Rider by Hazim Sufyan

NOVEMBER 2010

$5.95Canada $6.95

Donald A. Morgan, ASC

“W

hen I was young, I watched black-and-white movies with wonder and amazement, always wanting to know how such drama could be created with shadow and light. When I discovered American Cinematographer, the magazine provided me with a wealth of information and helped me develop my own ability to strike the right balance of shadow and light in my work. “Visual images are how we communicate in the modern world, and cinematography is the key to telling a story visually. AC continues to fuel the magic of the moving picture. I am so proud to be part of a society of visual storytellers.”

©photo by Owen Roizman, ASC

— Donald A. Morgan, ASC

TO SUBSCRIBE BY PHONE:

Call (800) 448-0145 (U.S. only) (323) 969-4333 or visit the ASC Web site

THE LIGHTING REVOLUTION:

LED BY LITEPANELS

Litepanels Sola LED Fresnel Series

Litepanels 1x1 Series ™

™

If the need is for a single light out in the field or integrating a full studio, Litepanels’ award-winning 1x1s are the answer. Versatile, cool-to-the-touch, low energy draw, these 30.48 x 30.48 cm (1’x1’) 1.36 kg (3 lbs) square fixtures can be combined as needed to suit the situation. Choose from 5600º or 3200º Spot or Flood. Go with the Bi-Color for the ultimate control of tungsten and daylight. Or get variable Flood, Spot or Super-Spot with the Bi-Focus. For a tight long throw with no spill check out the 15º SuperSpot. Litepanels’ awardwinning technology is ready to save you time, 1x1 models are also weight and energy.

See the first production models of Sola Fresnels that combine single-shadow Fresnel benefits with Litepanels’ award-winning LED advantages. The most versatile Fresnels ever, these daylight-balanced fixtures offer variable beam control from 10º to 70º and full-range dimming in lightweight, no-ballast, user-friendly fixtures. SolaENG—draws just 30W yet outputs equivalent to 250W Tungsten Fresnel and is sized for mounting on camcorders. Sola6—draws 75W with output equivalent to 650W Tungsten Fresnel. With 3 innovative ways to control: Traditional on-fixture knobs access motorized mechanical focus & electronic dimming Touch Screen for dimming, focus, status indicator, temperature gauge, Sola6 features touch & DMX address screen controls & Integrated DMX interface DMX built-in.

available in Low-Profile versions which use only 3" headroom

LLitepanels itepanels Sola Sola FFresnels resnels & 1x1s 1x1s bboth oth feature: feature: Exttremee portability • 100%-0 dial-in dimming • Dial-up brightness Extreme battery Ultra-lightweight t eight • Integrated DMX Runs oon n ba atttery r or AC • Cool to the touch • Ultra-lightw Fits where other lights cannot go • Battery option for wireless lighting Low Power Draw: under 10% of conventional lights

Litepanels’ Earth-friendly LED technology

Visit litepanels.com for behind-the-scene video clips. ®

www.litepanels.com

Winner of 2009 Technical Emmy ®

Litepanels A Vitec Group brand ®

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

On Our Cover: A legendary thoroughbred racehorse wins the Triple Crownin Secretariat, shot by Dean Semler, ASC, ACS. (Photo by John Bramley, courtesy of Disney Enterprises.)

FEATURES 30 42 54 64 80

Horse Power

Dean Semler, ASC, ACS bets on Secretariat

The World’s Most Wanted Man

Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC and Yorick Le Saux help profile a terrorist for Carlos

A Modern Romance

Tom Stern, ASC, AFC provides hope for an afterlife in Hereafter

King of Cool

AC honors the memory of ASC icon William A. Fraker

Primetime Artistry

This year’s Emmy-nominated cinematographers take a bow

DEPARTMENTS 8 10 12 18 82 86 88 94 96 96 98 100

Editor’s Note President’s Desk Short Takes: “Sextape” Production Slate: The LXD • Monsters Post Focus: New Hat Tricks of the Trade New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Phedon Papamichael

— VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES — Podcast: Morten Søborg and Nicolas Winding Refn on Valhalla Rising DVD Playback: Apocalypse Now • Fantômas • What’s Up, Doc?

N o v e m b e r

2 0 1 0

V o l .

9 1 ,

N o .

1 1

The International Journal ofMotion Imaging

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com ———————————————————————————————————— PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter ————————————————————————————————————

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Bob Fisher, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer, John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson ————————————————————————————————————

ART DEPARTMENT CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore ————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann 323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188 e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce 323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973 e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell 323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188 e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.net CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno 323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973 e-mail: diella@ascmag.com ————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal ———————————————————————————————————— ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Kim Weston ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark ————————————————————————————————————

American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 90th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344. Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made to Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com. Copyright 2010 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.

————————————————————————————————————

HIGHER DEFINITION x3 As our family grows, so do the possibilities of filmmaking. The KODAK VISION3 Film family has raised the bar for high-definition capture — with unrivaled highlight latitude, reduced grain in shadows, flexibility in post, and of course, proven archival stability. Now with the addition of KODAK VISION3 200T Color Negative Film 5213/7213, we’ve developed a film that performs superbly in both controlled interiors and in challenging high-contrast exteriors. It’s time to look forward to the future with more options and no compromise. Learn more at kodak.com/go/200t

The Cooke Look T2.8

T1.4

T2.0

One Look. All Speeds

Panchro/

S4/

cookeoptics.com

CookeOpticsLimited

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700

British Optical Innovation and Quality Since 1893.

Canada, South America, USA: T: +1-973-335-4460

American Society of Cine matographers The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but an educational, cultural and pro fes sion al or ga ni za tion. Membership is by invitation to those who are actively en gaged as di rec tors of photography and have dem on strated out stand ing ability. ASC membership has be come one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a pro fes sional cin e ma tog ra pher — a mark of prestige and excellence.

OFFICERS - 2010/2011 Michael Goi President

Richard Crudo Vice President

Owen Roizman Vice President

John C. Flinn III Vice President

Matthew Leonetti Treasurer

Rodney Taylor Secretary

Ron Garcia

Sergeant At Arms

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

Ikpekj Le_pqna =npo bkn decd o_dkkh Úhii]gano

?khh]^kn]pa( ha]nj( ]j` bk_qo ukqn p]hajpo Oqiian =npo ?]il ¡ Beja =npo >k]n`ejc O_dkkh 6

sss*ejpanhk_daj*knc

John Bailey Stephen Burum Curtis Clark George Spiro Dibie Richard Edlund John C. Flinn III Michael Goi Stephen Lighthill Isidore Mankofsky Daryn Okada Robert Primes Nancy Schreiber Kees Van Oostrum Haskell Wexler Vilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATES Fred Elmes Rodney Taylor Michael D. O’Shea Sol Negrin Michael B. Negrin MUSEUM CURATOR

Steve Gainer

The best lenses to express what you have in mind . . .

All the performance and range to capture your imagination. The Angenieux Optimo Digital Production (DP) Series.

Optimo DP 16 - 42

Optimo DP 30 - 80

Our 16-42mm and 30-80mm Optimo DP Series Zoom Lenses set new expectations for excellence. Featuring Angenieux’s award winning optics, the Optimo DP Series Zooms deliver the extreme details ideal for today’s 2K, 3.5K, 4K and 5K digital cinema cameras with resolution to spare for generations of cameras to come. And they’re already quickly becoming the lenses of choice for 3D production – now available in perfectly matched pairs packaged in a durable travel case ready to go on the road whenever you are. Any way you use them, our Optimo DP Series will capture much more than your imagination.

for over 75 years . . . 973.812.3858 angenieux@tccus.com UÊwww.angenieux.com

This month’s tribute to the late, great William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC (“King of Cool,” page 64),is a salute to a cinematographer who brought positive vibes to the set and joy to all who knew him. A true professional who also knew how to have fun, Billy was the charismatic embodiment of an era when moviemaking was the most glamorous and exciting career one could ever hope to pursue. Whenever he ambled into the ASC Clubhouse, sporting his mirrored shades, we all experienced a frisson of true Hollywood hipness,especially when Billy bent an elbow at the bar and entertained us with stories about Roman Polanski, Steve McQueen or the car chase from Bullitt. Trust me, there was no cooler way to enjoy a scotch on the rocks. Dramatizing real-life events can be tricky when most of the audience knows how the story ends, but Secretariat does a fine job of creating suspense while telling the saga of the most famous Triple Crown winner in history. “We wanted to capture the excitement of the race and were willing to do it in ways that no one else had tried,” director Randall Wallace tells AC contributor Patricia Thomson (“Horse Power,” page 30). “We were skimming cameras an inch over the ground, so close to the hooves that you can see the light reflected in the horseshoes. The dirt is flying, and it’s all real.” Of course, that kind of work requires careful planning, as cinematographer Dean Semler, ASC, ACS relates: “We did a careful, analytical study of every race. Each was designed on a corkboard with the exact position for the starting gate, the finish line, and the positions for all the horses throughout the race …. We’d pull this corkboard out every morning and dribble our breakfast burritos over it as we’d plan the day’s events.” The makers of Carlos faced similar challenges in dramatizing the true story of Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, a.k.a. Carlos the Jackal, a terrorist described by director Olivier Assayas as “the Bin Laden of his time.” Released in two versions — a 5 1⁄ 2-hour cut broadcast on the Sundance Channel and a 2 1⁄ 2-hour theatrical cut — the ambitious film was shot in nine countries, on 135 locations and in eight languages, by two cinematographers: Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC. Assayas’ method, which often involves handheld cameras, tested the cinematographers’ mettle. “Lighting for his films is more difficult because you have to cover 180, 270 or even 360 degrees,” Lenoir tells European correspondent Benjamin B (“The World’s Most Wanted Man,” page 42), “so you have to compromise; you have to light from the ceiling or find ways to not light at all.” On Hereafter, a romantic story with supernatural overtones, Tom Stern, ASC, AFC added new twists to the tried-and-true methods he usually employs on his collaborations with director Clint Eastwood. Normally a classicist, Eastwood found himself embracing the latest digital techniques, including previsualization, CGI and the digital-intermediate process. “We started with the DI about six years ago, and there was tension about it back then,” Stern concedes in his interview with Michael Goldman (“A Modern Romance,” page 54). “Now, it’s a standard part of what we do. The point is, as technologies become stable, more interesting tools become available. Clint will always take a conservative approach, but things do evolve, and we’re open to whatever develops.”

Stephen Pizzello Executive Editor 8

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

Editor’s Note

50Mbps MPEG-2 4:2:2 CF Card Recording MXF File Wrapper 18x HD L-Series Lens 3 Native 1920x1080 CMOS Image Sensors HD-SDI Output Genlock Input SMPTE Time Code In/Out Your production just got more productive. Introducing the Canon XF305 and XF300, with a codec that gives you the image quality and streamlined workflow to meet a broad range of production needs. The XF series also employs non-proprietary dual CF card recording, and for efficient file management, the MXF File Wrapper facilitates metadata handling throughout the workflow. And then there’s the 18x HD L-Series lens (35mm equivalent of 29.3–527.4mm) and three native 1920x1080 Canon CMOS Image Sensors. Which combined, offer a versatile zoom range and unsurpassed image quality. Finally, a feature-laden hand-held that’s ready for any assignment. usa.canon.com/camcorder © 2010 Canon U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. Canon is a registered trademark of Canon Inc. in the United States and IMAGEANYWARE is a trademark of Canon. All other referenced products and brand names are trademarks of their respective owners and are hereby acknowledged. HD-SDI output, Genlock input, and SMPTE time code in/out available on XF305 only.

As things continue to progress and evolve in the ever-changing production world, I find that one element is starting to erode from the lexicon of communication. In a word, trust. Trust saves timeand money and creates a better product. Trust takes many forms. When watching a 17"or smaller monitor on set, one cannot make an informed judgment about the merits of a shot as well as the camera operator, who is “living” the shot as it happens, moving in unison with the flow of the actors and the dolly. When my operator, Michael Stumpf, tells me the shot was great, I don’t need to rewind a tape to check it. I move on. And when he says it wasn’t good and we should go again, I usually understand why without having to ask, because I usually plant myself near the camera as the shot is happening so I can see the lighting on the actors’ faces. Peripherally, I can sense the motion of the camera and its timing to their moves. As digital intermediates grew in popularity, the color-timing processsuddenly morphed from the cinematographer and lab timer working in a small room with a Hazeltine into a dozen people crowding a color-correction theater,complete with leather seats and cappuccinos. Sometimes the cinematographer was even locked out of the process. Cinematographers retaliated by embracing technologies that enabled them to establish the proper color and contrast balance on set and ensure that the information would follow the workflow to the end product. This put pressure on the DIT to become the colorist, and minimized the job of the dailies colorist, an artist who was reduced to applying the data from a memory stick onto the transfer. I don’t have any desire to determine the final color of my work on set in the midst of tight shooting schedules and rapidly changing location conditions in which my eyes don’t havethe proper time to adjust to the light level in the DIT tent. I like to discuss the look I’m going for with the DIT and have them balance it accordingly for the on-set monitors so that the director doesn’t h ave to look at a raw, flat image. Then I like to have Dennis Mackelburg, who is one of the best dailies colorists I’ve worked with, take that footage at night and, within the controlled environment of his suite,away from the chaos of the set, bring the look of tho se dailies to where it should be for distribution to everyone. For most of the past 20years I’ve worked with two gaffers, John Magallon and Terry Meadows, and three key grips, JeanPierre Marangakis, Kenny King and Porfirio Dominguez (who passed away from cancer two years ago). Though I started out as a gaffer myself, I don’t feel compelled to dictate every single instrument that will be used on set. In our initial conversations, they pick up on what I’m intending to do stylistically and plug into the concept. Based on their experience, they suggest instruments toachieve certain effects that I may be unaware of, or offer alternate solutions to a plan that I propose. And they’re usually right. I love to edit, and I’ve edited quite a few projects. I feel that editing teaches you more about directing and shot structure ht an just about anything else, because it forces you to acknowledge what you actually needed to get on set,as opposed to what you think you needed. However, as much as I love to edit, I like having the perspective that a great editor like Marc Leif brings t o the project. Marc has edited eight films that I’ve shot, and I never have to worry if the visual intention of a scene is going to g et lost in the process, because he can look at a shot and understand conceptually why we took the time to get it. Finally, trust builds your future. I’ve shot every one of director Charlie Carner’s films for the past 15years. We’ve known each other (and Marc Leif) since college. When Charlie and I are on the set, people remark that we never seem to talk to each other. We don’t need to. Prior to the start of production, we do our prep by spending nights watching movies, eating Italian beef sandwic hes and chatting about ideas. By the time the cameras roll, we can complete each other’s thoughts. I love working with people who are better at their jobs than I am at their jobs. I trust my team to approach each project with the same passion and commitment that I do. And they trust me to trust them.

Michael Goi, ASC President

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

President’s Desk

Windows.ÂŽ Life without Walls.â&#x201E;˘ Dell recommends Windows 7.

If you can imagine it, you can create it. Set your imagination free â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and bring your most amazing ideas to life â&#x20AC;&#x201C; with Dell Precisionâ&#x201E;˘ workstations.

In the studio and now on the road, you have the power to keep up with your ideas and stay on top of your schedule. Ĺ&#x201D; 4QFFE ZPVS XBZ UISPVHI UIF NPTU DPNQMFY UBTLT XJUI QPXFSGVM NVMUJ DPSF QSPDFTTPST Ĺ&#x201D; $PMMBCPSBUF NVMUJUBTL SFOEFS BOE NPSF Ĺ&#x160; XJUI B TZTUFN *47 DFSUJĹŁFE UP SVO BQQMJDBUJPOT JODMVEJOH "VUPEFTLÂŽ .BZBÂŽ "VUPEFTLÂŽ ET .BYÂŽ BOE "EPCFÂŽ $4 Ĺ&#x201D; ,FFQ ZPVS TPGUXBSF BOE IBSEXBSF XPSLJOH TFBNMFTTMZ XJUI PQUJPOBM %FMM 1SP4VQQPSUâ&#x201E;˘ Ĺ&#x160; ZPVS TJOHMF QPJOU PG DPOUBDU UP PWFS TPGUXBSF WFOEPST Ĺ&#x160; GPS GBTU FĹĽDJFOU QSPCMFN SFTPMVUJPO

Learn More

Call 1-800-873-1290 or visit www.dell.com/smb/imagine WindowsÂŽ 7 Professional operating system makes the things you do every day faster and easier. With fewer clicks, faster searching, easier browsing, and simpler ways to connect, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s less between you and what you want to do.

"WBJMBCJMJUZ BOE UFSNT PG %FMM 4FSWJDFT WBSZ CZ SFHJPO 'PS NPSF JOGPSNBUJPO WJTJU XXX EFMM DPN TFSWJDFEFTDSJQUJPOT

Short Takes

Creating an Underwater Dreamscape for “Sextape” By Iain Stasukevich

In the music video for The Deftones’ “Sextape,” two girls cast spells and chase each other through time and space in an aqueous, dreamlike state. The project offered the directing duo of Zak Forrest of Chad Liebenguth the perfect chance to further evolve their experimental, boundaries-pushing style, which they’ve been honing across a string of collaborations, including the recent video for Squarepusher’s “Delta-V.” Answering AC’s questions jointly via e-mail while working on a project in Krakow, Poland, “ZFCL,” as Forrest and Liebenguth call themselves, explain that they operate as a two-man team, with one person shooting and the other lighting, and they constantly rotate duties to keep things fresh. “This allows for a quicker understanding of the action with almost wordless communication, creating a synergy that lets each person develop his own vision with constant input from the other,” they write. The filmmakers’ first instinct with “Sextape” was to shoot in 3-D, but when the single was fast-tracked for European release, the filmmakers found themselves without the necessary time to prep the effects they had envisioned. “It was a complete unknown whether our techniques would have translated [to 3-D],” they say, noting that they have all but shunned CGI in favor of in-camera effects. “We believe the audience knows when it’s not real, even if it looks real. When they see something that truly existed and was photographed, they get a greater sense of excitement.” The duo has worked exclusively with the Red One digital camera since its release in 2007. “We’ve always been impressed with 12

November 2010

the images produced by the [Red One’s] sensor,” they write. “Even as far back as Build 14, while some parties were complaining about the camera’s inconsistencies or aberrations, we were inspired by those same qualities and sought to harness them. Experimenting with different noise levels and dynamic-range values within the same piece accentuates the camera’s high-end qualities and allows one to appreciate the aesthetic uses of its so-called weaknesses.” (For “Sextape,” the duo worked with a Red One fitted with the new Mysterium-X sensor.) The filmmakers tend to design their projects so that each “scene” comprises a single camera setup;once the camera starts rolling, there is almost no downtime, requiring everyone to stay in character until the directors feel that they have everything they need from that scene. “The longer you stay in that world, the better the material gets,” they explain. “Before the Red, we shot on 35mm, and the scene was always at its best right as the film ran out. Even now, we’ll shoot for hours with the Red, and it still feels like the real magic is happening just when the camera finally runs out of juice.” Forrest and Liebenguth recorded in the Red’s 4K setting for normal-speed and time-lapse shots, and in 3K for slow motion. However, some scenes were deliberately processed with a half-standard de-bayer algorithm that inhibited image detail from the camera’s sensor. (Other scenes were processed with Build 16 or Build 30 at both half and full de-bayer, specific to each shot.) “We look at it like choosing different film stocks,” the filmmakers explain. The dreamlike state the two girls enter is depicted as a glittering underwater world crisscrossed with aquatic vegetation; the filmmakers shot the underwater scenes in a 4½'-deep sand-colored swimming pool at a private residence. To shoot underwater with the Red,

American Cinematographer

Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.

Shot and directed by the filmmaking team of Zak Forrest and Chad Liebenguth, the music video for The Deftones’ “Sextape” follows two girls through an aqueous phantasmagoria created with a bevy of in-camera effects.

Top and middle: Rather than manipulating color in post, Forrest and Liebenguth worked with particular spectrums of light and settings in their Red One to achieve their desired look as they shot. Bottom: Liebenguth operates three lights, including an Epson video projector connected to a RedRocket.

Forrest and Liebenguth tested the pliable, shallow-water T-Bag, but because they needed more dynamic control over the camera’s buoyancy, they opted to employ the Gates Deep Red housing, provided by H2O Photo Pros in Irvine, Calif. The housing allowed the camera to float in place when it 14

November 2010

was let go, and it also enabled Forrest and Liebenguth to achieve what they call “crazy operating,” spinning upside down with the rig as they held their breaths underwater and the actors swam in front of the lens. Though most of the shots were planned out in advance, there was a lot of American Cinematographer

experimentation on set as the directors toyed with different ways of capturing images so they wouldn’t have to be manipulated in post. (In fact, Forrest and Liebenguth did not do any color correction on the final edit, opting instead to color-correct in-camera for each shot.) For example, they continually changed their lighting setups over the course of the three-night shoot. On the first night, they used an array of LEDs and Source Four Lekos (rented from R&R Lighting in Silver Spring, Md.) run through either a 4- or 8channel Elation chaser board. (The speed of the sequence was based on the lights’ arrangement, what happened in the shot, and the camera’s frame rate.) By the last night, though, they were using only a single light at a time. “We were always trying to outdo our setups and lighting from the previous night,” the filmmakers comment, adding that they consider lighting to be as much of a character as anything else in front of the lens. The Lekos were used for shots both under and above water, and the filmmakers strove to use just the fringes of the fixtures’ red and blue halation to create hallucinogenic colors and patterns in frame. Additionally, for underwater work, they sealed battery-powered flashlights, Litepanels Minis, Litepanels 1x1s and Zylight LEDs in militarygrade zipper bags, and Chauvet Scorpion GBC laser strobes were aimed from above the tank to cast geometric patterns of light through the watery environment. Forrest and Liebenguth explain that they tried to “invert the lights’ inherent qualities and, in turn, create new ones. If you’re attentive to what the camera is doing, you can react accordingly, moving the light with or against the movement of the camera to enhance the action of the light, speeding it up or slowing it down.” Forrest and Liebenguth used their personal set of Zeiss MKII Super Speed lenses, including a 50mm featuring a screwin rear element. They had specialty “broken glass” rear elements fabricated by Duclos Lenses in Canoga Park, Calif., and “depending on which element was screwed into the lens, we could choose the placement of the haze and scattered lighting,” they explain. During prep, they also developed a method of creating two-dimensional rainbows with fluctuating densities by using a combination

of specialty prisms. After discovering the Gates Deep Red housing, however, they realized they could make the rainbows feel more three-dimensional by arranging the prisms along the curve of the housing’s acrylic dome. Certain scenes in “Sextape” have a look reminiscent of the “night vision” settings on some DV camcorders; the effect was achieved in-camera by lighting with a pure green spectrum of laser light and applying a -100 magenta tint in the camera’s image settings. “We fell in love with the subtle texture the single channel gave us for those scenes, preferring the natural color, saturation and noise levels of the Mysterium-X sensor to performing the color correction in post. We’ve always loved what happens to brighter colors when they clip in the older firmware builds, and we lit certain things with that in mind and processed them with older versions of RedAlert.” This approach is apparent in the middle section of the video, as memories flash by while the characters literally pull on and become entangled in the fabric of the storyline. “We wanted these scenes to have the futuristic sense of nostalgia you might find in a [William] Gibson-esque home movie from the future,” the filmmakers say. “We achieved this by shooting Redcode 28 processed with Build 16 at a half-standard debayer, which gave us a lower resolution and noisier image,and also gave the highlights a pleasingly dissonant clip gradient.” While editing “Sextape,” Forrest and Liebenguth eschewed all computer effects, transitions and fades in favor of straight cuts. “We try to get it to a point where the images simply morph into one another and the narrative flows across the screen in one continuous, kinetic piece,” the directors remark. “A stronger, deeper narrative always emerges in the editing process. Because the video was not shot upfront with this in mind, this new narrative is hidden and we are the only people who know the secret stories of each video.” ●

Top and middle: Underwater sequences were shot with the Red One in a Gates Deep Red housing and various fixtures sealed in military-grade zipper bags. Bottom: Forrest readies multiple fixtures above the swimming pool used for the video’s underwater action.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Erratum Gaffer Paul Samaniego’s name was misspelled in our September Short Takes column (“Taking Arri’s Alexa to the World Cup,” page 12).

