American Cinematographer - December 1999 - 46

Galloping Ghost
sides of each.

Right: Seeking
to enhance the

film's

attached

stylized

the

ambience,

instead to

illuminate
interior sets

large, soft
aimed

through grids
of diffusion.

"My approach
was to position
a light so you
couldn't tell
where the

light
coming

from, while

creating an
atmosphere
that was
correct for the

scene," he
notes.

"Sometimes the

light

bit

was a

low,

or

in

a

position that
wasn't
consistent with
the 'source' in
the scene, but I
didn't mind

doing that

-

directors of

photography
may notice it,
but I don't
think audiences

will." Below:
Burton

(far left)

and Lubezki
prepare to

capture a

passionate kiss
between
Katrina and

Ichabod. Note
the China ball

suspended from
the front of the
camera

rig.

42 December 1999

corners

ground. The last lamp
the base of each rig was
a 70K Lightning Strikes unit, and the
power to the rigs was provided by
twin 200K generators. The rest of the
power for the set was provided by
three other generators, while a
complete cabling system was wired
and then buried during construction
of the set. The system enabled the
lighting crew to deliver large
amounts of power to any part of the
set very quickly.

lighting, opting

was

ropes were

of the

rigs so
could control their rotation

mounted

traditional rules
of source

sources

Long black

the

from the

Lubezki
eshewed the

with

crew

to

on

The
the set, and when we

studied it

we

thought there might be three points
where we could position our
supports. We eventually located a
company that had three 250-ton tele¬
scoping cranes with a reach of 67
meters [approximately 220 feet].The
art department then made working
scale models of these

cranes,

which

positioned around the model.
This test confirmed that the only way
to reach all points on the set was to
we

use

three

cranes.

We then did

a

test

with

a

half-size version of

which confirmed that

rig,
theory

our

our

would work."
Each of the

completed soft-

enormous sources cast a

broad, soft glow over the Sleepy
Hollow set, lending the picturesque
sets an ethereal ambience. Lubezki
offered some further insights

high built from scaf¬
folding. The units had to be strong
enough to be suspended safely with
the lights attached, and the set's roads

into the
origins of his lighting strategy while
hiking up a wet, sloppy path to the
set's hilltop entrance, which was
marked by a pair of stone columns
adorned with stag's heads. "I've been

also had

on

boxes consisted of

a

20'

x

20' base

with sides 12'

to

be reinforced to support

the cranes'

weight. Each box could
provide 250K of light, and frill gridcloth

was

affixed

to

the bottom and

this movie from almost the very

beginning," he said. "I usually like to
participate a lot in the design process,
as I did with
[production designer]
American Cinematographer - December 1999

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