Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Jeffrey L. Kimball, a middle-aged photographer with tousled hair, a moustache and large clear plastic glasses, speaks well-organized and logical.

"Anamorphic screen has a unique quality. I'm watching some old movies to learn how to shoot with this format. Can you teach me anything?" Ronald asked him.

"The anamorphic screen has something that audiences call 'cinematic', but that's just a misunderstanding by some filmmakers. The so-called 'cinematic' is actually just some flaws in the anamorphic lens. The optical technology at the time used anamorphic Lenses can cause severe distortion, so directors and DPs often use tricks to mask them to avoid distortion.

Over time, audiences are familiar with and accustomed to blockbusters with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, and they always have some special feeling, so they default to the way commercial blockbusters will be shot, which is the so-called 'movie feel'. "

"Very good, I can understand what you said, but I didn't quite understand what the previous candidates said." Ronald smiled at Kimball. This technologist-type DP candidate seemed to fit him best.

"We'll find a time when you tell me all the taboos of using the anamorphic screen."

"Actually, the lens distortion is much better now. It's just that actors should be careful not to step on the corners of the lens distortion when they enter and exit the frame during scheduling. And when the camera is pushing, pulling, and panning, don't move too fast. On screen shots, the horizontal stretching effect on the actors is more severe, and those actors who are not very thin should not take close-ups of their faces.”

"Okay, we'll talk later." Ronald and Kimball shook hands, sending off the expert who was very willing to share his knowledge.

This spirit of sharing made Ronald feel good in his heart. Kimball's temperament, similar to that of his mentor Walter Murch, has an old-fashioned hippie spirit dominated.

"How's it going?" Bruckheimer, one of the producers, came over and asked Ronald, the director of photography.

"Just him," Ronald nodded, agreeing to choose Kimball as DP. The main reason for choosing this middle-aged man who doesn't have much experience in the cinematography director of photography is for Ronald's sake.

This was Ronald's first 2.35:1 anamorphic film.

Requires an expert DP who is familiar with the situation. Kimball has worked in various positions such as laboratory technician, film editor, still photographer, second group of photography director, etc., and has a clear understanding of the one-stop technology from shooting, printing, and editing to anamorphic widescreen.

As for the artistic grasp, the two producers are very convinced of the texture of Ronald's Saab commercials, and believe that there is no one who is better at shooting fighter jets than him in Hollywood.

The so-called anamorphic screen is a large-scale use of a new technology by Hollywood in the 1950s in order to resist the competition of TV sets. In order to attract the audience to the cinema, Hollywood at that time made 3D movies, but the effect was not good, and the audience did not buy it.

Panavision, on the other hand, has taken a different approach and created a wide screen with an aspect ratio of 2.35 to 1. Obviously, audiences have a better acceptance of this screen spectacle that can be watched without glasses. They were able to see a wider picture on the screen than in old-fashioned movies.

This is higher than the 1.37-to-1 in the golden age of Hollywood, and the 1.85-to-1 used a lot since then, and the audience acceptance is higher. Because the technology is relatively expensive, this mode is generally only used for blockbuster movies.

"Where's Don?" Ronald asked about Bruckheimer, where his partner was going.

"He went to negotiate with Paramount's new CEO. Lord Frank Mancuso didn't trust Ned Tanin's vision very much, so he summoned Tang and asked him to report the progress of the crew."

"Okay then, I'll settle on Kimball. If Don doesn't object, I'll go watch David Lean's movie."

"Or go to Spielberg's?"

"Yes, he has the most complete collection. Steven agreed to lend me his studio screening room."

Spielberg began to take a vacation. He was often busy and rarely had the opportunity to go on vacation abroad with his fiancée.

Ronald approached him for help, and Steven agreed to lend out all of David Lean's movie copies in his own collection.

Spielberg is a fan of David Lean, and David Lean has always shot 2.35 to 1 anamorphic widescreen. Watching the master's creation can let Ronald learn a lot of anamorphic widescreen skills. .

Christopher Columbus waits for Ronald in his studio next to Spielberg's Universal Studios. He'd be in charge of copy security, and cameo projectionist, showing Ronald the movie.

"Are you busy with a new movie again?" Ronald dragged Columbus, who was going to the screening room at the back, and went with him. The two were good friends, and it was not suitable for him to be a projectionist, so they simply went to the projection room to chat and watch.

"Yes, the last film I wrote in Amberlin is already filming." Columbus was delighted by Ronald's friendly gesture and spit a lot of bitterness at Ronald.

After writing the two films, "Gremlins" and "Young Sherlock Holmes," Columbus was not appreciated by Amblin's manager, Kathleen Kennedy, and was assigned to write another film. It's "the goonies" being filmed

This is another child's adventure story. Columbus racked his brains to come up with a lot of bridges that are different from the little monsters, making this movie very interesting.

But he didn't get the chance to direct, and Ambolin also gave him the job of screenwriter. This made Columbus dissatisfied, and it happened that he was unhappy living in Los Angeles, and he thought of returning to his hometown in New York.

"You have to know that Amberlin is a small studio, they can't take the risk, since you have shown a very good talent in screenwriting, their safest way is to let you continue to be a screenwriter. But your talent will be As people see it, I think someone from the seven major studios is already playing on your mind to give you the opportunity to independently direct low-budget films.”

Ronald admired Columbus very much. It is very difficult to write well for children's movies, which may be the reason why Amberlin was reluctant to let him direct.

"Unfortunately, my screenwriters are all children's films. My agent told me that now the seven major Hollywood companies think that children's films are Mr. Spielberg's specialty. Others want to make them, and there is no chance. Besides, I have nothing here. Friends, the parties are loud and noisy, and I want to go back to New York to get a quiet job, plus my wife wants to go back to New York too."

