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contents GENERATION NEXT December 2020 / Vol. 91 No. 10
DEPARTMENTS gear guide ................ 20 book review ................ 28 on the street ................ 30 exposure ................ 34 production credits ................ 112 stop motion .............. 118
SPECIAL 01 Generation Next ...... 92
38
FEATURE 01 FIT 4 PRINT Dariusz Wolski, ASC, hits the road for Paul Greengrass’ News of the World, a fresh reimagining of the iconic Western.
FEATURE 02 THE SOUND OF MUSIC Tobias Schliessler, ASC, riffs through the filmic adaptation of August Wilson’s Tony-winning play, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
FEATURE O3 WAR & PEACE Longtime Fargo Director of Photography Dana Gonzales, ASC, moves into the director’s chair for Season 4 of the award-winning crime drama.
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56 72
MINISERIES MADE FOR TELEVISION
“SHABIER KIRCHNER ELEVATES M QUEEN’S ACUMEN FOR BRILLIANT VISUALS INTO SOME OF THE MOST UNIQUE COMPOSITIONS OF THE DIRECTOR’S CAREER.” C
THE PLAYLIST
WATCH TRAILER
AMAZON ORIGINAL SERIE S
92
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SPECIAL 01 GENERATION NEXT This year’s class leans into LatinX crew members, a wide-ranging group who took care to point out that being Latino is not a one-size-fits-all construct.
president's letter
Next Generations For a few years at the beginning of my career, I was often the youngest person on the set and now, I am often the oldest. Unsurprisingly, I have seen a lot of change during that time. When I started out, membership in the IATSE was not open to me. Eventually I was able to join the New York Camera Local, 644, but when I moved to the West Coast, I couldn’t even get an application for membership in Local 659, the Western region camera local. Eventually I became a 659 member, and when the Locals merged, I became a member of Local 600, a union which I am proud to say, anyone can now join. Our ranks are invigorated by our new members, who bring fresh insights, knowledge, and energy to our work and our Local. This year has been a stark reminder that it is very hard to keep up with the present, much less imagine the future; but my belief is that our Local will be sustained by the demand for content our members create in every genre. The work will always be there and that is the key to our outside game. Our inside game is the one within our membership that we control, and it requires us to develop new leaders within our ranks, who will guide our Local in the years ahead. The next generation of leadership is already taking shape within ICG’s National Executive Board, regional councils and various committees and working groups around the country. I strongly encourage our newer members to get engaged with our Local and work together to identify strategies and develop consensus on the issues that impact everyone. That is how we will continue to drive our agenda into the future, by tirelessly pushing our efforts toward goals like fair wages, safe working conditions, health care and sturdy pension plans to ensure retirement with dignity. However long you have been a member of our union, you have an important voice in Local 600. I ask you to use it to keep our industry strong and moving forward into the always challenging but bright future that awaits you. Each generation is a product of its time and evolves in its own way, but all of us contribute something essential when we join together and move forward. John Lindley, ASC National President International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600
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WATCH TRAILER
Publisher Teresa Muñoz Executive Editor David Geffner Art Director Wes Driver
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Tyler Bourdeau
STAFF WRITER Pauline Rogers
ACCOUNTING
Glenn Berger Dominique Ibarra
COPY EDITORS
Peter Bonilla Maureen Kingsley
CONTRIBUTORS Ted Elrick Margot Lester Kevin Martin Elizabeth Morris Bruce Talamon
December 2020 vol. 91 no. 10
Local
600
International Cinematographers Guild
IATSE Local 600 NATIONAL PRESIDENT John Lindley, ASC VICE PRESIDENT Dejan Georgevich, ASC 1ST NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Christy Fiers 2ND NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Baird Steptoe NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER Stephen Wong NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER Jamie Silverstein NATIONAL SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Deborah Lipman NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rebecca Rhine ASSOCIATE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chaim Kantor
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
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ADVERTISING POLICY: Readers should not assume that any products or services advertised in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine are endorsed by the International Cinematographers Guild. Although the Editorial staff adheres to standard industry practices in requiring advertisers to be “truthful and forthright,” there has been no extensive screening process by either International Cinematographers Guild Magazine or the International Cinematographers Guild. EDITORIAL POLICY: The International Cinematographers Guild neither implicitly nor explicitly endorses opinions or political statements expressed in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. ICG Magazine considers unsolicited material via email only, provided all submissions are within current Contributor Guideline standards. All published material is subject to editing for length, style and content, with inclusion at the discretion of the Executive Editor and Art Director. Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild, retains all ancillary and expressed rights of content and photos published in ICG Magazine and icgmagazine.com, subject to any negotiated prior arrangement. ICG Magazine regrets that it cannot publish letters to the editor. ICG (ISSN 1527-6007) Ten issues published annually by The International Cinematographers Guild 7755 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90046, U.S.A. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ICG 7755 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California 90046 Copyright 2020, by Local 600, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. Entered as Periodical matter, September 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscriptions: $88.00 of each International Cinematographers Guild member’s annual dues is allocated for an annual subscription to International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. Non-members may purchase an annual subscription for $48.00 (U.S.), $82.00 (Foreign and Canada) surface mail and $117.00 air mail per year. Single Copy: $4.95 The International Cinematographers Guild Magazine has been published monthly since 1929. International Cinematographers Guild Magazine is a registered trademark.
www.icgmagazine.com www.icg600.com
Photo by Sara Terry
wide angle
T
urning this industry into a truly “inclusive, diverse, and equitable” one means not only leveling the playing field but embracing the differences that exist within each underserved group. And while ICG Magazine has shone a spotlight on Latino Guild members in the past [ICG Magazine December 2015], this month’s Generation NEXT (page 92), themed around LatinX Local 600 filmmakers, goes a good way toward reaching that goal. Not only is this group (Camera Operator Shanele Alvarez, SOC; Director of Photography Ana M. Amortegui; Unit Still Photographer Emily V. Aragones; 1st AC Pedro Corcega; Director of Photography Pedro Luque Briozzo, SCU; Director of Photography Santiago Benet Mari, SPC; DIT Alex Ramirez; and 2nd AC Elaisa Vargas) incredibly talented and articulate, they also embody the best of “inclusivity, diversity, and equity” in their attitudes on set, and toward everyone else in their workplaces. Consider this quote from Chicago-based AC Vargas, on the monolithic treatment Latinos are often accorded: “We are defined by more than 20 different nationalities and come from all social and racial backgrounds. Each country has its idiosyncrasies and regionalisms, and that is something that can’t be ignored. For example, if we were to portray a character from Latin America, the accent should match the particular area or region of the country.” Or this from Director of Photography Santiago “Chago” Benet, born and raised on the island of Puerto Rico: “We were a colony of Spain for about four hundred years, then a colony of the United States from 1898 to today. That gives us a very unique cultural mix. We live by some of the United States’ ways and laws but still hold strong to the origins of our language and our own LatinCaribbean traditions. We have to hold strong to those roots.”
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Giving voice to the many different roots within this membership (as our Generation NEXT theme tries to do) will only, as Uruguay-born Director of Photography Pedro Luque Briozzo points out, make us all stronger. Luque Briozzo’s positivity is positively infectious. “Our vision is welcomed and adds up to the general synergy of the industry,” he shared with ICG freelancer Margot Lester. “There’s still so much room for different cinematographic expressions…and as a group, the LatinX community has a lot to bring to the game.” Bringing much to the game has been the career credo of Local 600 Unit Still Photographer Bruce Talamon, who shot this month’s cover image from News of The World (page 38). Talamon, who many of us have had the pleasure to connect with during ICG’s yearly National Executive Board Meetings, is featured in a wonderful sidebar (page 52). After some four decades in his craft (where he was often the only Black crew member in the room), Talamon reveals a few keys. Like the importance of connecting with ICG camera operators on set – positioning himself (with confidence) from an angle/perspective that will best mirror how the scene is being captured, and using a similar lens as the operator. Talamon also says the enthusiasm and commitment (two words that also define this year’s Generation NEXT group) of the lead filmmakers often set the table for everyone else. “In this regard,” he told ICG freelancer Kevin Martin, “[News of the World Director] Paul [Greengrass] and [Director of Photography] Dariusz [Wolski] are among the best I’ve seen.” That’s coming from a man whose peer résumé includes directors Ridley and Tony Scott, John Badham, John Singleton, and Steven Spielberg, and cinematographers John Alonzo, ASC; Michael Chapman, ASC; Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC; and Douglas Slocombe, ASC, OBE, BSC, GBCT; among others. Hopefully, this Generation NEXT issue will preview the same kind of legacy in our younger Local 600 members that Talamon expresses in his sidebar, where he calls his career “a series of great adventures.” Many of those, I would add, as a beacon of “inclusivity, diversity, and equity.”
CONTRIBUTORS
Elizabeth Morris War & Peace, Stop Motion “Photography saved my life. It is truly like therapy for me because it is one thing in this crazy world I can actually control. I would be lost without it.”
Bruce Talamon Fit 4 Print “Taking a photograph of an actor is the easy part. The hard part is gaining their trust. News of the World was my third project for Tom Hanks, and I would like to think that along the way we’ve developed a level of trust. My feeling: Always pay attention, the photographs are all around you; and try not to screw up the vibe. We had a great camera crew led by Dariusz Wolski, [ASC], and our director, Paul Greengrass. We were in the mountains of New Mexico for three months. It was grand.”
ICG MAGAZINE
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GENERATION
David Geffner Executive Editor
Twitter: @DGeffner Email: david@icgmagazine.com
Cover photo by Bruce Talamon
NEXT
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gear guide
generation next
RED KOMODO
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fos/4 Fresnel knows what the camera sees. studio.etcconnect.com
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gear guide
generation next
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CONFUSION ABOUT DIFFUSION? TIFFEN TRIANGLE OF DIFFUSION CONTRAST REDUCTION
HA TIO LA
WARM PRO-MIST
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TIFFEN’S TRIANGLE OF DIFFUSION
WHITE HALATION DIFFUSION BLACK HALATION DIFFUSION WARM SOFT/FX
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WARM HALATION DIFFUSION
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This graphic illustrates the subtle differences and variations across Tiffen’s large range of diffusion filters. The location of each circle represents the filter’s effect in regards to Halation, Contrast, and Resolution characteristics, as well as the relationship of their effects to each other. Results may vary with different lighting, lens and atmosphere conditions. As always, test test test.
CONTRAST Reduction in contrast to brighten shadows for a muted, log-like look. RESOLUTION Reduction in resolution to assist with softening wrinkles and blemishes.
The Tiffen Company LLC. | 90 Oser Ave. Hauppauge, NY 11788 | ©2020 The Tiffen Company. All trademarks or registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.
GENERATION NEXT
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gear guide
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“The initial scene we built, we actually had to pare down in terms of camera moves and animation. The things you’re trying to achieve with the camera, you end up doing with the asset itself. It’s just a slight adjustment to the storytelling.” DAN PHILLIPS Executive Producer, Emerging Technology, The Mill
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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
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GENERATION NEXT
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gear guide
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BOOK REVIEW
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story BY MOLLIE GREGORY
Mollie Gregory’s Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story is several books in one. It spurs readers to time-travel back throughout movie history – from the early silents of the 1900s all the way up to the out-of-control action television shows of the early 1980s, with each era drawn on the page as exciting and informative. On one level, Gregory delivers a fascinating education on 1900s serial actresses like Ruth Roland, who thought stunts were just part of the job. Fans of Hollywood’s Golden Era – 1930s through the
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early 1960s – will hear about the occasional female stunt performer; for example, Olga Celeste, who doubled for Katharine Hepburn in her famous tussle with “baby” in Bringing Up Baby. Gregory also doesn’t soft-pedal the nittygritty reality of stunt work, in all its various forms. As she says in her introduction: “Like all stunt performers, stuntwomen risk injury or even death, but over the years, they have also faced institutional discrimination, unequal pay, and sexual harassment.” The term Old Boys Network takes on added weight
in the stunt world, especially the system that men created to foster a good living for a select few. And that didn’t mean just cutting out women – stuntmen of color also had little chance of work. That is until a few got the courage to fight the system. Gregory writes that even well into the 1960s, “skill and talent didn’t count.” In a few pictures, she points out how women weren’t hired for their stunt skills, even when “the budget could have afforded both stunts and sex, a good stuntwoman and a good-time girl. But supplying sex to the guys
12.2020
trumped everything,” until pioneers like May Boss took on the “local girl” tradition. “May took a big risk. Stunt people, and particularly the women, were expected to be cordial and to comply with the director and the key stuntmen,” Gregory explains. “A
every time Jaime had to “jump,” Rita had to “fall” backward. The film was simply reversed. The book speaks openly about the dangers stuntmen and women simply regarded as part of staying employed during this safety-free era. She
stunt work safer. For instance, stunt people don’t have to do a full burn when visual effects can torch a character in postproduction.” At the same time, work has decreased, and women are usually the first to go. Then again,
ramrod had the power to hire, and he could give a woman’s stunt to a man with no explanation. Almost no one bucked the system.”
goes into detail about the horrific death of actor Vic Morrow and two children on the set of The Twilight Zone, where safety protocols were ignored, and director John Landis and his team were brought up on charges, only to receive a “not guilty” verdict years later. Gregory also gives credit to the women who finally had had enough, such as with the out-ofcontrol stunts on shows like Charlie’s Angels, where it was normal for Production to cut corners, supplying “junkers” instead of cars that could be safely equipped. Sometimes it was the driver behind the wheel who simply wasn’t safe. Details are provided about stuntwoman Julie Ann Johnson’s lawsuit against Aaron Spelling’s company. The problem started with a driver so revved up that he pushed the car over 20 miles faster than possible. Johnson filed against the company for “not hiring her back” the next season, and her career went south when the company turned on her – “shading the truth” in court. This time, unlike the Landis suit, people were held accountable.
Gregory posits that effects can be expensive. Some productions realize it’s cheaper to put a real person in a given situation rather than spend a lot of money in post. Gregory explores these and many other issues. Sexism still abounds. Racism hasn’t gone away. Still, to most of the 50-plus stuntwomen Gregory interviewed, there is a common theme. “This profession can deliver disaster and delight,” she writes. “Despite grueling hours, inequality, and injuries, every stuntwoman embraces the joy of work in her own way. There are ‘moments of bliss’” said skateboard champ Christin Anne Baure. “‘You picture the action in your head; you’ve worked it out technically, studied the actor you’re doubling, you’re in character for what’s happening to her at the moment, which generates the stunt. They roll the action, and it all comes together simultaneously [at] Mach One speed and super slow motion. I become what’s happening. I’m in the explosion that blew out the window, my body is mechanically performing as I told it to, and at that moment, I literally let go. It’s magical.’” Certainly, not everything about Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story is magical, especially when examining the many barriers to success Gregory outlines. But there is no denying she also revels in the “magic” of a dangerous high dive, a speeding car crash, a raging fire, a fistfight and so much more. In this essential behind-the-scenes book (which reveals the lengths Hollywood will go to keep audiences in their seats), Gregory gives longoverdue credit to the women of the stunt trade – and their male counterparts.
