A Unique Perspective On The Making of 'Stalker' - The Testimony of A Mechanic Toiling Away Under Tarkovsky's Guidance - Cinephilia & Beyond

A Unique Perspective on the Making of 'Stalker': The Testimony o…c Toiling Away under Tarkovsky's Guidance • Cinephilia &
Beyond 20.02.17 19:41
(https://cinephiliabeyond.org/)
A UNIQUE
PERSPECTIVE ON THE
MAKING OF ‘STALKER’:
THE TESTIMONY OF A
MECHANIC TOILING
AWAY UNDER
TARKOVSKY’S
GUIDANCE
http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 1 von 47

A Unique Perspective on the Making of 'Stalker': The Testimony o…c Toiling Away under Tarkovsky's Guidance • Cinephilia & Beyond 20.02.17 19:41
N
amed by the British Film Institute as one of the fifty
greatest movies of all time, Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979
science fiction masterpiece called Stalker is, among many
other things, a oneHofHaHkind filmwatching experience. Enough
ink has already been spilt here on C&B on the importance of
Tarkovsky for the European and world cinema, as well as on the
personal affection we feel towards his work. This dreamlike
mixture of philosophy and psychology, set against a fascinating
science fiction background, captured our attention during the
most sensitive formative years of our path to becoming the
filmlovers we hold ourselves to be today, and it still gives us
enormous pleasure to explore all of the nooks and crannies of
Stalker. The loose adaptation of Arkady and Boris Strugatsky’s
1971 short novel ‘Roadside Picnic,’ the screenplay of which was
written by the very authors of the book, is held in the greatest of
esteems today, and Andrei Tarkovsky’s reputation far surpassed
even what his closest collaborators probably dared to imagine
back then. With his poetic style of filmmaking, captivating long

takes, heavy reliance on the power of images and the visual and
frequent exploration of metaphysical and spiritual subjects,
Tarkovsky created a body of work modest in quantity (only seven
feature films, two of the latest made in exile in Sweden and Italy),
but works of art that continue to inspire.
For today’s post, we’re excited to present you with a rare

testimony from one of the people fortunate enough to witness–
and actively participate in–the creation of Stalker. Sergei
Bessmertniy(http://immos.livejournal.com/67613.html), which is more
than likely his pseudonym, was hired as a mechanic to work on
the set, and in this article he shares a lot of fascinating details
about Stalker from a fresh, unique perspective. His account of the
process of filming holds value mostly because of the little things,
as the mechanic reveals how certain scenes were filmed, describes
the footage that was lost or discarded, at the same time giving us
hints and information that paint the picture of Andrei Tarkovsky,
the filmmaker and charismatic individual. Our endless thanks goes
to Anna Fokin(https://twitter.com/AnnaFokin), our friend and reader,
who translated the text from Russian so that all of us can enjoy it.
We hope you find it as interesting as we did.
MY WORK ON THE SET OF ‘STALKER’

After military service I decided not to return to Tsentr Nauch Film
(The Central Studio of popular science and educational films)
where I used to work. I got a job at Mosfilm (the oldest film
studio in the Russian Federation), because I wanted to be in the
world of cinema and I never gave up hope on entering the VGIK
(Russian State University of Cinematography named after S.A.
Gerasimov) as a cameraman. In January 1977 I started working at
that studio as a mechanic for servicing filmHcrew equipment and
as an auxiliary technician. In contrast to the ordinary profession of
mechanic repair there was the work on the set: installing a film
camera, preparing a film stock to be operable, checking the
movement of the camera on a dolly or crane shot.
Soon I saw the plan for a filming entitled Stalker by Andrei

Tarkovsky there. I had already known that he was a significant and
extraordinary film director, but I had not read the book by

Strugatsky. So the title didn’t mean anything to me, seeming very

mysterious and intriguing. And of course, I was curious to know
what kind of a movie it was. Sometimes I walked around the
pavilion, where there was a decoration for the apartment of
Stalker (where the first scene of Stalker was filmed at the
beginning of February that year) but I didn’t see the filming itself.
When I found out that there was an expedition organized to go to
Estonia to continue filming, I asked my boss to appoint me there
and she replied positively. As my work was of highly technical
nature, there were no colleagues of mine who would treat the
cinematography as a creation. Additionally, it was known that on
the set of that director requirements for all members of the crew
were usually higher and the work needed more effort. So thanks
to that, I entered the film crew easily and without competition.
Usually, on the set of a feature film the crew consisted of two
mechanics. In that case I was the second one—a helper.
The filming took place at an abandoned power plant on the river

