TIGHTROPE: Style and Technique 2: The Cinematography

[Matt]

Bruce Surtees was director of photography for Tightrope. Surtees first worked with Eastwood on The Beguiled, and would go on to photograph a dozen Eastwood films over the next fifteen years.

Discuss how the lighting sets the mood of Tightrope. What scenes did you find the lighting to be the most effective. Are there any scenes that you felt were difficult to follow because they were too dark?   

[Walt]

This is one of the few high points for me . The photography is superb . The film positively reekes seedines and dark menace .

[Americanbeauty]

Yeah. Great job on the cinematography.

Like this scene at the club/bar ... the red light ... the shadows on Wes' face.
At first it was kind of difficult to follow yeah. Because, well you don't see anything. It's just red/black.


But it's a very interesting scene.

It definitely reflects the mood of the movie, but also Wes' state of mind. Confusion. Darkness.

[The Schofield Kid]

I don't think there were any scenes that were too dark,there was always just a little light in each of the very dark scenes that set the mood of the film well.The shadows on the face of Wes that AB mentioned very reminiscent of Million Dollar Baby.

[Philo Beddoe Jr]

The lighting often creates a very 'moody' and 'emotional' experience. 

I think this factor would have made the film a lot more powerful on the big screen, due to its increased visual impact.

WKC.

[Chessie]

I really like the cinematography in this film.  The shadowing really gives the film an interesting feel.  It's a much darker feel then most of Clint's other films.  But that's part of why it stands out so much.  It just gives off this eery feeling.  I think it's one of the better movies cinematically.

[Lin Sunderland]

The dark mysterious shots in Tightrope are the perfect foil for this movie.  Faces in shadows, places not clear and night shots all draw the audience into the unclear world of the killer and Wes Block.  This type of lighthing replaces unnecessary dialogue with a far more sinister feel.  The movie is sinister and on the big screen this technique hightlights the other world Wes inhabits.  The scenes with his children playing are well lit and give the feeling of normality to the life Wes leads with them, only later when they are involved with the sordid side of Wes's life do their scenes also become dark and shadowed.  I feel the way Tightrope has been lit is vital to the fabric of the story and without these effects a lot of the mystery and suspense would be lost.

[dane with no name]

The lightning is superb, even if it wasnt an eastwood movie i would still like this as a perfect film noir. I cnat really think of how eastwoods performance would have looked with different lights. In this movie actor and director worked together in perfect tandem.

[KC]

Thanks to everyone for participating in this discussion. This topic is now closed, please post any additional thoughts in the General Discussion forum.