Camera Operator 2005 Spring/Summer by Society of Camera Operators

SOCIETY OF CAMERA0PERATORS ~

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Volume 14, Number 1 Spring-Summer 2005

The Journal of the Society Of ComeroOperotors

FEATURES

16 2004 Lifetime Achievement Awards Banquet by Lynn Lanning A gala evening and afun time for all

22 SOC 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients Roger Corman: Governors Award; Ray De La Molle SOC: Camera Operator; john M Walker: Camera Technician; Clay Lacy: Mobile Camera Platform Operator; Stephen Vaughan SMPSP: Still Photographer; Larry McConkey: Historical Shot "Goodfellas"

32 Powered by Band Pro by Pauline Rogers A closeup look at a growing company 1

37 Focusing on Bernie Mac' by Victor Nelli Jr Using the J11110visio11 Probe to create new viewpoints

40 Brian J Reynolds: Instinct is Key by Pauline Rogers Film and HD on 'American Family' and 'American Dreams'

4S Panavision-6 Tour of New Mexico, or How I Spent My Summer Vacation as told to Emme Headroom Creating a travelogue of the state in a unique way

Sl King Kong is Coming ••• Back by Rick Mitchell A look at the original 'King Kong' and how they made it

SS More Magazine Retrospective by Michael J Frediani SOC The second camera operator; the many claims to have created video assist

DEPARTMENTS

2 A Letter From the Outgoing President by David EDiano SOC

2 From the Editor's Desk by George BStephenson SOC

4 SOC 1st VP's Letter by David J Frederick SOC

7 Remembering Howie Block SOC by Philip DSchwartz SOC

9 News & Notes Member Jock Messitt; the SOC's hands-on seminar on Moy 7

10 CineGear 2004 Alook at the SOC's corporate sponsors' booths & some people who attended

63 Advertisers' Index 64 Roster of the SOC (Society of CameraOperators)

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A Letter from the Outgoing President I would like to wi h everyone a happy and pro perou ew Year. Every year eem to go by faster and fa ter, although we know that i not po ible (or i it? ). A few year ago I heard a p ychologi t explain thi phenomenon. A we get older, our perception of year i in relation to our total experience . For in lance, at 50 year old, one yea r i only 1/50 of our lifetime and the brain interprets it as a minuscule part of our life, wherea a mall child' year are a large percentage of hi lifetime and the

year eem to be longer. o if you think the years are flying by, you must be getting old-ju ta little omething to cheer u up. peaking of time flying by, J mu t now addre another i ue. My time a President of the 0 has come to an end. I will tay on the Board but I am not eeking a econd term. I think the accompanying picture reflect my current tate of mind-I need a break. It ha been a very rewarding experience and I would like to thank the many people who made it o. There i a great Board of Governors in place and they have agreed to stay on for another term. I thank ea h and every one of them for their dedication to the ociety and for making my job that much ea ier. I would like to give a special thank you to 3 people behind the cene who have full time jobs but till find time to give many hour to our ociety- Diana Penilla, our "do everything" admini trative a i tant; Lynn Lanning, our magazine "wonder woman"; and Mark Lein ,

From the Editor's Desk In this i ue we take a look at Hi-Def ver u film through the eye of Brian Reynold A , u e of the lnnovi ion Probe on the Bernie Mac /iow, and a tour of my home tate ew Mexico wilh a Panavision 24P and a group of dedicated local camera crew. We learn about the original King Kong movie from the alway knowledgeable Rick Mitchell. And we recall the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award banquet, which al o marked the celebration of the 0 ' 2S 1h anniver ary. A we enter our econd quarter century, we ee the providing another amera perator Workshop, hand -on demon tration , and new tool and tech nology for our member . We are al o committed to continuing to publi h this magazine, and we would welcome your contribution . You might not be the be t writer in the world, but end u your tory anyway, about what' inlere ling in yo ur camera operating world. We'll p Ii h it for you.

our webmaster extraordinaire and magazine cover de igner. Again, Thank You All.

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Society of CameraOperators Officers Pre ident ....................... . l t Vice President .. David } Frederick 2nd Vice Pre ident. ...... Ernie Reed yd Vice Pre ident . .... Allan Lu m Li ecretary ......... . ........ . .. . . . Trea urer .............. Gary Baum ergeant-at-Ann ...... Greg oil ier orporate Liai on . . eorgia Packard Magazine Edi tor eorge B tephenson Webma ter. .......... Mark R Lei n Admini trative As i tant Diana Penilla

Board of Governors Bon nie Blake Michael Chambli David Dia no Tom Fra er Michael Frediani Buddy Frie

Dougla Knapp Denis Moran Philip chwartz hri Tufty Ron Vidor Ben Wolf

ision, t/ie essential ingredient that we as Camera Operators use in our work, intri11Sica/ly bonds us to children with vision problems. Our organizntion cont rib11tes its full support to the Eye Care Clinic of Cl1ildrens Hospital Los Angeles.

IE : the above photo of George B tephen on wa given the wrong credit in the la t i ue. The photographer i uzanne Hanover.

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i a regi tered trademark. All rights re ervcd.

Note on digital photas for magazine reproduction:

Mo t digital camera offer picture at 72dpi. This magazine requires photos at 300dpi. Therefore, we re- ize the image in Photo hop from 72 to 300 dpi, effectively cutting picture size to 25% of original. The e photos used in a larger ize look out of focu or pixeUated, o we don't enlarge them. Plea e remember this when ending us digital photos. Thank you.

SOC WEAR

See the complete line of jackets, shirts, hats, belt buckle, soft bnefcase and the new Hawaiian shirt (pictured! (not oil items available in oil sizes) Write to: Society Of (omeroOperotors, P.O.Box 2006, Toluca Lake, CA 91610 or order online: www.soc.org

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: A LmER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

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The Operating Cameraman Magazine pring- um mer 2005

Editor

George B tephen on 0

"'!.I

Associate Editor Georgia Packard 0

Post-Production Manager

Dougla Knapp 0

Design &Production

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Lynn Lanning, Double L De ign, Glendale

Cover Design Mark R Lein

Photos Used on Cover Wynn Hammer

Production Coordinators The lngle Group, Brentwood

Advertising Director Dan Dodd

Contributors David Diano David Frederick 0 Michael Frediani Bill Hine Lynn Lanning Jack Me itt Rick Mitchell Victor elli, Jr Georgia Packard Pauline Roger Philip D chwartz 0 George B tephen on

Photography Wynn Hammer eil Jacob Hugh Litfin O Georgia Packard Copyright ÂŠ 2005 by the Society of CameraOperators

The Operating Cameraman Magazine i publi hed emiannually by the ociety of Camera Operators.

Subscription Rates U A 20/year Out ide U A 28/year (U .. Fund Only)

for article submissions, please contact: 0 Attn Magazine PO Box2006 Toluca Lake, CA 91610 Phone(818)382-7070

for display advertising information, contact: Dan Dodd (818) 556-6300 dandodd@pacbell.net

Visit the SOC web site www.soc.org 4

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SOC 1st VP's Letter Thi is a letter not from your pre ident, a we are looking for one, but from the ! st Vice Pre ident who i filling in while the office i vacant. Hello 0 Member and Happy pring! It eem that the earth i once again going to blo om with the fragrant and beautiful flowers enabling another thread of life to continue. Thi is my attempt to draw upon a metaphor for our organization-the rebirth and renewal of our commitment to our organization, the ociety of CameraOperator , a group of individual that are intere ted in putting forth the best interest of amera Operators in our indu try. Well, now we need to a k for your greater involvement. Think of the bud on the tree and hrub , waiting to open to be een and enjoyed. The member hip of the 0 needs to open the buds and bloom and flower and be een and enjoyed in the commitment to participate in the planning and actualization of the activitie and tasks of our group. As active member , the Board of Governor need to have the active membership be just that-active. Take intere t in erving on the Board of overnors. If you've been a member for a while, it i time to give back to the indu try that has given you o much enjoyment. Head up a committee, take on the ta ks of member hip, magazine publi hing, award banquet and education eminar to name only a few of the jobs looked after by a very mall group of people that want and need your help. The whole idea of thi organization i to celebrate our craft a operators and enjoy the comrade hip and exchange of idea and support and job networking. We love what we do and want you to join in the celebration of that love. Take part in the fun; join u in shaping the future of the 0 by participating in the pre ent. Attend the

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: ) ST VP'S LETTER

event , hare your pa ion and knowledge, learn omething about your craft that i new to you, and keep up with the new technology at our training eminar . Eat your fill at the member hip breakfa t ; attend OC and other film creening that are available to member . We are etting up a new forum on the web ite that will be a place to air your view , po t que tion and offer up advice to tho e who po e que tions. Check it out; it will be up and running on our web ite www.soc.org. Thanks for taking this plea to heart and getting to the web ite and igning up for a committee and attending a BO meeting. In thi is ue of Operating Cameraman look for the special memorial piece to one of our founding member , a tirele contributor to the Board of Governor and a dear father to an a ociate member, Howie Block. The board voted la t month to donate a generou um to the American Cancer ociety in hi name. We have a few activitie in the near future to be a part of: updating our member hip directory and publi hing a brand new one; Panavi ion eminar, Pede tal camera eminar, ine ear ... A pecial heap of thanks from the board to our pa t president, David Diano, for the tremendou job he did during his term. He i remaining on the board to keep the flow going. Another load of thanks to retiring ecretary Bonnie Blake, for her contribution to the board as an officer. The e two po ition are looking for new people; let us know if you would like to tep up to the task. We have all kind of upport in place; all you need i to be willing. Thanks to Pauline Roger for her contribution to our magazine thi i ue. Pauline, we really appreciate your gift! Lynn Lanning, once again, your tirele efforts to put a beautiful magazine together with a tight deadline and no material turned in a promised! Members- end in your contributions, storie , photo , tips ... it' all good. Plea e hare! That' all from here. Thanks for tuning in. I hope to ee you at the next activity and meeting--check your newsletter and email box for new from your very own ociety of CameraOperator . Be t wishe for a bu y work season,

'David J F~, SOC fat Vice. 'PwULOO.

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lOOOfps High Definition Featuring a prismless 1536 x 1024 CMOS imager, Cine SpeedCamNcaptures up to lOOOfp at full resolution or 10,000 fp at lower resolutions. Images are rendered as uncompressed TIFF sequences or AV! fonmts. Output is imply imported into HO editing and computer graphics systems. Film-style Camera The Cine SpeedCam system includes a compact Weinberger progressive-scan HD camera that acc.epts PL mount 35mm or ikon B-mount lenses. The film-style camera is fullycompatible witl1 a Chroszsiel Mattebox, Follow-focus, Preston zoom control, and top-mountOO monitor/finder. 111e system

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Remembering Howie Block SOC by Philip DSchwartz SOC n February 5, 2005, the 0 lo tone of it founding member , Howard Block. Howie wa a friend, mentor and talented colleague to many, both within and outide of our organization. Other than hi family member (including on cott and Mitch, the latter a First i tant in the International inematographers uild), none knew Howie better than hi life-long friend and fellow tran plant from ew York, Bob Feller, who helped in the preparati n of thi arti le. H wie wa born and rai d in ew York. He erved in the oa t uard during

the set. Below left: Howie at his Auricon camera (late 1940s).

