American Cinematographer - April 1985 - 107

Morris often

divesting it of any responsibility
for the photography of Moulin
Rouge. Innovative cinematography
often requires an idea and the
power and diplomacy to steer it
past those forces which work to
stifle anything unconventional.
The innovative, open approach in
Moulin Rouge would become the
centerpiece of Ossie Morris' pho¬
tography thenceforth, making his
pictures visually interesting, even if
by slight deviations from cine¬

uses a

steel blue color for

night scenes as in
this example from
Moulin Rouge
depicting Lautrec's
loneliness.
Green light
highlights Lautrec's

cane/flask.

matic convention.

As Huston and Morris
had

planned, Moulin Rouge is visu¬
ally stunning. Compositions are
often tableaux with meticulous

separation and balance. The won¬
derfully varied lighting extends
from fluffy dance performances
with Zsa Zsa Gabor to desolate,
urban night scenes. The color in¬
novation reaches beyond what
was then a bold experiment with
low saturation to include the judi¬
cious use of aqua green pools of
light on various set pieces and
walls throughout the picture.
Though the device echoes
Lautrec's troubled mood, it is
never motivated from any practi¬
cal source other than the imagina¬
tions of Houston and Morris.
It is

rare

that

a

director

or

such an
original or expressive use of color
on any film, let alone within the
more rigid style of a period film.
cameraman

The

late

encourages

R.W.

Fassbinder's

Querelle and Lola are important
exceptions whose striking colors
show the reward for originality
and innovation.

John Huston,

says

Mor¬

ris, is always pushing beyond the
conventions of the
what looks and feels

day to use
appropriate,

regardless of past precedent, and
regardless of whether a device
such as a dark green light is unto
itself plausible. In Moulin Rouge
color is used as it is applied in a
Lautrec painting, not as it is seen
in nature or an average film. In a
film about a painter and his world,
viewers would be

more

apt to ac¬

and appreciate a painter's
of color. This perception
explains why Morris believes

cept

open use

"there's

a

certain

amount

of

unre¬

ality in all lighting." Often unreal
lighting, such as in a night exterior,
must be passed off as natural and
realistic on the screen for a practi¬
cal

such

reason

faces, and

as

the need

to see

for any unusual styl¬
Unnaturally motivated
lighting techniques can be as much
a part of a natural, realistic image
as they are a part of a more styl¬
not

istic efFect.

ized

one.

These delicate tech¬

niques-the quality of a fill, color,
and separation-together define a
cameraman's style and most signif¬
icant aspects of his work. Observ¬
ing these qualities
April 1985

can

helpful instruction
room

where

a

to others. In a
sits beside a

man

most every cameraman will
motivate light from the source.

lamp,

What he does beyond that reveals
his style and strength as a camera¬
man. Huston and Morris demon¬
strate that masters are those who
do something different that lends

appropriate, extra quality to the
image beyond what conventional
photography achieves.
Moulin Rouge demon¬

an

an
unusual color
add dimension to a

strates

that

scheme

can

American

Cinematographer

provide
105
American Cinematographer - April 1985

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