Ki Pro Mini. From lens to post in a flash.

www.aja.com

NEW

Compact capture direct to

Compact, lightweight and ready for any shooting environment, Ki Pro Mini records ProRes 422 direct from any SDI or HDMI camera.

Rapid transfer to Final Cut Pro

The ProRes media is stored to Compact Flash, ready to edit as soon as you connect to your Mac with a standard card reader.

Designed as a miniature field recorder for creating â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;ready-to-editâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; professional digital video, Ki Pro Mini speeds your workflow from lens to post by recording Apple ProRes 422 (including HQ, LT and Proxy) direct from any SDI or HDMI camera. While the camera is recording to its own tape or file-based memory, Ki Pro Mini simultaneously captures ProRes footage to Compact Flash media, instantly ready to edit when connected to a Mac. Its unique design and tiny form factor provide easy mounting to cameras or tripods. An optional Ki Pro Mini mounting plate offers a wide variety of bolt patterns for mating to virtually any camera accessory or shoe adapter.

Find out about our workflow enhancing solutions by visiting us at www.aja.com

B e c a u s e

i t

m a t t e r s .

Production Slate

Lethal Dance Moves By Jean Oppenheimer

In the Web series The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers (The LXD), dance has emerged as the newest battleground in the struggle between good and evil. The show follows a disparate group of individuals whose mind-blowing dance moves make them a new breed of superhero. Each has a specific talent: hip-hop, krumping, popping, break-dancing, jazz, and even some tap and ballet. The Paramount-produced series is one of the most ambitious ever mounted for the Internet; now in its second U.S. season on Hulu, The LXD has consistently ranked in the site’s top 10 most popular shows every week. Director Jon M. Chu ( Step Up 2: The Streets , Step Up 3-D) created the show specifically for the Web, and one of his first calls was to cinematographer Alice Brooks, a former classmate from the University of Southern California’s undergraduate film program. Brooks entered USC knowing she wanted to be a cinematographer, and she honed her skills shooting a lot of thesis films, including Chu’s 2002 thesis, When the Kids Are Away . When Chu called her about The LXD, she immediately signed on. “We are doing stuff on this show that is experimental and different,” says Chu. “We wanted to create a world where, even though it’s fantasy, you feel the texture and the light, you see flares and patterns on patterns. “Shooting dance isn’t easy,” he adds. “There’s a choreography not just of what’s within the frame but of the frame itself. Alice understands that there is a duet between our audience and the dancers. She and the choreographers work together, figuring out 18

November 2010

how the camera can move with the dancers’ bodies. Each dancer has such a different style; Alice has to pick up a new language with each one. She has really [helped to] define our tone.” “When you think of a Web series, you think prosumer cameras, but it was always our intention to shoot The LXD as if it would play on the big screen,” says Brooks, who recently began shooting the show’s third season. When shooting began on the first season, in February 2009, the Red One was the new kid on the block. It also turned out to be the easiest camera for the production to acquire: digital-imaging technician Dan Haas, another USC classmate, already owned one. (Haas also served as cinematographer on one episode of the first season.) Production on the first two seasons was spread out over 18 months, and when it ramped up for season two, Brooks upgraded to Red’s Mysterium-X sensor, which, at 800 ASA, is considerably faster than the camera’s original chip. Brooks shoots the series in Raw mode, Redcode 36 or Redcode 42,monitors in Redspace, and records onto CF cards and hard drives. “We shoot 3K HD, 4K 2:1 and 4K HD, depending upon the aspect ratio and frame rate, and those vary depending on the dance style and genre of each piece. “We originally hoped to shoot the entire series 2:1, but because of different delivery standards, we decided to stick with 16x9,” she continues. “However, a number of episodes begin in 16x9 and are matted to 2.40 at different story points. The great thing about a web series is that there are no rules, so we get to make them up as we go, including playing with the aspect ratio within an episode.” Brooks tested a number of lens and filter combinations

American Cinematographer

The LXD photos and frame grabs courtesy of Paramount Digital Entertainment and LXD Ventures.

Chadd “Madd Chadd” Smith leads the pack as the character Sp3cimen in The LXD, a popular Web series that makes dance a battleground between good and evil.

Top photos: Three Nine-light Maxi-Brutes illuminate a dance sequence from a balcony above the set. Bottom: Cinematographer Alice Brooks confers with LXD creator and director Jon M. Chu.

before choosing Zeiss Super Speeds. “I found the Red lenses too crisp, whereas the Super Speeds, in conjunction with different increments of Schneider Classic Softs and the use of smoke, produce the soft, magical feel we wanted.” In order to get fulllength shots of the dancers, shorter focal lengths are used, primarily 18mm, 25mm and 35mm. At bigger locations that involve a number of dancers, a 50mm or 85mm will often be used. According to Brooks, Chu envisaged the project as “a tapestry of different colors, feelings, tones, moods and genres.” Although the series jumps back and forth in time, stretching from the 1920s to the year 3000, “Jon wanted a sense of timelessness,” she adds. “So you never see any cars, and wardrobe isn’t specific to any 20

November 2010

period. “Early on, we decided we loved lens flares and blown-out windows,” continues Brooks. She recalls contemplating how to light the long, dark hallway at one of the first locations, an abandoned hospital used in the episode “Robot Love Story,” noting, “I love to go to the location by myself and just sit quietly until the idea comes to me.” The scene involves a dancer who specializes in the robot technique — an evil character has turned him into a robot by planting a mechanical box in him. Brooks recalls, “There were three huge windows at one end of the room, and I decided to turn off all the interior lights and just blast Ninelight Maxis through the windows. The walls were pale green and naturally aged, which bounced the light beautifully on the American Cinematographer

dancers. We used dichroic bulbs. That gave me the punch I needed, and for that episode, I liked the quality of light they provided much more than that of HMIs.” The entire series has been shot on location, mostly indoors. Locations have so far included a high-school gym, an abandoned warehouse, and a bank that was redressed as an art museum. Brooks must devise a lighting plan that will work for the entire day; rearranging fixtures between shots is not an option. The solution is a combination of backlight and skip bounce. “We never set lamps in front of the dancers,” she says. “If we did, [Steadicam operator] N ick Franco would constantly be crossing the light or we would be inhibiting the choreography. We can’t rig units up high because we don’t get any pre-rigging time.” She estimates that 95 percent of the show is shot with the Steadicam. “Nick is a true artist,” she declares. “We’ve been working together for almost 10 years, since I started shooting, and we’ve developed an easy and fast way of communicating with one another.” That’s especially helpful in light of the short production schedule: each episode is shot in one day, occasionally two. And because Brooks only has three hours to color-time each episode, she tries to get “as close to the intended look as possible incamera.” (Post is handled by LightIron Digital in Hollywood.) To offset the demanding shooting

Over the years I have used just about every piece of equipment Clairmont Camera has ever owned; time-lapse film cameras to super high-speed digital cameras and now the Alexa. I love Clairmont’s custom gear and incredible service; it keeps me coming back! In visual effect shooting we always are inventing on the fly. With difficult setups like hanging off a 70-story building, complex driving rigs or doing “in camera” visual effects having equipment and service you can depend on is essential. I would recommend Clairmont Camera to anyone in the industry. Sam Nicholson, ASC Chairman / CEO Stargate Studios H o l ly wo o d 8 1 8 - 7 6 1 - 4 4 4 0

Va n c o u v e r 6 0 4 - 9 8 4 - 4 5 6 3

To r o n t o 4 1 6 - 4 6 7 - 1 7 0 0

A l b u q u e r q u e 5 0 5 - 2 2 7 - 2 5 2 5

M o n t r e a l 5 1 4 - 5 2 5 - 6 5 5 6

Top: Sp3cimen breaks into a routine set in a hospital. Bottom: Part of the detail from a dance featuring the Dark Nurse (Shelby Rabara).

and post schedules, prep for 5 episodes (half a season) is 14 days. “We shoot a nineday stretch with one day off, and during that period we’ll shoot four or five episodes,” says Brooks. “Then we break for a while and come back for another nine days.” A major part of prep involves dance rehearsals, which Brooks observes regularly. “I become intimately familiar with every step the dancers make,” says Brooks. “I study their bodies and how their muscles move. I wander around the room observing the routines to figure out which angle will be best to use.” She shoots the rehearsals on her Flip camera and sends the footage to Franco, her gaffer (Jay Muranaka in seasons two and three, Michael Roy in season one) and her key grip (Rocky Rodriguez) to give them an idea of the feel, size and scope of each number. Most of the dance scenes are shot at 48 fps. “We determined our frame rate and shutter angle based on the specific dance style,” says Brooks. Though many of the dancers’ moves appear physically impossible, they are, in fact, performed without the 22

November 2010

aid of wires or special effects. “The Greater of Two Evils,” one of the most ambitious episodes from season two, introduces viewers to two sets of villains: the Umbras, who wear bowler hats and use umbrellas as weapons, and a group of misfits called Organization X. Both troupes want to destroy the heroes, but they must first battle each other. The episode was shot in a 1920s bank dressed as an art museum. The location provided a giant, open space with a number of pillars that were perfect spots to hide small lights; it also featured second-floor balconies that allowed Brooks to light the battle below. “We wanted to create a film-noir look with lots of shadows, but we had to shoot during the day,” recalls Brooks. “There were huge windows on all sides of the building, and we hung 20-by-20 pieces of black Duvetyn outside all of them, except for one that faced an alley we couldn’t access.” As luck would have it, the inaccessible windows were directly behind the dancers, exactly where the camera would be pointing. Since she was unable to black American Cinematographer

the windows out, Brooks decided to create enough light inside the building that the windows wouldn’t key the scene. She accomplished this by placing three N inelight Maxi-Brutes gelled with 216 on the camera-left balcony above the dancers, just out of frame. In addition to the backlight, a number of 1Ks and 2Ks were hidden behind pillars; some were dimmed down or gelled with 1⁄4 or 1⁄2 CTO. Smoke was also used in the scene. “The floor was made of old, warm, beautiful marble that bounced light into the dancers’ faces,” recalls Brooks. “Because it was one of the larger locations, we shot from slightly farther away than we did in other episodes, using the 85mm or 50mm lens. “One dancer was in the foreground, and the camera was focused on his face. There was a whole row of dancers receding through to the background. They were dancing the exact same moves as the foreground dancer we were focused on, and it was nice how the focus fell off with each dancer. Charles Oliver, who directed that episode, wanted a very shallow depth of field, and the use of selective focus is something we’ve played with throughout the series. I’m really happy with the way it turned out.” Brooks has worked with most of her crew on The LXD for years. “N ick is frequently my Steadicam operator, and Elliott Schackne is often my first AC. Elliott does an amazing job pulling focus; from take to take on this show, the camera is never in the same place, and neither are the dancers! The key grip, Rocky Rodriguez, and the gaffer, Jay Muranaka, are incredibly collaborative, which makes my work so much easier. “The LXD has been a very intense experience, because the dancers have an incredible amount of energy, and I’ve never seen a crew work so hard. Everyone loves being there. When I get to the set in the morning, the energy just blows me away.”

TECHNICAL SPECS 16x9 and 2:1 Digital Capture Red One Zeiss lenses

➣

Right: Sam Wynden (Whitney Able) dons a gas mask while exploring the wreckage left in the wake of giant, space-borne creatures in Monsters. Below: Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), Wynden’s companion through the creature-infested “infected zone,” stands before a mural that filmmaker Gareth Edwards digitally “painted” onto the wall in post.

Creature Feature By Jon D. Witmer

Gareth Edwards’ feature debut, Monsters, springs from an intriguing premise: after a probe carrying bacteria samples from the Jovian moon Europa burns up during re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, huge alien creatures begin to appear in Central America, forcing officials to quarantine Mexico as an uninhabitable “infected zone.” Rather than focusing on the creatures’ initial appearance on our planet, Edwards sets his tale a few years later to follow the journey of two Americans, Sam Wynden (Whitney Able) and Andrew Kaulder (Scoot McNairy), who must wend their way through the infected zone — and elude the tentacled monstrosities lurking there — to get home to the United States. Edwards specialized in cinematography while attending film school at the 24

November 2010

Surrey Institute of Art & Design, but he found the experience frustrating. “I was used to having an idea for a shot, picking up a camera and trying to get it,” says Edwards, who recently sat down with AC while promoting his film in Los Angeles. “Learning to do it ‘properly’ meant that what used to be as simple as picking up a camera and shooting became an all-day event costing thousands of pounds. To me, filmmaking shouldn’t be about logistics and money.” After graduating, Edwards pursued work in visual effects and quickly made his mark, earning honors that included a BAFTA Award for Hiroshima (2005) and an Emmy nomination for Perfect Disaster (2006). In 2008, Edwards applied his CG skills tothe kind of small-footprint production he prefers, entering and winning the Sci-Fi-London 48-Hour Film Challenge with the short film Factory Farmed , which he made by himself with just a few actors. He American Cinematographer

American Cinematographer : How did your work in visual effects prepare you for your responsibilities on Monsters? Gareth Edwards: I think CGI is great training for cinematography. When you make a bad composition with a camera, you can see it straightaway and correct it within seconds, but when you make a bad composition in the computer, you can’t tell until it’s fully rendered — you can end up wasting a whole day. It’s a painful way to learn what makes an image look good or bad, and the lessons really stick. By comparison, being able to move the camera and change a composition in real time on location is the most liberating feeling in the world. More than anything, CGI taught me not to compose images based on the objects in the scene, but to compose based on shapes formed by lights and darks. When you see a wireframe version of a scene, the objects’ outlines seem to be the strongest shapes to compose the shot around, but once those objects are properly lit, you realize the strongest shapes are actu-

Monsters photos and frame grabs courtesy of Magnet Releasing.

essentially applied the same methodology to Monsters, serving asthe show’s writer, director, cinematographer and visual-effects supervisor. The movie’s six-week shoot took Edwards, editor Colin Goudie, assistant editor Justin Hall, sound recordist Ian Maclagan, line producer Jim Spencer and the two lead actors on a journey through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Texas and Costa Rica.

Left: Sound recordist Ian Maclagan (left), Edwards (center) and line producer Jim Spencer prepare to capture a traveling shot o n location in Mexico. Right: Edwards set the Sony PMW-EX3’s gain to 9dB when shooting with available light at night.

ally where strong shadows lie or random highlights catch something. It’s these shapes I compose for, not the objects themselves. I think the same difference exists on location between storyboard stick figures and naturally lit scenes; I learned to ignore the objects in front of me and focus on balancing the shapes created by light and dark areas in the frame. Nevertheless, there are shots that appear to have been planned, particularly as far as production design is concerned. Edwards: If it looks like there was production value, it was done after the fact on the computer. Because of the computer graphics, we could shoot anything on location and manipulate it afterwards, making one-off happy accidents fit in with the story. For instance, there’s a shot of two guys in a wagon carrying a jet engine with an American flag on it; they were just guys with an empty wagon I filmed as they went past. In the edit, we decided what CGI I would put in there. I also kept filming advertisement signs everywhere we went, and later, in the computer, I painted over them to create warning signs about the ‘Infected Zone.’ As well as being cheaper, it meant we didn’t have to stop filming or carry lots of props with us. What software did you use for the CGI? Edwards: We edited in [Adobe] Premiere, and I used Photoshop and After Effects. All of the creature animation was done in Autodesk 3ds Max, and I did all of the tracking in Mocha, which is the only way 26

November 2010

I know of to track out-of-focus areas. That was a lifesaver! What camera did you shoot with? Edwards: It was a Sony PMW-EX3, and it had a Letus35 Ultimate adapter on the front for our Nikon lenses. We had three lenses during the shoot — a 28mm, a 50mm and an 80mm — all with an aperture of 1.2. I fell in love with the 50mm and secretly wanted it to get stuck on the camera! The camera shot 23.97, 1080p MXF files to SxS cards. We could get about three hours on two cards, and you can take one card out while keeping the other one rolling. We had an editor and an assistant who pulled the footage off the cards, checked to make sure it wasn’t corrupted, cloned the footage so we were totally safe, and then deleted the cards. A lot of times at night I would set the camera to 9dB. We did a few tests at 0dB in night conditions with the grade whacked up so you could see into the blacks, and at 9dB with some de-graining. We printed both tests to 35mm, and they looked pretty identical. I chose 9dB because it meant I could see what was in focus when I looked in the viewfinder. The EX3 records in 16x9, but the movie’s final aspect ratio is 2.35:1. Why did you decide to crop the image? Edwards: I’m just a big fan of 2.35:1. I’m always disappointed when I go to the cinema and the curtain doesn’t open up that extra bit after the trailers. I also think it’s how our brains work — peripheral vision American Cinematographer

feels like extreme letterbox — and, to be honest, [at that width] it’s easier to make a composition look stronger. In the viewfinder, I stuck some tape roughly where the 2.35:1 markers should be and then, in the grade, we could reposition the frame up or down. Did you have a chance to scout any of the locations during prep? Edwards: I hadn’t actually seen anything until we landed to start filming, but we did use Google Earth, which is a really useful tool. We made a wish list of [the locations] we thought we wanted, and then mapped out a route through Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. Did you try to map your route so you could shoot chronologically, or was it more of a ‘catch as catch can’ methodology? Edwards: The actors, completely rightly, get nervous about ad-libbing a film out of order, but it became impossible [to shoot chronologically]. It really became standard issue to keep a lookout for anything a bit weird as we were driving along in the van, and then we’d jump out, make some shots, jump back into the van and carry on. How did you keep track of coverage with all of the ad-libbing? Edwards: It was kind of a headache. We got our best stuff when we were letting the scenes happen spontaneously without much planning, but the problem was that we’d do a half-hour take and then I’d say, ‘Great, can we do that again from this angle?’ What wound up

RAW TO DAILIES IN REAL TIME

JMR Electronics’ new BlueStor™ DigiLab™ Cart solutions will never have you guessing whether or not you ‘got the shot’ before you strike a hot set.

DigiLab Cart easily processes RAW content in real-time, allowing you to work and view uncompressed full resolution RAW files in 4K 12 bit RGB mode. Just transfer the files from your digital camera into DigiLab; ‘Drag and Drop’ the RAW files into the timeline and press ‘Play’. It’s that simple. “DigiLab let me store, color time, process footage and create dailies right on the set – a huge time and cost savings.” Michael Lohmann Director of photography

DigiLab also lets you apply first pass color correction right on location and even burn a Blu-ray™ disc for dailies with the viewing LUTs (Look Up Tables) applied.

· Real-time debayering and decoding of RAW files in full 4K resolution · Drag-n-Drop RAW files into timeline and view files in real-time · Color grade with DPX file sequences · Generate digital dailies with comprehensive burn-ins from RAW files · Sophisticated conforming of R3D files with EDL, XML and Avid ALE support · Generate DPX file sequences in full 4K RGB 16-bit To learn more about DigiLab, contact JMR at 818.993.4801 or email to sales@jmr.com.

www.jmr.com

Wynden and Kaulder traverse the site of a recent military strike against the creatures, a sequence shot on location in Texas.

happening was more like a documentary. I wanted random pieces you can only get once you’ve been doing something for a half hour — your body language changes, the people around you behave a certain way, and they don’t care about the camera anymore. I would start recording without telling anyone, and then, without making a big deal out of it, I would say, ‘Whenever you want, I’m ready,’ and there would be a casual flow into what felt like normal behavior. While rolling, I would literally pretend I was in the theater watching the movie, and when I got bored or when I became more interested in something else, I would move the camera. There wasn’t time to think too much; I had to just feel it. Then, when the scene was over, I would get some neutral cutaways to help the editor: reaction shots, Scoot or Whitney listening, or just their hands. Still, if you ask Colin to name the hardest thing he’s ever had to edit, without a shadow of a doubt he would say it was this film! While filming, did you ever review the day’s footage? Edwards: I didn’t like looking back at it because I’d get paranoid that I didn’t have everything I needed. We always planned to shoot for six weeks and then edit. Foranything we hadn’t gotten or wanted to go backand do better, we would do a week of pickups. Even if we looked at the rough footage and it wasn’t right, going back to reshoot the next day would have killed another scene on the schedule. Did you have to do any reshoots? Edwards: We did reshoot some scenes, but never for technical reasons or performance. We reshot because of exposition. Because we ad-libbed everything, we didn’t always say everything we needed to say in a scene to keep the audience up to 28

November 2010

speed. In the edit, we picked a few scenes and said, ‘We’ve got them, but we can get them better.’ We went to Costa Rica for the pickups. What sort of lighting gear did you carry? Edwards: We had a bounce board, but we hardly used it and I don’t think any of those shots made the cut. We also had little LED boxes powered by AA batteries. We used those by the campfire, to add to the flame light, and in the scene with Whitney at the doorway of her hotel room. She kept leaning into the doorway while talking with Scoot, and she was really dark, so Jim Spencer, the line producer, stood with one of those lights just out of shot. On most occasions, I’d move the camera until the frame looked interesting and the light looked good; I didn’t ever want anything to look ‘lit.’But there’s a night scene in the middle of the film when it was pitch black in the middle of the jungle, and I’d sworn to myself that the camera was never going to leave the van [in which Sam and Kaulder cower while their guides battle a creature]. We had a smoke machine and two HMIs, but one of the HMIs blew out straightaway. We also gaffer-taped an LED light inside the van, as if it was the internal light. A particularly nerve-rattling scene takes place in a boat on a river at night. The boat’s engine has stalled, and what looks like a giant fin starts making its way toward the characters. Was that scene shot day-for-night? Edwards: It was dusk-for-night, but it became night-for-night by the end of the scene!I wanted to be able to tell that the torch lights were on, and if you do day-fornight on the water, it gives you a perfect reflection of the sky; I think day-for-night works best when you have no idea how American Cinematographer

bright the sky is. The only way we could do it was to wait for the sky to get dark enough, and as soon as the torch looked brighter than the rest of the environment, we went for it. Monsters opens with a greenhued night-vision sequence. How did you achieve the night-vision effect? Edwards: That was quite embarrassing. That sequence was part of the pickup shoot, and we filmed it in one night. You don’t really notice it in the film, but there’s a van flipped on its side — nothing says post-apocalypse like a car on its side! I shot it with an inexpensive Sony night-vision camera [HVR-A1E], and everyone was looking at me like, ‘You paid thousands of pounds for these cranes and trucks, and you’re filming with that thing?’ People tend to shoot those things properly and then treat them in post to look like bad footage, but I don’t like that at all; there’s something you can’t fake about the look. Ironically, I thought I’d be making my life a nightmare, having to put the creature into these night-vision shots, but it was the easiest thing in the world. It’s so grainy and blurry, you can’t tell where the creature’s feet connect with the ground and you can get away with murder. The credits list Adam Inglis as the digital colorist. Where did you do the digital grade? Edwards: We did all of our grading and our Dolby 5.1 mix at Post Republic in Berlin. Adam did a brilliant grade. We were both surprised by how much we could get out of the blacks in the EX3 footage, and we softened a lot of it to take the harshness out of the shots. The perfect version of this film would be full of imperfections — I wanted it to have all the crap that reality brings. I’d sometimes completely abandon my plan while we were filming and just go with what felt right in the moment, hoping it wouldn’t be a mistake in the edit.

