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ebruary, 1952
TALES OF HOFFMAN
35
Fig. I A still from the Prologue, which shows how the effective use of gauze created illusion.
Cellophane cut-outs, painted to resemble chandeliers, were hung against the curtains to increase the effect of light and atmosphere. The main shot was a 360° pan of Hoffman entering the bedroom and walking around the inner circle of the room, which was about 30 feet in diameter. As he walked, the lights and chandeliers were lit, one by one, by means of remote control dimmer shutters. During the lighting of this set the studio roof began to sag, and the lamps from the inner circle of spots had to be moved. The action was finally lit from the floor, and entailed tracking the lamps in and out of the gauze curtains to miss the camera as it panned.
The ballroom set also consisted of yellow gauze. This was hung in three planes against a yellow backing, painted and with the cellophane chandelier effects. This extensive use of gauze proved most interesting as it offered a new field of experiment. Numerous effects and textures are obtainable with the same piece of set by varying the angle of the light from the front to the back.
In one sequence, Olympia and Hoffman are seated on a couch in the yellow ballroom. On the gauze behind them was painted the shape of a harp, the centrepiece of the ballroom set. As Hoffman sang, the camera
tracked back and the background slowly changed. The harp was transformed into a swan and the yellow light dimmed. A lake appeared with a moon shining down on the two artistes. Hoffman reached down to touch Olympia, and in a moment the spell was broken and the scene reverted to the ballroom. This effect again was obtained with gauzes. Immediately behind the couch was a yellow gauze on which was painted the harp design. Ten feet behind this was a black gauze with the outline of a swan painted in white. This was exactly in line with the harp on the front gauze from the position of the cameras. There was also a backing on which was the swan, lake and moon. Again, the swan was aligned with the harp and the white outline of the middle gauze. Each plane was lit independently, and by using remote control dimmer shutters on all lamps the changing effects were controlled to coincide with the music cues on the play-back.
The first change was a slow transition, lasting about thirty seconds. The changeback to the ballroom, when Hoffman touched Olympia, was instantaneous. A certain amount of difficulty was encountered in this type of shot, when the heat generated by the lamps caused the dimmer shutters to stick,