The Martini Shot

Weeks after the bulk of my movie was "in the can," I recruited my visiting buddy Jon to help me arrange the Martini Shot of Always. Lots of folks don't realize how little light actually makes it into a movie camera. For this shot, I'd placed a 750 watt Tota floodlight in the back of the garage and aimed a 500 watt Omni floodlight at the bedroom window (composed out of the picture). While Jon hosed down the sidewalk and driveway, I'd set up the camera across the street behind a wet pane of picture frame glass gaffer-taped to a light stand.

Time to set up? About an hour. Time on screen: about half a second. If I was really artistic and ambitious, I would have lit the exterior of the house with two more lights and hit the dining room window with another Omni, but, hey, it was Saturday night after a long day on the range, and we had those martinis rums and coke waiting. There's only so much I'm willing to do for half a second of screen time, at least at the amateur level.