American Cinematographer - March 1995 - 60

BACK IN PRINT AT LAST-
than normal to draw the audi¬
into more intimate contact
with him. For the scenes in which

Painting With
Light

ence

John Alton
Introduction

by Todd McCarthy

"A wonderful introduction
the workings of the Holly¬
wood system.

.

.

to

The book is

.

legendary and its reprint is a
major event for film study."
-Dana Polan,
University of Pittsburgh
$45.00 cloth, $20.00 paper,

illustrated

Kringle is committed to

sani¬

tarium, Macat chose
his eyes at all.

light

a
not to

Macat shot with a
Panaflex camera, mainly on a
dolly. There were just a few re¬
mote camera shots, to allow the
camera to float above scenes.
Much of the film was seen

through the

eye

of

a

film, you wind up de¬
veloping a preference for a lens
that you use all the time," Macat
says. "That preference is dictated
by the sets, and by how many
people are in a given shot. The

actually a Primo zoom
lens, which I used occasionally
for variable focal lengths if I was
was

stuck in

a

corner,

and needed

a

couple of extra millimeters here
and there to better control the

framing or to adjust the size on

a

In addition to the 29mm,
also used 75mm and 100mm
lenses a lot for the close-ups.
That's pretty standard."
His basic film was the
Eastman EXR 5293, which gave
him richer contrast and a rela¬
move.

we

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tively lower level of grain than
500-speed films yield. More im¬
portantly, he finds it easier to
cancel light with a E.I. 250 film.
"By using a slower exposure in¬
dex, you can be more selective
about what you light, because
your blacks are blacker and spill

light is much less likely to

desaturate the blacks. That

I Was
Nicholas
Movies
Nicholas

Interrupted
Ray

on

Making

Ray

Edited & Introduced

"A fine

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piece of work."

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Cinematographer

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at

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University of

ables you to

light more things in¬

was

using

very con¬

continues. "I had a net in front of
the lens, with another behind it,
and I also used a ProMist filter.

But I don't think the film has a
diffused look. I wanted the actors
to look good. This is a real char¬
acter-driven movie, and I felt that
the photography should reflect
the performances and enhance
their great looks."

One of Macat's favorite

March 1995

one

in which

see

a little
girl
Santa in Cole's De¬

partment Store. Her mother says,
"Santa, she just wants to sit on
your lap for a minute because
she's deaf. She can't talk." When
the girl sits in his
name

lap, he asks her
sign language. He then

in

asks what she wants, but she
doesn't answer. Santa decides to
serenade her by signing
"Jingle
Bells."
"It

was

a

scene," Macat says.

beautiful

"They

speaking with their
what the film is about.
"We simply

bring

a

were
eyes. It's

tried to
little hope into [the

audience's] lives. It's

a movie
about believing in Santa Claus.
We went back to the basics. We
want the viewers to leave the the¬
ater with a good
feeling."

Macat notes that work¬

ing with

a living legend like
Attenborough boosted everyone's

performance. "You could feel his
spirit and energy on the set,"
Macat says. "No one wanted to
disappoint him. I feel really good
about his close-ups. It meant a lot
to

me

when he liked them. How

you disappoint this man,
who didn't have to be there? The
last thing he needs to do is
play
Kris Kringle in a movie, so
you
know he's doing it because he
loves it. His wife was there, and
can

they went to dailies religiously
day."
Among the many memo¬

every

ries Macat took from this film,
one in
particular stands out. "Sir

Richard and I

were
just talking
day and he said, 'There's one
thing that makes me really sad. I
look at you young filmmakers,
and I would give
anything to
one

trasty lighting, and I think that
requires a strong amount of dif¬
fusion to get the edges off," he

California Press
58

en¬

dividually.
"I

is

29mm lens.

"On each

29mm

scenes

is in line to

have another 20 years in this
business to see where it is
going.
I see how wonderful
things are
now with all of the new technol¬

ogy,

and it's so exciting. My only

regret is not having a little bit
more time
just to see where it
takes us.'"
American Cinematographer - March 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - March 1995
