The X-Files Spent a Small Fortune to Create the Series' Most Famous Pictures
By Chris Snellgrove | Published
What do you think the most iconic images are related to? X files? In fact, my vote will probably go to the old one Rolling Stone the cover where Mulder and Scully are in bed together (yes, I had a poster in my childhood bedroom and no, I'm not going to answer any questions). If I had to pick pictures from the show, I'd go with the countless pictures of these FBI agents shining their flashlights down dark hallways. X files it was actually a scary show already, and whenever the flashlights came out, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for some scary critter to come out of the shadows.
While Mulder and Scully were always on the lookout for strange, paranormal things, the torches themselves sometimes seemed supernatural. After all, those things were brighter than anything you could buy at a local store. In fact, they often seemed brighter than the brightest car headlights. The lights were so bright that you could be forgiven for thinking they were a special effect. They weren't CGI or anything, but they were so expensive they might as well have been. You see, from the Season 2 episode “I Can't Sleep,” X files he started using special flashlights that cost a lot of money, but the visual effect on the screen is absolutely priceless.
Lights, Camera, Aliens
So, some of you might be reading this right now and asking the exact question: “what's so special about flashlights X files?” To better understand the answer, try turning off all the lights and recording yourself shining a flashlight in the room. In most flashlights, you don't really see the light beam. Instead, you just see the place you point to light up. However, X files famously has a scene after the scene where Mulder and Scully turn on their torches, and we see a lot Rays of light stretching across the eerie darkness, create some of the most beautiful images of the series.
How did it happen? X-Files employees achieve this result? By throwing money at the problem, of course! Starting with the Season 2 episode “The Sleepers,” crews began using special Xenon flashlights. They were purchased at the insistence of episode director Rob Bowman, who (according to the special features of the Season 2 DVD set) wanted “more exposure in complete darkness.” It worked better than the director could have dreamed of, each device creating its own very unique tunnel of light. The result was a nice visual effect, but it didn't come cheap. These flashlights cost a cool $7500, and can break easily.
Mulder, Scully, and Tin Foil?
This was money well spent, as seeing Mulder and Scully always shine those tunnels of light in the darkness was X files' signature images. However, there was only one problem: the lights were so bright that they turned the actors into silhouettes. For the climax of “Insomnia,” Bowman found a solution: he would crumple up pieces of tinfoil and place them in a dark place. The crumpling diffused the reflection, prompting the director to dimly light the actors' faces as needed. “The actors were able to, while they were looking, just hit that plate and get a little bit of exposure on their faces,” Bowman said.
Mulder always insisted that “the truth is out there.” Now, you X-Philes have the truth about how the game created its iconic visual effect. Those Xenon headlights cost quite a bit of money. To put this in '90s terms, they cost about 2.5 of the spiffiest uniform Star Trek: The Next Generation. But the investment was worth it because these lights turned even simple scenes into something amazing and shocking. On screen, Mulder always hoped his flashlight would reveal the alien. Well, off screen we now know another fact: that David Duchovny spent most of these scenes lighting crumpled pieces of tinfoil!
