American Cinematographer - March 2007 - 72

True Grit
that

something about the
Morgan told AC
October 1997. "Joe is a very visu¬
say

human condition,"
in

al director, and he wanted to match

this drama with

a

blown-out look,

like the old black-and-white

photo¬
graphs of the period." Seeking
something short of true mono¬
chrome, Morgan employed lowercontrast

Kodak Vision 320T

as

his

main stock: "It

really bites into the
me to light
normally but see shadow detail
without adding any more fill." Super
dark

areas

and allows

vintage panes of glass. "Lloyd did a
great job with that, shooting a lot of
stuff through old car windows. I fol¬
lowed his example and did a lot of
that as well." Morgan earned anoth¬
er
Emmy for his efforts.
Morgan
reteamed with
Sargent on the 2003 Showtime proj¬
ect Out of the Ashes. Set in a Nazi
death camp, the drama focuses on
imprisoned Jewish doctor Gisella
Perl (Christine Lahti), who struggles
with moral choices while trying to
survive. "We shot that show in

Frost and tobacco filters softened

Lithuania, where the production

and warmed the

had built

the

set," the cinematographer says. "My
immediate thought was to add a
green tinge to everything, inside and
out. Joe asked why and I reasoned

images, suggesting
glow of candles and oil lamps
that were still used by many impov¬
erished Southerners during the
1930s.

To further enhance the

look,

Morgan borrowed a technique from
fellow ASC member Lloyd Ahern II,
who had created a period feel for
another picture by filming through

an

entire exterior barracks

that green is a really annoying color
unless it's a bright shade. Deep, dark

be very unsettling, so I
of those hues into the pic¬
adding gels to both the practi-

greens can

put a lot
ture,

cals and my

lamps. It worked

per¬

fectly."
In

one

horrific

scene,

Perl

perform an abortion on a fel¬
prisoner in order to prevent the
Nazis from executing the woman.
"Outside the building where the
procedure was to be performed,
there was a pile of dead bodies,"
Morgan details. "I lit that area with a
greenish practical and then swept
must

low

across

it with the

warm

beam of

a

searchlight that could be coming
from a guard tower. It was spectacu¬
larly unsettling and created a sicken¬
ing feeling that was exactly right for
that horrible
leads the

moment

when Perl

into the

building.
the door, warm incan¬
descent light from outside can be
seen, playing off a hint of green
backlight on the women. It's very
eerie." Morgan's work earned him
Emmy and ASC nominations.
Throughout this period,
woman

As she opens

£s3

taking you

?!

HEIGHTS

PB

:o new

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