Yagala (Jägala) in Estonia, as well as at the dam a mile away from
it and at some sites in Tallinn. The power plant and dam had an
expressive texture: cracked, lichenHcovered, broken glass, oil
stains. It seemed like artists, in preparation for the filming, just
needed to follow this aesthetic.
(http://www.cinephiliabeyond.org/wpHcontent/uploads/2016/05/1H5.jpg)

Filming began in May. The first scene was the heroes’ approach to
the building where the precious room was hidden. My colleague
and I started to build a real railroad with a lot of turns for the
dolly and carefully align it. All crew was warned that no one
should walk on the grass which was supposed to be in the shot:
everything should look untouched. It was the first time that I saw
Tarkovsky. He was 45 years old, but his youthful features surprised
me. He behaved in a quite simple manner and he often wore just
a denim suit.

Most of the scenes were filmed in the evening. It was a short part
of the day, when the sun had set behind the horizon, but it was
still light. The director of photography Georgi Rerberg didn’t
illuminate the scene. He rather limited the light coming from the
sky and put big black cloth shaders under the heads of actors, so
that’s how the required lighting was achieved. Sometimes only a
small light fixture worked. It slightly illuminated the actors’ faces
below in filming closeHups.

We had been waiting for a few days when highHaperture lenses

Distagon would arrive from Moscow that were needed for such
conditions. Of course, we had to film with full open diaphragm
(1,4) that created great difficulties for the focus assistant: there
was almost no depth of field in closeHups. Actually Rerberg
preferred to use lenses with focal length. It was the American
Mitchell NC. Without doubt Rerberg was one of the best masters
in the country at that period.

The birth of this film was difficult. I was not aware of the
intricacies of the creative process, as a technical worker, but I had
known already at the time that the first version of the script was
not used. The characters were not the same as in the final version.
For example, at first there was an episode where the writer hits
the Stalker’s face and then the assertive and aggressive Stalker
hits the writer. For the imitation of blood the old cinematic trick
was used: someone was sent to find cranberry jam, which
Tarkovsky liked more than the composition that was made at the
studio. The script still had some sciHfi effects which showed the
Zone’s strangeness that were later completely discarded by
Tarkovsky. There were a lot of nuts thrown from a bandage, but
the meaning of the action wasn’t explained. One of these nuts has
been hanging on the wall in my room for many years. There was
an episode filmed where a lamp (which was hanging on the pole)
suddenly lit up brightly and then burnt out. In the finished version
of the film that lamp was displayed in another episode.

On another occasion, the writer got into a place where he

suddenly started to become very wet and moisture simply flowed
from him, and then it quickly evaporated. For filming this effect
we created a system of branched rubber tubes, which Solonitsyn
had to wear under his coat so at the right moment the water had

to gush out quickly making a wet footprint on the iron sheet

which was removed with the help of acetone and a blowtorch.

There was also a dialogue between characters at the power plant.

It had to be filmed with a moving camera that, unnoticed by the
audience, passed into the reflection of the mirror. And then the
viewer suddenly had to see that scene in the mirrorHinverted form.
A different game with space was expressed in the shot, which was
built on the dam. Between the rails on which the camera dolly
stood lay a mirror with stillHlife painting of a moss and sand that
depicted a landscape from bird’s eye view. Moreover, the mirror
looked like the surface of the pond with the sky’s reflection. A
camera, looking above, floated over it then passed into the water
and, rising, went out on the real river landscape. This was one of
the two shots that were filmed in the first filming period and then
included in the final version of the film. However, the start of the
shot was cut off and the game effect with space was gone. This
motif was noticed in the next two films of Tarkovsky.

The second shot remaining in the film was a view of the river
completely covered in a reddish foam and several flakes whirled
with wind in the air. It was not a special effect: the waste of pulp
and paper was dumped into this river from an industrial complex
and the water was very dirty. However, oddly to say, there were
small fish. A few years later, when it turned out that most of the
members of the crew had passed
away(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTbcXPPOd9c), rumors
appeared that it was because the area around the place of filming
had been poisoned. Some say it might have been radiation, but I
don’t know any facts about it.
In addition to the fact that the script was constantly changed,

some scenes of the film had to be reshot again. It seemed strange
to me: if they were not Tarkovsky and Rerberg, but someone less
known, I would have suspected them of incompetence.

