American Cinematographer - January 2008 - 26

phobic; later, you kind of like being in there.” To create shimmering reflections inside the cool environment, Kaminski bounced a strong light off Mylar panels on 4'x4' frames, creating streaks of moving light on the walls. “Right outside the window was the North Sea,” Kaminski says. “I was just trying to come up with some metaphor, some bouncing light.” Kaminski describes his lighting package as “tiny,” noting, “I had two 18Ks, some Kino Flos and some HMIs.” He created cool key light in the hospital room and often had a hot 18K coming through the window, occasionally flaring the lens. He filmed interiors on Kodak Vision 500T 5279 and exteriors on Fuji Eterna 250D 8563. “I had Éclair do a slight silver-retention process to help desaturate the colors, the equivalent to about 30 percent ENR. With Saving Private Ryan, I did 85 or 90, so this was a very light treatment.” Kaminski’s French crew was small, but he considered them one of the greatest pleasures of the project. “I had a great gaffer, Mikael Monod; a great key grip, Antonin Gendre; plus a few electricians and a best boy. The division of labor is slightly less obvious in Europe. It’s more like a big family, which works well with smaller films. I also have to single out [producers] FrançoisXavier Decraene and Pierre Grunstein and [1st AD] Stéphane Gluck for their total dedication and professionalism.” The cinematographer notes that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly reminded him of why he wanted to be a filmmaker in the first place. “Making movies like this is the reason I went to film school,” he says. “Afterwards, I discovered another passion, high-profile moviemaking, but that’s such a laborious process, such a machine, that to some degree I forgot how enjoyable these labors of love are.” Working with Schnabel was also invigorating. “The director is frequently the person who encourages you to take risks, and certainly Julian is not afraid to be criticized for taking risks,” says Kaminski. “He wanted to make a very unique movie, and that’s what we did.” 26 January 2008 Prof. Melvin B. Tolson (Denzel Washington) auditions Wiley College students for the debate team in a scene from The Great Debaters, which is based on a true story. Powerful Arguments by Jim Hemphill In the 1930s, literature professor Melvin B. Tolson coached the debate team at Wiley College, a black school in Texas that became a training ground for future leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. Tolson encouraged his debaters to use language and thought as weapons at a time when African-Americans were still treated as second-class citizens in the South. His story is the basis of The Great Debaters, a fictionalized account of the Wiley team that distills the students’ experiences down to one pivotal academic year, 1935-36. During this period, the Wiley students take on Harvard’s powerhouse debate team and make history. The Great Debaters was directed by Denzel Washington, who also plays Tolson, and to make the picture, he reteamed with Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC, his collaborator on Antwone Fisher. Rousselot says he was attracted to Tolson’s story by its juxtaposition of inspirational drama and gritty social reality. “I loved the way the project mixed an uplifting story with a description of one of the most painful and harshest historical situations in U.S. history, the South during the Jim Crow era,” says the cinematographer. “Also, Antwone Fisher was a very good experience, and I was looking forward to working with Denzel again.” Although most of The Great Debaters is set in Texas, the production shot mainly in and around Shreveport, Louisiana, in order to take advantage of the local tax credits. The small towns of Mansfield, Grand Cane, Keatchie and Belcher stood in for East Texas during the Great Depression. Additionally, the production shot some exteriors at Wiley College and went to Harvard to film the finale. Rousselot says he found inspiration in the locations. “I do not The Great Debaters photos by David Lee, courtesy of The Weinstein Co.

American Cinematographer - January 2008

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