American Cinematographer - April 2001 - 41

almost

if they're

participants. The
technique might change on
every picture, but I think you need to
keep as many options as possible
open to you. Whether it's a contem¬
porary story or a period story is irrel¬
evant. It just seems like when you're
surrounded by all of the story's visual
elements
great sets, costumes and
everything else - you want to
occupy the best seat in the house, so
to speak. At the same time, you don't
as

actual

-

want to

be

so

far into the

scenes

worked fine, and sometimes there

delays. If we requested a certain
piece of equipment, we had to do it
well in advance. It all went fairly
smoothly, though, because our
producer, Mark Huffam, had things

were

rocks. We very seldom
crane track on level

laid dolly or
ground, but
Kenny Atherfold, Phil Kenyon and
the rest of the grip team were inge¬
nious in the different ways they could
lay track and how quickly they could
do it.

well in hand.
On

island

the

itself,

Camera

Peter
interesting
Steadicam moments navigating
sharp rocks and uneven terrain. In
addition, Mick Morris and the light-

we

The terrain
cult

to

uneven

interesting challenges.
could be extremely diffi¬

deal with because it
and full of

was

operator

Cavaciuti also had

encountered

very

sharp, jagged

some

that

can't see the larger picture, so I
strike a balance between the
viewpoint of a participant and an
observer. I think striking that balance
you

mJ'

try to

is what makes all the difference in
terms

of

establishing

a

rjl

rjrI

certain flavor

viewer, you want to
feel that the situation is real, while

Foundation!

feeling somehow that the
onscreen events are being presented

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or

texture; as a

not

to

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trying to strike that balance,
however, I try not to take a rigid
approach to the work. The first time
I show up on a location or set, I just
put a lens on a finder and start look¬

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Then,
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much as possible
about how we'll approach a
sequence. Meanwhile, in the back of
my mind, I'm trying to stay open to
any new ideas that seem to work for
the story. I don't see a need for limi¬
tations on which techniques we

to

predetermine

choose to

use.

as

And

that's what makes it

so

to

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be honest,

much fun.

Did the location

cause

any

logistical problems?
Toll: Being on an island meant
that we had to plan much further
ahead for any special equipment
needs. Almost everything needed to
be shipped in by ferry, because it was
almost impossible to air-freight
anything to the island. Most of the
equipment would come from
London, and it would be driven to

Italy and then put on ferries and
shipped to the island. Sometimes this

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