William A. Fraker: 1941
by Bob Fisher

This article was written in 1980.

It started with a handshake.

That handshake led to a year long assignment working on the film 1941 with Director Steven Spielberg. It also earned Fraker two Academy Award nominations, one for cinematography and the other for visual effects.

Fraker had previously been nominated for Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Heaven Can Wait.

The opportunity to work with Spielberg had a lot of appeal. "One of the joys of being a cinematographer is working with directors who challenge you," explains Fraker, who is president of the American Society of Cinematographers. "My position as a cinematographer is that the director is boss. If I have something creative to contribute, and the director agrees, that is something extra. Spielberg is the kind of director who challenges you to perform."

There was another lure. Fraker was a seaman on a ship in the San Pedro harbor when the incident that the film is based upon took place. "It was actually 1942," he says. "There were rumors about the Japanese bombing Los Angeles. The rumors spread like a fire out of control. Pretty soon, it seemed like every anti-aircraft gun in Los Angeles was firing. Shrapnel was falling all over the place." Translating that memory to celluloid had a certain appeal.

Fraker tries not to approach a film with and preconceptions. "Every film has a unique look that establishes the mood and tells the audience what it is about as much as words and actions do," he explains. "If you start a film with a fixed idea of how it should look, then you lose the opportunity to create something original."

The look of 1941 was established with the shooting of miniatures, which were used extensively for sequences simulating a submarine raid on an amusement park and an air battle over Hollywood Boulevard. "The feeling we wanted to convey was that we weren't creating or staging something."

To achieve this, the miniatures were made to scale in sizes from 1 inch to 1 ½ inches to the foot. The models had to be big enough for realistic lighting during close-in photography," Fraker explains.

A texture for the film was created through the use of smoke and coral filters. Smoke was introduced as a cloud cover for the amusement park sequence. "It was a night scene so it was natural for the moon to light the clouds," said Fraker. "When we looked at the dailies, we were ecstatic. We recognized immediately that it was the texture for which we had been looking. A.D. Flowers, who did the mechanical effects, is a master at special effects."

Shooting the miniatures himself was an experience Fraker relished. "I was fortunate to have 'Bill' (L.B.) Abbott, ASC, of the geniuses of the industry, working with me on this," Fraker says. "He was a tremendous help."

Fraker used the Louma crane, which he describes as "kind of a sound boom with a camera on the end," starting with the miniatures and then throughout the picture.

"It was Steven's idea," Fraker says. "I hated it at first because you have to look at an image on a video screen instead of through a camera. There is a video camera next to the taking lens so the director of photography, by looking at a monitor, can see where the camera is pointed. Cranes let you put the camera places where you couldn't get in any other way. I did appreciate that."

Used in conjunction with a mini-dolly, and overhead cranes, Fraker tracked to camera down Hollywood Boulevard following both airplanes during the dog fight. The effect couldn't be more realistic. There are also composite shots combining the actors and the miniatures; also, actors, miniatures, and blue screen for some aerial action.

"I don't think that we could have held a sequence like this together and still have it look believable before we had 5247 color negative (Eastman color negative II film 5247)," Fraker says. "It is marvelous."

There were similar difficult composites filmed on the miniature amusement park set. The Louma crane moved the camera barely inches over the water tank toward the amusement park set. Fraker was shooting against a 360 degree grey cyc background, balancing to lights that were 150 feet away. "We needed all the latitude we could get," he says. "It had to look real.

"However, one of the most difficult scenes of all," he says," was the USO dance." Fraker had to light a huge hall from all angles since he would be shooting from every direction during elaborately choreographed dance and fight scenes. He gives ample credit to the crew that rigged the lights also. "They were a marvelous electrical crew, headed by Doug Penter, probably the best gaffer in Hollywood," he says.

Every camera move had to be as carefully choreographed as the dance steps. "We had to dim lights with every camera move in order to avoid shadows from the crane," he explains.

How did it all come together?

We asked Fraker if the reality of 1941 on the screen lived up to his expectations.

"I take a lot of pride in what we achieved," he replies. "You always want to do better. There are always things you think of later. But I was really happy with the results. My biggest regret is that they cut a lot of good footage. I wish this could have been a three hour movie."

What's next?

Fraker is now directing the third feature film of his career. He previously directed "Monty Walsh" and "Reflections of Fear". "It's been a ten year hiatus between directing feature films," says Fraker, "but it was worth waiting for 'The Lone Ranger'. It's an authentic western with real heroes. We need heroes today."