American Cinematographer - January 2000 - 42

Smash-Mouth Football
Hoping to avoid the supremely
frustrating scenario of collecting
shots on the rare occasions during
the day when the field was evenly lit,

Right: Beamen
rallies his

troops in the
huddle. Below:
The cocky QB
prepares for a
handoff.

Totino and his

crew

decided to

the near-impossible: close
dome and light the vast interior

attempt
the

themselves. "The hole looks
smaller

lot

a

than it does in real¬
ity," he admits. "We didn't have
much rigging time, but we got some
structural engineers involved and
decided to cover up the hole with
on

paper

baffled blacks

through. It
The conceit of

setting the film
necessitated by
the actions of the image-conscious
National Football League, which
future

near

decided

at

was

the last minute that it

NFL football. When the

league sees
inspire some

We

this film, I think it will

third of the stadium, and

ideas. When

do

two

about the warts-and-all

script. Nevertheless, this key story
alteration freed up the filmmakers to
conceive of visual improvements to
the way the game is currently

we

had

to

a

sideline

ers

headaches

at

Texas

Stadium

in

Dallas, the site of the film's climactic

that God

game.

stadium has

can

look down

on

his

"It

team," Totino chuckles. "It's

tisements had

thing - the people there are very
proud of the Cowboys. We joked

football theme, and

they melted into each other around
the stadium. It

was so

much

more

artistic than what you see now

in

only able to close about
we

a

erected

huge 100' by 150' lighting
each of which held 98 space

lights. We had a bit of daylight mixed
with tungsten light, which gave the
scenes a good look, but which was
difficult to time. We shot in April,
which was the only time of the year
to avoid the huge light gap in there.
Oliver also wanted to avoid shooting
night scenes in Texas Stadium. It was
really tough - we still had to work

painted backdrop."
Not surprisingly, the filmmak¬
suffered their biggest location

around the stadium," Totino details.

a

were

front of a

presented. "[Production designer]
Kempster designed huge
continuous advertising on the walls
was like one big lithograph or
silkscreen. All of the different adver¬

its

trusses,

The oddly-designed domed
an open top, resulting in
brutally harsh contrasts of sun and
shade during the daytime. "That
dome was supposedly designed so

Victor

come

on

shot, it was like putting somebody in

wouldn't sanction the film because of
concerns

that air could

all supported

rather than from the stadium.

own,

in the

so

was

about how
so

we

had

to cover

a

Dallas

the hole

around when the

field

even

doing!"

more.

was

on

the

I avoided direct

the only way
have any continuity."
Totino was careful to visually

light at all costs. It
for Oliver

God couldn't watch what Oliver

was

sun

field, and as we got later into the
month, the sun creeped onto the
was

to

delineate the Sharks' locker

room,

built

by Kempster deep within the
recesses of the old Orange Bowl,
from the colder feel of the modern
stadiums. "Victor

came up with a
1930s/'40s, industrial stadium
interior," he details. "He left a slight

very

sense

that the locker

room

had been

updated since that time, that maybe
the lockers had been changed. The
newer stadiums were very utilitarian,
and I kept them that way using toplit fluorescents. I felt it was important
to give those stadiums a realistic feel.
But the Sharks' locker

different. I wanted it
on

January 2000

room

was

weigh heavily

the audience. We had 3' incandes¬

cent

40

to

tubes called Linestra lights

along
American Cinematographer - January 2000

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