Tricks of the Trade

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James Glennon, ASC

During the shooting of El Norte—the rat tunnel sequence—we had to light 60 feet of 36" diameter corrugated steel storm drain to look like 300 feet. We painted a false perspective end piece for the visual extension. Along the top, at every fourth corrugation, we cut an opening with a welder. These were covered with paper and lit from a rack of nooks above. The corrugations were just deep enough that you never saw the paper/light—and the pipe was lit with a soft ambiance all the way to the end. We also cut hinged openings in the side of the pipe for the camera and lens.*

*The rats in the sequence were trained to run to peanut butter.