World War II, and continued to be an avid "' boating enthu ia t throughout hi life. He ~"' attended film school in ew York after the J: ~ war, and oon began working on documeno tarie for the televi ion networks. He al o @ hot many do umentarie and training ยง films for the government. He had a long and ucce ful career a a .____......,,__..... iE camera operator and director of photography in ew York as well a in Lo Angeles, hi home ince 1975. A a camera operator in ew York, he worked on many notable feature and televi ion show , including 011 the Waterfro11t, The Godfather (Part I), Godspell, Bana11as, The Jazz i11ger, Melvin and Howard, Rocky 3, aked ity, ergea11t Bilko, The Ho11ey1110011ers, . Y.P.D. and The Defenders. H wie wa promoted to Director of Phot graphy in 1962, on a com dy erie entitled Mack a11d Myer for Hire. He went on t hoot everal network pecial , ommercial , and three fea ture . Hi ew York credit al included B The Twe11t ieth

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\Vliite Paper, and Eye on ew York. In 1975, he and Bob Feller packed up their car and drove aero the country to relocate in Los Angele . Their familie followed eight m nth later. Howie went back to w rk a a camera operator in LA, in order to build hi reputation in the Hollywood production community. As an operator at Univer al, he worked on many f their ucce ful erie , including Kojak, Dukes of Hazzard, Qui11cy, Babylo11 5, ight Hawk and Rockford Files. In 19 5, Univer al promoted him to DP on the Crazy Like a Fox erie , and he went on to photograph The Law and Harry McGraw and everal epi odes of Murder, he Wrote. He had many econd Unit DP credits, including Parenthood, Capital ews, Magnu111 P.l. and tar Trek, The Next Ge11eratio11 for Paramount. Howie erved a a member f I G' Executive Board from 1977. In 1994, he received the 0 President's Award. In 1999, he wa elected for the Lifetime Achievement Award a amera perator. I will alway remember Howie a a warm, genuine, hardworking and dedicated colleague. He wa quick to hare a joke (alway with a bit f ew York " htick") and tirele ly gave of hi time to the We will all mis him very much.

~ The Board of Governors of the 0 has 111ade a ge11ero11s do11at io11 to the A111erica11 ancer ociety in Howie's 111e111ory.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: HOWARD BLOCK

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Jock Messitt SOC on the edge of the world shooting HD on the Robbie Williams music video "Feel" outside of Calgary.

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Jack of All Locations Jack Me itt 0 ha been working in a lot of different location and ituation lately, as the e picture prove.

Messitt and camera . He took advantage of lighting set up for Robbie Williams and hod still photographer Hamish Brown burn o roll.

ote to all 0 members: ew & ote would love to howcase you. end hi-res photo and information via webmoster@soc.org.

Messitt really gets into o moving shot in HD for "American Idol 2005 ."

SOC Camera Operators Workshop at Panavision Saturday, May 7, 2005 4 cinematographers will spend all day with a limited group of participants demonstrating several ditterent camera platforms. After lunch (provided) there will be question-and-answer time and hands-on experience. A unique opportunity to learn the ins and outs of camera movement and operator techniques. Generously sponsored by Panavision, Panavision Remote and JL Fisher and provided as a service to the SOC in the interests of education in the art of cinematography by the William E Hines SOC Memorial Scholarship Fund. To sign up, call Diana at 818-382-7070. Free to SOC members; $50 for non-members.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: NEWS

& NOTES

Fred Martinez welcomes people to see Arri's new 235 camero system, Arri lights, Arriscan , Master Primes, Wireless Remote System & 435 Xtreme . Looking forward to their development of the Arriflex D-20 system.

CineGear 2004 PHOTOS BY GEORGIA PACKARD SOC except as noted in a photo credit; photos not by Georgia Packard are courtesy of Hugh Litfin SOC.

Stan Wallace at the Filter Gallery

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: CINEGEAR

Daniella Meltzer with Coptervision 's Rollvision and stunning aerial motion pictures and still photography using unmanned helicopters.

Frank Koy always has a welcoming smile . He's now at J L Fisher.

Mehran Salamati showcases his Hot Gears system .

Jimmy Fisher {in the Hawaiian shirt) has been very supportive of the SOC and often opens his doors for New Tools & Technology demonstrations and equipment updates. Top : The Fisher sign over their booth .

Denis Lenoir ASC with Georgia Packard SOC.

Stan and Kim McClain with Filmtools have an incredible selection of equipment, tools, expendables, and accessories for all your production needs.

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: CINEGEAR

Gory Thieltges (left) of Doggicom installs the latest Sparrow Head, a 16.5 pound carbon fibre wireless remote head capable of being operated l /2 mile away on a radio link. Top: The Doggicom booth .

Don Owens from Ponovision Hollywood on the red carpet for celebrating 50 years of film cameras and the launch of Genesis Digital Camero System . Ponovision won the Creative Arts Emmy Award (Sept 12, 2004) for their Sony 24P camera system . Douglas Slocombe of the British Society of Cinematographers.

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: CINEGEAR

Above : Dove Frederick SOC and Greg Collier SOC mind our SOC booth while enjoying sno-cones from the KG folks . Below: Working the SOC booth, Denis Moron SOC and Hugh Litfin SOC ore joined by Todd Bennett of Clairmont Camero . Over the years, Clairmont hos been one of our biggest sponsors/supporters.

Georgia Packard SOC with Roy Wagner ASC The lnnovision booth

Sandy Kurobobi with Fujifilm display information on film and tape stocks, computer products, ProAV ond Pro Photo. Fujicolor Negative Film F-400 hos o great complete line.

HydroFlex gave viewers a wonderful underwater world of filming possibilities with many of their tools .

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: CINEGEAR

Schneider Filters for all sizes and designs to improve image quality have introduced two new colors : Sahara Gold (to create a warm rich scene) and Maui Brown (enhances brown and gold tones). Don't forget to check all of Century Optics' fantastic lenses!

lsaia & Co's Pee Pod 1600 and Power Pod home also carries a wide variety of camera , camera accessories, lenses, tripods and support systems. Don 't forget to pick up your Director's View Finder and expendables here too .

Kodak heralding their new Vision 2 film stock line.

Cinegear Expo 2005 Friday June 3rd, 2005 12:00 PM - 7:00 PM and Saturday June 4th, 2005 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM at Warner Brothers Studio

14 OPERATING CAMERAMAN: CINEGEAR

2004 ~etime Achievement

A.wards \Banquet

SOC President David Diano

Eye Care Clinic patient Kevin Jolie thanked the SOC for contact lenses.

by Lynn Lanning PHOTOS BY NEIL JACOBS except as noted in a photo credit; banquet photos not by Neil Jacobs are courtesy of Hugh Litfin , SOC

he SOC held its 2004 Lifetime Award Banquet on aturday, ovember 6, 2004 at the Hollywood Roo evelt Hotel, home of the first Academy Awards pre entation. The Blossom Room wa fitted out with a podium and teleprompter and two giant creens. Before and during the meal, a David Diano, Roger Corman, Beverly Garland, and series of logos cycled on the screens, honoring the companie who Tom Hatten surround Roger's Cammy. continuously support the 0 as corporate ponsors. Banquet books and the new OC pin were at each place etting. The pin was designed by David Frederick, 0 1st vice pre ident. The banquet book was prepared by Lynn Lanning and printed under the auspices of The Ingle Group. The cover photos for the banquet book, showing the most recent Cammy and tech award plaque, had been newly photographed for the occa ion on a royal blue velvet background by Wynn Hammer MPSP. Lynn apologizes for not crediting Wynn properly in the booklet for the cover photos. Centerpieces at each table consisted of a ba ket of white and purple flowers, twined with purple ribbon and trip of film. They were upplied by Hollywood Famou Florists. The wine erved had been peciaUy made, bottled and labeled for the 0 by Georgia Packard 0 Three Award winners for Still Photographer: Peter Sorel, Humor was the keynote of the evening. Pre enter and honoree Gemma La Mana, and Steven Vaughan, all SMPSP. alike told jokes, looked at the funny side of life and filmmaking, and occasionally clowned around onstage. David Diano, OC president, welcomed everyone and then turned the podium over to Dr Ellen Matsumoto of the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles Eye Care Clinic. Dr Matsumoto spoke Over 200 people attended the banquet. Here they're turned toward the podium.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUET 2004

Banquet attendees chatted in the anteroom before the banquet began .

Ray De La Motte tries to rescue his Cammy from friend and presenter Richard Donner.

Beverly Garland is not quite ready to turn the podium over to Roger Corman .

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Wynn Hammer took the photos that were used for the front and back covers of the souvenir booklet for the banquet shown at left. He should have been credited for the cover photos in the banquet book, but the credit was accidentally omitted .

The 2004 SOC pin was designed by 1st Vice President David Frederick.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: UFmME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUET 2004

Michael Chambliss SOC, Rich Cascio, Holly Beavon, and Janice Pearson enjoyed the evening.

of the importance of the generou contributions to the clinic over the years. he then brought Kevin Jolie to the microphone. Kevin poke movingly for everal minute about the help the 0 has provided for him in pecial contact len e hi in urance wouldn't cover, beginning when he was a very mall boy. ow he is in college at U LA and he credit the 0 's support for his succe . David then introduced the ma ter of ceremonie , Tom Hatten. Tom ha been the emcee for previous OC Award Banquets be au e he' o good at it. As Tom put it, "We are here thi evening to honor dedicated arti t and craftspeople who work behind the scene . You can't make great or even good films without them, becau they do it better than anyone el e in the world." The fir t awa rd was for the Historical hot: the continuou teadicam shot from Goodfellas which takes the audience from out ide the nightclub, down through the kitchen and up into the interior of the nightclub, finally ending on a do e-up of Henny Youngman. Larry McConkey, the Steadicam operator of the hot, wa on location, but accepted by video. At one point in the video he tarted over again, but the audience decided that was part of the humor of the evening. ext Peter orel SMP P, a former recipient of the award, pre ented the Lifetime Achievement Award for Still Photographer to teven Vaughan MP P, a longtime friend and a ociate. Peter, teven,

and three other were the founders of the ociety of Motion Picture till Photographer , patterned on the 0 . Cinematographer John C Hora ASC pre ented the Technical Award plaques to ARRI and Doggicam. Accepting for ARRl were Walter Trauninger and Bill Rus eU, who was a last minute replacement for F Gabriel Bauer AAC, who wa unable to attend. Accepting for Doggicam was it founder and president, Gary Thieltge . Jim Connell pre ented the Cammy for Camera Technician to John M Walker, whose story he aid "Charles Dickens would have loved ... rags to riches. Horatio Alger." He al o mentioned the time Johnny tuck a tripod foot into Jim's hoe. Johnny joked about Don Morgan A caJling him for work and always announcing, "Johnny! I got to the W' !" As each of the award was pre ented, a video of highlights of the recipient's career played on the big creens.

Tom Hatten presented the Cammy for Mobile Camera Platform Operator to lay Lacy, a man who e name i ynonymou with aerial cinematography. lay, hi planes and crew have flown in movie and flown the camera to film the movie . lay has logged an incredible number of hours in the air over a long career that includes nited Airline , the alifornia ational Guard, and hi own fleet of Learjet and other plane . Beverly Garland, who starred in five film for Roger orman during three year (1955-57), introduced the fabled filmmaker who was receiving the Governor Award for his outstanding contribution and achievements in the cinematic media. Both pre enter and presentee have a long list of credits. Roger ha a triple crown: producer, director, and mentor. Beverly had o many torie to tell about Roger that she held him off from the mic and hi acceptance peech

Kelly and Gory Bourn. Gory is the SOC Treasurer.

