American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 94
define the perspective to achieve depth?
Do we need shadows? Do we need flat
WMD6
light? Should the action
CRYSTAL SYNC RECORDER
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We offer a
across
go horizontally
the frame? Should it go ver¬
of the Sony
tically? Diagonally? How do
use as a
elements in the
scene
cutting
line?"
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a
leg up
The mechanics
%
or a roof line. You'd never cut in the
middle of a bush. How would you ever
be able to match it? But that, in fact,
proved to be the easiest thing."
"Don't try to match hard
edges," Luster explains. "You have to
make the
matte
tend it into
ex¬
source
FAST TRIPOD
line crawl."
*
Swiss-made
*
Weatherproof
create a sense
*
Lightweight
him
*
Ball level
*
Rising column
Carry handle
precision
video's infamous flat look and
of depth. His studies led
come
only to the works of classic
filmmakers, but to the paintings of Re¬
not
naissance artists
tie-ups
(Legs only)
w/Miller Pro 106
w/O'Connor 30
w/O'Connor 50
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.
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IMAGE DEVICES
an
entire
well. "We had
to
fully layering the elements in the
scene,
he could
depth.
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create
"We tried
every
-
in order to create per¬
he says.
He discovered that by care¬
canvas
spective,"
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as
approach the construction of the entire
frame in much the same way that a
painter approaches the construction of
Shoulder strap
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you
The perspective problem, al¬
though magnified in the matte scenes,
was a consideration throughout the pro¬
gram. From the beginning Kuerten had
worked on developing ways to over¬
Aluminum construction
IDI
line free form and
element in the
an
*
SuperStix
SuperStix
SuperStix
SuperStix
SuperStix
camera
with the
SUPER
*
in
placement were fairly easy to deal with.
For ground level shots, the Ikegami
HL79-D was locked down and weighted
with good results. A camera platform
was built on top of one of the produc¬
tion vans for higher angles. On location
the van was hoisted up on jack stands.
Once the shot was framed up, the cam¬
era was again
locked down and
weighted, and everyone, including the
camera operator, ordered well away.
Disguise was the key to the
line crawl problem. Kuerten, Davis and
Luster had initally assumed that the
border between the painting and the
foreground scene could be a hard hori¬
zontal line. Not so. "That was the funny
thing about it," Kuerten says. "We
thought we should cut along a shadow
footage. Then
the
competition
*Velcro
of
real
us
finish out that color
field and go on to the rest of the paint¬
ing. As long as you've matched the
colors, the textured pattern will hide the
on
*
aid
a middleground element that
shooting to, and a background
that was filling in the scene."
element
In addition, he found that if these ele¬
ments were lined up on diagonals, they
forced the perspective and drew the eye
to an artificial vanishing point, much
like the familiar image of the railroad
tracks disappearing on the horizon.
Kuerten further sought to give
the image texture and richness of color
by using
camera filters
sometimes stacking
for every scene,
several in se¬
quence. A Tiffen 812 was used to add a
pale rose hue, helping to eliminate
of the excessive blue to which
video is so sensitive. In addition, a fog
some
plus either
depending
to
the illusion of
make
sure
frame of video that
foreground element that
that almost
we
shot had a
shoot¬
we were
December 1986
or
less critical than it would have been had
Kuerten gone for a harsher look.
Having leaped the major hur¬
dles, Kuerten began working with Luster
storyboard the eleven scenes which
require mattes, still not certain
that the process would ultimately work.
to
would
"You'll notice that
none
of the
matte
the narrative line of the
program," says Kuerten. "They're es¬
tablishing shots. They set the scene
well, but you really don't have to have
them. The only thing you'd miss is that
cinematic payoff to the viewer."
From storyboarding, Luster
produced a series of color drawings of
the background scenes and the com¬
posite images. These were revised as
scenes
carry
locations
were
selected. Luster,
Kuerten, camera operator Robert
Bouchillon, and field engineer Cedron
Wynn worked closely on location to in¬
sure that camera positions conformed to
the perspectives in the drawings. Once
shot, the 1" field tapes came back to
the studio where a working copy was
made. The master itself was tucked in
the vault for safekeeping.
In the first step of the pro¬
cess,
Luster attached
a
large piece of
white paper to the matte stand and
drew the matte line. This was accom¬
plished by half-dissolving between the
source footage on the work tape and
the image of Luster and the matte stand
as seen by the camera. This composite
was
ships anywhere in the world
soft
low contrast filter,
light situation, soft¬
edges. Besides en¬
hancing the quality of the image, the
filtration served a further advantage in
the matte scenes. The slight loss of
resolution which it produced meant that
the level of detail in the paintings was
a
on the
ened video's hard
line
The Film Group
Get
our matte
we use
to
ing past,
we were
fed to Luster's monitor. He could
American Cinematographer - December 1986
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 1986
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 1
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 2
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 3
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 4
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 5
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 6
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 7
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 8
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 9
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 11
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 13
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 20
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 25
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 27
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 28
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 29
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 30
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 31
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 33
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 34
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 35
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 36
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 37
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 38
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 39
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 40
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 41
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 50
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 51
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 53
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 54
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 55
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 56
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 57
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 58
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 59
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 60
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 61
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 62
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 63
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 64
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 65
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 66
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 67
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 68
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 69
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 70
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 71
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 72
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 73
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 74
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 76
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 77
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 78
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 79
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 80
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 81
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 82
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 83
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 84
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 85
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 86
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 87
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 88
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 89
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 90
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 91
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 92
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 93
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 94
American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 95
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American Cinematographer - December 1986 - 97
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