Those scenes were shot in black and white, using the RED RANGER Monochrome BRAIN DSMC2 (actually two RANGERS and one DRAGON Monochrome), for which DIT Michele De Lorimier utilized special black and white LUT’s developed by Light Iron colorist Ian Vertovec. For lighting, Skinner made sure to use old-school period instruments, many obtained from Sam Scibetta at Warner Bros. Set Lighting. “We did put smaller globes in them,” Skinner notes. “You can get a Big Eye 10K to accept a 2K globe.” Skinner also asked Hutman’s art department to construct 48 “covered wagon” fixtures, a favorite of the show’s legendary Director of Photography Karl Freund. “It’s a four-foot strip of light sockets on a board,” Skinner reveals. “Freund used them upfront, facing the actors. It was a way to not use old hard Fresnels, and still have soft, complimentary light.” The operators watched playback on-set of the original I Love Lucy episodes to study the old camera style used. Rosenfeld says, “There was hardly any camera movement back then. Camera dollies were basically to get from Point A to Point B when they weren’t rolling. For shots where we were recreating
the original photography, we would often compose with too much headroom, so it feels like we’re viewing I Love Lucy shot with the same methodology. Sometimes it would force us to go against our instincts. For example, if they had a three-shot, they had one person turned profile for camera who had lots of dialogue. Your instinct would be to favor that person, so you could cut into it. But they just let it all play out in a three-shot with no cuts. That’s how television was made back then.” One memorable scene follows Desi on a long walk-and-talk – from his office to the stage – as he tries to hash out a problem with his team. The seamless “oner” was actually done in three parts, with Hutman and Cronenweth working closely to build interesting visuals into the move, including extras pushing wardrobe racks and other props across the frame, and across Desi’s path. Each bit was reverse-engineered – stop point back to the start – to ensure enough distance to cover the dialogue. Rosenfeld brought the group out of Desi’s office, into a purpose-built corridor; then Bielan picked them up, using a fixed-arm 25-foot crane with a Talon remote head before being met by Rosenfeld once again on Steadicam, who
brought them into the stage to interact with key background artists. In another instance at Rosenfeld’s behest, Sorkin drafted additional lines of dialogue to make sure a shot timed out perfectly with the camera movement. “After he yelled ‘Cut!’ he walked over to me and said, ‘Dialogue is never a problem,’” Rosenfeld smiles. “‘Never be shy to ask for more.’” Additional takes were another matter. Sorkin was often ready to move on after one, two, or three at the most. “He’s the antiFincher,” Rosenfeld laughs. “Jeff and I have done many movies with David, who doesn’t hit his stride until 15 or 20 takes. And Aaron is not that guy.” As Sorkin adds: “There were times when I was good after the first take, and Jeff might say, ‘Let’s do it again.’” Sorkin would even resist requests from his cast for additional takes. “‘Why? That was perfect. We’re good. We’re moving on,’ he’d say,” as Rosenfeld describes. “So, the actors started to go through us. Nicole would look at me after the end of a take and squint her eyes or cock her head.’ I would see that, look at her and nod.” Adds Bielan, “We’d go, ‘Aaron, do you mind if we do one more for us? We had a little thing here.’”
GENERATION NEXT
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