American Cinematographer - September 2008 - 56

A Tale of 2 Cinematographers Top left: Director Bob Rafelson, who worked with Kovacs on Five Easy Pieces and The King of Marvin Gardens, offers generous praise for the cinematographer. Top right: One of the pair’s illustrious ASC peers, Haskell Wexler, helps to put their achievements in perspective. Below: Chressanthis shoulders a camera while trailing Zsigmond through his home. Richardson, Malatynska used a 5K MoleBeam projector to create a dramatic shaft of light through a window, using the bounce from the 5K as Roizman’s key light; a 10K Beam Projector aimed through another window created a second shaft that backlit Roizman. Malatynska recalls that actress Sharon Stone came for her interview without makeup on. “She said that when she begins to work on a movie, one of the most important things for her is to let the cinematographer see her without makeup. [She prefers to] meet her cinematographer the first time around in her ‘worst-case condition,’ so that from there, you can build up flattering lighting.” Malatynska ended up keying Stone with a 5K through diffusion (an “off key” at 45 degrees to the camera, with a 2K bounce for fill), another 2K for soft backlight, and additional lights in the background to lend depth to the soundstage. The wraparound, soft key-light effect was modulated when the camera dollied, creating “a beautiful eyelight and a lot of depth” with the face’s “shadow side toward camera.” The cinematographer also fondly recalls the input of another actress, who had some very specific suggestions for her lighting setup. Karen Black asked Malatynska to position her key light above camera and then bring it closer in. “She knew exactly what she wanted,” Malatynska says with a laugh. The pair ultimately conspired to create “a ring of light around the camera” that smoothed the features of the seasoned actress’ face. Some impromptu interviews were shot outside with available light supplemented by a 4x4 Molescent Biax panel or a 575-watt HMI, which Malatynska used to provide an “eyelight” to bring out the face. The cinematographer used light Tiffen Black Pro-Mist and Schneider Classic Soft filters on the lens for some of the female interviewees. Throughout the production, Chressanthis sought to show the filmmaking process, using second and sometimes third cameras to shoot the crew at work, occasionally filming the cameras themselves or images of the video-assist screen. “We live in a culture that is jaded by Entertainment Tonight values, and the public gets a warped sense of how films are created,” he says. “My intention was to show a true, behind-thescenes look at the complexity of our collaboration. I shot MiniDV against the Super 16, or Super 16 at 6 fps against the Genesis. In painting with so many cameras in textures that ranged from pristine sharpness to grainy and rough, I wanted to remind the audience that there are artists behind the camera creating the images they see.” No Subtitles Necessary begins with Kovacs and Zsigmond’s harrowing escape from Hungary after the Soviet Union’s armed forces 56 September 2008

American Cinematographer - September 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 2008