While these stories are prevalent throughout the book, the courage to forge a safe and exciting life in this undervalued field prevailed. Women who stuck it out found mentors (male and female), and standing up for themselves did prevail (most of the time). For years, female stunt workers fought for representation through SAG and other organizations, not only for recognition but also for safety regulations. Brianne Murphy, the first woman to be admitted to Local 600, was at the forefront of this drive. But it took a long time for one of the premier stuntwomen in the business, Leslie Hoffman, to be elected to the board of the Screen Actors Guild. Of course, stepping up had its downside for Hoffman, and like women writers of the era, she was blacklisted for her efforts. Gregory doesn’t just focus on the trials female stunt workers have faced. She also writes about the challenges males stunt performers have endured to keep a job, such as having to deal with stars with attitudes. She talks about Steve McQueen, who required his stunt double to hide on the set. If anyone found out McQueen wasn’t doing the stunts – there would go the star’s career. On the other side of the coin, Gregory also talks about generous stars like James Garner, who would jokingly admit that he didn’t get out of his chair without a stunt double. One of the most interesting and enlightening sections of Stuntwomen is when Gregory peels the onion on the wild 1980s, where, as long as the action captivated the audience, anything went. While frightening at times, this section of the book is fun to read, debunking myths and revealing stunt tricks. Have you ever wondered just how Lindsay Wagner went bionic every week? Ask her longtime stunt double and close friend Rita Egleston. According to Gregory, those were some of the most dangerous stunts at the time, because
Gregory’s book pushes past the ultra-dangerous 1980s to explore the exciting careers that stuntwomen began to develop over the last few decades, and the single biggest change impacting the industry – digital capture. “Whether a gag involves a fall, a fight, or a car, it usually revolves around a character at a pivotal moment,” Gregory writes. “When watching the action on screen, it’s easy to forget that the true art of stunt doubling is giving a performance on two very different levels: physically doing the stunt and acting the part. Stunt players have done both simultaneously for more than a hundred years. Doubling hasn’t changed much, but moviemaking has. A digital revolution is underway, and the consequences for stunt people seems to be both a gift and a curse.” She echoes many stunt people when she comments that although sometimes stunt people are bypassed altogether, effects can also “make
Stuntwomen: The Untold Hollywood Story by Mollie Gregory University Press of Kentucky www.kentuckypress.com ISBN 978-0-8131-6622-3 Hardcover $40.00 ISBN 978-0-8131-7583-6 Paperback $19.95 Amazon: paperback $19.95, Kindle $14.95
(cont'd on page 26)
GENERATION GENERATION NEXT NEXT
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Courtesy of Andrae Crawford
ON THE STREET
Generation NEXT Tools BY PAULINE ROGERS
When it comes to creative problem-solving on the set, Local 600 camera team members have no equals. And while many filmmakers are well ahead of the technology curve, their solutions don’t necessarily require the most leading-edge products. For our annual Generation NEXT issue, we reached out to a variety of members, including many recent Emerging Cinematographer Award (ECA) honorees, to hear about what tools in their bags or kits have become not only essential, but surprisingly innovative in multiple settings.
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12.2020
“On Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, I had the opportunity to shoot exterior inserts for a pensive driving scene. Main unit DP Lukasz Žal showed me references from still photographer Todd Hido, and gave me the prompt to capture a feeling of memory and dreams through the point of view of the lead characters. I was excited about the creative freedom he gave me, but wanted to make sure I could deliver footage that was not only exposed properly but also technically consistent. With the Sekonic L-858D-U, I could set precise specs from frame rate, ISO, and even the amount of ND I intended to use. Shooting through abstractions of fog and condensation effects on the picture car window, I exposed the Sony VENICE (rated at 500) consistently by setting the iris three stops over whatever my spot reading was of the snow on the ground. Quickly toggling the ‘filter compensation’ menu tool in the meter, I simply added or took away ND as needed – keeping my stop between f4 and f5.6.” Courtesy of Ed Lachman, ASC
Drew Dawson Operator, Los Angeles 2018 ECA honoree – Demon “On a recent commercial with Photographer Jason Lee Parry, I knew that we were going to move quickly and work fast in tight spaces. I had just bought my KinoGrip a few weeks before, and it felt like the right project to put it to the test. It’s very similar to an Aaton Wooden Camera grip, and even has a run/stop button for single-shooter situations. The true beauty of this design is that the handle rests some of the weight at the top of your hand, so free-holding the camera becomes much easier. We were shooting in cars, RV’s, and other small interior spaces. First AC Stephen Taylor-Wehr and I designed a camera build where the only thing on the ALEXA Mini was a lens, focus motor, matte box, transmitter and battery. I used the KinoGrip and eyepiece to support the camera while stabilizing with the other hand. It felt like operating a mediumformat camera, which lent itself perfectly to the editorial nature of the shoot. Another great feature is that it comes in multiple variations and sizes for different hands and preferences.”
Courtesy of Tony Rivetti
Tinx Chan Operator, New York 2019 ECA honoree – Empty Skies
Alicia Robbins, SOC Director of Photography, Los Angeles 2018 ECA honoree – Internet Gangsters “On one of the Grey’s Anatomy episodes we used the Kardan Motorized Swing and Tilt system from Otto Nemenz in a way it’s never been used. It was for a key sequence in the episode ‘Love of My Life’ (Season 16), where our character, Richard, is starting to lose his mind from a medical condition on stage at a big medical conference. Our director, Allison LiddiBrown, and I discussed wanting to do something disorienting and somewhat distorted to sell this idea of mental instability. With most swing-andtilt systems, you can swing and tilt the lens and then lock it in place, but we wanted to shift the tilt in-camera as the camera moved. The Kardan, I believe, is the only motorized capable swingand-tilt system in existence with which you can actually attach a single-channel remote to either the swing or tilt, or both, and adjust inshot remotely. The tricky thing we did was that we put the system on the Steadicam, so as my operator did a 360 around Richard, I was pulling the tilt-shift on the lens so it changed during the shot – shifting the depth of field up and down, which also changed the vertical framing. The really tough part about that is the balance on the Steadicam is then thrown off on the move, and the focal point is constantly moving! But Operator Eric Fletcher [SOC] and First AC Alaina McManus were able to pull it off, and it was pretty spectacular.”
Photo Courtesy of Benjamin Dell
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Anghel Decca Director of Photography, Los Angeles “‘How do we light a promo for Star Trek and do something that’s up to the expectations of that huge show?’ No matter who asked the question, we knew we had to come up with a worthy answer. Effective. Spectacular. But not crazy expensive. And – something that has not been done before. ‘So, we shoot in slowmotion but move the camera super-fast and at the same time move the key light in the opposite direction at a similar super-fast speed?’ This was the director ‘asking’ this time. He also added we’d be doing one talent at a time on a green screen. I slept on it – asked smart people – and came up with a very interesting – probably never-been-done-before – package. With the green screen stage coming pre-lit, it was about lighting the talent. On the day, we rigged a single Leko on a 45-foot Technocrane, and attached the Sony VENICE camera to the BOLT. It was fun. It worked. And I finally stopped biting my nails!” Courtesy of Anghel Decca
Courtesy of Blair Todd
Leland Krane Director of Photography, New York Eric Hurt Operator, Atlanta 2016 and 2020 ECA honoree – Singularity and Elemental “One of the biggest hurdles Director Derrick Borte and I had to face when considering the shooting style for the dark thriller, American Dreamer, was that the film was to star Jim Gaffigan, an actor known solely at the time for his family-friendly stand-up comedy. Jim and Derrick had the heavy lifting in creating a different character for the audience; but I also had to consider how the cinematography could help with separating Jim from his clean comedy background. The choice to shoot the entire film handheld was the main way we achieved this, and the Easyrig made it possible for long hours on set. Handheld works for the thriller genre, but that was not the first consideration. Implementing the handheld/Easyrig immediately gave the audience the visual cue that this was not the usual Gaffigan. There is only one long dolly shot, and it closes out the film. By that point, the audience (hopefully) no longer sees Jim Gaffigan the comedian, but instead sees the dark and disturbing character he created for the movie.” Courtesy of Caleb Plutzer
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“For a project called Basement, based on a play, we shot on location, not on a stage. In one space, with continuous real-time action, the lighting not only set the mood but differentiated the ‘acts.’ We had overhead fluorescents, then flashlights in a blackout, then emergency tungsten lights, and finally daylight from the only exit – a hatch. The space was small, and there were many spots where we couldn’t fit the camera – between ceiling beams, flush to a wall, or on the floor looking up. The Rialto was a great solution that allowed us to widen the cinematographic range in this challenging location. With two nine-foot extensions, it could move anywhere. Using a lighter, more-flexible build proved particularly useful for ‘crowded’ scenes with up to eight actors. We also emulated v-logging from an iPad by building the Rialto with a small monitor for framing. The 11-year-old actress was able to hold it just as she would an iPad. She could walk around the entire basement and stare right into the lens, or point it at the scene she was in.”
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Courtesy of Andrae Crawford
Kristen Correll Operator, Los Angeles 2017 ECA honoree – La Sirena
Courtesy of Roham Rahmanian
Roham Rahmanian DIT, Los Angeles 2017 ECA honoree – Break the Will “I brought a Mavic Pro 2 drone with me to Albuquerque, New Mexico to scout second-unit locations for The Comeback Trail, a caper film starring Robert DeNiro, Zach Braff, Morgan Freeman and Tommy Lee Jones. Early on, we put the drone up for a quick shot of Native Americans on horseback as they came in to ambush a caravan, and the footage turned out so lovely, we ended up using the drone as our third camera throughout. At one point, during a stunt shot, we had a rope bridge collapsing with stuntman Matthew Lee Christmas falling to his supposed death. We had limited takes. Though I was attached by carabiner to the side of the mountain, with a Panavision DXL on my shoulder, I managed to use the drone to frame a wide shot of the action in the middle of the valley, roll the camera and then grab the DXL and roll simultaneously on the action. The drone ended up coming in handy not only for scouting but for shooting as well. Luckily, I’m also an aeronautical pilot, so we were able to assess the surrounding airspace during all our setups and make sure we were flying within the parameters of FAA guidelines.”
“Is everyone else getting kind of tired of hearing, ‘Six feet!’? We’re all basically aware of how to protect ourselves during these strange COVID times. We wear masks, we sanitize, we now go outside to drink water. We get tested constantly. And suddenly, we’re realizing that there are tools we’ve always relied on that are key to hearing ‘six feet!’ less frequently, while keeping ourselves safe, of course. True, we sometimes like to socialize and get up close and personal. But now that we can’t, communication is just as strong using HME’s or Eartecs to keep the dialogue among crew, and talking to the boss, smooth and easy. Using a finder makes for a great photo op, but it isn’t very COVID compliant. I have always found Artemis Pro to be an essential app and work tool as an alternative to the physical finder, especially since you are able to take stills, videos, and/or live stream, showing all necessary people exactly what the shot is. Throw a remote head on the dolly into the mix, and now we are really cooking with gas! Instead of having crowded video monitors, the Teradek Serv Pro is great for viewing the image on your iPhone.”
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George C. Wolfe DIRECTOR - MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM BY TED ELRICK PHOTOS BY DAVID LEE, SMPSP
George C. Wolfe is an acclaimed theater director, having won five Tony Awards and 15 Tony nominations. He’s helmed 17 Broadway productions, including Jelly’s Last Jam, about Jazz musician Jelly Roll Morton, for which Wolfe received Tony nominations for Best Book of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. Other prominent work on the boards includes Angels in America: Part 1-Millennium Approaches and Bring in ’da Noise, Bring in ’da Funk, a musical Wolfe conceived, produced, and directed featuring the tap-dance sensation Savion Glover. He’s also no stranger to film, having received DGA, National Board of Review and Emmy Awards for HBO’s Lackawanna Blues, and the HBO feature, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne. Before directing August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom for Netflix, Wolfe directed Ma Rainey Producer Denzel Washington in the acclaimed Broadway revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. ICG writer Ted Elrick talked to Wolfe about taking a story from stage to screen and his advice to Director of Photography Tobias Schliessler, ASC, about venturing far outside one’s filmic comfort zone.
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Ma in the South in her tent show. And then shortly thereafter we meet Levee, defying her authority.
Early on Tobias said: “There are all these scenes in this basement, and I don’t know how to do it.” And I said, “Well, if you knew how to do it, then you shouldn’t do the project.”
With all of your Broadway experience, did you know August Wilson? We actually only met once. He wanted me to direct one of his plays, but it wasn’t written yet. Then, years later, Denzel asked me to direct the film of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and so I said OK and started working with Ruben Santiago-Hudson on the script.
on every number was accurate, and then Branford (Marsalis) was there for the filming of all the major musical sequences, giving pointers. There’s all this showbiz/film posturing as to how musicians behave when playing, and Branford was there to point out, “You don’t have to do this. You can do that.” They all did a brilliant job.
What is your initial process like? What draws you to the material? I think with all material there is a story being told, and then there is a story underneath that’s also being told, and for me, if I can figure out how to make the story underneath interesting and compelling, then I say yes to the material.
Is it helpful to work with the same actors on different projects? It’s exciting to collaborate with people with whom you can evolve a language and a way of working. In the theater, I’ve worked several times with [writer] Tony Kushner. I’ve worked with Ruben in the theater as an actor, and then he wrote Lackawanna Blues and adapted this film. Denzel is a producer on this film, and I directed him in the theater a couple of years ago in The Iceman Cometh. It’s great when you can form these exhilarating and potent collaborations. And it’s nice to see how far they can go.
