American Cinematographer - April 2004 - 80

One
Near

Spirit

right: For

certain shots, a

dummy horse
(nicknamed

"Stuffy") was
employed. On
location, key
grip Bob Babin
attached

Hidalgo's
taxidermied
stand-in to

an

ATV. "Bob
some

rigged
bungee

cords from the
bridle to the

knew

stirrups so the
rider could

puppet the head
and achieve

with the horse
we

were

a

mechanical

ridiculous to
we

had zoomed out
5mm more,

it would have
looked comical."
Far

right: A few
chariot rigs

were

tested, but

Johnson found
that the horses
ran

at a

noticeably
slower speed.
"During the race,
the horses had
to be

running full

tilt," he notes.
"We used
that could

rigs
get in

close to the

moving horses
without

hindering them."
Bottom: "Viggo
was an

excellent rider,"
Johnson attests.
"All of

our

close-ups with
him

were on

Hidalgo, always
from a moving
camera
on a
a

mounted

sandrail

or

SpaceCam."

them off the camera."

The

horses

Harvey pro¬
vided the production with several

"Ocean of Fire" had

Panaflex Platinums and PanArri

ber of

435s to accommodate the

to

a

limited

num¬

Dakota,
London
and
Morocco," Johnson notes. "Bob
made it

a

located between Montana, L.A.,

South

happen."

To

mark

Hopkins and
Hidalgo's arrival in Arabia, Johnson
infused the image with shades of
coral, orange and cyan. "The light in
north Africa is very intense, and the
sun-baked terrain contains subtle

geologic striations of color," he says.
"To bring out those delicate tones,
we structured shooting days and
planned angles with sun direction in
mind. Otherwise, the landscapes
might have appeared undefined and
"Joe wanted to shoot many of
scenes

in Arabia from

a

perspective in order to con¬
Hopkins with his new, exotic
surroundings," he continues, "and I
trast

4WD Ford F250 to accommodate

with
Arm

Super Technocrane fitted
or a Mini Lenny
supporting a SpaceCam. "We
a

a

Libra III,

could also hard-mount the Libra III
the shooting deck and get
gyrostabilized double coverage over
rough terrain," adds Johnson.
Operator Devine and first AC Mike
Martino traveled parallel to the race

to

in

a

chase vehicle.
Babin

and

his

crew

also

equipped
a

gray.

be

either

representation of how punishing
those

races

At

are."

one

point in the

injured Hidalgo collapses

race, an

bar¬
Hopkins,
parched and disoriented, is out of
options. Loading a bullet into his
Colt, he prepares to relieve his
beloved horse of his pain. A Lakota
prayer forms on his lips, and in reply,
his spirit tribe appears, veiled in
mirage. "Hopkins is dying and hallu¬
cinating, surrounded by this flat lake
ren

stretch

on a

of desert.

bed, this solar-cooker, and I wanted

racing in the

runs
daily, so equipment had
portable, adaptable and ready
to roll. "Joe and I wanted the style of
coverage to evolve as the race pro¬
gresses and Frank's inward journey
becomes more desperate," Johnson
says. Key grip Bob Babin customized

tight trav¬
el schedule. "At one point, we need¬
ed 11 complete camera packages

wider

April 2004

more

of the earth."

vature

Panavision's Bob

the first

76

with the C-

apparent

more

peripheral reference. As things
moved toward the edge of frame,
they'd curve and distort in interest¬
ing ways. On wide landscapes, the
lenses gave the horizon lines a subtle
arc, as though you could see the cur¬

explains.
"Though
effective, the rig
was completely

even

on

movement

Series lenses because there's

horse," Johnson

look at. If

experience

distortion. "Subtleties in

wouldn't

have had with

my

angle lenses." Johnson also liked the
dynamic offered by a bit of barrel

a

synchronicity
that

from

Jurassic Park III that he favors wide-

a one-man sand-rail with
Libra III controlled by a wireless

transmitter. This spunky rig could
jockey back and forth like another
horse in the pack. "The sand-rail was
a bit
rough but had a nice energy,"
says Johnson. "It offered an accurate

this sequence apart

from the
the director.
Taking the glowing, dreamlike look
of the picnic scene in Bonnie and
Clyde as a jumping-off point,
to set
rest

of the film," says

Johnston asked Johnson to try

removing the anti-halation backing
of the film stock, EXR 100T 5248,

prior to exposure. Johnson tested the
effect but it didn't alter the image to
the degree the director desired. The
cinematographer therefore suggest¬
ed skip-bleach negative processing.
However, after testing the
process four times using different fil¬
ter

combinations, Johnson found

the results
lacked

were

inconsistent and

intensity. "Finally,

our

Robert Dalva, who is also

editor,

an accom¬

plished cinematographer, suggested
using no diffusion," he says. "He
felt a hard edge would best take
advantage of the process." Johnson
did

one

where
added

out

eliminated

in

Malibu,
diffusion,

graduated filters and two
slightly off-axis on the sky,
then adjusted the exposure to

Polarizers
and

last test

he
American Cinematographer - April 2004

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - April 2004
