Aaron Schneider: Power Windows

From American Cinematographer, Swanky Modes by Bob Fisher (October 1998)

Schneider: I learned a lot from him about da Vinci's Power Windows. There's a scene where I wanted to cast the shot with a blue-green kind of ugly fluorescent vibe. But a platinum blonde was supposed to be part of the scene in a sort of Marilyn Monroe kind of way. We ended up putting a Power Window over her hair and saved the yellow-blonde in her hair as a striking contrast to the scenes over-all hue. It made her otherwise ordinary blonde hair stand out as a visual icon.

Overton: When you isolate a face or object in a window, you can change colors, contrast and other details. You can solve problems and fine-tune images."

It sounds as if Power Windows was a really useful tool.

Schneider: Yes, and there are many examples. There is a scene in a boat when the characters are leaving Mexico, and it's a transition from night to sunrise. Buddy is looking over the edge of the boat. I needed Dennis Farina to pick his chin up over the threshold, so the light would hit his face. He didn't quite make it, so we lit his face in post.

Overton: When we put his face in that window, we could gradually build the light on it. We have control in the window over color, density, and brightness.

You can do that without affecting the rest of the image?

Overton: The secret to hiding Power Windows is learning to think like Aaron does on the set. You have to look at the scene and see where is the light coming from or where should it be coming from. It has to be a collaborative process.

How long have you been doing this type of work?

Overton: I got into the business about 18 years ago, starting in the electronic labs. I was the first telecine operator here [at Laser Pacific].

What's changing in your world?

Overton: There is a lot of interesting new technology, but there is also an important change in relationships with cinematographers like Aaron. More of them are becoming more knowledgeable. They see digital post as an extension of their work.

- Aaron Schneider, ASC & Colorist Tom Overton

Conrad Hall: Tech. Names & Approach to Set Lighting

From American Cinematographer, Leader of the Pack interview by Caleb Deschanel, ASC & edited by David E. Williams (September 1998)

Deschanel: Having watched you work a number of times, I know you have a tendency to ignore certain technical aspects of the craft. I’ve heard you say, ’Oh, bring me a light that’s about this big.’ [Both laugh.] Now, I know you’re talking about a 10K, but do you deliberately just want to free your mind of all of those details?

Hall: Should I know all the names of all the lights? There’s just so much new equipment coming out all the time. In terms of lights, I basically work with big lights and tiny lights. I simplify. I’m loathe to take walls out to shoot a scene. A production designer I recently worked with said to me, ’Conrad, when you shoot, you have a circle around your subject and you work within that circle. When Piotr Sobocinski shoots, he peels the circle back, leaving just a wall here behind his subject. When Emmanuel Lubezki [ASC, AMC] shoots, he does the same thing, but then he kicks a hole in the wall to make space for a backlight.’ Well, I like the reality of shooting in a room with set dimensions. I’m not used to tearing out a wall and pushing back 40 feet so I can use long lenses. I’ve just never thought about working that way. I like to live in this kind of formal reality, in the same way that a painter lives with a canvas of a certain size. That sets up certain rules and suggests an approach without creating the possibility of the viewer being somewhere he or she cannot be.

Freddie Francis: Cinematography & Technology

From American Cinematographer, Cinematic Glory by David E. Williams (March 1998)

Looking back on his career, Francis ponders the technological changes that have been made since his start in the 1930's. Scoffing at the notion that cinematography is an inherently technical field, he offers,

"If someone says to me, 'I loved that shot, how did you light it?', I'll think they've lost the point. My explanation doesn't mean a thing because there are 20 ways to light a shot and get the same result. Why you do something is far more important than how."

- Freddie Francis, BSC

"The cinematographer is a storyteller, and his main job is to communicate with the director and get his ideas on screen. I just always insist on having a wonderful operator and wonderful gaffer. I can tell them what I have in my mind and they'll know what to do, with me just adding a few touches later."

- Freddie Francis, BSC

Conrad Hall: Evolving with Technology

"It was almost exactly 50 years ago, in the spring of 1948, that I started studying cinema at USC. In the years since then I've tried to pay attention to life, and learn to tell stories with film language. Now, the language is over 100 years old, but I don't know if I've paid enough attention to the craft of cinematography as it has evolved-- and is evolving-- so rapidly. I don't know how to pay attention to it. I'm so disinterested in computers and mechanical things-- shooting blue-screens and green-screens. You can do some wonderful and magical things with that sort of technology to create stories, but I'm personally not very interested. I remember how I learned to do things a long time ago, and I'm going to hang onto that, which limits the types of stories I'm going to tell... "

-Conrad Hall, ASC