Dispatches – Fri. July 18, 2014 – Recommended Viewing Tonight on TCM Greetings Folks, A great classic on TCM tonight! General categorizing might ID it as War Genre, a genre I have limitless respect for, but this film is War Genre and more. It delves into wartime elements of the Human Condition in ways and means seldom realized in narrative motion pictures. Aspiring Location Scouts and Location Managers take special note - the variety of stunning locations was a significant production value. Tonight on TCM – Overview - 8:00 PM – Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 228 Min. Dir: David Lean DP: Freddie Young Commentary – 8:00 PM – Lawrence of Arabia (1962) 228 Min. Received Oscar for Best Picture Dir: David Lean - Received Oscar for Best Director DP: Freddie Young – Received Oscar for Best Cinematography Plot Teaser - A flamboyant and controversial British Army officer with conflicted loyalties during his World War I service in the Middle East. Thomas Edward Lawrence (played by Peter O’Toole), considered to have been an inordinately complex man and was labeled everything from hero, to charlatan, to sadist, managed to carve his way into history and glory in the Arabian Desert during the chaotic Middle Eastern Campaigns of the British Army against the Turkish Army that occupied Arabia as it was during WWI. Sent by his military superiors to observe and investigate the progress of the Arab revolt against the Turks, Lawrence organizes a guerrilla Army that is sometimes more at odds within itself than the enemy. -- -- All Film Students and Aspiring Filmmakers should be familiar with this giant classic of Cinema. Most of the films characters are real or based on real people with some artistic licensing. Military events in the film are based on accepted historical fact and Lawrences own writing, though his writings did have varying degrees of romanticizing. Aspiring Cinematographers interested in all genres should study this picture in extreme detail. The magnificent lensing by cinematographer Freddie Young is work to learn from. See Young’s selected filmography below. Pantheon Director David Lean is certainly no stranger to an epic production of this picture’s scale. See Lean’s selected filmography below. -- -- Technical Notes – Camera & Lenses: Panavision 65mm Cinematographic Process: Super Panavision 70 (Negative Format: 65 mm (Eastman 50T 5250) Aspect ration: 2.20 : 1 (negative ratio) 2.20 : 1 (70 mm prints) 2.35 : 1 (35 mm prints) Production Notes – The film required 2 years of pre-production and 14 months of shooting on locations in Jordan, Spain and Morocco. David Lean watched John Fords “The Searchers” (1956) many times for inspiration for shooting this picture. King Hussein of Jordan lent an entire brigade of his Arab Legion to the company to be extras in the film. Hussein visited the sets frequently. At the direction of David Lean almost all movement in the film goes from left to right. Lean said he did this in order to emphasize that the film was a journey. To film Omar Sharifs entrance through a mirage, Freddie Young used a special 482mm lens from Panavision. Panavision still has this lens, and it is known among cinematographers as the David Lean lens. It was created specifically for this shot and has not been used since. Peter OToole (who plays T.E. Lawrence) mastered camel-riding by adding a layer of sponge rubber under the saddle to ease his bruised backside. This practical innovation was quickly adopted by the actual Bedouin tribesmen acting as extras during the desert location filming. When filming on a remote desert location in Jordan every drop of water for the production was brought in by truck from the nearest well 150 miles away. Initially the production used white plastic cups for drinking water but the wind would frequently blow them into the desert. After numerous shots were ruined because of white plastic cups swirling into frame Director Lean had them banned from the set and replaced with ceramic mugs. The town of “Aqaba” was recreated in a dried riverbed in southern Spain. Over 300 buildings had to be constructed. The charge on Aqaba in the film used 450 horses and 150 camels. The production schedule was so long Producer Sam Spiegel insisted on a 2-month break. This gave him the chance to find locations additional locations for the film that were less arduous than Jordan, ultimately settling on Spain. David Lean planned to film in the real Aqaba and the archaeological site at Petra. Much to his regret, however, the production had to be moved to Spain because of cost overruns and outbreaks of illness among the cast and crew before the Aqaba scenes could be shot. Shooting night scenes was not possible in complete darkness at that time due to film speed and other “night” work factors peculiar to that filmmaking era. Therefore night scenes were photographed in daylight with special day-for-night filters on the lenses. Note the shadows cast from various human and animal subjects in the frame caused by sunlight. (Note: Film speed – 50 Tungsten. Films today shot on digital format with camera like the Arri Alexa are generally photographed at 800. That’s a 4-stop difference. And photography for some scenes is rated even higher.) British General Allenbys Jerusalem headquarters was filmed at the Moorish mansion, Casa de Pilatos, in Seville. While setting up the equipment the lighting crew accidentally smashed a centuries old statue. Fortunately the authorities were appeased and filming was allowed to continue. At one point in production Producer Sam Spiegel felt filming was progressing far too slowly for his liking. He invited Director William Wyler to visit the set in order to encourage Lean to delegate more shooting to his second units, as Wyler had done on Ben-Hur (1959). The visit was to no avail as Lean was too much of a perfectionist to relinquish any control. Costume designer Phyllis Dalton deliberately made Peter OTooles army outfit too small and ill-fitting to signify T.E. Lawrences personal discomfort in a military uniform. Aspiring Art Directors, Set Designers & Set Craftsmen and Prop Masters take special note - All sets in the film were real locations except for one. The only studio set that was built on a stage was the crypt in St Pauls Cathedral, London, home of T.E. Lawrences bronze memorial. The film receive the Oscar for Best Art Direction Although it is over 200 minutes long, the film has no women in speaking roles. It is reportedly the longest picture not to have any dialogue spoken by a woman. Women can be seen in some background action. They are usually English women dressed as Arab women in deference to Middle Eastern customs that prohibited the photography of women. --- --- Memorable Movie Lines – Lawrence of Arabia T.E. Lawrence: I killed two people. One was... yesterday? He was just a boy and I led him into quicksand. The other was... well, before Aqaba. I had to execute him with my pistol, and there was something about it that I didnt like. General Allenby: Thats to be expected. T.E. Lawrence: No, something else. General Allenby: Well, then let it be a lesson. T.E. Lawrence: No... something else. General Allenby: What then? T.E. Lawrence: I enjoyed it. --- --- Wilkinson recommended filmography of Director David Lean: 1942 – In Which We Serve 1952 – The Sound Barrier 1954 – Hobson’s Choice 1957 – the Bridge on the River Kwai 1962 – Lawrence of Arabia - Received Oscar for Best Director 1984 – A Passage to India -- Wilkinson recommended filmography of Cinematographer Freddie Young 1941 – 49th Parallel 1950 – Treasure Island 1956 – Lust for Life 1956 – Invitation to the Dance 1962 – Lawrence of Arabia 1965 – Lord Jim 1966 – The Deadly Affair 1969 – Battle of Britain --- --- --- Thoughts – From the mind of David Lean: “Film is a dramatized reality and it is the directors job to make it appear real... an audience should not be conscious of technique.” “Im first and foremost interested in the story, the characters.” “I like making films about characters I’d like to have dinner with.” --- --- --- --- Enjoy the magic. A special message to Film Students: Observe light of all kinds in the “real world” and see how it works to illuminate the human face and movement in many different locations and situations. Then apply those observations and techniques to lighting your films. And be safe out there. Frost
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 23:01:21 +0000
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