Year: 2020

            “You can speed progress or you can slow it, but you cannot stop it.”             Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC             The other night I caught a screening of Michael Curtiz’s 1940 pirate spectacular, The Seahawk.  Photographed in luminous black and white by Sol Polito, ASC, it’s one of those great studio productions that were … Continue reading “CHANGE – Part 2”

            Harrison Ford’s character Rusty Sabich and John Spencer’s cop Dan Lipranzer watch a political concession speech in a hotel ballroom.  Find it at 0:47:38…             Large space, minimal lighting…yet completely appropriate to the action as described in the script.  And despite the size of the room (100’x60′) and large number of extras, it was … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #12 – PRESUMED INNOCENT”

            I know, it’s crazy…  From time to time someone still asks me: Which is better, film or digital?  Not a sophisticated query, but giving the benefit I suspect what they’re really curious about are the underlying concepts – change and adaptation.             Change is the single immutable notion in the cinematographer’s world…it has been … Continue reading “CHANGE – Part 1”

            This scene was shot in a practical location – a restaurant located on Duane St. in lower Manhattan.  Working in the daytime, the windows were covered with layers of Duvetyne and we played it for a night\interior.  The white walls and ceiling give an overall high-key feel to Storaro’s work here; even he wasn’t … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #11 – ISHTAR”

            Who does the light, composition, color and camera movement of any motion picture belong to?  According to U.S. copyright law they are the property of the producing entity.  Moral law allows for a different interpretation.  Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC refers to cinematographers as “authors of photography” and his assessment is correct.  There’s an aspect … Continue reading “AUTHORSHIP AND ARTISTS RIGHTS”

            So far I’ve been posting lighting diagrams from the sets of some of the master cinematographers I was lucky to work for as a young assistant cameraman.  Today I’m forging a new frontier by delivering something of my own.  It’s a bit of a gimmicky shot but is a great example of how far … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #10 – DOWN TO EARTH”

            If you had the privilege to have met Stanley Cortez, ASC (1908-1997), you’d know that he was an unforgettable figure.  Tall, elegantly turned out and possessed of an imposing demeanor, there was nothing about him that betrayed his New York City roots or his birth name of Stanislaus Krantz.  Instead, he projected an air … Continue reading “HARD LIGHT BRILLIANCE”

            This scene takes place in a basement apartment and was shot on a set at Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens.  It was a cramped space that was made to seem all the more so by the limited shot selection used in the final cut of the film.  Find it at the 00:08:41 mark…             … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #9 – ISHTAR”

            For all the time, effort and emotion we put into our work, why is it that we so rarely address the archiving and restoration of our images?  With more than half of all films shot prior to 1950 lost to deterioration, misplacement or the trash bin, the situation demands immediate attention.  And if anyone … Continue reading “ARCHIVING AND RESTORATION”

            This scene was shot inside the Old Town Bar in Manhattan; it’s very simple but also very beautiful.  What interests me is seeing how Storaro used 650W 9-Light Fays; it was a procedure he would repeat time and again on the NY portion of the movie.  For the large amount of light in use, … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #8 – ISHTAR”