A major sequence in the film takes place in a vast cornfield where two mysterious, glowing white domed structures have been erected for some clandestine purpose. For exterior shots of the domes, the production utilized tent-like structures similar to portable tennis courts. "The domes were great because they were made of a translucent material," explains Russell. "I took five bare 20K bulbs and lined them down the center of each dome. When we turned them on, they lit up the spaces like big Chinese lanterns. For scenes within the domes — which were 150 feet long and completely filled our stages — we wanted the walls to glow, but we didn't want to see any of the light sources. We obviously couldn't just use one light source outside the dome, since we had to have the light coming all the way around the entire structure. To accomplish that, we put strip lights about 10 feet back around the bottom and then had a grid of about 140 to 150 2K Skypans coming in toward the top. The only problem was that we had hot spots in the dome's material because we couldn't get the lights far enough away on the stage. I had the grips run 20' by 20' silks all the way around in between the lights and the dome to soften the hot spots and create this wonderful, surreal, ribbed white structure. I didn't want the walls blowing out too much because I loved the rib effect, so I used my spot meter and overexposed the hottest part by 2 to 21/2 stops to get some detail in the shadow areas." The dome's interior lighting was then completed with a series of Kino Flo banks placed under a central walkway, as well as a truss rigged above with rows of 1K Par cans that were aimed straight down.
After discovering the purpose of these cryptic structures, Mulder and Scully flee the dome, only to be pursued by two Xenon-equipped helicopters. Our heroes' flight through the cornfield presented the cinematographer with an equally harrowing dilemma: lighting an area half a mile wide in the dead of night. "With the helicopter chasing the agents, I knew I had to photograph certain shots from the aircraft. To give the helicopter's camera some flexibility, I wanted to be able to use a zoom lens, which required a minimum stop of T2.3 stop on a Primo 5:1. With that large an area to light, however, it became a question of having enough illumination. I called Musco and asked if three Muscos positioned in the cornfield would give me at least a T1.4 out in the cornfield. Fortunately, the company has a computer simulation program that can 'position' an array of Muscos and tell you exactly what stop you'll have. With three Muscos providing a moonlight effect on one side, and another on the other side [simulating the white light from the domed structures], I knew I had enough light to shoot the sequence without pushing the film."
Solomon adds, "We utilized different sections of the field so that we always had pristine areas of corn, especially when we were using the helicopter. Lighting up the entire area required those big lights, but when we got into our close-up work, we covered the Muscos with light gridcloth, craned them down and brought them in so that the light wrapped around the actors a little more and wasn't quite as hard as it was in the master shots. We also spent a lot of time opening up our camera angles and trimming away cornstalks to create openings for the light to shine through. [During the chase scene] there was always backlight from one or two of the Muscos, while another was slightly softened toward the side to provide a bit more wrap around the actors. There was approximately 200 feet of running distance [along the edge of the] cornfield, and a road was built right next to it, so for certain shots a Shotmaker truck could track along with the actors as the camera captured the action from an extended arm."
Russell concludes, "We had the two helicopters chasing our heroes through the corn with their Xenon searchlights panning through the field. I had the moonlight at a T1.4 and was shooting at a T2 or 2.3. But when the Xenon came into a shot, it would smash through the corn at a T16 or 22, highlighting the tops of the stalks and bouncing off the corn to light up the actors' faces a bit."
As The X-Files approaches its climax, the filmmakers bring the viewer inside an alien spacecraft that has been submerged for centuries beneath a vast ice field. "The ship is filled with these ice pods with bodies frozen in them," reveals Russell. "However, Chris Carter didn't want to see any lights inside the spaceship, so I worked with the design department to incorporate lights into the set that could illuminate the actors without being seen. The idea was that the ice pods would be glowing, thus providing a general illumination for the set. Mulder also has a flashlight which we used to help illuminate him; as he looks at the pods, the light bounces back at him off the ice. I had to push the film a stop because the light that is supposedly coming from the glow of the ship's icy interior was barely readable. But by pushing the film and shooting wide open, we were able to read it without any problem.
"The interior of the spaceship had a palette of very pale greens and blues," he continues. "I worked very closely with visual effects supervisor Mat Beck because there was a ton of greenscreen work to be done on the ship [see visual effects story on page 74]. Luckily, by testing different shades, we found that we could get away with the pale green lighting and not have a problem with the greenscreens. We actually only built a small portion of the interior, maybe 1/20 of the ship. Basically, we only shot one little spoke of a wheel; the rest of the ship was added with CGI."
"From a lighting standpoint, the interior of the ship was fairly dark," Solomon expands. "The primary light sources were from these pods that had Mini-Flos inside them. We then we used rows of fluorescents to create the visual lines of the ship. Beyond that, we used some edge lighting to pick up the moisture and smoke in the ship, mainly small tungsten units. There weren't many lighting opportunities, so the fixtures had to be carefully chosen."
Mulder eventually finds Scully within one of the mysterious pods, but when he frees her, the dormant aliens begin to stir. Russell details, "As the ship came to life, there were a number of lighting cues, but we tried to stay away from the conventional use of warning buzzers and flashing lights. Instead, we used a lot of steam and water: as the light gets a bit brighter in areas, the ice starts melting. We had little rivulets of water running across surfaces, reflecting light. When [Mulder and Scully] finally climbed up and out of the ship onto the ice field, we had these geysers of steam coming out of the surface as they ran for safety."
Reflecting upon the hotly anticipated feature-film project, Carter submits, "Some people have asked me, 'Don't you think it's a bit ballsy to try and take The X-Files to the big screen?' My response to that question usually is that the show already takes a big-screen approach on the small screen. However, there are many differences in dramatic weight, scope, content and visual approach between the two mediums. Over the last year, I've learned that shooting for the big screen involves a very minimalist approach; every tiny little nuance reads as gigantic on the big screen. The actors, the camera movement, the dialogue and the [visual] information being presented read much differently than on television. You can't just take a television episode and blow it up."
"For Chris and myself, this film is the culmination of five years of practice in telling X-Files stories," Bowman concludes. "It was also an experiment to see if David and Gillian would translate to the larger screen. I believed that they had the presence to turn Mulder and Scully into full-size movie characters. While we were making the series, I always thought to myself, 'This feels like a feature approach to storytelling. When we do the movie, I wonder if I'll be right or wrong.'"
The truth is now being determined in theaters all over the U.S.
