American Cinematographer - March 2007 - 57

11:1 zooms;

he avoids the 35mm and

24mm "because the
so

perspectives

are

common."
He'll sometimes

use a

200mm

lens when

shooting at the Technical
Operations Center (TOC), the
Rangers' headquarters on base. The
30x40' room, built onstage at Santa
Clarita Studios, is filled with people
seated at workstations. "We'll put the
camera on a
dolly and follow charac¬
ters around the room, using heads
and computers as foreground
objects to make it feel busier," says
Rao.

The

cinematographer worked
a self-lit facility.
"We have a grid of about 12 narrowbeamed Lekos, whose light splashes

to

make the TOC

off the desks and back into the char¬

lized schedule. "Once in

acters' faces. The

do

a

ly

an

themselves

actors

try to stage

place where they'll
get bounced light. If that doesn't
work,

near a

we use

these wonderful new
which use

Like The Unit, NBC's Heroes

They're small, about
is
really phenomenal. We lay them on a
desk, facing the actor but off cam¬

takes

the size of a brick, and their output

each

era."

bleach-bypass look for Las Vegas,
sources are

used in the

women's world, but Rao doesn't hes¬
itate to break certain rules. "I try to

the lens height below the actor's
eyes, which is a big no-no with
put

women

Ugly

we

Osram bulbs.

Larger

bDBpaehonyttsyy

while

double-up day, but we're most¬
eight-day shoot. And there's
very little second unit. I don't want
to share this show with anyone!"

Kino Flos called Bar Flies,

CIBAFornmmoceaepdciculdfri.sentt,s,gy

a

because it tends

to

be less

flattering. I think it gives the women
a kind of heroic stature. Low
angle
shots

are a common

place in a variety of locales, and
requires a distinctive look.
Initially, Aronson did it all in cam¬
era:

a

warm

cool blue for New York,

a

a

look for Texas. Now that's all

handled in post.
Heroes
start. As

showcase

was

a

hit from the

scripts were rewritten to
bigger stunts and grander

effects, the amount of time for blueand greenscreen work was

extended.

Aronson

points to the episode when
(Masi Oka), who can freeze
time, saves a girl from being hit by a
truck in Tokyo. "We shot the scene in
downtown L.A. and basically had to
get 25 people to freeze," recounts
Aronson, who began his career as a
gaffer before moving up to shoot for
Roger Corman. "Not surprisingly,
the technical aspects of getting that
scene were
time-consuming. We had
rigs to hold people's arms up. One
little girl was jumping rope and had
to freeze in midair, her pigtails sus¬
pended above her head. The girl
who was struck by the truck is lean¬
ing far hack and had a greenscreen
rig behind her to hold her up.
Hiro

Above:

Betty
enjoys an
affirming
moment with her

glamorous boss,
Sofia (Salma
Hayek), in Ugly
Betty. Below
(from left):
Berryman,
executive

producer Jim
Hayman and
actor Tony Plana
prepare to film a
scene in Betty's
home.

tool when film¬

ing rugged fighting men, but are
rarely used for women in a domestic
environment." His inspiration for
this tactic was The Best Years of Our
Lives, shot by Gregg Toland, ASC. "In
the masters of Myrna Loy and Teresa
Wright, the lens is low," notes Rao.
"Toland broke

a

rule in order

to

ele¬

their stature."

By using longer
keeping the light soft, Rao
avoids any unflattering aspects. He
also uses an English insulating mate¬
rial called Wonder Paper, a very thin
Styrofoam device.
Rao applauds The Unit's civi¬

vate

lenses and

American

Cinematographer 55
American Cinematographer - March 2007

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