Boris Vymenets Cinematography Portfolio March 2015

MARCH 2015 THE PREATURES MUSIC VIDEO

BORIS V YMENETS C I N E M A T O G R A P H Y

P O R T F O L I O

WALLABIES TEST SERIES COMMERCIAL STARLIGHT CHILDREN'S FOUNDATION COMMERCIAL

BORIS V YMENETS D I R E C T O R

O F

P H O T O G R A P H Y

I’m a Sydney-based Director of Photography who works in TVC’s, branded content and narrative drama.

I’m drawn to expressive lighting and dynamic compositions that perfectly suit the telling of the story.

MOBILE: +61 425 275 336 EMAIL: boris@borisdop.com WEB: www.borisdop.com

C O N T E N T S 2. Contents 3. Wallabies Test Series - Commercial 4. Starlight Foundation - Commercial 5. The Preatures - Music Video 6. Pocket Money - Short Film 7. Factory Hands - Short Film 8. Crumble - Short Film 9. Bio

Wallabies v NZ spot featuring a high contrast, hard lighting look.

Wallabies V Argentina spot with a high key lighting style.

RIGHT: Wallabies v France spot with a soft top light and a lower contrast creamier look.

WALL ABIES TEST SERIES

COMMERCIAL

This series of 3 x 30 sec spots featured 3 Wallabies stars

I wanted each spot to have its own look. The Wallabies v NZ

acting in comically tense scenarios. The biggest challenge

spot had extreme contrast and hard lighting to suit the tense

was the schedule which required the three spots to be shot in

interrogation scene. The Wallabies v Argentina spot was

a single 10 hour day. To overcome this challenge we decided

much lighter and higher key and the French test spot was lit

to build three sets at the one location so we could contain the

with a very soft top light to give it a smoother and creamier

shoot.

look that worked well with the brown and maroon tones of the set dressing.

Client: Australian Rugby Union Production: Hatch Entertainment Director: Julian Shaw Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: ARRI Alexa Plus Panavision Vintage Primes

STARLIGHT CHILDREN 'S FOUNDATION

COMMERCIAL

This TVC was a push for the Starlight Foundations Christmas appeal. It features a mixture of child actors and real children battling cancer.

The commercial was shot in the very busy Prince of Wales hospital which posed many logistical challenges.

The brief was to give the commercial a heroic look akin to a Michael Bay film. I chose to shoot the spot in the anamorphic format to give it an inherent epic scope and worked with a mixture of extremely soft light on the faces and intense hard light on the backgrounds to create shine and flares.

Client: Starlight Foundation Production: Brilliant Films Director: Luke Doolan Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: ARRI Alexa Plus Hawk V-Lite Anamorphics

THE PREATURES M U S I C

V I D E O

Award winning music video director Alex Ryan asked me to create a retro look for The Preatures new single Cruel. Alex specifically wanted to reference the look of the Divinyls 1982 music video “Boys in Town” while still rooting it in a contemporary shooting style.

Taking this brief into account I wanted the retro feel to come from the colours of the lighting and the contemporary feel from the use of anamorphic lenses and dynamic movement.

The clip was predominately lit with par-cans that were positioned behind the band and coloured with double lavender gels. These were all connected to a DMX board where they could all be fully controlled. For key light I used two 8 bank kenos with ‘sky blue’ gell to create a retro looking colour contrast against the purple backlights.

Halfway through the song is a middle 8 section that had a significantly slower and relaxing melody before the track launched into its high energy finale. To match this slower melody I choreographed a lighting change that saw the purple backlights switch off and a blue spotlight take their place as the camera slowly pushed into the lead singer performing down the barrel.

As a further nod to the Divinyls I created a sharp orange shaft of light across the lead singer’s eyes that slowly dimmed up throughout the push in - the idea being that the lighting trick alludes to the lyric “and I’m standing here just looking at you baby.”

Title: The Preatures - Cruel Label: Universal Director: Alex Ryan Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: Arri Alexa XT + Panavision E series Anamorphics

INSET: The original Divinyls ‘Boys In Town’ clip that served as the main visual reference

POCKET MONE Y S H O R T

F I L M

Set in Western Sydney, during the middle of a hot summer and at the height of a gun crime epidemic. Two boys walk home from school when they witness a drive by shooting and are forced to keep the gun hidden out of fear of retribution from a local gang.

