Society of Operators “The Collaborators” by Michael Frediani, SOC

From the Spring/Summer 1996 issue of: The Operating Cameraman Magazine

It has been said that the working relationship between a cinematographer and a director is akin to that of a married couple living in a house together while it is being remodeled. Within that creative and energized process what may emerge is a beautiful vision or a critical endeavor that leads to a tarnished relationship fraught with misgivings.

This human bond that exists between a cinematographer and a director was the subject of a seminar presented by the International Photographers Guild and the Directors Guild of America entitled "P.O.V.: Directors & Cinematographers; Discussions for Creative Collaborations."

The auditorium at DGA headquarters was filled to capacity with both DGA & Local 659 (now Local 600) members wishing to widen their respective horizons. The assembled panel consisted of accomplished cinematographers William Fraker ASC ("Rosemary's Baby," "Father of the Bride II"), Woody Omens ASC ("Harlem Nights," "Coming to America"), John Bailey ASC ("Nobody's Fool," "In the Line of Fire") and director Alexander Singer ("Glass Houses," "Star Trek Voyager"). The panel was moderated by director/cinematographer Bradford May ("Darkman II," "Madonna: Innocence Lost") who stated in his opening remarks: "The ability of the director and cinematographer to be able to see eye to eye on all issues would be the ultimate collaboration."

While such collaboration is not always a reality on the set, a thorough understanding of each other's needs is key to a successful relationship. This understanding may begin during the interview process and according to the panel, that can be one of the biggest hurdles to jump.

"I don't believe in personality interviews; I must read the script first," states Woody Omens. "I let the director know that I am a ready collaborator and explain what I am able to supply to the project. I don't go overboard by saying too much because that can make a director uncomfortable.

1 "It's a very delicate line—you don't want to steer the ship, you're more of a co-pilot. Having an open conversation with the director, being able to share openly and freely in the beginning," says Omens, "is the most important aspect of the initial interview.

"If we can't begin a dialogue that's open, how can we last under the pressure of time and money on the set."

According to Fraker, the director of goes into an interview with a common denominator, the script. "After you have read the script and you like it you must bring forth a lot of enthusiasm. Basically that's what they want to hear and see; how interested you are in the project. Then you can discuss the points that you relate to or don't relate to. It's a starting ground."

A DIRECTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

From a director's perspective Alexander Singer is most concerned with how much of a total filmmaker the cinematographer may be.

"Response to a script is a very real index in choosing a director of photography; however the game is not a simple one to play and some are better at it than others. It is not your index as a director of photography or a director that you handle that situation well; it's more complex than a simple interview. As a director you are measuring a response to intelligence in filmmaking; what works, what doesn't and where problems may arise. First instincts are very important and so is chemistry."

As Singer explains, these initial instincts carry on into the project. "On a crew that literally rubs up against each other for unbelievable hours, under great tension, sharing and not sharing ideas, we can make mistakes...we misread each other. So what we learn in the interview process is that we are all performers and it is sometimes hard to separate your performance from your real feelings."

Relating to what Omens stated earlier about not saying too much Singer notes, "If during an interview a cinematographer feels that a certain scene might have a weakness where the actors just sit and chat for 12 pages...well that just might be the director's favorite scene. So it is best to tread cautiously on that ground."

2 John Bailey feels that there is also a flip side. "It really is a two-way street and I don't mean any hubris by this, but a cinematographer with a body of work to his or her credit coupled with the change of balance that has happened with so many new directors on the scene...well I am equally interested in trying to analyze and understand the director, as he is me, in the presentation of my interest and enthusiasm for the job."

THE INTERVIEW

Bailey states that over the years he has had two qualitatively different kinds of initial meetings with directors: Those who have written the script vs. those who haven't.

"The two most important relationships that I've had as a cinematographer were those with writer/directors Paul Schrader ("American Gigolo") and Lawrence Kasdan ("The Big Chill" and "Silverado"). I've found that in my initial meetings with these directors, who by virtue have lived with the material, the interviews were fraught with specific ideas and reference points and not just visually, but for character, the narrative line and its relationship to the photography."

