American Cinematographer - June 1985 - 30

Vegas. Sobered but undaunted,
they take up residence in a small¬
in the middle of
nowhere with nowhere jobs. Sud¬

town motor court

denly realizing that they haven't
really "dropped out" of anything,
David decides to eat crow, and
drives off to New York and to the
future he had been heading for

right from the

start.
What is the role of a cam¬
eraman in an existential
comedy
like Lost in America, a film of long

dialogue sequences and largely unglamorous locations? Director of
photography Eric Saarinen had
photographed two other Brooks
features, Real Life and Modern Ro¬
mance,

about

and

was

taking

hesitant

at

first

another. "I had
for my work on The
on

gotten raves
Golden Seal (American

Cin¬

ematographer, October, 1983),
and I wasn't sure I wanted to do
another comedy, especially one
that essentially would not appear
to be a cameraman's film," said

Saarinen, who directs and shoots

The Realistic

commercials full-time at Plum
Productions in L.A., with partner
Chuck Sloan.

Fantasy of

Saarinen, however, took

Lost in America

on

learning experience." "I decided
to go out and get the best crew I
could, take some chances, and
push things to the limit more than
I had previously on this type of

by Michael S. Kunkes
at

pretty." If that is
true, it may also be truthfully said
that good photography is not al¬
ways beautiful photography. Al¬

Linda at a department store, and
are about to move into a new
home and price a Mercedes. When
David is passed over for a prom¬
ised vice-presidency and is instead
shifted to the New York office on

"Comedy is

not

bert Brooks' Lost in America, a
Geffen Co. release distributed by
Warner Bros., is not what one
would call a broad comedy. The

co-writer, director and star is
Brooks, whose films have always
been concerned with the often

contradictory realities of the world
we live in, and with characters who
always hover on a fine edge be¬
tween

what

reality and fantasy, between
want and what is.
In Lost in America,

they

Brooks and

co-star Julie Hagerty
executives David and
Linda Howard. They are happily
entrenched in their careers, David

portray

28

major advertising

Comic Steve Martin has said,

American

Cinematographer

a

agency,

"just another account," he goes
bonkers, and in a blind rage, gets
himself fired. Together, he and
Julie decide to "drop out of soci¬
ety." They liquidate their savings,
buy a Winnebago, and set out on
the road together to discover
America, "Just like in Easy Rider,"

David says.
Of course, things go
wrong, but the speed at which

as

they go wrong is truly appalling.
Their first night out of Los An¬
geles, Linda loses their $190,000
"nest

egg" in

June 1985

a

Lost for what he termed "a

crazed binge in Las

film." That

crew

included

camera

operator Ray De La Motte, who
had worked extensively with Gor¬
don Willis; assistant camera Lee

Redmond, gaffer Gary Holt and
key grip Gary Dodd, whose contri¬
bution to the rigging of the Winnebago sequences proved
invaluable to the production.
The depiction of reality,
or more specifically of reality as
seen through the eyes of Albert
Brooks, was Saarinen's overriding
concern in designing the cin¬
ematography for the 50-day
shooting schedule, only several of
which took place on a stage. Loca¬
tions included Century City, Canyon Country and the San
Fernando

geles

area;

Valley in the Los An¬
the Desert Inn in Las

Vegas; Hoover Dam; and finally,

a
American Cinematographer - June 1985

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