Ronald patted Columbus on the shoulder, and David Lean's masterpiece "Lawrence of Arabia" appeared on the screen.

"Do you like David Lean's movies?" Ronald asked.

"It's okay, Steven likes it very much. He said that this is the movie that gave him the idea of ​​being a director. You should go to the screening hall and watch it. I will sit down later. Steven has upgraded the automatic projector. You can watch it. Go to midfield and change."

"I like it too, but I don't know how to shoot this kind of masterpiece that inserts my own thoughts into the historical story." Ronald began to look at the screen. "Lawrence of Arabia" is a blockbuster parody of classical drama, with a five-minute break in between.

"I borrowed these movies mainly because Lean made a lot of anamorphic movies, so I'll learn it." After the intermission, Ronald chatted with Columbus, who came to the front.

"That's it, I've watched it many times. An Bolin is also the latest 'Seven Treasures', and he just started using the anamorphic widescreen. The previous et, and the little monsters are all 1.85. You see, the framing is actually very interesting, this There are close-ups of three people in a row in the shot."

Columbus pointed to the lens on the screen. Generally, the 1.85 widescreen is full of three close-ups, but the 2.35 anamorphic widescreen has more than one-third blank.

Ronald nodded and wrote down this knowledge. Since the anamorphic widescreen is claimed to be specially developed for the spectacle of the screen, he must remember to give the audience enough spectacles. In the notebook, he drew a few strokes of the second half of a fighter jet, and then drew a much longer flame behind the engine. The composition here can actually open up some patterns.

...

"Actually, I've seen you a long time ago," Kimball followed Ronald to the Navy's Miramar base after he signed the director of photography for "Top Gun" to check out Grumman's cameras on the Tomcat fighter jets. lens.

"Oh, what do you say?" Ronald couldn't remember seeing this before.

"My last job was as a director of photography on The Legend of Billy King, and when you came the other day and scared Christian Slater away, I watched it all from behind the camera."

"Hahaha..." Ronald laughed a little embarrassedly, and Kimball saw his jealous scene.

"Helen is a very suitable girl for filming. Her looks and face shape, even if she is shot with a 2.35 anamorphic lens, does not look big, she is a natural screen beauty."

"Yeah, what do you think of the heroine McGillis' performance in front of the anamorphic camera?" Fortunately, Kimball is a technical maniac, and the conversation always revolves around technology.

"She's very nice, but not all angles are right. Her right face is more suitable for the camera, and the framing is a little sideways, which is also in line with the shooting characteristics of anamorphic lenses. It happened that Tom Cruise's left face was more suitable for the camera, and they both shot Couple scenes are the most appropriate, they won't steal each other's limelight, they'll be harmonious. It would be bad if you found the more photogenic faces of two stars in the same direction."

The two discussed the technical details all the way to the tarmac. There Grumman's engineers were waiting for Ronald to come and check out the refit.

Kimball climbed under the landing gear, carefully inspected the external gondola, and slammed it twice, but the lens of the gondola didn't move at all. He gave Ronald a thumbs up, very nice.

Then he climbed into the cockpit of the plane and sat in the radar officer's seat in the back seat, which is where the actors would stay while filming.

"Ronald, there's a lot of trouble here," Kimball shouted from above.

Ronald slammed into the ladder with Grumman's engineer and asked Kimball in the cockpit, "What's going on?"

"Look," Kimball twisted left and right. "The space in the cockpit is very small, and your camera can't fit here. We may not be able to capture the subjective perspective of the pilot in the air battle you mentioned."

"No, I specially selected Alai's new model camera for modification. Their camera is one size smaller than Panavision's. I tried it." Space, explain to the two. "

"We're using an anamorphic lens," Ronald said with a gloomy face. He didn't have a strong technical background, forgetting the large size of an anamorphic lens.

The negative of the anamorphic widescreen is 35mm normal film color film. In order to produce a 2.35:1 super widescreen effect on the negative, the camera lens is equipped to create a distorted picture.

A normal scene, intentionally distorted by an anamorphic lens, is stored on film at a 35mm aspect ratio. When it was shown in the cinema, a restoring anamorphic lens was added in front of the projector to restore the distorted picture to a normal ratio of 2.35:1.

Therefore, the anamorphic lenses are all aspherical lens groups, and the volume is much larger than that of the normal 1.85 wide-screen spherical lenses, which cannot be placed in the cockpit.

"What should I do? Why don't you use a normal lens to shoot this aerial combat lens, and then zoom in to 2.35 when printing?" The engineer came up with an idea.

"That won't work. The distortion of the anamorphic lens is very unique, and his focus is also different from the normal spherical lens. The audience can see the difference between the two at a glance. Here is a play." Ronald shot on the cockpit chair. .

The engineers just adapted Ronald's ideas, and the DP is the one who understands photography the most at the overall level.

Ronald looked at Kimball. There might be a solution if he had been brought in earlier, and the technical aspects of photography had been taken care of in the preparatory stage.

"I have a way, there's a new technology called the Super 35 that can use a spherical lens, on 35mm film, to shoot a shot that stores the 2.35 aspect ratio."

"Isn't that possible?" Ronald looked at Kimball. "35mm film has a synchronized audio track next to it, and the width that can really be used to store images is narrower than that of film, and it can't fit a 2.35 frame unless you……"

"Yes, unless the audio track is removed. This is the method used by the Super 35. You first use the small spherical lens of the Super 35 to shoot this set of subjective shots of the pilot. When we are printing in the later stage, we can also pass the optics. The method of blowing, with an optical printer with an anamorphic lens, was developed onto 35 film with soundtrack."

"Really?" Ronald was overjoyed, it would be good to have a technical expert, "You take me to see, we will experiment once."