MENTOR SERIES - The Late RALF D. BODE A.S.C.

One of the questions I get from up and coming filmmakers is where did I learn the craft. I often reply that since I did not attend film school I am self taught. But that really is only half of the picture. I fact I have sought out and been lucky enough to have connected with a series of mentors who have shared either directly, or indirectly their wisdom.

One of the earliest and most important mentors I learned from was Oscar nominated cinematographer Ralf Bode. I took a master cinematography class in Rockport Maine and Ralf was the teacher, but we stayed in close contact for years after. I would call Ralf up of I had a particularly tricky sequence or was trying something new. For me it is important that you have something in common with a mentor, such as a certain aesthetic or approach that you can relate to or work well be learning from. In the case of my friendship with Ralf we shared both.


There are things that Ralf taught in that class that I am only really beginning to grasp NOW. One fundamental truth that Ralf shared and that has stayed with me is that the process of testing, be it your film stock, cameras. workflow or any other variable and fully understanding it BEFORE the actual shoot is ongoing and a necessity for every single major project. Certainly Ralf with all his years of experience knew so much about how film would respond, yet even if KODAK had not changed film types between projects he went ahead and retested the latitude before every project just in case there were subtle differences in the BATCHES of film. In this digital age with technologies changing so quickly this axiom holds even more true today.

But it was also clear that while a scientific method could be applied to control and master variables he knew that what really makes the work soar is emotion. Another lesson that has stayed close for me is that in any full length feature film, the face of the lead character will be on screen for a tremendous time... and one must think of filming that face in many different lights, angles and perspectives to fully realize the character and support performance. There can be a tendency to film from an actor's "best" angle. While this is important to be aware of, repetitive filming can detract from performance and story intensity. As in all things, balance.

These are just a few things I learned from the gracious and gentlemanly Mr. Ralf Bode. He was known for being especially sensitive to filming actresses well. Things you may have seen that Ralf filmed are, the famous B unit scene in ROCKY where he climbs the Philadelphia steps, the principle filming on SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, Jodi Foster's riveting performance in THE ACCUSED and his Oscar nominated film for cinematography COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER.


RALF BODE - 1941-2001