What’s the story underneath Ma Rainey? While we are watching Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) and her band have a one-day recording session in Chicago, I believe August was also writing about the adverse aspects of the Great Migration: the consequences of what happened when all these Black people left the South for the North. Like all of Wilson’s work, this story is very specific to time and place. That’s true. It’s very specifically about Chicago in 1927, a city that is marked by severe boundaries. There are the white ethnic neighborhoods, and then there’s Bronzeville, as it was called, the neighborhood where more than one-hundred thousand Black people moved between 1900 and 1920. And then within Bronzeville there were the various economic strata. Tragically, this proved to be Chadwick Boseman’s last film. How did he, and the other cast members, prepare for the roles of working musicians? They each had individual tutors, so the fingering
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What was that collaboration like with your screenwriter? Ruben is an August Wilson purist, who has directed and acted in August Wilson plays. He won a Tony Award for Seven Guitars and did a one-man show based on August’s writings, so he is entrenched in August’s language. This is my first August Wilson project. I believe Ruben has an incredibly healthy reverence for the material, and I had a healthy irreverence for the material. [Laughs.] He would push in one direction and I would push in another. As a result, it was a fun collaboration. The first act of the play is the band waiting around for Ma (Viola Davis) to show up. And I didn’t have an hour for them to sit around and tell stunning stories, so I was aggressive in figuring out how soon we could get Ma on screen. As it turns out, one of the first images that we see in the film is
One of the key sets is the band room in the basement. How challenging was that for you visually? Very early on, Tobias [Schliessler] said to me, “There are all these scenes in this band room, in this basement, and I don’t know how to do it.” And I said, “Well, if you knew how to do it, then you shouldn’t do the project.” [Laughs.] He said OK and came on board, thank God, as we had a wonderful collaboration. That’s a provocative approach – taking on projects you don’t know how to do! Well, if you have confidence in your abilities and a passion for the project, then you dive in and the unknowns often lead to extraordinary discoveries. First I do lots of research, and then I love that period of work that is filled with not knowing, because during this time, things start to come to me – startling ideas and visuals. I believe an audience can tell when they are in the presence of a truth that is a recycled truth that you figured out on another project. And they can also tell when they are in the presence of a truth that was discovered just for them. That’s true for acting; that’s true for everything. The audience can smell a moment of discovery. And they can also smell a moment of recycled, stale truth. What were your discoveries and/or changes to August Wilson’s source material? The play is set during the winter, and I wanted the film to be set during the summer. It became very important to me how heat manifests itself. In New York City, when it’s August and still 90 degrees at 10 p.m., the heat during the day is so hot you can see it. So that was important to me, to figure out how to see the heat. As with Tobias, you also worked very closely with your production designer. Yes, I talked with [Production Designer] Mark Ricker about not wanting any trees in Chicago or anything that would soften the environment. It’s all cars, heat, buildings and concrete, versus the South, where the environment gives when you walk on the earth. When you walk on concrete, it doesn’t give; that hardness enters your body, the heat enters your body. And then in the band room I wanted the space to be as confined as it possibly could be, and spartan. There’s a door that leads to the recording studio and a door that Levee is obsessed with getting out of, and a ceiling fan that only partially works. I also very much wanted the space to evoke a boxing ring. A boxing ring? Yes, and instead of people throwing
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punches, the language becomes the punches and jabs they hurl at one another. At one point, Mark [Ricker] suggested adding a window. Initially I was against it, as I thought it might diffuse the sense of confinement, but once we tried it, the room became complete: the light from above like a Caravaggio painting, where the background is dark and the people’s faces are made almost, for lack of a better word, angelic, giving a sense of the celestial. In our feature story, Tobias and his operators talked about the camera constantly moving – as if, I assume, they were covering a boxing match? Yes. There are also four posts, supports for the ceiling in the basement, which are like the four corners of the ring. Originally the room was oblong, which gave the characters too much space; so I said, no, it’s a boxing ring. And it’s all in the language. Levee’s on top, but then Cutler throws a series of punches/truths/words that cause Levee to retreat to his corner. So
all that visual language is in play. It was staged that way and it was shot that way. August writes extraordinary language, and so I wanted to evolve a series of rules that would inform how to activate the language in a visually muscular way. You’re not saying, “Oh, that’s beautiful language.” You’re caught up in how people are hurling the language to get back at each other or to get themselves out of an emotional hole that they’ve fallen into. They’re rehearsing in this subterranean room, so they go at it, sometimes playfully and sometimes with a ferocity. The image of a series of boxing rounds became an interesting way of digging inside the material and making it viscerally potent. Did you rehearse, as you would in the theater? Before we started filming, I took two weeks of rehearsals with all the actors, which was valuable for building camaraderie and a sense of ensemble, and for digging into the language. And then once filming began, before each scene I would clear the
entire set [of crew], and take a finite amount of time with the actors, but as much as was needed to make them feel comfortable with what they had to do. Then I would bring in Tobias, the first AD, and the script supervisor. They’d watch it, and then we’d bring in all the crew. A lot of film directors don’t rehearse. For me it’s essential, because otherwise, you’re using up the day to figure out things with the actors you should have already figured out. It also builds confidence. Meryl Streep told me that when they did Sophie’s Choice, they would rehearse for X number of hours in the morning and then film in the afternoon. The actors feel grounded and have a sense of command about what they are doing, so that when you start filming, it’s about discovering the next level – it’s not about finding. In a few films I’ve done, certain actors don’t want to do that. That is their process. But I love rehearsal. It puts you ahead.
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DAR IUSZ WO LSKI, AS C , HITS THE ROA D FOR PAUL GR E E N GR ASS ’ NEWS OF THE WORLD, A F R ESH R E IMAGIN IN G OF THE ICONIC WESTERN. BY KEVIN MARTIN PHOTOS BY B R UCE TALAMON
Set recently after America’s Civil War, News of the World depicts the journey of Captain Jefferson Kidd (Tom Hanks), attempting to return a young girl raised by Kiowa Native Americans to her family. While Kidd travels the still splintered landscape of a divided West, he provides an essential service to the widely separated locals by reciting news stories, providing genuine information and fascinating stories from other parts of the world. Originally developed at Fox, the project shifted to Universal after Disney acquired that studio; and soon thereafter, director Paul Greengrass and Hanks were signed to reteam after their successful docu-drama Captain Phillips (ICG Magazine October 2013). While director of photography Dariusz Wolski, ASC, had never worked with Greengrass, the pair had met years earlier at Pinewood Studios UK, when Wolski was shooting Sweeney Todd and Greengrass was directing The Bourne Ultimatum. “After Paul sent me this script, we Skyped and talked on the phone,” Wolski recalls. “We all grew up with the iconic Western genre, and while this story is somewhat inspired by [John Ford’s] The Searchers, with the abducted-and-raised-by-Native-Americans angle, Paul wanted a modern, politically relevant take, as it is set after the Civil War when the country was still extremely divided. We’re visualizing this man traveling through a cross-section of America while trying to get a little girl back home. The film combines Paul’s trademark documentary approach with whatever it is that I could bring.”
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Given Wolski’s rich and diverse career, that “it” factor was substantial. Whether portraying extraterrestrial environments for Prometheus and Alien: Covenant, renegade seagoing life in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, or life below the seas in a naval submarine for Crimson Tide, Wolski approaches the material from the perspective of reality. “I like to avoid special treatments in terms of color or lens choice,” he shares. “This whole film was lit with hurricane lanterns because that is the kind of light used at that time. I’m a firm believer that natural light – when properly captured and properly augmented – makes for good photography. This was a performance piece, not an action movie. The story tells you what lens to use.” Wolski says he did not use wide lenses on close-ups “the way Chivo [Emmanuel
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“This whole film was lit with hurricane lanterns because that is the kind of light used at that time. I’m a firm believer that natural light – when properly captured and properly augmented – makes for good photography.” DARIUSZ WOLSKI, ASC
Lubezki, ASC, AMC] has been doing,” he adds. “Our lenses were occasionally longer when we needed to emphasize an aspect of the landscape, but there was no religion or philosophy behind it; it was just lensappropriate [laughs]. Establishing that scale was important because it helped with placing these two characters in relief against this vast landscape.” Utilizing a full 2.39:1 aspect ratio facilitated Wolski’s treatment. The Searchers notwithstanding, News of the World’s look was based on historical research. Production Designer David Crank extensively studied photographic [and] written accounts of the period. “I try to stay clear of researching other films while preparing for a project, so that I can approach our story with as clean a slate as possible,” Crank describes. “Our prep was structured with a long period up front for scouting, so Dariusz was with me for more time than was usual. This allowed us to find the look together in a more integrated way. I could figure out specific things Dariusz needed to avoid having to re-do things at the last minute. There were a lot of locations and problems that had to be resolved in economical ways; having Dariusz there for so long was very helpful.” As A-Camera Operator Martin Schaer
relates: “Dariusz wanted me in early, so there could be a discussion about what tools would be needed at any given location. While the script suggested scenes for a crane, possibly a remotely operated one, which is something of a tradition in Westerns, or having the camera mounted on a car so we could follow the actors in their wagon or on horseback, we ultimately chose a much simpler, handheld approach. That was something Dariusz wanted and was typical of how Paul liked to work.” Greengrass’ longtime preferred mode of capture – documentary style/cinema vérité –was a perfect fit with Schaer’s experience. “When Paul found out I had worked with the Maysles Brothers [Gimme Shelter, Gray Gardens], I knew right away, the shooting style would be intuition-based, meaning Paul would set things up and roll without any rehearsing,” Schaer adds. “You could shoot for a half-hour straight, and at the end of that time, he might step in and tell us, ‘Guys, this isn’t happening,’ and we’d have to try something else. Sometimes we’d get something unexpected that he liked. Either way, we knew that [B-Camera/ Steadicam Operator] James Goldman [SOC] and I were going to be carrying the camera on our shoulders all the time. This also meant that the camera and grip departments were going
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to be working closely to come up with the right type of support gear; for example, devising rigs out of what was at hand.” Wolski shot the New Mexico-based production with two ARRI Mini LF’s, augmented with a 4K ARRI LF, because, as he explains, “the larger sensor, combined with the [Panavision] Sphero 65 lenses, gives a shallower depth of field. Also, when shooting in low light levels, the Panavision Vintage 65 lenses softened the image. It wasn’t as extreme as what we’d get with the ARRI 65 or RED 8K, but I think 4K gives you plenty of information; anything more is just too sharp,” he shares. The project was prepped at Panavision Woodland Hills, with firmware updates for the cameras arriving from ARRI right up until the start of shooting. Most of Wolski’s team has been with him for years. “I’ve worked with the same DIT [Ryan Nguyen] on about ten different pictures,” he states. “Basically, Ryan is the one who
introduced me to digital capture. Some people make LUT’s so complicated, while we try to use what the camera gives us – in this case, the standard ARRI LUT. We might play some aspects warmer or cooler, but that’s about as far as I’d go with it; it’s very subtle.” Color figured prominently in scenes where atmospherics were a factor. “The script had torrential rainstorms as well as dust storms, so we knew there would be a lot of moving gear in dirt and mud,” recounts 1st AC Danny Ming. “The environment of the Old West was not comfortable. A lot of the movie is about showing them moving from one place to another, frequently by horsedrawn wagon, so we had several rigs, from just freeriding in an old wagon to tow rigs from the front. We were frequently running around with 7-inch monitors on Preston handsets with Light Ranger overlays we could switch to when it was hard to be in a good place to see what was going on.” As Schaer observes: “Dariusz lights simply with small sources, so focus pulling becomes
WOLSKI (BELOW ON SET) WHO’S WORKED WITH THE SAME DIT, RYAN NGUYEN FOR 10 YEARS, SAYS “SOME PEOPLE MAKE LUT’S SO COMPLICATED, WHILE WE TRY TO USE WHAT THE CAMERA GIVES US. WE MIGHT PLAY SOME ASPECTS WARMER OR COOLER, BUT THAT’S ABOUT AS FAR AS WE GO; IT’S VERY SUBTLE.”
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very important in night and interior low-light sequences. He doesn’t fight the light; he works with it. If the light changes throughout the day, he might add a fill card, but he doesn’t fuss around overdoing things and slowing the shoot down.” With Greengrass’ dictate to “be real and treat the characters and environment as real,” Schaer and Goldman depended on the grip department to develop quick and simple solutions. “During the escape from Dallas, there was some fast riding where we used tracking vehicles, but that was about the only time we needed anything of that nature,” Wolski acknowledges. “Even the shootout in the mountains was all handheld and Steadicam, so having two great operators was key to this film. When Tom and the little girl [12-year-old German actress Helena Zengel] are on the wagon, it is all about the performances. They’re rarely moving that fast in the wagon, so we’d usually just put it up on a little trailer, with enough room for our operators to be handheld. For wider shots, we used walking Steadicam. We’d shoot a wide over and a tighter lens, both
looking in a single direction. The reverses were done the same way. That gave the actors the freedom to do their work.” Schaer cites a Dodge Ram pickup truck that was converted with Speedrail into a camera car to hold him and Goldman. “We strapped in and tried to hold ourselves as steady as possible while filming the wagon. The routes chosen were unbelievably bumpy, and sometimes when we thought the action and movement made a take unusable, Paul loved it! The shakiness draws attention, for sure, but once the style is established you just buy into the experience.” Schaer says the team trusted in Wolski to step in if things got too rough. “James and I split the A and B camera; there was no distinction in most scenes, “ Schaer continues. “James is very physically there and great on Steadicam, so I had him do the most active shots. Darius and I have always avoided overengineering things. If it works to put the camera on a vacuum cleaner, great. And that mindset worked well for Paul’s approach.”
Hanks’ character would sometimes deliver news of the world in town meeting halls, so Production used local Western town sets that served as interiors and exteriors. “They were generic finds,” Wolski recalls, “so the art department had to rework them to serve our needs. Paul was adamant about not having any bar scenes. When Tom did a reading indoors, we took all the bar aspects out of an existing saloon.” Modifying a Western town locale obviated the need for traditional studio interiors, and as Crank reports, “we had no stage work. All our interiors were built or altered within the structures of our exterior sets.” Crank says the approach helped give the film a real, gritty look, and when called for, action to be shot continuously between the interior and the exterior. But it also meant only a limited amount of cover sets available. “Fortunately, the weather was rather consistent during filming,” Crank adds, “so while there were a few times of unexpected rain and snow, we weren’t constantly facing bad weather
elements. When we did, we were able to make them work in our favor.” Between beauty shots of New Mexico’s famously stunning landscapes, and vehicles, and various action beats, it became evident a second unit was necessary. Schaer remembers that “it isn’t Paul’s preference to give away shots, but Dariusz warned me I might have to take on running a second unit, which happened two-thirds of the way through. “Having somebody who had been with first unit up to that point was important for continuity,” he continues, “plus I already had the Maysles experience, which was the best way for Paul’s language to be maintained. It would have looked like a different movie if they’d just put in a stunt guy to direct the action and have a technically minded guy as DP. I had my operators, though I did some operating as well. We used a local crew exclusively, and I found the seasoned New Mexico team to be very good.” Second unit action wasn’t just about capturing a range of angles on action scenes.