Kathryn Skotulo and Tom Hotten.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: UFmME ACHIMMENT AWARDS BANQUET 2004

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: UFmME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUET

2004 19

while she recounted them. Once he got the mic, Roger poke movingly about hi a ociation with film.making and au the wonderful people he's worked with. He paid graceful tribute to the importance of camera operators and how they have facilitated what he has accomplished. Camera Operator Ray De La Motte OC received his Cammy from his good friend Richard Donner. Dick poke of Ray's career, hi red -headed temperament, and how Ray wa always ready to stand up for what he believed right and wouldn't settle for mediocrity. After a brief wrestling match while Dick pretended to keep the Cammy for himself, Ray retrieved his

Roger Corman accepts the Governors Award.

Rich Cascio, Roger Corman and Hugh Litfin SOC. trophy and thanked the OC, aying how wonderful it was to be honored by one's peers for one's work. He wa deeply moved by the tribute from the OC, but still able to tell a fwrny story or two about working on the set. Karin Hubbard-Lu ter coordinated the banquet, Roy Lu ter produced the show and Michael Chambli SOC produced the video egment . The Banquet Committee included David Diano, Bonnie Blake, Michael

Dr Ellen Matsumoto speaks on behalf of the Eye Care Clinic at Childrens Hospital.

Beverly St Hilaire, Janice Pearson, Rich Cascio and Michael St Hilaire.

3 J:

Gary Armstrong and Stephen Lighthill ASC.

Ray De La Motte SOC accepts his Camera Operator Cammy.

Chambliss, Buddy Fries, and Georgia Packard, all OC, plus Diana Penilla, the OC administrative as istant. Buddy Fries SOC photographed portraits of all the awards recipient for the banquet book. The evening was also a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the OC. Jim Connell SOC presents the Cammy for Camera Technician to Johnny Walker.

Tom Hatten gives the evening a big send-off.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: UFmME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUn 2004

ChildrensHospitallosAngeles January 3, 2005 David Diano Pre ident Society of CameraOperators PO BOX2006 Toluca Lake, CA 91610 Dear David, Thank you for your generous $5,000.00 donation to the Eye Clinic at Childrens Hospital. The SOC ha supported the Eye Group for countless years and becau e of your dedication to our patients we have been able to provide the be t care po sible. Your organization can't imagine tl1e positive impact that you have made on counties families. Patients such as Kevin Jolie have been able to pursue their career and dream thanks to your continued support. The continual generosity of the SOC has been crucial to our uccess in helping children with sight threatening eye di ea es. Many patients have excellent visual acuity thanks to your gifts and would not be enjoying the sight that they now have. uccess in pediatric case only occurs with a long term commitment. In most ca es a child fitted at a few montlls of age will only be assured good vision with a seven year follow-up. Your unwavering allegiance to our mission has and will again provide the opportunity for good vision to our needy youngsters by supplying len e that would not otl1erwise be forthcoming. Plea e accept a pecial thank you from ail the children you helped thi past year and from the other patients in the Clinic who enjoyed the thoughtful holiday toy you brought for them. The OC toys were di tributed within a few days after you dropped them off and brought many smiling faces. Thank you once again for your wonderful gift and best wishes to the SOC for a happy and healthy 2005! Gratefully, Ellen R Matsumoto, OD Director, Contact Lens Service

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN : UFmME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS BANQUET

2004 21

ROGER CORMAN: GOVERNORS AWARD ger Corman's career as an dependent fibnmaker contracts F Scott Fitzgerald's famous tatement, "There are no second acts in American live ." Roger Corman's career is a three-act success story. In the 'SO and '60 he blazed a pioneering trail as an independent producer and director, making a phenomenal number of low-budget features in a variety of genres. His reputation as a trend etter started with some of the cult classics he made during thi period, including The Little Shop of Horrors (featuring the young Jack icholson in a must-see role of a masochi tat the dentist's), A Bucket of Blood, Tire Intruder (the first film to tell the story of the integration of schools in the South), a classic cycle of horror films based on the tories of Edgar Allan Poe, Tire Wild Angels (the first "biker" movie, starring Peter Fonda, which opened the Venice Film Festival to great acclaim and became the highest gro ing independent film of 1966), and The Trip (written by Jack icholson and starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper). By the end of the '60s, Corman's provocative films had won him international acclaim. He was the youngest

Corman directing Frankenstein Unbound.

director ever to be honored with retrospectives at the Cinematheque Francraise in Paris, the British Film Institute in London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The second act of the legendary Corman career started when he founded his own independent production and distribution company, New World Pictures. During the '70s and early '80s, Corman's company became the major independent producer of fastpaced, youth-oriented genre pictures, including such cult classics as Death Race 2000,

Rock- '11-Rol/ High School, Big Bad Mama, Piranha and Battle Beyond tire Stars. The huge

~ success of pictures such as The quintessential Roger Corman, by Wynn Hommer. these enabled Corman to also release high-quality foreign the Sci Fi Channel, and continues the film by world-class directors such as Corman brand of fast-moving, actionIngmar Bergman, Francrois Truffaut, Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa. In a based genre movie . Corman's eye for talent and unique 10-year period, New World won more abilities as a mentor, based on his extenAcademy Awards for Best Foreign Film sive experience as a producer and director, than all other studios combined. have launched a number of stellar careers. In 1983 Corman sold New World Graduates of the "Corman film school" Pictures and founded a new include producers Jon Davi on and Gale independent pro- Anne Hurd; writers and writer-directors Robert Towne and John Sayles; actors duction and distribution compa- Sandra Bullock, Charles Bron on, Robert DeNiro, Peter Fonda, Diane Ladd, Willian1 ny, Concorde Shatner, Talia Shire, Sylvester Stallone; New Horizons, and directors Peter Bogdanovich, James lawKhing the Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Joe third act of his Dante, Jonathan Demme, Carl Franklin, entrepreneurial and Ron Howard. career. Concorde Roger Corman has received an produced a Honorary Doctorate from the American "Roger Corman Film Institute, and Lifetime Achievement Presents" series Awards from the Los Angeles Film ~ of science fictCritics, the American Cinema Editors, 8 ion, horror and the Academy of Science Fiction and "' fantasy films for Fantasy, and the American Film ~ Showtime, proMarketing Association. 0 duced its first ln 1998, he won the first Producer's ~ TV series, Black Award ever given by the Cannes Film ยง Scorpion, which Festival. premiered on

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: IJFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

de la Motte was born and ised in Los Angeles, California. fter graduating from high school, Ray attended community college for one year. When a job opportunity with the architecture firm of Leach, Cleveland, & Associates opened up, Ray jumped at the chance, and began to work a a draftsman. During his two years pent working over a drafting table, Ray di covered that he possessed two things: an intere tin the visual arts and a firm belief that working in an office might not be his ticket to happiness. This realization proved erendipitous, since it was about this time that a cinematographer and family friend named Joe MacDonald set up a meeting for Ray with Bill Wade, a member of the camera department at Universal tudios. Taken by the young man's energy and enthusiasm, Wade arranged for Ray to spend time at the Universal Camera Department. Ray spent the next ix months drafting during the day and volunteering his time with the Univer al tudios Camera Department at night. During that time, Ray learned to load film, gained experience with the camera equipment, put in a 90 hour work week, and discovered the industry he wanted to spend the re t of hi life working in. Having realized that the film industry was the only show in town for him, Ray began to actively seek employment with the camera departments at alJ the tudios in town. ol Halprin, the head of camera department at 20th Century Fox tudios, offered Ray a temporary three week position to fill in for one of the film loader who was going on vacation. Alway one to bet on a ure thing, Ray left his full time position at the architecture firm to begin a temporary po ition which offered no promises of future employment. Three years later, he was still 'clocking in' every morning on the Fox lot. Joe MacDonald, having followed the progress of his friend, offered Ray a po ition a a econd camera a istant on hi new feature film, and Ray presented ol Halprin with hi two weeks' notice. Unfortunately for Ray, Group 2

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: LIFETIME

assistants became available, and due to Ray's lower Group 3 classification within the Fox's camera department, he was not only unable to take the promotion but found him elf out of a loading job as well. Seven long months later, con i ting mainly of model boat building and billiards playing, Ray approached elson Tyler, the owner of a new company named Tyler Camera Systems. He was interested in volunteering for the staff and learning about his helicopter-based motion picture camera system. Tyler agreed, and while volunteering, Ray met a young as istant named Don Morgan, who not only taught him the ins and outs of the equipment, but proved to be one of the funniest human beings on the planet. Three months later, Tyler found his fledgling company needed additional assistants to deal with the booming production demands, and he offered Ray a first as istant po ition. Due to the specialized nature of the Tyler equipment, Ray was able to finally bypass the union grouping sy tern and begin working on set as a camera assistant. This first opportunity provided the required thirty days to qualify for the union, and he continued to work with Tyler Camera Systems for the next 211.! years. During this time, Ray met cinematographer Phil Lathrop while as i ting on the aerial unit of The Gypsy Moths. As the

production came to an end in Kan as, Lathrop invited Ray to join his camera crew in Los Angele on their next picture as the replacement for his recently retired econd assistant. Ray spent three wonderful year as a member of Lathrop' crew, until, while filming Wild Rovers, camera operator Duke Callaghan offered to promote Ray to first as istant camera for Jeremiah Johnson, a film he was cheduled to photograph later that year. With over one hundred films in the can, Ray de la Motte still runs to the et in the morning just a fast as he runs to the catering tent at lunch. He cites his recent experience filming Angels i11 Americn a the mo t fulfilling of his career. His genuine love for his work stems from the many talented crew members he has had the pleasure of collaborating with over the year , such as Remi Adefara in, Dick Barth, Caleb Deschanel, Allen Disler, William Fraker, Stephen Goldblatt, Dariu Khondji, hawn Landis, Laszlo Kovacs, Kenny Nishino, Don Peterman, Dennis Seawright, Colin Cambell, Robert Thomas, Haskell Wexler, Gordon Willi and Vilmos Zsigmond to name a few. ยง Ray believe the knowledge imparted ~ on him by these gentlemen is worth a ~ lifetime of film chool education and is surpa sed in importance only by what he 0 has learned from Patty, his wife of thirtytwo year . She, along with hi two sons Kevin and Stacy, truly represent his heart's desire.

