American Cinematographer - December 1988 - 47

the

picture

was

shot

on

GTE

building in Westlake, Ana¬

heim

Stadium, and Hermosa

Beach. Most of the remainder of the
sets

built at Twentieth Centu¬

were

"I think I used less filtra¬

practical

locations, including the futuristic

tion

this film than any

and also because

effects for the film, Kline conducted

we

Kline says.

sharp film out of it."

-

did have

decent skin tones, and
have to

-

we

up any foibles
actors. We were able to make
cover

some

a

tors. "I

a

footage," he relates, "mainly to see
how the makeup's going to look,
and to familiarize myself with the
actor or the actress. They all have
something different, some idio¬
syncrasy, that I need to know. A
common
example is a body list.
Often, you'll light the stand-in,
who will stand very straight and

very

light¬
ing style as one of precision. "There
are different
lighting styles, of
course. There are some
people who
prefer to light a little looser - they
bounce it off the ceiling, and the
are

free to

move

almost any¬

where. It's not

wards entertainment films, and if

they have visual substance, that's

the freedom to float in the

better."

even

and still look

Heading Kline's equip¬
ment list

were

Panavision

cameras

and the

Superspeed lenses. "We
stayed with the good, consistent
standard Panaflex equipment," he
stated, "and used the three basic
Eastman stocks
97, 94, and 47.
-

We also used the 95 for

some

of

Apogee's work. It's nice when
you're accustomed to these emul¬
sions, and you know quite well
what they'll do, particularly if you
the

use

same

lab. We used CFI for

the front work, and
nice

job. I

use

they did a very
CFI when I do com¬

mercials, and it
lief to

was a

welcome

re¬

them

again.
"The approach to lens
choice is difficult to put into words.
We did use some long lenses, but in
this case there was a story to tell, so
one couldn't really confuse the is¬
sue with beautiful
pictures that
don't really tie in. This is how com¬
mercials are done. There isn't really
a
story per se, you just want to
attract attention, so a beautiful pic¬
ture is good. You can do almost
anything in commercials - long
use

scene

cosmetically interest¬
ing and acceptable. But whenever
possible, I prefer to light with
precision.
"My technique is to light
through the camera until it looks
right, and then check the meter.
However, I think many photogra¬
phers are too dependent on the
meter
they'll read every moment.
But everyone's skin accepts light dif¬
ferently, so the meter doesn't really
count; it's a starting point. I can
light a person in a chair, and shoot
five different people sitting in that
chair in the same light, with the
same
readings, and come up with
five different exposures. So some¬
times you have to forget the meter,
-

preparations involving special

in the

Kline describes his

actors

In addition to his exten¬

sive

didn't

always the most flat¬
tering, but it can accommodate the
moment. Sometimes you need to
light a certain way to give an actor

-

adjust for skin tones in relation
something else in the scene."

to

ry Fox's massive Stage Six. "That's
what interested me in the project,"

"Not only was it an
amusing script and a great cast, but
it was an opportunity to go for real¬
ism. It wasn't just a pure comedy
look
this is going on the big
screen. The
script gave us many
opportunities for interesting
visuals
night work, rain and
lightning effects, early morning
moods
and the point of the film
is to entertain people. I lean to¬

and

film I've
done," continues Kline. "Partially
because of the realism approach,
on

test

shooting of the principal
almost insist

tall, and when the actor
he'll lean

rolls, and others do just the oppo¬
site. Some have

a

certain

attentive, you can

learn

many

these characteristics before
under the pressure

of

you're

of principal

photography."
Kline discovered the im¬

portance of these subtleties during
his years as an operator. "When I

operated,

we

didn't have reflex

had the old finders on
the side," he recalls. "So what you
cameras, we

through the finder was not the
through the lens because of
the parallax. So I'd have to study
carefully the leaning or standing
saw

same

characteristics of the actors in order

iHfc-io T

Of

iiliiliri
Opposite page: Kim
Basinger, as the
alien, dazzles her

earthling co-stars.
Left: Jon Lovitz,

I may use a

Wesley Mann, and
Aykroyd
during a frightful

long lens to focus attention during
an

lope in

their walk, or a way of cocking their
heads when they speak. If you're

story, so we com¬
plimented that story. Lenses are
then used more to force the eye to
see.

in,

heads up before the scene and drop
them down just before the camera

a

what I want it to

comes

a little bit one way or
the other. Some actors hold their

lenses, smoke, et cetera. But in this
the camera was really the

see

ac¬
test

just

case,

framework for

on some

Dan

emotional moment, or to take

something distracting out of the

moment in the

background.

Klystron

December 1988

American

Cinematographer

room.

45
American Cinematographer - December 1988

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