Editing The Night of the Hunter (film) (section)

===Filming===
[[File:The Night of the Hunter (1955) Still Key Light.png|thumb|A lighting arrangement in ''The Night of the Hunter''. Note the placement of the [[key light]] off the subject (Lillian Gish) to create a silhouette while illuminating Robert Mitchum in the background. This plays off the conventional association of light with good and darkness with evil.]]
Principal photography of ''The Night of the Hunter'' began on August 15 and ended on October 7, 1954, a total of 36 days of shooting.{{sfn|Eagan|2010|p=502}}{{sfn|Ventura|Gavron|1984|loc=3:03}} Laughton kept the editor and musical composer on set during filming, which was very uncommon at the time.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=13:41}} Mitchum originally suggested that Laughton shoot the film in authentic Appalachian locations, but the director could not afford the budget to do on-location shooting.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} Besides, he wanted to create the film's unique look on Hollywood sound stages and found what he was looking for at Pathé, [[Republic Pictures|Republic Studios]], and the [[Rowland V. Lee]] ranch in the [[San Fernando Valley]].{{sfn|Couchman|2009|p=123}} Certain [[cutaway (filmmaking)|cutaway]] shots and [[compositing]] shots were shot in West Virginia.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=14:45}} Laughton hired [[Terry Sanders]] as second unit director in order to scout and shoot the river scenes because he had recently directed an Academy Award-winning short film ''[[A Time Out of War]]'', which mostly took place on a river.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=15:20}}

Rather than shooting with traditional [[take]]s, Laughton had the crew only [[Clapperboard|slate]] at the beginning of each reel of film and let the camera roll continuously until the reel ran out. This was so that he could direct the actors without waiting to reset the camera and sound equipment, not unlike the way silent films used to be directed.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=19:23}} Shelley Winters told Laughton she had this image of Willa as being "a fly fascinated by a spider, and she very willingly walks into this web". He liked this image and told her to channel that into the performance. Indeed, a stylized spider and web are seen as the children make their way along the riverbank at night fleeing Mitchum.{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=6:45}} Mitchum's performance in the film has been described as [[Brechtian acting]], which Laughton had extensive experience with.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=26:31}} According to Lillian Gish, Laughton was very unsure of himself on set as this was his first time directing a film, and when someone would give him a suggestion he would start talking about fears that his whole vision was wrong.{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=7:50}} Laughton's directing style was supportive and respectful of the actors' input and several of the actors have said it was among their favorite professional experiences.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}

The director of photography was [[Stanley Cortez]], who also shot Orson Welles' 1942 film ''[[The Magnificent Ambersons (film)|The Magnificent Ambersons]]''. Because Laughton had very little experience working with film, Cortez would visit his house to explain various concepts of camera lenses, camera heights, and what effect each of them gave.{{sfn|Ventura|Gavron|1984|loc=2:46}} Laughton told Cortez that the nitrate prints of the silent movies that he had been watching for research impressed him with how sharp they looked, so he asked Cortez to create that same sharpness for ''The Night of the Hunter''.{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=9:35}} The studio brought most of the crew from a recent film ''[[Black Tuesday (film)|Black Tuesday]]'' because they had worked so well together, and Cortez had experimented with a new black-and-white film [[Kodak Tri-X]] on that production, with great results. He chose to shoot certain scenes of this film on Tri-X because it had a sharp contrast that would help fulfill Laughton's vision.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=22:04}}<ref name="asc">{{cite web |last=Turner |first=George E. |title=Creating ''The Night of the Hunter'' |url=https://ascmag.com/articles/flashback-the-night-of-the-hunter |website=[[American Cinematographer]] |date=December 1982 |access-date=February 8, 2020}}</ref> The studio however, tried to convince them to shoot on color film instead because they thought it would sell more tickets. Gregory fought to keep it black-and-white: "I could not see this film being in color."{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=21:42}} The style of the cinematography was split up between the two units: the first unit of the crew shot the scenes in and around the Harpers' home, which were very dark, whereas the [[second unit]] shot the scenes traveling along the river, which were designed to look more like images from the children's perspective. One scene in particular that Cortez has spoken about is in the bedroom after Willa has overheard Powell threatening the children. He lit this scene with a halo of light surrounding Willa's head on the pillow, foreshadowing that her death is imminent.{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=10:55}} Cortez also brought back the [[Iris shot]] in one scene, as an homage to silent films.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=20:20}}

Laughton drew on the harsh, angular look of [[expressionism (film)|German expressionist films]] of the 1920s, which is especially noticeable in the art direction by Hilyard Brown.<ref>[http://filmsnoir.net/film_noir/the-night-of-the-hunter-1955-not-noir.html ''The Night of the Hunter: Not Noir''] filmsnoir.net.</ref>{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=22:54}} He had the idea that children notice only certain details of their surroundings that they are focused on, which is why some set pieces are somewhat abstract and minimal: neon lights that are not attached to a particular store, white picket fences that are not surrounding any house, the barn along the river that looks like a painting, and the "chapel-like" parents' bedroom.{{sfn|Clubb|Rosas|2010|loc=22:54 and 24:38}} The river scenes with the children were all shot on a sound stage.{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=11:35}} The shot of John looking out of the barn window and seeing Powell's silhouette on the horizon was created using a [[dwarfism|little person]] and a [[miniature horse]].{{sfn|Algar|1995|loc=12:00}} The underwater scene showing Willa's dead body was shot in a studio using a mannequin with a custom mask to make it look like Winters.<ref name="afi" />