American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1949)

8 by io negatives for the backings. From these he made 15 by 20 foot photo enlargements on sheets of durable, seamless translucent material, a product of his own secret process, delivering them to the studio in advance of starting date of the picture. Thereafter began a series of tests and experiments which culminated in the development of a lighting method for the backings that is destined to become standard practice throughout the industry. Previously, where these backings have been used, they have been illuminated from the rear by various methods. At some studios this has been done by reflected light while at others spots or floods were used. At first we tried lighting them with as many as fifteen Duarcs. One of the things we discovered early was that these back¬ ings, in addition to being superior to the old opaque type, also afforded the director of photography opportunity to extend the scope of his compositional lighting to the backings themselves — providing the proper lighting could be developed. What we needed was a source of illumination that could be varied over the entire area of the backing — made “hot” at one point and subdued at another, and be flexible enough so it could produce the right kind of illumination for both daytime and night effects, using the same source. Here my gaffer Vic Jones put his inventive abilities to work in solving the problem. He saw there were two requisites for a suitable lighting source: it must be economical compared to other lighting methods that have been tried, and it must afford selective illumination control over the entire backing area. What Jones developed was a huge mobile framework in¬ corporating seventy individual light units. It can be moved close to the backing to throw controlled illumination from the rear. I have emphasized the word controlled because the method is the only one that will give selective control of light intensity for any section of the backing area. The two photos on this page show the illuminating frame and its relation to the backing. The wooden framework is 20 by 20 feet in size and is fitted with fourteen parallel ribs or tiers, each carrying five R-2 photofloods in fixed sockets. Each tier is mounted so it may be pivoted to swing the lamps up or down, as desired. In addition, the wiring of each tier is independent of the others, leading to dimmer-bank controls. Thus, by means of dimming and by pivoting the lamps so as to concentrate the directional beams of light as desired, or by “killing” certain lamps in the assembly, lighting of the entire backing may be carefully controlled. One corner of the backing or a spot in the center, for example, may be made brighter than the rest, or certain areas or details may be emphasized or sub¬ dued by the selective lighting control this method affords. With this lighting method we were able to enhance the startling realistic detail of the backings, especially when the set was lit for a dusk or night shot. The photo on opposite page shows one of the major backings used in the picture. This backing reproduces in infinte detail the across-the-street scene as viewed from the veranda of the home in which much of the story action takes place. In using it for a dusk shot, we sub¬ dued illumination at the top and toned down the foreground. For the full night effect, the backing was completely masked at the rear except for openings for windows, and illuminated from the front. Through selective lighting control, we were able to vary the intensity of light in the windows of different parts of the house, thus lending further authenticity to the scene. An important development of this new lighting system is the method Jones devised for charting the lighting used with the backings in each scene, so that in event retakes were neces¬ sary, we would be able to match the lighting exactly. The charts showed the complete frame and each lamp thereon. "File units that were extinguished, dimmed or altered in any way (Continued on Page giy) STANDING beside the unique lighting unit, which he designed espe¬ cially for use with M. B. Paul photo backings, is Vic Jones of Samuel Goldwyn Studio. Framework consists of 14 pivoting tiers of five lights each. Each tier is controlled through dimmer bank, permitting selective intensity of lighting for any given area of the backing. AUTHOR Lee Garmes, A.S.C., who photographed "With All My Love," and Jones discuss light-meter readings made of the backing. This step precedes adjustment of the voltage or angle of various lamps in the frame to obtain the desired lighting pattern. November, 1949 • American Cinematographer • 399