According to Berlinger, an active camera is the cornerstone of his visual strategy for Book of Shadows, and Schreiber confirms that the film features extensive Steadicam work in the woods (courtesy of operator Ross Judd) as well as the warehouse (courtesy of Scott Sakamoto). Berlinger asked Schreiber and the cast to watch his three favorite thrillers Rosemary’s Baby, The Shining and Jacob’s Ladder and he says that the "very active and very steady camera" in The Shining was the primary influence on Book of Shadows’ camerawork. In keeping with that plan, Schreiber chose the Panavision Millennium as her A-camera because of its easy conversion to Steadicam and its ramping capabilities. Her B-camera in the woods was an Aaton 35, which was used for handheld and Steadicam work; once the production moved indoors, however, the Aaton "was a bit too noisy for dialogue," according to Schreiber, so she used the Millennium for handheld and Steadicam shots, as well as a Panaflex for B-camera work.
Despite the rather cramped confines of Donovan’s workspace, Schreiber wanted to be able to shoot it with a moving camera, so key grip Crowell built a steel platform about 6’ high and 64’ long to facilitate Technocrane shots. "Unfortunately, many of the crane moves were abbreviated or eliminated during the final edit," Schreiber says. The cinematographer used Primo primes and Primo (11:1 and 4:1) zooms throughout the shoot, noting, "There is a definite shift in the look of the film as the story progresses, with more handheld work toward the end."
Quite unlike its predecessor, Book of Shadows was photographed almost entirely on 35mm color film Kodak Vision 500T 5279, Vision 250D 5246 for day interiors and late-afternoon exteriors, and EXR 5248 for day exteriors. Schreiber says her camera assistants were "wonderful" Baltimore technicians, headed by 1st AC Boots Shelton. "In fact, most of the crew were alumni of Homicide or John Waters’s or Barry Levinson’s films," she notes. "They were terrific."
Although video footage (ostensibly shot by Donovan) is a small component of the film, Schreiber was particularly concerned about the best way create it. "For a time, we considered using Mini DV. But I had shot [the German television production] Breathe In, Breathe Out for director Beth B on Mini DV, and while it looked great in good light, I was not impressed with how it handled low-light work, especially once it was transferred to film," she recalls. "I also went to Sundance to take a look at what had recently been shot on small-format video and blown up. I finally tested DigiBeta, Mini DV, DV Cam and Beta SP as well as Pixelvision and an old tube camera. DigiBeta was the cleanest-looking video I tested, without being as pristine as high-definition.
"DigiBeta performed much better than the other small-format video cameras, which is what you’d expect because the camera costs a lot more," she continues. "After sending the test to Swiss F/X for transfer, we decided it would be better to start with a great image and degrade it, rather than to start with something like Mini DV and try to make it look better. You can always make something look worse! Also, we had the luxury of being able to afford DigiBeta, which many independent filmmakers don’t have. Switching back and forth between the mediums during the same day was very fast and efficient, because I lit the same way for DigiBeta as I do for film, with the exception of a bit of added fill light for DigiBeta." She adds that some of Donovan’s video footage was originally shot by the actor with a PD100A video camera, but that footage was reshot in 16 x 9 and 4 x 3 DigiBeta.
According to Schreiber, the filmmakers were able to screen film dailies in a small projection room in their Baltimore hotel. The film was processed at Technicolor New York and Deluxe Toronto, with final work done at Deluxe Hollywood.
As the release of Book of Shadows approached, Schreiber was wrapping Stranger Inside, a feature about women prisoners directed by Cheryl Dunye (Watermelon Woman), and was beginning prep on the HBO pilot Lessons Learned for director Patrick Duncan (84 Charlie Mopic). This year should also see the release of two more of her recent efforts: Buying the Cow, a comedy she photographed for director Walt Becker, and Ann Hu’s Shadow Magic, a film set in China at the dawn of the 20th century that won acclaim at Sundance this year (see AC April Ô00). As for working on her first potential blockbuster, Schreiber concludes, "There was a tremendous amount of pressure, and most of it was on Joe [Berlinger]. But he’s a very accomplished, passionate storyteller, and it was inspiring to work with him [again]. One would never know that Blair Witch 2 was his first narrative film."