Ray filming Wilder Napalm ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

JOHN M WALKER: CAMERA TECHNICIAN

hn M Walker (Johnny, or JW) was born in Romford, Essex, England, about 20 miles northeast of London, in the middle of World War II. At age 16 he became an apprentice tool and die maker at Ford Motor Co in Essex. After working at Ford for seven years he emigrated to California in June 1964. He crossed the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, hoping to start a new life for himself where some family members had already settled. John learned of an opening in the machine shop at Universal Studios and successfully applied for the position. There he learned to repair and maintain the camera equipment. Later while working on location as a camera mechanic on the film Slaughterhouse-Five in Minnesota, he became friendly with the camera operator, Jack Whitman Sr, who encouraged John to apply for a position as a film loader in Universal's Camera Dept. For two years, with no monetary gain, he worked every morning before his job in the machine shop, and every evening after it, training for the film loader position. Bill Wade, Camera Dept head, eventually hired him as a Film Loader. Two years later he became a 2nd Assistant with Charlie Correll's camera crew on Kojak. Even though Universal was one of the busiest studios at the time, John left at tl1e invitation of Michael Genne to work on an independent film with Bill Butler: Alex and the Gypsy starring Jack Lemmon. This one film and his breakaway from Universal led to a memorable path where he met and rubbed elbows with the majority of the top craftspeople in the Camera Guild. Meeting with Ray De La Motte on the multi-camera concert shoot for Barbra Streisand's A Star is Born led to Ray recommending John to Laszlo Kovacs' 1st Assistant, Joe Thibo. Over the next two years Michael Genne and Joe Thibo taught John to become a 1S1 Assistant

Cameraman, all tl1e while working on some of the biggest films in production at that time. It was a very exciting and rewarding educational experience! John's last film as 211 d assistant was Paradise Alley, Sylvester Stallone's directorial debut. Laszlo and Joe offered John the "B" camera on their next film,

Butch and Sul!dance, The Early Days. Three months later, Bob Edesa moved up to camera operator and introduced John to David M Walsh who invited John to be his Iâ&#x20AC;˘t AC on The Inlaws, jump-starting his 25-year career working with many of the most respected production crews in me motion picture business. Throughout these wonderful and exciting years, he was proud to be invited to assist such notable cameramen as David M Walsh on Private Benjamin,

Chapter Two, Seems Like Old Times, The lnLaws, and in 2003 a reunion wim David on Hallmark Hall of Fame's When We Were Grow1111ps; wim Bill Butler on Rocky[\!, The Sti11g II, The 1110rnbirds, Child's Play; with Bruce Surtees on Sudden Impact and Tightrope; wiili Michael Ballhaus on Primary Colors and Wild Wild West; with Fred Murphy on Metro; with Chuck Minsky on Raising Helen and Princess Diaries II; and countless other notable cinematographers on "B" can1era, commercials, second units, pick-up shots, music videos, etc. Some of the many notable directors wim whom John has worked throughout his career are Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, Clint Eastwood, Arthur Hiller, Richard Lester,

Jeremy Kagan, John Cassavetes, and Gary Marshall. John was elected to me Executive Board of the International Cinematographers' Guild for one term. He has happily been a resident of Woodland Hills for the past 25 years, where he and his Australian wife, Adrienne, have raised their two children. John met Adrienne while on a trip to visit good friends in Australia in 1968 - they sat next to each omer on a flight to Sydney and recently celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. John retired this year in March and they plan to enjoy their time between their second home in Mammoth Lakes and a planned relocation from Woodland Hills to Morro Bay. John can honestly say that there has never been a day when he has not looked forward to me camaraderie on a film set. He will miss you all, especially me wonderful craft service people and caterers ... his retirement workout program is a major priority, thanks! What a crowning achievement for a career, to be honored by his peers at me SOC wim tlUs Lifetime Achievement Award! He is deeply humbled and grateful. It's sure a long way from his beginnings at Ford Motor Co. in England, a dream beyond his wildest imagination! Johnny adds a PS: "What time's the call tomorrow?" p;

Johnny with camera operator Bob Edesa on the set of

Chapter Two (1979). THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: LIFETIME

ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

and also placed first in the Jet Class of The Great Race from London, England to Victoria, British Columbia the same year, flying a Learjet 24. With his exclusive Astrovision equipped Learjets, Clay does almost every airline commercial filmed, and a large amount of Hollywood aerial filming. A few of the films for which Clay provided all the aerial sequences are Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder, and The Great Santini., and he has done much of the photo work for the aircraft industry and military. As a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Directors Guild of ~ America, Clay has participated in dozens of movies. He faked a ~ gear-up landing of a Learjet for the movie Capricorn One and oi:; landed a DC-3 gear-up (for real!) for the movie The Island. ~ With over 50,000 hours as a pilot, Clay holds an Airline Transport License with thirty (30) type ratings, helicopter, seaplane, flight instructor and flight engineer. He retired, Seniority

ยง

lay Lacy is a native of Wichita, Kansas. He started flyrng at the age of twelve, and in January 1952, at age 19, he left Wichita to join United Airlines as a copilot on DC-3 aircraft. In January 1954 Clay took military leave from United Airlines to attend Air Force Pilot Training. After completing F-86 Gunnery School in August 1955, he returned to United Airlines and continued flying military fighters and other aircraft with the California Air National Guard. One of the first pilots to receive a Learjet Type Rating in November 1964, Clay was the Manager of Learjet Sales for California Airmotive, the Learjet distributor in the seven Western United States. From 1964 through 1972, Clay flew a purple P-51 Mustang in every Unlimited Air Race held. He placed first in the 1970 Reno Unlimited Pylon Race to become the 1970 National Champion, In 1971 be placed first in the last propeller un limited cross-country race held. He followed that by winning first place in the Fighter Pilot Tournament held in St Louis,

While Cloy Locy Aviation is on all jet operation for charter, Cloy owns some vintage WWII aircraft, including a P-51 Mustang and the 1944 T-6 he is pictured with.

~ ~

ยง

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~ ~

o Robert Duvall in The Great Santini; Cloy provided all the aerial sequences for this film and many others.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN:

l.JFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Nwnber One, from United Airlines on August 31, 1992 after 40 years and 7 months. At the time of his retirement, Clay was flying the Boeing 747-400 Los Angeles to the Orient. ln addition, Clay has done test flying, making first flights on the original Pregnant Guppy, the STOLIFfER, the GENIE and the TRI-DC3. He began writing editorials and commentary for Professional Pilot magazine in May 1997, and after dozens of byline articles, has been repeatedly voted the most popular writer, year after year. On January 28, 1988 Clay flew a Boeing 747SP around the world in 36 hours 54 minutes, establishing a new Around-theWorld Speed Record and in so doing, raised over $500,000 for children's charities. A~~

director of a non-union horMan, The Cider House ror film called The Eyes of Dr Rules, Face/Off, Cheney (Andy Davis, DP) and Starship Troopers, .. The Fugitive, Lethal he asked teve to shoot the stills. That led to two more ~ \Veapon 3, Days of films for the Band Co and a ~ Thunder, Rain Man, ~ Crossroads, Streets of series of Avon commercials. During one of those com~ Fire, Star 80, and i;; Bladerrmner. mercial shoots, Vaughan met Vaughan's career John Alonzo who asked if he was in the Union. It wa John ~ that has taken him to ยง Europe, South who told teve about the America, Africa and Southeast Asia, not to Open Seasons agreement and his eligibility for the ro ter, for which mention the many backroad and blue Steve would be forever grateful. highway of the U. . He has been offered new challenge with every project and a Thanks to the Open Seasons agreekeen vantage point to view and record the ment and "the as istance of Jen in the change in our art and culture over the ~ camera department at Universal," past 25 or o year . ~ Vaughan went from non-union indeNot every project ha been a Blade ~ pendent films to Local 659. He calls it Runner, Rain Man or Master and in "a path as wide as the 101 that took Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man you to the gate from all the people that Commander, but he says, "the rich environment, the effort to look for art in what had followed it." Jen gave him his first job - a day on Co/11111bo. That led to we do as still photographers and the desire tephen Vaughan ay , "The fir t to create evocative image is constant." time I saw an image come up in weeks on Battlestar Galactica and to feaVaughan leaves oon to begin shooting tures like Airport '79 and The Jerk- the the developer tray it was like a film that will take him to ew Orleans, beginnings of a career that continues to magic. It was alchemical - turning silver Austria and The Czech Republic. enrich his Life. His credits include Master into image . I was being taught to print "The beginning of another lifetime. and Commander, We Were oldiers, as a job requirement and a year later I Hey?" N.~ Wi11dtalkers, The a/ton Sea, The Hollow traded print and processing to a client for a u ed camera and 50. I entered the world of photography through the darkroom. It was 1972, I was 27 and I'd never looked through a viewfinder in my Life. Three month later, I hot Marcel Marceau for a short-lived theater magazine, and started taking any job offered with the belief that I'd figure it out or fix it in the darkroom. I made call , borrowed equipment and read books. I'd become pas ionate about photography and always had a camera with me. I was addicted to the heightened visual awarene that always looking for a picture bring." During that time, Steve made enough money to pay for film, paper and chemicals by providing head hots and composite for unemployed actors and model . Harrison Ford, punks and monks in Bladerunner. One subject of tho e headshots became

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

ry McConkey gave up a budding areer as a concert pianist and a chance for an Olympic medal as a fencer to go into filmmaking. His studies for his new career included dance, sculpture, art history, music performance and theory, theatrical direction and acting, and creative writing, with degrees from Cornell and Temple Universities. A fascination with flying and radio controlled planes and helicopters led to a career filming documentaries. In 1976 Garrett Brown's groundbreaking SteadicamTM work in Bound for Glory introduced Larry to the device he is convinced was designed just for him. (He says all Steadicarn operators feel that way.) A mutual friend later introduced him to Garrett, who invited Larry to help him develop Skycam. While incorporating Steadicam into everything he worked on, Larry continued to work on Skycam, designed for Seitz Technical Products, and earned his pilot's license. He finds many parallels between flying and operating Steadicam, although mistakes with

the latter are rarely fatal. McConkey has done many extended shots so far in his career: the shot through the Copacabana in GoodFellas is the one that receives the most acclaim; the opening for Bonfire of the Vanities may be the most technically proficient, the fmal chase sequence in Carlita's Way that culminates in a long shot in Grand Central Station may be the most exciting. Snake Eyes has an extended opening scene that actually consists of several long shots joined seamlessly together with wipes and whip pans to simulate a near 20 minute long shot. Kill Bill has another unusual shot that includes leaping over a wall and tracking overhead as Uma Thurman walks down a corridor below him, including a crane shot in the middle of the sequence. "All of them required handling many more elements of filmmaking than a conventional operator normally does;' McConkey says. "The chances of getting through 4 minutes or more without mistakes are very small otherwise. The most fruitful relationships I have had are with Director Brian DePalma and DP Steve Burum. I have worked on every film of Brian's starting with The Untouchables and each has at least one long Steadicam sequence, including the latest,

Femme Fatale.

Cl ill "' Z'. ~

"With the challenge of performing long shots, I have developed very strong notions about what I do. I want to visually express ideas clearly. I strive to make every shot a succession of separate, well-defined thoughts. If there is not a good reason to move, the camera should not

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: l.JFmME ACHIEVlMENT AWARDS

move at all. Any move I do make should be the simplest and easiest I can contrive. If I succeed, every movement will have meaning, and even the smallest movement will ~ have an impact. This kind z 8 of control requires a great ~ degree of discipline and i:< :S technique, and that is o~ what motivated the <levelIi opment of my personal ยง style. "There is a continuing paradox between my goal (effortless looking shots) and the means to that goal (great technical and physical efforts) tl1at endlessly fascinates me. To excel as a Steadicam operator, you have to learn the physics that control t11e 'flying' of the Steadicam; you must develop the discipline, strength and coordination of a dancer, the emotion and psychology of an actor, the expressive performance of a musician, and the tactical and strategic understanding of a general (or director or fencer). Through all these elements, you are attempting to transport an audience through a complex range of ideas so that they feel comfortable and secure, in much the way a professional pilot is trusted by his passengers. In addition to all this, it certainly helps to be able to design and build parts of tl1e instrument itself to further your capabilities. "In short, being a Steadicam operator has allowed me to bring all my interests and abilities together in an exciting, challenging, and rewarding career. There will always be a higher mark of excellence to strive for, and I can tl1ink of no other occupation in the world that is so completely involving. I hope my successes and those of the other members of my generation of Steadicam operators will inspire all those that follow to surpass our achievements:'

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Victor Nelli {right) and operator Jon Purdy on the set of Bernie Mac.

