The odds of hitting such paydirt were pretty long in recent years, when it sometimes seemed as if just about any film with actors saying lines could find its way onto an IFFM screen. For the 21st annual market however, the slate of theatrical features was intentionally cut in half, to 52. The difference was immediately noticeable- the chances of enduring a sub-film school presentation seemed dramatically reduced. While there didn't appear to be any undeniable breakouts like the titles mentioned above, many impressive films were unspooled.

The gangster-themed UNDER HELLGATE BRIDGE was probably the most talked-about theatrical feature. Proving once again that Mean Streets has become the definition of a cinematic genre, Under Hellgate Bridge mines the milieu of young urban hoodlums with very effective results. A key reason for the buzz is the film's superb photography, which was supervised by director of photography Leland Krane (You Are Here, Black is White, Macbeth in Manhattan, Casanova Falling).

Hellgate's drama takes place in Astoria, Queens, a bustling, colorful city-within-a-city across the river from Manhattan's toney Upper East side and bordered on the west by Laguardia Airport. The picture ignores Astoria's strong Greek identity, instead using the intensely urban area as a setting for a more traditional mob tale. The title refers to a main railroad route out of New York. The Hellgate Bridge cuts imposingly through old Astoria neighborhoods, looming ominously and quite remotely before extending over the turbulent stretch of the East River that prompted the span's unofficial nickname. According to Krane, the film is about people who are "under things like bridges, elevated subways and streetlights, and who can never get out from under."

Krane notes that he and writer/producer/director Michael Sergio decided to fashion an appropriately gritty look for Under Hellgate Bridge that was "ugly but not too ugly, with good light for the actors so the cast would remain appealing to the audience. We looked to Hollywood movies, where even if there is a tough, urban setting, the actors will be lit attractively."

Despite the rough settings, some of the film's most compelling moments are lovely and dramatically appropriate "second unit" shots taken by Krane, including one in which an elevated subway screeches past the protagonist's battered old wood-frame house. The setting sun hits the top part of the house with a golden-orange light before the speeding train's shadow cuts off most of this glorious, optimistic glow. "We noticed the shadow effect one day and had to go back two more times to get the shot," says Krane, who adds that "second-unit can either be the same old boring shots or it can really say something."

Made for under $1 million and shot in 35 mm, Under Hellgate Bridge caught a couple of breaks that enhanced its slick, professional look. A key location that did triple duty as a bar, restaurant and apartment was available to the filmmakers for three weeks straight. This allowed director Sergio and Krane to spend two weeks blocking out camera moves, which resulted in tremendous time savings on the set. "The precise pre-blocking saved us a half-hour to 40 minutes several times on many production days," Sergio explains.

A former actor and television producer/ director, Sergio had previously established a relationship with Panavision New York, which helped the crew obtain a Golden Panaflex GII and Ultra-Speed Z-series lenses (which feature Zeiss glass and Panavision mechanics) at an affordable rate. "Panavision New York was absolutely intstrumental in getting this film made," Sergio attests.

The director also credits Jim Jackson of Pittsburgh's Performance Lighting for providing an affordable truck full of lights. Kodak also helped tremendously, making 100,000 feet of "non-conforming" Vision 500T 5279 stock available to the production at an affordable price. "'Non-conforming' stock either has incorrect keycode or other flaws that don't precisely meet Kodak's specifications," Krane explains. "This batch tested at around 400 ISO, and it was a bit bluer than 79 should be. It worked well with the Ultra-Speed lenses, which are also blue-tinged; fortunately, that was a look we were after." Sergio explains that "we wanted this world to have a chilly, sort of 'outdoor' feel."

Krane distilled years of working on independent features into Hellgate's lively and compelling visual scheme. He submits, "While working on various films over the years, I've seen how low-budget people can get a bounce light into a tight corner of a room without the luxury of moving a wall. I used a lot of those lessons on Hellgate."

Krane tends to choose soft bounced light as his key. "With direct sources, it always looks to me as if an actor is walking into a "movie light,'" the cinematographer says. He favors bouncing small, open-faced lights, ranging from 750Ws to 2Ks, into pairs of concave show cards, an assembly often called a book light. "The light bounces in all directions, and it looks as if the actors are walking past actual lamps. They go from light to dark in a smooth transition."

Krane similarly likes to use big, bounced fill sources to add just a bit of detail to the shadows. "I'll often bounce something like a 750W into a 4' by 8', or even an 8' by 8', placed behind the camera, getting a footcandle of fill or less with a 24 footcandle key light. i like fill to be faint and spread out."

For hard edges and backlight, Krane favors small instruments such as tweenies, inkies, or peppers, often with some color added to create more seperation. He notes that "a hard, sharp edge light always seems to indicate to me that something bad is coming"- which is true most of the time for the characters in Under Hellgate Bridge.

Good things seem destined for the film itself, however. Sergio reports that the positive buzz from the IFFM led directly to three offers of domestic theatrical distribution, with more pouring in. The director expects to see Hellgate released in mid-2000.