AIC, 1988 - AIC Associazione Italiana Autori della Fotografia ...

AIC
(diretto da B. Bertolucci),
modificammo ancora la nostra
"unità mobile", rendendo i
dimmer completamente
autonomi, dato che i luoghi dove
si sarebbe dovuto filmare erano
spesso inaccessibili o per lo meno
inagibili a qualsiasi mezzo
motorizzato. Basti pensare alle
scene della Città Proibita, una
sorta di labirinto con moltissime
porte e una miriade di viuzze che
sfociano in giardini.
Applicammo ai "rack"
preesistenti tutta la
strumentazione di controllo e di
taratura per renderli così
indipendenti daH'"unità'
mobile".
Dopo questa "avventura cinese"
ci sono state due esperienze
molto interessanti, con
"Tucker" e "New York Stories"
diretti da F. Coppola, sia dal
punto di vista tecnico, per le
incompatibilità elettroniche fra
consolle italiane e dimmer
americani, sia dal punto di vista
professionale, per aver potuto
confrontare due aspetti diversi di
questa grande industria, il
cinema italiano e quello
americano.
Dopo tanta preparazione
"tecnologica", mi sono trovato a
dover affrontare un linguaggio
totalmente diverso da quello che
riguarda "formule e componenti
elettronici", come avviene in un
mondo fatto di cultura dove
normalmente attinge un autore
della fotografia per illuminare il
suo film.
Per questo motivo oggi il mio
sforzo principale sta nel
comprendere cosa intende
esprimere l'autore, mettendomi
il più possibile in sintonia col suo
stile figurativo relato a quello
specifico film. Tentare cioè di
tradurre il linguaggio artistico in
termini tecnici il più fedelmente
possibile, allo scopo di meglio
portare sullo schermo con le
immagini la storia del film.
Through the artistic needs of
Photographic Authors like Vittorio
Storaro, with whom 1 have worked on
many films, 1 have arrived at the point
of being able to manipulate the kind of
light that one might term Live, of
having total control of a set and being
able to "mould" it with that same light
in an extremely versatile way.
Thus, a completely new way of lighting
a film set has been developed, a new
criterion has been established, and a
new profession bom: the Electronic
Desk Operator.
My "voyage" in this world of hands
moving levers on an Electronic Desk,
the piece of equipment used to "mix"
the light, began about five years ago
with the film "luidyhawke", directed
by R. Donner. And it was during that
first experience, that I felt an
immediate need to increase my
knowledge of the technical aspect of
the profession in order to be able to
rapidly solve any crisis that might
unexpectedly arise: in short, I wanted
to live up to this wonderful piece of
equipment. The Electronic Desk, itself,
is the brain of the lighting system and
functions on a very simple principle.
It resembles a sound mixer and, in fact,
works in a very similar way. Just as the
sound operator mixes and regulates the
sound, so the Electronic Desk operator,
under the Photographic Author's
guidance, mixes and regulates the
Light for each set.
The Electronic Desk does not regulate
the light sources directly, but send
different "information" at alow
voltage through the cables to the
"dimmers".
The "dimmer" is a type of "energy"
mixer.
An Electronic Desk is a "must" in the
theatre and television where it is
impossible to change the position of
the lighting during a show and is,
therefore, necessary to prepare the
entire lighting plan beforehand in order
to be able to create any combination of
light necessary for any scene.
We have now given the cinema the
possibility of not only planning the
different lighting for each scene, but
also regulating that same lighting
during a take. In this way, we can keep
a constant check on the lighting,
leaving nothing to chance, and we can
also correct the intensities while
shooting is in progress without the
film-goer noticing the difference,
unless, of course, it is intentional.
The Video Control is essential in
making these corrections, and the
filmed images are transmitted to its
screen by a telecamera connected to
the movie camera. This way one can
keep a constant check on the screen,
and act according to the information
received.
The first time 1 found myself in front of
a "dimmer" unit was in the studios.
The equipment, however, was not
suitable for our needs, as it was more
like a big "cupboard" than anything
else, with a bunch of power cables
coming out of the top, which then ran
horizontally along the wall until they
reached the highest part of the stage
where the "spots" were to be
positioned.
So, the first thing we had to do was
design and build a series of small
"cupboards", in such a way that the
instruments would be protected and
could stand up to anything that might
be demanded of them. At the same
time, they had to be easily
transportable, for use not only in the
studios, but also on location — where,
in fact, they had never been used
before.