Focusing on Bernie Mac' by Victor Nelli Jr

he first thing we had to figure out before we shot the pilot of The Bernie Mac how wa format. Were we going film? DigiBeta? HD? At the time, 24p wa not being u ed too much. The only how that wa using that format was Titus, a multi- amera how. And the only ingle camera comedy how wa Malcolm i11 the Middle done i11 16mm film. We looked at all format next to each other and we all

gravitated toward the HD 24p. HD seemed to be the way to go but we didn't want to use the multi-camera format. I think of Bernie as today' Buster Keaton. Ye , the word are always important in a story but here it i what he does with hi face that is paramount. If we did multi-camera we'd be 30 feet away and on long len e mo t of the time. The viewer wouldn't be connected. We needed

Bernie Mac

to be in ide him, alma t. Handheld. teadicam. Jib. ingle camera. Convincing Fox wa n't that ea y. There wa a faction that supported us. There wa a faction that aid "proven itcom format meant multi-camera." Fortunately, the people who realized that this how i

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: FOCUSING

ON 'BERNIE MAC'

all about eeing Bernie prevajJed. ingle camera was the only way to go. The first thing J wanted to do wa make everything ea ier on our operator Jon Purdy and Randy olan (who replaced Rusty Geller when he moved to Au tralia). I wanted to free up their movement. To

lnnovision HD Probe

treat thi like a film camera. I wanted to et the ameras up (lookwise) and ju t adju t the top. o paint box hooked to the camera. o audio in. That can be a cable nightmare. And becau e ome of my background i in documentarie , I felt comfortable in doing everything wireless. We end a cratch track to the camera via wirele UHF. The ow1d i al o recorded on DAT and production syncs it later. Thi free the camera from abo ut ix cables. There i a fiber optic ystem available, but again it' too thick for what I was doing. Jon Purdy A-camera operator and teve armona A-camera 1 t A have put together a great camera package. We can go from dolly to hot head jib shot in 10 minute . Then to handheld in 30 econd . Back to the artoni Lambda head under lung i11 five mil1Ute . It really help me and the producers to be very pontaneou . Jon i a perfect operator. First he i very focu ed on each shot. He knows how to make the actor feel comfortable, e pecially when they don't hit their marks. I would ju t want to rip th ir head off. o Jon being in their face i a good thing. He really goe with the flow and doe ome incredible move . teve armona i my workhor e. He ju t gets it done. I have put a lot of presure on him. When we tarted there wa no HD upport gear out there. We had to

make a lot of tuff up. I really pushed for the E G tyle lense , which are very temperamental and never do the ame thing twice. The focus mark mean nothillg on the len , so we finally went with Preston remote focu e on all cameras. The as i tant are doing most of the focu ing from the two 20-inch HD monitor

become the ma ter with the HD Probe len too. We both wi bed we had bought one the fir t eason. teve continues to be very upportive and willing to go the extra mile to help u keep the how lookjng great. The teadicam was a whole new ball game. They have u ed HD with it, but again the cable was still needed on the camera. We al o found that the cable in ide the teadicam rig was not good enough to handle the HD DI ignal. They changed that, and u ed a lighter len to help the center of gravity. The camera i till very long. Randy does an incredible job cramming this boat through the doorway and tight corner . We have the Kino Flo Kamio light on the teadicam, which now i powered through the teadicam. Randy u ed to wear a backpack with the balla t and battery. I'm urpri ed to see he can still have children. The focu i pulled u ing the Pre ton remote unit. Bill Gerardo- teadicam/B-ca mera a sistant-has hjs hands full and comes tbru with flying color every time. Mo t of the how i hot with fir t generation Fujinon E G-style HD len es, because I like the look of the older glass. Where we really have fun i when we u e the InnoVi ion Probe. That lens ju t rocks! I'm alway looking at the cript and finding way where we can get that great POV shot that get me in ide Bernie Mac's world. We've had moments where we've had the point-of-view of a nake. We even made fake teeth to go around the len and dangled a fake rat over it. There wa an epi ode where the guys were playi11g cards ru1d we used it to get tight hots of the playing card and of their eyes. Then there

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: FOCUSING ON ' BERNIE MAc'

wa the time when we put it underwater and shot an extreme do e up of a hand tealing coin from the fountaill then came in do e to the face. I love the Probe

works for us in ide and out. The Frazier needs so much light that interior work i out of the que tion. I tried it once and we had to u e a lOk light five feet from the actor's face. With the Probe we need maximum three top brighter (5.6 in tead of normal 2). The len i ea y to u e. We can change it out quickly. And the size allow u to get in tho e weird area . That underwater capability allow u to really ell the comedy from strange places. When we u e the lens, we al o u e the Preston remote to free up teve. Thi let both Jon and teve concentrate on what they are doing, without getting in each other' pace. Because we are o do e, movement can really how. But with thi camera team, that's the last thing that I have to worry about. This camera crew i o very tight. Ryan Jackson 2nd A just keep us on track and all the gear we need is there. Ed Moore our utility i one of the be tin the busines . He is alway there. The monitors are et and ready to go, the directors have what they want, and all done with a mile on hi face. John O'Brien i my KODAK. He' the video controller. He makes my cameras pretty. We both pu bed our elve to come up with a look that wa distinctive. As I always ay to John, "warm and fuzzy." Jerry Kaman is the maintenance engineer. He keep u ticking and in ync with ound and po tproduction. Jerry eem to pay for him elf every year. He ha aved the day a few times, as we all know time is money. For all of u , doing The Bernie Mac how i a lot of fun. Each day we try to find djfferent ways to make our audiences laugh along with us-and that' not a bad job to have.

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rian Reynold A feels very comfortable going back and forth between film and HD project . Hi lighting remains basically the ame, whether he' u ing ony 900s for project like the PB show American Family or Panavi ion Platinum and G-2 Panaflexe for B ' American Dreams. He keep a much lighting and grip equipment off the floor a pos ible, giving everyone freedom of movement. He know hi equipment will perform, becau e he has confidence in hi choice . In fact, he even u e the

One of the most important parts of a cinematographer's job, whether it is film or video, is finding the right operators. ~

ame filter package for film and HDchneider black fro ts and cla ic oft . ~ onfidence extend to hi crew a well. 0 "One of the mo t important part of a 1:; ~ cinematographer's job, whether it i film ยง or video, i finding the right operator ," he ays. "Operator who have an in tinct for story telling, and an understanding of the twi t and turn of the how. They have to be in ync with the director and my elf, in ync with the actor and in sync with each other. "I look hard at operator ' re ume , checking out if they have been working with the ame DP over and over. That mean that someone el e has confidence in their judgment. "Another g od ign when doing the interview i eye contact. I know it seem really odd, but when I am interviewing omeone, the way they behave in the interview will be a sign of what they do on the et. If they make eye contact with me, there i a good chance they will make eye contact with our director and with the actor . That' one of the mo t important tool in conveying a connection, and under tanding of the tory and the 'zen' of the cene. " It i going to be their job to understand not only what the director want but al o to help me decipher what we are expected to do on the set. They have to pay attention to the blocking and watch where the actor go, alway looking for !2

Instinct i

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THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: BRIAN REt'NOLDS

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the pitfalls, anticipating that of parameter . The camera crew light stand at the edge of frame works very hard to meet the challenge of eleven cene and or that backing edge outside the window. eight to twelve page a day. "They always have to know Reynold says he ha the be t what 'might' happen. In a way, people ever on hi camera team: "/\'operator cott Fuller, " B" what a good operator needs to do is tune into the rhythm of operator Bill Boatman, Robert the cene and anticipate all the ~ mith, Tom Fraser, and ean ~ Fairburn 0 . Reynold al o idio yncra ie of the et. When ~O admit he ha 'geniu c "camera a director goe over and talks to an actor, my ears perk up. o ~ a i tant too. "My fir t can should theirs. It is a great way to ~ focu instinctively on a moving ~ actor from a moving camera on help anticipate change in the 5 a 275 or 600mm wide open with cene from take to take getting ~ ease! Michelle Crenshaw and into the mood of the hot and Alan Koplin seem to perform being ready for the unexpected. American Dreams "The Commencement." Tom Yerico as "When I began putting a crew Jack, Brittany Snow as Meg and Gail O'Grady as Helen . the ta k flawlessly day in and day out while being upported by together for American Family (3 amera HD) I sat down with my operaThe viewing system are not a operator econd a istant Ja on Kinney and loader Alexis Li." friendly as far as judging focus." tor and howed them ome of my work. It gave them a en e of what wa okay When testing the camera for the fir t framing-wi e and what wa n't. I encourtime Reynold admit , "! wa o u ed to looking through an optical viewfinder with the flicker, that it took me a while to remember when the camera wa on or off," he laugh . "We knew which button Reynold has an unu ua1 tyle of u ing to push, but a couple of times we thought two camera . Instead of keeping both we were rolling and we'd turned the camcamera in relatively the ame po ition era off instead of on!" he mile . "When and hooting two ize , he hoots what he we first tarted the show, everyone tudied jokingly call the 'triangle offen e.' "We and te ted the equipment. We knew we aged them to tear through the envelope light and shoot multiple performance , and be creative with com po ition." had to be more dead on with HD. We two over or ingle in oppo ite end of knew the limit and the chal lenge . We the et at the ame time. ome-time we Reynold admit that working in HD knew the camera would be le forgiving hoot in two joining et at once," he can be a little more of a challenge, when it came to the day to day operation explains. "The operator have to act with becau e the format is still in its infancy. in tinct, keeping in ync with each other, "Although there are operators who can go of the gear. American Dreams, however, which is ometime keeping the other camera ju t back and forth between both format , out of frame." HD does have a bit of a learning curve. filmed in 3-perf 35mm ha a different et

What a good operator needs to do is tune into the rhythm of the scene and anticipate all the idiosyncrasies of the set.

Jason Kinney Slates on an EFX rainy day on American Dreams.

THE OPERATING CAMERAMAN: BRIAN REYNOLDS

It's instinct. You either have it or you don't.

Operator Bill Boatman and 1st Assistant Alan Koplin shoot a dramatic night scene in "Vietnam" for American Dreams.