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DIRECTOR PAUL GREENGRASS WITH TOM HANKS ON SET
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“Paul isn’t necessarily about getting a textbook image of the stunt, but instead how the character reacts to what is happening,” Schaer elaborates. “So you aren’t necessarily trying to capture a character’s amazing fall, but the emotional impact. That means I’ve got to let the stunt guys know that when it comes time to push the cart by hand, they need to look like Tom Hanks is struggling to do it. Communicating with the various departments means you sometimes have to be more of a politician than a technician, and that’s true whether you’re a DP, operator, or gaffer. It can’t be a matter of doing it this way because ‘that’s how we always do it.” News of the World was color-graded at Company 3 Santa Monica by another regular Wolski collaborator, Stephen Nakamura. “Stephen knows exactly what I can do in color,” Wolski describes. “And that allows him to focus on the aspects of the photography that need to be captured on set for the best result. We’ve gotten to the point where we hardly have to talk about the work in advance. I know he’s going to give me a great ‘negative’ to work with, and he knows I’m going to take it where it should naturally go.” Nakamura, who utilized Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve 16, describes the project as “one of the simplest jobs” he’s done in a while because “it was so beautifully lit and staged. The only tricky part was some day-fornight work,” he notes, “which benefited from a lot of secondary corrections, primarily lumakeying different portions of the frame and making subtle adjustments to compensate for the contrast and the shadows that you just
can’t fully control in-camera. “It’s something Darius and I have done a number of times, where we can get day-for-night to a look we’re both happy with.” COVID-19 issues meant the DI was done with social distancing and face-covering mandates, and Wolski or Greengrass reviewing the grading process. Also, Nakamura, his assistant, and the engineering staff could not occupy the theater at the same time. The colorist also made a discovery that surprised and delighted Wolski. “Stephen found that iPhones and iPads have the best color reproduction,” the Camerimage Award-winning Director of Photography reveals. “Everybody spends so much effort calibrating the monitors, but Stephen would send me stuff from his big screen to my iPad that looked perfect, right out of the box. I wish there was an across-theboard standard, but with different companies making different screens and determining their own settings, things just don’t seem to line up right. Wolski calls the brightness of consumer televisions “scary.” “I was in a store looking at the different screens, and they were showing my Pirates movie with a screen that was horribly set up,” he concludes. “The guy was trying to explain how the image looked just right, and my friend who was with me, took him aside to tell him that the person who shot the movie is right here! [Laughs.] Manufacturers seem obsessed with having things brighter and sharper,” he sighs. “So you have to work even harder to make sure your original creative intent is preserved.”
“ When Paul found out I had worked with the Maysles Brothers, I knew right away, the shooting style would be intuition-based, meaning Paul would set things up and roll without any rehearsing.” A-CAMERA OPERATOR MARTIN SCHAER
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EYES OF THE WORLD UN IT ST IL L PHOTOGRA PHER BRUC E TA LA M ON E MBAR KS ON A D USTY TRA IL TO D OCUM ENT NEWS OF THE WORLD. BY KEV IN MARTIN B AC KGROU N D PHOTO BY B R UCE TALAMON
Photo Courtesy of Simon England
Longtime Local 600 Unit Still Photographer Bruce Talamon began his career in the 1970s, photographing R&B artists like Donna Summers, Marvin Gaye, Bootsy Collins, and Chaka Khan. He shot tours for Earth, Wind & Fire and Bob Marley (the latter leading to his going on the road years later for Eddie Murphy’s Raw) before doing unit stills on various ABC TV shows, as well as Soul Train. While supplying Time magazine with editorial photography during the 1980s, Talamon captured a diverse group of films that ranged from Blue Thunder and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to Black Snake Moan to the TV miniseries The Pacific, executive produced by Tom Hanks. Talamon has also shot stills (including the poster imagery) on three features starring Hanks: Nothing in Common, Larry Crowne, and now News of the World. “I hadn’t worked on a feature in a while, but Universal seemed enthusiastic about having me,” Talamon describes. “Being on location in Santa Fe meant working in light that you won’t find anywhere else, but it was about as far from an air-conditioned Burbank studio as it gets. We all became familiar with REI [clothing], as the nights got cold and wet. Director Paul Greengrass loved dumping water on us.” Shooting hardships aside, Talamon says the strong leadership from Greengrass and Dariusz Wolski, ASC, set the tone. “I concentrated on Tom’s eyes and that stare, which reveals so much as he travels with this young girl through the Old West,” he adds. “Coming from an editorial background as a52photojournalist, myself a storyteller. DE CEMBERI consider 2020
But rather than creating my own new vibe, I’m documenting what is being created in front of the camera while trying to capture a bit of the dance done by the DP and director.” Talamon shot with a pair of Nikon Z6 fullframe mirrorless cameras, switching between 24-70mm and 70-200mm Nikkor 2.8 zooms. “You don’t need a sound blimp with the Z6,” he says, “and that opens up an entirely different way to shoot – more risk and a greater variety of angles because you don’t have to keep your eye to the camera. I could hold [the camera] well up over my head and still get the shot.” Another major key to Talamon’s career, he says, is his relationship with camera operators, whom he calls critical. “It’s a collaboration, but you can’t be pushed to the back,” he describes. “Make your presence known, not by imposing, but by respecting their craft and the conditions under which they are trying to get the shot. When operators see that you understand their situation, it can become mutually beneficial. It’s something akin to ballet. When it works, it is delicious and wonderful.” One such sequence from News of the World includes Hanks’ character being caught in a dust storm. “Somebody took a picture of me, [B-Camera/Steadicam Operator] James Goldman [SOC], and [A-Camera Operator] Martin Schaer during and after the sequence,” Talamon recounts. “We’ve got on masks and goggles, and the cameras are covered from the silt being blown through by the Ritter fans. Using auto-focus in that scene would capture the particles being blown or the rain
[instead of the subject], so I had to focus manually while keeping my other eye watching to see who is coming at me from out of frame.” Talamon insists that “if you don’t pay attention to every detail happening around you, that can lead to missing the small look or slight gesture that makes the shot. Being on a wide lens and in close with the film camera puts you inside the picture,” he continues. “I want to be shooting with the same kind of lens as the operator, capturing a similar perspective. If instead you’re way back trying to capture the same frame with a long lens, you’re not telling that same story. And if I do choose to set myself far back from the action, it’s because I’m trying to capture a wider vista that might be a great landscape or a view capturing the action playing out both in front of and behind the camera.” In either example, Talamon says the director’s enthusiasm and commitment to a film set the table for everyone else’s work; in that respect, Greengrass was among the best Talamon has worked with, a list that also includes Ridley and Tony Scott, John Badham, and John Singleton. “I saw Paul checking his notes in pitch-black conditions, as a flashlight aimed from over his head bounced back on his face,” Talamon recounts. “I captured that, and then made up a print and gave it to him on set, and he loved it. “I think about my career as a series of great adventures. I remember at one point calling my wife to complain about some little thing, and she interrupted me to say: ‘Please. You know you’re having a ball.’”
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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography Dariusz Wolski, ASC A-Camera Operator Martin Schaer A-Camera 1st AC Dan Ming A-Camera 2nd AC Dorian Blanco B-Camera Operator/Steadicam James Goldman, SOC B-Camera 1st AC Simon England B-Camera 2nd AC Jason “Blue” Seigel DIT Ryan Nguyen Loader Hillary Baca Camera Utility Truman Hanks Camera Utility John DeWolfe Still Photographer Bruce Talamon Unit Publicist Guy Adan 2ND UNIT Director of Photography Martin Schaer A-Camera 1st AC Willi Estrada A-Camera 2nd AC Ryan Eustis B-Camera Operator/Steadicam Juergen Heinemann B-Camera 1st AC Meghan Noce B-Camera 2nd AC Steve Whitcomb DIT Rohan Chitrakar Loader Miranda Rivera Camera Utility Julian Quiambao
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SIC TOBIAS SC HLIESS LER, ASC , RIFFS TH ROU GH TH E FILM IC A DA PTATION OF AUGUST WI LS ON’S TONYWINNING PLAY, M A RA INEY’ S BL AC K B OT TOM. BY T E D E L R IC K PHOTOS BY DAV ID L E E , SMP SP
Netflix's new feature, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning August Wilson play, part of his acclaimed American Century Cycle chronicling the 20th Century African-American Experience. It was produced by Todd Black and Denzel Washington, the latter of whom also produced and directed another Wilson film adaptation, Fences, shot by Local 600 Director of Photography Charlotte Bruus Christensen, ASC (ICG Magazine December 2016).
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The story centers on Ma Rainey (Viola Davis, who also starred in Fences), a blues singer, who comes to Chicago to record when tensions arise with her ambitious trumpet player (Chadwick Boseman’s masterful final performance) and the white management team, determined to control the “Mother of the Blues.” The film features a score from Grammy-winning composer Branford Marsalis, who was also present for the entire production to advise the cast. Washington chose Tony-winning theater director George C. Wolfe (Exposure, page 38) to helm the film. Wolfe had directed Washington on Broadway in a revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh. For his Director of Photography, Wolfe turned to Tobias Schliessler, ASC (Dreamgirls, Lone Survivor, Beauty and the Beast), who had worked with Black and Washington on Tony Scott’s remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 (ICG
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Magazine June 2009). Schliessler says he was nervous about the project when he first met with Wolfe. “I think most DP’s would feel the same,” he recounts. “Literally over half of the story plays out in a 23-by-18-foot windowless rehearsal room in the basement of a recording studio. The room was described in the script as: ‘INT. BANDROOM. BASEMENT. IT IS A WINDOWLESS SUBTERRANEAN ROOM. ONCE A STORAGE ROOM. NO AIR. NO LIGHT.’ I questioned, ‘How could I make this contained room with no motivated light from the outside visually interesting?’” Schliessler continues. “I knew there would be practicals, but for half the movie it would be one look in the same space, which felt daunting, to say the least.” Schliessler talked to Production Designer Mark Ricker to determine just how intent
his director was on not having any outside light coming in through a window. “We didn’t have a DP yet, and Tobias and I have the same agent,” Ricker remembers. “She said I should give Tobias a call and our fears were confirmed. Some 40 pages of script is in a windowless basement, and George was adamant he didn’t want a window.” “George wanted the four musicians to feel ‘trapped in the room,’ as if it were the underbelly of a slave ship with no connection to the outside world,” Schliessler adds. “Of course, this made complete sense for the story and was impossible to argue with. When I first met with George, I confessed I didn’t yet have any ideas on how to make the basement scenes visually compelling, and his response was: ‘If you already knew how to do it, where would be the challenge? So, why even do it?’ I loved that answer and knew I was in great hands.”
OPPOSITE & ABOVE: WITH MORE THAN HALF THE ACTION PLAYING OUT IN A 23 X 18-FOOT BASEMENT, WOLFE WANTED THE FOUR MUSICIANS TO FEEL “TRAPPED,” WITH NO CONNECTION TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. SCHLIESSLER DESIGNED EVERYTHING AROUND THE SMALL WINDOW PERCHED HIGH ABOVE THE ACTORS, USING A VARIETY OF TUNGSTEN SOURCES. “IF THE LIGHT WAS TOO HARD FOR CLOSE-UPS,” HE RECOUNTS, “WE’D COVER THE WINDOW WITH DIFFERENT DIFFUSION FRAMES.”
Ricker and Schliessler began scouting locations, including a room that had a small window up high. Ricker remembers saying, “Come on, let’s show this to George. Tobias had sort of given up, and just said, ‘No, I’ll figure it out. But when we showed George the space, we didn’t even have to point up at [the window]. He said, ‘That’s extraordinary.’ Tobias was behind him and his eyes just lit up! So, we got a little window in our set.” Schliessler adds that he was “able to play sunlight through the window, which fulfilled one of Wolfe’s main visual choices, which was to show the sweltering heat in the basement.” Wolfe justified the addition of the window by placing it up high in the set – a portal to an unreachable outside world for the characters. Without much prep time, Schliessler still managed to test lenses and filters. “I wanted to shoot large format or
anamorphic on the Sony VENICE,” he describes, “so I had Keslow Camera send us a set of Hawk V-Lites, Canon K-35s, Zeiss Supreme primes and Leica M primes. With the help of [Costume Designer] Ann Roth, we dressed stand-ins with the correct color tones for wardrobe and did proper lighting tests for interior and exterior setups. “Mark [Ricker] got me four-by-eight panels of paint samples and textures, and Set Decorator Karen O’Hara supplied a variety of practicals. I wanted George to see the pros and cons of each lens set, so I made sure to do extreme focus racks, with lens flares from the practicals. I also shot wide open to see how the different lenses perform in low light.” Schliessler also tested his “go-to filters” – Hollywood Black Magic, SFX, and Pro-Mist. “But at the last minute, I remembered using the Bronze Glimmerglass filter by Tiffen in combination with an antique suede filter on a
commercial I did that was flattering on darker skin tones,” he recounts. “I had Keslow add it to the test package, and it ended up being the perfect filter combination for the exterior scenes. For the interiors, I lost the antique suede and only used the Bronze Glimmerglass. The Bronze Glimmerglass gives a beautiful warmth to skin highlights with a slight blooming effect.” Schliessler and DIT Curtis Abbott took the footage to CO3 in New York to see the lens test on a big screen, as well as to create a show LUT with Founder and Company President Stefan Sonnenfeld. Abbott remembers that “Tobias and Stefan sat at length to discuss the look of the film. We had two show LUT’s – an interior and an exterior, even though we were only outside three to four days total. The interior LUT was also used in the tent sequence where Ma is performing, because that was at night.
