American Cinematographer - August 1993 - 29

be colder than it would normally
be.' I've seen a lot of cameramen go

crazy by capturing a sunny part of
the day and then trying to match
that throughout a day of constantly

varying weather. The first Stakeout
had a cold grey look about it, and
there was a good reason for that: it's
what John was given. Since we are
dealing with a comedy, a sort of
romantic, fanciful film in a realistic
framework, I decided to pull the 85
off the lens and shoot with tung¬
sten-balanced film. Whether I have
a

sunny

day

or a

cold day, I'll still

get the same cold, grey look. I have
added the element of warmth into

part of the actor's faces, either
backlight or half-light; I would
use a
tungsten light or a fully cor¬
some

as a

rected HMI with
been

a

a

CTO. That's

really interesting approach,

because it's redirected the color

temperature on everything in the
background toward the cold
greys, while the
to the reds.

faces have a
kind of warmth
to them.
"I haven't
run
into as
much inclement

Also, when you're in a
low-light situation you're never at
color temperature, 3200 degrees
Kelvin; you're always below the
proper color temperature, so the
reds purge deeply and quickly into
the shadows."

weather as John
Seale did on the
first one, so this

approach

Wagner explains that his
approach to the look of the film was
inspired in part by one of his favor¬

wasn't abso¬

ite films

lutely neces¬
sary," he points

1940 black & white horror/comedy

out.

"But it's

been interest¬
of Kodak's

5296 stock. Al¬

normally per¬
ceives the backgrounds as colder.
Also, due to the low sun, the objects
that the sun does strike directly
appear to be warmer than their sur¬
roundings. For the interiors I've
gone to warm, amber colors to con¬

back to the 96 because of the low

trast with the

cold, winter look of

better, and the warmer colors don't

the exteriors. The exceptions were
the scenes we shot in Las Vegas,
where I used the typical golden,
Southern California corals."
To achieve the desired re¬

into the shadow ar¬
significantly. The problem
with low-light-level films in theory
is that at night or in low-light situ¬
ations you're going to get whatever
practical light is around you -
neons, fluorescents, tungstens. So
there should be a very forgiving eye
in which the film responds to the

ing, since

your eye

sults, Wagner made extensive use
Produced

by Jim Kouf,

Cathleen Summers and
Directed

Lynn Bigelow
by John Badham

Director of

photography,
Roy Wagner, ASC

new

though he also used 5247 for some
exteriors, he occasionally switched
light levels. "I think that the 5296 is
significantly improved," he says.
"The grain structure seems to be
seem

to purge

eas as

low end of the color spectrum.

With

-

The Ghost Breakers, a

hybrid that starred Bob Hope. "I
was
always fascinated by the way
the cameraman on that picture,
Charles Lang, ASC, never pan¬
dered to the comedy," he enthuses.
"Generally, the rule of thumb with
comedy was to make it bright, big
and pretty. That film really has a
sense of
place. It had a spooky old
house that wasn't brightly overlit.
You really believed that Bob Hope
was
frightened and in danger. I've
always loved comedies, but when
I've worked

on

Opposite: Poised
on the tipping
section of the

specially
designed dock,
the Mercedes
convertible
awaits

rescue.

This page,
above: An
overhead view
shows the

"collapsed"
middle section
of a

duplicate

dock built in

soundstage.
A hollow

Mercedes shell
was

used for the

actual

dunking.
left:
Wagner (right)

This page,

outlines his
game plan for
director Badham

(far left) and
assistant
director David
Sosna.

them I've tried to do

justice to the drama. Part of the co¬
medic sense of this type of film is
provided by taking a natural occur¬
rence and
perceiving it from a dif¬
ferent tack, and

by establishing that

situation or place. The opening
scene of the first Stakeout film, in

the old 96,1 didn't find that to be
true; I found it to be very sensitive

which Richard

August 1993

American

smothered

Dreyfuss gets
by fish during a foot

Cinematographer

a

Vancouver

27
American Cinematographer - August 1993

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