I was doing a bit of research into colour the other day, and I headed over to the splendid archive of American Cinematographer.
I found the information I was looking for spread across two of the (free to access) archive issues. The Color-Space Conundrum 1, and The Color-Space Conundrum 2. What really caught my eye, however, was a 2005 article about the lighting and shooting difficulties in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
The lighting was designed by Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC, in his third collaboration with the director Tim Burton.
Here’s one of Luc Desmarchelier’s production sketches: (Please click the small pictures to enlarge them)
And here’s how that scene looked on film:
(Photoshop. 2003. Movie frame.2005.)
Luc remarks: “I was amazed to see how close they stayed to the original design.”
Here’s the arrangement of the lights for this scene, that Rousselot worked out with Light By Numbers.
“Rousselot had a similar respect for the fragile set when designing the lighting for the Chocolate Room with his “marvelous” gaffer, John “Biggles” Higgins.
Rousselot decided early on to keep all the lighting off the set, and to suspend the fixtures from a ceiling grid above the Cablecam installation.
According to Higgins, the massive scale of tungsten lighting fixtures included 600 space lights, 100 Pars, 56 Maxi-Brutes and 12 20K Mole Beams, all suspended from the ceiling.
The total potential power consumption provided by three generators off-stage was 4 megawatts, enough for a small city, although Higgins is quick to point out that “we never used all the lights at once.”
Each space light contained five 800-watt bulbs, and the crew wired each light with two cables, allowing for three intensities: two bulbs, three bulbs or five bulbs. This enabled Rousselot to change the overall intensity without dimming, which changes color temperature.
Half of the space lights provided an overall level for the huge stage and were fitted with black skirts to limit spill. The remaining units could be quickly lowered by cable to provide sources for a scene staged below. To provide maximum coverage, skirted and skirtless lights were alternated on the ceiling grid.”
Click the image below to see the amazing number of lights illuminating the Pinewood set.
It’s enough to melt your chocolate bar….
Incidentally, the American Cinematographer is having a sale of back issues at the moment for only one dollar an issue, which is ludicrously cheap….