On the other side of the interview process Bailey says, "A director who may have come onto a project not much earlier than me, may be involved in substantial 11th hour rewrites and in many of those cases may have his or her back against the wall and so there is a high level of anxiety and frustration. That kind of initial meeting would be more exploratory--you would take a different tack because the material is not locked down yet."

Woody Omens feels that most directors are looking for a cinematographer who can be flexible and adaptable. He hopes that directors will look for one thing in a cinematographer's work: Versatility. "If I were a director I would want to see how different his pictures are and most importantly, how appropriate the cinematography is to the given subject."

Brad May feels that, "In the 1990's we're looking at a business that is changing and it is all being run by numbers today. With us as the creative force it is getting very difficult to be able to get what we need when the producers want to do the shows cheaper. The networks are unfortunately still giving $2.5 million for a movie of the week and independent producers in an effort to make them for the buck are trying to break the unions. They want to hire what I call '$100 a day longhairs' to be

3 assistant cameramen who will drive the truck, double as the first aid man and make coffee in the morning."

Bill Fraker opines that another problem exists where there is "an undercurrent in Hollywood that 'they,' whoever 'they' are, have taken the position to pigeon-hole cinematographers; if you do episodic television you do episodic television and if you do movies of the week you do movies of the week. It seems as if they need some sort of work pool to draw from. I have to fight, to fight to do television or a pilot. The networks won't let me do it," Fraker bemuses. "Too old, too slow, too this, too that...an entourage. So they say to you, stay where you are!"

CHEMISTRY AND EGO

In the book "Film Lighting" by Kris Malkiewicz, the author talks with noted cinematographers Conrad Hall ASC, Allen Daviau ASC, Haskell Wexler ASC, and director Robert Wise about the director and cinematographer relationship.

Conrad Hall ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") advises that "the one important ingredient to the filming chemistry by which a project will succeed or fail is chemistry and the handling of ego. When ego gets involved it destroys.

"Now that doesn't mean you do not have an ego. And it doesn't mean that your ego is not manifesting your artistic decisions; but like being in the army there is definitely a law of involvement that should be respected.

"The director should direct, the cameraman should shoot and the art director should 'art direct.' As soon as we start introducing our egos to take over jobs from one another, we malign the chemistry from which films are made."

Relating a story about his working as a new cinematographer on a Richard Brooks film he was asked by the director if he would ever like to direct and Hall answered, "Well, I think so, but I'm not sure yet, I will see."

And to that Brooks responded, "Everybody should direct a film. You probably want to direct one, but direct your own damn film, don't direct mine!" Hall says, "I respect that attitude and I want it respected when I'm directing. I am an aide to that man. I am not somebody who is trying to take anything away from him."

4 Robert Wise ("West Side Story") when interviewing a cinematographer, requests his input, without much guiding as to the texture and quality that the picture requires. Wise sometimes refers to sequences of other films he likes or in some cases to certain painters. On "Mademoiselle Fifi" they turned to Daumier and his caricatures, not only for the cinematographic look but for wardrobe and props.

When Allen Daviau ("E.T.," "Avalon," "Congo") first reads a script he does so strictly as a film viewer and tries to be as open as possible: How would he enjoy seeing the film and having his name connected to it? The second time through, reading it as a cinematographer he asks himself, what are the problems and the challenges? Does it offer things that he hasn't done before or something he has done before and maybe can do better this time?

PRE-PRODUCTION

Once the decision has been made to hire a certain cinematographer the all important task of pre-production lies ahead. In many cases the art director has been hired earlier on by the producer and in some instances, crucial decisions have already been made which will affect the lighting design. How a set is built, its scale, design, , the positioning of doors, backings and most importantly the windows are of utmost significance to a successful lighting concept.

According to Haskell Wexler ("Bound for Glory," "Rolling Stones IMAX"), "Any work which the cameraman can do with the art director is money in the bank, because basically an art director is giving you what you will ." Conrad Hall agrees but adds, "There are many producers who try to keep the two of you separated, for financial reasons they say. What a mistake! We should be the closest of collaborators."

With this very thing in mind, Woody Omens has devised a plan that seems to bridge the gap that exists between the hiring of the art director and the hiring of the cinematographer. He terms it non-consecutive prep days.

