Were you influenced by the 1951 black-and-white feature filmed photographed by Harry Stradling (ASC)?
BUTLER: Thats a really tough question. We were expected to shoot color because it was going on television and television doesnt happen without color. The challenge was trying to reproduce the emotions of that wonderful black and white film. I went to great pains to light it differently than any television show that I had done up to that time. When I took this project on I decided to use very small, focusable lights. I came up with a system for hanging those lights in the center of the room with arms that reached out like petals on a flower in all directions. The arms were movable. No matter where someone was, I could move the lights to cover the actors faces. I lit this movie like the original film. We were shooting in color, but I kept it muted and not too contrasty. I wanted to photograph the people in a fashion that was consistent with the original story. Camera movement was also restrained and quiet. The art direction and the way the sets were decorated and built was also extremely
