American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 28

Because of money

and time

constraints, the choice to shoot the film

high-definition (HD) video was made
early on, although the filmmakers briefly
flirted with the idea of shooting it Dogmastyle. Shooting in HD would allow
on

Skeleton's bare-bones

crew

to set up

quickly and use a smaller lighting pack¬
age. After viewing numerous demo reels,
Powers found the right cinematographer
for the job in Michael Barrett (Safe Men,
The Suburbans, 75 Degrees in Jul'J).
"As far

as

high definition,

the choice to shoot in
everyone

seemed to

know about it except me," Barrett admits
with a chuckle. "Wayne sprung it on me
Above: In this
frame from the

film, Will (Treat
Williams) discovers

Bare Bones

time, he has repressed the truth: that his

in the middle of my interview. It made
sense because of the schedule's limita¬

by Douglas Bankston

mother physically and

tions, and I

the disturbed

Although its makers received

scribblings of his

support and financing from Artisan

son,

Seth. This

scene

originally

occurred in the

daytime but was
edited together
with Will's search

through the
to

room

form

one

continuous scene
the course of

over
a

night. "In post,

gave it an
amber look and
crunched it," says
we

Barrett. "Will is
still silhouetted,
and it sold

effectively as a
night scene."
Right: In another
frame grab, Will
and Tina (Linda

Hamilton) share

a

kiss during dinner
while bathed in

soft, diffuse
illumination

provided by

a

booklight.
26 December 2000

emotionally abused
deliberately set the fire outside
his room. Although he survived the blaze
unscathed, Seth suffered deep emotional
scars that result in cryptic behavior. When
three people go missing, all of the circum¬
stantial evidence points to Seth, and
Will's paranoia makes it increasingly diffi¬
him and

Entertainment and Nu
in the Closet remains

film in the truest

Image, Skeletons
an independent

sense

of the term.

Written and

produced by husband-andwife screenwriters Wayne and Donna
Powers (Deep Blue Sea), Skeletons was
directed by Wayne and shot in his home¬
town of Jackson, New Hampshire, over
19 days. During production, Wayne took
full advantage of free locations and help
from friends and family - in fact, his
elementary-school principal served as

cult for him to believe that his
cent.

son

is inno¬

Meanwhile, Tina (Linda Hamilton),
with her

sights set
caught in the middle.
woman

on

a

Will, gets

was definitely interested in
trying it - it seemed like a great oppor¬
tunity. Of course, there is the whole
stigma of shooting on video, and every¬
one was afraid to be seen in any photos

with the cameras!"
The

visual

style of Michael

Mann's films, particularly The Insider,
influenced Powers and Barrett, who

opted to shoot
cameras

the

whenever

cameras

with two
possible. Most often,

coverage

would shoot the action from

his location manager.

Despite a tight budget of just $1.5
million, Powers managed to nab a highprofile cast. Treat Williams and Jonathan
Jackson portray Will and Seth, a father
and teenage son struggling to maintain a

relationship many years after a tragic fire
claimed both their home and the life of the

boy's mentally unstable mother. Seth
blames his father for her death, but over

PWoocawyeunrrfste.sy
grabs

Frame
American Cinematographer - December 2000

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 2000