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“Tobias was always thinking one step ahead. He would take care of stuff before we would get to the set. He’s an on-your-feet kind of magician, and the challenge is to keep up with him.” A-CAMERA/STEADICAM OPERATOR KIRK GARDNER
The only time we used the exterior was outside during the day.” For the choice of lenses, Schliessler ultimately decided to go with the Zeiss Supreme Primes. “We had planned a lot of focus pulls between actors, especially for the long dialogue scenes in the band room,” he explains, “and the Supremes had the least amount of lens breathing. Additionally, we wanted to use wide lenses for close-ups, and the Supremes had the least amount of distortion on the wider end. For these reasons, along with George not wanting to distract the audience from the performance with strong lens characteristics, the Supreme Primes felt like the right choice.” With eighty percent of the movie set in just two locations, sets were built on a stage at 31st Street Studios in Pittsburgh, PA. The facility was converted from a 19th-century steel mill, which, according to Schliessler, meant the stages didn’t have any existing green beds or lighting grids, and all the lighting trusses had to be hung from Condors. With the decision being made to keep the 100-plus-year-old brick floor of the former mill, laying-down dolly track on the chipped, uneven surface was difficult and timeconsuming. To solve this problem, Schliessler mostly used a combination of Steadicam, a 15foot Chapman telescopic arm with a remote head, and camera sliders.
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Wolfe also wanted four columns in the room, exemplifying the four corners of a ring in a boxing match, where the musicians hurled words like punches. Ricker and his construction crew found period timber with authentic cracks and weathering and hollowed them out so they’d be less heavy and more maneuverable. As Schliessler also wanted to be able to pull walls quickly for camera movement (using an M7 EVO head from Chapman-Leonard on a crane), the walls were hinged and slid. “The whole set was like a Chinese box, where walls were easily moved,” Ricker remembers. Chief Lighting Technician Robert Krattiger, who has worked with Schliessler on several projects, said the thirteen days spent shooting in the band room meant not much of a time change. “The majority of the movie takes place throughout one day,” Krattiger shares. “It’s always a challenge to mix up the look with so much time spent in one space and to look great in all different directions. “There were practicals, but only one true source, and that was the window,” he continues. “We built a softbox overhead using ARRI SkyPanels, to keep it on the cooler side. But everything else was tungsten. In the outer hallways we used LiteMat 8s, which were new at the time. Through the tiny window we had to jam a lot of lights to simulate sunlight coming in. Using the angles was fun, because multiple lights coming through a window acts as a cutter, so you don’t have multiple shadows on the wall.”
Schliessler designed the entire look around the window using 20K, 10K and 5K tungsten Fresnel lights and narrow Par cans. “If the light was too hard for close-ups on the actors, I’d cover the window with different diffusion frames,” he states. “It varied from Hampshire, Opal, and 250. For eye lights I used a combination of LiteMat 4s, 8s and Chimera Pancake lights right on the floor wherever was out of the way of the actors or camera. In some cases, the old-school Chinese lanterns with 250-watt photofloods came in handy.” “It was cramped in there,” 1st AC Wili Estrada relays. “Eight-page scenes with the Steadicam created this dance with the actors all around the set. Not one moment is the same, which was the biggest challenge.” Estrada used the Preston FIZ system in conjunction with a Light Ranger 2; however, he says sometimes the Light Ranger limited him because of all the movement from the actors and the over-the-shoulders, going from one actor to another. “When we were on the Steadicam I used the Cine RT, which they call the ‘Bug from Vancouver, Canada,’” he adds, “and that was awesome. In Studio Mode, I’d use my Light Ranger.” With Wolfe rehearsing with the actors without yet adding scene blocking (because the takes were so long), Estrada says that “basically, our rehearsal was Take 1 and we would just figure out where they were going. The scenes were run by [Chadwick Boseman] because he had the most lines. He’d show up
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SCHLIESSLER TESTED FOUR DIFFERENT LENS SETS BEFORE DECIDING ON THE ZEISS SUPREME PRIMES, WHICH HAD THE LEAST AMOUNT OF BREATHING AND DISTORTION ON THE WIDER END. THEY SATISFIED DIRECTOR WOLFE [MIDDLE IMAGE] AND HIS DESIRE TO NOT DISTRACT FROM THE PERFORMANCES WITH STRONG LENS CHARACTERISTICS.
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“I had so much support from Netflix, the producing team, and my amazing Local 600 crew. All of those reasons are why I was able to do my best work.” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY TOBIAS SCHLIESSLER, ASC
to the set and we’d say, ‘Where are you going?’ Sometimes he’d tell us; other times he was too deep into his character to respond. Branford Marsalis was always working with Chadwick on the musical authenticity, so we would say, ‘Let’s just go and see where it takes us.’ We always knew by our third take we had it nailed on our technical side.” A- Camera/Steadicam Operator Kirk Gardner says that with such a tight schedule, “Tobias was always thinking one step ahead. He would take care of stuff before we would get to the set. He’s an on-your-feet kind of magician, and the challenge is to keep up with him. That was the learning part: keeping up with somebody that smart!” Gardner recalls a moment where “we had to take a camera down a very small chute. Tobias attached ropes to a dolly on tracks and had the ropes spin above the Oculus head. The camera was lowered as the actor was trying to climb out. He had this great idea of using ropes on pulley systems, connected to a dolly on a track, and pushing the dolly raised the camera. George told us what he wanted with the action, and we were like: ‘How are we going to get down in this hole?’ And Tobias came up with this idea like he’d just done it last week.” For the tent sequence with Ma Rainey singing, Key Grip Bart Flaherty discussed different ways of going into her singing, including the use of a Cablecam. “We settled
on a ramp, hidden in the aisle of the audience, and everybody got out of the way as Kirk, on Steadicam, went up the ramp to get right into her face,” Flaherty describes. The lighting inside the tent was motivated by gas lanterns, tungsten bulb string lights, and simple footlights. A tungsten balloon was used to provide soft ambiance as well as some SkyPanels with Chimeras; and a small, 1000watt Dome Light with a narrow Honeycomb, designed by Krattiger, was used to give Davis’ character a bit more front light. For close-ups, LED LiteMats on the floor were used to augment the footlights. “George wanted all the shots of Ma Rainey in the tent to include the audience, further enhancing her intimate relationship with her fans,” Schliessler explains. For the exterior scenes in front of the studio, lighting continuity was imperative. Schliessler notes that his first instinct was to “hang a big overhead 40-by-60-foot diffusion frame over the entire set. Unfortunately, this idea would not work as there were highvoltage electrical wires across the street. Thankfully, my local key grip, Bart Flaherty, and his fantastic crew managed to keep the sun off the set using fly swatters with lightgrid diffusion on Condors.” “Maneuvering fly swatters in there was pretty tough,” Flaherty recalls. “We had four on a small street on the north side of Pittsburgh. We did a week of exteriors where the band gets off the L-train and walks to the recording
studio, and there are a couple of scenes that play outside the recording studio.” “Robert [Krattiger] used six LRX 18K HMI remote lights with ½ CTO filters on Condors to create the sun for the exterior scenes,” Schliessler explains. “George designed some beautiful shots with the [43-foot] Chapman Hydrascope crane that gave our exterior a large scope. The background was further enhanced by VFX, helping to evoke 1927 Chicago.” For the wide exterior shots, Schliessler says he leaned heavily on First AD Michelle “Shelly” Ziegler, “who fully understands the challenges of a DP and was able to adjust the shooting schedule to accommodate my lighting needs,” he raves. “To schedule it at the right time of day, and with the luck of the weather, I was so pleased with the result.” Schliessler says that he felt lucky to be witnessing, firsthand, such incredible performances. “I can’t be more thankful for the wonderful experience I had making this film,” he concludes. “It was one of those projects where you always felt everyone was working symbiotically towards the same goal. I had so much support from Netflix, the producing team, and my amazing Local 600 crew. All of those reasons are why I was able to do my best work. Of course, when we found out about the passing of Chadwick, our hearts immediately all sank. Working with him was an experience like no other and one that I will never forget. He was an unparalleled artist whom we lost way too soon.”
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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography Tobias A. Schliessler, ASC A-Camera Operator/Steadicam Kirk Gardner A-Camera 1st AC Willi Estrada A-Camera 2nd AC Matthew Gaumer B-Camera Operator Dino Parks B-Camera 1st AC Dan Schroer B-Camera 2nd AC Colin Sheehy DIT Curtis Abbott Loader Daniel Sotak Still Photographer David Lee, SMPSP Unit Publicist Cid Swank
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& LON GTI M E FAR G O DIR ECTO R O F P HOTO GR AP HY DA NA G O NZAL ES, ASC, MOVES IN TO T HE D I R ECTO R’ S C H AIR FO R SE ASO N 4 O F T HE AWAR D - W IN N IN G CR IME DR AMA. BY PAU L I N E ROGERS P H OTOS BY EL I ZA BETH M ORRI S
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It’s Kansas City, circa 1950. To keep a truce, two rival crime families strike an unusual bargain: Loy Cannon (Chris Rock), the head of the Black crime family – mainly migrants who have fled the Jim Crow South for points north – trades his youngest son Satchel (Rodney Jones) to his enemy Donatello Fadda (Tommaso Ragno), the head of the Italian mafia. In return, Donatello trades his youngest son Zero (Jameson Braccioforte) to Loy. The uneasy alliance works – until Donatello dies during routine surgery, and Josto Fadda (Jason Schwartzman) takes up his father’s mantle and attempts to stabilize the alliance. Enter Gaetano (Salvatore Esposito), Josto’s brother, who has built a ruthless reputation in Italy. And, as is wont to occur with this superlative show (led by its awardwinning executive producer, Noah Hawley), Season 4 of Fargo seamlessly melds murder, mayhem and chaos with stories of immigration, assimilation and social commentary. Hawley, who was the driving force behind bringing the production back to the U.S. from Canada, says “Fargo is so much of a show about America, and we decided this season we needed to shoot here. Canada is more like England. It just couldn’t look like any American city at this specific time. In Chicago, there are so many locations – turn in any direction, and it’s easily Kansas City in the 1950s.” Director of Photography Dana Gonzales, ASC, who has been with the series from the beginning, heartily agrees. Chicago fed his creativity as Gonzales probed how to bring Season 4 to life. “It’s all about finding the capture device and lenses that will best help us tell the story and photograph the texture and aesthetic we have in mind,” he explains. “This season, it was the ALEXA LF Mini, which dictated the choice of lenses.” Gonzales tested everything from vintage to modern glass. He then introduced different
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filters with color and diffusion qualities that would pair with the LUT he created with colorist Tony D’Amore at The Picture Shop and DIT Ryan McGregor. As 1st AC Chris Wittenborn, SOC, recounts: “I remember prepping the first test day at Keslow and seeing 100 different filters I had never heard of stacked in neat little piles, and the Zeiss Radiance Supreme prime lenses close by. The Radiance Supremes were great lenses from my perspective, as changes could be done very quickly, and their size and weight helped with all the gimbal work. They are sharp but not in a sterile way, and there’s also a smoothness in the highlights that’s pleasant with the large-format capture.” With cameras, lenses and filters chosen, Gonzales turned to the workflow. DIT McGregor says that “working with Tony [D’Amore], we traded LUT’s created through DaVinci Resolve to mimic vintage
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Kodachrome and Autochrome film stocks and development processes. Due to the specific color qualifiers for skin tones and primary colors, we had to break the usual on-set workflow and use the LUT before our CDL correction – that way we would not contaminate the qualifiers. The limited grading control on set forced us to get the color and contrast correct with lighting and camera.” McGregor says each ingredient of the recipe was essential to the final result. “If you saw the image with the Kodachrome LUT applied but without the special color and diffusion filters, it looked completely wrong,” he adds. “There’s no recreating that look without the filter package.” Gonzales asked Chief Lighting Technician Mike Moyer to determine the lighting package. Moyer says he went with strong single sources, with reflected fills or no fill at all, to “better control light off walls and to stay loyal to the natural sources in any given scene. I feel we were conservative in the number of lights we used, and
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because of the number of sets, we had improvised backings and what we saw out the windows,” he explains. “There was no money left for trans-lights in most cases, and we had to use creative shadow and color to keep the windows looking plausible. We used a lot of industrial mercury vapor lights rigged in theatrical scoops to create the green that dominates a lot of the exteriors.” For Season 4, Gonzales wore two hats: he would shoot episodes 1, 2 and 9 and direct 5, 6, 7 and 11. Guild Director of Photography Pete Konczal shot episodes 5, 6, 7 and 10; Gonzalo Amat, ASC, shot Episode 8 and Erik Messerschmidt, ASC, shot Episode 11. Paula Huidobro, AMC [ICG Magazine September 2020], shot Episodes 3 and 4. Gonzales also brought in his A-team of operators: Mitch Dubin, SOC; John Connor (who helmed the second unit); and Tim Milligan (who has been with the series since the first season). Gonzales treated Episode 1 as a pilot, establishing the period tones and new characters. “We started the season
with our main narrative, Kodachrome look, introducing the moral compass of the season in character Ethelrida,” he explains. “She narrates how we get to our 1950s period, starting with the 1800s immigration of Jews, early 1900s Irish, 1930s Italians and our Black American protagonists in the 1950s. Each period was photographed differently with changes in capture, filters and color correction. For the 1800s, we used a modified ‘hand crank’ Arri 416 camera and old Angénieux lenses with skip-bleached and crossprocessed Ektachrome. For the early 1900s and 1930s, we used a special Autochrome LUT with each period, using very rare colored filters that are no longer available.” At the end of each sequence, there is a transition back to the 1950s Kodachrome look “that utilized our special LUT and another very rare colored filter with strong diffusion concept,” Gonzales adds. “Another special treatment was photographing the black-and-white mugshots in the episode. These images were captured using the very old Astro Berlin lenses
DIT RYAN MCGREGOR SAYS THAT WORKING WITH COLORIST TONY D’AMORE, “WE TRADED LUT’S CREATED THROUGH DAVINCI RESOLVE TO MIMIC VINTAGE KODACHROME AND AUTOCHROME FILM STOCKS AND DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES,” AS SEEN IN THESE CHARACTER PORTRAITS, PAGES 80-83.
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“ Fargo is so much of a show about
America, and we decided this season we needed to shoot here. In Chicago, there are so many locations – turn in any direction, and it’s easily Kansas City in the 1950s.”