TECHNICAL SPECS 2.35:1 High-Definition Video Sony PMW-EX3, HVR-A1E Nikon lenses Digital Intermediate

●

Horse Power

An inexperienced stable owner gambles her family’s fortune on a thoroughbred racehorse in Secretariat, shot by Dean Semler, ASC, ACS. By Patricia Thomson •|•

November 2010

he new film Secretariat, about the 1973 Triple Crown winner, attempts to boldly go where no camera has gone before: smack in the middle of a thundering pack of thoroughbred horses. “We wanted to capture the excitement of the race and were willing to do it in ways that no one else had tried,” says director Randall Wallace. “We were skimming cameras an inch over the ground, so close to the hooves that you can see the light reflected in the horseshoes. The dirt is flying, and it’s all real.” The cinematographer tasked with accomplishing this was Dean Semler, ASC, ACS, with whom Wallace had previously collaborated on We Were Soldiers (AC Feb. ’02). Semler has frequently worked with horses, most notably in Dances With Wolves (AC May ’91) , for which he won an

American Cinematographer

Unit photography by John Bramley, courtesy of Disney Enterprises.

Opposite: The legendary racehorse Secretariat widens his lead in a Triple Crown race. This page, top: The champion thoroughbred (far left, at back of pack) was known for his slow starts and exciting finishes. Middle: Stable owner Penny Chenery (Diane Lane, far right), sartorially extravagant trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich) and Chenery’s stalwart assistant, Elizabeth Ham (Margot Martindale), watch groom Eddie Sweat (Nelsan Ellis) exercise Secretariat. Bottom: Dean Semler, ASC, ACS (right) lays out his race plan for 2ndunit director of photography Brad Shield.

Academy Award. As he points out, though, “thoroughbreds are different beasts. They’re ultra-sensitive, and they’re born to race.” Secretariat re-creates all of the famous horse’s astonishing accomplishments, including his 31-length victory at the Belmont, a grueling race known as “the graveyard of speed horses,” but the film’s focus is on the lesser-known background story. Based on William Nack’s book Secretariat: The Making of a Champion , the film follows Peggy Chenery (Diane Lane) after she takes over her father’s horse farm upon his death. It’s a womanagainst-the-odds story, as Chenery struggles to succeed in the all-male world of thoroughbred racing. With her stable deep in debt, she literally bets the farm on her horse, a risky gamble given that his bloodline excelled in speed, not distance. In charting Secretariat’s rise, the film covers six races: his first;the first he won;a crucial one he lost;and the Triple Crown, comprising the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes. Filmed over 42 days, Secretariat was shot mostly on location in Kentucky and Louisiana, including at the tracks Churchill ww.theasc.com w

November 2010

◗

Horse Power

Top: Chenery shares a moment with her terminally ill father, Christopher (Scott Glenn), whose will gave her control of his horse operation, Meadow Farm. Middle: Chenery mourns her father’s passing in his trophy room. Bottom: A fateful coin flip with wealthy stockbroker and philanthropist Ogden Phipps (James Cromwell, second from left) allowed Chenery to acquire Secretariat.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Downs, Evangeline Downs and Keeneland Racetrack. AC caught up with Semler just as he was heading off to the Australian Outback to prep another Mad Max film for George Miller. American Cinematographer :To plan your coverage of the movie’s six staged races, you and your collaborators used a corkboard for the oval track and thumbtacks for the horses. Did this system work well for you? Dean Semler, ASC, ACS: It certainly did. We did a careful, analytical study of every race. Each was designed on a corkboard with the exact position for the starting gate, the finish line, and the positions for all the horses throughout the race, and because we were only filming 440 yards at a time, the race took runs to cover the whole circumference. But the thumbtacks were vital. We’d pull this corkboard out every morning and dribble our breakfast burritos over it as we’d plan the day’s events. I give Rusty Hendrickson, the wrangler, full marks for handling the horses as safely and effectively as he did, because these weren’t like Hollywood horses. He’d take the jockeys through their moves. All the departments were around the corkboard: visual effects, special effects, grip, camera, lighting, safety guys and, of course, production design. That meeting might take a half-hour, but it set up the work for the day. The thoroughbreds were restricted to running a quarter-mile [1 furlong] per day, a distance they can cover in 24 seconds. How did you rehearse? Semler: Yeah, they were quick! Those runs were short. They could run, and then they had to have a halfhour rest. I think they could run once, maybe twice again during the day, but then they needed a day off. So there was no real rehearsal. The crew could have done a run with a buggy at speed, but it’s not the same, so we’d get a wrangler to ride a stop and start for focus reference, but that was all. Once the race started, that was it. God

Chenery quickly developed a bond with her prize horse, who proved to be both strong-willed and stubborn.

knows what a difficult job it was for the jockeys to maintain and match the exact positions that Secretariat and Sham [his primary rival] had in the real event. The other jockeys had to be near accurate with their positions as well. If they got it right and we didn’t, it would have been disastrous, so I put as many cameras as possible on each of those short bursts. Generally, there were one or two really long lenses front-on, a couple of wider lenses higher up, and one through some crowds, where we might track along with them. The shots at the starting gate, where it’s wall-to-wall horses, were done on a long lens from down at the end of the track. It’s 400-500 yards away, maybe farther. I’d give them as much depth as I could on the aperture to make it work. It’s silly to limit them in a case like that. If it was full sun, I could give them a 16 or 22 f-stop. The [Panavision] Genesis goes to 50 fps, and we shot most of the races at 48 fps

in case Randy wanted to use some speed later on. As it turned out, he skipped pretty much all of it back to 24 fps because he liked the speed when he saw it cut. If slow motion was required, we used the trusty Arri 435. This is the seventh feature ww.theasc.com w

you’ve shot with the Genesis, though we understand you mixed in some other cameras as well. Why did you feel the Genesis was right for this project? Semler: The Genesis gives me a great look, and it also gives me a long November 2010

◗

Horse Power recording time, which directors and actors seem to like. Also, I can go to high ISOs and shoot pretty low light levels. As cinematographers, we still have to maintain that craft of lighting sets, lighting people and creating moods, but the Genesis allows me to sometimes use smaller lights and, in some cases, available light. An integral part of why I love it is EFilm’s Colorstream, which applies the lookup table that emulates the negative and the print stock. It’s not just a good-quality HD image; it’s actually the image I’m going to be seeing

“I’ve had the same crew over the last six or seven pictures, and we’ve got the Genesis system down to a fine art.”

Top: During a pre-race press conference, Chenery trades barbs with rival trainer Pancho Martin (Nestor Serrano, far right), the owner of Secretariat’s main rival, Sham. Middle: A dynamic angle captures the excitement of a race from behind the rail. Bottom: Chenery celebrates a big win.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

onscreen. I’m watching dailies, basically. I rate the Genesis at 400 ASA, the same as I do with [Kodak Vision3 500T] 5219. I normally shoot with a 180-degree shutter with no Gain at all. If I need more light, I’ll progressively use the shutter. First, I’ll go to 270 degrees, which gives me half a stop. Going to 360 degrees puts me at 800 ASA, and I’ll use that as long as it doesn’t interfere with the movement of the character, like blurring the eyes or face; at 360 degrees, I’m actually 1⁄24 shooting at an equivalent to second, so there’s more of a blur factor. In some cases, that’s good, like panning with a racehorse across a finish line. Next, I’ll go to + 1⁄2 Gain,

ALREADY T HE CAMERA OF CHOICE ALEXA is now in use on a vast range of 3D and 2D feature ﬁlms,

To name only a few...

T V shows, commercials, documentaries and music videos.

ANO NYMO US – 2D feature

All over the world, filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese

H UG O C ABRET – 3D feature

and Roland Emmerich have quickly taken advantage of the

TH E TH REE MUSKETEERS – 3D feature

camera’s exceptional image quality and streamlined workﬂows

D ISNEY PRO M – 2D feature

to bring their creative visions to life. With a modular design and

RED BULL AIR RAC E – 2D feature

convenient update methods, the future-proof ALEXA enables

ARMANI PERFUME – commercial

cinematic storytelling like no other camera system before.

MERC ED ES BENZ – commercial ...much more to come

www.arridigital.com

◗

Horse Power

Right: Chenery bonds with her horse at sunset. Below: A-camera and Steadicam operator Mark Goellnicht and 1st AC Tony Rivetti nail the shot.

which brings me to 1,200 ASA. Finally, I’ll get a +1 Gain, as long as there’s no noise, which brings me up to 1,600 ASA. I really haven’t had a noise problem with the Genesis. You might, if you’ve got bland, gray skies or walls, but I’ve used +1 Gain quite often and 36

November 2010

gotten away with it. I’ve had the same crew over the last six or seven pictures, and we’ve got the Genesis system down to a fine art. First ACs Tony Rivetti and Fred McLane and second AC Roger Wall have mastered the software and menu. American Cinematographer

It’s so easy to make a mistake — pressing the wrong menu or the wrong button in the wrong sequence can lead to trouble. Through little mistakes, you learn. Tony and Roger can do it with their eyes shut. Apart from the Genesis and the Arri 435, what other cameras did you use? Semler: We used a Phantom [HD] for just one shot that represented Secretariat winning several races over a year or two. Rather than show a lot of finish lines, we decided to do just one shot at 1,000 fps of Secretariat crossing the finish line. In real time, he would have taken a quarter-second to a half-second to cross that frame, which was about 17 yards wide. It took 20 to 30 seconds in slow motion, and it’s just spectacular. You see every muscle, every hair. There’s one moment just as he crosses that line where he’s airborne — all four legs off the ground! We did only two takes. To have the camera tracking at high speed with the racehorses, we used the fabulous Ultimate Arm, but I wanted to get even closer — I wanted

to somehow put a tiny camera on the end of a pole amongst the horses. I considered the Ikonoskop A-cam, which I used on Apocalpyto [AC Jan. ’07], but then I spoke to John Galt at Panavision, and he introduced me to the Olympus E-P1 [DSLR], which he was just then buying. The Olympus people gave us one, and we did some tests at Hollywood Park. My rigging grip, Kim Heath, created a tiny mount at the end of a broomstick. Freddie Hice, our stunt coordinator, drove an ATV around the track behind some horses, and the operator stood in the ATV holding this primitive broomstick device. The horses were galloping, but they were like draft horses

in [the final cut]. The silliest rig for it was on a saddle strap under the horse’s belly, looking back between his back legs. As funny as it sounds, it’s in the movie. We also put it on the jockey’s shoulder, so you could see over Secretariat as he overtook the others. The Olympus is tiny and very lightweight, and it only costs $800, so we had several spares standing by in case it got damaged, which it didn’t. It

www.sylvania.com

“The Olympus could sit inches above the track, a few feet behind the horses.”

Without OSRAM HMI lamps, it would just be a shot in the dark.

In 1967 we made the first HMI lamp. Today we still make the only HMI lamps. For more information, please go to www.sylvania.com or call toll-free in the U.S. 888-677-2627.

compared with the thoroughbreds we were to meet later on — they might have been doing 15-20 mph. When we watched the footage, we saw that we were on to something pretty extraordinary. The Olympus could sit inches above the track, a few feet behind the horses, or just a few inches from the horse’s nose or chest, the jockey’s hands or the jockey’s face. What’s more, if something happened, it could be pulled out immediately. The safety advantage was huge. We called it the Olycam. I used it in the dirt, right behind the horses’ hooves, and looking forward down the track as they broke out of the gate. I also put one at the top of the start gate, looking straight down on Secretariat as he broke out. It was a quick piece, but it’s

only ran at 30 fps and had automatic exposure, so I had to be careful shooting dark horses against a white sky. But these slight drawbacks were far outweighed by the spectacular images that little camera produced. How did the operator see what he was filming with the Olycam? Semler: [Second-unit camera operator] Kris Krosskove became the master of that camera. We got a

◗

Horse Power

painter’s pole that extended to about 12 feet. First AC Tony Rivetti put a protective filter on the front of the camera, as well as a little nitrogen hose to blow off dirt. Then they ran a cable from the camera to a regular analog monitor on top of the post that Kris was holding, so he could see exactly what he was getting. The camera couldn’t pan or tilt; it was fixed to the end of the pole. From that monitor, three things happened. It was connected to two monitors in the cabin of the vehicle, a powerful pickup truck driven by Freddie Hice. Freddie had a monitor to see where the camera was. [Second-unit director of photography] Brad Shield also sat in the front with another monitor. In addition, we had guys from a company called RF Film transmit wireless images from the Olycam to Randy and me — we were off shooting with the actors maybe 500 or 600 yards away. So we could monitor at all times what second unit was doing, or they could play back for us. The system was brilliant. Brad Shield, a fellow Aussie, shot all of the Olycam material, as well as a lot of the race coverage that we couldn’t fit into the main-unit schedule and, of course, the horses’ ‘beauty shots.’Brad is an old colleague who’d just moved to Hollywood, as had Acamera/Steadicam operator Mark Goellnicht. With them, [B-camera

Top: Secretariat (in second place) closes the gap on Sham. Middle: Director Randall Wallace tests a low angle from the back of a truck. Bottom: A remote arm captures a photo finish. Upper right: Wallace chats with actor Otto Thorwath, who plays jockey Ron Turcotte.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

“You can’t risk actors’ lives doing coverage at speed.”

— he was the focus puller and I operated. He’s a master at telling a story with a long lens rather than just grabbing bits. Richard and Fred are a formidable duo in the long-lens department, whether they’re wideopen indoors or, in this case, shooting horses traveling at 35 mph coming straight toward the camera from 440 yards to 20 yards and deciding whether to focus on the horse’s head or the jockey’s head. Tricky stuff. We also hid a little camera on the inside of the track. This was usually the Arri 435 with a wide-angle lens, like a 14mm, sitting on a sandbag right on the edge of the inside rail, so the horses’ hooves missed it by a few feet as they thundered by. These are all bonus shots, and we stole a lot of them, but they’re in the movie. I could do that both ways: point the camera

one way for this run, then pan it around and have them going away from us for the next run. You’d take as many stabs at it as you could, knowing that this was really the master when we were including the background. Tom Sanders, who I also worked with on We Were Soldiers and Apocalypto, is a brilliant and very hands-on production designer. He turned one track, Evangeline Downs

in Louisiana, into four different racetracks. He’d change the infield, and the visual-effects team would use CGI to fix the background. What were your visual references? Semler: Obviously, we looked at Seabiscuit [AC Aug. ’03]. That’s a beautiful-looking picture; John Schwartzman [ASC] did a fabulous job. That movie required actors on

www.sylvania.com/entertainment

operator] Richard Merryman and me, there were four Aussies. They called us the Gumleaf Mafia! What were your lenses? Semler: We had a full set of Primos, including the 10mm; Panavision Lightweight zoom lenses [17.5-34mm T2.8 and 27-68mm T2.8] for Steadicam and handheld work; and Panavision 11:1 [24275mm], 4:1 [17.5-75mm T2.3] and 3:1 [135-420mm T2.8] zoom lenses. The 3:1 Hubble would generally play on my veteran B-camera team, Richard Merryman and his focus puller, Fred McLane. Richard and I go back to Mad Max 2: TheRoad Warrior

KREIOS LED lighting shows true color. ®

OSRAM KREIOS lighting solutions render true color and skin tones on ﬁlm and video—exactly how the eye sees them. And with precise color temperature matching, OSRAM KREIOS LEDs seamlessly integrate with existing traditional lighting. The fact that you can’t tell them apart is what sets them apart. For more information on OSRAM KREIOS LED lighting system solutions, please email entertainment@osram.com or call 1-888-677-2627.

◗

Horse Power

Chenery and her extended family celebrate Secretariat’s ultimate triumph: winning the Triple Crown.

horses, whereas Randy cast real jockcan’t risk actors’ lives doing coverage at eys for all the riding in our picture. You speed. They can sit on the horses and

walk around the paddock, but racing is taboo. That’s for the real jockeys. Because we used jockeys, I didn’t have to hide anybody. Randy cast this young guy, Otto [Thorwarth], as Ron Turcotte, Secretariat’s main jockey. Otto was an extraordinary rider, but he also turned out to be a fantastic actor. Imagine, the poor bugger is covered in mud, sitting next to John Malkovich [who plays Secretariat’s trainer, Lucien Laurin] and getting yelled at by Diane Lane for losing a race. He’d never acted before, but he was right between these two veteran actors, and he got right into the part. Did mixing the Genesis, Olympus and Phantom material create any problems in post? Semler: No. There are so many great tools now that help you blend different material. If you sat down and really analyzed Secretariat, you’d see differences, but in the context of a horserace, you get away with it.

Randy Wallace calls himself a classicist and says he likes the richness of color in films like Gone With the Wind. How did you achieve Secretariat’ssomewhat saturated palette? Semler: Nothing deliberate was done to emulate an older film stock or a 1970s look. It was just the nature of the beast — wardrobe, locations and so on. I didn’t do anything to make the colors pop, even though we could have done that so easily [in the digital grade] at EFilm. I worked with colorist Steve Scott for the first time, and he was fabulous. We didn’t saturate any colors. So that was primarily costumes and production design? Semler: Yes, and having the sun in the right place. It was all pretty punchy. How did you like working with Wallace again? Semler: He’s one of the best. He

has a very strong idea of the way he wants the film to look, but he listens to everybody, and that’s great. He was very particular about the print. We worked at Deluxe Laboratories under the expert guiding eye of [executive vice president of technical services] Beverly Wood. The first print was saturated and rich and beautiful. I was really happy, Bev was happy, Steve Scott was happy, and the editor was happy. Randy thought about it, and he decided he wanted it to be a bit brighter overall. He felt this was a celebratory film. So we went a bit brighter without upsetting too many people. I’m very happy with the way it looks. ●

TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 High-Definition Video and 4-perf Super 35mm Panavision Genesis; Olympus E-P1; PanArri 435; Phantom HD Panavision lenses Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision 2383

Carlos, shot by Yorick Le Saux and Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC, offers a portrait of infamous terrorist Carlos the Jackal. By Benjamin B •|•

TheWorld’s Most

Wanted Man

livier Assayas’ Carlos, which premiered out of competition to great acclaim at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is an epic portrait of the famous terrorist known as Carlos the Jackal (a.k.a. Ilich Ramírez Sánchez), who was born in Venezuela in 1949 and is currently behind bars in France, serving a life sentence for three murders. Producer Daniel Leconte, who initiated the production, says he was drawn to the subject because he believes that terrorism is the big topic “of my generation.” He observes, “Carlos was the Bin Laden of his time.” In order to increase their financing options, the film-

November 2010

makers decided to create Carlos in two versions, a 2½-hour cut for theatrical release and a 5½-hour cut for television broadcast and home-video release. (The latter was screened at Cannes.) In the United States, the longer cut recently aired on the Sundance Channel and has been theatrically released by IFC Films in select major cities, and the shorter cut is available “on demand” and is playing theatrically in smaller markets. Carlos is an epic in every sense of the word. The threeepisode story takes place over 20 years in a dozen countries, with dialogue in French, English, Arabic, Spanish, German,

American Cinematographer

Carlos photos by Jean-Claude Moineau, courtesy of Raphael Cohen and Film En Stock. Frame grabs by Benjamin B, courtesy of the filmmake rs.

