American Cinematographer - February 1993 - 34

story, Poster had long discussions
with each actress. Each woman
shared her ideas about lighting, her

character, and about how she likes
to be

seen. In addition to
develop¬
ing rapport and providing insights
into personalities and the charac¬
ters the actresses were portraying,
these conversations gave Poster an
unrestricted opportunity to study
their faces, including shapes and

r
*

skin tones.
Before he started work on
The Cemetery Club, Poster shot a se¬
ries of comprehensive tests for

1

f t

i

Disney Studios. He exposed every
camera film made
by all three ma¬
jor manufacturers under controlled
conditions. "The idea

was

to dis¬

exactly how each film per¬
formed under consistent lighting
conditions when it was under- and
cover

overexposed and exposed at its
normal rating," he says.
Based those tests, Poster
Above: The trio
of widows, in

white, absorb
the advice of
Theresa (Irma
St. Paul), a
veteran of
church
ceremony.

Right: The
beauty parlor
scene provided
an

ironic

counterpoint to
Poster's task -
to make the

film's three

leading ladies
look older than

they do in real
life.

make the appropriate adjust¬
ments."
Poster notes that while
each of the main characters had her

personality, there were also
complex interrelationships, friend¬
ships and jealousies which varied
when they were together or apart
own

in different combinations. "The

re¬

lationship that evolved between the
characters portrayed by Diane and
Olympia was great fun to watch,"
Poster says. There was a fair
amount of physical ad-libbing by
all three actresses in their

/

4!

move¬

body language and facial
expressions, and a scriptwriter was
always on the set refining the dia¬
logue as though it were a work in
ments,

i
m

progress.
"I love

photographing

women," Poster comments, "and it
was a

special treat working with

talent of this caliber. In being true
to the story, there was a responsi¬

bility to the script. There was also a
responsibility to put each of the
stars in her best light. Every face
was

different, and there

was a

dif¬

ference between

shooting a closeup, a two-shot and the trio together
in bigger scenes."
Lighting two-shots and
scenes

32

American

with all three women, he

Cinematographer

t

i
Hkfll M

3

"Jm.. v ^ nfim

jt

jT

high. The communication between
Bill (Duke) and me was very good,
and Diane, Ellen and Olympia
were
very accommodating. Some¬
times we moved people around to
get the best lighting for the interac¬
tions of characters in that situa¬

tion."
To better film his three
ways that were
both true to their natures and to the

February 1993

^

fmsr LjkJjyd

says, "was less critical than a closeup, since you are not going to see
someone's face projected 40 feet

leading ladies in

vi

1

,

^

«-*

decided he would shoot The Cem¬

etery Club entirely on the "im¬
proved" 500T Eastman EXR 5296
film, including interior, exterior,

day and night scenes. The decision
to standardize on a single emulsion
was in
part a desire to simplify, but
more
importantly, Poster and Duke
envisioned a painterly look, almost
like that of a period film.
Poster says the 500T film
renders slightly less saturated col¬
ors, a

bit less contrast, and grain or

texture that's

more

suggestive of
American Cinematographer - February 1993

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