American Cinematographer - September 2006 - 60

Conjuring the Past
Eisenheim
demonstrates his

showstopping
"orange tree
illusion." This

complex
sequence was
shot with a

SuperTechnocrane
on the very first
day of the shoot at
a

rented theater.

"Because
was

a play
just finishing

its run, all we had
was

the
to

one

day

get in the

theater and prep
the entire

interior," Pope
recalls. "The grips
and the producers
had sweat pouring
off their brows
with the
we

thought

wouldn't
make it."

achieved in
sible. "I
to

be

camera as

much

as

pos¬

always wanted the audience
thinking, 'How does

Eisenheim do it?' rather than, 'How
do the filmmakers do it?"' says

Burger. In the

of the

orange

tree, an intricate set of gears

pushed

case

leaves folded within stems,
which then bloom. This mechanical
out

constituted the major part
of the illusion, but it was just one
part of the puzzle facing Pope.
Sweeping camera moves on a Super
process

Technocrane

meant

the tricks would

move

pouring off their brows with
thought we wouldn't make it.
The camera was to be placed at the
back of stage looking out at the
packed theater, while in center-stage
foreground, Eisenheim was to step
up to the table and begin the illu¬
sion. As the orange seed in the pot
began to sprout and grow, we were
to

180

degrees, then track back out
over the front of
stage and then out
over the audience,
skimming their
heads as we pulled right back
towards the

while all the time the shrub

a

kind

shouting at

The bigger camera moves
encompassed all three elements:
audience
(including principal
actors), magician and magic trick.
"On the very first day of the
shoot,

we

had

our

principals

on

rear

of the theater stalls,

continue to grow

was to

into a fully mature

bearing fruit, but now
angle diametrically
opposed to where we had started.
orange tree

with the

camera

"The fact that I had

never

before worked with any of my crew
made what was a very ambitious

stage and amongst a full theater

and

audience of

trickier," continues the cinematog¬
rapher. "We had to deal with how to

hundreds," says Pope.

"Very first up was the most challeng¬
ing shot of the entire film! This was
compounded by the fact that a play
was just finishing its run, so all we
had was the one day to get in the
theater and prep the entire interior.
The grips and the producers had

complicated camera move even

move around
Norton without destroying

physically

Edward
his per¬

formance, communicate with

a

largely non-English-speaking audi¬
ence, and deal with the really com¬
plicated mechanics and timing of

growing. It's the type of

that could be

tender for

a

serious

con¬

heavily rotoscoped CGI
effect, but it was mainly achieved in
a

which makes it

camera,

so

much

believable. The

credibility of
The Illusionist hangs on the very
authenticity and believability of its
more

illusions."

track in towards it, then circle it

and his audience, which was
the stage.

September 2006

the tree

the

share the shot with both Eisenheim
of collective character

56

sweat

Pope decided
would enable him

a

to

Technocrane
achieve many

angles fairly quickly. "I know from
experience that theaters are really
awkward to work in, and setting all
but the simplest of shots can be real¬
ly time-consuming," he says. Key
grip Robert Kodera deliberated for
some time about what was
physical¬
ly possible in such a tight space,
and he ultimately decided a 25'
SuperTechnocrane was the only
option. "Full credit to him, as this
decision proved to be spot-on," says
Pope. "The crane hadn't as long a
reach

I wanted but was very

short
only option was to
build its track along nearly the entire
length of a side aisle, largely to max¬
imize the number of positions we
could achieve, but also to keep it out
at

as

the back. Our

of the shot from onstage. But of
course,

it

was a

theater with

a

steep
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