American Cinematographer - January 2007 - 83

superb underwater man," says Field.

visual-effects

that sequence.
The other sequence is the pic¬
ture's most elaborate, a lyrical mon¬

supervisor. Randy
day, and his sugges¬
tions regarding the execution of this
sequence were invaluable. The idea
was that it would
begin in earlymorning light and end in late-affernoon light, an entire
day of the sun's
movement standing in for an entire

tage of summer

season,

"And

our

A-camera/Steadicam

operator, Michael Caracciolo, did
terrific

work

dynamic

use

getting the most
out of the crane for

days that appear to
unfold in one continuously moving
shot. "At the script stage, there was
an idea of
trying to have the viewer
experience in just one shot the
entirety of time Sarah and Brad and
their children have spent together,"
says Field. "Initially I thought of
filming it as a motion-control move,
but Ray Harvie and Dave Duncan,
who created continuity sketches and
an

animatic for the sequence, were

skeptical - there was simply too
much geography to cover. Dave sug¬
gested using a Technocrane coupled
with in-camera transitions instead.

our

was on set

ber

that

the way you might remem¬

fleeting summer after it's long
gone." Matching Super Technocrane
a

movement
ment

with Steadicam

from shot

to

and say, T
Can you

impossible, which

ahead of the

sun so we

Arricam Studio and Lite

When

this

stay

didn't get

into trouble with the shadows," says
Field.

ured

most

was

Little Children

was

shot with
cameras.

never

had

a

chance

everybody wanted to work
can

walk into

a room

like the way this light feels.
do this without it feeling

lit?' And Antonio will do it

so

well

that I'd dare anyone to feel the
source or where the
light's coming
in. I

really admire him. He's

one

of

the greatest cinematographers I've
ever worked with, and as an actor
I've had the privilege of working
with

some

of our best."

using multiple cameras or
focal lengths that were

Calvache's sensitivity was par¬
ticularly valuable during scenes

to

unavailable in the Master Prime

between Ronnie and his mother. "In

be built in post by Randy Balsmeyer,

line, Calvache used Zeiss Ultra

these

would be
two

part,

possible, but there

were

transitions that would have

certain

place throughout
the film, as seen
at the end of the

picture. There
was no

motivation for

lighting in the
Staten Island

location, but
Calvache
wanted to avoid
a

moonlight

asked the art

things absolutely perfectly every sin¬
gle time to make it feel as if the cam¬
era was just
floating through the
do the

action takes

school, but I
with him. You

to

playground,
key

where

effect,

because the children had to do

environment, and Antonio had

The local

AFI. "I wanted to work with him in

because

location, Antonio, George
Patsos, Michael Caracciolo and I fig¬
that for the

team

Optimo zooms. Field designed all of
the camera blocking and also did
some
operating - he pho¬
tographed Sarah and Brad's love
scenes in an effort to
keep the set as
closed as possible. Lighting was
entirely Calvache's domain, howev¬
er. "Antonio's
sensitivity in how he
lights has always astounded me,"
says Field, who met the cinematog¬
rapher while both were studying at

captured the effect in a single 6x/ihour day. "It was really tricky,

At the

out

move¬

shot, the

Primes; he also used Angenieux

scenes,

I

so

he

department to
create a few

practical lamps
and then worked
with

key grip
George Patsos
to rig a "Mini
Musco" for
ambient

light:

four 12K Pars

gelled with
V2 CTS on an
80' Condor with
a

of

20-by frame
grid cloth

in front.

thought we needed to
American

Cinematographer 81
American Cinematographer - January 2007

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