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/WRITER NOAH HAWLEY
on an ALEXA LF. This, paired with a special LUT, created stunning portraits, giving history to all our main characters.” Prepping with Gonzales was key to Pete Konczal’s efforts to sustain the look in his four episodes. “I came to visit the set during the first two episodes,” Konczal recalls, “and was very cognizant of Dana’s close collaboration with [A-Camera Operator] Mitch Dubin. The first shot I saw involved the camera starting on Loy Cannon’s porch. The shot faces the street, capturing Loy’s car arriving in front of the house, then follows him out of the car, walking up and entering the house to have a conversation with his wife, Buel. This happens as the camera stays on the porch, looking through the porch window inside. My first thought was, wow, Mitch just combined four shots into one, and it’s so beautiful.” Konczal says Dubin’s creative input was always apparent. “It’s amazing how cinematic and unconventional Mitch’s work is,” he continues. “There’s a motivation to his shots and a ballet between him and the actors. And it’s not just him executing physically demanding shots; it’s that he also understands where the camera needs to be to best tell the story. Mitch’s operating in the first two episodes set the tone for the entire season. Our camera team was so lucky to get him back when we went in to finish the last two episodes.” When it came to lighting, Konczal referenced a book of photography by Saul Leiter entitled Early Color. “Dana lent it to me,” Konczal comments. “What stuck out to me was how each photo focused your eye to a particular place in the frame. A big part of my discussion with Dana was that we would have to be lighting as if we were using a reversal film stock, with little latitude. We would be grading more in points of red, green, and blue, just like in the lab. Every color choice was made to work in concert with the look. A great example is the character Constant Calamita and his red coat. You are driven to him as his color separates him from the rest of the frame.”
As a director, Gonzales devised a challenging one-shot for Episode 5 that would start wide in the back of the club, facing a jazz band on stage, then move in tight on the piano player, drift over to the drummer, and come back to the trumpet player, and, in doing so, reverse the camera to face the audience. “The camera then continues to travel on to a tight two-shot of two of the main characters, who are in the back of the room,” explains Konczal. Moyer says it was a favorite shot to light. “We used theatrical Fresnels that would have been period in 1950, using saturated gel on 500-watt units that cost ‘bupkis’ to rent and were focusable. That was extremely rewarding,” he describes. “We also used amber, red and blue gels that were period-corrected,” adds Konczal. To achieve the camera movement, grips Art Bartels and Steve Mulcahey brought in a 20-foot Technocrane on track, with a Ronin as the remote head. “That shot was an amazing team effort,” adds operator Tim Milligan. “A- Camera Dolly Grip Mike Moad coordinated the shot between four grips. We were literally scraping the techno bucket up against the wall, wrapping around the trumpet player, revealing the room to have the techno bucket one inch outside the right edge of the frame, all perfectly timed to the music. I live for this stuff.” At the end of the episode is a dramatic scene between Constant Calamita (Gaetano Bruno) and Doctor Senator (Glynn Turman) at Spud’s Diner. Konczal says he and Gonzales knew it would set off a chain of events that impacted the rest of the season. “So we wanted it to feel iconic, timeless, and, most importantly, tense,” Konczal adds. “We decided to put wooden blinds on the diner windows as a means of visually isolating the characters and forcing them into that moment. This also enhanced our noir look, as the late-day sun created shafts of light, often silhouetting them. Dana focused the scenes’ point-ofview onto Doctor Senator and laid out a plan of coverage that allowed us to draw closer and closer to Doctor and Calamita the deeper we went into the scene.” Konczal describes a locked- off transition from late day into night that leads into a key emotional moment from Loy Cannon. “I had been using a good deal of Tungsten Maxi Brutes over HMI’s for day exteriors,” he continues, “and I think the warmth it added to the cool ambiance made the dusk scene very special. There’s a ‘Tell-Tale Heart’ feeling to the entire scene, and I am very proud of the look we created.”
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“We did that episode with a 99-percent monochrome finish, fashioned after 1950s Kodak Tri-X film with its special formula.” DANA GONZALES, ASC
For his episode, Gonzalo Amat was blessed with a big action scene, made all the more challenging by the limitations of shooting in an always busy Union Station. The action begins with Zelmare and Swanee fleeing the city, with Deafy after them. With the help of a police force, Deafy corners them. “Of course, twists happen when Odis arrives,” Amat explains. “We wanted to do something visually appealing that matched the real lighting of that location at the time. We would also have to provide enough stop to shoot high speed and all the way to a 5.6 for the Leitz Telephoto Lens system. Fargo takes a very interesting visual approach to violence, where it’s not showing the actual violence but depicting it more abstractly. That’s why we did a lot of camera movement, and high speed to capture the frozen moment in time and expand the suspense.” Moyer says they lit the scene with two tungsten Sourcemaker balloons. “We used Lightning Strikes to emphasize the gunfight,” he adds. “It’s a trick I learned from Michael Ballhaus [ASC] on the shootout in the final sequence of The Departed.
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“The balloons could be dimmed down, and I could get the color that I was aiming for, which was a very warm period tungsten mixed with a gaslamp look,” Moyer continues. “We put the balloons on a lift, so it would be easier to move and then not have the lines in the shots. We carried this color to the exterior, where we gelled all of the city streetlights on the block, and then added LED uplighting of the columns.” Amat says that for the moving shots previous to the shootout, “we used a dolly with a Ronin, which was a time-saver when it came to track or dance-floor complicated moves. For the interior and exterior, we had A-camera on a 50-foot Technocrane. It let us deal with the complex shots and with the blocking spread on two floors. We then had a B and C camera on dollies. The idea was to build as much tension as possible.” Gonzales and the team broke visual format in one stunning episode in the series by shooting in black and white. “We wanted to get a cinematic feeling of its own story – kind of an homage to The Wizard of Oz, with tornadoes, ending with colored filters,” Gonzales explains.
“We isolated the characters of Rabbi and Satchel and their escape from the Fadda family after Rabbi double-crossed them. His protection and education of young Satchel are most important. We did it with a 99-percent monochrome finish, fashioned after 1950s Kodak Tri-X film with its special formula. I once again created a multi-faceted organic and post workflow to drop the audience into a special narrative. We used the ALEXA LF Mini, Zeiss Radiance lenses with another cocktail of filtration, and special monochrome LUT’s created in Blackmagic Resolve.” McGregor says the LUT’s developed a Kodak Tri-X film look, again with special color filters on the camera. “With Resolve Live on set, we were able to adjust the color channels to selectively manipulate the contrast to brighten skin tones or darken the blue skies,” he shares. “We saved these looks as 3D LUT’s to import into Pomfort’s LiveGrade for onset viewing as well as DRX files so that Tony could further manipulate the look in the final grade. We had our dailies lab technician, Patrick Bellanger at Picture Shop, add film grain to further set the feel of true black-and-
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LONGTIME DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY GONZALES (ABOVE/BOTTOM SHOOTING PILOT) ALSO DIRECTED FOUR EPISODES IN SEASON 4.
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DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY PETE KONCZAL (SEEN LEFT WITH GONZALES DIRECTING) SHOT FOUR EPISODES IN SEASON 4. HE AND GONZALES KNEW THEY WOULD BE LIGHTING, “AS IF WE WERE USING A REVERSAL FILM STOCK, WITH LITTLE LATITUDE. WE WOULD BE GRADING MORE IN POINTS OF RED, GREEN, AND BLUE, JUST LIKE IN THE LAB.”
white film for the dailies and editorial files. “Dana used many color filters and ND grads in-camera to direct the eye and create the illusion of a storm that is brewing throughout the episode,” McGregor continues. “A favorite moment was a day exterior where Dana called to A-Camera focus puller Chris Wittenborn to add another filter.” “If there is one place you don’t want to be in February, it’s the central plains of Illinois,” Wittenborn laughs. “Temperatures in the low teens and winds so strong, they blow the snow off the ground into your eyes. A flat landscape of dormant cornfields as far as the eye can see and nowhere to hide.” Wittenborn says he had gotten about three dozen new filters for the episode, “and we didn’t have time to test anything. It was the first shot of the episode, a big wide shot on a 12-step ladder in the middle of a cornfield. Dana was in the tent on a walkie telling us what filters to drop in, take out, move here, move there, et cetera. He keeps adding filters, and we were frantically moving the trays back and forth, taping filters to the lens, turning grads up and down. When it was all over, we looked at the side of the matte box that holds six filters, and there were eight filter tags – we have all six trays full, one filter taped to the lens, and another to the front of the matte box. Eight filters! We were so proud that we were able to keep up and give Dana everything he asked for. Then, over the walkie, we hear him say, ‘Guys, how many filter slots do I have left?’’’ As if capturing Fargo’s fourth season wasn’t complicated enough, the team was hit with an unexpected curve ball when COVID shut them down with two weeks of work left. “Six months later, we returned with the
original crew and a complete second crew to shoot simultaneous episodes,” Gonzales reflects. “The industry safety guidelines were not yet available, so the production developed its own [strict] rules to keep everyone safe. With a little shuffling of production staff, they decided to split the block into two episodes with two directors. They isolated even more by setting up a complete location unit and stage unit – the actors were the only people going back and forth between units.” D i re c t o r of P h o t o g r a p hy Erik Messerschmidt [ICG Magazine August 2020], who shot the final episode with Gonzales directing, says that “safety was our chief concern. And fortunately, the protocols were very clear; and with the combination of testing and PPE, we all felt very safe and could concentrate on such a critical episode, as it’s basically where we kill everyone off,” he smiles. “We had large sections in slow-motion vignettes as the world is coming to a close for all our characters. It was a great opportunity to work in gestured light and a lot of shade. We wanted to be painterly with shaped and structured light.” Messerschmidt’s approach was motivated by practicals, often pulling walls for the vignetted masters, removing audience, and compressing the image with the longer lenses to give the shots a more two-dimensional look. One of the most striking exteriors is when Josto gets revenge on several enemies and lights a car on fire. “ We were on location near Lake Michigan, and it was drizzling and overcast,” Messerschmidt remembers. “We used the GF-8 crane and Ronin as the camera platform, on a 30- to 40-foot track, pulling a single shot. We timed it near dusk, and it was beautiful.” Messerschmidt admits that Fargo’s style
pushed him out of his comfort zone. “Dana gave me a lot of freedom within the specifics of the style he had set, so that was very exciting,” he adds. “We did an homage to O Brother, Where Art Thou? using the grade and filtration in the sequence where Josto and Oraetta are killed. Dana referenced the opening of Apocalypse Now for the sequence with Jason drinking in the Democratic Club. “For that, we put the camera on the dolly,” Messerschmidt continues, “and gave Jason (Josto) the freedom to look in different directions. This is where operator Mitch Dubin shines. He talked to Mike Moad, and the two instinctively followed Jason’s improvised movements.” Gonzales readily admits Season 4 of Fargo had its challenges, “with COVID being at that forefront,” he concludes. “No one had worked in a COVID environment, and defining the work protocol was both scary and inspiring at the same time. Everyone was committed and wanted to finish what we started as they were all true fans of the show. My camera department – Mitch Dubin, Tim Milligan, John Connor, Bella Gonzales, Brian Osmond, Chris Wittenborn, Hunter Whalen, Eric Arendt, Shannon DeWolfe, Ryan McGregor, Eva June, and Chris Summers – inspired me every day with their work ethic and smiles. “Set lighting – Mike Moyer, Natasha Major, Addae Shelby, Jerry Tran, and Sammy Bertone – and our grip department with Art Bartels, Steve Mulcahey, Ed Titus, Mike Moad, and Billy Allegar, just to name a few, made our success possible,” Gonzales concludes. “It wasn’t just a technical and artistic success, but a profound statement of the human will and what a Union crew is capable of when a once-in-a-lifetime crisis challenges every breath. That was the real heart of Season 4.”
GENERATION NEXT
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LOCAL 600 CREW SEASON 4 Directors of Photography Dana Gonzales, ASC Peter Konczal Gonzalo Amat, ASC Paula Huidobro, AMC Erik Messerschmidt, ASC John Connor (2nd Unit) Bella Gonzales Operators Mitch Dubin, SOC John Connor Tim Milligan Bella Gonzales A-Camera 1st AC Chris Wittenborn A-Camera 2nd AC Eric Arndt B-Camera 1st AC Hunter Whalen B-Camera 2nd AC Shannon DeWolfe DIT Ryan McGregor Loader Chris Summers
Digital Utility Eva June Still Photographer Elizabeth Morris Digital Utility Eva June POST COVID CAMERA CREW STAGE A-Camera Operator Mitch Dubin, SOC A-Camera 1st AC Chris Wittenborn
Digital Utility Eva June POST COVID CAMERA CREW LOCATION A-Camera Operator Brian Osmond, SOC A-Camera 1st AC Hunter Whalen A-Camera 2nd AC Shannon DeWolfe
A-Camera 2nd AC Eric Arndt
B-Camera Operator/2nd Unit Director of Photography John Connor
B-Camera Operator Bella Gonzalez
B-Camera 1st AC Betsy Peoples
B-Camera 1st AC Andy Borham
B-Camera 2nd AC Josh Ramos
B-Camera 2nd AC Ron Ruanphae
DIT Ryan McGregor
DIT Tom Zimmerman
Loader Mark Irion
Loader Chris Summers
Digital Utility Rinkesh Patel GENERATION NEXT
91
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IN O UR C O N T IN UIN G EF FO RT TO S POT L IG HT T HE C O N T RIB UT IO NS OF P EO P LE O F C O LO R IN T HE F IL M A N D T EL EVIS IO N IN DUST RY, O UR 2 02 0 G E N E R ATI ON NEXT PROFI LES FOC US ON LATI NX C REW M EM BERS, A D IV E RS E A N D W IDE-RA N G IN G G RO UP W HO TO O K CA RE TO PO IN T OUT T H AT B EIN G L AT IN O IS N OT A O N E-S IZ E-FITS -A L L C O N ST RUCT. THESE F IL M MA K ERS TA L K ED A B O UT T HE C URREN T EN VIRO N MEN T FO R LATI NX P R O F ES S IO N A LS A N D AT T EMPT ED TO DEC O N ST RUCT T HE L AT INX M O N OL IT H. T HEY HIG HL IG HT ED K EY T REN DS F RO M T EC HN O LO G I CAL A DVA N C EMEN TS A N D S PO K E O F T HE IMPERAT IVE FO R REPRES ENTATI ON IN A L L C L AS S IFICAT IO N S O F T HE LO CA L 6 0 0 MEMB ERS HIP. L E T ’ S M EET THI S EXC I TI NG G ROUP OF G UI LD M EM BERS. BY MAR GOT CA R M ICHA E L LESTE R
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PROJECTS:
SOCIAL
DISTANCE,
ANTEBELLUM,
PENNY
DREADFUL:
CITY
OF
ANGELS,
JACOB’S
LADDER,
THE
GIRL
IN
THE
SPIDER’S
WEB
01 Diversity isn’t just a term for Pedro Luque Briozzo, it’s a family affair. “I’m from Uruguay,” he explains. “But my mom’s family is from Italy and my dad’s is from Spain. My stepdad was Hungarian, so at home we ate goulash and homemade pasta. My wife’s family is from Scotland. It’s a real melting pot!” Luque Briozzo says seeing increasing representation in the industry is satisfying. “It’s a great moment,” he avows. “In general I’ve found that this amazing industry tries to embrace diversity. Our vision is welcomed and adds up to the general synergy of the industry. I think there’s still so much room for different cinematographic expressions. It will only make the whole group, the whole industry, better. As a group, the LatinX cinematographers have a lot to bring to the game. We need diversity!” Luque Briozzo works mostly in the psychological horror/thriller genre. His first film, La Casa Muda, a horror film based on a true story, was captured as a
continuous shot on a Canon 5D Mark II in four days. It was a success and was selected as Uruguay’s official submission to the Best Foreign Language Film category of the 84th Academy Awards (2012). “The challenges in horror films are the same as in any other genre – I feel sometimes it’s even easier than some other genres,” he admits. “But the thin line between darkness and blackness is one of the difficult things to navigate. The creation of expressive cinematography has a clear channel in horror because when fantasy mixes with reality, it’s like being given a pass to play with light, to communicate and express ideas. It’s just an extension of playing for me. The pleasure of creativity, the creation of worlds. I enjoy immensely the process of translating words into images. And also the camaraderie, the teamwork, the sense of achievement when a group completes a difficult task. And the ever-changing environment of a set.” Luque Briozzo also won a Best Cinematography Award from the UFCA for The Silence of the Sky. He
PEDRO LUQUE BRIOZZO DIRECTOR OF L O C A T I O N : H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
PHOTOGRAPHY | YEARS IN GUILD: L O S A N G E L E S , C M O N T E V I D E O , U R U G U A J E S S I E Y O U N
5 A Y G
finds the proliferation of screens both exciting and frustrating. “It’s great to be able to have access to content all the time but also we need to find new ways to express ideas that need to be adequate for each medium,” he says. “I always work for the big screen because it is what I like, but more and more those big wide shots are less used and we end up shooting a collection of close-ups. “Of course, I love a good close-up,” he continues. “But it feels like the dynamism is getting lost. In the future, I hope we will all be shooting with real HDR monitors, and every TV in the world will be a big HDR-capable awesome screen. I hope we get some kind of projector for cinema theaters that has a crazy wide contrast ratio and color rendition, and the blacks are real blacks. And that film is even more common and not a crazy choice. I think the need for good imagery and sensitive people at the helm won’t end. I’m not doing futurology but more wishful thinking.”
