American Cinematographer - June 1995 - 48

The

ing a single source light and keyto-fill ratio of actual sunlight,

background

of this shot of
the first stage

of

the rocket
launch is

on a

NASA Earth

any of my effects into Dean's
photography," Legato continues,
"but I wanted to capture the

illusion of 3-D.

foreground

overall tone. I used the same #1
or !4 ProMist frost filters he used
outside on all my exterior model
shots. If that rocket really existed,
Dean couldn't have lit it, so he'd
have to shoot it at the same ratio

were

shot in motion
control.

Foreground
spark and gas
elements
shot

were

separately,

I

and the
intermediate
gas

picked. I made up a lighting ra¬

tio identical to that

on

the launch-

pad, and I was strict about treat¬
ing the model exactly like that on¬
stage. I didn't overly fill it in or
try to control the contrast; I just

elements

were

move,

ex¬

ing

to create an

The

is if

medium

a live-action cameraman
wouldn't shoot it that way, don't
do it for a model.
"I wasn't directly match¬

photo. The
photo was
digitally
mapped onto a
sphere and
bump-mapped

models

highlight them. Our philosophy

as a

posure. Models look more real
that way than if I use dental mir¬
rors and other
cutesy tricks to

a

digital painting
based

the building in the shot, they de¬
rived the camera move, and then
used that data to drive their mo¬
tion-control camera around a
miniature of the building's inte¬
rior. But the shaky helicopter

then shot them

separating after

created

digitally.

went with it."

Once his model shots

en¬

tered the computer realm, Legato
had to be vigilant in fighting the

temptation to improve them:
"There's a tendency when we get
into digital to 'help' shots by
bringing up the shadows or that
type of stuff because we can. But

50

American

Cinematographer

us¬

nightmare, the breathless

Legato took a unique approach,
breaking the effects sequences
into three acts and varying his
style in each act to complement
the dramatic needs of the film.
"That way, there was a story to
direct in terms of how the ships
moved from act to act," Legato

gen explosion, where all hell
broke loose and the camera be¬

V under construction in

ing to the 400-foot-high front
door, which was open, revealing

overlit the rocket miniatures

a

re-entry, and the splashdown.

Digital technology
helped tremendously in putting
together a heroic shot of the Sat¬

travelled from behind the build¬

Nash and I underlit rather than

into

which I called 'the Lunar Ballet';
and the third section was the oxy¬

NASA's massive Vehicle Assem¬

enough order, Legato was striv¬
ing to create a realistic look that
blended seamlessly with the
Cape Canaveral location: "The
easiest way I know to make mod¬
els look real goes against every¬
thing anybody in this industry
does: do less, just shoot it natu¬
rally, don't screw with it. Erik

and wanted his shots to re¬
flect the film's moods as it fol¬
lowed the Apollo 13 astronauts
from their Cape Canaveral
launch through their journey and
all its perils - the oxygen explo¬
sion that transformed their trip
arc,

couldn't do that in real¬

we

bly Building. The God's-eye-view
shot, taken from a helicopter,

tall

meant that the

ity, I insisted we go with the con¬
trast ratio built into the lighting."

urn

a

combined with human

in

deriving the wireframe,
resulting compos¬
ite required two weeks of fine
tuning by CG artists Pablo
Helman and John McLaughlin.
While assembling his ef¬
fects elements, Legato became
fascinated by the Apollo 13 story
error

explains. "The first act was the
majestic launch; the second was
the ethereal trip to the moon,

since

As if that weren't

that wireframe to the motion of

the rocket as its top stage was
lifted into place. Unfortunately,
NASA refused to open the door,
but

even

if

they had, there

wouldn't have been a Saturn V
inside. First, Digital Domain's 3D CG artists Judith Crow and
Laura DiBiagio recreated the Ve¬
hicle Assembly Building in their

computer as a wireframe model
on actual measurements of
the structure. Next, by tracking

based

June 1995

this

rolling frenetic thing
capsule and out. It
might be all in my head and not
up on the screen, but it gave me
a
point of departure. And it made
my job fun."
More than majesty or ab¬
solute realism, Legato wanted to
create excitement during the
launch sequence. Howard hit on
the idea of using Scorsese-style
came

inside the

staccato cuts and lots of coverage
to send both the astronauts and

audiences into orbit.

By combin¬
ing y2o-scale motion-control min¬
iatures of the Saturn V and gan¬

try and high-speed photography
practical insert sec¬
tions, Legato hoped to impart to

of VUscale

his launch the

explosive

energy
American Cinematographer - June 1995

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - June 1995
