Shooting "Days of Heaven"

This is an excerpt from an interview included on the CC edition of Terrence Malick's film Days of Heaven (1978). John Bailey was the camera operator on the film. (The DP was Nestor Almendros.) One of the most stunning looking films in the history of cinema. Large portions of the film were shot outdoors with little or no artificial light in what is called the "magic hour", the period in which sunlight gives way to night. Almendros used 50mm lens with the aperture opened to the maximum (f-1.4 and f-1). The look of the film (the emphasis on fading light) came from Malick, and it is perfectly integrated with the work's "content". This is what makes these various shots more than just "pretty" images.