American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1961)

A STUDY IN HORROR FILM PHOTOGRAPHY Continued from Page 613 design because it lent the desired dra¬ matic or pictorial effect. After the rent¬ ed set pieces had been erected, studio technicians filled in the spaces with appropriate construction to unify the whole. The only set in the picture built in the conventional manner was the dungeon set. The spectacular pendulum set occu¬ pied a whole sound stage and stretched from the floor to the rafters. To heigh¬ ten the massive aspect of this set, the camera was mounted on a parallel at the opposite end of the stage and a 40mm Panavision wide-angle lens used. This enabled Crosby to frame the scene in his camera with extra space allowed at the bottom and at either side. These areas were then filled in later by printing-in process extensions of the set, effectively doubling its size on the screen. Other matte shots, following Heller’s original paintings, were used to estab¬ lish exteriors of the castle. Scenes of waves dashing against cliffs were film¬ ed on the Palos Verdes coast southwest of Hollywood. The camera was locked down tightly for steadiness and the cameraman who was to shoot the matte paintings went along to make sure the perspectives would match. Photographically, “The Pit and the Pendulum” is a singular achievement in color mood lighting and the use of the moving camera. To Floyd Crosby, who won an Oscar for his photography of “Tabu” back in 1931, the challenge was one of reaching for top quality un¬ der difficult conditions and on a short shooting schedule. Moreover, the entire picture, with the exception of the short exterior opening sequence, required low-key photography, since everything that took place within the castle was in a somber mood. The first half of the action called for medium low-key, while the final half went to extreme low-key with nothing in between for relief. The climactic action of the story is concerned mostly with one actor wand¬ ering through secret passages and cata¬ combs, lured by the voice of his wife who is supposedly dead. Most of the low-key effect was achieved in the lighting of the set. A reasonable amount of front light had to he used on the actor’s face, although occasion¬ ally it was possible to use just a line light and very little fill. In mediumkey sequences, Crosby said, faces were underexposed two-thirds of a stop and the background about a stop-and-ahalf. For most extreme low-key shots faces were underexposed a stop-and-ahalf. Illumination on the background was lowered to a point somewhere be¬ tween 15 and 20 foot-candles where it would just hardly record on the film. An important decision made prior to shooting was whether or not to use a flicker effect in the many scenes sup¬ posedly illuminated by torch light. Such effects are usually created by placing a fire pan in front of the source light. Crosby knew that if he once introduced the flicker effect he would have to retain it throughout the film. With so very much camera move¬ ment and so little time to shoot, he decided to dispense with the effect rather than run the risk of it being inconsistent. In the intricate follow shots his aim was to keep the source light coming from the direction of the torches. There was a great deal of cam¬ era movement, most of it done with the aid of a large Chapman boom, with the action often continuing through four or five rooms without a cut. This meant that huge areas of the set had to be precisely lighted at one time. “The sets were exceptionally well designed,” Crosby observes, “and lent themselves very well to low-key photog¬ raphy. It still amazes me how much set we were able to get on so low a budget. We had some huge sets and, of course, the bigger the set the more lights that have to be rigged, all of which takes time. Sometimes we would get all set to shoot and then get a bet¬ ter idea. In the ‘pendulum’ sequence, for example, we originally rigged the lights high up on the stage, hut when we were ready to shoot we realized that making the shadow of the pendulum cut across the figures in the back¬ ground would be most effective. We had to stop and re-set the lights at a lower angle so the dramatic shadow would not he lost in the depths of the set. Crosby displayed a bit of camera magic, born of long years of experience^ in shooting the opening exterior pro¬ logue — a sequence set at the seashore supposedly against a glowing sky. The day which the company chose for the location, however, had anything but the right mood — bright and sunny with a beautiful blue sky. By using a at your service ! i reversal printing i i and processing ! 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