Empire of Light – Dusk dialogue

[Max A.]

Hello Mr. Deakins and all the cinematographers over this forum. First of all, I hope you Mr. Deakins, and Mrs. James are well.

If I can ask more questions about ‘EoL’, I would like to ask you about the beautiful scene that involves the dialogue between ‘Stephen’ and ‘Hilary’ at dusk that takes place in the empty area upstairs in the lobby.
I really loved those colors and light there.
Knowing that you shot the movie in winter I guess that the amount of time of that condition of light was really short! The scene on the screen has 6 different angles, and I would like to ask you if you are scheduled to shoot the scene on multiple days at the same time of the day (also considering the weather conditions).
If I remember correctly the glass doors in the lobby were facing at
North-East so I assume also that set had the same North-East facing.

If I can ask two more questions, did you choose the colors of those window’s glass, I assume the alternate and the color contrast, or for other reasons? And for the ‘OTS’ and close-ups, did you use some light from outside for the characters or it was only the natural light that washed their face casting colors through the colored glasses?

I attach stills below in two/three replies cause I figured out that I can’t post more than 2 images per post.

As always I want to thank you Mr. Deakins for your time and availability.
I apologize for my bad English.

I wish you a peaceful day,
Max.

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[Max A.]

[Max A.]

[Max A.]

[Roger Deakins]

Yes, the space faced North East and we shot on two evenings. Luckily for us the weather matched pretty well. I did have extra lighting outside the window on two scissors lifts. This was very low level bounce light using simply 8′ x 4′ sheets of polystyrene. The lights running along the promenade are ones we had rigged and were set to dimmers between each set of lamp posts. And, yes, I chose the yellow window gel with our Production Designer.

[Max A.]

Thank you so much for your reply Mr. Deakins, reading from you is priceless for me!
The mood and the colors of the scene are outstanding. I love also the fact that ‘Hilary’ is sitting against the blue window, while ‘Stephen’ is against the yellow one, this reflects to me pretty well the two characters.

If I can ask and if you remember, which focal lengths did you use for this scene, and what was your consideration for that kind of choice in terms of camera proximity to the actors etc..

I know I’m asking a lot of questions, but reading your experience and your point of view about lighting and filmmaking is a unique experience.

I wish you a peaceful day,
Max.

[Roger Deakins]

I was probably shooting the wide on a 27mm and mid shots on a 32mm and the closer shots on a 50mm.

[Mike]

Interestingly,
the original Dreamland cinema had yellow tinted windows on some of the windows.probably to reduce sun glare. Just a comment that’s all. I used to holiday here in the late 1950’s, yes, I am that old.😂

[Roger Deakins]

We never had any color references of Dreamland so I was not aware of that. The balroom was done out in an Asian style, with lots of gold etc., so the yellow would have made sense.

[Mike]

Roger,

Ref the firework scene. Did the fireworks have a shorter fuse to explode above the cinema. Also how did you meter this scene. Assume there was no CG involved and everything was in cameras. Also how many takes did you do to get right.

Also the scene with Ron eating chips and miss Coleman stepping in to save the day, how many takes did that take. As always thankyou.
Al

[Roger Deakins]

Not so many takes on any scene. The scene with Ron eating the chips was quite a few and I felt for that actor.

We had tested the fireworks before the shoot as well as their positioning. We needed a low tide so that they could be set off from the beach and they were just off the shelf fireworks. I metered the scene in the foreground and let the fireworks fell where they might. It was just the same as on ‘Skyfall’ though some on that film were added in post whereas everything in ‘Empire’ was in camera.

[Mike]

Thankyou Roger for your detailed reply, much appreciated.

Btw, the scene of the cinemas auditorium and the firework display actually took my breath away literally.  Seeing nice images makes me emotional, not embarrassed to admit that. Very nice work imo.

[Author]

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