American Cinematographer - November 1999 - 67

and then

rigging the cables to hold
place. We didn't know
viable our plan would be

the balloons in

how

because the winds

dictable, but

were

unpre¬

lucky over the
two nights we shot down there.
"Another problem was the tide
changes, because we just had this
very narrow rocky shoreline, which
almost completely disappeared at
high tide. After a few takes in any
given position, we'd have to move
everything because the waterline was
changing. The balloons helped Uj in
this regard, because they carried such
a

broad

move

we were

area

that

we

never

had

to

them around.

stocks

regularly tried to incorporate light¬
ing into their settings. "At the Big Sur
house, we used Malibu lights around
the grounds leading into the dark¬
ness, and practical on the house
itself," the

cameraman

wanted

very

grainless and wonder¬
are so pristine and
sharp, that I feel we need to go back a
bit in the direction of feeling that
something is 'real,' so that we're not
manufacturing some homogenized
abstraction of reality.
ful, and lenses

offers. "Steven

stark, cold nighttime
was provided
by our HMI balloons. The house
interior is very warm, in part because
you see so much wood - beautiful
a

world outside, which

teak

and

cedar

and

-

predominately lit by

it

"Steven understood that if we

going to approach the story¬
telling, these were the kinds of
images we'd find. It excited him to
explore different ways of telling the
story of The Limey photographically.
If you're going to investigate this lowrent, underbelly world, why not use a

were

was

fireplace for
fireplace was
already rigged for gas, and the illumi¬
most

scenes." The

nation

was

a

boosted with the used of

low-rent

small

"After this

experience, I'm a
big fan of using balloons, but there's
still something to be said about using
Condors. If you want a general light
over
open space, balloons are great,
but [the light] has no direction to it."
Working with production
designer Gary Frutkoff, Lachman

are so

to

means

think audiences

lamps on flicker generators.
Considering the artfully
down-and-dirty style he used to
shoot The Limey, Lachman offers,
"It's interesting to watch the trends in
cinematography, and it seems that
the pendulum has been swinging
away from the direction of creating
cosmetically 'perfect' images. Film

tell the

want

story? I

stories about

real human emotion and conflict,
and moving away from sterile techni¬
cal

perfection

can

help

on

those

kinds of films."

■

YOU INSISTED
ON THE BEST
HIGH DEFINITION ELECTRONIC CINEMATOGRAPHY LENSES

You told

us

you

wanted bitingly sharp, ultra clean optical performance...

You told

us

you

wanted the smooth, solid feel of top quality equipment...

You told

us

you

wanted full compatibility with

You told

us

you

wanted clear and concise focus,
...we

Introducing the
HDEC

your

zoom

new

lenses

-

For further

products

are

and iris scales...

listened.

leading High Definition, film-style lenses for

drama, documentary and electronic feature film productions.
specified - the lenses we designed.

protected by design by OpTex.

information, contact our Sales or Rental teams at:
Road, New Barnet, N London, EN4 9PF, UK.
+44 (0)20 8441 2199, fax +44 (0)20 8449 3646,
e-mail info@optexint.com or read more on www.optexint.com
20-26 Victoria

film accessories...

zoom

OpTex/Canon HJ 9x5.5 HDEC and HJ 18x7.8
the

The lenses you

These

your

First for

HDEC Lenses
American Cinematographer - November 1999

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - November 1999
