Lohmann says that the most interesting technical and artistic challenge of the project was effecting reality on sets, such as the interior mock-up of a B-27 aircraft supposedly in flight. Detailing this shot, the cinematographer recalls, "We moved the camera around the cabin on a Steadicam. It's a natural point of view for anyone who has flown. Meanwhile, outside the windows, we used combinations of light and smoke mainly light to amplify the sensation of the plane's movement. We constantly changed the angle and direction of our 'sunlight' to simulate flight: daylight comes from outside, and night light comes from low-key, overhead fluorescents, which give off a nice soft light."
As the plot of The Peacemaker progresses, a U.S. surveillance satellite pinpoints the movement of the stolen nuclear weapons, which are being transported through Russian territory towards the border of a belligerent nation. At this point, the film tracks a high-risk, military-style operation, and Lohmann subtly altered the quality of both his light and colors to heighten tension. Although the transitions are not obvious, "The look gradually becomes harsher. The colors become cooler, and the rhythm of the movie quickens; we also used more off-center camera angles."
Lohmann changed his tactics a bit while covering scenes set in the Pentagon war room. He used very wide (16mm and 18mm) lenses, often on a Steadicam, to capture the set's scope and to establish a feeling of depth, but he also did shots with very long (600mm to 1000mm) lenses, allowing the editor cut-away material. "You never have a feeling of a moving shot with a very wide lens," he says, "because we cut away to these extreme long shots."
A number of composite effects shots were executed for the more involved action sequences, including a head-on collision between two trains when a shipment of nuclear weapons is hijacked from one of the locomotives. "The entire train crash sequence was shot day-for-night," Lohmann says. "After the crash, there's a huge explosion. We had dramatic aerial footage, and it would have been very difficult to shoot that at night. We were shooting in a strange country, and we didn't have a good idea of what was going to happen with the sun whether it would be an overcast or rainy day. It's best to shoot day-for-night on an overcast day."
Another interesting sequence involving digital effects occurs toward the film's climax, during which helicopters track the terrorists' attempt to effect an escape via a mountain bridge spanning a deep ravine. "The company couldn't locate an appropriate location where a mountain bridge spanned a ravine," Lohmann explains. "The ravine and mountain background were created in CGB and composited with the live-action film and background plates. The CGB work was done by Pacific Data Images and Pacific Title Digital.
"Some people are afraid that digital effects will take something away from what the cinematographer does, but I think the opposite is actually true," Lohmann opines. "Our work with the digital effects people is a [new form of] collaboration that can give us the freedom to do things we've never done before. It is still an art and a craft, however; you still have to shoot the background plates and do dramatic lighting on foreground elements."