When possible he makes an agreement with the producer to join the prep earlier than is usual, at a special reduced pre-production rate. Because the project means so much to him he wants to become involved with the look of the film as soon as possible.

5 Omens believes there is some room for give and take on this concept but that directors should insist that a cinematographer is hired on earlier. "Producers will find that there won't be the kind of antagonism that sometimes exists with the production designer and you'll be able to shoot faster." And, adds Omens, "The project will look better ultimately."

THE LOOK

The look of a project can come from the script pages, the imagination of the creative people attached to the project and the locations themselves. For ideas to come from the imagination there must first be a wellspring that produces a flow of consciousness that only then can be interpreted by the camera.

On this, the panel agreed that art generates an ultimate source of inspiration. John Bailey speaks of a time when he had the fortune to visit the museums of Venice, Italy with one of his mentors, the famous contemporary cinematographer Vittorio Storaro ("Apocalypse Now," "The Last Emperor").

"Vittorio took me to a place that was the most important to his entire development. We went to a small church off the Piazza San Marco and inside there was a painting cycle on the lower level, very small and intimate. It was the narrative story of St. George and the Dragon painted by Vittore Carpaccio and it was very dimly illuminated. Ever since Storaro first saw that as a student it has been a constant touchstone for him."

He told Bailey that most of the ideas that he had for the film "The Conformist" came out of that painting cycle. Bailey continues, "Now you'd look at that and its 15th century Venetian art and wonder what does that have to do with 1930s fascist Italy? But for him it did. And I think that wherever I am, the things that I read whether it is literature or art, paintings or photography, all of that somehow starts to condense into a critical mass. At that point somehow or another, as soon as I become involved with a project there seems to be something brewing inside of me that usually gets infused into that process with the production designer and the director. In a way," concludes Bailey, "pre-production is always going on."

Director Singer relates a pre-production story whereby he and his art director on the series "Ghost Story" set out to scout a building facade at

6 the Columbia Ranch. The chosen site had to convey from the outside the ghosts, ghouls and horrors contained within. So when they came upon the only facade available to use the two of them stood there for a long while, just contemplating.

"Albright did a painting called 'That Which I Should Have Done And Did Not Do,'" recounted Singer. "It's the painting of a door and it has a funeral wreath on it and the door is painted in the colors of a human bruise, greenish-purple."

As Singer related his ideas in great detail for the facade to the art director, he noticed that the man had tears welling up in his eyes. When asked why he was overtaken with emotion the art director replied that this was the first time that a director had ever given him what he really asked for. And so says Singer, "I must ask all of you, cinematographers and directors alike, to expand your horizons throughout the whole range of art."

Cinematographer John Hora, ASC at a lighting workshop that was sponsored by "International Photographer Magazine" stated that in addition to visiting museums there are other sights that have expanded his horizons.

When he was asked to photograph a segment of "Twilight Zone--The Movie" he had to help devise a setting where a strange little boy brings adults back to his weird and mystic house. For this Hora related back to a visit he once paid to the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.

The multiple and twisting staircases, unbalanced scale and architecture inspired him in conceiving the look of the interior. In this example the visual component is the story.

John Bailey in directing the film noir "China Moon" chose colors from a number of Francis Bacon paintings that he viewed at the L.A. County Museum of Art. Those colors were used as a basis for a set where a murder occurs. Although there was no direct reference made to the art, the feelings derived there were used to convey texture and feeling.

SCOUTING LOCATIONS

The choice of locations can also set the tone of a project and must be considered crucial to the story, as the locations are the reality that you

7 must deal with. When John Bailey was scouting locations with John Schlesinger he noted that the director would stand on a proposed location site and read the script aloud there in order to judge whether or not it served the story. From a cinematographer's standpoint, natural light and its various directions during the course of a day is paramount in telling a story visually. When scouting locations director of photography Julio Macat ("Home Alone," "Miracle on 34th Street") feels that you must be sensitive to the natural location and suggests taking a still camera along without lights or a while scouting. In this way he feels there will exist a reference as to the original look of the location.