The filmed material was taken away to Moscow for improving and
feedback came a few days later. I was in the first viewing at the
“TallinnHfilm” studio. The image looked dark and greenish. There
were two shots that had been removed:

In the future, viewing the material took place privately. Then I

thought: “Well, this black positive will be printed, as it should.” But

everything turned out to be more complicated. I found out later

about the creative problems, but meanwhile the second
cameraman who was responsible for exposure had to leave the
crew. However, I suspect that he was guilty; because he had been
fired by Alexander Boim—an experienced film and theater
production designer. They replaced one of the other crew
members. On one fine day my turn came—without any
explanation I had to leave for Moscow. So I did. I had an
impression that the initiator of all this leapfrog was not Tarkovsky,
but someone from his surroundings. At the studio no one asked
me, I guess, they understood that it was some kind of a game. In
the end Rerberg also had to leave. He invited Leonid Kalashnikov,
who came with his own assistants. They filmed something and
then the work stopped—the autumn had come.
I continued to work at the studio, took part in the filming of the

movie Yemelyan Pugachev held in Belarus. Meanwhile, the fate of
Stalker hung in the balance. It was agreed that the reason of the
failure was a defective film stock (Kodak 5247) and wrong
development.
This is a box from that illHfated film stock.

It seems strange to me, because all that had to be seen before

filming. They had managed to arrange the film as a twoHpart film
so funds were found for the continuation of filming. The script
was changed again, and it was decided to reHshoot it all over
again.
1978
The work had to be resumed in the spring again and the assistant
of the cameraman invited me to join the operator group.
Alexander Knyazhitskiy was now the director of photography. He
was a good master, but, in my opinion, he didn’t feel as
independent as Regberg did. Now we used a film camera KCN,
which is a Soviet copy of the American camera Mitchell NC and
almost all films except for large travel plans in the Zone were
filmed by zoom lens Cooke Varotal (20H100, 3.1 T). It was a highH
quality English lens with a variable focal length; the size of the
film camera was as big as an artillery shell and it cost the same as

a passenger car. I was still a second mechanic, but the first one,
more experienced, who worked at the studio for about 20 years,
had noticed that I was a hardworking person so he gave me the
opportunity to work on my own. And actually I’m really thankful
for it. In Tarkovsky’s films the camera often moves long and slow.
On the set of Stalker, in most cases, I had to make this movement.
And we’re in Estonia again. We started with the arrival scene in

the Zone when the film’s heroes stop the handcar and continue
on foot.

In the distance we see the abandoned military equipment. Part of

that was real, some was brought specially from Moscow, and the
rest was made by decorators. Before the filming a pyrotechnic
was running with a smoke float, keeping an eye on the wind
direction and creating the effect of fog.

Near the power plant a memorable scene of the film was shot
when the camera from a closeHup of a lying Stalker moves to
water with lying objects in it and floats over. At this time in the
finished version we hear a woman’s voice reading a fragment of
the Apocalypse (6.12H16).
Andrei Tarkovsky shooting "Stalker"
!(#) 00:00 /
00:00
It happened at the bottom of a small canal that used to pour

water on the turbine of the power plant. At this time the water
was about ankle deep. Kajdanovsky was almost lying in the water,
even though there was something planted underneath. The
weather was quite chilly and the costume designer Nelly Fomina
came up with an idea: the actor should wear a waterproof and
heatHinsulated suit for divers under his clothes. So that’s how he

wasn’t able to get cold.
The rails were placed on each side of the actor and camera dolly
with camera was placed in an unusual way: the rightHhand wheels
on the right rails and the left on the left and the actor was under

it.
The film camera was mounted on a tripod at the edge of the dolly
looking down on the actor. When, during filming, it passed over
him, he got up and moved to a new place where the camera saw
him in the final shot. I remember how Andrei Arsenevich asked
me: “Sergei, could you drive this distance in 3 minutes?” I said, “I’ll
try.” He started his stopwatch and gave me gave the “Action”
command. I slowly began to roll the dolly and count seconds in
my head.

Generally people of my profession were assistants of the main

cameraman and could not talk to the director but as Andrei
Tarkovsky took full part in the filming process and in rehearsal he
often took the place of the operator behind the camera. So I can
confidently say that I have worked with him.

Also, he actively participated in the work of decorators, paying

attention to every detail in the picture. “Make an ikebana for us!”
he joked.

The indefatigable assistant director in the preparation of every

shot was an artist from Kazan called Rashit Safiullin.

