:58:05
The monster's recitation of the work ethic
to Henry is also courtesy of Balderston.
:58:11
Cinematographer John Mescall
had first worked for Whale
:58:15
on The Invisible Man before filming By
Candlelight, The Kiss Before the Mirror,
:58:19
Bride of Frankenstein and Show Boat
for the director.
:58:22
Mescall was an alcoholic.
:58:23
On the set he was efficient
and produced luminous work -
:58:26
provided that he made it to the set, which
the studio ensured by sending a car daily.
:58:31
Despite a good rapport, Whale finally
sacked Mescall for drunkenness
:58:34
on the set of the much-troubled
The Road Back.
:58:38
By the late '50s, he was working for Roger
Corman, and ended his days on skid row.
:58:42
His work on Bride ranks it as one of the
most exquisitely photographed films ever.
:58:47
In a 1935 interview with Movie Makers,
magazine of the Amateur Cinema League,
:58:51
Mescall spoke of his use
of Rembrandt lighting
:58:54
and asserted that, despite
the greasepaint Jack Pierce applied,
:58:57
the monster was never intended
to be a jolly green giant,
:59:00
but "a dead-white corpse."
:59:03
With variations, Rembrandt lighting
is used throughout -
:59:07
a hard and contrasty light, with deep,
rich shadows and brilliant highlights.
:59:11
It involves neither a straight crosslight
nor a flat light from the front,
:59:15
but a combination of the two,
with the light originating
:59:18
from a point in front and to one side
of the objects to be photographed.
:59:22
This tends to impart
a roundness to the features,
:59:24
and this pseudo-stereoscopic effect
is heightened
:59:27
by having a dark background behind
the bright side of the face, and vice versa.
:59:32
"It was our desire to maintain
an eerie, mysterious atmosphere."
:59:35
"Supplementary lights were projected
from odd angles, especially for Karloff."
:59:40
"Many settings
were filled with dark shadows."
:59:43
"The sets themselves had distorted walls,
involving many angles and offsets."
:59:48
"In scenes in which
only the monster appeared,
:59:50
the camera, with a short-angle lens,
:59:52
was placed low and comparatively
close to the subject,
:59:55
and thus was gained the impression
of a distorted figure and unusual height."
:59:59
"In contrast, we placed
the camera at a high elevation