Hungarian, Russian and Japanese. The film starts as the Venezuelan-born émigré (played by Edgar Ramírez) begins his career as a terrorist with a Palestinian terrorist group that is seeking a European agent. The first episode encompasses Carlos’ first assassination attempt (the target is a British businessman), a series of explosions in London and France, a bungled airport attack, and the murder of three members of France’s counterintelligence service in a Left Bank apartment. The second episode begins with Carlos’ most spectacular operation, in December 1975: taking 11 OPEC ministers and their aides hostage, flying them to various points in the Middle East, and then ultimately releasing them in exchange for millions of dollars. Now a celebrity, Carlos offers his services to Syria, with the complicity of the Soviet Union and the East German and Hungarian governments. In the final episode, Carlos takes up residence in Budapest with his German wife, Magdalena Kopp (Nora von Waldstätten), and provides his murderous services to the highest bidder. When the Berlin Wall

Opposite: Ambitious terrorist Carlos the Jackal (Edgar Ramírez) deplanes after taking hostages during his infamous OPEC operation. This page, top: Carlos and his cronies transport the OPEC hostages to the airport. Middle: The radical shows he means business. Bottom: Casualties are strewn through an airport after an attack.

ww.theasc.com w

November 2010

◗

The World’s Most Wanted Man

Right: Nada (Julia Hummer), a loose cannon on the terrorist’s OPEC team, takes things too far. Below: A handheld camera captures some over-theshoulder action.

falls in 1989, Carlos seeks refuge in Syria, and then finally in Sudan, where he is kidnapped by French authorities. Assayas, whose recent credits include Summer Hours , Boarding Gate and Clean, was obsessed with the veracity and authenticity of every detail in Carlos. Executive producer Raphael 44

November 2010

Cohen reports that the director wanted each character to be played by someone of that nationality, speaking in his or her own language with the correct accent. “We had 96 shooting days with 135 locations in nine countries,” adds Cohen. “Carlos is not a political film, but American Cinematographer

it is a film about politics,” says Assayas. The movie does, indeed, succeed in revealing the complex web of terrorist networks involving Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, the Soviet Union, East Germany and Hungary. (We learn, for example, that Carlos’ OPEC operation was financed and supported by Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi.) Yet the film is above all a fictionalized portrait of a terrorist. Assayas observes, “It’s not difficult to position yourself morally with respect to Carlos — it’s pretty black and white! But we get to understand him, what drives him, and he becomes a rich, complex, conflicted individual. We can follow him the same way that we follow Tony Montana when we’re watching Scarface or Don Corleone in The Godfather . Carlos is much closer to a Mafia movie than a political movie.” For scheduling reasons, Assayas worked with two cinematographers. He did a lengthy preparation with Yorick Le Saux, who then filmed until he had to depart for the birth of his

Left: Carlos enjoys some female companionship during a break from his operations. Below: The terrorist challenges one of his most efficient operatives, Brigitte Kuhlmann (Katharina Schüttler), to prove her marksmanship.

daughter. At that point, Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC, stepped in for the second half of the shooting schedule. Both cinematographers had worked with Assayas before; Lenoir had shot seven previous features for the director (including Demonlover; AC Sept. ’03), and Le Saux was the second-unit director of photography on two of those films, as well as the director of photography on Boarding Gate. Lenoir recalls that one of the jokes on the set was that the only difference between the two cinematographers’ lighting was that “Yorick will put a bright practical light in the background behind Carlos.” In reality, it is impossible to distinguish which sequences were lit and shot by Lenoir or Le Saux. Each cinematographer shot about half the footage, and each did his own operating. Such stylistic unity, says Lenoir, proves that cinematography “is made by the director.” Carlos was shot in 2-perf Super 35mm with Kodak negative. Le Saux explains that he and Assayas chose to shoot film “because we wanted to work very fast and light very little, and we had to shoot sunny day exteriors in all

these different countries. Digital is good when can you control the light, but you can’t work ‘rock ’n’ roll’ in digital.” Although the filmmakers considered Super 16mm, they opted for 35mm in part because the Aaton Penelope camera had just come out, providing an ideal handheld tool. In addition, 2-perf was perfectly suited to the 2.40:1 frame they wanted to ww.theasc.com w

compose, and the magazines run longer than 16mm mags, a plus in light of Assayas’ penchant for long takes. A Panaflex Platinum served as the B camera for some action sequences and intense dialogue sequences, like the restaurant dinner with Carlos and his first wife, Juana Acosta, early in the film. The camera gear package, provided by Panavision Alga Techno in November 2010

◗

The World’s Most Wanted Man

Frame grabs show various stages of the OPEC operation: Carlos and his team heading to the job (top); holding hostages (middle); and changing planes while transporting the hostages from Austria to North Africa (bottom).

Paris, also included Panavision Primo lenses. Much of the movie was shot with a 27mm prime, according to Le Saux. Assayas, who is generally known for using long focal lengths, notes, “I 46

November 2010

decided to go two lenses wider than usual so we could see the Seventies.” The main film stock was Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, which the cinematographers rated at ISO 400. (Day American Cinematographer

exteriors in Lebanon were shot on slower Vision2negatives, 100T 5212 and 200T 5217.) During prep, Le Saux defined a look for Carlos with a set of rules that he and Lenoir subsequently felt free to break upon occasion. “I set up a framework, and then I did or didn’t apply it depending on the set or the feeling I had about the space,” says Le Saux. “I wanted to shoot pretty wide open, around T2.8; I wanted to soften the image somewhat with filters; and I didn’t hesitate to change color temperatures, burning the highlights to give the feeling of heat and sun in the Middle East and keeping Paris darker, sadder.” Le Saux used two Tiffen diffusion filters, White Pro-Mist and Soft/FX, throughout the shoot. He would often add NDs to get to an open stop. The idea was to work with little depth of field, using the filters to soften the image and lower the contrast. He explains, “With the Soft/FX, we broke the contrast, the sharpness and hardness of 5219. The White Pro-Mist works as a kind of screen through which you have to project yourself to get into the story and the period; it helped give a patina to the image.” The White Pro-Mist also added a halo to light sources, and Le Saux therefore chose a lighter degree of filtration when shooting towards a window or with a longer focal length. “But,” he notes, “there were moments when I felt I should go all out, without any rules.” Le Saux also softened the image with smoke, which was motivated by cigarettes and cigars, gunfire, and even bathroom vapors. “Smoke is a bitch!” he says with a laugh. “Everyone hated me for it, and even I got sick of it, but Olivier agreed that it was right.” Carlos is full of varying color temperatures. In the Middle East, Le Saux and Lenoir often used a Tiffen Antique Suede filter to create a distinctive ochre hue. This was often coupled with an 85 to get an even warmer image. (The coloring scheme was heightened in the digital grade at Digimage by colorist Isabelle Julien.

Both cinematographers participated in the grading sessions.) “All these rules are very precise at the outset, but once you start shooting, you throw yourself into the film and do what you do,” says Le Saux. “I stay free so I can respond to the set the production designer delivers and the details of the scene.” Both Lenoir and Le Saux kept their lighting to a minimum. Lenoir’s short lighting list for the Lebanese portion of the shoot speaks volumes, and seems more appropriate for an ambitious short than an epic feature: the HMIs were two 6Ks, one 2.5/4K, one 1.2K Cinepar, and four Jokers (three 400-watt and one 200-watt); and the Kino Flos comprised pairs of 4' 4-Banks, 2-Banks and 1-Banks, as well as two 2' units (4-Bank and 2-Bank), a 12-volt single kit and two Mini Flos. This modest package was rounded out with some small tungsten units: two 2K Blondes, four 1K Redheads, two Source Four Lekos, four 500-watt Fresnels, and two 150-watt Fresnels. Other fixtures were added throughout the shoot as needed for special situations; these included an occasional 18K, as well as dozens of industrial fluorescents and household bulbs. Carlos begins in bed, with a Palestinian agent waking up beside his girlfriend in Paris minutes before dying in a car bomb on the street outside. Le Saux created a simple, moody ambience for the scene: the dark bedroom has a splash of sunlight from the window as the man rises and moves about. The penumbra is punctuated by the red halo of the man’s lighter as he lights his cigarette. The sunlight was provided by an 18K HMI. “We couldn’t get the permit to set up a tower outside the window, and I was happy about that,” recalls Le Saux. “So the 18K was in an apartment on the other side of the street very far away, and I was only getting crumbs from it.” Le Saux didn’t want the lighting to be too harsh for the woman, so he put a Kino Flo inside the room for fill and bounced a Joker 800 on the ceiling. The dark image was made gentler still by the combination of the

From top: “Sunlight” provided by an 18K helps to illuminate the opening scene; an Antique Suede filter, often coupled with an 85, lends Middle East scenes a distinctive ochre hue; the narcissistic Carlos examines himself in a mirror.

Soft/FXand White Pro-Mist filters, which also added a halo to the flame of the man’s cigarette lighter. “I almost always used the Soft/FX and White Pro-Mist together, and I would vary the ww.theasc.com w

gradation of one or the other depending on faces, the contrast or the light,” notes Le Saux. Early in the first episode, we see Carlos sitting naked in a bathroom; he November 2010

◗

The World’s Most Wanted Man then walks into the adjoining bedroom and peers at himself in a mirror. His full-frontal nudity is unexpected and signals, says Assayas, “that we’re not going to shy away from anything as we tell this story. The scene is meant to be shocking, and it establishes that we will be going into areas that you don’t expect. We’re going to tell the story of Carlos, but we are going to take liberties.” The director adds, “Every witness has written about Carlos’ relationship with his body; it was complex, narcissistic and uneasy.” The backlit shot of Carlos admiring himself in the mirror is lumi-

From top: Magdalena Kopp (Nora von Waldstätten), who became one of the terrorist’s wives, seduces Carlos in a Beirut hotel room; Carlos gives a revealing interview; as his world falls apart, Carlos argues with Magdalena just prior to their breakup; in Algeria, the terrorist savors his OPEC triumph after negotiating the release of the hostages.

“You have to know when it’s worth it to bring out the heavy artillery and when it isn’t.”

nous and hazy with smoke. Le Saux recalls, “There were Kinos everywhere, above the windows and to the left of Edgar” fitted with Lee 250 diffusion gels. “It’s all about the balance of the shadows,” he says. “You see something there, but it’s still dark.” There was no outside lighting, as the location was on the sixth floor. “You have to know when it’s worth it to bring out the heavy artillery and when it isn’t,” says the cinematographer. One of the film’s most suspenseful moments takes place in an apartment of Paris’ Rue Toullier, where Carlos is partying with friends when French counterintelligence agents knock on the door. A fellow member of Carlos’ group has been captured and has led the police to the apartment. The 48

November 2010

American Cinematographer

◗

The World’s Most Wanted Man conversation with the police is casual, and one of the inspectors even accepts a whiskey. The camera follows Carlos into the bathroom, where he prepares his gun. When his traitorous compatriot identifies him, Carlos leaps into action, killing the three agents and the traitor. He is now a true killer. Le Saux created the scene’s warm lighting with several hot practicals. An open kitchen area is lit very hot, with fluorescents above. A bare bulb near the door adds drama to the entrances and exits. Le Saux confides, “I sweated on this one! The apartment was very small, so I used only small sources. I changed lightbulbs and created rhythms in the set; it was the only way to make it live.” He even laid a lamp on the ground to avoid “a black hole,” and used “newspapers as reflectors.” Coats were hung on a light stand to disguise it. The problem, says Le Saux, was to avoid overlighting the actors who might step too close to a source. “Everything had to be measured, a matter of nuances.” He explains that the bathroom lighting, a 400-watt Joker gelled with 1⁄2 CTO on the ceiling, was meant to contrast with the lower, warmer living room. The scene was shot with a 50mm at the beginning, giving way to a 27mm before the gunplay begins. For Lenoir, Carlos brought back memories of his previous collaborations with Assayas, which included the director’s first four features. “All my years with Olivier were extremely formative for me because he’s a challenging director,” says Lenoir. “Lighting for his films is more difficult because you have to cover 180, 270 or even 360 degrees. So you have to compromise; you have to light from the ceiling or find ways to not light at all.” Lenoir cites some examples in Carlos. The large OPEC room where the hostages are kept was a “shoe box” lit with industrial fluorescents on the ceiling, allowing the camera to move freely. “After that, it’s a matter ofsavoirfaire as to how to keep the actors from

Top: Denis Lenoir, ASC, AFC grabs a shot with Aaton’s 2-perf Penelope camera. Middle: Yorick Le Saux (left) watches a scene with director Olivier Assayas. Bottom: Lenoir and Le Saux listen in as Assayas discusses the OPEC sequence with actors.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

being badly lit with that overhead source,” says the cinematographer. “It’s more a matter of redirecting, subtracting and diffusing the lighting, working the contrast to use what was given to us to our advantage. In the hallways, I took the liberty of turning off some fluorescents because we decided they could have been broken by the gunfire.” With a laugh, he adds, “The camerawork and performances are interesting in this sequence, but the lighting is not!” No movie lights were used on the plane carrying Carlos, his fellow

Carlos has a distinctive, dynamic mise en scène that keeps the actors moving whenever possible.

terrorists and the OPEC hostages, continues Lenoir. “If you start lighting one shot, you have to light the others,” he notes. Lenoir requested that the cockpit face west and tapped the natural light seeping in from the tarmac of the Beirut airport for the daytime scenes. “The camera was handheld — there was no room for a dolly,” he notes. For the night sequences, he used the vintage plane’s practicals. Lenoir occasionally used HMIs outside windows, for example, in the scenes where Carlos is reprimanded by his Palestinian boss. For a memorable, elegantly lit scene in which Magdalena Kopp seduces Carlos in a bright hotel room, Lenoir simply bounced Jokers to reduce the contrast and put up a diffusion frame to soften the light coming

from the window on Carlos’ future wife. Lenoir stresses the importance of giving the director more time in a hectic schedule. “For any given location, I decided what lighting would be quick to set up but also pleasing to the eye, while still being respectful of the period atmosphere and the drama of the scene. I light with a big brush; I don’t like detail work, which is probably why I

don’t do commercials. I am impatient with myself on the set. That’s probably why I’m fast.” Although the lighting in Carlos creates a stylish yet realistic period look with a minimum of tools, Lenoir points out that it is often the camerawork that really sets the filmmaking apart. Carlos has a distinctive, dynamic mise en scène that keeps the actors moving whenever possible. The camera, whether hand-

◗

The World’s Most Wanted Man

Left: Lenoir captures an emotional moment. Right: Members of Carlos’ team stand guard at a terrorist camp.

held or on a dolly, is moving also, giving a rhythm to the action: sweeping across the room or going from character to character with a unique fluidity. Lenoir adds, “This is why I have so much admiration for Olivier. His approach is actually modest in some ways, but at the same time,I find

it extremely powerful and efficient.” Almost every scene in Carlos was shot with a series of plan séquences, the French term for a single continuous shot. “The idea is to end up with at least two shots, perhaps three or four, each of which lasts for the duration of the scene and is visually interesting

because of the camera’s and actors’ movements,” explains Lenoir. “This approach allows for performances, and it feels more organic and real than standard coverage. “The first time we did this, in the early Nineties, we were following one actor from the beginning to the end of

the scene, and then we followed the other actor,” continues Lenoir. “But soon we developed something more interesting that wasn’t tied to one actor: we started on one actor and then moved to the other actor when they crossed paths, and eventually to a third actor, all in the same shot. You can,of course,cross the line,but then you cross it twice and you respect the moment you cross the line on the second shot. That way,you can cut to the other shot at any moment, since the eyelines are always respected — the 180 rule. Another idea was to include the inserts in the shot. So,for example, we might go down from the actor’s face to what he’s holding and then back to his face, instead of cutting.” Le Saux recalls a great example of a one-shot scene, when Carlos is outside the French embassy that has been taken over by Japanese terrorists, and watches as a wounded policewoman is brought out on a stretcher.

The camera starts on Carlos, then follows an ambulance driver as he whizzes by, revealing the entrance of the building; a moment later,the stretcher is brought out, then Carlos walks back into frame and we follow him as he walks off. Assayas remembers that he designed the shot on the spot at the end of a long day, and that the shot was accomplished in 30 minutes. “It’s a miracle!” he says, laughing. Assayas emphasizes that he does not believe in storyboarding or shotlisting during prep. Rather, he designs all his shots on the day of the shoot. “I do my homework, but I don’t plan. I think movies are living organisms; they develop gradually, and you have to be in sync with that growth, which depends on the actors and whatever they have built themselves from scene to scene, on your locations, and on your crew. A movie has its own life.” ●

TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 2-perf Super 35mm Aaton Penelope; Panaflex Platinum Panavision lenses Kodak Vision3 500T 5219; Vision2 100T 5212, 200T 5217 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision 2383

www.panther.tv panther.tv tv

TThe he P Panther anther

Dolly Dolllyy

A new dollyy g generation enera Affter over After over 25 25 years years off experience experience in designing designing and manufacturing manuffaacturing elecelectromechanic tromechanic dollies, dollies, PPanther anther is is introducing introducing a new ggeneration eneration off ccamera amera dollies dollies on the m market. arket.

Tristtaar Steering options:

Ć Lowest col column umn doll dolly lyy worldwide (lowest (llo owestt start sttaartt position) pos ĆĆ Equipped Equipped with the new w High-Low w TTurnstile urnstile Ć Unique 3 column column system Camera Camera movements movements from from a sitting sitting to to a sstanding tanding per person son ar are e po possissible ble without without any any conversion conversion off the do dolly. lly. Realise Realise low low camera camera positions positions without without any any conversion. conversion. A new period off w working orking time efﬁc efﬁciency iency and eff effectivity ectivity w with ith a camera camera dolly dolly h has as be begun. gun. Learn more aboutt the P Panther anther TTristar risttaar doll dolly lyy by y visting our webside aatt www www.panther.tv .panther.tv

P PANTHER ANTHER G GmbH mbH Raiffeisenallee R a i f f e is e na ll e e 3 | 8 82041 2041 M Munich unich | G Germany e r ma n y T +49.89.613 +49.89.613 9 900–01 00–01 | F + +49.89.61 49 .8 9 .61 3 311 0 00 00 contact@panther.tv contact@panther.tv | w www.panther.tv ww.panther.tv

P PANTHER ANTHER D Dollies ollies & C Cranes r a n e s LLLC LC 77358 358 Radford Rad fo rd A Ave. ve . | N North or th H Hollywood, o ll y w o o d , C CA A9 91605 1605 T+ +818-764-1234 818-764-1234 ccontact@panther.us ontact@panther.us w www.panther.us ww.panther.us

A Modern

Romance C Tom Stern, ASC, AFC helps Clint Eastwood exploit the latest technologies on the supernatural drama Hereafter. By Michael Goldman •|• 54

November 2010

lint Eastwood’s 32nd directorial effort, Hereafter, certainly backs up his oft-stated preference for making unorthodox films and not repeating himself. The supernatural romance tells three stories, in diverse locations, about unconnected characters who are linked by their growing obsession with the afterlife. The moviebegins as one of these people — a French woman named Marie (Cécile De France) — has a near-death experience and briefly glimpses the hereafter. The narrative then jumps to London, where we meet a lonely little boy named Marcus (Frankie McLaren), who yearns to communicate with his recently deceased twin brother. Both characters eventually find themselves drawn to

American Cinematographer

Unit photography by Ken Regan and Jay Maidment, SMPSP. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros.

Opposite: Drawn together by a mysterious bond, Marie (Cécile De France) and George (Matt Damon) finally meet at a book fair in Hereafter. This page, top: After suffering the death of his brother, Marcus (Frankie McLaren) is consumed with finding some way of communicating with him. Below: Cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC, AFC (left) and director Clint Eastwood check the frame.

George Lonegan (Matt Damon), a San Franciscan with paranormal abilities who can commune with the dead by touching their loved ones. To tell this tale, Eastwood and his collaborators, including longtime cinematographer Tom Stern, ASC, AFC, took advantage of the latest tools and technology, employing extensive visual effects and making significant use of the digital-intermediate process. The director had previously explored digital post techniques on Flags of Our Fathers (AC, Nov. ’06), Letters from Iwo Jima (AC, March ’07), Changeling and Invictus (AC, Nov. ’08) , but Hereafter ups the ante right from its opening scenes in Hawaii, where a terrifying tsunami causes Marie to experience what Stern describes as “the dream vacation all gone to hell.” To realize this sequence, and to visually distinguish the film’s three storylines, Eastwood and Stern spent considerable time in a Technicolor DI suite with colorist Jill Bogdanowicz, “digitally painting” the movie. “This is a very unexpected film from Clint,” maintainsproducer Rob Lorenz, Eastwood’s partner at their production company,

Malpaso. “It’s a departure he decided to make because of the great, original script [written by Peter Morgan]. In many ways, it was a new experience, trying to get an authentic look [that would clearly] distinguish the different storylines. We’ve done lots of visual effects before, but those were largely invisible effects. Here, we staged a fantastic tsunami that dominates [the ww.theasc.com w

opening sequence]. To make it all work, Clint relied more heavily on previsualization, the DI and digital effects than he has in the past. In terms of working with those kinds of techniques, he’s more comfortable now than I’ve ever seen him.” Hereafter offered Eastwood the chance to incorporate all the newfangled technology into his trademark November 2010

◗

A Modern Romance

Hereafter begins with a tsunami sequence that involved location work in Hawaii, underwater work at Pinewood Studios and CG elements created by Scanline VFX. Top: Marie and a young girl attempt to flee from the tsunami. Middle: Marie struggles to keep her head above water. Bottom: Marie’s lover, Didier (Thierry Neuvic), searches through the devastation.

visual style, which is still in evidence. Indeed, large segments of the movie, particularly scenes set in Lonegan’s claustrophobic apartment, offer the classic ambience generally associated with Eastwood’s pictures, including low-keylighting and shadow-streaked faces. He also hewed to a few other traditional principles, including his devotion to film acquisition. Even on the latter front, though, change was afoot. Stern tested a wide range of stocks, and for the first time since he began shooting for Eastwood, the cinematographer opted to work with Fuji negative — specifically, two Fuji Eterna Vivid stocks, 160 8543 and 500 8547, which gave him “extremely good blacks, which are so important to Clint, and great contrast. Most of the time we used the faster stock, but we changedto the slower one for big, scenic shots. We shot in London in October 2009, and then again in January and February. In my experience, you don’t want to shoot on London streets at that time of year without a fast film stock, because the weather is constantly changing, and there is not a lot of light to begin with.” From Stern’s perspective, it was essential to be able to manipulate the imagery he captured in Hawaii, London, San Francisco and the movie’s other main setting, Paris. He used the 56

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Stern’s crew rigged a circular truss fitted with 1K Pars programmed to a chase sequence above the tank at Pinewood Studios. The lighting setup allowed the filmmakers to emulate the changing position of the “sun” as Marie is spun underwater by the tsunami’s force.

same basic lighting and camera package in each city —including Panaflex Platinum and Millennium XL camera bodies and Panavision C-Series anamorphic lenses (primarily 27mm, 40mm, 75mm and 100mm)—so his main strategies for creating different looks involved subtle lighting work and DI tweaks. Stern says his main challenge was “making sure each location had a visual signature in order to underline the fact that these were separate stories that the audience could track subliminally.” The

movie’s opening scenes in Hawaii are far more colorful and lush than typical Eastwood fare until the deadly tsunami hits; at that point, the color scheme becomes more severe, less saturated and higher-contrast. Stern lent San Francisco a cooler palette, with more prominent blues than the other locations; London has a much greyer, desaturated palette; and Paris is more neutral, with warmer colors featured prominently. Colorist Bogdanowicz says these color patterns were highly strategic, “with a nice arc and flow” that matches ww.theasc.com w

their corresponding story arcs. Ultimately, Stern explains, these palettes “start in production design, and then a lot of it is done with our lighting in production. After that, Jill and I have at it during the color-timing sessions, where we make incremental changes in different areas. We have become so comfortable with the DI process that we can eliminate unnecessary risks when shooting, giving ourselves more options [in post].” Thus, on the production side, Stern’s longtime partnership with chief November 2010

◗

A Modern Romance

Right: Attempting to flee the attention he’s earned as a psychic who can communicate with the dead, George keeps a low profile in his San Francisco apartment. Below: Marcus’ search for a means of contacting his deceased brother eventually leads him to George.

