Alar Kivilo: Snow, Exposure & Contrast

From American Cinematographer, The Root of All Evil by Jay Holben (December 1998)

"I was letting the snow go about three stops over. I was usually exposing at about an f5.6 outside, but the snow would be reflecting back an f16 or more. By overexposing it that much, the snow gave us really blinding whites and we'd lose detail, which for most applications was great. However, there were a couple of scenes in the film in which footprints in the snow were an important element of the story. Because of the overcast conditions and the contrast created by the way I was exposing, we would occasionally have to paint in the footprints to make them readable. Someone from the art department would walk backward through the footprints with water-based spray-paint and darken in the shadow side of the prints so they would read better."

- Alar Kivilo, CSC

Eduardo Serra: Exposure Approach

From American Cinematographer, Dream Weavers by Ron Magid (November 1998)

"Eduardo is very methodical and particular about light. He can create what I call 'exotic experiences,' particularly in smaller environments. He paints in tones photographically, so he'll underexpose a background element in a very measured way — by two or three stops — but he's very conscious that that element is an important part of the shot, which creates this very layered, European effect. He uses a scale of grays to measure each part of the frame. And even though some elements are underexposed, they're all part of the painting, so to speak. Sometimes the objects that are two stops under are actually the most important aspects of the shot. That [technique] creates a kind of unity of emphasis."

- Vincent Ward, Director of What Dreams May Come

Lance Acord: Clip Tests

From American Cinematographer, Playing a Risky Stock on Buffalo 66, by Jean Oppenheimer (July 1998)

"When you shoot 'chrome and use the E6 process, you do film clip tests. On each roll of film, you clip either the front or the end of the roll to gauge the exposure on the roll, and then you can push- or pull-process to adjust for the exposure you want. For each scene in Buffalo 66 we would do a clip test. We'd shoot about 40 feet of film- often with stand-ins-- and then log that with a scene number and a clip number. In the script notes we would identify which camera roll corresponded to each clip test for each scene, at which point we would know whether we wanted to push or pull the film to adjust for exposure. They could then process the rolls accordingly."

- Lance Acord, ASC