American Cinematographer - February 1993 - 42

Johnson and

Griffith discuss
their differences
outside the
Willard

Intercontinental,
the location of

the tycoon's
penthouse.

side the windows.

This open,

elegant and
contemporary design contributes
to the aura of reality, but it also
made lighting much more of a
physical challenge, especially since
Koltai and Mandoki wanted to in¬

clude the ceiling in every pent¬
house scene. Koltai explains, "If

don't show the audience the
ceiling, it sends a visual clue that
you are working on a set." He lit the
set as though it was a practical lo¬
cation. There was only one remov¬
able ceiling panel, and that was
used to make space for a sound

you

makeup

Normally, Koltai
would have lit

a

says he
somewhat darker

picture with the characters' faces
occasionally masked by shadows to
conceal their intentions. The pro¬
ducers had a great deal of money
invested in the stars, however, and
believed that the audience wanted
to see their faces, especially since
the humor of the story is frequently
revealed by body language, facial

expressions and the characters'
eyes.
Koltai says

tungsten and HMI lights, which

the tempera¬
ture of tungsten light used on this
film is slightly warmer than a nor¬
mal 3200 degrees Kelvin. He con¬
trolled the temperature by raising

created a more natural and interest¬

the Kelvin level with

ing location look. The set's walls of
windows and two skylights moti¬

Every light in the pent¬
house is motivated by a believable
source, a rule that required meticu¬
lous planning and good communi¬

boom

so

rors or

it wasn't reflected in mir¬

shiny surfaces.
Koltai used

a

blend of

vate the use of HMI

light. "The sky¬
lights also gave us a reason for us¬
ing a top light when we needed it,"
he says.

cation between

a

dimmer.

Mandoki, Koltai,

part of the prep period to discuss
the meaning of each scene and their
visual focus for every setting. Ad¬
ditional time was spent scouting

production designer Lawrence
Pauli and set designer Rick
Simpson. During preproduction,
Koltai and Simpson discussed ev¬
erything from the reflectivity of
surfaces to colors: honey brown
and green are predominant be¬
cause
they are warm and friendly.
Most important, they discussed

American

February 1993

The filmmakers had five
weeks of preparation time, and

they exploited this luxury to the
fullest. Mandoki and Koltai used

40

locations and shooting
and costume tests.

Cinematographer

motivate realistic light for
day and night interiors on the big

ways to

set. There are times when there are

many as 60 people in a scene, and
Koltai wanted the freedom to film
from a variety of angles.

as

Koltai had a vivid picture
of the look of the film in his mind,
but until he actually saw the sets
and shot tests, he didn't know ex¬

actly how he would light them. The
story involves complex relation¬
ships, and much of the humor is in
the dialogue. Based on those fac¬
tors, he felt that his camera work
had to be unobtrusive. He had to

subtly lead the audience to key
story points, and entice them to lis¬
ten closely to dialogue.
For the story to work, the
audience has to perceive Melanie
Griffith as being especially beauti¬
ful and desirable. Koltai eschewed

frontlight in favor of side and back¬
light, and the quality of her light is
always very soft and slightly warm
-what Koltai calls "friendly light."
Koltai rented his

camera

package from Otto Nemenz Inter¬
national. He shot primarily with a
single Arri 535 camera with an 18100mm 5:1 zoom lens for variable
focus. Sometimes, on darker night
scenes or

Steadicam

when

shooting from a
image stabilizer, Koltai
American Cinematographer - February 1993

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - February 1993
