APOLLO 13 (1995)

            I’ve been a fan of NASA and the space program for my entire life.  The 1960’s marked the glory years of their efforts, and I’m old enough to remember the three projects that got us to the moon before the end of the decade: Mercury (just barely), Gemini (a little better) and Apollo (every detail!).  For me, the far-and-away best movie about the subject is Ron Howard’s Apollo 13.  If this tale of survival and American ingenuity isn’t harrowing enough, simply committing it to celluloid presented its own unique obstacles.  Shot by Dean Cundey, ASC, it’s another instance in which the photography is more complex than it seems.

            The main challenge was in finding a way to shoot the bulk of the story within the Command Module set, which was about the size of a car interior.  In such tight quarters, the choice of a widescreen format at first seems a little iffy.  But in keeping with Howard’s desire to feature all three astronauts in the same frame, Cundey’s choice of Super 35 was a wise one.  During the film era, this had a different connotation than it does today.  Its 2.39:1 aspect ratio was the same as the anamorphic format, but by requiring the use of spherical lenses (and an optical printing step), it had none of the limitations.  This gave the Apollo 13 images greater depth and permitted the camera to get closer to the actors, often within three feet or less.

            Cundey used 20mm and 35mm Panavision Primo lenses for most of the work inside the spacecraft, while close-ups were done with the 75mm.  He also chose to originate on two Eastman raw stocks: 5293 and the higher speed 5298.

            Lighting presented another obstacle.  Cundey’s solution was to rely primarily on the small, practical fluorescents built into the set.  To keep the look from becoming too flat, he gave a blue-green hue to the area lights while keeping the instrument panel units a cleaner white.  “The sunlight coming through the windows was another main source, especially after the astronauts begin to shut down all the power to save the batteries,” Cundey said in an interview for American Cinematographer.  “At that point, there is no interior source lighting.  The sunlight is very directional and harsh.  It bounces around the capsule, giving us a bit of ambient fill on the shadow sides of faces.”

            To create that effect, he called on the Cyberlight, a programmable instrument that had been previously used for stadium-sized rock concerts.  It contained a Xenon bulb and a mirror that directed a beam of light on a repeatable, moving path.  The unit was mounted on a crane and shifted in various directions as the situation dictated, while the computer kept the beam aimed through the Command Module’s window to any part of the cabin.  In order to maintain continuity from take-to-take and angle-to-angle, the computer kept the light moving in a consistent arc.  “It feels like direct sun-light, and we had very precise control over what was lit and what was dark,” Cundey said.  “We created some very interesting looks with silhouettes of the characters, and you always have a sense that the light is coming through a window from the sun.”

            Compounding the obvious hurdles were numerous Command Module scenes photographed within the confines of the “Vomit Comet,” the infamous Air Force KC-135 that has long been used as a weightless training environment for the astronaut corps.  The zero-G effect is convincing as the three actors move around the specially-constructed set because it’s real.  Howard and Cundey also chose to refrigerate the stage so as to see the astronauts’ breath after the accident, when the spacecraft is powered down.  It’s similar to the approach used by Owen Roizman, ASC in sections of The Exorcist (1973; William Friedkin), and it works every bit as well.

            The verisimilitude of Cundey’s efforts is plain to see; several veterans of Apollo flights have verified this fact.  But for me, the true beauty comes from the simplicity with which he approached the task.  That’s not as easy to carry out as you might think, but he did it with style and incredibly good taste.