American Cinematographer - December 1999 - 43

during his youth.
Intent on fashioning a Gothic
atmosphere leavened with lyrical

Opposite: The
Headless
Horseman tears

through Sleepy

romanticism, Burton hired Mexican

Hollow. The
character's
head was
removed

director of

photography Emmanuel
Lubezki, ASC, AMC, a rising star in
cinematography circles. Known
affectionately throughout the indus¬
try by his nickname, "Chivo,"
Lubezki

has

demonstrated

digitally by
visual effects

experts at ILM.
This page, top
to bottom:

his

Ichabod Crane

considerable

ability with the strik¬
ingly beautiful images and lush light¬
ing he has contributed to the
Hollywood films A Little Princess
(which earned him both Academy
and ASC Award nominations;

(Johnny Depp)
investigates the
Tree of the

Dead, which
the
Horseman's

serves as

see AC

gateway to
hell; Ichabod

June '96, p. 80), A
Great

Walk in the Clouds,
Expectations and Meet Joe

and Katrina Van
Tassel

Black. He has also demonstrated

versatility by shooting several come¬
dies, including Reality Bites and The
Birdcage, and earned three consecu¬
tive Ariel Awards (Mexico's equiva¬
lent of the Oscar) for his work on
Like Water for Chocolate, Miroslava
and Amber.
Lubezki

approached
Sleepy Hollow by the film's
producer, Scott Rudin, who was well
aware of the cameraman's sterling
reputation. "Scott had already called
me about jobs a couple of times, but
I was always busy on other projects,"
Lubezki reveals. "I really wanted to
work with him, though, because he
produces great stuff. This time
around, he told me he was doing a
project with Tim Burton, and natu¬
rally I jumped at the chance.
"My first meeting with Tim
was

about

was

incredible," the

continues. "He told

me

that Sleepy Hollow was the most
ambitious undertaking of his career.
"It was definitely a large-scale
project," he confirms. "The day I met
Tim, he said he was going to shoot
the movie in upstate New York, at the
real place that inspired Washington
Irving's story. After he scouted the
location, though, he told me, 'Chivo,
forget it, we can't shoot it there. I
say

don't

want

the

movie

to

look

completely realistic and naturalistic,
like The Crucible!"
Burton

explained to the cine¬
matographer that he wanted Sleepy
Hollow to have a stylized, slightly

(Christina Ricci)
cling to each
other in

a

tense

moment;
cameraman

Emmanuel

Lubezki, ASC,
surveys
Western

the
Woods,

convincingly
creepy forest
a

constructed
within

soundstages at
both Leavesden
and

Shepperton
by
production
designer Rick
Studios

Heinrichs and
his crew.

cameraman

he liked the

script because it was about one guy
entirely within his own
head, and another guy who doesn't
who lives
have

a

head

at

idea would be

all. I wasn't

sure

if that

enough to support

whole movie, but then he went

a

on to

describe all of these great 'Burtonian'
images. It was really interesting to see
how Tim's mind works."

Although Lubezki had gained
experience on his previous
Hollywood productions, it's safe to

valuable

American

Cinematographer 39
American Cinematographer - December 1999

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