American Cinematographer - November 1989 - 63

Saw What You Did. Harlem

Nights

screen.

**■

KEY' TO ORDERLY

"Many movies from this
period look like faded photo¬
graphs," Omens said as he ex¬
plained the establishment of a
style for the film. "That's because
our visual
memory is based on
the cliche, sepia-toned images we
associate with photo albums and
old picture books. I plead guilty
to creating this very same styl¬
ized period look, kind of a
brownish patina, for Evergreen,
which I shot five years ago. We
had a vague idea of what Harlem
was like
during the late 1930s. We
searched book stores, libraries
and archives for clues. One of the
best sources we found was a book
called "Harlem: the Making of a
Ghetto." I decided that the way to
tell a visual story about black

Opposite
pag e.Pryor

/Shttwr

is his third film for the theatrical

The

frtSjStHtJ

examines the
remains of his

ARRANGEMENT Of COLORS

following stejw will tos»*t in the proper irrangentettt on
chip* enclosed in the coin envelope:

nightclub.
Although
photographed

dZ>?/o

the chart of the 24 Mnnadl

A.

Separate the chip* into three groups.
1.

color film,
effect is of black
on

Chip* of strong chroma (10).
Red*, Yriluw*Rcd, Yellow, Green-Yellow. Green, Blue*
Green. Blue, Purple-Blue, Purple, Red-Purple,

B,

2,

Chips which are neutral-no hue or no chroma (8).
Black, Grays, White.

3.

Chi}>* which are red or of reddish cut (6).
Grayish red through strong red.

and white. Left
and Below: Chart
/f-??

Arrange the 10 strong chroma chips on the position*

huh-

(SYR). Yellow (SY), Green-

S

£

$

wheels

were

| i

used as

guides

&

catetl in the lute circle.
Red (SR}-, Yellow-Red

and color

c

M

for color selec¬

*

tion of sets and

Yellow (ICY) etc.

wardrobe.

the left ltand vertical scale.
l>arke»t (S 2!) one up from bottom-with gradual in¬
creasing value to lightest (N 9/) at top,

C Arrange the % neutral

D. Arrange the

chip*

on

horizontal scale at die 4/ value level,
Weakest (most gray.
chronm

Wheels are at
Zone 6 bright¬
ness level and

6 grayish red to strong red chips on the
,■$,/&

5R 4/2) at left, through increasing

(saturation) to strong red (5K 4/12) at

are a

right.

Munsel

chroma level 2
/^/
tiw hue circle h «i
wropl* of strong r«t ter the chrenw scale.

*the *»mofe of strong ml ior

and 4 respec¬

Hphin wins than the

tively.

people living in Harlem

was to
make black skin tones the most
essential color in the movie. It
seemed to me a different way to
construct with color, and it led to
a different kind of
photography
and art direction. It was not a

question of making a black-andwhite movie, but rather one of

making a limited color palette
and providing a rich, new look
for something old."
In order to demonstrate
to

Murphy his idea, Omens pre¬
pared a color sample which illus¬

Nights has

a distinctive look,
which includes1 a wide range of

look like an old gangster movie."

tonality and

a limited palette of
desaturated colors. In such an
environment a few very strong
color accents seem to jump off the
screen.
This provides visual

is

punctuation for sets and locations

caught in a serious dilemma."
Although the film seems
like a natural story to shoot on

trated what he had in mind.
"Eddie liked the concept. He
raised the possibility of shooting
the 1918 scene in black and white.
After we talked, we decided to

which tend to be neutral and

stay with a consistent desaturated look in the set walls, ward¬

is that the

robe and set

tones made

dressing. At that
point, I prepared a special color
wheel for production designer
Lawrence

Pauli, costume de¬
signer Joe Tompkins and set
decorator George R. Nelson. This
became the guideline for the lim¬
ited chroma, and it also estab¬
lished the unity of color values."
When asked why he did
not just

shoot the entire movie in

black and white, Omens replied,
"That would have been an en¬

tirely different look. Harlem

secondary to skin color. The point
beauty of black skin
this

use

of color

unique. With mostly white skin
tones the movie would have been

totally different, artistically
speaking."
Working with Murphy
was
obviously a chore of joy for
Omens. He said emphatically,
"He was very open, flexible and
supportive. The only discussion I
recall about photography was the
first one, where we discussed the

possibility of having a period
look. He simply said, "make it

November 1989

Although Harlem Nights
drama rather than a comedy,
there is a lot of great humor. "The
audience is going to laugh,"
Omens chuckles, "but, the char¬
acters have a lot of depth and are
a

location in Harlem, it was shot on
backlots and sound stages at
Paramount and The Burbank
Studios. Omens explains, "It is

getting impossible to shoot films
in public with recognizable stars
like Eddie. I remember

a scene

in

Coming to America where he and
Arsenio were walking on a street.
As soon as people in the streets
recognized Eddie and Arsenio,
they mobbed us. Even with roped
off areas, it became nearly impos¬
sible to shoot. The other problem
is that most cities have changed

American

Cinematographer

61
American Cinematographer - November 1989

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