American Cinematographer - December 2004 - 68

Cinematic

Impressionism

The

filmmmakers
lent

a

comforting
glow to both
exteriors and
interiors set at
the house in

Brittany.
According to
Delbonnel, "We
started out with
the rule that
there would be
no

sunshine in

the trenches,
and that there
would

always

be sunshine at

£4

Mathilde's
house in

Brittany."

slight backlight, with top fill light
generated by three 8K helium bal¬
loons and, sometimes military flares.
Down

the

in

trenches,

Delbonnel further colored the
time

day¬

image by adding an 81EF filter
resulting images

the lens. The

on

had

a

bluish tint that combined with

the soft

greenish fill from the frame

dense, brushed cotton
cotton

the

set.

When the filmmakers moved

home,

a

-

like Mathilde's

or the
he continued his

string of bordellos,

detective's office

-

of a soft light coming from
"My gaffer and I developed a
luminous ceiling that can be part of

strategy
above.

on

are even some scenes

where it's in the shot!" For a day inte¬

this overhead
below key.
Delbonnel uses space lights or
5K soft lights to pierce through the
ceiling. He adds that the units are
patched through dimmers so he can
warm the color temperature quickly
and easily. If the ceiling is out of
frame, he sometimes turns off lights
to create a brighter center that helps
separate the actors below from the
"shower" at 1V2

studio interiors

use

-

There

to 2

stops

background.
On

same

The

rior, he might set

to

the

and I light through it.
light is spread evenly over the
whole ceiling and it gives a base fill
level that separates the elements of
their sets

electricians carry an

800-watt HMI
pole in front of the actors "to
bring out their eyes."

-

that set decorators

above. When needed, he had his

on a

64 December 2004

the set," he reveals. "It's made of very

set

and

on

location,

Delbonnel

typically keys his lighting
with large sources, such as Dino
lights for the Brittany day interiors.
"It's a classical choice that goes back
to the work of cinematographers
[ ASC, AIC] and
John Alcott [BSC]: the bigger and

like Vittorio Storaro

farther away

the source is, the more
it - cut it or diffuse it.
I keep things simple. In general, I
start from a big source and play with

you can work

the distance of the fixture and the
diffusion in front of it to soften the
more or less. One great advan¬
of a big source is that it will
wrap around a face. I will only use
spots in the background. Again, I
never have light behind the camera;

light
tage



American Cinematographer - December 2004

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

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American Cinematographer - December 2004 - 2
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