WATCHING SYDNEY POLLACK DIRECT PART 2 by IRA GALLEN 1982

Owen Roizman Looks Back Famed DP brings his legend to UCLAby Jennifer M. Wood | Published February 3, 2007 Part 2MM: You were directing commercials. Had you ever considered directing a feature film?OR: I thought about it and I had been asked to, actually. But it wasn't something that intrigued me that much because of the time commitment. When you shoot a picture—as far as the cinematographer goes—you're on it and you're finished. You don't get involved with the editing or any of the post-production stuff. You know your time period is about three months—could be longer, could be shorter. I get bored easily. If I was on a project for a year or longer—and I have been on films that lasted that long—I would get bored. I tend to get bored and want to move onto something else. I just didn't think I could handle that commitment.MM: What lured you back to feature films?OR: The commercial business went really south right near the end there; there was a big writer's strike. Advertisers were finding that when they reran old commercials they weren't seeing any drop in revenue, so they started to wise up. The said "Well, we don't have to do that many commercials anymore." So the business got kind of tight and very competitive; there wasn't as much work around. I had a five-year lease on my office space and it was just coming due and I said, 'You know what? I'm out of here. It was a nice run, goodbye and good luck.' And I closed up.The next day, I happened to get a phone call from an old friend, Charlie Hogan, who's a producer, and he told me that Larry Kasdan wanted to meet with me about doing a film. So I said 'Well, you're timing's really good!' I met Larry and did my first picture with him—and then three more after that.MM: You were recently named the Kodak Cinematographer in Residence at UCLA. What's the one message or idea that you hope to bring or pass onto the students there? OR: Cinematography is about art and craft, and you really have to learn your craft in order to achieve your art. So it's very important to learn as much as you can about all the basics and develop your own style.MM: How are you prepared to tackle the "digital" issue, considering that so many of these students have—or are looking to—work in a digital medium as they learn their craft? OR: There's nothing to tackle, really, because digital is a tool. I've always said that cinematography is about three things: light, composition and motion. And you have to do all those things with digital as well as film. Now, it's easier to do it in digital these days because you see the results right there on the screen. In film, you really have to learn your craft a bit more. But there's no doubt in my mind that the future will be digital someday. I don't foresee it that near, because it's still not as good. They have some fine equipment now, you can get some great images, but it's still not as good as film. Film is still king as far as I'm concerned.So what I'm trying to pass onto the students has nothing to do with whether it's film or video. I'll try to teach them about how to see light; how to see composition and how to use it; how to put the camera in motion.MM: Considering your entire filmography, is there one scene in particular that you're most proud of—one scene where, for you, everything just came together perfectly and with great results?OR: Oh, boy! That's so hard. I've read where directors are asked "Of all the pictures you've done, which are your favorites? Their standard answer is mine, too: they're all like your own children and you love all of them. You may be better known for some of them, but you still love them all. There are a lot of scenes that I've done where I've said 'Wow, that came out great!'I can remember several scenes that I'm very proud of that were real challenges. There was a scene in Three Days of the Condor with two guys walking across a bridge—nobody knows it's a bridge, it looks like they're walking down the street—and they're walking across this bridge at night with the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial in the back. And it was a long, long dolly shot with dialogue. It came across like it was going to be a very difficult scene but I took a very simple approach and the results were just fantastic. So that's one scene I'm really proud of, but there are lots of them.

Channel: Entertainment
Uploaded: May 29, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Author: iraRona

Length: 22:22
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