American Cinematographer - February 2003 - 110

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and manifold decisions

are necessary in
filmmaking. "Let's give it a name, this
method of separating the three-dimen¬
sional reality into pieces and showing
them to the audience in an arranged

order," he writes. "Let's call it film-

space."
Though Brown's concepts are
complex, he explains them very simply,
and the illustrations incorporating film
frames, computer-generated schematics
and diagrams make them come alive.
The second chapter, "Visual Language,"
draws on the cinematography of John
Alton, ASC and Vittorio Storaro, ASC,
AIC with images from The Big Combo
and The Conformist.

Particularly fine is the chapter
"Lighting and Storytelling," which
encompasses classic painting
by
Caravaggio, the origins of motion-picture
lighting, film noir, and light as a visual
metaphor. There is an in-depth discus¬
sion of Caleb Deschanel, ASC's lighting

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housed in an old building on the edge of
the campus, and it would be many years
before advanced degrees in film were
offered.
was a

Aspiring filmmaker Ed Spiegel

student there at the time.

When USC brought Slavko
Vorkapich in to head the film department,
a lot changed. Vorkapich had established
a niche for himself in Hollywood in the
1930s and AOs

in David Copperfield,

ment, whether onscreen or in life, was

something Vorkapich called "the inno¬
of the eye." He developed a theory
of filmic dance based upon imagery in
motion; his ideas

how to

use

?H£ WNOCENCE OF THE tYE
a

filmmaker's

guide

*

ed spiegel

carrying
The Innocence of the

Die-cast metal construction,

by Ed Spiegel

fingerprint-proof metal plating.

Silman-James Press

Eye

179 pp., $19.95
ISBN 1-879505-63-0

design.

In the 1950s, the film

www.theasc.com

as a

writer, director, editor and

illustrated with film frames from San

American

included.

To order, p to
our online store at

the tools to create drama."

Francisco, The Bride of Frankenstein and

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(12 hours operating)

State of the art

controversial, but

Spiegel was inspired to become a
filmmaker and implement Vorkapich's

are

*

were

producer. This well-written book clearly
sets forth some of Vorkapich's principles
in short, incisive chapters, some of which

CR2 #V

case

to the

they inspired a legion of filmmakers,
including Conrad L. Hall, ASC. Hall
recently told Spiegel that he had been
inspired by Vorkapich's ability "to engen¬
der the spirit in us that we were devel¬
oping a new language, that movies
weren't just about drama, but learning

brightest laser pointer

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came

university to teach," writes Spiegel, "[he]
was conscious that his montage imagery
should be experienced in a more
profound way and not merely felt kinesthetically or understood intellectually."
For Vorkapich, "movement, besides
creating a visceral response, was itself
emotional and symbolic."
The primitive response to move¬

"uses light as a metaphor and as story¬
telling perhaps better than any other
[film] of the modern era." Frames from
the film clearly illustrate his point. "Film¬
makers who take a rejectionist attitude
toward lighting are depriving themselves
of one of the most important, subtle and
powerful tools of visual storytelling,"
Brown observes. "Those who reject
lighting are often those who least under¬
stand its usefulness and eloquence as a

in the world. 635nm laser

*

The Good Earth and

cence

(approximately 10 times
brighter than 670nm laser).
*

master of the

Meet John Doe. "When he

theories
The

a

for The Natural, which, Brown writes,

cinematic tool."
*

as

montage; his credits included sequences

department
University of Southern California
nothing like it is today. It was

at the
was

Beauty.

■
American Cinematographer - February 2003

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