LIGHTING DIAGRAM #29 – THE MONEY PIT

            The simplest of day\exteriors…  Tom Hanks is about to set off a chain of events that will wreck the backyard landscaping of his dream home.  Find it at the 00:34:14 mark on the DVD…

            This approach was similar to most every day\exterior situation we encountered on the job.  Willis used the 6K HMI to create the slightest touch of back light.  Foreground fill came from a 9-light fay light shot through a layer of spun glass diffusion.  This lamp is a tungsten unit; dichroic filters were placed over each globe so as to bring the color temperature up to daylight balance.

            The spun glass diffusion was a rarity in Willis’ repertoire, at least during the time I worked for him.  It has long since been outlawed due to the unhealthy nature of its core material – fiberglass.  This was the last time I recall seeing it used on set.

An interesting side note: After Hanks carves his and his wife’s initials into a newly planted tree, a row of them were supposed to shake and go crashing to the ground.  That part was to be realized through a mechanical effect engineered by a highly touted team of specialists from the West Coast.  That they couldn’t get it right over the course of several days was a source of ever-rising frustration to Willis, and believe me – he let them know about it.  For a full week we returned at the same time each day so as to match the lighting.  And each day…the effect didn’t work!  The version that made it to the final cut of the film was highly truncated as compared to the original concept – and not nearly as funny.

2.12.2021

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