American Cinematographer - January 1984 - 69

It is virtually impossible
for one director to observe all the
action as it is happening in such a
scene, so
can

he

must

do the best he

with his "limited"

180-degree

vision. "I

just survey the scene like
crazy," says Harper. "My eyeballs
have skid-marks by the time we're

done

shooting one of those
The 360-degree format
isn't usually a problem, except on
the elaborately staged sequences.
Those shots require very thorough
scenes.

rehearsal. The Greek festival was a
real zoo, with 100 extras speaking
in a language foreign to me, plus
animals. The takes

were one mas¬

sive countdown: 'Grease the goat!
Cue the fire! Move that donkey
back! Start the dance!'.
that sort
.

of

.

thing.
"The main

challenge was
helping people liven up and feel at
ease. They had never been in front
of a camera before, let alone one
that looks like a military blasting
device and is so noisy. This cele¬
bration really had to have a strong
sense of
spontaneity and joy. Once
we helped the
people to have a
good time, the scene went to¬
gether and we all had a lot of fun."
The Circle-Vision 360
format involves a whole new con¬

cept in film communication. The
audience has the ability to look all
around the huge panorama on the
circle of theater screens. Effective
use of the format creates the illu¬
sion of really "being there" and

experiencing the

scene.

Therefore,

the filmmaker must compose the
film in a way that includes the au¬
dience in the "selective" aspects of
the creative process.
has to
from a
cause

Explains Harper, "One
really adjust to this format
filmmaking standpoint. Be¬
people are looking all
this

around the theater

screens at

huge

panorama, you

pose

the shots

have to com¬
that they can

sort

so

of edit the film themselves.

For

example, on another project,
we shot a wedding celebration in a
Brittany farm house. Normally,
you might portray the event in a
dozen cuts: an establishing shot,
the newlyweds dancing, the instru¬
mentalists playing, people clapping
their hands, colorful tables deco¬
rated for the event, and so on. But
in the 360-degree format, all

points of interest generally must
take place in one or two large pan¬
oramas, giving the audience a
chance to discover things by them¬
selves. Cutting too quickly in this
format without regard for the op¬

Setting up for a shot
Amberly Village.

in

Platforms rather than
cranes

become the

means

for

high

perspective views in
Circle-Vision.

portunity to explore the scene can
become very disorienting to an au¬
dience. All of this needed to be
considered in pre-production, in
respect to exact
extras,

locations,

props,

etc."
One of the

dangers is the
temptation to place the 360-de¬
gree camera unit in the middle of a
pretty landscape and just shoot.
While this is often effective, it can
also be overworked. Scene after
scene of pretty landscapes even-

American

Cinematographer

67
American Cinematographer - January 1984

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