Editing American Beauty (1999 film) (section)

===Cinematography===
[[Conrad Hall]] was not the first choice for director of photography; Mendes believed he was "too old and too experienced" to want the job, and he had been told that Hall was difficult to work with. Instead, Mendes asked [[Frederick Elmes]], who turned the job down because he did not like the script.<ref name="lowenstein 259">{{harvnb|Lowenstein|2008|p=259}}</ref> Hall was recommended to Mendes by [[Tom Cruise]], because of Hall's work on ''[[Without Limits]]''&nbsp;(1998), which Cruise had executive produced. Mendes was directing Cruise's then-wife [[Nicole Kidman]] in the play ''[[The Blue Room (play)|The Blue Room]]'' during preproduction on ''American Beauty'',<ref name="impeccable 75" /> and had already [[storyboard]]ed the whole film.<ref name="fanshawe" /> Hall was involved for one month during preproduction;<ref name="impeccable 75" /> his ideas for lighting the film began with his first reading of the script, and further passes allowed him to refine his approach before meeting Mendes.<ref name="probst 80">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=80}}</ref> Hall was initially concerned that audiences would not like the characters; he only felt able to identify with them during cast rehearsals, which gave him fresh ideas on his approach to the visuals.<ref name="impeccable 75" />

Hall's approach was to create peaceful compositions that evoked [[classicism]], to contrast with the turbulent on-screen events and allow audiences to take in the action. Hall and Mendes first discussed the intended mood of a scene, but he was allowed to light the shot in any way he felt necessary.<ref name="probst 80" /> In most cases, Hall first lit the scene's subject by "painting in" the blacks and whites, before adding [[fill light]], which he reflected from [[rigid panel|beadboard]] or white card on the ceiling. This approach gave Hall more control over the shadows while keeping the fill light unobtrusive and the dark areas free of spill.<ref name="probst 81" /> Hall shot ''American Beauty'' in a [[Aspect ratio (image)|2.39:1 aspect ratio]] in the [[Super 35]] format, primarily using [[List of motion picture film stocks#Vision color negative (ECN-2 process 1996–2002)|Kodak Vision 500T 5279]] [[35mm movie film|35&nbsp;mm film stock]].<ref name="impeccable 76" /> He used Super 35 partly because its larger scope allowed him to capture elements such as the corners of the petal-filled pool in its overhead shot, creating a frame around Angela within.<ref name="chapter 5" /> He shot the whole film at the same [[T-stop]] (T1.9);<ref name="impeccable 76">{{harvnb|Probst|Heuring|Holben|Thomson|2000|p=76}}</ref> given his preference for shooting that wide, Hall favored high-speed stocks to allow for more subtle lighting effects.<ref name="probst 81" />

Hall used [[Panavision cameras|Panavision Platinum]] cameras with the company's Primo series of [[prime lens|prime]] and [[zoom lens]]es. Hall employed Kodak Vision 200T 5274 and [[List of motion picture film stocks#EXR color negative (ECN-2 process 1989–1996)|EXR 100T 5248]] stock for scenes with daylight effects. He had difficulty adjusting to Kodak's newly introduced Vision release print stock, which, combined with his contrast-heavy lighting style, created a look with too much contrast. Hall contacted Kodak, who sent him a batch of 5279 that was five percent lower in contrast. Hall used a 1/8th strength [[Tiffen (company)|Tiffen]] Black ProMist [[Photographic filter|filter]] for almost every scene, which he said in retrospect may not have been the best choice, as the optical steps required to blow Super 35 up for its [[anamorphic]] release print led to a slight amount of degradation; therefore, the [[Photon diffusion|diffusion]] from the filter was not required. When he saw the film in a theater, Hall felt that the image was slightly unclear and that had he not used the filter, the diffusion from the Super 35–anamorphic conversion would have generated an image closer to what he originally intended.<ref name="impeccable 76" />

A shot where Lester and Ricky share a cannabis joint behind a building came from a misunderstanding between Hall and Mendes. Mendes asked Hall to prepare the shot in his absence; Hall assumed the characters would look for privacy, so he placed them in a narrow passage between a truck and the building, intending to light from the top of the truck. When Mendes returned, he explained that the characters did not care if they were seen. He removed the truck and Hall had to rethink the lighting; he lit it from the left, with a large light crossing the actors, and with a soft light behind the camera. Hall felt the consequent wide shot "worked perfectly for the tone of the scene".<ref name="impeccable 76" /> Hall made sure to keep rain, or the suggestion of it, in every shot near the end of the film. In one shot during Lester's encounter with Angela at the Burnhams' home, Hall created rain effects on the foreground cross lights; in another, he partly lit the pair through French windows to which he had added material to make the rain run slower, intensifying the light (although the strength of the outside light was unrealistic for a night scene, Hall felt it justified because of the strong contrasts it produced). For the close-ups when Lester and Angela move to the couch, Hall tried to keep rain in the frame, lighting through the window onto the ceiling behind Lester.<ref name="probst 81">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=81}}</ref> He also used rain boxes to produce rain patterns where he wanted without lighting the entire room.<ref name="probst 82">{{harvnb|Probst|2000|p=82}}</ref>