American Cinematographer - December 1997 - 34

than three weeks to prepare for this
exceptionally complex production,

the

cameraman

decided that his

previous experiences with Cameron,
as well as the strong professional
bonds he'd developed with his
camera team, would
help him fill
the gaps. "If a crew works with a
director of photography for any
length of time, they're going to
know what his favorite solutions
are for
any given problem," Car¬
From left:

Cinematographer
Russell

Carpenter,
gaffer John
Buckley,
director James
Cameron and

key grip Lloyd
Moriarity (in
white shirt)
work out

lighting ideas
on a

model of

the Titanic set
at

Digital

Domain. The

mobile tower
crane

would

become

an

instrumental
tool for both

lighting and
camera

placement
during the
shoot. Mylar
sheeting was
used to
simulate the
water tank's

reflections.

penter reasons. "Also, most impor¬
tantly, most of the people I brought
to the shoot had worked with Jim
before, so they knew the kinds of

physical and spiritual demands
that would be made on them. I
wasn't going to bring any untested

people into that situation."
Gaffer John Buckley was
one of the first people Carpenter
hired for Titanic. The two first
worked together in 1990 on the ac¬
tion film The Perfect Weapon; they
had wanted to collaborate again
ever

since, but the opportunity had

failed to materialize. "Gaffers and
best boys don't have the luxury of

time to be
were on

experimental. When we

top of the ship trying to

light something, there were usually
crew
people
waiting between each setup. We of¬
ten had to resort to simple lighting
methods just to get the shots done."
Carpenter inherited other
key members of the Titanic crew.
"One of my key grips, Lloyd
Moriarity - who had worked on
True Lies
and operator Jimmy

hundreds of cast and

-

Muro

were on

the show before I

was," he notes. "Jimmy knows
how Jim thinks and cuts, and he
can
put the camera in the exact

storytelling place that Jim will
a
process that I par¬
ticipate in, but the three of us really
work in more of an English system,
where the director talks directly to
the operator."
want. This is

Muro first teamed with
Cameron on The Abyss, as a dayplayer
Steadicam operator working with

cinematographer Mikael Salomon,
ASC.

"Jim and I hit it off pretty
well," Muro recalls of the experi¬
ence.

"I chalk

our

continued rela¬

sitting around for six months while
waiting for a job," Buckley jokes.
"Overlaps in our schedules started

was

and Russell and I could
never
get back to it. Fortunately, I
was available for T2 3-D. After that,
I told Russ that I'd try to stay avail¬

him out, he does not like it."
After Cameron had

to occur,

able for him.
"I like

working with Russell
because he's open to new ideas, but
on Titanic, we were
working on a
grand scale, so there just wasn't

tionship
very

simple fact: I
inclusive of his opinion.

up to one

collaborative effort,
and if he feels that you're nudging

He wants

a

rec¬

ommended him, Muro worked
with Don Peterman, ASC on Kathryn

Bigelow's film Point Break, and later
became the full-time Steadicam op¬
erator on Terminator 2: Judgment

Day, photographed by Adam

Greenberg, ASC. Muro joined
Cameron again on True Lies, oper¬
ating both A-camera and Steadicam
for Carpenter. "It's sometimes
tricky when you're brought in by a
director to operate for the cinema¬
tographer," Muro reasons. "When
Caleb

[Deschanel] was on the
show, I told him, 'I work for you as
well as Jim, but you're the head of
the

department.'

"I've never really ana¬
lyzed my relationship with Jim, but
he did give me some kind words at
the beginning of Titanic, saying,
'I've come to rely on you, I expect
you to be there, and you are.' It was
a
very human moment. But we
have a purely professional rela¬
tionship and I come and go, be¬
cause
fortunately I've been getting
calls for other work. We only work
together when our schedules click.
I missed out
was on

on

T2 3-D because I

Heat."

Muro describes working
with Cameron as being exception¬

ally demanding, but he also finds
the relationship to be inspirational.
"I'm blown away by the intensity
that

Jim works with and the

amount of brain

capacity he's us¬
ing to do several things at once,"
Muro describes. "That's why Jim
works well with Russ and me.
There are some great cinematogra¬

phers out there who have a lot to
offer, but Jim has enough filmmak¬
ing knowledge that he'll ask, 'Why
is this light motivated through
here? What's your idea for the next
scene?' He doesn't like being sur¬
prised. The key to working with
Jim is welcoming him into your
domain and asking for his input."
Filmgoers familiar with
Cameron's previous pictures will
be interested to

see

how the direc¬

tor

applies his kinetic, decidedly
modern visual style to Titanic's
predominantly Edwardian-era mi¬
lieu. "I think Jim got around that
really well," Carpenter offers.
"There are actually two very differ¬
ent photographic styles within the
period section. In the first part, the
camerawork is rather

polite, grace¬
eloquent. I was trying
to reinforce the opulence and beauty
of the time with the lighting."
ful and

the

even

Adds Muro, "At that point,
is examining the spaces

camera

aboard the

32

American

Cinematographer

December 1997

ship, drawing the audi-
American Cinematographer - December 1997

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - December 1997
