“我們需要大功率與可靠性——除了ARRI M系列別無選擇。”
—— 燈光師馬克•斯圖恩

洛杉磯燈光師馬克•斯圖恩將ARRI M40和M90燈光帶到偏遠的山地拍攝夜間滑雪短片《余輝》。本片由Sweetgrass Productions制作公司出品，攝影師是邁克•布朗、尼克•沃爾科特和扎克•蘭姆拉斯，邁克•布朗與尼克•瓦格納聯合執導。


　　我們的拍攝從加拿大卑詩省開始，大概20天后轉移到阿拉斯加又進行了16天的拍攝。在前期準備階段，我們討論的一個重要議題就是帶去的燈光設備能不能經得起這樣的折騰，當你身處荒郊野外，可靠性是重中之重。我們調查了市面上每一種燈光的光譜，只有ARRI M系列最適合這種類型的拍攝。

　　在卑詩，最初我希望用六盞M40配合拍攝——雪道兩側各一盞，這樣就不用頻繁地將燈光搬來搬去。可惜我們的預算在加拿大不夠用，因為那里的租賃費很高，所以最終只拿到兩盞M40和一些LED燈光。盡管如此，M40還是發揮了主要作用，一般我們都用它們來做過肩鏡頭的雙主光。每個鏡頭都是先布置M40，然后用別的LED來補充。


　　我們在積雪15英尺厚的峭壁和山口工作，腳下踩著滑雪板，燈光全部靠肩扛移動，發電機則放在雪橇里在山坡上又推又拉。我們大概花了80%的時間在移動燈光設備，只剩20%時間是在滑雪。

　　在卑詩逐漸認識到只有M系列才有那么強的輸出和可靠性之后，去阿拉斯加之前我們只訂了ARRI的燈光。要去我們的拍攝地點，所有的一切都要靠直升機運輸到山頭上。因為飛行時間有限，所以我們提前就找照片研究，和向導一起先去熟悉地況。開拍當天，燈光和對應的發電機掛在網里會直接空運到事先確定的坐標。


　　這些燈光必須要經得起阿拉斯加快速變化的濕度、霜凍和海拔的考驗。結冰會讓燈頭無法點亮，我不得不把燈頭先湊到發電機的排氣管口除冰。最初我們計劃在3000米海拔的位置安置這些燈光，因為臨時改變主意，又往上加了接近1000米，所以那些發電機一定是因為這件事鬧情緒，我們不得不時刻留意著它們的運轉情況。

　　我們帶去了兩盞M90和六盞M40，但是由于極端低溫天氣導致發電機故障，有兩盞沒能點亮。我當時就站在懸崖上安裝一盞M40，夜晚來得很快，在天色完全暗下來，看不見山底的燈光設備之前，我必須趕快滑下去找到它們，所以當時也顧不上那些了。最終我們用一盞M90和一盞M40做主光，兩盞M40做輪廓光，還有兩盞M40放在山底做填充光，這樣我們的滑雪者才能知道在哪里剎車。每晚他們只能滑一次，因為沒有直升機就沒辦法再返回坡頂。


　　這些燈光被安放在10到20英尺厚的雪坡里、峭壁邊、冰山上，在低于零度的氣溫下每天被直升機懸空拖吊著上下山，結果依然照常工作，表現得難以置信的好，我不認為還有別的燈光設備能陪我們干好這件事。這一趟它們一定受盡折磨，但我之所以選擇M系列，就是因為我清楚知道它們是最適合這次工作的燈光設備。我們需要大功率與可靠性——除了ARRI M系列別無選擇。

夜間滑雪短片《余輝》

Blue Lights on a Black Run

 

"We needed the reliability and power of the ARRI M-Series – nothing else comes close. "- Gaffer Mark Stuen

 

LA-based gaffer Mark Stuen takes ARRI M40 and M90 M-Series lights to remote mountain locations for the night-skiing short film project, Afterglow from Sweetgrass Productions. Shot by Brown, Nick Wolcott and Zac Ramras, the film was directed by Nick Waggoner and Mike Brown.

 

 

Our shoot started with about 20 days in British Columbia and after that we had around 16 shooting days in Alaska. A big topic of discussion during preproduction was the reliability of the lights we were going to take up; when you are in the middle of nowhere, nothing else is a higher priority. We looked at the photometrics of every light available, but the ARRI M-Series was better suited to a shoot like this than anything else on the market.

 

In British Columbia I originally wanted six M40s to deal with the logistics of the shoot – two for each of the zones we were planning to ski, so that we wouldn't have to move them much. Unfortunately our budget couldn't handle that in Canada, where rental rates are high, so we ended up with two M40s and some LEDs. Nevertheless, the M40s were our backbone and we generally used them as double over-the-shoulder keys. Every shot started out with the M40s and then we would work the LEDs in where they could accent.

 

 

We were working in 15 feet of snow and on the edges of cliffs and cornices. The lights were all moved on our shoulders while skiing and the generators were placed in sleds and pushed or pulled up and down the slopes. We probably spent 80% of our time moving lights and 20% skiing.

 

For Alaska we exclusively ordered ARRI fixtures, having learned in BC that the M-Series were the only lights with the horsepower and reliability to be trusted on a shoot like this. Everything had to be helicoptered to the exact cliff locations where it was going to be used. We planned this out in advance by looking at photographs and going on scouts with our guides, as we had very limited helicopter time. When the time came to drop the lights they were slung in nets with their generators and carried off to their positions.

 

 

The lights had to deal with rapidly changing humidity, frost and altitude in Alaska. I actually had to thaw out the lampheads with the exhaust of their generators, as the ice was preventing them from striking. Originally we had planned on using all the lights at about 3,000 feet elevation, but at the last moment it changed and we were closer to 4,000 feet; the generators hated us for that and had to be constantly monitored.

 

We had taken two M90s and six M40s, but the extreme cold caused us generator issues and we couldn’t use a couple of the lights. I was literally standing on the middle of a cliff while working on an M40; night time was rapidly approaching and I had more lights at the base I needed to ski to before it was too dark to see, so we just had to work with what we had. Our setup turned out to be an M90 and M40 key, two M40 backlights and two M40s at the base as fill, so our skiers could see the end of the run. The skiers could only do one run each per night, as you couldn't get back up without a helicopter.

 

 

We put these lights on slopes with 10 to 20 feet of snow, on cliffs and glaciers, in sub-zero temperatures and flew them in and out of our location hanging from helicopters. They still worked and performed incredibly well, and I don't think there is another light in production that could have done it for us. We definitely put them through the wringer but I chose them because I knew they were the best lights for the job. We needed the reliability and power of the ARRI M-Series – nothing else comes close.

 

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