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MillimeterMillimeter celebrates the life and work of Conrad Hall, Sr. for his contribution to the art of cinema and to the community of filmmakers.
Jan 8, 2003 12:00 PM
Fade to Black
by Jon Silberg
Millimeter, Jul 1, 2002 
Conrad L. Hall still recalls a slightly sarcastic suggestion director John Schlesinger aimed at him when the two were working together on location in New York shooting the classic thriller Marathon Man. "‘Conrad, he said, ‘you ought to direct a film before you shoot another one.’"
"I was probably coming on too strong," Hall admits all these years later. "That's something I don't like to do. I don't want to direct anybody else's film. As a cinematographer, I just want to do the best I can for the visuals."
Hall does have something of a reputation for strong opinions about his visuals, which is why so many of the films he's shot are so striking, and why he has taken home two Oscars. Among the films he's worked on are Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Searching for Bobby Fischer, In Cold Blood, and American Beauty.
Today, in his mid-seventies, at an age when many people would have retired to the golf course, Hall continues to shoot cutting-edge films. Most recently, he has re-teamed with American Beauty director Sam Mendes for Mendes' second feature, Road to Perdition-—a dark, Depression-era drama starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman. In it, Hanks, a hit man for the Irish Mafia, seeks revenge when his boss, Newman, turns on him. For the film, Hanks assumes a darker persona than audiences have seen. "You won't believe how many guys he puts away," says Hall.
So to capture the heaviness of the story, Hall set out to create a look that was dark and monochromatic. "I abhor using too much color," he declares. "Especially for a subject as bleak as this. It's not a happy kind of film. It's powerful." The film is cold, both literally (it takes place in deep winter) and in its color palette. "I didn't want it to be too visually friendly," he explains.
Hall credits the period sets by Dennis Gassner (The Man Who Wasn't There, The Hudsucker Proxy) and costumes by Albert Wolsky (The Grass Harp) with helping to sell the drama and creating a film he believes is at least as powerful as his previous collaboration with Mendes on American Beauty. The DP even goes so far as to cite the extras casting, which, he adds, was pitch perfect. "This is about the Irish Mafia and there's no mistaking that these people are Irish," he notes. "These sorts of details are all important."
When Mendes first approached Hall about American Beauty, Hall says he had no compunction about working with the stage director with no previous feature film experience. In fact, Hall had recently shot Searching for Bobby Fischer, the directorial debut of screenwriter-turned-director Steven Zaillian, with resounding success.
"I knew Sam was a great dramatist," says Hall. "He'd done The Blue Room in London and other plays. The script by Alan Ball told a wonderful story. And I knew if Sam wanted my input, I'd be there to offer it. To help. If something about the directing was completely out of line, I could speak up, have some influence." Just as Zaillian returned to Hall for his next feature, A Civil Action, Mendes also went back for this, his second feature.
Hall, a working cinematographer for more than 40 years, is quick to add that despite his experience, he is still perpetually learning about his craft. He looks forward to digitally timing a feature the way Roger Deakins did for the Coen Brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? or like his son, cinematographer Conrad W. Hall, did for David Fincher's Panic Room. "You can make the final prints more exactly what you want them to be," he says. "Chemicals are fickle. [Digital color correction] can give you a level of control you could never do with traditional color timing. I can't wait to take advantage of that.
"I'm still a student," he concludes. "Filmmaking is a brand new art form. It's only about a century old. I'm looking forward to going into its next century and learning new things about it all the time."
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.
