James Bond

Before Deep Throat, there was no "porn" as you describe it...or very little except for aformentioned underground stag loops and such. Most films attempted some kind of narrative, no matter how contrived...some actually quite good, Joe Sarno and Randy Metzger films were quite well done by anyone's standards. All the grindhouse fare prior to "Throat" was decidely softcore. Harry Novack films and their like...nudity and implied sex.

His cinematic style lent itself well to his films - they were supposed to be comic book style characters (i.e. his women were extremely endowed, his crazy characters off the wall crazy, etc.) - everything on-screen, including the somewhat gaudy lighting, was a perfect match to his style of storytelling. I'm interested in capturing some of the same vibe - much has to do with his editing style and composition/blocking, but I was just curious if HMI's would be the best to approximate that Meyer look? No, for awhile porn was quite chic, the "in" thing...the majority of Bob Chinn's work (Johnny Wadd films) was shot in 35mm Panavision. "Deep Throat", "Beyond the Green Door", etc. all were 35mm. As mainstream popularity waned and the films went back underground, less was shot on 35mm and the industry was the first to embrace video in the 80's.

Most of his later colour stuff - after the B&W fare such as "Faster Pussycat, Kill! Kill!" - ermmm....one good example would be "Cherry, Harry & Raquel" or even "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls". I'm hoping to be able to get a suitable Eastman Color/grain effect in post - but his films really catch my eye in terms of lighting (and composition) - you can tell he had extensive still photography experience. I guess what I'm asking, would HMI's with diffusion give me that "soft" yet "punchy" look even though I'm planning on a deep focus for the shoot? Hmmm...wish I could describe it better :-)

hey everybody, Lighting is definitely not my forte - but i do possess a rudimentary knowledge of the equipment, if not techniques. Essentially, I'm trying to recreate an in-studio late 60's Russ Meyer film look. Certainly, film stock would play a part, but I'm limited to using 16mm 200 ASA Kodak True Vision. I'm wondering if any of you lighting wizzes might be able to suggest hints? Just to my eye, his films look daylight/HMI lit and heavily diffused - the colours seem soft given the sharp focus... Additionaly, would any sort of non-conventional light positioning/contrast mean anything in getting this "look"? Many thanks, Mr. Retrogorilla, student filmmaker Esq.,