween."
were

lot of scenes where the actors
dissect cadavers.
"The other concept was

a

that

everything is in transition, is
being remodeled or rebuilt - is
changing. It begins to evoke the
idea of death and rebirth. Almost
every building and set is being
changed throughout the movie.
"A very important ele¬
ment is a mural which depicts the
fight of the gods and man, the
struggles between divinity and
mankind to possess the sacred

fire," Zanetti said. The classical-

styled painting was rendered in
heroic proportions by studio art¬
ists from Zanetti's designs. It was
then overlaid with heavy patinae
that create a convincing effect of
age. "Every element we could
find from Icarus to Zeus is there.
The mural starts very dark and

people and the gods - the people
have become part of the mural.
Their effort and struggle is part of
the struggle of mankind to know,
to go beyond the barriers. I think
that the script contains the idea
that the new thing to conquer is
the 'other side.'"
But how does one depict
the "other side" convincingly?
"Death is such a delicate

subject unless

you do a comedy,
like Here Comes Mr. Jordan, where
the 'other side' is just dry ice,"
Zanetti opined. "A comedic thing
is that simple. But if you try to be
"

He paused. "Well, there's no
such thing as 'realistic' or 'natu¬
ralistic' in this instance, because

-

nobody has been
side' that

we

on the 'other
know about. But if

staged on the excel¬
lent Burbank Studios backlot. This

scenes were

gave the designer an opportunity
to add subtle enhancements to
some

of the

practical sets.

"We're recreating part of
the 'el' here on the lot, but instead
of doing just that I incorporated

homages to Sullivan and other
great architects in the cast iron
elements," Zanetti pointed out.
"The result should be the essence
of the American city in the Forties.
We also used an incredible foun¬
tain called 'The Fountain of Time,'
for which we did a time-lapse
shot over about nine hours. It's
seen under the titles of the movie.
And we used the Columbia statue

[a famed Chicago landmark].
Chicago is amazing!
"We designed the exteri¬

obscure, then it goes through

you try to evoke something that
would not be rejected instantly by

ors and interiors at the same time.
We've modified a lot of the exist¬

stages of restoration until finally,

people,

ing exteriors and we've done a lot

in the last scene of the movie, we
see the mural
completely. Because

challenge, and I think this is the
great challenge of the movie.

it is

painted

screen, we

on a

also

through the

scene

American

takes

place. In the last

Cinematographer

you

face

a very

difficult

"We chose several differ¬

translucent

see
mural into the set where the last

70

moment we see both the young

Not all of the exteriors
filmed in Chicago. Related

ent

ideas,

one

for each of these

characters. Each has
different experience

November 1990

a
completely
related to his

of matte

paintings. We connected
Loyola University and the Mu¬
seum

of Science and

Industry

through matte paintings. When
we
we

add elements to the exteriors
base them on what we want
American Cinematographer - November 1990

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