THE SCRIPT

"In pre-production there are many stages that unlock what the look of the picture will be," relates Bailey. "The script is the bible and the more that you read it the more you'll find that the clues to it are already in there. You must read all of the interlinear stuff over and over and over again and even if the details that suggest the montage, the building of the shots and suggestions of the image size are not in there broken down in a shot by shot listing you must read and study it and then the ideas will start coming to you." In doing this Bailey may find in the text ideas there that may not be apparent even to the writer. Once after viewing dailies, Bailey was approached by the screenwriter who asked him where a particular shot had come from and Bailey replied, "It was right there-- well, it was sort of right there." He concludes wryly, "It's amazing how those things can happen."

Keeping a crew informed by allowing and encouraging everybody to read the script is an important factor in creating a successful film or television project. "The script is the game plan," says Woody Omens "and should be shared. As Ingmar Bergman once said, 'In my country we make a film with 30 friends and in your country you make a film with 60 enemies.' Well, why does it have to be that way?" wonders Omens. "We have all worked with actors who love the camera crew, loved the whole crew and we become one family. But what I see a lot of and what I despise is a 'them vs. us' attitude, and that includes production also. I think that the director and cinematographer must get with production and let them in on the game plan so that they know you are spending the dollars wisely. Then they won't shoot the budget, they'll shoot the script that you defined is the one worth shooting."

8 WORKING WITH THE CAMERA OPERATOR

A question arose from one of the many directors in the auditorium concerning the apparent lack of communication between the director, cinematographer and the camera operator. She felt that the operator is sometimes treated as a second class citizen and is left out of the equation in terms of defining the look of a scene's elements. Regarding focus and decisions as important as the lighting is to a director, she feels that Hollywood is particularly guilty in this regard. She went on to state that the camera operator is the director's and cinematographer's eyes, so great trust is placed in that person.

At a seminar held at DGA headquarters entitled 'Painting With Light; The Art of Cinematography Demystified,' this topic was addressed briefly by cinematographers John Alonzo, ASC ("Chinatown") and Reynaldo Villalobos ("Urban Cowboy"). Although both men feel that they work with very good operators, they are occasionally confronted with a director who asks that the cameraman operate the camera on certain sequences in a film. To this Alonzo adds, "Sometimes a director feels that the cameraman understands the scene better than the operator. Also a cameraman can get away with a little more sometimes in reaching for 'cutaways' which an operator might get into trouble going for."

Woody Omens feels that this is a very sensitive issue. "First of all I believe in the camera operator position and I don't feel that it should be eliminated because I can argue in dollars and cents in addition to artistic reasons that it pays and it is faster for production. Artistically speaking, if you have an excellent operator the cinematographer can address himself to the actors and lighting completely. I don't need to be on the camera all of the time. I like to watch the rehearsal, select a lens with the director and then 'forget' the camera because the image is in my head. I find that I don't have to work out a shot unless it is particularly problematic. I'm into doing what I can for the actors." For this to work, Omens includes the operator in as much of the discussion with the director as possible. "When you're talking to me you're talking to both of us. There is no separation."

Singer feels that the variations and possibilities of things going wrong, of miscommunication and of conflict between the camera operator and the director of photography are very real concerns to a director. Yet it must be realized says Singer.

9 "The role of the camera operator is a very complex one requiring him or her to make decisions that no one else can make. Besides framing, the operator is making decisions as to how things work within the frame. If you calculated the number of elements in a fairly complex shot that an operator has to evaluate, well there is no combination of supercomputers around that can do it."

Not only involved in the physical elements within the frame, "the operator must also be cognizant of the psychological elements of everybody on the crew as well as the front office," states Singer. "He's fighting time and judgment after completing a shot while deciding whether the shot had worked or not."

Omens agrees and illuminates his point by saying, "That line, 'I need another' isn't even challenged. An operator has a gift which I call 'instant replay' that is very important. Three seconds after the director says 'cut' the operator must think and so you give him his space and he may respond, 'Yes, I think it's OK.' and the director says, 'Yes, it's good, but what did you mean by OK?'

"At that point the operator goes back, recalling the elements of the scene and says, 'Well at the point where she stands up, I clipped her a little bit, but not into her eyes.' The director will consider this and may say, 'We'll live with it, it's OK, let's move on.' If there are no secrets kept there will be no surprises in dailies; but directors and cinematographers must invite open discussion."