Does he di tinguish between a The transitions were 'Film' operator and an 'HD' operdesigned to cut one hot to ator?" ot really. Jt' instinct. You another on vertical wipes of either have it or you don't. The wall and tree ." guys I work with need to underOn American Family, stand the story, read the script, Reynolds and team concome in knowing what we are tantly fell into moment trying to get aero to the audi9 that needed an operator's ence and know how to execute ~ in tinct . "The how was smooth hots while doing it." ~ about family and family In film, Reynolds relies on the ~ gatherings:' he explain . operator to help by tweaking the "The actors were free on the focus knob during hots, helping ~ et to do what they wanted with critical focu since they are to do. o the operators often working wide open on long 11 A" Operator Scott Fuller & l st Assistant Michelle Crenshaw peek were more like three doculenses. With HD, the finder are out from a hole in the "Cambodia" shack on American Dreams. mentarian , following the such that it is more difficult to action and feeling the judge critical focus. "But instinct i even get the story in an interesting way," moment . Telling the story with not only more im-portant when you can't see that Reynolds explained. "Kirk Gardiner was the dialog but al o the subtle gestures and clearly." on Steadicam. He did a fabulous job, reactions that actor do to convey the mood American Family often offered the moving smoothly for 20 minutes, instinc- of the scene. show' operator intere ting and in tinc"Of cour e that take in tinct - and tually pushing in and pulling back when tual moment . One show featured 20needed. communication between every member of minute teadicam takes. "ln order to link the shots, Kirk' moves the crew. "Gregory ava told us he wanted to were combined with Technocrane hots "Whether it is HD or film or anything in shoot an epi ode that felt Like it was one between." working from a tow vehicle. The actor long uninterrupted take, like Alfred (E ai Morales) went from inside to outHitchcock's Rope. Follow the action and side then gets in his car and drives away.

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Panavision-6 Tour of New Mexico or How

I Spent My Summer Vacation

as told to Emme Headroom PHOTOS BY GEORGIA PACKARD, MARR HIMMERICH, ALANA HERRERA AND JEFF ALFORD

teve Ander on, the owner of Enchantment Film , Mar hall Baer and I at around the Old Firehou e in Albuquerque to ing out idea for creating a unique djgital experience. Jame Powell, a lo al camera a i tant tated one of the many hurdle we would have to overcome: "We don't live down the treet from Panavision (Woodland Hill ). We can't ju t walk in and a k them to teach u how to u e all of the equipment right now." " If we had the gear, and the Fuji tape to k, and were able to find a pon or for the project like the ew Mexico Bureau of Touri m, what would we call it? The idea would be to end ix camera crew into ix djfferent region of ew Mexico in July to shoot the widescreen letterbox plendor of the tate with the late t digital technology." " How doe the Panavision-6 Tour of ew Mexico ound? Maybe we could get cal flauti t Danny Wilding to create the oundtrack for us?" The following month Ju tin Well was hired to teach our two-day camera training eminar in Albuquerque. Local camera per onnel were a embled with the help of Jame Powell and Georgia Packard. eorgia had organized the Panavi ion camera prep with David Mahlmann and Tara ummer . All of the gear to be u ed wa color-coded to make check-out and teaching ea ier for UPM Jill ilverthorne. Dan Monaghan put hi wonderful Touri m Department team to work breiling down each region' chedule, cramming in a many ite of intere t a po ible during a 4-day van ride. I had to explain that thi wa n't a easy a tepping out of your luxury crui er to nap a still photo - the crew would have to land at a ite, back the elephant out of

the trailer and go through the trick of etting up & taking down the camera after getting the shot. Then they would till have to put the elephant back into the trailer before driving to the next location. Very few change were made to create ix tour . Everything had to be arefuJJy laid out in pre-production if we were going to pull off thi project ucce sfully. My cyber cou in Maxwell ay being a hy girl trying to get ahead in thi bu ine , I hould challenge my elf more to go out to new place and make new friend . Here I wa in ew Mexico wanting to meet other filmmaker , o what could I do but throw a "big party" offering up a Panavi ion 24P camera training e ion with the chance to actually go out

and hoot. We put the cameras to the test by reaching out acros the tate: cliff climbing, peeding aero a lake, covering a real we tern hoot-out, traveling up the ky tram, catching city light at night, and filming a few un ets and evening lightning torm , mineral bath and more than a couple of ancient ruin . I led a team of four through the orthwe t region: my elf a cinematographer, Marr Himmerich a fir t camera a i tant, Alana Herrera a econd camera a sistant and Jeff Alford a our travel ho t. Here wa one of my great ble ing in putting together a fantastic crew. Jeff came via the Land of Fire & Ice Volcano at Bandera & Ice ave . He wa n't afraid to roll up hi leeve and help carry

Georgia Packard, operating color-coded Panavision 24P camera for Team #1 Northwest region .

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: PANAVISION-6 TOUR OF NEW MEXICO

Marr Himmerich {right) 1st camera assistant stands with Alana Herrera {left) 2nd camera outside El Morro.

sunscreen, bottled water and before trekking to the Aztec Ruin and then out to avajo Lake just in time for our trusty map for Shiprock a magnificent lightning storm topped Peak in another (native American) Nation's territory. only by that evening's electrical light show across Farmington's western mesas. Marr Himmerich reaching out to touch someone. We talked about the Northeast Marr, Alana, Jeff and I were coming region, led by cinematographer Naturally, on top of the mesa we had no cell covtogether as a pretty dynamic crew by Ed Rio, who was due to film a erage . Fortunately, we didn 't need to call for help. now, jumping in and out of the van to western hoot-out that day with quickly et up, shoot, tear down for the equipment when not driving our van or Mike Baca and Jeremy Standridge as his next location. Everyone carried a full load crack camera team. They al o had a volcoordinating with our next top's contact person. As yo u can see in the photocano on their colorful trail, as well a of re pon ibilitie with a creative attitude. graph , we taped down the camera's eyeAngel Fire and the Pecos Musewn. Central team cameran1an Paul Evans, Our afternoon "break" et u off in piece etting because most of the time Aaron Wilson and Loraine Mills were racing around Albuquerque' mu eums cart acros the Pinon Hills Golf Course we had to conserve batteries and therefore could not use a monitor while shooting. Who would have lugged that big monitor around anyway-and where could we have plugged into the wall while we were way off the beaten path? It reminded me of setting an exposure on film and waiting to check the re ults that first night watching dailies in the motel. I put the package to the te t the fir t day going down Grant' mining haft with only candlelight expo ure , going into the Bandera lee Caves then out onto the volcanic lava flows, bright wrny exterior with ancient rock carving , a Hopi village, traditional afternoon thunderhowers creeping aero the high desert me as, Zuni traditional dancing in beautiful co tumes, ending in an evening full of neon-lined Main treet leading up to the infamous El Rancho Hotel. The next morning we shot the hotel 's gorgeou two- tory lobby before jumping Georgia Packard SOC looking over the mesa's edge after the hike up on the far end of the ruins-onto the lookout point over a mile along the crest. into the van with re-charged batteries,

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: PANAVISION-6 TOUR OF NEW MEXICO

and gallerie . Checking in from my cell phone in tran it, I found out where ome of the other crew were that day. Doug rawford wa the cinematographer for the outhea t region, leading ick Ward and Kri tina Keach on u ing hi mini-jib for the three ancient Pueblo ruin of the alinas Valley: Abo, Gran Quivira and Quarai; an odd counterpoint to White and on their to-do Ii t. Meanwhile Lynn Lockwood led hi crew of Lorrie Latham and Richard Haley into the orth for the mud and mineral pa, Lo Alamo , Gho t Ranch and all of anta Fe. Bob Willi shot across the outhwe t region ila liff Dwellings to ilver ity with a i tan ts teve Banni ter, Allan Folford and Martin Peter on. My motley crew wa getting ready to cale haco Canyon for our Day 3. I remembered fondly my Outward Bound urvival Training in the di tant past with out the camera. We broke the equipment into backpacks for carrying. Ream of paperwork, igned permi ions, in urance form and a non-refundable fee to the ational Park ervice were in order. Layer and layer of unblock were applied (an PF number o high I wa worried it might expire before the end of the day). We packed in water, food and tock (digital tape for the big 24P camera and Jeff' smaller documentary camera plu film for my ikon which doubled a a pot meter). We hit the ruins ground level fir t, working our way around the Grand Kiva before taking our tour 200 feet kyward to the me a top. The hike wa tough carrying the equipment even though we had treamlined the package to the bare e ential . Yet each per on cheerfully and arefully put one boot in front of the other until we reached our pectacuJar overview vantage point of the ruin . Rain clouds rolled in as we started our trek back over the mesa top o we had to break out our pla tic bag for cover. I wa m re concerned about crambling down the very teep wet crevice. We kept our footing like good mountain goat all the way down the rocky mountain ide and back to the van before the kie opened up with full bowers. Our check-out wa a very damp parting dulled by not being able to tay for what promi ed to be a pectacular sun et. The chedule mu t be

Checking in with the other teams via cell phone while in transit.

kept intact and we had another ite lo ation till on the agenda, though I did call Jill to ee if another crew could have covered u . Traveling quickly a ro the tate, we reached Albuquerque' famed ob Hill Di trict ju tin time for un et and neon. It felt like a fire drill, jumping out of the van and working our way quickly down the street trying to capture every "point of intere t" we laid our eye on. By the end of the di trict, we turned around to ee headlight now on and the very la t of the day's light expiring. On to a great din-

ner and a welcome hower before awaking early for the next day. Acoma and the ky ity Ca ino introduced u to guide Brian Vallo. Each ation had provided a pecial liaison for us and Brian was used to "photography detail," howing what ite were available and what weren't. Around the back side of Acoma I looked at the tone tep built into the rock cliff of Enchantment Me a in the far distance. The view was breathtaking, an amazing vista even after coming from four day of incredible view . Again we

Marr pulling focus for Georgia on camera while Jeff Alford is spotted in the corner at Chaco Canyon . Jeff made the behind-the-scenes document with digital & stills.

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: PANAVISION-6 TOUR OF NEW MEXICO

Careful of camera and the local nature, Morr and Alana put the lens where the cinematographer has requested. Georgia and Brian discuss the permitted shot sequence and the additional overview blessed by our eagle flight.

were ble ed with the well-known ew Mexico puffy cloud of Georgia 'Keeffe fame and bright unlight oftened by them. We carefully placed the tripod on the rocky edge of the cliff to capture the divine nature. My a i tant Marr roped u off for afety. Alana did her extra duty a a walk-through talent to help u how the per pective of the cliff' ize in proportion to a lone per on. I grabbed the matte box and pulled the lens lowly upward pa t the pathway just in time to catch an eagle flying overhead. It wooped gracefully across my shot in the form of a ymbolic hadow cro ing between the un and a b ulder in the foreground. One ju t couldn't a k for anything more. Alana Herrera (far left), Jeff Alford (center)' and Georgia with our little corner set up at the lookout on the other end of the ruins.

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: PANAVISION-

UR OF NEW MEXICO

Our sixth of New Mexico, clockwise from above : Shiprock Peak-We had to cross tribal lands to get " up close and personal " but it is well worth the broken bottle obstacle course along the heavily rutted trail. El Morro ruin 's majestic stonework . Note the dark stripe design a few feet from ground level. What we were willing to do in order to get the best shot-from the canyon floor, our ruins (room with a view) to where we had hiked in carrying all of our equipment. Approaching Navajo Lake, just in time for a storm to take our light. Atop Acoma Pueblo, Brian Vallo and Jeff Alford do a bit of set dressing for us in front of the church . Traversing the sleep trail back down to the floor of Chaco Canyon was tricky hiking through this crevasse .

â&#x20AC;˘ OPERATING CAMERAMAN: PANAVISIONÂˇ6 TOUR OF NEW MEXICO

Above: Kong and Fay Wray atop the Empire State Building, dodging planes .