Sometimes the filming took place in cool weather. “Without Kaif

no Life,” once said Solonitsyn lying during rehearsal on wet moss,
surrounded by water, as it was required by the episode. For all of
the group he was named Tolia; Kajdanovsky was Sasha; Grinko
was Nikolai Grigoryevich, apparently in order of seniority.

Water was a favorite theme of Tarkovsky, and there was a lot of it.
Sometimes we had to wear rubber boots on a wooden tripod.


The filming process mostly consists of expectations and despite

the tense situation there was time for rest, for example, for
playing dice or for conversations about something extraneous. I
remember that one day Tarkovsky said that he loved the genre of
westerns and that he would gladly film something like that. I think
if he had been filming a Western, it would have been similar to
the prologue of the film Once Upon a Time in the West (1968).
Generally he was supercritical, for example, he said once that
Spielberg’s films were not films at all (perhaps he meant Jaws). I
did not join this conversation, but I remember that I didn’t agree
with him. In my opinion, a film can be good in different ways—
Spielberg is good in his own way, Bergman in his.


I filmed quite a few good frames. At that time I didn’t understand

the tasks of a cameraman: what should generally be filmed? In
addition to the most interesting moments, I was usually busy with
my main work, also because of the tense situation during filming I
felt uncomfortable to be active in this matter.

I had the Zenit 3M camera and an old German Voightländer with

bellows for the glass plates 6×9 cm and I also tried to film with it.
Once Tarkovsky noticed it and told me that his father had it, too, I
said, “Well, let me to take a photo of you.” I asked him to take a

step back to get away from the direct sun and then I made the
photo. It turned out without sharpness and for many years I
thought it wasn’t a good one. Then after scanning the negative
and setting in Photoshop, I thought, “Sharpness cannot buy
happiness—he was smiling and looking at someone, I have not
seen another shot like that.”
Some working moments in Estonia were filmed and M. Vasilyev

was charged to do it. He was from AlmaHAta and was a trainee in
an operator group. I’ve never seen this footage. I wonder where it
is. This is the shot from that film material with the director of
photography Knyazhitskiy, the director and me.

That scene, where the characters sit on the handcar and drive off,
was filmed in Tallinn in an abandoned oil storage. In the episode
where they pass into the Zone the police should appear. They had
uniforms chosen so it should be unclear in which country the
action took place. If you look more closely, you can see that on
their helmets one can see connected letters “AT” and actually it
was the initials of the director. The same letter can be seen on a
pack of cigarettes that are smoked by Stalker’s wife.

CloseHups during the passage into the Zone were filmed in

another industrial outskirts of the city. Actors were sitting not on
the handcar, but the railway platform, which was rolled along the
rails by a locomotive. The rails for the dolly were placed next to
them, on which a cameraman sat, holding an Arriflex camera that
was equipped with the stabilizer system Steadycam, quenching its
shaking and jerking, and thus providing a smooth movement. I
moved the dolly which allows the camera to switch from one
actor to another.

There was a scene where characters drive a Land Rover and rush
into Zone through the UN to follow a locomotive that carries a
platform with electroHceramic insulators. It was quite comic.
Tarkovsky (who was overcoming the noise of the locomotive)
explained through the megaphone to a driver that he should
move when he waves his hand. At the same time he was showing
how he would do it. But the driver didn’t hear all the words and
drove off. Tarkovsky shouted: “No, no, not now, during filming!”
The locomotive was stopped and, panting heavily, returned.
Tarkovsky started to explain it again, but that time without
showing. Suddenly the locomotive began to move again.
Confused, Tarkovsky turned to his colleagues: “I did not wave!” It
turned out that, behind him, his assistant Eugene Tsymbal was
showing the driver the gesture.
(http://www.cinephiliabeyond.org/wpHcontent/uploads/2016/05/38.jpg)
In the film that shot is blackHandHwhite. But generally, everything

was color film recording and just some scenes were blackHandH
white. In Moscow (At Mosfilm) in the big pavilion a large complex
was built with decorations that depicted Stalker’s apartment and
also some of the Zone’s places which were created in a special
way that allowed to fill them with water.


There is a long scene when Stalker reads a poem “So the summer
is over,” and starts a dialogue and meanwhile a phone rings and a
lamp turns on. The dolly with camera moving had to turn a few
times on the rails. As between the rehearsal and filming there
were two or three days off, I had to draw the movement of the
dolly. In the end, this scene was cut during the film editing.

Other decorations depicted a curved tunnel where characters

should go. For moving the camera a special dolly was created
which was moving on rails, fortified on both sides of the tunnel,
and closed by long stripes decorated canvas, which is raised to
allow for the dolly rides.

