American Cinematographer - April 2002 - 91

Measuring Distance Just Became Easier

CINE TAPE MEASURE system
and green colors to make those situ¬
ations seem less inviting and less

humane, and I eventually settled on

I wanted the
be warmer."
The cinematographer initially
tested Kodak's Vision stocks and Fuji

cyan and aqua hues.
look in Gray's office to

stocks, but he also had

a

200' roll of

*

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focal plane and the subject.

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Displays accurate measurements in feet/inches or

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Simplifies camera crew's job in focusing lens.
Small, lightweight, and quiet ultrasonic range finder.
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meters/centimeters.
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camera
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and lens.

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CINEIvMTQGP/IPW/i

Kodak's older EXR 5293 stock, and

day he threw it into the camera
just to see what kind of look he
would get. "Suddenly, everything
came to life and we were getting the
one

colors

electronics
5321

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wanted," he recalls. "Of
this was the film stock that

we

course,

felt was God's gift to cine¬
matographers. It was the 'desert
island' film
if you could only have

everyone

-

one

stock, 93

was

it. Then, when all

of the Vision stocks

came

out, every¬

body stopped using 93. It definitely
has more grain than most of the
stocks, but its color rendition

Vision

is

amazing. When it

screen,

came on

the

the director, the production

designer and I all said, 'That's it.'
Nothing else was even close.
"We therefore shot almost the
entire movie
scenes

on

where

speed stock

93, and for the few
needed a high¬

we

we went to

[Eastman

500T] 5298 to try to keep the
look consistent. The 98 is so grainy
EXR

compared to today's Vision stock
that I felt we were pushing things a
bit by using it - we're used to such a
grainless look nowadays. There were

II Plus

such as one set in a
laundromat, that were supposed to
certain scenes,

look

bit

tacky, and for those appli¬
was perfect. But I
would be careful about using it on
another type of film."
The 93's slower speed meant
using bigger lights, and Fierberg
made the film's budget-conscious
producers aware of this need imme¬
diately. For scenes set in the law office
a

cations the 98

(a set built in

an

Stinger™ Jib Arm w/
Gilding 2 Axis Fluid Head

abandoned movie

theater in East Los Angeles), the crew

placed lOKs and Nine-lights outside
the windows. "We couldn't afford

I had to burn out the
windows and make them go white.

TransLites,

so

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Canada: 604.299.0913

Texas:

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American Cinematographer - April 2002

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