American Cinematographer - January 1987 - 54

Michael Riva, the

production de¬
signer for the film. Riva, who was
nominated for an Oscar for his
work on The Color Purple, also in¬
cludes among his credits, Ordi¬

People, Brubaker, and The
of Buckaroo Bonzai
among others. Working at Para¬
mount was a particular treat for
nary

Adventures

Riva,

as

it is the studio from which

his

grandmother, Marlene Di¬
etrich, reigned as one of the
movies' most glamorous stars.
The Golden Child, the

epitome of good in the world, has
been stolen and Eddie Murphy, is
the Chosen One, to find the child
and save the world for a thousand
future generations. The child (a

boy child played by

a

girl child,

J.L. Reate of Carmel, California)
has magical powers and the
of evil want to control his

forces
magic.
Murphy's odyssey sweeps him to
the Gates of Hell and the Edge of
Infinity.
A huge Buddhist statue
about 20 feet high was built on
stage for a temple sequence. "A
beautiful thing," says Thorin,
"where we staged a big fight
scene.

"One of

Murphy's en¬
danger involves his
dagger to trade for the

with

counters

finding
return

a

of the child. He

must

go

through an alley, down a myste¬
rious stairway and out onto pilings
that loom who knows how high
into the sky. They were con¬
structed at various heights and
some of them just
disappear into
equipment held

up very

well. It's

weatherized and Panavision equip¬
ment has heaters. My assistants

kept the batteries in ice chests in
order to insulate them. Works
the principle of the thermos,
course,

keeping the heat in

or

on

of
the

cold out or whatever is needed.
Worked like a charm for the
batteries.
"I'm not fond of the cold

all," Thorin declares. "1 was
born in the cold, born in Nebraska
and left in 1957.1 had been a com¬

at

mercial artist in Omaha and a close
friend and I were planning to go
into the movie distribution busi¬
ness

in California. The

left to come out here, the fel¬
low with whom we had our deal
had a heart attack and died. We
lost our money. My wife and I said
'let's go to California' and we
did!"
"We came here and it
took me about five minutes to fig¬
ure out where I was best suited in
this business with an art back¬
we

ground
started

American

Cinematographer

and that

was camera.

I

film loader. Nine years

ago my son,

Don, Jr., started

film loader and he's
cameraman now.

my youngest son,

as a

assistant
On Golden Child
an

Jeff, started

as a

film loader."

Thorin

day before
light

52

-

as a

at

January 1987

expressed his de¬
having worked with J.

darkness below and above the
character as he stands trying to ar¬
range a

trade with the evil forces."
Thorin continues: "The

posts go into infinity in every di¬
rection. I had a Chapman crane in
here thinking I could arm over
some of the pilings and maybe
make a swing coming hack over
the top of them, hut there was so
much irregularity I couldn't use a
crane and get in and out. So, it's a
dilemma for me. I wound up using

backlight on the posts and
blue light for mystique, fire effects
as he draws closer to the fire, and
some

of

course

with smoke and shoot-
American Cinematographer - January 1987

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