Stalker - tunnel scene
!(#) 00:00 /
00:00
The whole scene was filmed in the pavilion. Then these

decorations were removed and new ones were built: a room in
the Zone where wishes came true and lots of hills, similar to the
graves, and the interior of the bar.

During filming at Mosfilm Pinkhassov Garik came on set with his

camera, having previously worked at the studio as an assistant
operator, and later becoming a famous photographer. Also,
Vladimir Vysotsky, who was a friend of Tarkovsky, once visited the
set. The only scene that was shot on location in Moscow is the
entrance of the bar. A small decoration was built near the fence
Psychiatric Hospital named after Kashchenko and grim industrial
landscape in the background. You can see pipes CHPH20 (street
Vavilova 13).

A deep sense of the film opened to me gradually, not even at first

view. I think during filming it was hardly understood by anyone.
The concept of the author didn’t take shape right away.
Text: Sergey Bessmertniy © 2014

Selected photos: © Sergei Bessmertniy, George Pinkhassov.
RERBERG AND TARKOVSKY: THE

REVERSE SIDE OF ‘STALKER’
This account of cinematographer Georgi Rerberg’s career and his
creative turmoil with Andrei Tarkovsky on Mirror and Stalker,
though disputed, provides a fascinating window into the making
of the films and the artistic process and personalities of the
individuals involved. The film is a visual feast—a collage of onHset
footage, production stills, paintings, personal reminisences, home
movies and interviews.

Rerberg and Tarkovsky: The Reverse Side of 'Stalker' (2009)
!(#) 00:00 /
00:00
‘STALKER’: THE ZONE OF ANDREI

TARKOVSKY
On the shooting of Stalker, about Andrei Tarkovsky, and the actors
who played in the film.

Open YouTube video(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR5Xe2mChOM)
Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979), meticulously restored and

looking better than ever, on Mosfilm’s YT channel.

Сталкер
!(#) 00:00 /
00:00
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4 Comments Cinephilia & Beyond !

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Join the discussion…
William • 9 months ago

This is very inspiring. It would be great to see that documentary
footage of the making of some day. Also, to see and enjoy the film on
the big screen again.
1△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Horst Bakker • 2 months ago

Big thanks for the link to the film. I'm blown away by the quality.
△ ▽ • Reply • Share ›
Grubbanax Swinnasen • 9 months ago

Beautiful images and insight of what happened on set. It could do
with a better translation as I am unsure what is meant by some
sentences.
Stuart Hooper • 9 months ago

Great story!
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A Unique Perspective on the Making of 'Stalker': The Testimony o…c Toiling Away under Tarkovsky's Guidance • Cinephilia &

Beyond 20.02.17 19:41

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 1 von 47

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 2 von 47

For today’s post, we’re excited to present you with a rare

MY WORK ON THE SET OF ‘STALKER’

Soon I saw the plan for a filming entitled Stalker by Andrei

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 3 von 47

Strugatsky. So the title didn’t mean anything to me, seeming very

The filming took place at an abandoned power plant on the river

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http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 5 von 47

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We had been waiting for a few days when highHaperture lenses

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On another occasion, the writer got into a place where he

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 9 von 47

to gush out quickly making a wet footprint on the iron sheet

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 10 von 47

There was also a dialogue between characters at the power plant.

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 11 von 47

In addition to the fact that the script was constantly changed,

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http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 13 von 47

In the future, viewing the material took place privately. Then I

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 14 von 47

everything turned out to be more complicated. I found out later

I continued to work at the studio, took part in the filming of the

This is a box from that illHfated film stock.

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It seems strange to me, because all that had to be seen before

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 16 von 47

And we’re in Estonia again. We started with the arrival scene in

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 17 von 47

In the distance we see the abandoned military equipment. Part of

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 18 von 47

Andrei Tarkovsky shooting "Stalker"

It happened at the bottom of a small canal that used to pour

http://cinephiliabeyond.org/unique-perspective-making-stalker-testimony-mechanic-toiling-away-tarkovskys-guidance/ Seite 19 von 47

wasn’t able to get cold.

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Generally people of my profession were assistants of the main

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Also, he actively participated in the work of decorators, paying

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The indefatigable assistant director in the preparation of every

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Sometimes the filming took place in cool weather. “Without Kaif

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The filming process mostly consists of expectations and despite

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I filmed quite a few good frames. At that time I didn’t understand

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