This is an interview that Moviegoer did a few years ago, and now it seems to be quite good.
At the time of the Shanghai Film Festival, stars, reporters came and went in a hurry, I learned about the situation of the next few judges, tried to use the current convenience, to conduct exclusive interviews with several filmmakers we were interested in, so there was a week of preparations that followed: magasa, Yunzhong and Yuzu and other backers discussed and sorted out the problems together, I was responsible for stepping on the road during the day, figuring out the approximate schedule and activities of several guests, coming back at night to discuss with everyone, and making up some movies by the way. And this interview is not expected to be high, hoping to block one person is complete, and this person is the protagonist of this interview - Mr. Michael Ballhaus. He is over seventy years old, and his steps are slightly faltering, but he is in good spirits, elegant in conversation, and occasionally interspersed with humor.
Fortunately, I met Ballhaus's old friend in Germany many years ago, Professor Lothar Spree, who happened to know me because of his exchange visit in Shanghai. Organized by Professor Spree, the 40-minute interview basically covered the important stages of Mr. Ballhaus's more than 40 years of photographer career, and in his answers he talked about several representative works he shot for Martin Scorsese and Fassbinder, briefly illustrating certain professional issues. Due to language and time problems, he walked half an hour to the consulate, and after our interview, he rushed back to the studio without worrying about eating, and I really admired Mr. Ballhaus's professionalism and approachability.
- Murder of a television set
EDIT: Big-faced whale
Location: German Consulate in Shanghai
Interviewer: Murder of a TV unicorn
Organizing Coordinated Photography: Prof. Lothar Spree (Professor, School of Communication and Art, Tongji University)
Moviegoer: A belated congratulations on receiving the 2007 American Society of Cinematographers International Achievement Award.
BALHAUS: Thank you very much.
Moviegoer: Your parents and uncle were stage actors, right?
BALHAUS: Well, yes.
Moviegoer: So how did this artistic tradition in your family influence your later film career?
Balhaus: I grew up in a theater in Germany. As a child, like other children who grew up on stage, I aspired to be an actor. And at the age of 18, I had the privilege of witnessing Max Ophüls directing Lola Montes. This is very significant to me, and it can even be described as a turning point in my life. Since then, I have aspired to become a cinematographer.
Moviegoer: The Departed is your first time using digital intermediate film (DI) technology, how do you think this high-definition digital technology improves the picture quality of your films? Does it strengthen your means as a photographer?
Balhaus: It depends on the subject and the film itself. I learned that Marty used this technique in his last work... I can't remember the name of the movie for a moment, but it doesn't matter. (Note: The Aviator here) In the post-production run of Infernal Walker, we didn't spend much time on the digital intermediate. There are two reasons: First, because Marty was still shooting until the last minute, the time was very tight, and then the DI light dispenser and colorist checked all the samples, and then turned into digital intermediate films, so when we saw the copy, it was basically perfect. So usually we shoot every 3 to 4 weeks and then divide the DI work into three parts and do it in New York, and that's it. We didn't make too many changes because the samples were already in place, and I preferred to do as much lighting as possible during the actual shooting, rather than relying on digital intermediates to modify them.
Moviegoer: The editing of The Infernal Walker is very fast, averaging about 2.7 seconds per shot. I think this must have had a great impact on the movement of the camera, sometimes the camera just moved, it cut away, always like this. As a viewer, I may feel a little unnatural. As we all know, Mr. Martin Scorsese prefers camera movement and moving long shots, so is there a conflict between editing and photography? If so, how do you and Martin solve these kinds of problems?
Barhouse: I feel the same way about the lack of movement in Infernal Walker, because they cut the film too quickly and fragmented the motion shots that we shot very well, and I was a little sad about it. But then again, because the film was long, Marty had to cut it to 2.5 hours, which was long enough because the producers only wanted 2 hours. So he cut the shot very tightly, which I think helps the story, because the pace of the film is faster, and you don't have time to stop and think. I think that's part of the reason for the film's success. The length of the shot doesn't matter to Marty, but I, the photographer, do get a little sad. [Laughs]
"Infernal Walker" work photos
Moviegoer: Scorsese's films are not the same as before, and we notice that there is less and less movement in his films now, especially the dialogue scenes that just let the characters sit or stand, and you say the lines one by one, and it is more dependent on editing. Looking back at "Goodfellas," perhaps it was a turning point for him, because Scorsese once mentioned that the film was like an MTV compared to his previous works, albeit a more old-fashioned MTV. In working with him in recent years, have you noticed any changes in the preparation of storyboards or split-shot scripts?
Balhouse: It depends in part on the subject and the story. You mentioned "Good Guys," which wasn't edited very fast, and in The Age of Innocence, it was a little slower, and there were a lot of action shots, and in The Gangs of New York, the editing speed was much faster. The film was edited very quickly, and in my opinion it was even a little too fast, [laughs] so we threw away a lot of the shots. That's a real problem, because the people who worked with Marty understood that he wanted all the films to be 5 hours long and then had to cut it to two and a half hours, so it was always a "fish and bear paws can't be both" situation. [Laughs] Because he likes every shot and wants to keep it for use, the shots become very compact. But in my opinion, this trick was successful in "Infernal Walker", and the style was very appropriate. It's very fast, but it works well.
