American Cinematographer - October 1968 - 27

(LEFT) Wexler lines up one of the cameras mounted on front of a dune buggy prior to filming of wild ride across the sand. Cameras had to be
securely lashed down with a shock cord to ride out the action. (CENTER) Steve McQueen drove the buggy in and out of the water at top speed.
Co-star Faye Dunaway, seated next to him, had to do little acting in order to register fear. (RIGHT) During the actual take, cameras had to be
wrapped with plastic in order to protect them from wind and water.

WEXLER: Yes we did-for certain effects. For example,
there is a sequence in the film in which, according to the
script, "they play chess with sex"-and that sort of threw
me a little bit. But Norman Jewison explained to me what
he had in mind by that sort of euphemistic expression.
In

order to

get the required dreamy, sexy mood,

lighted the scene with only two big soft-lights. They were
placed very high and used mainly as back-lights. It could
have been done almost as well with the umbrellas but, in
a way, the soft-light units have a bit more control because

QUESTION: How does the crinkled aluminum foil affect
the level of the reflected light?
WEXLER: It enables you to get a little more poop out of a
soft-light. For example, we had a sequence in a bank
corridor, which I lit with a chicken-coop just over the top.
I wanted to be able to use the zoom lens, so I needed at
least a F/3.9 stop. My meter read only FJ3. So, we quickly
lined

the

chicken-coops

with

aluminum

foil

and

that

brought the light up to the required level.

of their physical shape. You can extend "ears" onto them
better and confine the light somewhat.

QUESTION: That sequence has a kind of warm, mellow
glow to it on the screen. Did you do any filtration of
lights, lens or in the lab to create that warmth?

QUESTION: I noticed that, as is usual in your films, there
were no process shots in "THE THOMAS CROWN AF¬
FAIR." There were, however, a number of sequences in
which you filmed scenes of people riding in cars. Can
you tell me what problems these presented, and how
you solved them?

WEXLER: No-these lamps tend to be a little warm. I'm
sure that some of the other cameramen have found that

WEXLER: For most of the car stuff we had a camera out¬

to be true. Chicken-coop lights and some ColorTran and

side the driver's window secured on a special mount that

Mole-Richardson quartz units also go a little warm in color

was developed for filming TV commercials. It is made of

temperature-and I have, on occasion, papered the re¬

very

flectors of these lights with crinkled aluminum foil to get a

the camera would be operated by remote control, but

light-weight,

thin-wall

tubular

material.

Sometimes

more correct color temperature. I don't believe this is the

when we did use an operator he would sort of lie on the

result of inferior manufacture,

fact that

hood next to the mount. We used a motorized zoom so

when the paint on the reflective surface ages or gets a bit

that, after having lined the lens up on the driver, we were

of dirt on it, the color temperature drops a little.

able to include some zoom movement. This is important

QUESTION: Then you've definitely pin-pointed it as
caused by the reflector?

the picture is so smooth that it really looks like a process

but rather the

because, if you just shoot from a rig with everything fixed,

WEXLER: Right. It's not the lamps themselves. We tested
them. It's the same effect as when a still photographer

shot. We found that just a little variation with the zoom,
in and out, changing the size a bit, creates an illusion

bounces a flash off the ceiling of a room. The ceiling may

ing

look white, but if it has any warm color in it, the light

where there is this little bit of searching.

will look warm.

true movement. People have become accustomed to see¬
running

shots

photographed

from

another

vehicle,

Continued on Page 770

(LEFT) During filming of a sequence in the outdoor market of Little Italy at the North end of Boston, operator, at left, runs a hand-held Arriflex,
while Wexler, at right, covers the scene from another angle. (CENTER) McQueen, in foreground, did his own riding in polo sequence. Camera
operators worked in close with hand-held cameras to make sure his face would show. One of them was stepped on by a horse. (RIGHT) Serenely
puffing his pipe, Wexler waits behind the camera for filming preparations to be completed.

American Cinematographer - October 1968

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