American Cinematographer - September 2000 - 37

Dublin look like

a 'younger' city."
cinematographer says he
was also struck by the visual possibilities
of the film's multiple points of view. He
worked closely with Stembridge during
three weeks of preproduction to deter¬
mine how to present each character's
perspective. "Gerry is an experienced
writer and could explain very clearly
what he wanted," de Keyzer recalls. "We
thought it would be interesting to find a
different visual style for each point of
view, and it was exciting to build the film
with him in that respect."
Adam meets Lucy in a bustling
restaurant, which sets a pattern for how
Lucy is presented in the rest of the film
she is almost always the center of
attention in crowded settings. Laura, her
intellectual sister, is generally photo¬
graphed in cozier environs: at home, in

The

-

her bedroom, and in libraries or book¬
shops. Alice, the eldest, is an elegant
suburbanite trapped in an unhappy
marriage, so she is typically isolated in
lingering close-ups. David, who is some¬
what overwhelmed by all of the women
in his life
including his too-chaste girl¬
friend - is represented by what de
Keyzer calls "an MTV style," reliant on
Dutch horizons and fast-paced editing.
-

The film's title character, however,

remains largely unknown. With

the

aggressive Lucy, Adam is shy and fairly
quiet; with the romantic Laura, he
a tortured, mysterious past;
often-ignored Alice, he is a
fount of compliments, and with David, he
offers the kind of confidence-bolstering,
brotherly advice David has never

alludes to
with the

received. "We don't know

Adam; he's

an

lot about

a

abstract character," de

Keyzer says. "At the end of the film, we
still don't know anything about him."
About Adam was shot

location in Dublin
the

entirely

over seven

on

weeks in

spring of 1999. De Keyzer chose a

Panavision Platinum for his A

camera

Panavision Gold II for his B

camera,

and

a

and he used

a

series of Prime lenses and

4:1 and 11:1 Primo

zooms.

Kodak Vision 250D 5246,

He relied

on

noting, "I've
been a faithful Kodak user for 30 years."
Stembridge praises de Keyzer

effusively for his ability to adapt to the

where Adam and Laura's

film's varied locations, which include a

kindles, which

cramped bookshop cafe, a shopping
mall, a fitness club, a city rooftop and
Adam's Zen-like loft. "We had

a

lot of

sound

problems with city noise,"
Stembridge recalls. "It was a very busy

time for local builders, and Bruno was
some very confined
tions." One such setting was the

working in

situa¬
library

relationship
actually shot on the
second floor of a building in the very busy
Temple Bar area of Dublin. "Because of
local laws, we couldn't light through the
windows," recalls gaffer Tony Devlin.
"Everything was lit from inside; we
rigged small lights in the ceiling, used
was

false windows and crammed

a

lot of

people into corners." De Keyzer recalls,
American Cinematographer - September 2000

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