Shanele Alvarez, SOC is hopeful. “I’m excited about the open conversation and open realization of the need for more diversity on film sets,” the camera operator says. “And while we look for solutions to increase diversity, I hope that we find intelligent ways to properly give upper-echelon talent the opportunities to showcase their abilities regardless of what they look like. The LatinX community has created a successful subculture within the film industry through Spanish-language media. I would like to see those same talented individuals increasingly integrated into more mainstream film shoots.” Alvarez walks her talk. She’s on the diversity and inclusion committees of ICG’s National Executive Board (NEB) and the SOC, doing her part to make sure that new, diverse talent is nurtured into the existing film community. “Addition by addition, not addition by subtraction,” she says. “When I was a little girl, I watched a little production, you might have heard of it, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and I was completely amazed,” recalls the third-
SHANELE CAMERA OPERATOR LOCATION: H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
PROJECTS: SALUTE
TO
ALL THE
| YEARS IN GUILD: LOS ANGELES, R I V E R S I D E , E L I Z A B E T H
RISE, MUSIC
DANCING OF
THE
WITH BEE
puller and dolly grip to set up and execute a certain shot. Doing compound dolly moves are so much fun yet very challenging, but when we nail it as a team, it makes it feel that much better.” Alan Caso, ASC [ICG Magazine.com June 2020], first met Alvarez at a Women In Media event. “She struck me as someone who was knowledgeable about visual storytelling and possessed strong opinions on composition and lighting,” he says. He enlisted her as B-Camera on the Roswell reboot pilot. “She showed great skill and artistry in her operating and compositional choices,” Caso recounts. “So on my next project, The Rookie, I hired her as the A-Camera operator. Before too long, I could give her the concept of the shot and leave her to develop it. She also was able to coordinate the B and C cameras to make them all work effectively in concert. With these attributes, Shanele will enjoy a very successful career as an operator, and undoubtedly will become a director of photography sooner than later – she has too much talent to be overlooked. She is truly a rising star.”
generation, U.S.-born Mexican-American. “Following the video, they showed The Making of Thriller, and I knew instantly that I wanted to be part of a team that could make amazing art like this.” Alvarez earned a BA in Intercultural Communications from San Francisco State University and an MA in film production from California State University, Northridge. Later, she received an MFA from the University of Miami. Her first gigs as an operator were in unscripted, live, and corporate, where she earned a reputation as a handheld master. “The most challenging part about unscripted is that you must know the line like the back of your hand and how to dance with other operators, because you are constantly adjusting in an uncontrolled environment,” Alvarez describes. “The best thing is you learn to tell a story through camera composition and angles.” She’s since transitioned to more scripted work. “Working in scripted allows me to be more creative and collaborative with my camera angles on a shot-by-shot basis. I love collaborating with my focus
THE GEES,
5
YEARS CA C A M O R R I S
ALVAREZ
02 STARS,
KIDS
SAY
SOUL
THE
TRAIN
DARNDEST
MUSIC
AWARDS,
THINGS,
THE
STAYIN’ ROOKIE,
ALIVE: ROSWELL,
A
GRAMMY
NEW
MEXICO
03 “In our field, we have amazing representation,” asserts Santiago Benet Mari, aka “Chago.” “Some of the most recognized cinematographers are Latinos: Chivo, Rodrigo Prieto, Claudio Miranda, and many others.” But he cautions people from looking at these giants as a monolith. “Latin America is a huge region full of a bunch of different cultures with a lot of different traditions and ways of living,” he explains. “Our cultures are as varied or maybe more varied than the European cultures. I’m a Puerto Rican, born and raised on the island. We were a colony of Spain for about 400 years, then a colony of the United States from 1898 to today. That gives us a very unique cultural mix. We live by some of the United States’ ways and laws but still hold strong to the origins of our language and our own LatinCaribbean traditions. We have to hold strong to those roots.” Like many in the camera department, Benet Mari is focused on the continued and rapid technological innovation. “I love that cameras are getting smaller, although good lenses are getting bigger,” he smiles. “I also love the feel of full-frame sensor images bringing all that surrounding view to the image without the distortion of a wide lens. It’s more options to choose from. Every time you try a new technique or a new piece of technology is a very humbling experience, because no matter how much research you do, there’s always a tool of the trade that you only learn by doing and practicing.”
Originally a theatrical lighting designer, Chago picked up a few gigs as board operator integrating DMX technologies to film lighting on features shooting on the island. “I fell in love with the idea of doing narrative lighting outside the black box that theater is,” he notes. Chago’s older brother, Kacho, is a director who gave him a job carrying cables. “From that day on I’ve never stopped working on a film set.” He worked as a set lighting technician on local and then union projects for prominent cinematographers, “taking every break I had to observe their decision-making lighting- and camera-wise,” he recalls. “In between projects, I gaffed and then started shooting smaller projects.” Benet Mari has since won an Emmy Suncoast for Best Photography in a Documentary in 2012 for Sonó, Sonó, Tite Curet!!! and 2019 Best Cinematography from Short + Sweet for Blue Cape. “I love good acting, and every time we roll a close-up of an amazing actress or actor, it gives me happiness,” he reflects. “When I shot my first feature and did the first close-up on Martin Sheen, I have to say that it was a very special moment. Many close-ups have come later with amazing performers, and they keep me going. As a crew, we all play an important role in the creation machine so that it works as it needs to produce beauty. The purpose and intentions you put into every detail of filmmaking translate to the final product.”
SANTIAGO BENET MARI DIRECTOR OF LOCATION: HOMETOWN: P H O T O :
PROJECTS:
ANTES
PHOTOGRAPHY | SAN JUAN, SAN JUAN, L A U R A
QUE
CANTE
EL
GALLO,
THE
YEARS
OATH,
IN GUILD: 10 PUERTO RICO PUERTO RICO M A G R U D E R
START-UP,
SPEED
KILLS,
CORONA
LA
VIDA,
EL
CUARTITO,
THE
VESSEL
04
PROJECTS: FALSE POSITIVE, LIKE FATHER, AVA, POWER, LATE NIGHT, LIFE ITSELF, EVE, BULL, LAW & ORDER, LINCOLN, LOVE-40, MANIFEST, PASSING
needs to be there, or you’re in eyeline. This job requires spatial flexibility to make it work and navigate the set. That forces you to get creative. You have to find something you hadn’t thought of that works differently and maybe even better. There is always something to do to get what you need. Although it’s even more restricted now during the coronavirus pandemic, there is always wiggle room. You just have to be personable and understanding, and want to find it.” Since joining the Guild, Aragones says things are improving for LatinX members.
Although Emily Aragones studied photography at the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, she majored in Cinema Studies at SUNY Purchase and entered the business as a production assistant. “I had a good work ethic and enjoyed the work. But when people would ask me what I wanted to do, stills always came up,” the first-generation Dominican-American recalls. “Those producers and AD’s heard me, and when they had opportunities, they gave me one. You never know till you try.” Aragones’ first still photography job was the cruise ship and Jamaica scenes in the 2018 feature Like Father. One of the highlights of her career so far resulted from a couple of days of reshoots for The Photograph [ICG Magazine February/March 2020], where one of her shots made the poster. “It was pretty cool seeing it in the subway,” she laughs. “Emily followed her heart to switch gears in the film industry, which takes a tremendous amount of courage and boldness,” notes fellow Unit Still Photographer Anna Kooris. “She pursues and practices her craft outside of set for her growth and an outward awareness of what’s happening in the world, politically, socially, et cetera,” Kooris describes. “Emily has that inexplicable ‘something’ that I think one needs to be a great observational photographer; she is warm and welcoming, building a rapport/ friendship, but at the same time quiet and empathetic. She gains trust while fading into the background, as one needs to do on set.” Aragones says that “logistically, you can’t be where you want or where you could be to get the shot that would look great, because the set is small, equipment is there or someone
“Operators I know are now directors of photography, and DP’s are now directing,” she says. “Seeing their growth is great, but I know representation could be better. That comes with time. And with the new streaming services, there’s wider distribution for films and shows with people from different backgrounds and people of color. Before, you had to work hard to find something made by people of color. Now, I love that it may not be a huge show, but you can find something or someone, and then it starts popping up, like Issa Rae and Insecure. She started with a web show, and now you’re seeing her name everywhere, producing and writing and giving opportunities to others. “ That’s why Aragones encourages young LatinX people to consider a career in the business. “Filmmaking is something that can entertain, make a point, cause an emotion or capture a time,” she concludes. “Seeing somebody’s idea come to life is fantastic, and you can be a part of it.”
EMILY ARAGONES UNIT STILL L O C A T I O N : H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
PHOTOGRAPHER
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R
O
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IN
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, H
O
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3 Y Y E
The two highlights of Pedro Corcega’s career couldn’t be more different. “I got to key the 2nd unit for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, thanks to Craig Pressgrove,” the Venezuela-born 1st AC recalls, “and I played a small part in creating one of the most badass sequences I’ve ever been involved with – the motorcycle ninja fight on the Verrazano bridge. I knew while we were shooting that it was going to be awesome, but when I saw it on the big screen, I was blown away.” The other highlight: a tiny film by Director Jim McKay and shot by Guild member Charles Libin called En el Septimo Día. “It was a labor of love with a very small budget that showed me how it doesn’t matter the size of the project,” Corcega recounts. “If you can gather a passionate group of people, you can end up making a meaningful and important film. It was quite challenging at times but a very satisfying project.” Corcega has always been fascinated by filmmaking and was involved in theater and
PEDRO 1 S T A C L O C A T I O N : H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
PROJECTS:
LOST
GIRLS,
music, but he also loved science and technology. “Filmmaking combines the two in a way that was very attractive to me,” he says. He studied electrical engineering in Venezuela and came to the U.S. to study film at Full Sail University in Florida. He PA’d by day and shot video at clubs by night. He and his wife (who also worked as a PA) moved to New York, where Corcega landed a gig at ARRI/CSC. Corcega met Libin a few years later while day-playing. “In those days I was bouncing around doing second-unit DP work,” Libin remembers. “Pedro was a second AC at the time. I took notice of his brisk efficiency and calm under pressure. Pedro comes from a long line of top-shelf Local 600 members who trained at CSC. He also had a chill disposition and an easygoing sense of humor. I knew he was going places. I soon encouraged him to move up to pulling focus. The best technicians are storytelling collaborators. Pedro has an intuitive Zen grace in that respect.” Corcega says he values the opportunity to
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work his way up and aims to become an operator. “Sure, you learn some stuff in school, but nothing will be more edifying than working next to seasoned professionals and observing how they do their job. There’s so much more involved in being a camera person than your basic job description, and those things you only pick up by putting your time in.” Corcega is heartened by the ethic and gender diversity across many departments. “Of course, there can always be more, especially in the camera department,” he adds. “Most people interested in this industry are storytellers at heart, and the more diversity there is, the more interesting the stories can be. Our unique backgrounds and cultures can provide different perspectives and sensibilities to the craft. It’s about time we start paying more attention to their stories as well as the stories from folks who have not been represented in our union as much. I think we should encourage diversity in our ranks to enrich our craft but never to fill a quota.”
