American Cinematographer - August 2002 - 29

sion of banks of overhead fluorescent
house lights as the motivating source for
Taransky, who sits all alone, pouring his
heart into his simulated actress. To
create the

inside

effect, he placed 5K Fresnels

cones

and

gelled them with #101

OBSCura

Yellow and Full Green correction to
create a

walls

as

scalloped effect

on

the stage

LTD

metal China hats would. Fie also

lamped the tungsten China hats that are
as work lights with 500-watt bulbs,
which provide a dollop of warmth in the
otherwise fluorescent-green environ¬
ment. "I always try to use complemen¬
tary and contrasting colors in my
lighting," he says. "If you light everything
in one color, you lose the effect of that
used

color. I wanted the warm color to contrast

with the green so it really helps the eye
see the green, fluorescent feeling."

\

Although Simone's budget was
approximately $30 million, the amount of
money left below the line was tight,
given some of the ambitious setups
required by the script. Some large loca¬

The concept
and the design

tions

experience in building cranes,
Safety, stability as well as easy,
comfortable handling were
the prime objectives for the
development of this crane system.
The Galaxy sets new standards and
opens a new dimension not only witl
regards to crane arm length.

were

called for, such as a massive

post-Oscars party and

an enormous
stadium concert. Lachman credits his

longtime gaffer, John DeBlau (who is
credited

as

"visual

consultant"

on

Simone), with creating some clever and
elegant lighting rigs for these massive

the

of

max.

^y\\

Galaxy
crane incorporated
ideas and suggestions

57 ft. /

17,3

m

remoteversion

new

*

\

38.5 ft. / 11,8
platformversion

max.

from rental houses, crane

operators and Panther's long

m

incl. 2 persons

iflJlr

scenes.

The Oscar party was shot at the
Angeles Department of Water and
Power building downtown. "That loca¬
tion was very interesting because of its
architectural importance," Lachman
observes. "We couldn't attach or rig off
the fagade of the structure because of
the marble surface and weight restric¬
tions. John and key grip Al LaVerde, one
of the nicest and greatest grips in the
business, came up with the idea of
suspending vertical trusses behind the
building's marble columns and running
them to ground so we wouldn't damage
or make contact with the building."
Those rigs could hold the light
sources, which were lightboxes placed
Los

The

new

Multi-Link connector

facilitates

build-up and take¬

down,

it avoids jamming.

as

between the venue's columns. "John

worked out

an

ingenious idea for me,"

Lachman continues. "We built these

lightboxes that didn't take up too much
room but had enough punch to do the

Panther GmbH
Raiffeisenallee 3

82041

Oberhaching/Munich
Germany

Tel: +49-89-613 900-01
Fax: +49-89-613 1000

Contact@panther-gmbh.de
www.panther-gmbh.de
American Cinematographer - August 2002

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