Moviegoer: How do you maintain your photography style? (If assuming that photographers should have their own style.) Do you have your own fixed habits in choosing cameras, film specifications, lenses, and other technical details?
BALHAUS: No, I change a lot. It can be said that I often upgrade my equipment and equipment. I love the latest and greatest photographic equipment, and I've shot the best Arri-Cam on the market for the last few films. I also always use the best performing lenses, and I used the Zeiss f/1.4 latest generation lens Master Primes in the last film, and I think it works very well. But overall, I don't think I have a style because every one of my films has to be a little different, and when you watch Good Guys or Age of Innocence, you see a big difference.
Moviegoer: So does that mean every Martin movie is different?
BALHAUS: Right.
Moviegoer: In your opinion, they don't have a uniform style?
Balhaus: No, the style changes every time. You know "Good Guys" is a very dirty movie, and the use of light is also very dirty. The picture of "The Age of Innocence" is very full and exquisite, magnificent. So the styles are different, and Infernal Walker is another style. So the style is always changing, not repeating, and I want each film to be a little different. [Laughs]
Moviegoer: How do you design your own shooting plans? How do you coordinate your work with the crew such as the art director?
BALHAUS: Usually I have 10 weeks to prepare, and Marty does a very detailed storyboard. Once the storyboard is in hand, I can prepare it myself: for example, what equipment I need, how to handle the lighting, etc. Then I started with the production designer, talked to the people in the costume department, and then I told the people in the camera crew: with the lighting engineer, the camera assistant, and so on, and we would prepare the shooting work in detail, for example, "Infernal Walker" We started in the studio, the police station scene. Have you seen this film?
Moviegoer: I've seen it.
Balhaus: The entire interior of the police station was set up in the shed, so we spent two weeks pre-lighting, and all the light fixtures were in place. We installed lights in each room and the lights for the entire scene, so the preparation before shooting was correspondingly quick.
Moviegoer: Do you use storyboards? Will the content of the storyboard be changed in the actual shooting?
Balhouse: Actually we don't do storyboards, you know I worked with Martin on 7 films and he made a storyboard. Just having a storyboard is enough, I understand it all, and I don't need any storyboards. I know what the composition looks like, how to shoot it, and we put a lot of effort into it.
Moviegoer: In the use of light, do you prefer to use more light to make the picture more beautiful? Do you like large depth-of-field lenses?
BALHAUS: Oh, I'm not very superstitious about the depth of field, I usually use f/2.8 and f/4 for studio shooting, and I'm not very keen on depth of field. If it's on location, I usually use f/11 up and down. If the light is too strong, adjust the aperture a little smaller, and I may use f/5.6 or f/8 for a higher gear. It's a bit related to the lens, but if it's a telephoto lens, I have to use f/8 or something...
Moviegoer: I know Martin likes complex follow-up track shots. Can you talk about how you and he designed two scenes such as street battles in "New York Gangsters" and the ball in "Age of Innocence"? I think those are very complicated.
BARHOUSE: It's complicated, it's hard to do. It was shot with Steadicam. We have very good Steadicam operators, and we also really like the long shots of the shuttle movement, like shooting those oil paintings in a scene at the [Age of Innocence], and the next shot inside the ball is a track shot that goes around the dance floor and explains all the characters to the audience.
Moviegoer: How many cameras did you use for your shoots in Germany, one or a few?
BALHAUS: For the most part, I only use one camera in Germany. But in the U.S., I usually prepare two, or three. But I tried to use only one camera. Only when I encountered situations where some of the two actors could not repeat the dialogue in their entirety, I tried to shoot over the shoulders with two cameras, especially the scene in "The Infernal Walker" where Jack Nicholson and Leonardo were talking, and most of them I used two cameras for shooting.
Moviegoer: What's the difference between shooting a movie in widescreen format and shooting a movie in academy ratio format?
Balhouse: I don't usually use anamorphic lenses, but regular lenses. There are two reasons: First, the anamorphic lens has little choice and is not as fast as the ordinary lens. The maximum is only f/2.8, and it takes f/5.6 or f/8 to maintain sharpness, which I hate and have to ask for more light. So I use Super 35 film, which is what people call "common-top" [Note: Films shot with Super 35, you can more easily output a variety of aspect ratios, whether you need 1.33, 1.66, 1.85, 2.2 or 2.35 formats in the future, you can ensure that the upper edge of the picture is flush, but the height of the lower edge has changed, of course, in practice many photographers hate this "universal" composition method], I raise the height slightly when shooting, So the bottom of the picture will be more cut out, which is covered for the movie. [Laughs] If it's broadcast on TV later, the lower part of the picture is turned on, and the composition of the top and sides can remain the same, just shrinking a little bit in the middle. If you use anamorphic lenses and take them to TV, they will panning & scanning [Note: the process of converting widescreen movies to suitable TV playback formats, generally cutting off a lot of content on both sides of the picture, only the core part of the composition is retained], and finally the composition has changed completely, I hate this, it is no longer the picture I want.
