Bending the Light Page #5

photographed in backlight.

Everyone went, "Wow, that's great!"

And it was a lens test

that introduced him to

beautiful backlight

through Pickford's curls.

- [Voiceover] One of your

most famous pieces of work

was Angels in America.

What were the big challenges there?

- Well, the script was

sort of white heart.

The documentary journey of

a young man or young men

dying of AIDs,

to Roy Cohn talking about paradise,

and then to do a sequence

in which a poor young man

at death's door is visited by an angel.

I realized the problem we had

was that on stage there's limitless space.

An angel couldn't drop into the same set,

and there's no problem with her wings.

I mean she has a six,

eight-foot wing-span.

That's no problem, it's

just a stage, there's a bed,

there's a guy in it and

she can hover over him

and do whatever but on

film she can't drop into

the room which has got a

ceiling and four walls.

And my brain wave is we

would had to have two sets.

We had to have the normal set,

and then whenever she flew in

we had to have a set that was 400% bigger.

And of course, the producers

were ready to kill me but

it was the way to do it, that

suddenly the bed was bigger,

the furniture was bigger,

the room is enormous

because it was another world.

It was how I visualized it.

I find that if I take

pictures as I'm working,

it sparks something off

when I look at how I might

change something, how the lights working,

how the color might be.

For technical reasons,

I was always horrified

by the lack of communication between

the cinematographer and the lab.

You know, some poor bastard at 3AM

being given reel after reel of negative

and making quick color

and lighting adjustments

which could make or destroy your career.

And I said to HBO and bless

them, they paid for it.

They bought me an enormous

professional printer

with color calibration

and I made 70 prints.

The end result being that

you can get what I want

as a cinematographer.

At least I have that satisfaction.

(background chatter)

- [Voiceover] Was it a

major decision to start

shooting digitally?

- In a way I couldn't wait.

The last chemical film I did was The Help

and I couldn't get dailies

for two or three days

and we were shooting under pressure

and we were photographically

very difficult

situations for me, like Viola Davis

with a blonde little baby girl in her arms

and how was I gonna keep

that contrast range?

Was I keeping the keeping

the contrast range?

I couldn't tell.

I thought I was but there

was no immediate feedback.

So it doesn't matter how much

you've shot.

I'm always nervous

and I need feedback

and I saw that digital,

if it could only get good enough,

would be that immediate feedback.

(background chatter)

- [Voiceover] Does it make

you braver as a cameraman?

- Yes, insane.

I mean, just little light bulb braver.

- [Voiceover] What makes,

for you, a great photograph?

- Well it's gotta be something

to do with the content,

I think.

Even if it's a photograph in

which you don't understand

the context.

There's something about

the human face or body

that can be so beautiful or so striking

or so mysterious, or the light.

It's something that just captures you.

- [Voiceover] What have

been your inspirations

in your working life?

- Truffaut.

That's the sort of film that I had to

just see again and again.

Photographer after photographer.

People who make extraordinary

from the very ordinary.

And you see such beauty, not

because it's manufactured

but because somehow they

see it, nobody else does.

- [Voiceover] So did you

bring any photos that have

good memories for you?

- Well, not so much for the memory

but I brought photos of my cats.

I like this one very much.

It was taken right after he was groomed

and had his hair cut.

My father used to like animals very much.

Especially cats.

- [Voiceover] Is your father still alive?

- [Setsuko] No, my father

died of cancer 15 years ago.

I don't have any picture

of him in his later years.

So yes, it hurts me

that we didn't get to go

to more places and take

more pictures together.

As a reminder, I keep his hat

and give a glass of water to it every day,

and my cats drink from them.

I think my father's spirit

is giving water to the cats.

- [Voiceover] Is that why you

take pictures of your cats?

- [Setsuko] Yes, I think so.

- [Voiceover] You told me

you've never seen the lenses

you've assembled being used,

so what does it feel like?

- I've assembled over 100 of these.

So I thought maybe I'll

be tired of seeing them,

but when I see as a

finished product in use,

I think it's very cool.

I'm thrilled to see the

product I put together.

I think it looks great.

(crashing waves)

(camera clicking)

- Now we're doing better,

come back a little bit more.

There you go.

(camera clicks)

Now let's just, let me see here.

My handsome assistant as you put it,

angle the head, there you go.

Yes, straight.

Well the most important

thing is communication

in my photography and so

I try to basically involve

the talent in my vision

and share every moment.

Now let's just, let me see here.

Chin up for me just a little bit.

Angle the head a little bit more.

You can never make them feel

or have any sort of sense

that you are not in control and

don't know what you're doing

'cause they'll eat you alive.

Let's bring the front end of this out.

Let me get my camera.

Yeah, I don't know what I'm doing yet,

I'm just making it up as we go along.

Bring that forward to me.

I always loved white shirts on...

We did that the last time

with Diahann Carroll actually.

We did a dark shirt, but a

man's shirt which looked great.

- [Model] Yeah, I love it.

- Yeah, I think this will look good.

But I try to keep a happy medium

with me still being in charge

and that's how I really get my portraits.

(camera clicking)

That's beautiful right there.

(camera clicking)

Just a little bit...

- [Model] Yeah.

- That's always where the

tension shows up first,

is in the jaw 'cause the jaw is like...

- Also, I have a humongous jaw.

- No no, see I think

you've got a great jaw.

Actually, your face is perfect.

It's the kind of jaw that's

an easy jaw to light.

For a DP or somebody, it's perfect.

It can be a big jaw but it's

an easy one to just cut.

(blowing wind)

Number six.

This is the real secret of the arts.

Always be a beginner.

Number five, sleep, it's overrated.

You can sleep when you get home.

Well you know, I've shot for so many years

in the movie business,

shooting motion picture

campaigns and personalities,

and I've been teaching for the

better part believe it or not

of almost 30 years and being

able to share my vision

with those that are passionate

and are starting to get

involved and engaged in photography

has been a big thing for me.

The bottom line is,

I'm not interested at all in

what you know, I'm interested

in what you don't know to

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