ing us in every direction; I probably carry more generators than you would on a normal shoot.” Indeed, with the exception of a one-day shoot for elements related to visual effects, the entire movie was shot on locations. These settings included an elegant Parisian restaurant and the gigantic Alexandra Palace in London, which was used to stage a key sequence at a busy book fair. “The building that houses the Paris restaurant is part of the French national patrimony, so nothing can be attached to the walls, and there are mirrors everywhere,” Stern says. “It became something of a puzzle with mirrors; the challenge was to keep everything out of them. One thing we lighting technician Ross Dunkerley was we tend to opt for Fresnels — in every did was to put small lights [standard crucial. Dunkerley and his team always size available.” 100-watt household bulbs] into the start with the same basic package on “Clint doesn’t usually go on the floral arrangements on each of the Eastwood’s movies, and on Hereafter tech scouts, which is unusual,” tables — an old Conrad Hall trick. For they carried some favorite workhorses Dunkerley adds. “When he walks on the rest of it, we just had to be clever.” across the globe, including two Arri 24K the location set to start shooting, it’s Part of “being clever” meant Fresnels and six Arri T-12 Studio often the first time he’s seen it, and we being careful with blocking. They also Fresnels. “Beyond that, it’s lots of HMI don’t want to limit what he can see. positioned the centerpiece lightbulbs in Fresnels, and since so much of our work Many films are highly pre-rigged, but small boxes with corners strategically is done on location, we usually carry we don’t want to encroach upon what he cut out so they could be rotated accordmore of those than most shoots I’ve may or may not want to do. So we stay ing to each shot’s need; this trick worked on,” says Dunkerley. “Fresnels as flexible as possible and adjust as we allowed Stern and his crew to direct have a more controllable and pleasant go along. That said, the most important lighting toward the extras and away look than Pars.Unless we’re bouncing, thing I plan for is the power surroundfrom the camera. “The intent was not to 58

November 2010

American Cinematographer

◗

A Modern Romance

Assisted by Bill Coe, A-camera/ Steadicam operator Stephen Campanelli frames a scene in which Marcus runs through London streets to find out his brother’s fate. The Steadicam was used extensively for the sequence, while the crane was used for wide shots of the busy street.

light the principal actors in the scene as much as to add sparkle to the background,” Dunkerley says. “Beyond that, we hid lights in every conceivable nook and cranny. “We did occasionally manage to turn the ‘house of mirrors’handicap to our advantage,” he adds. “When we were backed into corners, where it was very hard to set up thelights we needed, we would bounce light by projecting an ellipsoidal light into the mirrors behind us.” In contrast to the Paris restaurant, 60

November 2010

the Alexandra Palace space was huge. The goal there was to create the impression of a massive, crowded trade show. The filmmakers originally planned to digitally extend particular shots to make the space seem even more gigantic, but they found that by lighting and shooting in a certain way, they were able to create the illusion in-camera. Dunkerley recalls, “We initially dressed the set to represent only part of the book fair, thinking it would be digitally extended, but we still had to light a very big space — it was the biggest lighting job on the American Cinematographer

film, for sure. We had three 18,000-watt hybrid [HMI/tungsten] balloons in the ceiling,and we used countless 6K and 12K Pars to bounce light around and fill up the place. The space ate light like you couldn’t believe — it was so big that when we threw 18,000-watt Fresnel lights in there, they were like 150-watt lightbulbs.” Two of the film’s crucial sequences did require major help from the show’s visual-effects team, led by supervisor Michael Owens. The first was the massive tsunami sequence, and the second was the film’s haunting depiction of what the hereafter itself looks like. According to Stern, the creation of the tsunami sequence “basically fell in Michael Owens’ lap” after thecinematographer and his first-unit team captured numerous plates in Laheina, Hawaii on the island of Maui, acquiring pieces for the digital puzzle Owens would later assemble in post. Even when those plates weren’t used, they were extensively employed as reference material for later CG versions. Before any of the plates were shot, artists at Scanline VFX in Los Angeles previsualized the entire sequence in great detail. “I storyboarded an eight- or nine-minute sequence and showed it to Clint,” says Owens. “He

approved it, so we made a previs [using Autodesk’s 3ds Max animation software] that represented the entire sequence. Clint normally doesn’t like to do a lot of storyboarding or previs, but we needed to figure out the parameters of the tsunami sequence in advance in order to decide how to accomplish it technically.” Scanline ultimately created all of the final elements for the film’s 169 CG shots, mostly tsunami water elements created with the company’s Flowline fluid-simulation software. One wide shotof Laheina’s Front Street, which is flash-flooded by the raging water, required elements shot by A-camera operator Stephen Campanelli, who employeda Hot Gears remote system provided by Salamati Productions.“We threw up occasional bluescreens for [Owens],” says Campanelli,“but he does most of it in post [using rotoscope techniques], so we needed a repeatable head movement to layer the tsunami through the street. One shot is a high angle looking down upon the tsunami’s path, and we had to shoot [the panning shots that follow the water] over and over again, with and without actors. The Hot Gears system let me capture the same movement each time.” Owens adds, “The camera operator has to follow something and the actors need to react to something, so we had a guy on a motorcycle [riding down the street] at10miles an hour as if he were the wave. The Hot Gears system let Stephen photograph the guy more accurately, and it allowed us to capture a nice 170-degree pan. We then did the same thing with the extras and played back the move with Hot Gears. This was crucial to create a realistic sense of the speed of someone trapped in rushing water, and to provide a reference that the operator could pan to. “Ironically, we ultimately ended up doing [the camera move]almost entirely virtually,” Owens continues. “Later on, as we modified some set extensions, we realized we wanted [the actors]in a slightly different position. But shooting the plates that way still

◗

A Modern Romance allowed us to understand the reality of how the water would flow and what the move would be, and [provided] the photo-real look of the environment— it gave us a blueprint.” Another key piece of the tsunami sequence involved close shots of Marie thrashing underwater and drowning— the only portion of the movie shot on a stage. Working inPinewood Studios’ underwater tank, the filmmakers constructed a circular truss that allowed them to hang 1K Par cans above the actors in the water. Dunkerley notes that each light was fitted with a medium globe and covered with Lee 250 diffusion gel; the lights were then programmed to chase each other in circles so that filmmakers could spin them “with at least eight lights on,at full intensity, at all times. A digitally created, spiraling background would replace the greenscreen, and the chasing ring of lights simulates the ever-changing source of the sun as the actress is pulled

into the tsunami’s vortex. To provide a constant sense of skylight, we also positioned a silk above the tank and lit it up with 6K space lights.” Eastwood, Stern and Owens designed the hereafter effect as they went along. For previs purposes, they temporarily borrowed shots from the climactic scene in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, in which shadowy, backlit aliens emerge slowly from their mothership— a design that influenced Eastwood’s final rendition of the afterlife. Lorenz says particular characters were shot against bluescreen for inclusion in the hereafter shots, but the production largely relied on Owens to mold those elements— and his own imaginings — into a realm that appealed to Eastwood’s eye. “Michael wanted some elements to experiment with, but at the start, I don’t think there was a strong sense of what the final effect would look like,” says Lorenz. “Michael took [all of the elements], put

them in a computer, and came up with some different looks, which he then brought back to us. The one we ended up with was close to the feeling of the Close Encounters scene.” The greenscreen shoot for the hereafter scenes was done at Source Film Studios in Hollywood. Owens used a Red One camera, configured with the Mysterium-X chip, to shoot backlit extras milling about in a way that worked for the eventual design of the afterlife effect. “The concern was that if we overstated what the hereafter looked like, the audience would get too much information,” Owens says. “If we understated it, the audience would feel shortchanged. The goal was to make it nuanced. We eventually pulled the greenscreen shoot together, using the Red camera, a 20KFresnel and smoke to create elements we could extract and then heavily process. “I cast a bunch of very different people for various setups. In the hyper

view that we ended up with, we had them all wandering from the greenscreen toward the camera. They were backlit by the 20K, which wasaimed right down the barrel of the Red. It’s an illusion of going in and out [of the hereafter]. Extracting that stuff wasn’t very difficult because we weren’t trying to do a hard extraction; we shot these elements that we could then blow out, process, dissolve, and so on. In that sense, we kind of got away with murder — it was a highly unusual greenscreen shoot.” To ensure that the film’s various effects and color palettes played their proper roles, Technicolor’s Bogdanowicz massaged the entire movie on her DaVinci Resolve system. According to Stern, the starting point for this process is“where we put the blacks. Clint likes really solid blacks, so that’s always where we’ll start, even if we take the look somewhere else by the end of the process.”

Bogdanowicz emphasizes that “we didn’t push the desaturation to the degree we did on Flags of Our Fathers , but it is there to some degree. You’ll also notice that the flesh tones are not too warm or red. Clint doesn’t believe people have really warm, yellow or pink skin — it’s more neutral than that. So his general, desaturated aesthetic is a nice place to start; beyond that, I simply follow Tom’s photography, and I rarely have to do anything crazy.” The final result of the entire team’s effortsrepresents another evolution for the 80-year-old Eastwood, and Stern appreciates his collaborator’s ability to adaptboth creatively and technically. “We’re testing digital cameras and different film stocks all the time,” Stern reflects. “We started with the DI about six years ago, and there was tension about it back then; now, it’s a standard part of what we do. The point is, as technologies become stable, more interesting tools become available. Clint will

always take a conservative approach, but things do evolve, and we’re open to whatever develops.” ●

TECHNICAL SPECS 2.40:1 Anamorphic 35mm and Digital Capture Panaflex Platinum, Millennium XL; Red One Panavision lenses Fuji Eterna Vivid 160 8543, 500 8547 Digital Intermediate Printed on Kodak Vision 2383

THE MUST HAVE ACCESSORY

Easy controlling via the on-screen display from monitor

Quick

and easy to use (self-explanatory) % Precision – Accuracy to 1 Micron (Collimator Technique) Power Supply: DC 3 V (battery), AC mains adapter 5 V DC 100

Representative in U.S.: camadeus Film Technologies www.sl-x.us

www.denz-deniz.com info@denz-deniz.com We accept

O King of Cool

Colleagues fondly recall William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC whose charisma and skill made him a Society icon. Introduction by Stephen Pizzello Interviews by Benjamin B, Bob Fisher, Jean Oppenheimer, Pizzello and David E. Williams •|•

November 2010

ne of the ASC’s most beloved members, William A. “Billy” Fraker, died on May 31 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after a battle with cancer. He was 86 at the time of his death, but his energy and youthful exuberance were evident even in his last years of life. Fraker’s tremendous charm and charisma led him to become an ASC icon, but it was his work behind the camera that made him a cinematography legend. He was nominated for six Academy Awards, honoring his work on Looking for Mr. Goodbar , Heaven Can Wait , 1941 (for which he also shared a nomination for best visual effects with A.D. Flowers and Greg Jein), WarGames and Murphy’s Romance. He also earned BAFTA nominations for Bullitt and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (an honor he shared with fellow ASC members Haskell Wexler and Bill Butler), as well as a shared BAFTA nomination for Best Special Visual Effects on WarGames. Fraker received lifetime-achievement awards from the ASC in 2000 and from Camerimage in 2003, capping a career that produced many other movies, including Rosemary’s Baby, Paint Your Wagon, The Day of the Dolphin , Exorcist II: The Heretic , American Hot Wax , Sharky’s Machine, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas , Irreconcilable Differences , SpaceCamp, Baby Boom, The Freshman, Memoirs of an Invisible Man, Honeymoon in Vegas, Tombstone, Father of the Bride Part II, The Island of Dr. Moreau , Vegas Vacation, Rules of Engagement and Town and Country . He also directed three pictures — Monte Walsh, Reflections of Fear and The Legend of the Lone Ranger — and episodes of numerous TV series. Born in Los Angeles on Sept. 29, 1923, Fraker grew up amid the glitter of Hollywood. His maternal grandmother, who arrived in Los Angeles from Mazatlan, Mexico, in 1910 with his mother and aunt, worked downtown as a still photographer at Monroe Studios. After Fraker’s parents married, she schooled his father, William Fraker Jr., who excelled at the craft. “My father started out at Universal, Pathé and First National before running the stills gallery at Columbia from 1928-’29 to 1934, when he died of pneumonia,” Fraker told AC in Feb. ’00. “My uncle Charles started out working for him, but moved over to work at Paramount, where he later took over the department and ran it until after World War II, when the studios eliminated all of their stills galleries. “My mother died a year after my father passed away, so I was raised by my grandmother and my aunt. They told me I was going to become a cameraman, so from the time I was 14, that’s what I was going to be.” Fraker quit high school during World War II to do a four-year hitch in the Coast Guard, and he saw action throughout the Pacific. He grew up as a die-hard University of Southern California football fan, an allegiance that came to full fruition when he attended USC Film School under the G.I. Bill and, many years later, taught there as an instructor. At USC, Fraker became fast friends with fellow

American Cinematographer

Rosemary’s Baby photos courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Other photos courtesy of the ASC archives and Denise Fraker .

student and future ASC member Conrad Hall; he later served as Hall’s camera operator on a string of pictures before advancing to the rank of “first cameraman.” One of Fraker’s key instructors was Slavko Vorkapich, whom he credited with helping him learn to think visually and to perceive motion pictures as “still pictures that move at 24 fps.” After graduating from USC in 1951 with a B.A. in Cinema, a determined Fraker battled his way into the camera union (Local 659) in 1954. He got his first assignment just two days later when he was dispatched to General Service Studios to serve as a second camera assistant on the TV series The Lone Ranger , working for cinematographer Bob Pittack, ASC. He caught another break when he landed a gig on the series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, where he worked for 7½ years. (With the support of that show’s star, Ozzie Nelson, he progressed to the rank of operator.) Fraker spent a number of subsequent years working on various television shows as an operator for Hall, including the Western Stoney Burke (1962-’63) and the sci-fi classic The Outer Limits (1963-’65); he then signed on as Hall’s operator on the feature film The Wild Seed (1965), and later turned down an offer from Jack Lord to work on Hawaii Five-0 in order to serve as Hall’s operator on the 1966 feature film The Professionals. Fraker’s first job as a full-fledged director of photography was the 1967 thriller Games, directed by Curtis Harrington. He subsequently shot The Fox and The President’s Analyst before landing the project that would propel him into cinematography’s top rank: Roman Polanski’s 1968 occult thriller Rosemary’s Baby. “Roman is one of the greatest storytellers I’ve worked with, and he knew how to control and lead the audience,” Fraker told AC three decades later. “He used suggestion to do a lot of it. His earlier films, Repulsion and Cul-De-Sac, had very little actual violence in them, but they were horrify-

Opposite: Fraker in 1985, sporting his beloved beard. During the 1960s, he and fellow ASC member Conrad Hall made a bet about which of them would shave his beard first, but neither ever did it. This page, top: A younger, cleanshaven Fraker (operating the camera) and Don Willer shoot a commercial in 1956. Bottom: Fraker (behind camera) and future producer Elmo Williams shooting the documentary The Cowboy.

ing. Roman knew how to do that dramatically through the acting and the dialogue. When you’re a cinematographer, you have to do it visually, with the lighting and the camera.” Fraker followed that triumph by shooting another 1968 classic, Bullitt, ww.theasc.com w

which featured one of the most famous car chases ever committed to film — a sequence that required the cinematographer to be strapped to the hood of a Mustang Fastback traveling more than 100 mph. In typically modest fashion, he later maintained that it was the November 2010

•|•

A Personal Remembrance

first met William A. Fraker — Billy, tothose of us who knew him — during the sticky New York summer of 1989 while working as the Steadicam focus puller on The Freshman, the film he was shooting there at the time . When the call came in for the job, I could barely contain my excitement. Billy had always represented the epitome of what I imagined to be “a Hollywood cameraman,” which was an entirely different species from the ones I had grown up around in the industry on the East Coast. In my mind, I always pictured this dashing World War II veteran lighting a huge set on one of the major studio lots, brandishing a Spectra Professional with consummate élan. Of course, he would be dressed sharply while moving about the stage as nimbly as a cat. As with anyone who’s a master of his craft, everything he did would seem effortless. He’d be quick with the one-liners and keep everyone on their toes, director and producer especially. After wrap, I envisioned him sailing down Sunset Boulevard in a red ’66 Jaguar XKE convertible, and then turning north up the coast to his Malibu beach house. Once there, he would finish the day dining by candlelight with some hot young starlet, beneath a mantle decorated with three or four Oscar statuettes. We all know what happened after that …. The funny thing is, as I came to know Billy over the years, I learned that these idle musings about his lifestyle and working methods weren’t so far from the truth, except for the bits about the starlet and the Academy Awards — he was devoted to his wife, Denise, and was merely nominated for an Oscar on six occasions. Billy’s coolness transcended that of most everyone around him. Handsome, quirky and irresistibly charismatic, he was a unique figure in the history of cinematography, the last of a breed we may never see again. Billy was famously fond of cocktails, and in my fantasy I always pictured

November 2010

•|•

him swigging a vodka tonic between takes. In reality, he had a strict protocol about how and when to enjoy a cocktail. He never drank while shooting, and I never saw him even tipsy during all the good times I shared with him. When he was off the clock, he adhered to a consistent routine: prior to 5 p.m., he was always anchored by clear liquor; after 5, he switched to the ambercolored stuff (more often than not, a Chivas and soda). Billy never explained this peculiar practice, but maybe it was the tradition of a bygone era. Billy made movies during a memorable and colorful period — one that made filmmakers of my generation cry our eyes out because we came along too late to revel in it firsthand. Without the slightest hint of gloating, Billy would always describe the world he came from in the warmest tones. “Those were the good days,” he liked to say, andman, how could anyone deny it? There was true leadership in Hollywood. There was plenty of work for everyone — in town and on really good films, for the most part. And there was the prevailing family atmosphere in a place that’s often been noted for its lack of feeling. During those moments when he really opened up at the Clubhouse (there were many,and they ran the gamut from solemn to hilarious), you could sense that rather than just relating the mechanics of shooting such-andsuch film, Billy was telling us about what mattered to him the most: friendship and loyalty. That’s not to say he lived in the past; the students he taught at his beloved USC will tell you he was the most forward-looking person you could meet. But while the era that formed him might not necessarily have been better than the present, by Billy’s measure it was undoubtedly more romantic, and that, in many ways, was the key to his great appeal. When he used the words “magnificent,” “marvelous” and “sensational,” as he did

American Cinematographer

regularly in conversation, he wasn’t overstating the case about something that happened to grab his attention. He was sharing his spirit and enthusiasm for life, both of which knew no boundary. I mean, really, who else do you hear talking like that today? (If you know someone who does, I’m certain he doesn’t do it with nearly as much conviction.) Billy was one of those people who conducted his life from a place of love rather than fear, and, believe me, you picked up on it as soon as he entered the room. In late 1999, I was about to start prepping Down to Earth , a movie that was being touted by the studio as a remake of one of Billy’s Oscar-nominated gems, Heaven Can Wait.I wanted to talk to him about it — to get his blessing, so to speak — and our mutual pal, Art Tostado of the old CFI Lab, arranged a lunch. I still get butterflies when I think about that afternoon. Here I was, no longer a focus puller but a full-fledged “first cameraman” (as Billy liked to say), engaging with one of my heroes on a sophisticated and extremely intimate level. That he accepted me as a colleague was enough satisfaction for a lifetime, but his openness and encouraging words touched me to my soul. I knew there was no way I would approach what he achieved in Heaven

Can Wait and told him as much; he countered that I would in fact exceed it. He also told me that no matter what happened, he’d always be my friend. I was right in my prediction about my work, and Billy honored his pledge, to the very end. On innumerable occasions, I’ve mentioned to my contemporaries at the ASC that we should be taking mental snapshots of the times we spend in the company of our senior members. We want them to stay around forever, but at the same time, who can ignore reality? As their numbers inevitably dwindle, we’re well aware that those moments are more precious than anything else, the moments with Billy perhaps most of all. It’s unconscionable that the Hollywood community at large didn’t take more substantial notice of his passing. He was truly one of the giants of his day. Maybe it was a reflection of our society’s limitless capacity for shallowness; maybe it was because his cinematography didn’t hew so closely to the styles that helped remake the look of American films during the 1970s. If the latter is the case, the tastemakers really missed the boat. Billy’s was a cleaner, more classically based approach that bore the handprints of every industry pioneer from whom he learned. And, as anyone with experience will tell you, it demands a hell of a lot of talent to create that look. Billy would often say that when he watched his mentors work, he “wanted to do what they did.” Well, we watched what Billy did — all of it — and we want to do those things, too. Whether we make a success of it is immaterial. What matters is that we spent time with him and got to know him. We’re much the better for it. Rest in peace, Billy. We love you and miss you. — Richard P. Crudo, ASC

Left: In the late 1950s, Fraker (standing at far left) coached the Stage V Productions basketball team at Hollywood High School. At the time, Fraker was working on TV’s The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and the show’s star, Ozzie Nelson, is the player standing next to him. Below: Fraker (at rear) on location in Oregon with operator David M. Walsh (middle) and assistant Bobby Byrne in 1968, filming Paint Your Wagon.

he later maintained that it was the directing that sold the car chase and made it an all-time classic: “The chase is actually quite straightforward, but the execution — Peter Yates’ storytelling — is remarkable.” The year 1968 was also important to Fraker because he was invited to join the ASC, an organization he came to love as much as USC. His sponsor was the great cinematographer Stanley Cortez, ASC, who was always known for his outspoken, cantankerous nature. “We’d be at the Clubhouse arguing about things for hours, and it was great fun,” Fraker remembered. “The ASC at that time was a really great place … I’d be at the Clubhouse talking to Lee Garmes, George Folsey, Milton Krasner, Arthur Miller — God almighty, I was in awe of these people!” Famous for his unabashed enjoyment of cocktails, Fraker recalled, “Charles Clarke was the treasurer of the ASC at the time, and Charlie controlled all the money, so he had the bar and all the booze totally locked up! You couldn’t get into that bar with dynamite. But we fought him on it and finally opened the damn thing up. He went crazy!” Fraker later served three terms as ASC president (1979-’80, ’84, ’91-93) and used his position to stump for a variety of causes, arguing that cinematographers should have above-theline status, calling for better technical ww.theasc.com w

information resources, establishing scholarships for aspiring cinematographers, and helping to bring attention to disturbing trends in colorizing, reformatting and otherwise altering feature films beyond recognition for television and home-video presentation. Summing up the main principle that guided him throughout his career, Fraker once told AC that while various technologies come in and out of vogue, “the secret of making movies is that — no matter what you’re doing on the set — you’re a storyteller. You’re helping to tell a story. And that’s one thing that’s lacking in some of the films I’ve seen lately — there’s a vague plot, but you November 2010

◗

King ofCool another career-spanning interview with Bob Fisher, he stressed the single-mindedness required to succeed in such a glamorous but demanding profession: “If you want to survive in this industry, you need to be dedicated. It has to be the most important thing in your life. The competition out there is ferocious — which is not bad, but if you want to make it, you have to be dedicated, and it is a 24hour-a-day job, seven days a week. It has to be more important than your family, your kids, your house, than anything.” Throughout his career, the ebullient Fraker became close friends with many of his collaborators and fellow ASC members, many of whom got their first glimpse of the newly renovated ASC Clubhouse during a private memorial service for their old chum, held on July 11 in the headquarters’ Great Room. “It’s entirely appropriate that the setting for this memorial service is one of the ‘SCs’ Billy loved all his life,” said the Society’s current president, Michael Goi, who tearfully recalled how Fraker once told Goi’s parents that their son would someday follow in his footsteps as ASC president. “The only time Billy regretted that prediction was when I banned liquor from the board meetings,” Goi joked. The spirited service featured colorful stories told by a variety of speakers, including Fraker’s wife, Denise, who brought the house down when she spotted Warren Beatty and cracked, “Warren, he adored you. He would rather fight with you than make love to me!” Following the service, guests repaired to the ASC lounge, which has been christened “Billy’s Bar” in Fraker’s honor. There, his longtime friend Owen Roizman, ASC choked up while saluting Fraker’s memory with a heartfelt toast. “Billy, thanks for all the great stories, all the memorable images and all the beautiful friendships,” Roizman said. “I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was a sheer joy to be around you. You will be sorely missed but never forgotten.” Following are reminiscences and observations from some of Fraker’s collaborators and colleagues.

