American Cinematographer - August 1984 - 74

of

a documentary look. But 1
exactly what 1 wanted. 1 ex¬
aggerated the blue moonlight for a
purpose. 1 believe you can make

and pay-for-view television, as
well as for home video, the de¬
mand for original programming
could multiply like bacteria in a

subtle use of colors to establish
moods and create visual clues for
audiences."

petri dish. In fact, there has been

more

knew

Berton got the look he
wanted and the respect of cast and
crew. However, rapport on the set
comes
from more than sure¬
handed leadership. Everyone's list
of tales about the making of The
Devil's Gift includes an anecdote
about the day Berton stumbled
onto the set, ashen-faced with a

finger nearly severed.
"It was literally hanging
by a thread," Daniels remembers.

myself if his finger could be

tions in
Sonoma

Daniels discovered she

discuss

high speed
running shot to be
a

made from the back

brated his 21st

he relate

birthday. How did

to a crew

and

cast

spurs, some
with five, 10 or more years of pro¬
fessional experience?
Palm recounts an experi¬

shortly after she joined the
production team. "We were
shooting a night interior, and I had
gelled the window and lights to
simulate moonlight," she recalls.
ence

"In

fact, that

light for

part

was our

of

prime

key

a

source

scene.

But

Kenny (Berton) wanted it bluer."
Berton says,
crew

thought this

"Some of the

scene

actually holding a piece of
not a severed fingertip. That
loosened everyone up consider¬
ably, while demonstrating rather
dramatically Berton's ability to
create convincing special effects
with latex, a technique he used in
several key scenes.

called for

on

shoestring

The Devil's
filmed

Gift was
practical loca¬
Petaluma, California, a
County suburb of San

entirely

at

Francisco. The main characters

are

boy, his widowed father,

was

a

latex,

with whom he lives, and the man's

which

already had earned its

duction values

budgets.

went over to

saved."

First there is Berton, who
raised the money and put together
a crew anJ cast to produce a fullfeature film before he cele-

starting to match up with the op¬
portunities proffered by the ex¬
panding media. And, if this film is
an example, it is possible to obtain
acceptable entertainment and pro¬

comfort him and
tried to hold the two parts to¬
gether, meanwhile wondering to
"I

Berton and Palm

about whether there
would be a sufficient pool of talent
and seed money to nourish the
needs of the industry.
This is why projects like
The Devil's Gift art interesting. As
Palm points out, there is an awful
lot of talent out there which is just
concern

look

at

There is another way to
the making of The Devil's

Gift.
"I think

things

are

begin¬

to open up," says Palm, who
served a brief apprenticeship with
Lee Garmes, ASC, during the last

ning

year

and

a

half of his life.

"There

just wasn't

enough opportunity

to go around
when the three networks were the

only outlet for original prime-time
programming," Palm says.
Now, with the rise of

an¬

cillary markets, including cable

young

girlfriend.
As a birthday gift, the
boy receives an antique toy
monkey, the kind that claps little
cymbals together when turned on.
At

a

seance,

the audience

sees a

demon possess the toy. The de¬
mon
quickly turns its attention to
the family.
At first, the demon seems
satisfied with comparatively minor

mayhem. Example: A light bulb
explodes and falls flaming into an
oil pan. This ignites a fire, which
produces oily, black smoke that
kills the lovable family dog. How¬
ever, things turn really nasty after
the demon focuses its attention on
the boy. It initiates a number of
failed attempts at murder by ma¬

nipulating people

to

do its dirty

work.
Co-producer/
production manager
Jose l/ergelin and

The story takes on a
dream-like atmosphere with father
and demon locked in an in¬

Palm discuss the

creasingly desperate struggle. It be¬
comes difficult to separate
night¬
mares from
waking hours. In one

day's schedule.

traumatic scene,

the father wakens
to have the
shocks grow in intensity. It turns
out that he is still
sleeping. He
only dreamed he had awakened
from

72

American

Cinematographer

August/September 1984

a

nightmare only
American Cinematographer - August 1984

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