How close is a close-up in anamorphic format?
Zsigmond: It starts with a 100mm lens, but it also depends on the scene. Some cinematographers zoom in and maybe fill the screen with a 180mm focal length. Instead, we tried to move the camera a little closer to get the right perspective. I used eyelight from the camera angle, but the feelings have to begin with the actors. You can only help them to make it visible for the audience.Vilmos, did the decision to use the older and slower anamorphic lenses affect your choice of film stocks in terms of speed or other considerations?
Zsigmond: No. I had already decided to use Kodak's 500-speed Vision stock [5279], because there were so many interior and night exterior scenes in the script.You chose the older anamorphic lenses and the new 500-speed film?
Zsigmond: I knew that combination was right. There's less grain in the 79 [than in other 500-speed films] and more shadow details, and it is also more forgiving in the highlight areas. That was important, because I didn't want to use a lot of fill light. Normally, you would balance the level of interior light with the exterior light outside the window, but I didn't want to take the time to do that, and the 79 was more forgiving in that situation.On daylight exteriors, and occasionally interiors, I used Kodak's 250-speed daylight film [5246] so that I wouldn't have to use an 85 filter [for color correction]. I didn't want that extra piece of glass in front of the lens.
How much of this film was made on sets versus locations?
Zsigmond: We shot about 90 percent at interior and exterior locations, and built two apartment sets and one other small set. Sean and Gena play Paul and Hannah, an older couple that is planning to be remarried on their 40th anniversary. We filmed those scenes and the closing shot at a beautiful house in Tarzana that once belonged to Edgar Rice Burroughs. We couldn't have designed better sets for anamorphic lenses.What considerations determined whether you built a set or found a location?
Carroll: You want a character's apartment or workplace to say something about them and their lifestyle. Angelina Jolie plays Joan, one of the youngest characters. She lives in a fairly modest Venice beach apartment. We didn't find a place with the right feeling and space for shooting in the anamorphic format, so we built a set.How did the collaborative process work in terms of the production design? Did you talk first, or did Missy Stewart design sets prior to the discussions?
Carroll: We talked and then she built models and got color swatches. Vilmos and I also shot some tests. When we shot makeup tests with Gena, we painted the walls behind her a few different colors to see how they worked.Zsigmond: There is a set for a hotel room where two characters who are having an affair [Gracie and Roger, played by Madeleine Stowe and Anthony Edwards] get together. Missy built a model, and she had some good ideas about wanting to see the city behind the people. We planned to have a TransLight behind the window. Most of the action takes place in the bed, but I could see that the window was in the wrong place.
I showed Willard and Missy that we would be shooting from the wrong position if she didn't move the window or if Willard didn't restage the actors. We also put a mirror on the other side of the set, and that allowed us to see reflected images of the city. There was also a huge, circular mirror in the bathroom that we could see from certain angles.
Carroll: You can see the city in virtually every scene, and I felt that was important because I've seen too many movies where sets are practically screaming that they are fake. We choreographed a lot of action in two-shots. The scenes in question were sexy but also funny. We used the mirrors to reconfigure compositions and [the characters'] positions in the room. A lot of these decisions were made spontaneously while we were shooting.
Zsigmond: It's important to have the freedom to alter compositions and camera moves and take advantage of things that happen on the set. In order to do that, you need to plan for motivated light sources. Lamps, windows, open doors and mirrors are great because you can put them anyplace. This is especially important when you're working in the anamorphic format, because you can see more of the background behind people.
I got a sense of where Willard wanted the camera just by listening to him talk. From the way Willard spoke about other films, I knew he would love over-the-shoulder shots with just a piece of a character framed the foreground. I'd use a longer lens with just a piece of a person in the foreground. It's almost like a two-shot.
What's the philosophical purpose of a shot like that?
Zsigmond: It forces the actors to look by the camera. You can look into their faces and eyes and practically see their thoughts.Carroll: There are only a handful of genuine close-ups in the picture, and they were always intended to punctuate a story point. One of the film's core scenes is a kitchen encounter between Sean and Gena. It's a long scene, about four pages, and we did it primarily with two-shots over the shoulder. At several points during scene, Sean's character says things that are very disturbing to Gena's character. You hear his lines and see her reactions in close-ups.
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