These elements in addition to the matter of head room, lead room, what is included in the background, as well as reaching for light sources in the frame must all be discussed freely in advance, feels Omens.

PREPAREDNESS

Relating to the question of a camera crew not always divulging technical specifics to a director as to why a shot was unsuccessful and is needed again, or in a case where a novice director does not comprehend certain vagaries of a shot, Singer replies, "This is the price that you pay for inexperience. As a director you had better know enough to make a critical judgment. All of us have been inexperienced at one point. Photography isn't quantum mechanics that you have to learn in order to understand the basics. Directors who don't have the pervasive knowledge of picture making and what cinematographers do are really ill-equipped. As more

10 inexperienced directors join our business there will be an increasing demand to be well-prepared."

Collaboration in sync with preparedness can evolve into a causality creating the ultimate desire on film. "Organic unity," states Storaro, "is the symbiotic relationship between the light, the movement in the shot and the constantly shifting composition." Bailey adds, "If you look at Vittorio's work you will see the integration there. If you think of the camera operating and the lighting as separate entities that aren't fused spiritually then there is no way that you can achieve aesthetic unity. If the camera operator understands the material and has an emotional connection to it you are going to get a magical seamless flow in the camerawork." Singer concurs. "An operator in this instance can protect both the cameraman and the director because he will see elements that are important to the story."

THE CINEMATOGRAPHER AS DIRECTOR

Bill Fraker tells of his experience of crossing the line from cinematographer to director on the film Monte Walsh. "As the director I could choose my cameraman for the film, so I naturally looked toward someone that I knew and respected. So I chose my camera operator David Walsh and he accepted the job. During the first 2-3 weeks I found myself staying on the set all of the time where everybody was involved; grips, electricians, camera crew, etc. Well, after about 3 weeks I found that David had stopped talking to me...and I didn't realize it right away but the relationship that we had built up was slowly disappearing. So I asked David to join me for a drink after wrap one night and I asked him what the problem was? And he said to me, 'Bill, you're hanging around the camera too much.' Well I began to think about it and I realized that the camera had become my security blanket; as long as I could touch it or lean on it or see it peripherally I was very secure in what I was doing. So finally I learned to say 'O.K. David, I'll give you the set-up and I'm walking away,' and it worked out very well."

"Dealing with the actors and the story are the things that we as directors sometimes avoid," says Singer. "So we'll fool around with the picture and hang around the camera because it's so comfortable, so right. We realize that there are those people out in their motorhomes and they're in trouble or they think they're in trouble or I'm in trouble -- and that part for most of us, is the unknown and most intractable of problems."

11 HOW LONG WILL THIS TAKE TO LIGHT?

The equation of money added to the lack of sufficient time to do the job equals pressure on the set. Time is a precious commodity throughout all aspects of a production. Writer-director Daniel Petrie, Jr. raised that all encompassing question to the panel. After a rehearsal, having given the set over to the director of photography, the director receives a response as to how long it will take to light the scene; and the accuracy of this response is of utmost importance to the director, says Petrie. "Where I've died on sets is when the DP says it'll be 20 minutes and it's 40 minutes; or he says it'll be an hour and it's only 30 minutes. The problem is, I get my actors geared up and they're getting to an emotional place in preparing for the scene then they just can't because the lighting isn't ready yet--or the actors aren't ready because the lighting is early this time." In his frustration the director asks, "How can you judge your day knowing that you're going to have to either give up something or have unexpected extra time?"

Omens replies that sometimes a cinematographer does not really know the answer to the question of time. "But I've got a system in which I'll say to the director, 'If you'll just give me 10 minutes I will give you a more accurate estimate than if you ask me right now because I'll budget long if you ask me now, to cover myself.' I'm not just estimating camera readiness, focus marks, dolly moves, and lighting. Any good cinematographer does not leave his brothers and sisters in sound, make up and wardrobe hanging out to dry. Part of my estimate is that of the entire family's readiness."

