Graduating to DP

DP/Steadicam operator Jimmy Muro (right) during production ofOpen Range. Carrie Toner (left) operates second Steadicam for thesequence.

Jimmy Muro, one of Hollywood's top Steadicam operators, credits thecinematography community with helping him make the leap from operatorto DP on Kevin Costner's upcoming Western, Open Range (at presstime, Disney had not announced a release date).

Muro met Costner when operating on Field of Dreams, and laterworked with him on Dances With Wolves, but during theintervening years, he also worked with many of the industry's top DPs— many of whom, he says, helped him either directly or indirectlyduring production of Open Range in Canada.

For example, Muro explains, “I was working with Dante Spinottion Red Dragon as ‘A’ camera operator, and I keptfollowing him around on the final days of that shoot while he explainedmany of his lighting theories to me. He'd say, ‘Jimmy, astop-and-a-half under-exposed, that's my bread and butter.’Things like that were invaluable.”

Then, there was Anastas Michos, a fellow Steadicam operator whobecame a DP a few years ago. “I called Anastas because he wasonce in my shoes, and he gave me great advice about how to structure mydeal and crew as a DP,” Muro adds. “As we started shooting,though, I kept asking myself what Bob Richardson would do in thesesituations. I worked under Bob on JFK and two other movies, andhe really helped me in prep, sharing some of the digital posttechniques he's using on Kill Bill. Then we had a gunfightscene, and I didn't have time to do enough tests, so I called PaulCameron, whom I worked with on Gone in 60 Seconds andSwordfish, and he gave me an important tip regarding runningskinny shutter angles and how best to place them in thesequence.”

In prepping the shoot, Muro ran into Richardson at Technique(Hollywood) when he was doing tests for Open Range's digitalintermediate phase. Around the same time at Panavision, Muro saw NewtonThomas Sigel, who was working on Confessions of a DangerousMind. Muro credits both men with convincing him to set up a systemto use HD dailies during the shoot and to pursue a digitalintermediate.

Still, Muro was in charge of cinematography this time, and he had tobuild his own crew. He says that a couple of those choices,particularly gaffer John Buckley, who played a major role in the film'slighting scheme, also helped him learn how to be a DP.

“I asked for John as my gaffer, and Kevin and the producersagreed because he did such good work on Titanic,” saysMuro. “But there was concern because he had to come late becausehe was finishing Cat in the Hat. He came about two weeks beforewe started shooting, looked at a map of the Western town set we werebuilding in [Alberta], and made some huge broad-stroke decisions abouthow to help me light. For instance, he convinced me we should not pullwalls on some of the practical sets to place lights, so instead, webrought up a few Satellite-X units, which are shallow HMI lights thatwe could put up without having to pull the walls no more than a footdeep. He also insisted on a few balloon lights, which Kevin fell inlove with, and we used those for most of our dusk lighting.”

Muro also asked Lee Blasingame, a fellow crewman on Dances WithWolves, to serve as his focus puller. “[His] brilliant focuspulling, as well as team leadership, helped me run the department andavoid having even one soft shot in the whole film,” Murosays.

Muro used Kodak 5270 for all night scenes, sometimes pushing 1-2stops in processing, and 5274 for all daytime scenes (125 daylightASA). “We tried to underexpose exteriors a stop-and-a-halfbecause we were planning the digital intermediate so that we coulddigitally pull some material left in the sky if we had to,” addsMuro.