Top: A pipesmoking Haskell Wexler, ASC visits Fraker on the set of Bullitt (1968). Middle: Actor Lee Marvin hobnobs with Fraker and camera operator David Walsh during the filming of Paint Your Wagon (1969). Bottom: The crew of Monte Walsh sets up a shot on a wooden dolly.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

WILLIAM A. FRAKER, ASC September 29, 1923 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; May 30, 2010

You left us with a precious image of how wonderful life can be. Your loving Panavision family.

◗

King ofCool Floyd Mutrux (director, Dusty and Sweets McGee , Aloha Bobby and Rose, American Hot Wax, The Hollywood Knights, There Goes My Baby ): The first job Billy got [in Hollywood] was working with Tom Kelley shooting a Marilyn Monroe calendar. After they set up the shot, they gave Billy a bucket of ice cubes, then told him to take two ice cubes and ‘prepare Marilyn for the shot.’ They made the shot and Billy turned around and said, ‘I love Hollywood.’ Billy and I were going to make a lot of films together, with me directing and him producing. Our ‘office’ was the corner booth at Dan Tana’s. We talked three times a week, every week. He was my best friend. He was the highlight of any room he was in. He was the most upbeat guy; he always saw the glass as half full. On one show we were filming a scene in front of the Whiskey in the late ’60s. We needed multiple cameras. Billy called up Laszlo Kovacs, Tommy Del Ruth and Vilmos Zsigmond. The only catch was that they had to bring their own cameras — and their own short ends. They showed up and shot the scene. That was for Billy. On Bullitt, they tied Billy to the front of the tricked-out Mustang, and it was going about 95 mph. Billy had the camera in one hand, and after the first take, he said, ‘Okay, but don’t go any faster than that.’ When they increased the speed on the last take, his beard flipped up over his eye. He asked about the speed, and it was 125 mph. [To reassure Billy] one of the producers said, ‘Billy, everything I have is in that car — my kids’ education, everything.’ And Billy just said, ‘Okay.’

Top: Rosemary’s Baby (1968) paired Fraker (second from left) with one of his favorite directors, Roman Polanski (at Fraker’s left). Bottom: Fraker snaps a photo of an aquatic friend while filming The Day of the Dolphin (1973).

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Charles Rosher Jr., ASC (1st AC and camera operator on The Adventures of Ozzieand Harriet , operator on The Professionals): Billy started his career on Ozzie and Harriet . He was an assistant cameraman and then an operator. I somehow got on that show working for him as 1st AC, and Billy and I became good friends. He was responsible for many things in my career. He always gave me good advice, and he got me hooked

Heaven Can Wait photos by Peter Sorel, SMPSP.

up as a camera operator and then as a director of photography. We stayed friends over the years. We wouldn’t necessarily see each other, but we’d talk on the phone, especially during football season. We were both USC fans. I think what I’ll miss most about him is chatting with him about the Trojan football team or about the movies we had seen. Every month or two, for 40 years, we’d talk on the phone. We never lost contact with each other. There’s a scene in The Professionals where they blow up the hacienda. [Director] Richard Brooks [was impatient] to start shooting, but Billy and I were building a barricade around our cameras because 100 sticks of dynamite were going to go off, and we didn’t want that timber to go through our bodies. Brooks said we were sissies. When the explosion went off, timber flew all around our barricade, hitting everything around us. Brooks didn’t say a word. He just kept quiet. Billy and Connie [Hall] both grew beards, and they made a bet: whoever cut his beard off first lost the bet. Nobody ever won or lost because neither of them ever cut his beard off!

Top: Filming the afterlife for the acclaimed comedy Heaven Can Wait (1978), a stylish remake of the classic 1941 picture Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Fraker’s cinematography earned him one of the film’s nine Academy Award nominations. Middle: Fraker, a lifelong USC football fan,shows off a good passing motion while planning the movie’s gridiron scenes with Beatty. Bottom: Director Floyd Mutrux and Fraker on the set of American Hot Wax (1978).

Bobby Byrne, ASC (1st AC on The Professionals, Paint Your Wagon and Monte Walsh ; camera operator on A Reflection of Fear and The Day of the Dolphin; 2nd-unit director of photography on The Legend of the Lone Ranger): I met Billy through my brother, a script supervisor. I used to ask Billy for advice. I’d say, ‘Hey, look at this frame. I really like it. Do you?’ And he’d say, ‘No, get the tree out of there.’ And I’d say, ‘But I love it this way,’ and he’d say, ‘Okay, leave it in, but it stinks!’ Early on, he told me, ‘You’ve got an eye. You’re not good yet, but you’ve got an eye.’ We were making The Professionals and shooting on Saturdays. Billy and Conrad [Hall, ASC] were big USC football fans, and every Saturday they’d have the radio on, listening to the game. And every Saturday Richard Brooks would scream, ‘Turn that damn thing off!’ So we decided to play a joke on him. One Saturday, we all wore USC T-shirts under ww.theasc.com w

November 2010

King ofCool

Top left: Fraker earned another Academy Award nomination for the World War II comedy 1941. Here, director Steven Spielberg (checked shirt) peers into the chemical smoke used to fog the set while Fraker mans the camera. Top right: The film’s impressive miniature work also earned Fraker a visual-effects Oscar nomination, which he shared with A.D. Flowers and Greg Jein. Bottom: Actor John Belushichats with Fraker on set.

our coats. When Richard yelled at us, we planned to rip off our coats in unison and expose the T-shirts. But Richard got wind of the joke and refused to say anything about the radio. We were shooting outside Las Vegas. It was cold at night but hot during the day, and we were really starting to sweat in our heavy coats. We kept turning the radio up louder and louder, but Richard never told us to turn off the radio. The joke was on us!

November 2010

Hawk Koch (dialogue coach and producer’s assistant on Rosemary’s Baby, executive producer/1st AD on Heaven Can Wait): I met Billy when he came in to interview for Rosemary’s Baby. I was dialogue coach and assistant to the producer. We became fast friends, as a lot of people did with him. I remember a moment when we were shooting the hallway at the Dakota. Billy had taken a really long time to light the hallway, and it was eerie-looking, [with] a lot of light and shadow. Billy called Roman in and American Cinematographer

showed him what he’d done, and Roman blew up: ‘I don’t like this!’ He basically tore down everything Billy had done. I looked at Billy, and I could see the anger and hurt, but he put his arm around Roman and laughed that Billy Fraker laugh and said, ‘Hey, Roman, you’re the director. What do you want to do, buddy?’ Billy was always there for the director. Later, he told me, ‘Hey, I learned something. Roman has a brilliant mind, and I am a young cameraman.’ We didn’t work together again for 10 years. We met up again on Heaven Can Wait , where I was executive producer and first AD. We were working with Warren Beatty, another control freak! [Laughs.]Warren had asked me what I thought of Billy for the film, and I’d said, ‘Perfect!’ Warren said, ‘Do you think he’ll get upset with me?’ and I said, ‘No, he’ll go along with you.’ [Laughs.] Here’s one of my favorite stories about Billy: I was working with Charlie Lang [ASC], and Billy invited me to a screening of a movie he’d shot with the beautiful Anne Heywood. The movie took place in the snow, and she was wearing a red dress. The next day, I went into work and told Charlie, ‘I saw this

1941 photos by Peter Sorel, SMPSP.

◗

Murphy’s Romance photo by John R. Shannon.

movie shot by Billy Fraker last night, and his work was beautiful.’ Lange grumbled, “Oh, come on, he had a 23-year-old girl in a red dress in the snow! I have Ingrid Bergman at 55 wanting to look like she did at 25. If I can pull that off, that’s great cinematography!’ When I went back to Billy and told him that, he said, ‘He’s right!’

Upper left: Actor Burt Reynolds scribbled a fond note to Fraker on this photo from the set of Sharky’s Machine (1981). Upper right: Fraker and director Martin Ritt watch actors Sally Field and James Garner rehearse a scene for Murphy’s Romance (1985), which earned Fraker another Oscar nomination. Middle: Fraker meters Charlton Heston while shooting the Western Tombstone (1993).Below: Fraker has some fun on the set of The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) with camera operator Brad Shield and costumed extras.

David Walsh, ASC (camera operator on The President’s Analyst , Rosemary’s Baby , Bullitt and Fade-In; director of photography on Monte Walsh): Roman had come out of making films in Europe, which was considerably different from how Hollywood films were made. One of our first days shooting was a handheld shot walking Mia Farrow down the corridor of the apartment. On a woman, especially a star, you typically don’t want to use a wide-angle because it makes her face look bulbous. So we put on a 40mm lens and some diffusion and walked the stand-in up and down. Billy showed Roman, and Roman said, ‘No, no, no, Billy, I don’t want those lenses. I want a very wide-angle lens.’ Billy said, ‘But we’re shooting the star here. Why do you want wide-angle?’ Roman said, ‘Because I want the apartment to be another character in the story. I want it to always be overwhelming Rosemary, to have it even curve, if we can do that, so the walls are enveloping her.’ Billy and I looked at each other, and we were both thinking, ‘That’s really smart. Why didn’t ww.theasc.com w

November 2010

•|•

Polanski on Rosemary’s Baby

peaking to AC recently about his collaboration with Billy Fraker on Rosemary’s Baby (1968), director Roman Polanski recalled that the cinematographer was recommended to him by Robert Evans, then the head of Paramount Pictures, and production designer Richard Sylbert. “Dick knew that Billy was someone to watch,” said Polanski, adding that Fraker “very much enjoyed the freedom Robert Evans gave us.” Polanski recalled that Fraker had just finished a stint at Universal Studios that had been very restrictive, and as a result of that experience, the cinematographer fretted quite a bit at the beginning of the Rosemary’s Baby shoot. Polanski said he teased Fraker about his white hair, telling him, “Don’t worry.” The director said he, Sylbert and Fraker “shaped” the look of Rosemary’s Baby very informally. “Billy liked Dick very much, and we worked together as a team,” said Polanski. “We would talk over lunch in the cafeteria, or in a restaurant across the street from the Paramount lot. We did not have conferences or meetings; at the time, such things were not required. Now, most movies are done by committee, and the studios want to know about every detail. They want to have meetings and more meetings. In those days, it wasn’t like that. It was more spontaneous.” Most of the action in the film is set in the apartment Rosemary shares with her husband, and most of the picture was shot on a soundstage.

November 2010

•|•

Polanski said he and his collaborators “asked ourselves, ‘What kind of atmosphere can we create?’ We were trying to have a different atmosphere in every room in the apartment, so when you went from room to room, there would be a different light.” Fraker was always happy to discuss his collaboration with Polanski, a director he held in the highest esteem, and he especially admired the filmmaker’s penchant for withholding information from the audience. Polanski recalled that one of the objectives on Rosemary’s Baby was to create “depth, not just a flat field” via composition and camera placement. He explained, “If you use composition in such a way that things are hidden from your camera, you can discover something that was hidden when you move sideways, particularly if you use wider lenses, where you come close to the object in the foreground. That was the sort of thing that I was trying to do on Rosemary’s Baby, more so than on my previous films. Since then I have learned a lot, but these things were relatively new for me then.” Describing Rosemary’s Baby as “a good suspense movie,” Polanski mused that “it was a very interesting time in Hollywood.” Of Fraker, he observed, “Billy was always in a good mood. He had a very good disposition. I’ve worked with many directors of photography, and they are all so different, but I remember Billy as the gentlest.” — Benjamin B

American Cinematographer

◗ King ofCool we think of that?’ A lot of cameramen probably would have argued with Roman, but Billy always said, ‘The director comes first,’ and he’d do whatever he could to give the director what he wanted. Roman and Billy were just peas in a pod. They both had such dynamic energy. Working with them was one of the great experiences of my life. Billy was one of the nicest people I ever met. He always tried to help others. His crew loved him; I think they all would have died for him. He never got into arguments, and I don’t remember him ever losing his temper. We all revered him. Harry Winer (director, SpaceCamp): Billy was my mentor and my beloved friend.I was in Arthur Knight’s class at USC, and Billy came in to speak. He had just done Rosemary’s Baby, and he told us a story about the scouting. Billy and Polanski were arguing about the placement of a cyc. Polanski kept saying it was perfect, and Billy said no. Then Billy went back, crouched down and saw that it was correct — from Roman’s perspective! Billy created a reputation for enhancing the work of first-time directors. He never lost his cool; he was able to guide me tenaciously and joyfully through the process. That twinkle was always in his eye. Generations have benefitted from Billy’s largesse and talents. Steven Spielberg (director, 1941): I’d come to the set of 1941 every day in a miserable mood, and the first person who would greet me was Billy. All it took was for him to flash that smile, which was like lighting a Saturn Arc, and I’d be good for the rest of the day. I think1941 was the biggest production Billy ever encountered in his career in terms of scale and visual opportunity. Most productions like that would employ a second unit replete with additional cinematographers, but Billy photographed everything on 1941, including almost 50 first-unit production

:KDW ZLOO WKH 6XQGDQFH )LOP )HVWLYDO EULQJ" 'RQ W PLVV \RXU FKDQFH WR ILQG RXW *R WR VXQGDQFH RUJ WLFNHWV WR UHJLVWHU IRU )HVWLYDO 3DVVHV DQG 7LFNHW 3DFNDJHV

3DUN &LW\ 8WDK -DQXDU\

◗

King ofCool

Top left: A 1976 gathering of great cinematographers in Malibu, Calif. Standing (from left): Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC; Billy Williams, BSC; John Alonzo, ASC; Laszlo Kovacs, ASC; and Owen Roizman, ASC. Kneeling: Conrad Hall, ASC and Fraker. Top right: Academy President Robert Wise presents Fraker with his Oscar nomination for Murphy’s Romance. Middle: Stanley Cortez, ASC greets Fraker and his wife, Denise, while hosting the Society’s Annual Gala in 1992. Bottom: A lineup of ASC presidents includes (from left) Roizman, Ralph Woolsey, Fraker, Victor J. Kemper and Woody Omens.

including almost 50 first-unit production days of miniatures. To this day, I still can’t figure out how he hid all the wires we used to fly the airplanes and guide the Ferris wheel down the pier. Today you would just erase them digitally, but Billy had to use all of his artistry and craft to erase them the old-fashioned way. Warren Beatty (producer/director/screenwriter/actor on Heaven Can Wait, star of Town and Country ): I met Billy through Connie Hall; Billy was Connie’s operator, and he was utterly unpretentious. As a cinematographer, Billy was right up there. He knew how to light, and he was good on the set. Bullitt and Rosemary’s Baby were both terrific movies, beautifully photographed. I always felt that Billy had a strong romantic streak, and he had a great flexibility. I hired him to shoot Heaven Can Wait because I felt he could put up with me! We had to shoot the football sequences at halftime of a real NFL game; I think we had 20 minutes. To 76

November 2010

American Cinematographer

SUPPORT FILM AND FILMMAKERS As our gift to you, free tickets are available to all festival movies. Reserved seating can be secured by becoming a patron of the festival and purchasing an AFI FEST Patron Package. As a patron, you help make this free festival possible and support the art of ďŹ lm. AFI members have access to pre-sale windows for both free tickets and patron packages. Become a member of AFI today. For more information, go to AFI.com/AFIFEST.

◗

King ofCool

In a photo taken by John Schwartzman, ASC, the original crew of The Professionals is reunited during a social night at the ASC Clubhouse. From left are Bobby Byrne, ASC; Fraker; Conrad L. Hall, ASC; and Charles Rosher, Jr., ASC.

had no idea what was going on when two teams came out wearing different uniforms. I thought I would probably goof things up as the quarterback, so I got a guy who played Canadian football and had him standing by to double for me. I said to him, ‘I’m gonna run one play, maybe two plays, and then you’ll take it over for the rest.’ I think we had about 25 plays to run. The first play

But they had stop dates with two other people, and if they’d had to make new deals with them, it would have cost them a lot of money. So that movie was made in an unplanned atmosphere. Neither Billy nor I was directing it, so we just showed up and did what we were asked to do. It was still fun, though, because he and I always had a great time working together. Peter Chelsom (director, Town and Country ): I made three films with Billy Fraker, and they were all called Town and Country. [Laughs.] It was the worked, so I thought, ‘Well, good, okay, only film I’ve done where we had to I’ll do the second play.’ That one worked persuade the stand-ins to come out of too — out of nowhere I was suddenly their trailers! My favorite call sheet said able to do these things! I stayed in for ‘Day 132 of 60,’ and I’m not kidding. the whole time, and Billy thought it was When I was 13, my father took us hilarious. We had a good time on that to see Bullitt. When we came out, he entire movie. said, ‘Superb photography.’ That was the On Town and Country , the moment when I became aware of picture started out with inter-studio photography in movies. memos that said, ‘The script isn’t ready.’ There are two types of people in

life: those driven by love, and those driven by fear. It was all about love with Billy. Owen Roizman, ASC: Billy and I never worked together, and we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see each other a lot, but we were friends for a long time, since the mid-1960s. It was one of those chemistry things â&#x20AC;&#x201D; there was just a bond. We were connected through some of the movies we made. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d both done famous car chases, his in Bullitt and mine in The French Connection . When I did Wyatt Earp, he shot Tombstone. He shot a sequel to The Exorcist, and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d shot the original. We had absolute respect for one another. He was romantic about the business and the movies heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d done. He always saw the humor in things. He had an enthusiasm about everything.He also had the gift of making each person feel special. When I saw him at the Clubhouse, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d walk in and say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I love you,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I love you more.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He

.LQR)OR

just had a special quality, a charm. He really was the personification of a cinematographer and a poster boy for the ASC. Woody Omens, ASC: It took me 12 years to convince Billy to come teach at USC. He belonged in that classroom; he was a natural as a teacher. Students were madly in love with him, and he was madly in love with them. His work will live on in his films, but, more importantly, it will also live on in his students. Billy was a humanist; he treated everybody alike. He had what I like to call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;complex generosity.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; He gave back to the ASC, to USC, to the industry, to fellow filmmakers. He was a giver. And he ran a set like nobody else. He knew that you got more done with sweetness and charm and kindness and motivation and cheerleading than being a dictator. His crews loved him. â&#x2014;?

Fraker addresses the ASC membership during a 1980 dinner meeting at the Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Clubhouse in Hollywood.

$ /D &DUWH

ÂŽ

ZZZ NLQRIOR FRP 1RUWK +ROO\ZRRG :D\ %XUEDQN &$ 86$ YRLFH 79

Kodak honors this year’s Emmy-nominated cinematographers. •|•

On Aug. 28, Kodak hosted its annual dinner honoring cinematographers nominated for Emmy Awards. Front row, left to right: Vanja Cernjul; Michael Slovis; Steven Silver; Kramer Morgenthau, ASC. Back row, left to right: Kodak’s Kim Snyder; Michael Trim; Buddy Squires; Christian Sebaldt, ASC; Gary Baum; Matthew Clark; Kodak’s Bruce Berke.

ontinuing a beloved tradition, Eastman Kodak gathered this year’s Emmy-nominated cinematographers for the company’s 29th annual “Salute to Cinematography” dinner, held on Saturday, Aug. 28 at the Bistro Garden in Studio City. Several ASC members were among the nominees being feted, and a spirit of camaraderie prevailed. Surprise and humility were common reactions among the nominees at both the dinner and the Emmy ceremony held the following day. A month after the events, Michael Trim, who took home the award in the Half-Hour Series category for his work on Weeds, told AC, “When I heard my name announced as the winner, I had two initial emotional responses: pride and panic — pride, because a show I had shot and directed was being singled out for an award over so many other well-shot shows, [and] panic, because I didn’t think I’d win and hadn’t prepared anything to say. I feel very lucky to work on a series that allows me to light so dramatically; each season we have made a concerted effort to be darker than the season before, especially since the show is truly a dark comedy. I wanted to thank so many people who had given me a chance and who helped make the show look good, like DIT Ethan Phillips, gaffer Jeff Butters and key grip John Warner. But with only 45 seconds to speak, I thanked by name my wife, Sally; our kids, Emma and Ned; and our dog, Fred. Everyone else was ‘cast, crew and writers!’” Similarly, Christian Sebaldt, ASC, who earned the One-Hour Series award for CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, recalls, “I had absolutely no expectations of winning this award. My fellow nominees’ work is astounding, incredibly beautiful, and for hot new shows everybody talks about; CSI

November 2010

has been around for a while. The [Emmy] show moves fast from one category to the next, and suddenly they mentioned CSI and my name. I walked as quickly as I could up to the stage, and in a daze I gave my little speech, which I have no memory of. When I walked off the stage, I started shaking because I was so surprised! I share this award with the extraordinary crew and everybody else who works on the show, because obviously I didn’t accomplish this all by myself. It was a humbling experience, an amazing honor, and a fabulous day that I will never, ever forget.” “To win against such amazing competition is still quite perplexing to me,” says Ben Smithard, who won in the Miniseries or Movie category for Return to Cranford. “I didn’t attend the Emmys because I was sure I was going to come in fifth out of five! The morning after the awards I didn’t even check my phone. Eventually I picked it up to check on some football results, and I had numerous e-mails from around the world announcing that I had won. I set out to photograph Cranford in a very traditional, old-school way, with classical lighting and carefully considered composition — much like Doctor Zhivago or similar films — and it’s fantastic that this kind of filmmaking can still be recognized. I would like to thank everyone who voted for it; you made me a very, very happy cameraman!” Emmys were also presented in the Nonfiction Programming category to the cinematography team behind Life, and in the Reality Programming field to Survivor’s cinematography team. — Jon D. Witmer

American Cinematographer

Photos courtesy of Kodak.

