Paris, Texas

[robin pront]

Just saw this movie and i'm very impressed with the lighting and color use in that film. Anybody here who saw the film and know how they did that? Yellow lights always look greenish, guess that's done with a blue filter?

[Satsuki Murashige]

Gorgeous film, incredible colors. I think the green colors are a combination of Robby Mueller's use of practical cool-white fluorescents in many locations, mercury vapor streetlights, and tungsten units gelled green. The use of saturated color is obviously by design -- many scenes are lit with red, orange, and blue gels for effect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Actually, since the fluoro-lit greens are SO saturated in this film, maybe he had the some of the practical fluoro tubes painted green -- these days, you could use green-screen Kino tubes for the extra color boost.

 

Does anyone know what film stock was used on this film? In the DVD commentary, Wim Wenders mentions Mueller using a polarizer on the exteriors to increase color saturation. It looks like he might have used some grad filters in some shots as well.

[Satsuki Murashige]

And here's what I mean about color use in general.

 

 

 

(This one is all natural light, according to Wenders)

 

 

[Nick Mulder]

its a nice film huh

[robin pront]

Thx!

 

Could you tell me what exactly you mean with gel? Is it smeared on the lights?

[Sam Wells]

The color on the prints at the time was a bit softer and more subtle than these frame grabs suggest....

 

 

-Sam

[Satsuki Murashige]

Could you tell me what exactly you mean with gel? Is it smeared on the lights?

Hah! :P No, it's not like hair gel -- movie gels are sheets of colored gelatin which you clip onto the front of lights to change their color properties. They're like filters for lights. The most common manufacturers are Lee and Rosco.

http://www.rosco.com/us/filters/index.asp

http://www.leefiltersusa.com/

 

You can get a free swatch book from both companies through a reseller like Filmtools. Then you can see which ones you like best.

http://www.filmtools.com/leeswatchbook.html

 

Hi Sam,

I did notice a lot of chroma noise on the DVD, so the saturation may have been boosted during the transfer. Wenders didn't seem to mind, but maybe Mueller might have something to say about that! Either way, it's still a gorgeous looking film.

[Leo Anthony Vale]

They're like filters for lights.

 

Not "like", but "are".

 

---El Pedante