Alfred Hitchcock Lights

Sometime in the nineteen-nineties (I forget exactly when), Bavaria Film Studios dismantled an old studio, pulling down the building to erect a new one. This old studio had been the one that Alfred Hitchcock had used in the very beginning of his career. In fact, (or so I think), this was the place that Alfred Hitchcock got his first break. It wasn’t England and way before Hollywood… this was Munich in Bavaria.

To set the scene, let me explain that Bavaria Film Studios are big (you can compare them as the Warner Brothers of Germany). They even have a Studio Tour (which I also worked on, doing the camera effects of the Wild West Show)… Yes, the Germans have a Wild West Show!!

Now in case you don’t know, a sound stage is effectively an empty shell. Apart from sound-proofing, a massive door to allow a semi-trailer in, an extremely high ceiling (to position lights out of the way), and a large array of separate electrical fuses to run those lights, a sound stage is more like an empty warehouse. Not very romantic considering the “magic” that is made in there.

Apart from Hitchcock, who was making television in the early 50’s, (I was told he shot the scenes in German during the morning, then repeated those exact same scenes in English in the afternoon), many German and international films of the 1950’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s had used this old studio. It was a piece of history.

I was involved in the design process of the new studio, so in a way, I am partly responsible for its’ demise.

The reality was that the old studio wasn’t flexible enough to meet the demands of modern production. Back in the 50’s, to fulfill the obligations of Hitchcock’s television production process, it had been fitted with a lighting-grid. This lighting grid was now old, but in use on a daily basis, most often for television. It was functional, but it had one major drawback; the lighting grid wasn’t retractable. It was hung too low. That meant it was still suitable and appropriate for TV production, but with a few caveats. Crane-work was limited. And clearly the height of sets was also an issue.

Well… the point of all this anecdotal meandering is this. I have 4 lights from that old studio. They are Bernhard Deltschaft 2K Fresnels. In perfect working order. They were given to me, but to keep the legalities intact, I paid $100 each for them. (To put that in some perspective, the globe alone is worth $1500).  Also, to keep the info flowing, in German, a light is called a Scheinwerfer, which translates back into English as, a light-thrower, which is a very apt description of what a film light does. Also, the word Fresnel explains that the light is focusable.

Well, I can’t certify, verify or prove that these lights were actually used in an Alfred Hitchcock production, but I can claim that they are from the “original” 1950’s studio, so there is a strong likelihood they were.

I am not big on collecting, but these lights count amongst my most prized possessions.