!(ING !(ONG IS COMING... 8ACI( by Rick Mitchell

he corn men ement of production n Peter Jackson' remake of Ki11g 011g call for a look back al the 1933 original. The film wa a pioneer in many way , including p I-production. Unfortunately, there ha been very little documentation of this a pect of the

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: KING KONG

King Kong 1933 Ann Darrow ............... Fay Wray Carl Denham ...... Robert Armstrong Jack Driscoll ...... . .. . .. Bruce Cabot Other cast members: . .. Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy, Noble John on, teve Clemente, Jame Flavin Director . . ........ Merian C Cooper, Erne t B choed ack Relea e Date ........... April 10, 1933 tudio .. . ... . . . .. RKO Radio Pictures "And lo, the beast looked upon the face of beauty. And it stayed its hand from killing. And from that day, it was a one dead." -Merian C Cooper, 1933 The tory: On an i land near the Malay peninsula Lived dinosaur that hould have been extinct and Kong, a even-million-yearold giant ape not even Tyranno aurus could defeat. ative built a ma ive wall to eparate the villages from Kong, pLitting the i land in two. Kong wa feared and wor hipped Like a god, and regular sacrifices were made to him to appea e hi wrath. In 1933 a team of Hollywood moviemaker arrived on the i land to shoot a new picture. Carl Denham wa a fearless filmmaker, famou for hi daring jungle adventure . Capturing Kong on film was hi ultimate challenge. Hi leading lady Ann Darrow was kidnapped by the natives for her tunning beauty and offered to Kong as a sacrifice. When the mighty bea t saw Ann, his heart melted. He had never een such beauty. Kong took Ann into his domain. Eventually he wa rescued by crew member John Dri coll, but Kong pur ued hi prize relentle ly. Denham knocked Kong unconscious with poi onou ga and hipped him to New York as "The 8th Wonder of the World." Kong escaped and went on a de tructive rampage t11roughout the city in earch of Ann. He eventually took her to t11e top of the Empire tare Building, where a squadron of fighter plane finally brought him down. Before falling to hi death, Kong et Ann free. A final bur t of machine gun fire sent him tumbling to t11e street below. BASED ON VARIOUS INTERNET SOURCES.

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: KING KONG

Ann (Foy Wray and Jock Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) ore reunited ofter King Kong 's demise.

original film except for visual and sound effects. However, it originated procedure and techniques that would be used until upplanted only a decade ago by the digital technology that will be central to the execution ofJackson's 2151 Century ver ion. Relea ed four and a half yea r after the introduction of sound, Kong can actually be seen as representing the industry's ulti mate triumph over the new technology. It was a perfect merging of the vi ual art that silent film had become, e pecially in its last four years, with the aesthetic possibilitie of the aural. The film begins with a eries of dialog cene taged and shot in a style reminiscent of the earliest talking pictures. As it moves away from New York, dialog decrea e and the visuals are accentuated, especially after the introductio n of the mu ical core in Reel 2B, culminating in an entire central reel (4B) carried olely by the vi uals, ound effects, and music. The original King Kong was made by RKO Radio Pictures, the first major com pany fo rmed specifically fo r the maki ng of sound films. This wa the re ult of RCA's David Sarnoff's de ire to get in on the new phenomenon. In 1928 RCA purchased the

FBO tudio at Melro e and Gower in Hollywood, and Later the Pathe lot in Culver City. This is where the jungle scene for Kong and concurrently filmed The Most Dangerous Game would be hot. According to an International Photographer article published in the Fall of 1929, RKO' editing room were et up with the

Kong originated procedures and techniques that would be used until supplanted only a decade ago by the digital technology. basic equipment t11at would become tandard in t11e indu try for the next 65 yea r , i.e., editing machine , ync blocks, pLicer , and coding maclllnes. Though Kevin Brownlow' interviews fo r The Parade's Gone By revealed that while few editor of silent film used viewing device , ound required them and RKO had Moviolas with head fo r reading optical tracks a well a eparate optical track reader fo r t11e assistant(s). The editorial staff con isted of the

editor, at lea t one a i tant, and one or two apprentices. Unfortw1ately little is known about tile picture editorial taff of Kong. A witll all other department in the tudi o system, editorial crew were a igned by tile department head unless producer or directors requested specific editor . It's not known if Ted Cheesman wa a igned to Kong or requested, but he wo uld edit all of Merian C Cooper's subequent production at RKO including he ( 1935) and Mighty Joe Yo ung ( 1949). His assistant(s) and apprentice(s) have not been identified to tllis date. Little had changed in tile daily routine of tile editing room fo r the past 60 yea rs. As the sound was reco rded opticaUy on 35mm nega tive, the editing room would receive both daily picture and track fro m tile lab and it would be logged, ynced, creened, ink-coded, and broken down for edi ting. Prior to tile adoption of splicing tape in tile mid-'50 , tile editor would make phy ical cut on both picture and track with ci or , paperclip tile ends together, and wind tile footage onto a take- up reel. The as i tant or apprentice would ub equently hot plice this material. Of cour e, a frame wa lost on each ide of the cut and if a cene had to be extended it wa filled out witll black leader un til a reprint could be ordered. This is one reaso n why many older editor ' fi r t cut were ro ugh and tlley prided

tllem elve on how few black frames were in tlleir cut or in having a low number of reprint order . Yet tllis did not prevent fast paced editing, as many scenes in Kong will attest. (The la t editor to u e hot plicing was Richard G Wray ACE, brotller of Kong star Fay Wray. Until his retirement in tile mid-1970s, when he wa cut-

One unusual aspect of the production of Kong is that, in those pre-union days, it was shot off and on for over a year. ting Marcus Welby, MD at Universal, his fir t cut picture would be hot spliced, but change were made witll tran parent adhesive tape.) One unu ual a pect of tile production of Kong is tllat, in tllo e pre-union day , it was shot off and on for over a yea r. Scene requiring rea r projected stopmotion material would be held up until tile animation was done. Fay Wray made at least three films concurrently: Most Dangerous Game, Doctor X, and Mystery of the Wax Museum during Kong' production. It's not known what effect tllis had on the editing room in terms of crew lay-off and hiatu e . It' al o not clea r

Fay Wray and Joel McCrae in The Most Dangerous Game (1932) . Wray was filming th is wh ile on hiatus with King Kong, and the jungle scenes for both movies were Filmed at the same time .

King Kong 200 S Ann Darrow . . . . . . . . . . . . aomi Watt Carl Denham .... . ........Jack Black Jack DriscoU . . ......... Adrien Brody King Kong . ...... . .. . .. . .Andy erki Otl1er cast member : .... Colin Hanks, Thoma Kretschmann, Jamie BeU, Evan Parke Director ............... Peter Jackson Relea e Date .... December 14tll, 2005 tudio ............ Univer al Picture Synopsis: tory of tlie gigantic gorilla captured in tlie wilds and brought to civilization, where he meets a tragic fate. Based on the original story by Merian C Cooper and Edgar Wallace. Peter Jackson, director of tlie King Kong remake, ays his version of tlie film will be different from tlie original, a it will foett more on character development, especiaUy Kong. "He's a very old goriUa and he' never felt a single bit of empatl1y for anotller living creature:' jack on told tlie Associated Press. "You introduce tliis oilier per on into hi life which initially he tliinks he' going to kill and tl1en he lowly move away from tllat and it come full circle," he said. "That's what we're exploring and it' really fun to go into tllat p ychological depth witli it." aomi Watts plays female lead Ann Darrow, originally played by Fay Wray. "Those are big shoes to fill:' Watt aid, adding Wray "did a wonderful job. It is an iconic movie and an iconic role. Hopefully people won't suddenly see me a only tllis role;' said Watts. Jack Black talked to MTV about his role in tile remake King Kong, and how he would take a seriou -actor role: "There are ome funny tliing about my character but, yeali, it is a different thing for me," Black revealed. He al o promised tl1at Peter Jackson' Kong remake will feature a much fiercer giant gorilla than some of tile kinder, gentler versions. Andy erkis, fresh from hi tour-de-force as Gollum in Jackson' Lord of the Rings trilogy, will be Kong. Adrien Brody as Jack Ori coU, Jamie BeU a a young cameraman, and Evan Parke as first mate and head of tlle re cue team row1d out tl1e principal cast. BASED ON A PRESS CONFERENCE & VARIOUS INTl'RNET SOURCES

OPERATING CAMERAMAN: KING KONG

what wa done about incorporating effect hot into the work picture. Wherea in previou film involving exten ive vi ual effect , uch cene were u ually du tered into one or two sequences. Kong, it equel 011 of Kong, and Univer al ' The Invisible Mnn were the fir t films to have large number of uch hot pread throughout their entirety. With two of the proce e u ed in Kong-the Dunning Traveling Matte

The Dunning Process was used for most composite photography until the perfection of rear projection. Pro e and rear projection - fini hed com po ite would be part of regular dailie . Only tho e hot u ing the Frank William Traveling Matte Proce and tho e involving matte paintings would require waiting for com po iting. It's also not known whether or not the Kong editing ro m got pre-opt to work with.

The Dunning Proce was invented in 1928 by Dodge Dunning, a 17-year-old high chool tudent. The background was hot fir t and a print from it, dyed yellow, would be bi-packed in the production camera with unexpo ed panchromatic negative. The foreground would be taged in front of a blue backing and ilJuminated with yellow light. Thi allowed it to print through the yellow dyed background while the blue backing cau ed the background to be exp ed in all other area . A confu ing a thi ounds, the proce s worked quite well and was u ed for mo t compo ite photography until the perfection of rear projection. One cene in Kong pecifically identified a being a Dunning hot wa Kong baking the sailor off the log. All of the compo ites in The Most Dangerous Came were done by the Dunning Proce s. The drawback to the Dunning Pro e wa that interaction between the foreground and background was difficult. According to vi ual effect arti t Jim Danforth, to do uch hot for Kong by thi proce , a Moviola wa linked to the

Fay Wray in Doctor X, filmed concurrently with Kong.

camera by the ame technique u ed to link the ound recorder o that another print of the background plate could be viewed in ync with the one bi-packed in the camera. Other corn po ite hot were done by the Frank William Proce s, the industry's fir t perfected double-matting y tern. Here, the foreground i photographed initially again t either black velvet or a pure

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white backing, but by the time of Ko11g again ta blue backing and with bi-packed blue ensitive and panchromatic negative. Print from the e n gative would produce the male and female matte , and everything would then be combined in an optical printer. Additionally, WiJljam developed a live action variation of the roto coping technique developed by Max Fleischer to combine live action and cartoon in which the scene in question is projected frame-by-frame onto animation eel . The area to be matted i inked in and the eel are then photographed to create the matte. lt's not certain if thi latter technique wa u ed anywhere in Ko11g, though it was u ed in he and became a key component in Universal's vi ual effects pallet. It wa al o u ed in the Invisible Man film and Abbott and o tello comedie . It' not known if the Kong editorial staff was involved in lining up the foregrow1d and background element of the e hot or if thi wa done by the optical hou e, as is

The unique post-production requirements of King Kong became standards of the industry ... until the digital processes in the '90s. tandard today. Pioneering ow1d effects edjtor/de igner Murray pivack initially worked from the cript in determining what sound he needed for Kong, uch a the dinosaur and other effect , a te hnique u ed later by tudio taff edjtor when brought on in advance for picture with unique ound needs. It's not known at what point pivack began pecifically fitting the e

