American Cinematographer - January 2003 - 86

After enjoying a
night of spiritual
searching atop
his new, massive

Winnebago,
Schmidt takes
time to enjoy the

In the
top photo, the

scenery.

filmmakers

ready a highangle shot of
their leading
man.

To

emphasize
Schmidt's
discomfort with
his

new

life, "we

often

present

views of him in

strange, wide
shots," notes
Glennon.

filmed

on

built inside

stage

a

warehouse. This

was

a
done in great

part for logistical reasons, but
used the

Stewart

move

her

to

advantage. As she explains, "When
first see Warren Schmidts living

we

room,

it's

a

normal size. On the

stage, we had the walls
rollers

so we

of the

room.

in

after

could
When

his

of that set on
expand the size
back

we come

wife's

funeral,

we

expanded his living room and his
dining room - all of a sudden the
rooms become
larger. Later, as he's
eating in the dining room by
himself without his wife, the
looks

room

huge compared to other

scenes.

Most viewers will

never

notice these

things, but they're
going to feel his isolation and
emptiness."
As they did in their previous
collaborations, Payne and Glennon
decided to capture much of the
action in About Schmidt with

a

wide-angle lens placed very close to
an
actor, almost invading the
subject's personal space. "We put
the lens in a place where the person
looks
says.
we

uncomfortable," Glennon

"We'd always ask, 'What

do with the

camera to

can
make this

uncomfortable
all of a sudden,
it starts getting funny."
To help achieve this effect,

guy seem even more
and pathetic?' Then,

Glennon often used
17.5-75mm T2.3

a

zoom

4:1 Primo

lens

at

its

widest

point. "There's a concept I
always refer to which has to do with
tiny people in spaces that are too
big for them. We put the camera
right in front of Schmidt, as if the
camera was observing him. One of
the phrases we used at the time was
'bug in a bottle.' Warren is being
examined by us, and he is also being
forced

to

examine himself, so we

of him in normal¬
looking wide shots that are close to
present views

him. He's this little guy rattling
around all alone in his house, and

the frame that he

occupies is often
just too big for him. We'd always
78

January 2003



American Cinematographer - January 2003

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - January 2003

American Cinematographer - January 2003 - 1
American Cinematographer - January 2003 - 2
American Cinematographer - January 2003 - 3
American Cinematographer - January 2003 - 4
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