Cinematography

Stage 32’s founder and CEO, Richard “RB” Botto, shares three videos in today’s blog.

In the first video, actor and filmmaker Peter Billingsley talks about what it was like making A CHRISTMAS STORY and shares behind-the-scenes moments.

The second video digs into the filming process of ELF.

In the th...

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Last night I came out of the cinema buzzing, with thanks to Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn who were of course aided with the screenplay by Peter Stone and the Cinematography of Charles Lang.

The festival is a presentation of the University of the West of England and the audience was pointed towards th...

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Last night I came out of the cinema buzzing, with thanks to Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn who were of course aided with the screenplay by Peter Stone and the Cinematography of Charles Lang.

The festival is a presentation of the University of the West of England and the audience was pointed towards this article in American Cinematographer by Herb A Lightman.

According to the UWE speaker, this film marks the end of innocence in America after the assassination of Jack Kennedy and also one of the last films of the era using the glorious Technicolor. However, Paris in late Autumn/early Winter, has none of the romantic colour we’d expect.

There’s lots to learn for me here as a director, on how to film in urban settings when the season is not attractive to those aforementioned glories of Technicolor and putting that into a contemporary setting…

Lang, in this interview talks about his technique on ‘Charade’; how to light women like Hepburn and ‘older men’ like Grant, gobo arrangements, the cuckoloris(?) and cross-lighting, along with ‘process plates’ (I’m not sure of the method here) and the joys of the crab dolly. It’s a great conversation if you want to learn from a master.

Here’s an excerpt:

The final chase and gunfight sequence among the colonnades of the Palais Royale had a very sinister photographic mood. What lighting approach did you use to achieve this?

I used lots of black shadows created by cross lighting as much as I could and still have the actors look well, the ones who were supposed to look well, that is. Sometimes we cross-lit the background and lit the actors in the front with a softer light so they were attractive. You come to know their best lighting and angles. We try our best all the time, no matter what kind of conditions, to make the players look attractive. When using a harsh cross-light, we’ll shade it a bit where it hits an actor’s face or we’ll shade part of it, eliminating whatever is unattractive, and fix it so that it is attractive. Sometimes, with rugged male stars, we have to switch over and purposely make them look stronger by using what we call a “sculptured” style of lighting.

Enjoy…

https://theasc.com/articles/the-photography-of-charade

Leonardo Ramirez

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3 people like this
7 months ago

Thank you, Neil Watson for spending the time with us. It was an awesome AMA and there were lots of things to learn from it. Looking forward to staying in touch with you. Happy New Year!...

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Maurice Vaughan

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2 people like this
- Mario Leone
- Neil Watson
7 months ago

Thanks again for having the AMA, Neil Watson. I learned a lot. I'm already subscribed to your YouTube channel. I'm gonna check out more of your videos, especially POOL. Have an incredible 2024!...

Ashley Renee Smith

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

Thank you, Neil Watson!

Mario Leone

7 months ago

Missed this one... :-(

E Langley

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2 people like this
- Ryan Christiansen
- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

Don't watch. You'll shoot your eye out!

That scene's so funny, E Langley. Especially when Santa kicks Ralphie down the slide.

For sure, but watch your language... or else.

Happy Holidays to all.

Haha I gotta watch this movie tomorrow, E Langley. Happy Holidays to you and your family!

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2 people like this
- John January Noble
- Geoff Hall
7 months ago

I haven't seen "Charade," Geoff Hall, but the cinematography in it is phenomenal. I noticed that in the video about the witty dialogue. The interviewer asked Charles Lang, "What special lighting probl...

Geoff Hall

Maurice Vaughan ah, I see. Interior locations will have their own lighting sources which may conflict against how the film is being shot and so there may be lots of control issues for existing light a...

Ok, gotcha, Geoff Hall. Thanks for explaining. I thought cinematographers only have problems with lighting when filming outside because of the sun. Inside, the sun isn't an issue.

Mark Giacomin

I was recently involved in a project where basically the challenge was to make a short film within a month based on a theme. It's all about people pooling their time and passion to make it happen, the...

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1 person likes this
- Geoff Hall
8 months ago

I really like "Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One," Geoff Hall. I saw it on streaming. I really like all of the "Mission: Impossible" movies actually. They have some of the best set pieces...

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2 people like this
- Geoff Hall
- Maurice Vaughan
8 months ago

Geoff Hall I think it was on the Script Apart podcast about the first MI film where David Koepp said De Palma had shown an early cut of the film and George Lucas said it was missing the 'spaghetti' sc...

2
2 people like this
- Mark Giacomin
- Maurice Vaughan
8 months ago

Mark Giacomin that’s a great point, Mark. I’ll have to make a note of that ‘spaghetti scene’ for future reference. Thanks for sharing it.

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2 people like this
- Geoff Hall
- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

No probs Geoff Hall, I'm going to use it too. Apparently, the film was going to start during the mission that goes wrong, Lucas said the audience wouldn't know any of the characters so wouldn't care i...

2
2 people like this
- Mark Giacomin
- Maurice Vaughan
7 months ago

Mark Giacomin Lucas is a wise man. Get the audience emotionally involved before you threaten their lives, eh?

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
8 months ago

Yeah, they look super cool!

8 months ago

Vintage look like classic movies?

Xochi Blymyer

It sounds great although I don't know lens, but the idea of it seems really cool.

Stephen Folker

Cool idea. But if you want the vintage lens look, go vintage. It's more than bokeh. It's also the lens coating, etc. I think it's more of a marketing gimmick to charge too much money for a lens.

Gareth Taylor

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2 people like this
- Ashley Renee Smith
- Maurice Vaughan
8 months ago

For years now, Tokina Vista primes have been used as the base for a slew of "customizable" and detuned lenses like the Masterbuilt series used on the Joker. So this is just Tokina expanding, using the...

Great share, J. Austin Gentry! Quentin Tarantino talked about hiring talented artists who understand your (a director's) vision. Things go so much smoother during filming when the people you surround...

Sam Sokolow

Awesome share! Tarantino, like any filmmaker, doesn't;t bat a thousand but he's one of my favorite filmmakers ever and you can feel his entire team pulling in the same direction on everything he does....