American Cinematographer - December 2000 - 22

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musco

DVD Ptytack
by Chris Pizzello
Braveheart (1995)

(16x9 Enhanced),
Dolby Digital 5.1
and Dolby Surround 2.0
Paramount, $29.99
2.35:1

Award

Winning
Lighting

In his director's commentary on
new Braveheart DVD, Mel

Paramount's

Gibson asserts that

of the

one

tion's most valuable assets

was

produc¬
its chiro¬

practor. He's only half-kidding

- his
pummeled, flung off horses
and trampled by the hundreds in amazing

actors were

medieval battle
took

six

scenes

weeks

to

that sometimes
shoot.

Gibson

displayed considerable cajones in direct¬
ing this sprawling three-hour epic, which
chronicles Scottish freedom fighter
William Wallace's bloody rebellion
against the British in the 13th century.
His daring paid off, as the film went on to
win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The alternately gorgeous and
horrific images captured by cinematogra¬
pher John Toll, ASC (who earned the
Oscar for Best Cinematography) have
received

a

during the massive undertaking, and he
never misses a chance to praise Toll
during his genial audio commentary.
Gibson candidly points out sequences
that were improvised in 30 minutes but
look as though they were labored over
for days. For instance, a scene in which
guilt-ridden Robert the Bruce (Angus
McFayden) walks among seemingly
hundreds of dead Scottish warriors
achieved

on

selective

use

by Toll's
and fog.
Gibson also details the jump cuts and
stutter cuts he employed in the editing
room to further juice the battle footage,
and he gently ribs Steven Spielberg for
allegedly lifting the technique and
employing it to much more deliberate
effect in Saving Private Byan.
Jurassic Park:

Collector's Edition (1993)
1.85:1

or

vistas,

as

well

as

the sheer

sgualor of life in the 13th century. He
was given some help in the latter regard
by near-constant rain that the production
had no choice but to work through -
soon after arriving in Scotland, the crew
discovered that they were shooting in a
region with the highest precipitation
level in all of

Los

Angeles

Nationwide
Australia

Happen®

81 8/988-1 791

888/988-6025
61 2 94500200

www.musco.com
email:

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Europe.
making-of documentary on the
fills in some of the sketchy histori¬
A

DVD

DTS

Universal, $26.98

near-immaculate transfer

Working in the anamorphic format, Toll captures both the
natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands'

We Make It

(16x9 Enhanced),
Dolby Diqital 5.1

Available in

from Paramount.

awesome

was

the spot merely
of camera angles

Speaking of Spielberg, Jurassic
Park

saw

the renowned director don his

Pure Entertainer cap, returning to the
man-versus-leviathan suspense of his
70s films Duel and Jaws. While this

audience-pleaser lacks the subtle human
dynamics and existential edge that made
those early films classics, it's still the
Rolls-Royce of "thrill ride" cinema,
thanks to Spielberg's pure, inimitable
visual storytelling. It's customary for
effects-driven films to turn horribly rote
between the CGI shots, but Spielberg
maintains the energy even when the

cal details of Wallace's life, while also

dinosaurs

offering the amusing sight of Gibson on
location reading from a fake guide enti¬
tled A Beginner's Guide to Directing the
Epic. The star had to feel overwhelmed
by his dual acting and directing chores

wasted shot

are
or

offscreen; there's nary a
dull moment in the

tight,

efficient Jurassic Park.
Universal's DVD transfer is excel¬

lent, presenting the film's dynamic, highkey images (shot by Dean Cundey, ASC)
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