Once again, hats off to principal cinematographer and colleague Cynthia Pushek, ASC.  She did an amazing job on this show and I was privileged to have contributed some additional photography to the effort. This simple bit of business illustrates the solving of a technical problem that really used to bug me as a young cinematographer … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #59 – GOOD GIRLS REVOLT”

            …in which I continue to interpret the great jazz pianist’s rules – for use by cinematographers.             The inside of the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound good.             There are no insignificant shots.  Nothing you do exists in a vacuum.  From the smallest insert to the sweeping vista, … Continue reading “THELONIOUS MONK ON HOW TO PLAY A GIG, PART 4”

The main characters have a night out on the tiles… I was never much of a clubhound while growing up in New York – for starters, I despised disco music – but I passed through enough of them to have developed a sense of what one should feel like.  Loud, crowded, smoky, low-key but vulgar … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #58 – BROOKLYN RULES”

            It must be always night, otherwise they wouldn’t need the lights.             Monk wasn’t talking about the time of day or the stage fixtures.  His reference concerned the shadows of emotion.  Somewhere within each of us lies a darkness.  People came out to hear his music because of the light he provided.  It softened … Continue reading “THELONIOUS MONK ON HOW TO PLAY A GIG, PART 3”

            Night\Exterior in a cemetery.  A bit of trivia: we shot this scene on the evening of Halloween…             Once again, an exercise in less-is-more.  The challenge – as with many Night\ Exteriors – was in lighting broad, open spaces quickly and easily without making them seem like they were lit.  Moments like these make … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #57 – SWAT”

            More guidance from the great jazz pianist that also applies to anyone working on a film set…             Discrimination is important.             Monk isn’t referencing a racial issue, evil as we know that to be.  He’s referring to the exercise of taste.  It’s the deciding factor in any artistic pursuit, the thing that separates … Continue reading “THELONIOUS MONK ON HOW TO PLAY A GIG, PART 2”

            The university dean visits the head cheerleader to hatch a surreptitious plot…             Though Bring It On Again was a light-hearted, slyly humorous film, the visual mandate for this particular scene was spooky, foreboding, vaguely threatening.  It takes place in a deserted gymnasium – clearly, a very large space – so I needed to … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #56 – BRING IT ON AGAIN”

            Who is Thelonious Monk, you might ask?             Just behind my personal favorite – Phineas Newborn, Jr. – he’s the greatest jazz pianist to walk the earth (Art Tatum, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Vince Guaraldi and Dave Brubeck, please forgive me!).             If you’re not familiar, Google him and then…listen.             Monk was an … Continue reading “THELONIOUS MONK ON HOW TO PLAY A GIG, PART 1”

            A late night prison meeting between Tim Olyphant’s Raylan Givens and his old flame Ava Crowder, as played by Joelle Carter…             The directive for the look was off-hours, subdued, low key – the antithesis of the usual fluorescent-lit prison environment.  I chose to use a soft single source for the key with lots … Continue reading “LIGHTING DIAGRAM #55 – JUSTIFIED”

            The amazing low-light sensitivity of modern sensors has led many filmmakers to believe they can shoot with whatever illumination happens to fill the location where a scene is set.             Well, of course they can.  But being able to do something doesn’t necessarily mean it should be done.             An important question must first … Continue reading “STUDENT QUICK-TIP #1”