American Cinematographer - December 1999 - 82

The Devil Made Flesh
grainy, slightly underexposed and
desaturated look, so during prepro¬
duction we decided on that palette
for the film. There
tones

-

just

wardrobe

are

few

warm

few specific pieces of

a

over

the

sets. We went

into cooler tones, like blues and

more

We also played a lot with
glossy paint so that we could add
texture to a wall by shining a light on
it and getting glare off of it. Every set
was aged with varnish over the paint
to give it an older feel."
During prep, Fiore performed
greens.

three weeks of extensive exposure
tests to dial in the project's distinct
look. "Janusz doesn't like to look at
tests that are just straightforward lati¬
tude

tests," Fiore reveals.
"Instead, we set up various situations
or

contrast

with different types

of lights and
lighting. We experimented with neon
lights, fluorescents, Kino Flos, China
balls and large sources. Within that
approach, we didn't just look at lati¬
tude and contrast; we staged dolly
moves, shot through objects and
created a language for the film. We
shot night exterior tests on the Sony

Above: The
ballroom of the
Biltmore Hotel,
located in
downtown Los

Angeles. To
illuminate this

interior, 20'

x

lot, where

20' frames of

Half Soft Frost
were raised to
the ceilings.
Dinos

then

ment

positioned

muslin. Finally,
20' x 20' blacks
and teasers

deployed

"We tested

to control the

light. Right: For
close-ups on
Peter Kelson

(Ben Chaplin)
and his

girlfriend
(Sarah Wynter),
Fiore would

often

bring in

second

a

layer of

diffusion closer
to the actors to

help wrap the
light around
their faces.

78 December 1999

down the pave¬

people walking through the frame or
toward the camera. We tried to keep
the tests very close to what we might
actually do in the film, and involved
everyone in the process. The produc¬
tion designer [Garreth Stover]
brought in various pieces of glass
that he planned to use on the set.

were

behind them
and bounced
into large
sheets of

were

we wet

and used rain, smoke, and

Kodak and

ent

applied to the actors' performances,
the environment the story was set in,
the wardrobe, our decision to use the
streets

the

of New York and, of

The

whole

depends
the story.

thrust

of

the

film

the audience believing
If the film was overly styl¬

on

ized, it wouldn't
be

course,

lighting and production design.

fable.

seem

real; it would

Although Lost Souls is a
stylized movie, it is still reality-based,
which will help viewers more readily
accept the story as something that
a

could

possibly happen. Every aspect
of the look was therefore designed to
fulfill that kind of reality. Exorcisms
do exist, so you could conceivably
pass by someone who is possessed by
the devil without

realizing it."
Adds Fiore, "Janusz and I

looked

at a

even

lot of still

photographs

and images from magazines that we
thought could work for the film.
Surprisingly, the images I cut out
were very similar to the ones Janusz
had cut out. They all had a cool,

a

number of differ¬

Fuji stocks," he

continues. "Our lab
we

was

Deluxe,

so

tested their various silver-reten¬

tion processes, like CCE and ACE.
We also sent a roll to Technicolor to
test ENR.

Through all of that, we
found that we were able to capture an
interesting look by shooting with
Fuji. Janusz and I had both experi¬
mented with

neither of

with

us

Fuji in the past, but
had shot

a

studio film

Fuji stock. By using Fuji with
the CCE process at Deluxe, we were
able to get a very interesting, specific,
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