Murder at the Wax Museum, starring Fay Wray, also filmed concurrently with Kong . ound to the picture or what he worked with in doing o. (By the early '40 , dupe negative were made on po itive stock and prints from them provided to sound and music editor and for dubbing room projection.) In order to minimize the deterioration of ound quality, only tho e scene involvi11g the addjtion of sound effect and music would be re-recorded. Thi wa true until the late '30 and after in some instances. Otherwi e, the original production ound negative would be cut like that of the picture. ound pljce are quite audible when the e tracks are played on modern equipment. Apparently, Kong was not publicly previewed but was hown to RKO executive in a two-hour version before being locked at a tight 100 minute on eleven 1,000-foot reel by late January 1933. At lea ta month would be needed for dubbing, negative cutting, timing and the striking of the initia l print needed to how exhibitor and for the premiere

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OPERATING CAMERAMAN: KING KONG

engagements at the Radio ity Music Hall and Roxy in ew York and Grauman' hine e in Hollywood. The unique po t-production requirement of King Kong would become ab orbed into the tandard technique of the indu try, improved upon lowly by new technologie until the introduction of digital proce e in the '90 . Much of the R&D in thi area ha been done over the la t decade, but thi doe n't mean Peter Jackson and hi taff will have an easier time than tho e pion er of 70 year ago.

lnfor111ation for this article comes from The Making of King Kong by George E

Titmer and Orville Goldner (A Barnes, 1975); conversations the author has had with the late Rudi Fehr and Er111a Levin; Richard Bracken, Jim Danforth, Bud Hoffman, Phil Scott, Pierre Wilson, Robert Wise; and information shared with the author from their conversations with post production pioneers by Larry Blake, Ben Burtt, Rf Kizer, Edward R Nassour, Todd Ramsay, George Turner, and Marvin Walowitz. This article origi11ally appeared in Edjtors Guild Magazine. Reprinted with permission. Rick Mitchell is a picture editor, film director and fi/111 historian. The original King Kong is his favorite film and he coproduced the Hollywood S()'li anniversary tribute to it at the Chinese Theater in 1983.

MORE MAGAZiNE RETROSpECTiVE by MicltAd J FREdiANi soc Due to space limitations in the previous issue, we only touched on two topics from past magazines that should certainly be remembered. One is the issue of the Second Cameraman. The other is the advent of Video Assist, a feat claimed by more than one person.

film by the unlight reflected into the len off a white board while cranking the bi-packed film through the camera/printer/projector. He made fifty film in 1895 which were each 17 meter in length ( 60 econd at 16 fp ). To maintain the appearance of normal movement the ubject matter wa usually projected at the ame frame rate a it had been expo ed in the camera. However creative projectionists often varied the hand-cranked projection rate

ing motion pictures an out ide activity. Thi remained o until the turn of the century, ju t five years away, when George Melies built his gla -enclosed tudjo in Pari and filmed his interior and other tage ets in daylight, protected from the element . The cameraman by Bill HiNES soc wa the technical (a nd often creative) "One hundred year have pa ed key to the moviemaking proce s. Then a now, everything wa prepared for ince the motion picture camera and presentation to the camera. The cam the motion picture projector were eraman functioned as director, director invent-ed to respectively record and give of photography, camera operator, life to ta tic image , expo ed and profocu puller, loader, lighting director, jected at 12-16 frames per second. In electrician, grip, lab technician , opti1889, Thomas Alva Edi on introduced cal technician, (later) film editor and the Kinetograph, a cumber ome battery-driven camera and the projectionj t-a veritable one-man band. (Echoe of Peter Hyam and Kinetoscope, a projector for the soJan de Bont?) called "peep show." In the ame year The cameraman was expected to George Ea tman produced the fir t ~ provide hi per onal camera equipcelluloid trips coated with photo~ ment and the overall technjcal djrecgraphic emul ion. The 4-perforation per frame pull-down standard and the 3 tion of the recording proce . He 35mm film width wa then e tabli hed ~ would et up hi camera, load film ~ into it, et the exposure, frame the by his a si tant, William Kennedy ~ action, crank film through the camera Laurie Dick on. In 1894, the Lumiere 3 at a given rate, et fade and di olve brothers, Louis and Augu te brought ~ (whew! ), unload the film, develop the out the fir t practical, portable, hand& cranked production camera the film and print it. All of thi wa really inematographe, which al o erved as ~ an exten ion of what the still photographer did (and doe ) in getting pica printer and projector in turn. Loui o ture . Many cameramen of the day Lumiere called him elf an operator (a ~ were well grounded in the techniques cameraman) to de cribe what he did when he et up, placed and lined-up 1--~---------------.----4 ~ of till photography. By 1899, torytelling technique developed. the camera view; and then threaded, cenarios were written. Film pre entato either speed up or low down the onturned and expo ed film in that camera. tion were one reel ( 1000') in length , screen movement. Film edjting had not From 1895 to 1896 ten inematoapproximately eventeen minutes at 16 yet been di covered." graphe were produced in France, while fp . At 8 frame per turn, the cameraHine continued, " During filming, other camera were being produced in man/operator would crank film through everyone including taff, actor and England, Germany and the United the camera at the rate of two turn per extra pitched in and did everything: set tate . Lumiere filmed all of his early econd in order to maintain that 16 fps con truction and placement, co tume , films outdoor for maximum light rate. (Editor's note: ome cameramen prop acqui ition, et dre ing, makeup, expo ure on tho e very low emulsion . would h11111 a t1111e to themselves that had hairdressing, etc. There were no pecialAfter bi-packing unexposed negative the correct rhythm and tempo to mainists per e in tho e days. The lighting behind the expo ed negative in the tain proper fll111 speed.) ource wa the un which made hootCinematographe he would print hi

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OPERATING CAMERAMAN: MORE MAGAZINE RETROSPECTIVE

By I 904 the static camera in tead of recording the entire production from a ingle po ition, began being purpo efuJly placed at varying clistances from the action or subject matter. omewhat later, the camera was placed on a mobile platform and moved while filming from a long view to a do e view while panning and tilting to hold the action in frame. Films were being imported and exported. In the USA two cameras were u ed during production-the principal, or fir t camera operated by the principal or first cameraman was placed in the optimal position with respect to the blocked action and wa u ed to expose the more important domestic release negative. Ne:xt to it with the same focal length lens and similar coverage wa placed the econd camera, operated by the second cameraman which was used for the foreign release negative. Hence the origin of the de ignations, first cameraman and second can1eraman.

TltE AdvENT of VidEo AssisT by MicltAd fREdiANi soc "On The et with Video Assist" was an article I wrote concerning the advent of our ometirne -neme is 'video village.' (How many remember the TV show of the ame name hosted by Monty HaU?) P ART

During my re earch l found that Jerry Lewi holds a patent on video assi t, for what it's worth. It was 1960 when Lewis first u ed his video as i t ystem while making his clirectorial debut on The Bellboy in Miami Beach. ln a nutshell his device used a dosedcircuit industrial type RCA Vidicon camera motmted upon the Mitchell B C fiLn camera. This video camera was equipped with a variable focal length zoom Jens that permitted it to match the cene content of all the B C prime lenses except the 18mm. The video shared the horizontal parallax of the finder and wa compen ated to the point of focus. Vertical parallax wa adju ted for each shot to the average

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point of focu . All told the videota~ playback y tem weighed-in at 200 pound ! (We've come a long way baby.) During my re earch I made everal attempt to contact Mr Lewi about hi role in creating a video playback y tern. He finally called me back, but wa not willing to di cu hi invention. Lewi pointedly said that he was ' crewed over' by Hollywood, telling me "We work in a strange industry when an innovation of thi kind has been kicked under the rug for almo t 40 year . They (the film community) haven't appreciated the work of an innovator because he' a pratfall comic, o I won't dignify them with any further comment about my device. It' not worth it to me anymore." Yet not everybody ha for aken Lewi . teven pielberg aid, "Ever ince Jerry Lewi inaugurated video playback in the I 960 , it ha continuou ly proven to be a benefit to director , with ome notable exception . Using playback i not unlike ' neaking' your movie in front of your entire ca t & crew, and although when thing are going wimmingly thi i a valuable morale-boo ter, it could turn your leading actors into iskel & Ebert, thereby inviting a day-one collaboration between director, actor, producer and mo t certainly the camera operator," pielberg added. " ome filmmaker welcome thi collaboration a [ have in the pa t; others I know decry it." P ART

After publi hing that article l encountered the esteemed David W amuelson at the 0 booth at howBiz Expo in Lo Angele . He told me that while he found my article interesting, he could offer additional information for the next

__J

mounted vertically above the film camera len . The configuration wa much the ame a for front projection and was thu parallax free." PART}

I "" ~ ~

Jerry Lewis's video assist system . -----t

edition of The Operating Cameraman concerning the video a si t component of his invention, which I welcomed and publi hed in I 996. amuel on wrote: "Mr. Jerry Lewis' y tern, which he fir t u ed in 1960 wa one tep forward, one tep backward and one step standing still. It wa one step forward becau e he u ed an indu trial CTV camera o at least the TV camera was not ma sively larger than the film camera it wa uppo ed to be a si ting. It wa one step backward becau e aU he did wa to mount the CTV camera along ide the film camera which meant that the video image uffered from ma ive parallax error (the lea t he could have done was to rig it to an auto-paral lax y tern Like the camera viewfinder). It wa tanding till in terms of progre becau e it still required a main power source and wa accompanied by racks full of video engineer's gear, wave-form monitor and the like." amuel on in 1960 had his own sy tern that con i ted of a "partial mirror et in front of and at 45 degree to the film camera len u ing a Pye indu trial CCTV camera fitted with a zoom lens

Even more information wa offered to me for inclu ion in the succeeding i sue of Operating Cameraman. ln l997 Paul Kenworthy Jr, who we all know from hi inin1itable invention the Kenworthy norkel amera y tem, contacted me. Kenworthy wa a U LA graduate tudent in I 951, hooting dramatic tabletop equences of small desert creature when he learned of Paul Roo . Roo was converting Kodak 16mrn ine pecial cameras by ub tituting a glas beam splitter for the original prism (which flipped out of the iniage path when the camera rolled, rendering it u ele for followfocus.) He added a viewfinder tube that had a variable magnification and a fourlen turret with a filter lot. Kenworthy's footage was the ba i for the 1953 Academy AwardThl winning documentary The Living Desert. As amuel on informed u Roo patented his device in 195 J, Patent o. 2,698,356, COMBI ED M TIO PICTURE D TELE I ION

AMERA.

Fla h forward to 1988 when Ro s received an Academy Technical Achievement Award for hi pioneering efforts. Fla h back to the late 1960 when Roos was supplying ome pecial optics for Kenworthy's new 16mm norkel peri cope, and the fact that Kenworthy found that Roo ' patent would be infringed upon. "We were now u ing pellicle to plit the image in the peri cope with part of it going to the video camera rather than having the video camera look into the film camera finder," added Kenworthy. An amicable financial agreement wa reached and the re ti history. PART4

omeone a ked me whether that meant that Jerry Lewis did not invent video a i t. He did invent a ver ion of it. ther people created variation of it. All of them have a claim to inventing it. And each prefers his own video a ist y tern.

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