John Toll: Story, Camera Movement & Steadicam

From American Cinematographer, The War Within by Stephen Pizzello (February 1999)

"Terry and I talked extensively about creating a sense of movement throughout the whole picture. He loves to speak in metaphors, and he kept saying, 'It's like moving down a river, and the picture should have that same kind of flow'... During prep, we had talked about various ways to create that kind of style, but we never settled on a single approach. On the first couple of days of the schedule, we shot some scenes with a moving camera on a dolly, and some with stationary cameras incorporating conventional coverage and angles. It was all technically correct, and there was nothing wrong with the scenes, but when we viewed the footage, it sometimes felt very 'staged' and overly structured for the camera.

We knew we wanted something more, so we decided to loosen up our approach a bit. As a result, there's a lot of Steadicam and handheld work in the picture. We had a great Australian Steadicam operator named Brad Shields. We allowed the camera to explore a bit, and Terry encouraged the actors to try something different if they felt like it. At times, the camera would drift from one actor to another; we might not get conventional masters or coverage, but it didn't seem that important. Every scene became a unique situation, and we just shot what seemed to be most appropriate for a particular sequence. We allowed the camera to follow the emotional thread of a scene without worrying about much else. What seemed to emerge from that was a feeling of unpredictability which completely supported the idea that Guadalcanal was a strange and dangerous place that these characters suddenly found themselves in.

Terry got into that style of shooting immediately; he has a rather spontaneous and unpredictable personality, so the idea made a lot of sense to him. Using Steadicam and handheld camera certainly isn't a new idea, but the challenge was in shooting scenes that way without drawing unnecessary attention to the techniques themselves. I wanted to use the fluid, mobile camera movement as part of the overall style of the film, but in a way that supported the story."

- John Toll, ASC


Example in Interview:

Those techniques are very effective during a key sequence in which the Americans finally overtake the Japanese in a bivouac area.

"That scene is basically the Japanese soldiers' last stand. Some of them are dying of starvation, some commit suicide, some surrender and others decide to fight to the last man. I think we really captured the chaos and tragedy of that type of battle. No one really wants to be there, but they have to follow orders, and whether given individuals survive or get killed is really just a matter of chance.

The whole sequence was done with either a handheld camera and/or the Steadicam — primarily the Steadicam — and Brad Shields did a great job on it. The Americans are running into the area and the Japanese are all around them, so you don't know if the guy next to you is friend or foe. Once we set up for that scene, we had the actors go in and improvise action. We then kept repeating the sequence over and over, following different characters through this nightmarish situation. It was semi-controlled chaos, and it wasn't over-rehearsed to the point where everyone always knew what they were going to do. There were many extras in the scene, a lot of people firing at each other, and various guys taking some predetermined hits. We just let the camerawork be as free-form as possible"

- John Toll, ASC

Adrian Biddle: On Second Units

From American Cinematographer, Paging 007 by Ron Magid (December 1999)

Due to the epic scale of The World Is Not Enough, the caviar factory proved to be one of Apted and Biddle's rare opportunities to shoot an action scene in its entirety. The other action sequences were generally handled by up to three additional camera units, supervised by veteran stuntman and second unit director Vic Armstrong... Despite the huge amount of work involved, Biddle regrets not being able to shoot every scene in the picture, as he had on such action and effects heavy projects as Event Horizon and The Mummy.

"I would have loved to have shot some of the second-unit stuff, but our units shot [concurrently] for six months, so we couldn't have dont it any other way. We'd still be shooting now!"

- Adrian Biddle, BSC

Apted, Biddle and Armstrong initially split the work up between the first and second units based on storyboards of each sequence.

"We found that the storyboards didn't last very long, though. Each sequence was a slightly different challenge. Vic would do the scenes that were very stunt-driven, and then I would take in the first unit to do the extra bits and pieces we needed. Conversely, I'd take the actions scenes that were more actor driven, and then Vic would finish them up. There was so much to do that the division of scenes was really determined by whether or not the audience would be able to tell if it was the actual actor in the shot. There was no artistic thinking in that decision. It was more like, 'If you can't see it's Pierce Brosnan, it's second unit.' We generally started shooting on any given set first, even if it was for just a couple of days. That way, my gaffers could pre-rig the set, so the look and the lighting style was determined before the second unit went in; they could then go from there. I think that's really the key to getting good second-unit stuff."

- Adrian Biddle, BSC

However, there were a couple of sequences that were shot by Armstrong and second-unit cinematographer Jonathan Taylor ahead of first unit, including a stunning boat chase on the Thames River. In those instances, communication was vital to maintaining a consistent look.

"I just made sure that I talked to Jonathan. That sequence is a good example of why, when you go on a location scout, you've got to do it well. You have to determine, especially with the assistant director and the director, that you're going to shoot in one direction all morning , even if that means cutting up the scene and then doing the reverses in the after noon."

- Adrian Biddle, BSC

... Of course, shooting what amounts to a series of actors' inserts creates its own difficulties, particularly in terms of making those closeups feel integrated into the overall action. For Biddle, the key to these dilemmas is movement.

"You have to repeat what the second unit has done. That is, you design each of your shots so the editor can use them instead of what second unit photographed, although you then wouldn't have the big stunts. I think the best way to approach these inserts is to do them exactly the same way as you would do a standard wide shot. That way, the camera moves become more exciting, so when you cut to the insert shot, it just looks as if it's part of the sequence, and you might find that you can use a bit more of it in the scene."

- Adrian Biddle, BSC