"There is a dual responsibility here," according to Bailey. "Unfortunately I've walked onto a set in the morning and encountered a director who has no idea of what he wants to do, or doesn't have a terribly strong relationship with the actors, so they are confused. In that case the director is using up valuable time as well. So it seems to me that communication is really the essence of it. The minimum that a director of photography owes a director and vice-versa, is to ride out to the location in the morning or to have a drink together the night before in order to talk about the next day's work and what goals, intentions and priorities the director has. In this way they can decide how much time each scene is worth. Time becomes a shared responsibility."

A plan that Woody Omens uses very effectively is called his three-part system: 30-30-30. Thirty percent of the project will be done as fast as

12 humanly possible, bottom line and commercially acceptable. The middle thirty percent will be done very well, a cut above. The last thirty percent is going to be done like "Dr. Zhivago" or other great films. "You have to decide where your priorities are. Now if there is time wastage it's because we're not all working together at the same metabolic rate for a given scene. So if you can decide which are the exposition connectors that aren't as important (as other scenes) you don't dilly-dally with lots of dolly moves, fancy camera work and lighting--you just get it and accept it and you move on." On the other hand says Omens, "Where the script demands performance and perfection perhaps it's time for both the cinematographer and director to put some heavy time in. But you've earned the right to be slower because you've been good elsewhere. The final ten percent of the plan is for a "little slush." Omens feels that it is essential for cinematographers to relate to a director who is pressing to get a scene lit, what he will lose in terms of lighting compromises in respect to the actors within the scene. He adds that if a cinematographer is just painting with light, at that point it might be inappropriate based on the time at hand.

COMMUNICATION

Communication between the director and the cinematographer is paramount toward achieving the ultimate end. John Bailey has discovered as a director that the actors and actresses' anxieties, feelings and phobias on the set may be only nominally related to the film. "With a cinematographer virtually trapped on the set while many things are coming down on a director's head off the set he can only be aware of these things intuitively at best and therefore might not be able to help solve certain problems of the director. If there is a problem with an actress who is concerned either justifiably or unjustifiably with how she is coming across, well the cinematographer can take cues from the director to find ways to make that actress more comfortable in how she is photographed." Bailey feels that the actors can infuse magical power into the cinematographer and the icon that is the camera. "Directors can think of the cinematographer as a potent ally and a supportive voice if they aren't already doing so." During an interview for a film John Alonzo was asked by the director who knew of Alonzo's past directing experience, "Do you think that you and I could get along?"

It is Singer's belief that a cinematographer with directing experience is sometimes more accessible and valuable to him on the set. "Half of me wants desperately to relate to a total filmmaker, one who understands the

13 whole process. The other side of that is that the director's ego is combined, in my case, with the cinematographer's sensibility and so I'm always divided because I really want to do that, do the whole thing."

When others contribute to solving problems on the set Singer sometimes wonders, "Why didn't I think of that, I should have thought of that." Though as he says with a grin, "It really doesn't matter." On the flip side of this issue says Fraker, "When someone asks me a question and I don't know the answer, I say 'I don't know.' There is nothing wrong with that because none of us know it all. So as soon as you say you don't know you put yourself in the position whereby everybody can help. And I think that's what is important; as soon as you can become collaborative you can have a better time." "Being defensive about not knowing is immediately defused by saying, 'I don't know,'" agrees Omens.

Collaboration, especially in the fast-paced realm of some features and most episodic television where a director comes onto a show as a "7 day guest" is important according to Brad May because they are dealing with many preordained principles. "When a director comes onto a show with his fresh new tennis shoes trying to make his own movie, he has to show energy to a crew that may already be burned out after 7-8 months. You have to get them involved. If you're beating them up and you're missing shots or you're telling the cameraman that he has to light a set that he has already struck, then you're not doing your homework--that's the most important thing; communication."

CONCLUSIONS

Bill Fraker concludes, "I think that we have to put ourselves in the position of becoming filmmakers and work together. It doesn't bother me that a director has experience or doesn't have experience as long as he is involved with what he is doing and has a passion for the material."

In a business that has evolved so many times and in so many ways both technically and artistically that they seem to pass each other in the 'hallway' with little acknowledgment, there comes a time when all creative people must pause and reflect together, their present and future needs. Only in this way can we become a bonded collaborative force.

14