American Cinematographer - May 2006 - 26

range of independent movies has
changed dramatically in recent years.

Whereas she used to be offered

projects costing $7 million or more, now
"they're a couple million. I even did
a couple of all-digital pictures for
InDigEnt for less than $500,000, where
the crew had back-end points and actu¬
ally recouped our time investment." On
American Gun, she felt "very fortunate"
to have her choice of crew,

which

included

Hayash, 1st AC Michelle
Delorimier, key grip Keith Talley, best
boy grip Erik Messerschmidt, camera
operator Rick Robertson and best boy
Above: At

students.
Below:

shooting in one direction in order to
seeing palm trees and white
stucco buildings. The suburb of
Altadena stood in for Oregon, and the
Virginia sequences were shot mainly at
Loyola Marymount University and at a
gun shop in Glendale. "Filming onstage
gives you a lot more freedom for lighting
and camera, but there's something

through the house, just like in a docu¬
mentary, and that gave the actors a lot

Schreiber lines

about real locations that fuels the actors

of freedom."

in

One scene in the Chicago story
presented the opposite scenario: it is
set in a gas-station attendant's booth
measuring about 5' wide by 6' high and
featuring glass on three sides. "The
challenge was how to light the actor

a

Chicago high
school, the

principal (Forest
Whitaker) is
shocked to
discover

a

handgun

on one
of his most

promising

up a

shot.

avoid

a

different and very

important way,"

notes Schreiber.

American Gun demanded

some

performances, and
Schreiber says the actors involved were
one of the attractions of doing the
movie. "I consider myself fortunate to

very

intense

work with this caliber of actor when the

movie is

small," she says. To make
the cast more comfortable, she strove to
so

keep the mechanics of her work as
unobtrusive as possible. She shot a fair

the kind of movie that wanted to be

Schreiber. "The

shot

inside, because

camera

we

could flow

could

see

80

percent of the booth," says Hayash.
"We had to build sources inside; we put
Kino Flos under the counter, on the
counter and elsewhere, usually hidden
in set

dressing." To make the barrier

are

Schreiber's digital

extensive, she believed from

the outset that celluloid

was

choice for American Gun. "This

much

the best
was

not

digitally," she
more

says. "There's so
control and freedom of

expression in film, so many choices of
stocks and [lab] processes. Yes, I can
make digital look good, but why try to
'trick' the technology when a great look
is inherent in celluloid because of its
latitude and

flexibility?
"Many producers are finding
ways to originate $1 million and $2
million movies on Super 16 and post to
hi-def with
"We

a

Dl finish," she continues.

all

pleased with the ease and
flexibility of working in film with the
smaller Super 16 cameras, and it
are

enables

us

to remain on the set with the

between the character and the outside

director and actors instead of in the

from the

world

black

ment

imagery]."

same

angle, with

one camera

more prominent, the art depart¬
replaced the glass with grating
that had been painted black "so it
would stand out in frame and give us
interesting patterns," adds Schreiber.
The gun store offered a different
set of problems. "The store had a lot of

tent

[for monitoring digital

FotoKem
ican Gun's

processed all of Amer¬
footage and generated digi¬

tal dailies under Mark Van Horne's

part of the movie, so we found a way to

supervision. "After our preproduction
blowup test out to a Dl, we were able to
set our three looks in the digital dailies
so everyone would see the approximate
look of the final film," says Schreiber.
"Technicolor did an amazing Dl for us,
with Tim Peeler serving as our colorist;
we worked efficiently, but without
sacrificing creativity." Release prints

hide small Par

were

character, but the

owner

didn't want

us

anything," recalls Schreiber.
"There was no way to rig overhead, and
we didn't have prelight days. The practicals

were

all fluorescent, and I didn't

want to use that kind of

of

a

very

cans

lighting in this

and make the best

made

2393 "to

difficult situation."

Schreiber notes that the
May 2006

Although
credits

amount of the movie with two cameras

to move

22

electric Brian Lofthouse.

tight and the other wide. Also, she and
Hayash tried to incorporate sources into
the scene as much as possible, creating
an overall lighting scheme for each set.
"In the Oregon house, we lit so we
could shoot 360 [degrees]," says

budget

on

ensure

rich blacks

we

Kodak Vision Premier
the great contrast

desired," she adds.

and
>-
American Cinematographer - May 2006

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 2006