PrimetimeArtistry

Following is a complete list of Emmy nominees (*denotes winner):

Outstanding Cinematography, Half-Hour Series Gary Baum Gary Unmarried, “Gary Shoots Fish In A Barrel” (CBS) Uta Briesewitz Hung, “Pilot” (HBO) Vanja Cernjul Nurse Jackie, “Apple Bong” (Showtime)

Outstanding Cinematography, Miniseries or Movie Remi Adefarasin, BSC The Pacific, “Part 5” (HBO) Eigil Bryld You Don’t Know Jack (HBO) Florian Hoffmeister The Prisoner, “Checkmate” (AMC)

Matthew Clark 30 Rock, “Season Four” (NBC)

Ben Smithard* Return to Cranford, “Part 2” (PBS)

Steven V. Silver Two And A Half Men, “Crude and Uncalled For” (CBS)

Stephen F. Windon, ACS The Pacific, “Part 9” (HBO)

Cernjul, Clark, Trim and Sebaldt congratulate one another on their accomplishments.

Outstanding Cinematography, Reality Programming Cinematography Team* Survivor, “Slay Everyone, Trust No One” (CBS)

Cinematography Team Deadliest Catch, “No Second Chances” (Discovery Channel)

Tom Cunningham (director of photography), Sylvestre Campe (camera), Petr Cikhart (camera), Peter Rieveschl (camera), Richard Forman (camera) The Amazing Race, “I Think We’re Fighting the Germans, Right?” (CBS)

Christopher Manley, ASC Mad Men, “Shut the Door. Have a Seat.” (AMC)

Cinematography Team* Life, “Challenges of Life” (Discovery Channel)

Gus Dominguez Top Chef Masters, “Masters Get Schooled” (Bravo)

Kramer Morgenthau, ASC FlashForward, “No More Good Days” (ABC)

Cinematography Team Whale Wars, “The Stuff of Nightmares” (Animal Planet)

Ousama Rawi, BSC, CSC The Tudors, “Episode 410” (Showtime)

Dirk Nel America: The Story Of Us, “Division” (History)

Douglas Glover (director of photography), Troy Paff (camera operator), Carston Bell (camera operator) Dirty Jobs, “High Rise Window Washer” (Discovery Channel)

Christian Sebaldt, ASC* CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, “Family Affair” (CBS)

Buddy Squires The National Parks: America’s Best Idea, “The Scripture of Nature” (PBS)

Michael Trim* Weeds, “A Modest Proposal” (Showtime)

Outstanding Cinematography, One-Hour Series

Outstanding Cinematography, Nonfiction Programming

Michael Slovis Breaking Bad, “No Mas” (AMC)

www.theasc.com

Simon Reay Man Vs. Wild, “Big Sky Country” (Discovery Channel) Tim Spellman Top Chef, “Vivre Las Vegas” (Bravo)

●

November 2010

Post Focus Directed by Tim Cox and shot by Mateo Londono, Miss Nobody follows an ambitious office worker (Leslie Bibb) who murders her way up the corporate ladder. The feature was one of the first projects to take advantage of New Hat’s DI theater.

New Hat Finishes Miss Nobody By Simon Wakelin

tives. “We wanted the film to feel like a fairy tale,” says Londono. “We were inspired by a couple of films by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, where even close-ups were shot on a very wide-angle lens. Santa Monica-based post facility New Hat recently added to We also loved the precise, exact and methodical ‘camera’ moveits impressive digital capabilities with the construction of a feature DI ments in The Incredibles.” theater, a move designed to tap into the burgeoning independent Londono also supported the film’s fantastical atmosphere film market. with lighting, using mostly soft, single sources placed to create high Offering totally digital, nonlinear color grading on commercontrast, which in turn emphasized the comedy’s dark edge. Night cial, music video and short-form projects, New Hat can transfer jobs sources — primarily soft-source balloons — were balanced with in digital or film format to standard definition, high definition, 2K or plenty of negative fill. 4K throughout any stage of post. “We built this whole facility Londono chose three Fuji Eterna stocks for the production: around the concept of nonlinear digital,” explains New Hat colorist 250T 8553, 250D 8563 and 500T 8573. “I feel Fuji offers enormous Michael Mintz. “We work with all the digital workflows. [For examlatitude and is very forgiving,” says Londono. “Our main camera ple,] we can take a client’s drive, ingest it and look at the raw files. was an Arricam Studio, our Steadicam was a Moviecam Compact, Everything is as pure as possible; we don’t want to convert anything and we used an Arriflex 435 Xtreme for second-unit/high-speed that degrades the image.” work.” The DI suite joins three existing color bays and showcases a To complete Londono and Cox’s vision for the film, Mintz was Barco DP-1200 projector, a 14' Stewart Filmscreen screen, a FilmLight booked for 80 hours in the DI suite. “They did an amazing job creatBaselight Four color corrector and Blue Sky 5.1 audio system. The ing a fantasy black-comedy look [on set],” Mintz says of the footage. setup is designed for filmmakers to tweak their images with exten“Even though the story occurs in common places, the characters sive flexibility. Two Spirit 4Ks also offer high-speed native resolution inhabit a fairy-tale world.” at 4K plus native 2K scanning in real time. However, Miss Nobody arrived at New Hat with one major Miss N obody , directed by Tim Cox and shot by Mateo caveat: the images had been telecined at another facility via 2K Spirit Londono, was N ew Hat’s second independent project in the new to 10 bit 4:2:2 HDCam-SR. “Due to budgetary constraints,our theater. The film is a dark satire of corporate culture that follows the source became the dailies,” says Mintz. Surprisingly, though, Mintz story of a young office worker (played by Leslie Bibb, who also found room to explore within the format’s limitations. The colorist produced the film)with a penchant for murdering her way up the explains, “Because of the wide exposure range of the Fuji stock, I corporate ladder. ended up having a lot of flexibility. I actually had a lot of information To support the darkly comedic tone of the piece, Londono compared to other digital formats with limited latitude. Even downopted to shoot with wide Cooke S4 primes, favoring the 27mm (for rezzed, film has enough gamma to stretch it out. There was deficlose-ups), 25mm, 20mm and 14mm, to create unusual perspecnitely room to play.” 82

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Michael Mintz photo by Tim Cox. Photo and Frame grabs courtesy of New Hat.

Working with a Baselight color-grading system, New Hat colorist Michael Mintz (above) helped Londono finesse the film’s look, which was inspired by films like Amélie and The Incredibles.

Mintz put the dailies through N ew Hat’s Baselight color-grading system, which simplifies the creation of complex grades and effects. “It’s a software-based system with a robust toolset that allows a variety of creative options,” he explains. “It’s the perfect tool to add color, tone and texture. We spent the first few days finding key shots to dial-in a stylized look, then went from there.” First, Mintz examined the film’s palette through different set pieces. For example, footage in Sarah Jane’s home revealed reds and greens. “It was easy to fine-tune her home life because it was artdirected so well,” says Mintz. Conversely, the footage set within the corporate office received less production design, and those scenes required a bit more work during the digital grade. “We were unable to paint all the walls the color we needed to,” explains Londono. “We decided to use the DI to key the skin tones towards yellow, then push everything else towards cyan.” Mintz’s challenge was to finely tune the color balance so it would echo the story’s dark tone without going overboard. “It’s really easy to time anything cold, but the real issue was keeping skin tones from

appearing dead,” explains Mintz. “That took me a while, but we had enough exposure to bring the actors back up to a warmer level. It took some keying and a lot of secondaries, but now it looks as if the film was deliberately lit that way on set.” Baselight’s ability to create and track freehand mattes — as opposed to limiting mattes to geometric shapes — impressed Londono during the process. “The customshaped mattes and tracking from the Baselight were extremely helpful,” he says. Mintz concurs, noting, “If Mateo couldn’t fill a frame with more light, I would dodge and burn areas to create exactly what he had intended. We created a comic-book look to match the mood of the film, and various tools, like multiple mattes, really helped shape the frame.” Cox, Londono and Mintz are thrilled with the look of Miss N obody , and the finished product is viewed as a success across the board. As Mintz explains, “We worked within the limitations of the budget but still made something stylized.” Mintz feels Miss N obody is the perfect example of how a good post house can successfully emphasize the look of a film, especially for independent films that ww.theasc.com w

may lack resources during production. “Not every movie has the budget to foster the right look in-camera,” he says. “Sure, if you have limitless resources for lighting and production design, you can create a stylish look in-camera. But the reality of independents like Miss N obody is that they have limited budgets, and therefore digital grading and working in conjunction with a colorist is an incredibly powerful resource that gives cinematographers the opportunity to fill the gap between budget and vision.” “I feel more than ever the role of the colorist is enormously important,” adds Londono. “The colorist can be one of the most important collaborators and contributors in creating your look. They really have the integrity of the look in their hands.” Stressing the need for mutual respect between production and post, Mintz says, “What makes a great cinematographer is the ability to create something visually beautiful through limited means. What makes a great colorist is being able to accentuate that look and create something more.” Both parties look forward to collaborating on future projects. “I really enjoyed working at New Hat,” concludes Londono, November 2010

Left: New York-based Mega Playground has expanded beyond its primary facility into an annex at 96 Morton Street. Above: Mark Androw (left) and Cliff Grant have launched The Whole Story to guide projects from prep through post.

“not only because they have the latest technology, but also because their friendly environment and the support they offer to filmmakers is truly brilliant.” Facility News Mega Playground Expands Mega Playground has acquired a 14,000-square-foot floor at 96 Morton Street in New York City, one block from the company’s primary 30,000-square-foot, multi-floor facility at 609 Greenwich Street. The company also maintains a busy midtown editing satellite and high-end screening room in the famed Brill Building at Broadway and 49th Street. “The opportunity to enhance our footprint in this neighborhood presented itself at an excellent time,” says Playground Principal Eitan Hakami. “We recently carved an audio postproduction suite out of our existing Greenwich Street space, and an additional expansion of our audio services is already on the drawing boards. Our new floor at 96 Morton Street is already at 100percent capacity with a number of production clients.” Playground Operations Manager Cristina Esteras Ortiz adds, “We’ve made every effort to present clients with a onestop shop for all of their production needs. Whether it’s our proprietary DP Dailies service, Avid/FCP rentals, HD finishing or Red services, we’ve tried to anticipate all their needs.” “We’ve also developed a free service we’ve labeled ‘Think Tank Consultation,’” says Hakami. “Our technical and creative 84

November 2010

staff excels in helping clients think through the constantly changing menu of technical options. The service is a perk for our inhouse clients and a great opportunity for us to stretch our own legs. “We’ve progressed so far beyond the traditional landlord/tenant role that many clients consider us valuable assets with a vested and genuine interest in the success of their shows,” Hakami adds. For additional information, visit www.mega-playground.com. The Whole Story Offers Complete Services Mark Androw and Cliff Grant, partners in the commercial-production company Story, have formed The Whole Story. Based in Chicago’s River N orth district, with production offices in Santa Monica and New York, the new company offers complete production, post and digital services for commercials and new media. Androw and Grant serve as executive producers with both Story and The Whole Story; the companies also share the same roster of commercial directors, including Rebecca Blake, Bob Ebel, Jeff France, Blair Hayes, John Komnenich, David Orr, Toby Phillips, Andy Richter, Laurie Rubin, Basil Schlegel, George Tillman Jr. and Ondi Timoner. Additionally, The Whole Story has assembled a group of independent editors, visual-effects artists and Web designers from Chicago and Los Angeles in order to provide turnkey solutions for commercials, new media and all things digital. “Our clients have been increasingly asking us to follow projects all the way American Cinematographer

through the process,” says Androw. “Through The Whole Story, we coordinate all aspects of a project from start to finish and pass along the cost efficiencies to our clients.” For additional information, visit www.thewholestory.tv. Hinge Digital Opens in Oregon Answering the demand for customized, high-quality CG services, Hinge Digital has opened its doors as a fullservice 3-D animation and visual-effects studio. Founded by Roland Gauthier, Michael Kuehn and Alex Tysowsky, Hinge Digital offers over four decades of combined experience in photo-real CG and character animation at such studios as Walt Disney Feature Animation, Sony Imageworks and Laika Entertainment. Based in Portland, Ore., Hinge Digital has operated under strategic development since 2009. During this time, the company has produced commercial campaigns and interactive projects for clients and advertising agencies including Target, Nike, Microsoft Bing, AKQA/SF and Razorfish Inc. Extending its presence throughout the entertainment industry, Hinge Digital also specializes in the development of film and television properties based on original content from graphic novel and creaturefeature genres. For additional information, visit www.hingedigital.com. ●

Tricks of the Trade

Sebaldt Explains Coved Bounce By Douglas Bankston

Even with all the high-tech lighting gear available, sometimes the most effective tool is the most rudimentary. Christian Sebaldt, ASC has a perfect example: the coved bounce. He pulls this from his lighting kit whenever actresses need a soft frontal fill light emanating from camera side. It’s quick and simple: Take some reflective or heavy diffusion material, such as white Ultra Bounce, about 6' or more wide, depending on the area you want to fill, and attach one lightweight rod (PVC, dowel, etc.) at each end. Attach one rod to the ceiling above camera so that the material hangs. Tie the other end to the ceiling with cord so that the material forms a cove — in essence, a free-floating cyc. (You can also hang it from a couple of C-stands if you’re in a location with a lot of restrictions.) Aim a Source Four Ellipsoidal fixture into the cove and spot it down so that the light doesn’t spill off the material. Spill can happen, particularly if you have to mount the Source Four farther away than you’d like because of logistics; if it does, just pinhole it with black wrap. Voilà! You’ll have instant, soft fill light — and better yet, it’s controllable. Because the length of cord is adjustable, the bottom of the cove can be raised or lowered, in effect opening up or closing down the face of the cove to fill as much as you need. “When we’re shooting one of our actresses with a wide lens in a tiny set where a big, soft source positioned on the ground would be in the shot, this soft, coved light is the best thing I can think of,” says Sebaldt. “It’s above the camera, I can make it as wide as the set allows, and having it coved allows me to create a soft, frontal bounce without illuminating the foreground, so if we’re shooting over another actor’s shoulder, he won’t be illuminated. It’s a very fast tool 86

November 2010

that is easy to use and very efficient for us on our show, and it helps me make our ladies look as beautiful as they are.” Sebaldt has been using this technique for years, and when he joined CSI: Crime Scene Investigation , in 2008, he introduced it to the show’s crew. Since then, he says, gaffer Jon Haney and key grip Bob Fischer have “evolved” the simple trick. “The fabulousCSI lighting and grip team taught me that bouncing light off white Duvatyn produces a gorgeous, sourceless but directional light,” says Sebaldt. “We also light through white Duvatyn from behind, which is super soft. That’s another great trick they taught me.” Fairburn Aligns 3-D Rig By Douglas Bankston Cinematographer-stereographer Sean Fairburn has plunged headfirst into the current wave of digital 3-D filmmaking. That’s no surprise for the new-technology proponent, who has been a go-to source in the fields of high definition and digital imaging for quite some time. Lately, he has been working on a nonstop schedule of 3-D productions, from shooting live mixed-martial-arts events and commercials (most recently for Volkswagen) to prepping an upcoming feature, War Zone. The most important thing when shooting in 3-D, says Fairburn, is to understand what cannot be fixed in post — especially for live broadcast. “You cannot adjust the interaxial distance between the two lenses after the shot,” he says. “Therefore, you can’t adjust any relationship between the two cameras after the shot. Altitude, pitch and related issues by any other name cannot be corrected if not done so right at the rig on set.” The trick, Fairburn says, is to tune the 3-D rig so that each camera sees the same image from the same angle. His experience aligning cameras on rigs led Fairburn, in collaboration with DSC

American Cinematographer

Coved-bounce photo courtesy of Christian Sebaldt, ASC. Sebaldt photo by James Thompson. Calibration-chart photo courtesy of Sean Fairburn.

When constrained by a small set and a wide lens, Christian Sebaldt, ASC (far right) turns to his tried-andtrue coved bounce to create a soft frontal fill with a minimal footprint.

New longer: 8,26 m / 22 ft lighter: 79 kg / 174 lbs faster: 1,5 m/s / 5 ft/s camera max.: 13 kg / 30lbs

buy at:

www.technocrane.com starting from 78.000 €

Cinematographer Sean Fairburn’s son, Caleb, holds the DSC Labs Fairburn 3D Calibration Chart, designed for aligning 3-D camera rigs.

Labs, to design a no-holds-barred calibration chart — a 2'-wide color/grayscale/sharpness/alignment reference — sensibly dubbed the DSC Labs Fairburn 3D Calibration Chart. Taking a little time during the rigors of production for precise rig setup will ensure that camera alignment will not be among the headaches encountered in post. For beamsplitter rigs, start with a zero (0) interaxial. Take the reflector off a Mini Maglite to expose the bare bulb and position it right in front of the beamsplitter. Fairburn notes that a Streamlight with flexible LED will work, too. This point of light is considered Point #1. Enter the 3D Calibration Chart. The chart should not fill the frame. Rather, center it about 6' from the camera rig, or at least two times beyond the minimum focus distance. This is Point #2. Then adjust the chart within the camera framing so that the farthest object you can see with the lens is visible in the shot. (Don’t let the chart block it.) This is Point #3. “Now, as you align the rig to get to a zero baseline,” says Fairburn, “work to get Points #1, #2, #3 to all become exactly overlaid, as though you had only one single image. You should be no more than three pixels off anywhere in the image.” The image is best viewed and calibrated with a difference or subtractive output from a MUX Box (a multiplexer) to a large or pixel-to-pixel monitor. Fairburn recommends re-calibrating after every big move on set or change in location and each time the rig comes off the dolly. And, he adds, don’t forget to make sure that the cameras are synced or Genlocked. ●

New Products & Services Sony Presents HDCam-SR’s Next Generation Sony Electronics recently introduced the SRW-9000PL HDCam-SR camcorder. The official unveiling took place at Sony Studios in Culver City and featured a distinguished panel of professionals who had tested the camcorder and spoke to its capabilities, including ASC President Michael Goi; Curtis Clark, ASC; Francis Kenny, ASC; and Dhanendra Patel, Sony’s senior project manager for the CineAlta line. The camcorder uses the identical Super 35mm CCD sensor found in Sony’s highend F35 camera, offering superb image quality, sensitivity, signal-tonoise and dynamic range, as well as full RGB ramping from 1 to 50 fps. The SRW9000PL also combines the SR format’s visually lossless image quality and the performance of the F35 into a versatile one-piece camcorder, eliminating the need for external recording devices. “The SRW-9000PL’s chassis is an evolution of the film-style ergonomics Sony designed for the F23/F35,” says Peter Crithary, production marketing manager for Sony Electronics. “For camera operators used to working with film, the SRW-9000PL makes it easy to adapt. The SRW-9000PL’s rugged one-piece body with integrated HDCam-SR recording offers incredible operational mobility in demanding production environments. It’s all the power of the F35 in an affordable camcorder without the dependency on external recorders required by competitive models in this class.” Designed for television, commercial, documentary and motion-picture production, the SRW-9000PL is ideal for use as a 2ndunit complement to the F35, and the $72,500 price tag makes it attractive to owner/operators. The PL-mount camcorder offers shooters a wide range of image-creation options; for example, S-Log and S-Gamut wide-color-space gamma functions allow users to tailor their images during postproduction in the same way they would in a film-originated workflow.The camcorder also offers full-bandwidth, visually lossless RGB 4:4:4 HD digital-image capturing; programmable bi-directional ramping; multi-format image capturing; wide color space (S-Gamut); more than 12 stops of dynamic range; 14-bit analog-to-digital converter; and exposure index ratings of 640 to 1,000. Sony also plans to offer a future upgrade to SR memory for the camcorder, giving users the option of hybrid or integrated solidstate memory recording, with either option still providing native 88

November 2010

• SUBMISSION INFORMATION • Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to: newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact information and product images. Photos must be TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.

access to the HDCam-SR codec. “The SR format is a highly proven technology that is firmly entrenched in the production industry,” says Crithary. “Even productions that have been using file-based solutions on set are increasingly coming back to SR due to cost and efficient turnaround times for dailies.” A range of option cards are available for additional performance and features, including the HKSR-9001 HD-SDI expansion board, which adds dual-link HD-SDI outputs and an extra HD-SDI audio input for connectivity to an external audio multiplexing device for up to 12 channels of audio; the HKSR-9001 also provides 3G HD-SDI output capability. The HKSR-9002 picture cache board enables the camcorder to capture and record images with variable speed from 1 to 50 fps; the camcorder can also continuously record up to three seconds of video while the camcorder is in standby mode. The HKSR-9003 processing board offers full-bandwidth RGB digital 4:4:4 capture. For additional information, visit www.sony.com/cinealta. ABC Products Moves DSLRs ABC Products, a MovieTech AG brand, has introduced the DSLR Light-Jib, a lightweight, compact jib arm designed for shooting with DSLR cameras. Like all ABC Products equipment, the DSLR Light-Jib is designed for quick and easy use. Constructed with carbon tubes, the jib weighs only 8.6 pounds and packs down to a small, easyto-transport size. The jib can be set up in less than a minute, and a QuickPin system allows for a rapid change of location and camera angle. The versatile DSLR Light-Jib offers a payload capacity of 9.9 pounds and a boom length of nearly 5'. The jib allows for automatic tilt and precise adjustment of the tilt-head angle via a continuously changeable parallelogram bar, and a swivel system enables the jib to glide, avoiding any unwanted swinging when it is stopped. Other features include a built-in water level and horizontal and vertical quick-release built-in brakes. For additional information, visit www.abc-products.de.

