American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1952)

Important To Hitchcock To him, the camera is the story teller, the star performer on the set, according to Robert Burks, ASC, who filmed Alfred Hitchcock's "I Confess." By HILDA BLACK more than ordinary importance, too, and is afforded every consideration in the planning and execution of the cam¬ era work. Robert Burks, ASC, who turned in such a magnificent job of black-and-white photography on “Strangers On A Train,” Hitchcock’s previous Warner Brothers production, was again chosen by Hitchcock to take the photographic helm in the production, “I Confess,” Hitchcock’s latest for the same studio. “Hitch knows exactly what he wants,” explains Burks. “There is no hit and miss with him. He makes a sketch con¬ tinuity, story-board fashion, of the en¬ tire picture, and every morning on the set hands his cameraman a small folder with the day’s scenes sketched out. Fre¬ quently, too, he makes a rapid-fire drawing in thirty seconds and asks if a certain scene can be done in that particular way. “But he never nails you down to those sketches. If, after discussion, Hitch finds that we can achieve better results in another way, he has no hesitancy in rewriting the action or dialogue. Unlike many directors who set every scene as for a legitimate stage production and then almost defy you to get a shot, Hitch thinks of the set in relation to the camera.” Because “I Confess” was to be photo¬ graphed in Quebec, in natural locales, long before production started Burks and Hitchcock screened a number of pictures in search of an authentic, real¬ istic style of pictorial interpretation. Documentaries were given particular at¬ tention, as were films photographed al¬ most entirely in actual locations. The study, however, was unproductive; none of the pictures possessed the authenticity and realism he sought — but it shows to what extent Hitchcock will go in order to find an idea, a key to a particular pattern that will make his pictures dra¬ matically different. Hitchcock rejected most of the “lo¬ cation” shots in the films as “phony and artificial.” made so because they were produced in the studio. The contrasts were glaring. “Why?” Hitchcock wanted to know. Breaking it down, Burks came to the conclusion that it is not any one par¬ ticular facet of picture-making that makes one film look real and another artificial. It is a combination, he be¬ lieves, of many things such as lighting, makeup, wardrobe. “In order to get the authentic quality without erring in the other direction and becoming ‘newsreely’ we decided on some drastic changes,” says Burks. “Ours became a struggle, not for per¬ fection in the accepted Hollywood sense, but for realism. “We were well aware that a company on location works under many handi¬ caps — some of them severe. Difficulties that might assume major proportions on a sound stage have to be solved quickly and with a small crew when away from Hollywood. We decided that, since we would have to work under such handi¬ caps on location, we would also impose the same restrictions on ourselves when we returned to the studio. “For one thing, we knew that we would have to contend with ceilings in filming location interiors. There would be no parallels, no lights “up high,” no backlighting. So if we hoped to establish and sustain the stamp of authenticity we would have to keep our lighting uni¬ form, that we would have to hide lights behind chairs or under desks. We there¬ fore decided to use no overhead or backlighting whatsoever, except where they naturally occurred. Throughout the picture, all lighting was from the floor. That, in itself, presented quite a prob¬ lem. It slowed us down for one thing but it did assist in capturing the proper mood. And despite the numerous handi¬ caps, we still brought the picture in under budget.” No attempt was made “to dress” up the sets on these location interiors. Doors and woodwork with shiny sur¬ faces were allowed to remain that way and not dulled down as they would have been ordinarily in an effort to reach a high degree of perfection. With the exception of three interiors, the entire picture was filmed in Quebec. Hitchcock selected this Canadian city (Continued on Page 546) PUBLIC buildings in Quebec furnished many sets that, had they been repro NO OVERHEAD lighting was possible on location interiors, where ceilings duced in the studio, would have exceeded the picture's budget in cost. Here were too low to permit overhead units. Scenes, such as this in the an important scene is being enacted in Ihe House of Parliament. Parish House of St. Severin's, were lit from the floor.