Cucoloris made from real branches to create natural light-shadow patterns. Simulates tree shadows or organic textures in the light.
Technical Details
Typical branch-a-lorises consist of branches 40-80 cm long with twigs ranging from 8-25 mm in diameter, mounted in rectangular frames of 60x90 cm or 90x120 cm. The branches are secured with wire or clamps, aiming for a light transmission of 30-60%. With 2000W HMI lights at a distance of 3 meters, shadow contrasts of 2:1 to 4:1 are created. Birch and hazel branches are considered optimal due to their fine branching and low dead weight of 0.8-1.5 kg per square meter.
History & Development
Hollywood cinematographer James Wong Howe first used real branches in front of studio lights in 1947 for "Body and Soul," after industrial cucoloris seemed too geometric. German cinematographer Michael Ballhaus perfected the technique in 1982 for "The State of Things" using specially dried oak branches. Since the 1990s, nature film productions like BBC's "Planet Earth" have systematically employed branch-a-lorises for authentic forest light simulation.
Practical Use in Film
Roger Deakins used birch branches in "The Revenant" (2015) for natural forest shadows in daylight scenes. Emmanuel Lubezki combined multiple layers of branch-a-lorises in "The Tree of Life" (2011) for complex light patterns, positioned 0.5-3 meters from 4K tungsten lights. Standard workflow: pre-dry branches for 48 hours, mount on C-stands with gobo arms, position 1.5-4 meters in front of the light source. Advantage: absolute naturalness of shadows. Disadvantage: limited durability of 2-5 shooting days due to drying out.
Comparison & Alternatives
Industrial cucoloris plates cost 180-350 Euros, while branch-a-lorises are created for 15-40 Euros in materials. Laser-cut gobo plates produce precise, repeatable patterns, whereas branch-a-lorises offer organic irregularity. LED projectors with digital gobo patterns are increasingly replacing physical light modifiers but do not achieve the subtle depth gradation of real branches. For exterior shoots, the branch-a-loris remains unrivaled for simulating natural tree shadows under artificial lighting.