American Cinematographer - September 2004 - 106

wiches for

physical laborers made with

fresh bread and butter and decent ham.

In the U.S., you eat

all day long. I'll
always remember one time in the U.S.
when I was looking for my gaffer and I
found him with a pizza slice in one hand
and a cell phone in the other!
What about equipment? Are
there major differences in gear?
Kurant: There is more equip¬
ment in the States

-

a

tool for every

job. A European cinematographer who
to the States will marvel at the

comes

of tools, and there is a tendency
Young French
cinematographers always want to try
out the gear they've seen in American
Cinematographeh.
How difficult is it to get what
you need on a shoot?
Kurant: I've never had a prob¬
lem getting lighting equipment in Amer¬
ica, even on a low-budget film, whereas
I often have a problem in France. This is
a false economy, as it takes more time
to hang 15 small fixtures than three big
range

to want to use them all.

ones.

These restrictions

can

create a

minimal

lighting style on small Euro¬
pean films. On the other hand, negotia¬
tions with an American line producer
are

harder when it comes to salaries for

the

cinematographer or set designer.
In France, the director is

considered

an

auteur. It would be

almost inconceivable to fire

a

French director, and its very rare to
fire the

cinematographer. But that's

not true in

America, is it?

Kurant: On
the

an

American set,

producer is the boss, whereas in

France, the director is the master of all
the artistic decisions. I think that is

there is

why

escalation of coverage on
American films - there's four times
an

coverage on an American film
than on a French one. This means that a
more

producer has the option to fire his direc¬
he wants.

tor and cut the scene the way

What

are some

of the differ¬

you've seen in crews?
European crews are
definitely smaller than American ones.
It is very common in Europe to have an
ences

Kurant:

electrical

crew

of three

ing the gaffer. On

a

or

four, includ¬

medium-sized

movie, you'll have two or three grips in
France and

only a dolly grip in England,
but they do have riggers.
The French machinos

[grips]

and electros [electricians] have

slightly different duties than Ameri¬
can grips and electricians.
Kurant: Yes, the French key grip,
not the camera

assistant, carries the

and

places it on the dolly or
head. So you don't have to have big
muscles to start a cinematography

camera

career

in France! In

advantages to the U.S.
system. If you want to darken a bright
wall, American grips will quickly set up
are

large frame. This is harder in France,
don't have the crew. On the
other hand, I will often bounce a light
into an umbrella; in the U.S., they won't
let an electrician do this, but the grip
doesn't always know how to position it,
so you can lose time. The crew size
sometimes implies a different style of
photography. I think that grips and elec¬
tricians were probably important to
Gordon Willis' controlled lighting on
The Godfather, for example.
An American gaffer has more
autonomy than his European coun¬
a

because you

Kurant: In

Europe, the director of
photography almost always gives
precise instructions to the gaffer about
the type of lighting unit he requests. The
French cinematographer has total
control of the lighting. The American
gaffer sometimes takes on the lighting
while the director of photography is
lining up the shot. Years ago, I experi¬
some

oper¬

blocks the shots in close collaboration
with the director. A lot of

European
cinematographers, including me, prefer
the American system, where the direc¬
tor of photography is responsible for all
elements of the image, framing as well
as lighting.
There
French

three

are

reasons

that

cinematographers want to oper¬

ate. The first is to maintain a relation¬

ship with the director. The second is to
avoid competing with an operator who
works with the director without includ¬

ing the cinematographer...
Which doesn't happen in the
States!
Kurant:... and the third

is economic.

reason

Young cinematographers

who don't get paid much get a salary
increase when they operate. This
should not be underestimated. In the

U.S.,

cinematographer

can operate
for artistic reasons, but the
union forces you to have an operator

the

a

camera

present on the set.
There's

a

fourth

reason

cinematographers

some

have

mentioned, which is that they get

terpart.

enced

camera

different in Europe, and
many European cinematographers
do their own operating.
Kurant: In Europe, the operator

Europe, it's the elec¬

tricians, not the grips, who set the flags,
cutters, silks and so on.
There

The role of the
ator is very

bored if

they only do lighting.
Honestly, I do, too! It
depends on the director, of course, but I
Kurant:

often work with two

camera

bodies,

and in the States I will 'steal' shots with

the second

camera.

■

intimidation in the U.S.

from

gaffers who wanted to impose
lighting on me. Many foreign cine¬
matographers have complained to me
about this problem before they found
the right collaborators. In America, big is
their

beautiful. Sometimes I need to add

a

small

light, and I see a 5K arrive. Then
gaffer says, 'I'll take care of it, you'll
get the same effect as a 500-watt.'
Sometimes you get Ben Hur when you

the

want minimalism

-

but I must add that

I would love to have shot Ben Hur!

American

Cinematographer 93
American Cinematographer - September 2004

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