Sanjin Jukic
02-06-2008, 12:23 PM
For all of us who want to shoot low light on RED would be
strongly recommended to watch very carefully the films shot by Gordon Willis, ASC.
http://www.timeout.com/img/29445/w513/image.jpg
Gordon Willis, ASC
Date of Birth:
28 May 1931, Queens, New York, USA
Nickname:
The Prince Of Darkness
Trivia:
In a spectacular seven-year period from 1971 to 1977, seven of the films he worked
on as director of photography accumulated 39 Oscar nominations with 19 wins.
Among these wins were three Best Picture winners (The Godfather (1972),
The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Annie Hall (1977)) and six for acting
(Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, John Houseman, Robert De Niro, Jason Robards
and Diane Keaton). Incredibly, Willis failed to secure a single nomination for himself during this period.
Known in the industry as "The Prince Of Darkness", due to his lighting technique of using shadows
and often not allowing a character's eyes to be seen clearly.
LINK>>> (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932336/bio)
Plain and simple, he was counter-culture.* Willis pioneered such
visual story-telling techniques as low-key lighting to establish moods.*
He allowed windows to blow-out, lights to flare, and he underexposed film and used
forced processing to alter the look and mood of scenes.
Willis was on the leading edge of a New Wave of cinematographers who were changing
the art form in radical ways.* In "The Godfather," he selectively masked Marlon Brando's eyes
to conceal his thoughts from the audience.
The authors of "Masters of Light, (University of California Press, 1984), Dennis Schaefer and Larry Salvato,
wrote, "Gordon Willis is the best cinematographer working in America today.* Period.* End of discussion."*
In the original Godfather, Willis pioneered the use of point, counterpoint contrasts in lighting, i.e.,
the wedding scene was staged in bright light, in a lush and colorful garden.* It symbolized a new beginning or hope.*
There was a quick cut to a dark, ominous interior scene of the Godfather (Brando) sitting in his den planning mayhem in the shadows.
In Part III, Willis contrasted dark and bright scenes, and the camera played the role of dispassionate observer with scant use of motion.*
He also contained the images within a comparatively tight space by mainly using lenses with focal lengths ranging from 40 to 75 mm.
"I'm an eliminator, not an adder.* Your point of view is what's important.*
I'm not fascinated by technology.*
The process can overpower the results if it becomes more important than the material."
We asked Willis if the time he spent shooting training films and documentaries early in his career
influenced his perception of how things look and feel in reality?*
Was that a factor in his proclivity for emulating natural light?
Willis doesn't answer quickly.* Finally, he says, "Maybe it did, and maybe it didn't.*
But mainly, I think the look of a film is defined by the story, characters and setting.*
People select locations for reasons.*
There is no point in going to the location if you are going to restructure everything after you are there.*
The whole idea to me is to fulfill the script.*
The perception of reality is different for everyone.*
What you do on an interpretive level is more basic to your role as a story-teller."*
Willis mentally chews on the thoughts provoked by his own words for awhile, and then he adds,
"Listen... the trick is to take something that's quite sophisticated and reduce it to the simplest possible terms,
so that it's accessible to everyone.*
There is beauty in simplicity.
After receiving his first Oscar nomination for "Zelig," Willis defined his philosophy with sparse but eloquent words.
He said, "Craftsmanship and art are inseparable. If you aren't thinking about why you do something,
something important is likely to get lost in the process... you have to consciously think about every shot."
LINK>>> (http://www.theasc.com/awards/history/pr/9_gordon_willis.htm)*
Watch a video interview with Gordon Willis published by Boston Globe (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid376530193?bclid=376801050&bctid=377215375)
Transcription>>Globe's Mark Feeney talked with Gordon Willis: Gordon Willis's Visions of Light (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/01/14/14willistrans/)
strongly recommended to watch very carefully the films shot by Gordon Willis, ASC.
http://www.timeout.com/img/29445/w513/image.jpg
Gordon Willis, ASC
Date of Birth:
28 May 1931, Queens, New York, USA
Nickname:
The Prince Of Darkness
Trivia:
In a spectacular seven-year period from 1971 to 1977, seven of the films he worked
on as director of photography accumulated 39 Oscar nominations with 19 wins.
Among these wins were three Best Picture winners (The Godfather (1972),
The Godfather: Part II (1974) and Annie Hall (1977)) and six for acting
(Jane Fonda, Marlon Brando, John Houseman, Robert De Niro, Jason Robards
and Diane Keaton). Incredibly, Willis failed to secure a single nomination for himself during this period.
Known in the industry as "The Prince Of Darkness", due to his lighting technique of using shadows
and often not allowing a character's eyes to be seen clearly.
LINK>>> (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0932336/bio)
Plain and simple, he was counter-culture.* Willis pioneered such
visual story-telling techniques as low-key lighting to establish moods.*
He allowed windows to blow-out, lights to flare, and he underexposed film and used
forced processing to alter the look and mood of scenes.
Willis was on the leading edge of a New Wave of cinematographers who were changing
the art form in radical ways.* In "The Godfather," he selectively masked Marlon Brando's eyes
to conceal his thoughts from the audience.
The authors of "Masters of Light, (University of California Press, 1984), Dennis Schaefer and Larry Salvato,
wrote, "Gordon Willis is the best cinematographer working in America today.* Period.* End of discussion."*
In the original Godfather, Willis pioneered the use of point, counterpoint contrasts in lighting, i.e.,
the wedding scene was staged in bright light, in a lush and colorful garden.* It symbolized a new beginning or hope.*
There was a quick cut to a dark, ominous interior scene of the Godfather (Brando) sitting in his den planning mayhem in the shadows.
In Part III, Willis contrasted dark and bright scenes, and the camera played the role of dispassionate observer with scant use of motion.*
He also contained the images within a comparatively tight space by mainly using lenses with focal lengths ranging from 40 to 75 mm.
"I'm an eliminator, not an adder.* Your point of view is what's important.*
I'm not fascinated by technology.*
The process can overpower the results if it becomes more important than the material."
We asked Willis if the time he spent shooting training films and documentaries early in his career
influenced his perception of how things look and feel in reality?*
Was that a factor in his proclivity for emulating natural light?
Willis doesn't answer quickly.* Finally, he says, "Maybe it did, and maybe it didn't.*
But mainly, I think the look of a film is defined by the story, characters and setting.*
People select locations for reasons.*
There is no point in going to the location if you are going to restructure everything after you are there.*
The whole idea to me is to fulfill the script.*
The perception of reality is different for everyone.*
What you do on an interpretive level is more basic to your role as a story-teller."*
Willis mentally chews on the thoughts provoked by his own words for awhile, and then he adds,
"Listen... the trick is to take something that's quite sophisticated and reduce it to the simplest possible terms,
so that it's accessible to everyone.*
There is beauty in simplicity.
After receiving his first Oscar nomination for "Zelig," Willis defined his philosophy with sparse but eloquent words.
He said, "Craftsmanship and art are inseparable. If you aren't thinking about why you do something,
something important is likely to get lost in the process... you have to consciously think about every shot."
LINK>>> (http://www.theasc.com/awards/history/pr/9_gordon_willis.htm)*
Watch a video interview with Gordon Willis published by Boston Globe (http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid376530193?bclid=376801050&bctid=377215375)
Transcription>>Globe's Mark Feeney talked with Gordon Willis: Gordon Willis's Visions of Light (http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/01/14/14willistrans/)