American Cinematographer - July 1986 - 48

Even in

scenes

For Cybill's song num¬
bers, Finnerman used the netting
that he saved from My Fair Lady,
which flared reflected light from a
necklace she was wearing. This

made

in

practical locations
Willis and Shepherd
are given studio-type
lighting.

created
filter.

similar effect

a

"She's

to

a

star

bubbly person¬
ality with a great voice," Finner¬
man says of Shepherd. "It was
easy
to imagine that you were there in
the mid-40S, and she was a song¬
a

with a dance band. I think
she looks even better in black-andwhite than color. And Willis, he's
stress

a

young

Bogart."
What makes

ing

so

Moonlight¬

special?
"In

a

way,

it reminds

me

of Star Trek," Finnerman answers.
"Viewers are fiercely loyal. Work¬

ing
to a

this show is like belonging
special club."

on

It also proves you can

good television without
committing mayhem. "Violence
on TV is
depressing," Finnerman
observes. "You only get a couple
of fleeting moments here on Earth,
and 1 want to do something good
create

in that time.
"I'm

not a purist, but
has to make a stand
someplace," he continues. "Work¬
ing on the production of an epi¬
sodic TV show entails long, hard
hours, and it can be very stressful
work. If you are going to put your¬
self through that, you might as
well be doing something which
you can be proud of."
In recent years, Finner¬
man had mainly worked on TV
movies and mini-series. Why put
himself through a grind like
Moonlighting?
"I couldn't be happier if I
had just shot Out of Africa" he
says. "I look forward to coming to
work everyday. I believe that we
have done something special - the

everyone

In order to develop two
contrasting lighting styles, Finnerman and the producers
spent a lot
of time looking at old MGM and
Warner Bros, movies, including

We used
create

backlighting

In contrast,

dream was
man used

to

the Willis

guttural. Finnerlight and shadows to
halftones, and double fog
more

Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, A

create

Streetcar Named

filters to manufacture the illusion
of grain, a more down-and-dirty

Mildred Pierce.
"We settled
car Named Desire as

Desire and
A Street¬
model for

on
a

Cybill's dream, and Casablanca for
Bruce," he says. "Then, I forgot all
of the rules about shooting color. I
remembered Harry (Stradling, Sr.)
telling me to take the light around
until it scares you when shooting
low key black-and-white scenes. I
did everything but front light, ex¬
cept for a dance number that
Cybill did and that was front-lit.

image.
The differences

American

Cinematographer

were

very

subtle; something that viewers
were more likely to sense than see.
Most of the

time, Finnerman

was

three cameras for
coverage and five on the musical
numbers. The biggest problem was
separating the walls. "They were
hot," he says. "I hung just about
every light that we had. MGM
Labs did a great job
they gave
us just the
right gamma for each of
running

two or

.

the

46

cross and
dimension."

two

July 1986

versions."

.

.

cast

and

crew

are

very

much

a

family."
Bill
nerman's

Clark, SOC, is Finand Bill

operator,

Loranger and Mike Stradling

are

assistants. The second unit is
headed by Roger Shearman; the
American Cinematographer - July 1986

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