American Cinematographer - June 2000 - 117

Impeccable Images
"It's

tricky to light those scenes,
backlight for one camera
becomes the frontlight for the other.
But I like to do that, because it plays
to the performance later on - your
sequence becomes so complex, so
tight and so artful because of the
quality of the performances."
Several sequences take place in
Bergman's bedroom, which has
floor-to-ceiling windows along two
walls and a commanding view of a
lush forest. Showing the audience the
full vista without losing any details in
because the

the actors' faces

or

the interior of the

required a balancing act on
Spinotti's part. "We had a challenging
time there, because in the same day
we were supposed to shoot day, dayfor-night, and night sequences,"
Spinotti recalls. "We had to count on
the gels we put on the windows for
balance and color temperature. We
had the exterior trees pre-lit for the
night scenes, [and they] were also
room

for special effects.
always moving, and
that isn't wind! We had a huge
amount of light in back of there, too,
rigged with

The

ropes

trees are

from HMI units. One of those shots
was

so

also made with the Frazier lens,

again, higher lighting levels

were

On his last several

pictures,
Spinotti and his crew, including
gaffer Jeff Petersen, have developed a
lighting system to use on location. It
consists of strips of tiny Par 16 bulbs
mounted in 4', 6' or 8' lengths, or in
circles, depending on the shot. These
are usually mounted in the corner of
a room and controlled by dimmers.
If a shot "sees" the entire

room,

method for

there

controlling frontlight
and backlight. "We call them 'DNA
lights' because they are the source for
all lighting," says Spinotti. "We use
them in a variety of situations, from
close-ups to masters. Once I learned
how to work to get the effects I
a

lights

on

faces, I could focus these

across

faces, and I could direct

them from behind

to

have

some

toplight. They were long enough to
wrap nicely and to carry some sort of
top and front light. They gave me a
kind of lighting I can only describe as
nonexistent.' I could have

necessary."

is

wanted

areas

of

intense

light [and] keep them sepa¬
rate from the shadow areas. They are
very easy to work with. This tech¬
nique produces a hard light, but it
doesn't create shapes because of the
many bulbs - it changes if you hold
it horizontally or vertically, on one
side

or

the other."

Spinotti emphasizes that all
the decisions made during the
production of a film must be based
on a common
understanding of the
film's inner workings. "To me,
making a movie is understanding the
language of that particular film," he
says. "You have to combine many
elements, and every decision adds to

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attaches directly to the sides of the

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dome, is created in minutes.

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ounts

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to
American Cinematographer - June 2000

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