American Cinematographer - December 1988 - 41

Opposite

page:

Cameramen

adjust

lighting

on Jeremy
Irons and stand-in

for motion control
shot. Left: Irons
rehearses first half
of

tracking shot.
Balsmeyer oper¬
ates camera and

Palin hovers
camera

the split could be dissolved in slow¬
ly, then the question was how many
times can you do that within the
scene without
giving it away?"
The actual mechanics of

the

split were done in post¬
production as an optical process.
Though there are only about 14
shots in which the twins appear

together, they

are crucial to selling
the idea that there really are two

people, not one.
Equally crucial was the
set-up for each shot. Wilson ex¬
plains, "When we would shoot the
scene, Jeremy Irons would play his
one character off an
acting double
in order to get feedback and an eye
line. And then he would play it the
other way around. His voice would
be recorded the first time he played
the

scene

audio
with

man
a

and he would have the

(Brian Day) set him up

bug in his

listen to his

own

ear so

voice in

he could
playback

as

he acted the second role."

on

the set. There is not a blue

insure

screen

film, according to Wilson. To
placement and to perfect the

choreography of each

a video assist
system that I put
together with David Woods in
charge and Maryanne Simmons as¬
sisting, a full switcher and time

base correctors

scene,

"we

on

set, so that when

setting up the shot, we could put
split screen on video from the
coming through camera and
you could tell if there was a prob¬
lem immediately," Wilson explains.
up a
feed

The

could be rehearsed and

limitations.
"It

chess

on

gets to be like playing

three levels, where you

say, 'I can eliminate this from the
frame because we've already got
that side of the shot and it won't be
seen

again,

'We don't

so it doesn't matter.' Or
really need the double

here now, because his shadow is in
the way' And once in awhile you

shooting the A-side of the
shot, the sequence would be played

yourself. Sometimes
something would be removed
which you really needed for the

back and

thrown up

second side of the shot. A box of

permiting comparison
already on film. The

groceries, for instance. 'We don't
need that anymore. That will make
it easier for Jeremy if we move it.'

scene

after

on

a

live

the B side

of what

was

camera

second half of the

scene

could then

outsmart

be blocked out

But then

shot. "That worked out

box of

according to the first
quite well,"
Wilson says. "We really used video
to good purpose."
Interestingly, none of the
scenes were
storyboarded. "It was
my job to try not to limit Jeremy in
the blocking. Cronenberg would

a

later

crossover

shows the

groceries - this kind of com¬
plication keeps you hopping."
According to Wilson, Cro¬
nenberg always shot as if he had
two people. He purposely refused
to include shots

that would call at¬

tention to the

problems and, of course, I
always wanted to say 'No', but that
is hardly possible. He did under¬
stand the process as well as anyone

special effect of
day decisions were
made on the set as spontaneously
as possible whether a specific shot
should be a "twinning shot." "We
often had twinning shots which

involved

didn't work well, and

show

Every shot was done right
in the

had

me

the shot and ask if there

were

-

December 1988

its

potential and its

over

system.

twins. Each

American

Cinematographer

they

were

39
American Cinematographer - December 1988

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