American Cinematographer - February 1989 - 35

windows and

a

ceiling, and that

Chris at any given time wanted to
see the entire set - walls, floor, ceil¬

ing, catwalks and observation
deck."
Since Martin's first
authorized

un¬

glimpse of the lab coin¬

cides with that of the audience,

Vidgeon
scene

was inspired to work the
into a cinematic showcase. A

Steadicam with

a

17mm lens tracks

Martin into the observation
Martin descends the

deck the

"It's

scene
was a

the

a

over

bird's eye

his

view

glory.

very spectacular
because the first movie's lab
a

dingy warehouse, and here

camera

these

rises

camera

shoulder to reveal
of the lab in all its

deck; as
steps of the

alone reveals how far

malfunctioning telepods of

Seth Brundle's have come."

n/!1'

During pre-production
Vidgeon and Walas devised five dif¬
ferent lighting set-ups for the lab
including half blues for the 'moon¬
light' look when Martin and Beth
are
working alone together; steel
blues for a technical look during
crowd work scenes; and

an

'emer¬

lighting' look for the climax
complete with dry-ice smoke and
spotlights casting giant catwalk

^dedolight
A

Revolutionary Optical System

-

Surpasses Fresnel Technology

gency

shadows

on

the walls.

"Lighting of the set comes
mainly from three ceiling panels
with ten lOk's, par lights and land¬
ing lights; 30% of the lighting takes
place on the floor," says Vidgeon.
The five set-ups were wired into a
computer and could be changed,
dimmed,

or

Innovative optical system design (pat. pend.) and precision manufac¬
turing define a new level of performance. A light output comparable
to conventional fixtures of much higher wattage. Economical 100, 50
and 20 watt 12 volt lamps are available - rugged and long-lasting.
Power by battery - camera or car (cigarette lighter). Or
use the AC contol unit, which can power up to four
lights, with accurate setting of the color temper¬
ature to

likened it to the inside of

a

tele¬

phone junction box gone wrong,
"yet it all worked perfectly thanks
to gaffer Steve Jackson and best boy
Rick Buckmaster."
Because the matte black

telepods tended to photograph like
solid blocks, Vidgeon lit them from
the top and sides and sometimes
underneath to bring out the louvers
and veins. A new interior lighting
set-up for the glass door pod tele¬
portation sequences was required:
in the first film, 20 to 30 plastic
flashbulb strobelights placed in the

Lots of
-

-

-

or

Small size. Lots of

-

switched off at the

touch of a button. When Vidgeon
explored the outside of the set and
discovered the arrangement, he

3000°, 3200°

3400° Kelvin.

light.

tough.

An

extraordinary focus range.
Really wide. 25 to 1 wide.

A flat field. From

edge to edge.

A dream has come true.

Belgium
Canada

Luxillag, Rue Joseph II Straat 166, B-1040 Bruxelles
Cinequip, 275 MacPherson Ave., Toronto Ont. M4V 1A4
Lome

France

Great Britain
Netherlands

Scandinavia
Switzerland

Lapham, 206-1099 West 8th Ave., Vancouver BCV6H1C3
Macphon No. 2-2616 16th St. N.E., Calgary Alberta T2E 7J8
Dimaphot, 16 Rue Clement-Marot, F-75008 Paris
Telefex, 58 Kew Road, Richmond Surrey TW9 2PQ
Compact Light H.J.E., Wenckebachweg 79, NL-1096 AL Amsterdam
Rune Ericson, Huvudsgatan 12, S-17158 Solna
Bolex, 15 Route de Lausanne, CH-1401 Yverdon

DEDOTEC USA INC.
210 Westlake Drive

Tel.
Tel.
Tel.
Tel.
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Tel.
Tel.

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(416) 920-5424
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(403) 250-1719
(0)1-47.23.98.87
(0)1 19401155
(0)20-935807

Tel. 46-8-7340845
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(0)24/216021

DEDO WEIGERT
FILM GMBH
5, RottmannstraBe

Valhalla, NY 10595

D-8000 Munich 2

Tel.:

West

FAX:

(914) 761-5608
(914) 761-9501

Tel.:

Germany
(89) 525064

Tlx.: 529865
FAX

(89) 5291 73

33
American Cinematographer - February 1989

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