American Cinematographer

Sachtler Unveils DSLR Fluid Head Sachtler, a Vitec Group brand, has introduced the Cine DSLR fluid head, specially designed for DSLR filmmakers. The Cine DSLR features a tilt range of +90 degrees to -75 degrees, a payload range of 2 to 11 pounds, a counterbalance in 10 steps and three vertical and horizontal grades of drag based on Sachtler’s patented damping system. Barbara Jaumann, product manager for Sachtler, notes, “If a videoenabled DSLR is being used for filming, precise panning and tilting are only possible with fluid heads equipped with a corresponding tilt range, and it also requires well-engineered damping.” The fluid head also comes with a special camera plate with a long sliding range and an anti-twist retainer. The lightweight, compact, easy-totransport Cine DSLR has a robust metal housing that protects it from exterior influences. Thanks to Sachtler’s lubricated oil damping, shooting is possible in extreme temperature ranges. Additionally, Sachtler’s Speedbalance technology enables a fast and target-oriented counterbalance. Other features include a self-illuminating Touch Bubble. For additional information, visit www.sachtler.com. Camera Duck Braves Elements International Supplies has introduced the all-weather Camera Duck, which allows photographers and videographers to protect their cameras from harsh weather conditions. The Camera Duck is essentially a cover that fits around the camera, with openings on both ends, allowing it to fit

snugly around the lens while leaving room at the back so users can continue shooting regardless of the weather conditions. The Camera Duck is made with waterproof ripstop nylon capable of protecting cameras from rain, snow, sand, sun, salt spray and other adverse environmental elements. Designed to maintain a constant camera temperature, the Camera Duck combats condensation and fogging on the lens. Built-in pockets on the inside of the Camera Duck can hold up to four air-activated heat packs, similar to those used to keep hands and feet warm in extremely cold weather; these non-toxic, odorless, disposable heat packs provide up to 24 hours of gentle heat, keeping the camera warm even in below-freezing temperatures. “The low-temperature specification on almost all cameras is 32°F, which means cameras fail at or below that temperature,” says Loren Alan, inventor of the Camera Duck. “Camera batteries dramatically lose power in cold temperatures. But when using the heat packs, the Camera Duck protection system surrounds your camera with constant warmth, keeping the camera well above the camera manufacturer’s minimum temperature specifications, at least 20 to 30 degrees warmer than the outside temperature, and ensuring continued optimum performance. When users are no longer shooting, they can use the drawstring cord lock to keep in the warmth.” Camera Ducks are available in a variety of modes. For photographers, there is the standard Camera Duck, which can be used with SLRs and camcorders, and users can also apply a number of different layers to better suit whatever weather conditions they might encounter. The Downpour Cordura Camera Duck, an outer shell that can be used over the standard Duck, is ideal for heavy rain and cold down to about -10°F. Additionally, the Polar consists of three layers of protection: a nylon inner shell 90

November 2010

(the standard Camera Duck), a Thinsulate insulated cover and a Cordura outer shell; the Polar can be used in -30°F temperatures. For videographers, a VEX Broadcast model is specifically designed for Sony’s line of EX video cameras. Unlike the other models, it features five internal pockets to strategically place heat packets for maximum effect. The VEX Broadcast also provides a Polar version, similar to the SLR layered protection system. The standard Camera Duck weighs only 1.5 ounces; the Polar Thinsulate insulated cover weighs only 4.5 ounces. All Camera Ducks and their additional layers can be folded to conveniently fit into small compartments in backpacks or camera bags. For additional information, visit www.internationalsupplies.com. Tiffen Expands Line The Tiffen Company has added two diffusion filters to its award-winning optical filter line: Soft/FX Black Pro-Mist and Black Glimmer Diffusion/FX. The Soft/FX Black Pro-Mist is a combination of the existing Soft/FX filter and Black Pro-Mist filter. The Soft/FX 1⁄2 is maintained throughout with a range of Black Pro-Mist densities, adding an ethereal mood to images. The filter provides a wide range of diffusion while toning down excessive sharpness and creating a soft pastel effect. Additionally, this filter combination reveals more shadow detail and produces a dreamy glow to subjects with enhanced but controlled halation. The Black Glimmer Diffusion/FX is a unique filter that cannot be reproduced by any combination of diffusion filters. Using the same advanced diffusion filter technology as the Digital Diffusion/FX, this filter is ideal for high-definition cameras and produces enhanced beauty while maintaining the richness of colors and blacks. The filter maintains sharpness and softens detail in a unique manner, brightens all skin tones and adds a mild glow and silky transition to highlights. These filters are available in 4"x4" and 4"x5.650", with additional motionpicture sizes available upon request. For more information, visit www.tiffen.com.

American Cinematographer

Film School in a Box Filmmaker in a Box is a 10-DVD set offering a comprehensive look behind the scenes of an independent micro-budget feature from prep through post. Built around the independent feature 2 Million

Stupid Women , directed by Jamie N eese, Filmmaker in a Box provides more than 17 hours of intensive, candid interviews and much more. The DVD set is divided into Preproduction, Production and Postproduction sections, which are subdivided into 108 individual modules. Within those sections are detailed segments on subjects such as scripting, financing, casting, contracts, shooting schedule, obtaining permits (or not), and the complete post process, complemented by behind-the-scenes video of production meetings and the actual shoot, as well as interviews with key crew. Viewers can watch the 10 DVDs in order or use the comprehensive index to access a particular subject. An accompanying CD-ROM contains dozens of documents from the 2 Million Stupid Women production, which can be used as templates for paperwork such as contracts, releases, call sheets and various reports. Additionally, 2 Million Stupid Women is included on its own DVD. For additional information, visit www.filmmakerinabox.com. Practical Effects from Reel EFX Reel EFX has introduced the RE4 Fan, designed for professional studio, stage and location applications requiring maximum wind at the lowest possible noise level. The RE4 boasts advanced aerodynamics; a 2-horsepower, three-phase motor; and a sophisticated solid-state drive, which combine to create wind in excess of 33 mph at 1 meter. Additionally, a rotary

molded housing, composite blade assembly and integrated DMX interface make the RE4 one of the quietest, lightest, most powerful and most versatile special-effects fans available. Weighing 49 pounds with a body size of 22"x24", the RE4 can draw up to 18 amps at 117 volts at full power. In addition to local control via a knob on the control panel, the fan’s speed can be adjusted remotely using a DMX lighting console; the RE4’s control panel provides input and passthrough DMX 5-pin XLR connectors. The RE4 comes with a one-year parts-and-labor warranty. For more information, visit www.reelefx.com. VES Debuts Effects Handbook The Visual Effects Society has released The VES Handbook of Visual Effects: Industry Standard VFX Practices and Procedures, offering a wealth of information about the art and science of visual effects. Written by 89 leading visual-effects practitioners and edited by visual-effects supervisor and VES Chair Jeffrey A. Okun and visual-effects producer Susan Zwerman, The VES Handbook covers visual effects from prep through post. The book outlines procedures and solutions all visual-effects artists, producers and supervisors need to know, and is filled with lessons, hard facts, tricks, shortcuts and wisdom garnered throughout the history of visual effects from research, trial and error, and practical experience. “Finally, a complete manual of best practices and techniques, gathered together in one place to be used as a reference book or a learning book, is available,” says Okun. “The visual-effects industry has long needed such a compendium, and the VES is proud to be offering it.” Zwerman adds, “This

book contains the wisdom from the best and brightest in the industry and belongs on the shelf of anyone working in or aspiring to work in visual effects. It covers techniques and solutions all visual-effects artists, producers and supervisors need to know, from preproduction to digital-character creation, and compositing of live-action and CG elements.” For additional information, visit www.visualeffectssociety.com. DaVinci Resolve Enters Mac Platform Blackmagic Design has introduced DaVinci Resolve 7.0, the latest version of the high-end DI grading system, which is now available on both Mac OS X and Linux platforms.

DaVinci Resolve 7.0 includes a new user interface, which provides quick, simple and intuitive creative control without clutter. Resolve 7.0 for Mac now reads and writes all the common Apple ProRes file formats, including 4444, 422, 422 (HQ), 422 (Proxy) and 422 (LT), directly on the timeline, with no conversion required. Colorists can select the clips in their media storage, and Resolve will play and grade them in real time, even if the timeline contains mixed resolutions and formats. Additionally, both Mac and Linux systems now support read and write of DN xHD files with the optional DaVinci Resolve DNxHD Update, which allows native DN xHD media files to move instantly between Avid and Resolve. For productions using footage captured with DSLR cameras, Resolve 7.0 supports read and write of H.264 files on Mac and playback on Linux. Colorists can grade directly from DSLR media files in real time. Resolve also supports full playback for native Cineform 2-D and 3-D, and SI-2K files 92

November 2010

for real-time playback and grading. Version 7.0 supports Red Rocket cards on both Mac and Linux platforms for native r3d file grading with full-resolution decoding and premium de-bayer all in real time. Colorists can extract r3d reel names from FCP, Adobe or Avid EDLs, grade and render to ProRes, DPX or DN xHD at nearreal-time speeds. On Linux, Resolve now supports dual Red Rocket cards in a single computer for stereoscopic 3-D real-time performance with r3d files at full image quality. Version 7.0 significantly upgrades Resolve’s stereoscopic grading features and includes 3-D features on the Mac platform that previously required multiple Linux CPUs. The system also features a new convergence control tool to let colorists separately program pan adjustments to change the point of convergence on 3-D projects while still making individual eye pan adjustments. Resolves’ 3-D support allows colorists to play back, grade and monitor in 3-D using sideby-side and line-mesh displays. Additionally, the system lets colorists automatically apply grades from one eye to the other, and a new eye-matching tool is included, allowing colorists to compare between eyes with a color or black-and-white difference display, or a new checkerboard view that allows a more accurate comparison in greater detail. DaVinci Resolve is available now, starting from $995 for the software-only Mac OS X version. Existing DaVinci customers who have an older model DaVinci Resolve or DaVinci Splice will qualify to get version 7.0 software at no charge. Additionally, anyone who has an older DaVinci 2K system can use the control surface they already have and upgrade to DaVinci Resolve by paying only for the Linux license. For additional information, visit www.blackmagic-design.com. SpaceMan Tackles Color Management Light Illusion has launched SpaceMan ICC, a unique ICC profile-management system that enables film and media industry standard 3-D look-up tables to be converted to computer industry ICC profiles, as well as enabling the editing of existing ICC profiles. 3-D LUTs have become a standard American Cinematographer

part of any color-critical post workflow, especially where digital-intermediate grading is performed. However, many of the creative tools that are now part of a project’s workflow are not LUT-capable and instead use computer and print industry ICC profiles for color management. SpaceMan ICC software allows creative systems based on ICC color management to display images in an identical way to LUT-based systems. Such compatible color management enables software systems, such as Adobe Photoshop and After Effects, as well as any other ICCcompliant software packages, to be coloraccurate when performing work in parallel with mainstream post systems. “The development of SpaceMan ICC has come from direct market requirements, and the tools and capabilities it delivers will help enhance facilities’ calibration capabilities and accuracy,” says Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion. “SpaceMan ICC can very accurately convert LUTs to ICC profiles, allowing precise control over the final look of all mate-

rial regardless of the creative systems being used. It doesn’t matter if the workflow pipeline is film source to film deliverable via a Rec 709, P3, XYZ or any other color-space environment, [or if it’s a] video or DCI deliverable — SpaceMan ICC can accurately generate matched ICC profiles from any original calibration or display LUT.” The ability to generate matched ICC profiles from any LUT also means works in progress can be accurately viewed on nonLUT-based systems, such as a Mac or Windows PC, via images with embedded ICC profiles; this is ideal for remote checking when the end customer can’t be present at the grade. For additional information, visit www.lightillusion.com. ●

International Marketplace

Monitor Yoke Mounts

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Probe Lenses for HD, DV, 16/35mm Cine

CAMERA TRACKING & SUPPORT

PROBE LENSES • SHUTTLE SYSTEMS

CREATIVE WAYS OF IMAGING

310-453-4866 www.InnovisionOptics.com

SUPER16INC.COM Top-notch camera and lens servicing Ask about Ultra 16! T: 607-642-3352 bernie@super16inc.com Toll-free: 877-376-6582 FREE ESTIMATES

SIZE COMPARISON

technology that complements your imagination.

MICROGRIP www.msegrip.com

ww.theasc.com w

November 2010

Classifieds RATES All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capitals without extra charge. N o agency commission or discounts on clas si fied advertising. PAYMENTMUST AC COM PA NYORDER. VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are ac cept ed. Send ad to Clas si fied Ad ver tis ing, Amer i can Cin e ma tog ra pher, P.O. Box 2230, Hol ly wood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Dead line for payment and copy must be in the office by 15th of second month preceding pub li ca tion. Sub ject mat ter is lim it ed to items and ser vic es per tain ing to film mak ing and vid eo pro duc tion. Words used are sub ject to mag a zine style ab bre vi a tion. Min i mum amount per ad: $45

CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site. Internet ads are seen around the world at the same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you can appear both online and in print. For more information please visit www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: classifieds@theasc.com.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. USED EQUIPMENT. (888) 869-9998. STEADICAM used & new equipment. Arms, vests, sleds and more. Visit our website at www.steadyrig.com or our Steadyrig eBay store to view our range of products. USED EQUIPMEN T. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMEN T COMPANY. (972) 869-9990. Arri 435ES very complete package plus 18-100 Zoom lens, Arri Varicon. Excellent prices Contact rmclachlan@mac.com

Advertiser’s Index 16x9, Inc. 94 AC 1, 4, 95 AFI 77 Aja Video Systems, Inc. 17 Alan Gordon Enterprises 94 Arri 35 AZGrip 94 Backstage Equipment, Inc. 91 Band Pro Film & Digital 95 Bron Imaging Group - US 41 Burrell Enterprises 94 Camera Essentials 95 CameraImage 93 Canon USA 9 Cavision Enterprises 29 Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment Inc. 15 Chemical Wedding 85, 99 Cinematography Electronics 6 Cinekinetic 94 Cinerover 95 Cinevate 25 Clairmont Film & Digital 21 Codex Digital Ltd., 19 Cooke Optics 6

Deluxe C2 Dell 11 Eastman Kodak 5, C4 Equipment Film & Design 59 Film Gear 89 Filmtools 87 Five Towns College 89 FTC West 95 Fujji Motion Picture 32a-d, 49 Glidecam Industries 13 Grip Factory Munich Gmbh 61 Innoventive Software 61 Innovision 95 Interlochen 6 JMR Electronics Inc., 27 J. L. Fisher, Inc. 40 Kino Flo 79 Kobold 41 Laffoux Solutions, Inc. 94 LitePanels 2 Matthews Studio Equipment 95 Movie Tech AG 95 M. M. Mukhi and Sons 95 New York Film Academy 23 Oppenheimer Camera Prod. 94

USED EQUIPMEN T. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMEN T COMPA N Y. (888) 869-9998, providfilm@aol.com. www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com. 11,000 USED ITEMS. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMEN T. (972 )869-9990. World’s SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMEN T! Buy, Sell, Trade. CAMERAS, LEN SES, SUPPORT, AKS & MORE! Visual Products, Inc. www.visualproducts.com Call 440.647.4999 BUY-SELL-CON SIGN -TRADE. 47 YEARS EXPERIEN CE. CALL BILL REITER. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMEN T COMPANY. (972) 869-9990. PRO VIDEO & FILM USED EQUIPMENT LIST: www.UsedE quipmentNewsletter.com. N EED USED EQUIPMEN T? PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT. (888) 869-9998. www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com

SERVICES AVAILABLE STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL AN D UPDATES. QUICK TURNAROUND. ROBERT LUNA (323) 9385659.

November 2010

American Cinematographer

Panavision 69 Panther Gmbh 53 PC&E 52 PED Denz 63, 95 Photon Beard 94 Pille Film Gmbh 95 Pro8mm 94 Rosco Laboratories, Inc. 62 Shelton Communications 94 Showbiz Expo 97 Stanton Video Services 87 Sundance Film Festival 75 Super16 Inc. 95 SXSW 78 Sylvania 37, 39 Technocrane 87 Thales-Angenieux 7 Tiffen Company 51, C3 VF Gadgets, Inc. 94 Viking Power Systems Co., Inc. 94 Willy’s Widgets 94 www.theasc.com 91, 95 Zacuto Films 95

Clubhouse News

Vancouver Welcomes ASC Peter Anderson, ASC and Andrew Lesnie, ASC, ACS recently participated in a series of lighting workshops and seminars organized in conjunction with the 8th annual Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. AC was on hand to enjoy the events. The festival’s 11-day screening schedule included 25 features and 34 shorts hailing from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru and Spain. This year marked the festival’s third annual collaboration with the ASC to present the seminar series. Anderson kicked off the educational series with a 3-D seminar hosted by Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Held inside Emily Carr’s Intersections Digital Studios’ state-of-the-art motion-capture and visualization stage, the sold-out seminar gave attendees a look behind the curtain of stereoscopic filmmaking as Anderson shared tips and tricks learned over the 98

November 2010

Snyder Becomes Associate Kim Snyder , the president and general manager of Kodak’s Entertainment Imaging business in the Film, Photofinishing and Entertainment Group, has joined the Society as an associate member. Snyder joined Kodak in 1984 as a systems analyst, and she held a number of IT and finance roles with the company until 1998, when she joined the Entertainment Imaging division as financing director. In 2000, Snyder was named Entertainment Imaging’s chief American Cinematographer

financial officer and vice president; in 2003, she was made Canadian sales & marketing manager and vice president; and in 2006, she was promoted to general manager and vice president, Origination Products. In 2008, she was elected a corporate vice president by Kodak’s board of directors, and she was appointed to her current position; in this capacity, Snyder is responsible for all aspects of Kodak’s business with the motion picture and television industry, including both traditional negative and print film technologies as well as evolving digital technologies for originating, exhibiting and archiving motion pictures. Houghton in Conversation Tom Houghton, ASC recently participated in Createasphere’s “ American Cinematographer Conversations” series during Createasphere’s Entertainment Technology Exposition in N ew York. Moderated by AC contributor Iain Stasukevich, the conversation covered Houghton’s work in television and features, including his Emmy-nominated cinematography for the series Rescue Me. ACS Purchases National Headquarters The Australian Cinematographers Society has acquired a national headquarters, which will serve as a meeting place for members from all of the Society’s branches along with visitors from the motion-picture industry and other guilds and societies. Located at 22 Ridge St. in N orth Sydney, the building has been christened the John Leake OAM ACS N ational Headquarters after the late cinematographer, one of the ACS’ founders. ● VLAFF photo by Jorge Posada.

Above: Karl Herrmann, CSC (left) moderates a Q&A with Peter Anderson, ASC (center) and Andrew Lesnie, ASC, ACS during the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival. Right: Associate member Kim Snyder.

course of the numerous 3-D productions he has photographed, including Captain EO , Muppet*vision 3-D , T2 3-D: Battle Across Time and U2 3D . Without shying away from the technical aspects of shooting 3-D motion pictures, Anderson kept the discussion grounded and encouraging, telling the attendees, “There isn’t a place you can’t take a camera, and don’t let anybody tell you otherwise,” and stressing that the most important rule to remember with 3-D is to not give the audience a bad experience. Equipment-rental company PS Production Services opened its 57,000square-foot Vancouver facility for a second day of sold-out seminars, which began in the morning with a lighting workshop conducted by Lesnie, who was in Vancouver shooting Rise of the Apes . Lesnie showed clips from Babe, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and I Am Legend, and created a variety of lighting effects while fielding questions from the audience. “Great cinematography,” Lesnie enthused, “is about shooting the subtext.” That afternoon, Anderson joined Lesnie for an audience Q&A moderated by cinematographer Karl Herrmann, CSC. The conversation ran the gamut from the evolving role of the cinematographer to general lighting tips and tricks. Working in the motion-picture industry, the cinematographers agreed, demands a profound passion for visual storytelling — something the Vancouver community has in spades. — Jon D. Witmer

Phedon Papamichael, ASC

When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you? When I was 6, I loved watching Westerns on television. Every Saturday night I was allowed to stay up and watch one. The strongest bigscreen impressions were made by Ben-Hur (1959), Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and The Man Who Would Be King (1975).

What has been your most satisfying moment on a project? Working handheld onstage with Joaquin Phoenix on Walk the Line, shooting in vine country on Sideways, and shooting at Cinecittà and having three-hour lunches at the same little canteen where Fellini used to eat. Have you made any memorable blunders? On one of my first shorts, I decided to crossprocess some reversal film. When the film came back, there was nothing on it. I blamed the lab, of course!

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire, and why? Raoul Coutard was the one who made me aware that there was such a thing as a cinematographer. I wrote his name down at a screening of Le Mépris and tried to find all his movies. I also grew up heavily influenced by Robby Müller, NSC, BVK; the simplicity of his lighting and the calmness of his compositions stuck with me. What sparked your interest in photography? I was mostly into painting, but when I was 14, I picked up a friend’s Super 8 camera and had an immediate connection to the frame. I started walking around the house, looking through the camera, noticing that I could compose and move at the same time and keep recomposing. Where did you train and/or study? I didn’t go to film school. I was hired to shoot my first short based on my stills, which were my hobby. Years later I shot seven Roger Corman films, all 15-day features, in two years. That, of course, was my film school — the best there is! Who were your early teachers or mentors? I never worked for another cinematographer, and the directors I worked with were as inexperienced as I was. We just kept doing our thing, copying films we liked and learning from our mistakes. While I was shooting Stripped to Kill 2 , I went to see The Last Emperor one weekend, and I went back to work on Monday and bathed the strip club in golden light. I told my dailies timer, ‘Make it look like The Last Emperor!’ What are some of your key artistic influences? The Dadaists, Surrealists, German Expressionists and the French New Wave. How did you get your first break in the business? A friend hired me to shoot second unit on a Corman film, and we made all the shots, more than 60 setups a day, so they hired me to shoot first unit on the next one. I haven’t stopped shooting since then!

100

November 2010

What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received? Roger Corman used to tell his young directors to sit down on an apple-box whenever they got an opportunity. I always try to pace myself through a long shoot; I see a lot of folks burn out before the film is done. What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you? Cameron Crowe’s Conversations With Billy Wilder was very inspirational and fun, and it made me revisit my favorite autobiography, Luis Buñuel’s My Last Sigh. Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to try? I try to find diverse material and genres whenever I choose projects, but if I had to pick one, I’d say a dark comedy. If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing instead? I would probably be designing cars. Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for membership? Vilmos Zsigmond, Steven Poster and George Spiro Dibie. How has ASC membership impacted your life and career? I remember walking into the Clubhouse for the first time in 1993, when I was nominated for an ASC Award for the miniseries Wild Palms. Conrad Hall came up to me and said, ‘Ah, you’re the kid that stole my title!’ (He’d been trying to direct an adaptation of Faulkner’s The Wild Palms, which had nothing to do with my miniseries.) Then Stanley Cortez slowly came across the room on his cane and started flirting with my girlfriend. I thought this was the coolest place on earth! I just wanted to be part of it, hang out at the bar, smoke cigars and exchange stories. I’m glad the Clubhouse has reopened, and I hope to become one of those old, crazy ASC members who can affect a young cinematographer who walks in there for the first time. ●

American Cinematographer

Photo by Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP.

Close-up

ONFILM

WILLIAM FRAKER, ASC, BSC

“As a cinematographer, your role is to pull the audience into the story, so they experience it, and not merely see it. You light to tell a story, by establishing moods with shadow and color, and by deciding what the audience sees and what is obscured. You have to reach beyond your grasp every time you get the chance, and be willing to go out on a limb and extend yourself, otherwise you’ll never do anything original. You also have to be extremely passionate about everything you do. Each time you do a film, you leave a little piece of yourself in it. There is no right or wrong way. That’s what makes filmmaking so fascinating.” William “Billy” Fraker, ASC, BSC was an amazingly talented human being who made an indelible impression on the art of filmmaking and all the people whose lives he touched, leaving a remarkable legacy. He earned Oscar® nominations for Looking for Mr. Goodbar, Heaven Can Wait, 1941, WarGames and Murphy’s Romance. His other memorable films include Bullitt, Rosemary’s Baby, Paint Your Wagon and Town and Country, to name just a few. He was also dedicated to mentoring the next generation of filmmakers who will follow in his wake. For an extended interview with Billy Fraker, visit www.kodak.com/go/onfilm. To order Kodak motion picture film, call (800) 621-film. © Eastman Kodak Company, 2010. Photography: © Douglas Kirkland