Naturally, this new lighting system
also changed our way of working: first,
in the practical sense, in that we had
to switch over to generators that
worked on an alternating current,
"spots" and cables had to be connected
differently, and we had to design the
casing for the instruments; we also had
to change our method of "planning"
the lighting, actually drawing plans of
the various sets and marking the
positions of all the "spots" on them,
according to where the Photographic
Author wanted them placed. After
this, we would number the light
sources, either singly or in groups,
gradually numbering all the spots that
would be used for lighting the different
sets.
Working with a plan like this, the
Photographic Author is able to
"direct" and regulate the light, simply
by communicating with the Electronic
Desk operator via radio.
All the lighting plans for the different
locations, complete with the positions
of the lights, the different intensities
and the various pieces of lighting
equipment used for each scene, are
assembled in a file, both for the
production company's use (in case any
scenes have to be re-shot), and also to
have the information on record, should
we want to refer to it.
The Electronic Desk is very safe to
operate, and the saving of electricity
and materials is also considerable.
Once the various intensities of light
have been set, they can be dimmed
right down by lowering a single lever,
keeping all the bulbs on a minimal
voltage so that they therefore consume
the minimum amount of electricity.
This also results in a saving on the
gels, less fuel being consumed by the
generators etc. The light is, in fact,
brought up to the pre-set intensities,
only when the magical word: "Motor!"
is called out.
Each film we embark on results, either
far technical or artistic reasons, in our
seeking new solutions, or effecting
modifications that will enable us to
work more swiftly, and also improve
the quality of the photography.
While working cm "Peter the Great"
(directed by L, Schiller and M.
Chomsky) we were obliged, because of
all the travelling around we had to do
and the temperatures of 30° C below
freezing in Russia, to find ways of
making our lighting system more
practical, more mobile, and more safe.
We began'by housing all the
"dimmers" in a small van which we
"put together" while we were actually
shooting in Austria. More than
anything else, we were worried about
how the "dimmers" and Electronic
desk would react to the extreme cold
(never before had they had to function
under such conditions!); however, in
the end, it was much more of a
problem to roll up a cable (which was
about as easy as rolling up a poker)
than to operate our equipment, even in
those arctic conditions!
It was after this experience, that we
began to experiment with an actual
"dimmer minibus" — which was more
like a mobile cabin from which the
lighting could be directed — which
would be built to function under any
conditions. To put it simply, the space
inside the "minibus" was divided into
two areas: one in which the "dimmers"
were housed, along with the
transmission panels for each of the
single channels; and the other which
housed the Electronic Desk itself and
the instruments used for setting and
regulating the intensities for each
channel, as we were not only using
220 V bulbs, but also P38s which
required a maximum tension of 180 V.
Our "dimmer minibus" had its first
test run on the film, "Ishtar" (directed
by E. May), which was shot in
Marocco. In spite of the suffocating
heat and the sand that blew in
everywhere, our new and dearly
beloved Electronic desk, with its array
of "amateur" inventions, came through
the heat test, as well as she had come
through the freezing cold!
When we worked on: "The Last
Emperor" (directed by B. Bertolucci)
we had to further modify our "mobile
unit", and render the "dimmers"
autonomous, as the shooting locations
either made manoeuvring very difficult
for the "minibus" or were completely
inaccessible. One only has to think of
the scenes in the Forbidden City: a
species of labyrinth with innumerable
gates, and countless paths that finished
in gardens. We fitted all the
instruments used for setting and
regulating the intensities onto the
existing racks, thus rendering them
independent of the "mobile unit".
After our Chinese adventure, we
worked on "Tucker" and "New York
Stories" (directed by F. Coppola),
which were very intersting experiences
both from a technical point of view, in
that we had to resolve problems arising
from the incompatibility between the
Italian Electronic Desk and the
American dimmers; and from a
professional point of view, in that one
had the opportunity to compare two
giants of the film industry: the Italian
and American Cinema.
After all my "technological"
preparation, 1 had found myself having
to deal with a totally different
language from that of "electronic
formulae and components", and learn
the one spoken in the world of culture
into which a Photographic Author
delves when creating the lighting /or a
film.
For this reason, the one thing I now try
to do more than anything, is to
understand exactly what the
Photographic Author wishes to express,
and tune in to his particular figurative
style as related to the film on which we
are working. I try, that is, to translate
what he wants to express artistically
into technical terms while remaining ®
faithful as possible to the original, so
that the images might tell the story of
the film in the most effective way.