Moviegoer: Let's talk about the tradition of German cinema, how do your generation like Volker Schlöndorff and Rainer Werner Fassbinder think of older masters like Max Ofes and Fritz Lang?
BALHAUS: Well, they had a huge impact on my career because I loved their films, I loved these old German masters of cinema. But after I started my own photography career, what influenced me even more was the French New Wave and Italian cinema.
Moviegoer: Are you referring to Italian neorealism?
BALHAUS: Yes, neorealism. And it was also influenced by famous photographers, such as... (I don't remember the name of the person) Famous Swedish photographer... （Sven Nykvist？ to Sven Nykvist. I really like his work and have seen all of his works. I also liked the cinematographers of New Wave films and the Italian cinematographers, who had watched a lot of films and had never been in film school. I shot my first film when I was 25 years old, and since then I've been learning while shooting and learning in the shoot. [Laughs]
Moviegoer: Fassbinder's style of scheduling is very much like the German "chamber drama" (Klappe Filme) film, he likes to concentrate all the characters and conflicts in a small space. Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (The History of Petra von Conte's Blood and Tears) is a prime example. So how did you and Fassbinder design the shots for a film where all the scenes take place in a small room and last as much as 2 hours?
Balhaus: It's not a simple job. [Laughs] We shot this film for 10 days, and the budget was 200,000 marks. We had to envision any possible set-up in such a room, but in the end we managed to make a beautiful film because it was very stylized and the composition was very rigorous. There are not many shots in the film, and there are several long shots. The dancing scene is 4 minutes long, and there are about 4 4-minute scenes in the film. So the entire film has only 112 shots. Compared with "Infernal Walker", which has 800 or thousands of shots, it is... [Laughs]
Moviegoer: Fassbinder once said that his later work was influenced by Douglas Sirk. So can you tell me some of his technical details shifts in post-production?
Balhaus: In terms of lens style, his early works were flat and stable, and in some ways they were not very refined. Since we worked together, there have been more and more sports shots. He was an ambitious man and often asked me how I would shoot. Then I told him what I thought, he's better, so the end result is always more exciting, I get improvement from it, his film is improved, and we progress together. [Laughs] It seems to me that as we worked together, the film became more and more complex. You see Die Ehe der Maria Braun ,the camera movement and the composition are so complex, and I really enjoy working with him.
Moviegoer: Can you tell us a few more details about the filming of Maria Braun's Marriage?
Balhaus: Okay, the filming of Maria Braun's Marriage was bumpy because he didn't get into the groove. He didn't want to make the film at first. [Laughs] it's funny isn't it? Because he wanted to make Berlin Alexanderplatz, he had spent three months writing the script for Alexanderplatz, and he was full of that story. So it was like a routine for him to come to the studio and start filming Maria Braun's Marriage, and the producers threatened him, "Well, if you don't want to shoot well, then I'll go on my own." So Fassbinder came back the next day, and he said to me, "Hey, I can't talk to you about every shot of Alexanderplatz in Berlin, so what are we doing here?" [Laughs] Then he looked down at the venue and saw that some things were more interesting and some things were not quite right. He said, "What are these things!?" You want to shoot this here? "Yes, why not?" It's all in keeping with the times. He said, "Bullshit! We looked for another place to shoot. "[Laughs] So there were a lot of variables in between, and he was a lot of drugs, you know, he wrote the script all about cocaine. There were a lot of changes in between, so it wasn't easy to make this film, but the film was still a success, a great film. ...... So, well, that's the last film I've worked with him.
Moviegoer: Maybe this isn't the last film you've worked with, isn't there Lili Marleen behind it, and aren't you also in charge of the film? But somehow, you don't appear on the credits. Can you tell us about your collaboration with another photographer, Xavier Schwarzenberger, in Lily Marlene? Are you in charge of different scenarios?
Balhaus: No, Lily Marlene was made by him, and it has nothing to do with me.
Moviegoer: I checked IMDb and some materials beforehand, and it seems that I made a mistake on it, and I thought you were involved in it, so I'm sorry.
BARHOUSE: No, no.
Michael Balhouse
German photographer born in Berlin on 5 August 1935, dabbled in photography in 1984. In the 1970s, he collaborated on 16 films with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, an important representative of the "New German Cinema", and in the 1980s, he came together with Martin Scorsese to shoot 7 classic films such as "Good Guys", "New York Gangsters" and "Infernal Affairs". According to the Website of the International Film Archive, the famous German photographer has made 103 films in his film career in the past 50 years. Almost all of the world-class awards for films have been collected by him.
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