American Cinematographer - September 1991 - 76

16mm

Any Way You Want It!

textile mill that had been converted

From Basic to Full Blown

And

into a temporary production facil¬
ity. The fact that it was not a true
soundstage did cause audio prob¬

lems at times, but Bode neverthe¬
less enjoyed the control offered by
the indoor sets and their high ceil¬

everything

inbetween.

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ings. Before long, however, the
company moved to locations in
Richmond, Virginia, and Bode once
again had to tackle the problems of
matching sunlight on day exteriors.
'The producers want you
to get on with it. They'd just as soon
have you shoot when the sun is out
when the sun is behind clouds."
Bode's solution: "I will say, 'You
have a choice. Let's look at the sky.
Are there more clouds, or is there
more blue? If there's more blue,
let's do it in the sunlight. Are there
more clouds? Let's do it in
cloudy
weather. If you don't want to wait
for the camera at all, then let's do it
both ways, and you can decide later
on which
way you want to cut it: in
as

WILLIAM

A.

FRAKER, ASC
ON
TIFFEN

clouds,

or in sunlight.' Then you
shoot all the time. But that's frus¬

ULTRA

CONTRAST
FILTERS...
The Tiffen Ultra Contrast filter

images. It is truly

an

gives
innovation!

a very

different visual approach to

my

Night exteriors are absolutely fantastic because the Ultra Contrast filter
doesn't flair highlights, headlights or even a "Night Sun" light.
Given the contrast and

extremely sharp resolution produced by today's

lenses and films, the only way to effectively control an image's contrast
is with the Tiffen Ultra Contrast filter. When I use the Ultra Contrast filter,
I

am

able to

use

minimal fill

light and produce

a

beautiful effect.

trating for the director, because he
might like a performance in sun¬
light for that particular take, and for
another cut he might like the per¬
formance in shade. It's tough."
Fortunately, the Love Field
schedule provided for a few key
scenes, decided upon in advance, to
be photographed under specific
weather conditions. Bode generally
prefers to shoot day exteriors in
backlight, which offers the greatest
flexibility for cheating. "Crosslight
gets tricky, because what comes
from the left in the morning comes
from the right at night, or in the
afternoon," he points out. "If you're
in an open space, with no geogra¬
phy telling you where you are, you
could cheat. But rarely are you in an
open space." Bode fills with brutes,
diffused with light or heavy grid
cloth, depending on how much he
needs.
The

William A. Fraker, ASC, President

challenges of location
shooting were mitigated somewhat
by Bode's long relationship with
Love Field camera operator Michael

earned Oscar nominations

Stone, who has worked with Bode

No other filter has

helped

me

in these

areas as

much.

of American Society of Cinematographers, has
for "Heaven Can Wait", "Looking For Mr. Goodbar",

and "1941". He is

currently photographing "Memories Of An Invisible Man "
for Warner Brothers Studio.
/o.

Tiffen

Manufacturing Corp.

Tiffen Technical Center

TiFFEN

90 Oser Ave., Hauppauge, NY 11788

*

1-800-645-2522

3500 W. Olive Ave., Suite 810, Burbank, CA 91505 * 1-800-593-3331

on over a

dozen features. "Most of

the films I've done, Michael has

done. You don't notice him moving
American Cinematographer - September 1991

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - September 1991