I wanted my cinematography to express the amount of pressure and tension the boys feel trying to keep the gun hidden.

At key points of tension I would light the boys under a hard top light to give a sense that they’re “under the spotlight.” This effect becomes more intense as the story comes to its conclusion and the boys find themselves in an extremely dangerous situation with the gang.

Production: WTFilm Director: Matt Durrant Producer: Martin Thorne Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: ARRI Alexa + Codex ARRIRAW Lomo Anamorphics

TOP: To give the sense of summer heat for the day scenes I over exposed the highlights and bloomed them with a filter. The director and I would try to choreograph the blocking so characters would either be back lit or side lit by the hard sun.

RIGHT: Charlie finds himself in a face off with the gang leader. I lit him with an extremely hot top light to express his level of anxiety.

FACTORY HANDS S

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Set in 1915 Tennessee, Factory Hands is based on true events telling the story of historical figure Lewis Hine as he tries to gain access into a cotton factory to photograph its child labour practices.

To achieve the period look I used Cooke lenses for their inherent softness and warmth coupled with a Soft FX filter.

When inside the factory I used a strong high backlight with small amounts of fill to keep the child workers in silhouette. I wanted to keep the children in darkness as a metaphor for their dire situation and the struggle Lewis Hines faces to shine a light on the issue of child labour.

BACKGROUND: For outdoor shots I used large soft lighting sorces and kept to earthy colour tones.

Production: WTFilm Director: Aaron Warwick Producer: Martin Thorne Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: Sony F55 4K RAW Cooke S4mini Primes

ABOVE RIGHT: When Lewis Hine enters the factory the ambient light lifts from the open door behind him. For the first time the childrens faces are lit. A vissual idea that Lewis’ entry to the factory represents the childrens only hope for freedom.

RIGHT: The children strugle to work in the tough conditions of the factory The foremans own child is bored watching the other children working in the factory

RIGHT: As a teenager Maebh is out to have a big night but is stoped in her tracks by her father who taunts her for her weight.

CRUMBLE

Soft warm side lighting with a strong contrast ratio on the faces defined the look of this period.

SH O RT FI LM

A black comedy about the moment Maebh snaps after years of emotional abuse at the hand of her father who constantly makes jokes about her weight.

The story spans four different timelines throughout Maebh’s life. Starting in the present and then flashing back to her early childhood and teen years.

To distinguish each time frame I used different strengths of Soft FX filtration for each period and would change the quality and colour of light.

Producer: Leonie Mansfield Director: Georgiana Taylor Cinematographer: Boris Vymenets Specs: Sony F55 4K RAW ARRI Master Primes

CENTRE: In her early childhood Maebh takes a birthday cake to her father at his party only to be humiliated by him. For this period I used the heaviest diffusion filtration and softest key lighting to give it a creamy warm tone to envoke a sense of nostalgia.

Years later in her 20s Maebh returns to exact revenge on her father. For this scene I kept the earthy tones to connect it to the party scene but made it slightly more contrasty to show the passing of time.

LEFT: In the present time Maebh and her brother are out of place at a high end restaurant . When the waiter makes a passing joke he finds himself in a dangerous situation as Maebh snaps.

The look of this period is defined by minimal filtration infront of the lens and very bright and nutral lighting in the dinning section.

When Maebh follows the waiter to confront him the lighting changes to a much darker mood with the scene playing out in silhouette

BIO I’m passionate about creating images inspired by story and creative concepts that connect and engage viewers. I bring a cinematic sensibility to my work and love collaborating with directors, creating a balance between visual artistry and storytelling.

In 2012 I received a Masters of Screen Arts in Cinematography from the Australian Film Television & Radio School and I’ve since won awards from the Australian Cinematographers Society. I’ve shot commercials and content for brands including Samsung, Paypall, McDonalds, Bacardi and Toohey’s and have shot around Australia as well as around the world.

I’m comfortable working across a range of budgets either managing a full team of lighting and grips crew or working with a more compact team. My strength is my ability to create visuals that are inspired by the emotional drive of the story or the creative brief.

MOBILE: +61 425 275 336 EMAIL: boris@borisdop.com WEB: www.borisdop.com

E D U C A T I O N 2012 – Masters of Screen Arts in Cinematography, Australian Film Television and Radio School 2010 – Graduate Diploma in Cinematography, Australian Film Television and Radio School 2008 – Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and Production, University of Technology, Sydney