I N G U I L D : 1 G U T T E N B E R G , N C A R A C A S , V E N E Z U E L T E R T H O M S O
PARABELLUM,
HIGH
MAINTENANCE,
ESCAPE
AT
0 J A N
05
DANNEMORA,
THE
NIGHT
OF
ALEX RAMIREZ DIGITAL IMAGING L O C A T I O N : H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
TECHNICIAN | S A N J U A N , C A G U A S , L A U R A
YEARS IN GUILD: P U E R T O R I C P U E R T O R I C M A G R U D E
6 O O R
06 PROJECTS:
WRECKED,
FORCE
NATURE,
OF
THE MAD
OATH, DOGS,
STARTUP, CAPTAIN
THE
AMERICA:
BAKER CIVIL
AND WAR,
THE SPEED
BEAUTY, KILLS
Alex Ramirez didn’t intend to work in entertainment. He earned a degree in civil engineering from Polytechnic University in his home country of Puerto Rico. But he’s always been interested in production and loves working with cameras and computers. So he worked his way into editing and then became a music video producer for several years. “I survived that,” he laughs, “and after bouncing around a lot of departments became a video assist.” Working in that capacity on Captain America: Civil War led to a major moment in his career. “My kid bragged to his friends after seeing my credit on that Marvel movie. I’m proud of that honor, even when I was just a day player.” Ramirez became a digital imaging technician, a job he says shares some functions with video-assist operators, “and sometimes either group crosses the lines that have become blurry recently due to technology evolution,” he says. “I hope some clarification from all locals involved comes soon, so this confusion can be solved.” Having direct experience in so many different capacities has proven valuable on set. “We need other departments to do a good job,” Ramirez asserts, “so I know what I can ask from another brother or sister and what they need from me.” Ramirez’s regular DIT/digital loader work includes Eastbound and Down, StartUp, SEAL Team, and most recently The Baker and The Beauty. It’s also helped him keep his head when things go awry, as they inevitably do. After a day of shooting in the jungle, Ramirez was handed a full magazine with almost the whole day on it. “The magazine was damaged,” he recalls. “I have dealt with corrupted or deleted media, but this was physical damage; the data could not be copied. I called the UPM expecting to be fired because I am responsible for this, although I did not damage the magazine. I told him, ‘Let’s solve the problem now, and I’ll take the blame.’ After calling some people and following a troubleshooting process, [we could] recover the data. Things happen on set, and you are responsible for doing all you can to deliver that footage to post.” Working in an industry where you get ahead by your work, not your birthplace, is gratifying, but Ramirez says there’s still progress to be made for LatinX members of the community. “In recent years we’ve seen an increase in Latino DP’s being recognized by their fantastic work,” he notes. “I hope we keep getting more chances so young Latinos can prove ourselves in this industry.”
When Director of Photography Ana Amortegui looks through the viewfinder at the future, she sees a fairly idyllic frame. “I hope in five years, all races, colors, and genders are represented and given equal opportunities, and there is space for everyone,” she explains. Amortegui says it’s possible. “We are getting more chances, but we still need more,” the Colombia-born filmmaker offers. “We need support from the higher ranks. We need to be trusted and allowed to have access to interviews, get in the room, show what we can do. All of these things should not only be for LatinX but all races and colors, genders, and life choices.” Amortegui’s path to the industry went through professional dance and choreography with a stop at engineering school. “In my last semester, I got a job offer to be the dance teacher in a reality show for a Colombian network,” she describes. “After that, I started choreographing for network soap operas, TV commercials, and concerts; I also used to coach actors. Soon, I started to learn how to choreograph for the camera. All those days next to the DP made me fall in love with cinematography.” She worked with an American production that came to Colombia and then moved to the U.S. “When I got to LA, I had little to no money, nowhere to live, and couldn’t work [due to visa issues]. I didn’t know many people. Everybody, even my family, thought I was crazy and would never make it. But I knew in my heart this is what I wanted to do.” Amortegui graduated from The Art Institute of California, was accepted into Film Independent’s prestigious Project Involve, and earned scholarships from Panavision and ARRI to study cinematography in the Maine Media Workshops. “A cinematographer has to be a leader with great communication skills to be able to work with his/her crew and develop good relationships with everybody on set,” she reflects. “You have to be somebody who is a storyteller with an eye for beautiful and meaningful images, somebody with a heart who can also execute so those images can affect emotions.” Thirteen years since arriving in the U.S., Amortegui says she is living her version of the American Dream. “When a project I shot [Gente-fied] was shown at Sundance, tears ran down my face when I saw my work on the big screen at such an important festival. It was a dream come true.” And she’s not done yet. “I want in the next five years to keep shooting interesting and challenging projects,” Amortegui concludes. “I would love to have the honor to be part of The American Society of Cinematographers, surpass my own goals of what is possible as a filmmaker, keep doing what I love the most, live my passion...shoot!”
ANA AMORTEGUI DIRECTOR OF L O C A T I O N : H O M E T O W N : P H O T O :
PROJECTS: SINS
BLACK OF
PHOTOGRAPHY | YEARS IN L O S A N G E L E S , M E D E L L I N , K Y L E
LIGHTNING, THE
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BET
FATHER,
HER
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INTO
THE THE
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8 C A C O L O M B I A K A P L A N
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STORIES, SERIES
PROJECTS: CANDYMAN, MONUMENTS, THE CHI, THE RED LINE, SHAMELESS, PROVEN INNOCENT, CHICAGO MED
08 2 L H P
ELAISA VARGAS
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“Representation matters now more than ever,” attests Elaisa Vargas, the child of a Puerto Rican mother and Colombian father. “Latinos are the largest ethnic group in the United States, and there is an underrepresentation of Latinos in front of and behind the camera. Very often, I am one of few and in many cases, the only LatinX person on set. We’re a powerful community with stories that need to be told.” Vargas says she is gratified by the increase in roles for women and minorities, “but behind the scenes is a different story. There needs to be a systematic change within the writers, executives, and crew.” There’s also the myth of the LatinX monolith. “Latinos are defined by more than 20 different nationalities and come from all social and racial backgrounds,” she adds. “Each country has its idiosyncrasies and regionalisms, and that is something that can’t be ignored. For example, if we were to portray a character from Latin America, the accent should match the particular area or region of the country.” Vargas grew up speaking Spanish at home – a practice her parents still abide – and being bilingual and bicultural makes a difference in her work. “My extensive knowledge of this community has made me a critically minded yet sensitive individual,” she explains. “Being able to communicate not only within your department but having a general sense of knowledge of other departments, what they do, and how you can be an asset to each other in the future, is key. It’s been a useful skill for me when planning bigger days.” The AC has spent her entire career in her hometown of Chicago, graduating from Columbia College, where she studied film/video with a focus in cinematography. She began freelancing shortly thereafter. Today Vargas works regularly on features and episodic dramas, including Windy City-centered productions like Lena Waithe’s The Chi, 12 episodes of Easy, and the upcoming sequel to the Candyman film, shot by John Guleserian [ICG Magazine September 2020]. “I love that there is a sense of community within the industry here, perhaps because it is much smaller than in other cities,” Vargas posits. “As beautiful as it is to film in the winter, it is the absolute worst logistically and physically for the crew. We’re constantly fighting daylight and extreme temperatures.” Going forward, Vargas plans to get more involved within the community and become an established and reputable professional. The industry’s stock-intrade – storytelling – is an important and powerful tool for advancing ideas and uplifting cultures. “The creativity, ingenuity, struggles, and successes of our artists have inspired me to think of a brighter future for Latinos,” she offers. “The opportunity is here and now for us to go beyond limiting ourselves to sharing our culture through films that diminish our character. I encourage my peers to be conscientious, explore opportunities, and get involved. Change will not occur unless we make it happen.”
PRODUCTION CREDITS COMPILED BY TERESA MUĂ‘OZ The input of Local 600 members is of the utmost importance, and we rely on our membership as the prime (and often the only) source of information in compiling this section. In order for us to continue to provide this service, we ask that Guild members submitting information take note of the following requests: Please provide up-to-date and complete crew information (including that the deadline for the Production Credits is on the first of the preceding cover month (excluding weekends & holidays).
Submit your jobs online by visiting: www.icg600.com/MY600/Report-Your-Job Any questions regarding the Production Credits should be addressed to Teresa MuĂąoz at teresa@icgmagazine.com 112
DE CEMBER 2020
First Man / Photo by Daniel McFadden
Still Photographers, Publicists, Additional Units, etc.). Please note
20TH CENTURY FOX “911” SEASON 4
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOAQUIN SEDILLO, ASC OPERATORS: SPENCER HUTCHINS, SOC DUANE MIELIWOCKI, SOC, PHIL MILLER, SOC ASSISTANTS: KEN LITTLE, CLAUDIO BANKS, ERIC GUERIN, DAVID STELLHORN, ERIC WHEELER, JIHANE MRAD CAMERA UTILITY: PAULINA GOMEZ DIGITAL UTILITY: DUSTIN LEBOUEF
“LAST MAN STANDING” SEASON 9 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DONALD A. MORGAN, ASC OPERATORS: GARY ALLEN, RANDY BAER, DAMIAN DELLA SANTINA, JOHN BOYD ASSISTANTS: MISSY TOY-OZEAS, SEAN ASKINS, AL MYERS CAMERA UTIITIES: JOHN WEISS, STEVE MASIAS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: VON THOMAS STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: PATRICK WYMORE, MICHAEL BECKER
ABC STUDIOS
“GREY’S ANATOMY” SEASON 17 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ALICIA ROBBINS, STEVEN FRACOL OPERATORS: ERIC FLETCHER, MARCIS COLE, JEANNE TYSON ASSISTANTS: NICK MCLEAN, FORREST THURMAN, CHRIS JONES, KIRK BLOOM, LISA BONACCORSO, J.P. RODRIGUEZ STEADICAM OPERATOR: MARCIS COLE STEADICAM ASSISTANTS: FORREST THURMAN, LISA BONACCORSO CAMERA UTILITY: MARTE POST DIGITAL UTILITY: SPENCER ROBINS CRANE TECH: STEVE MCDONAGH STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: LISA ROSE
“JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” SEASON 18 LIGHTING DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN HIBBARD OPERATORS: GREG GROUWINKEL, PARKER BARTLETT, GARRETT HURT, MARK GONZALES STEADICAM OPERATOR: KRIS WILSON JIB OPERATORS: MARC HUNTER, RANDY GOMEZ, JR., NICK GOMEZ CAMERA UTILITIES: CHARLES FERNANDEZ, SCOTT SPIEGEL, TRAVIS WILSON, DAVID FERNANDEZ, ADAM BARKER VIDEO CONTROLLER: GUY JONES STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: KAREN NEAL, MICHAEL DESMOND 2ND UNIT DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BERND REINBARDT, STEVE GARRETT
“STATION 19” SEASON 4 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DARYN OKADA, ASC, SPENCER COMBS OPERATORS: RON SCHLAEGER, MARIANA ANTUNANO, BRIAN GARBELLINI ASSISTANTS: TONY SCHULTZ, HANNAH LEVIN, WILLIAM MARTI, GAYLE HILARY, GREG WILLIAMS, TIM MCCARTHY STEADICAM OPERATOR: RON SCHLAEGER STEADICAM ASSISTANT: TONY SCHULTZ DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREW LEMON UTILITIES: GEORGE MONTEJANO, III, ROBERTO RUELAS SPLINTER UNIT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRIAN GARBELINNI
A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION, INC. & WAD PRODUCTIONS
“THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW” SEASON 18 LIGHTING DIRECTOR: TOM BECK
PED OPERATORS: DAVID WEEKS, PAUL WILEMAN, TIM O’NEILL HANDHELD OPERATOR: CHIP FRASER JIB OPERATOR: DAVID RHEA STEADICAM OPERATOR: DONOVAN GILBUENA VIDEO CONTROLLER: JAMES MORAN HEAD UTILITY: CRAIG “ZZO” MARAZZO UTILITIES: ARLO GILBUENA, WALLY LANCASTER, DIEGO AVALOS
RODNEY MCMAHON, ANTHONY SALERNO JIB OPERATOR: JAIMIE CANTRELL CAMERA UTILITY: TERRY AHERN VIDEO CONTROLLERS: MIKE DOYLE, PETER STENDAL
“THE NEIGHBORHOOD” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTIAN LA FOUNTAINE OPERATORS: BRUCE REUTLINGER GEORGE LA FOUNTAINE, CHRIS WILCOX, KRIS CONDE CAMERA UTILITIES: CHRIS TODD, VICKI BECK ASSISTANT: CRAIG LA FOUNTAINE VIDEO CONTROLLER: CLIFF JONES
BEACHWOOD SERVICES
“DAYS OF OUR LIVES” SEASON 55 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: VINCE STEIB OPERATORS: MARK WARSHAW, VICKIE WALKER, MICHAEL J. DENTON, STEVE CLARK CAMERA UTILITIES: STEVE BAGDADI, GARY CYPHER VIDEO CONTROLLER: ALEXIS DELLAR HANSON
“THE GOLDBERGS” SEASON 8 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON BLOUNT OPERATORS: SCOTT BROWNER, NATE HAVENS ASSISTANTS: TRACY DAVEY, GARY WEBSTER, JENNIFER BELL PRICE, MICHELLE BAKER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEVIN MILLS LOADER: DILSHAN HERATH
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL PRICE, ASC OPERATORS: SCOTT BOETTLE, JOHN HANKAMMER, COBY GARFIELD ASSISTANTS: DARRELL HERRINGTON, DREW HAN, MARK SASABUCHI, GARY JOHNSON, ERIC MATOS, JOSH NOVAK STEADICAM OPERATOR: JOHN HANKAMMER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MIKE RUSH STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE WILDER
“SHAMELESS” SEASON 11
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANTHONY HARDWICK OPERATOR: SYLVAIN D’HAUTCOURT, KRISTY TULLY BOTTOMS ASSISTANTS: RYO KINNO, DARBY NEWMAN, DAVID BERRYMAN, TIM LUKE LOADER: MAYA MORGAN DIGITAL UTILITY: AMI MARISCAL STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: PAUL SARKIS
COMMUNITY SERVICE PRODUCTIONS, INC.
CALLING GRACE PRODUCTIONS
“UNTITLED MICHAEL CHE SKETCH SHOW”
“MARRIAGE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDRIJ PAREKH, ASC OPERATOR: HEATHER NORTON ASSISTANTS: TOSHIRO YAMAGUCHI, ELIZABETH CASINELLI, AURELIA WINBORN, LIZ HEDGES STEADICAM OPERATOR: JULIAN DELACRUZ DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: GUILLERMO TUNON LOADER: KATIE GREAVES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JOJO WHILDEN
CBS
“BULL” SEASON 5 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DERICK UNDERSCHULTZ, JOHN ARONSON OPERATORS: BARNABY SHAPIRO, DOUGLAS PELLEGRINO ASSISTANTS: ROMAN LUKIW, SOREN NASH, MICHAEL LOBB, TREVOR WOLFSON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEITH PUTNAM STEADICAM OPERATOR: BARNABY SHAPIRO LOADERS: NIALANEY RODRIGUEZ, REBECCA HEWITT STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID RUSSELL
“DIARY OF A FUTURE PRESIDENT” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LOWELL PETERSON, ASC OPERATORS: RORY KNEPP, SOC, PAUL PLANNETTE ASSISTANTS: JOHN C. FLINN, IV, JOHN POUNCEY, CANDICE MARAIS, DON BURTON STEADICAM OPERATOR: RORY KNEPP, SOC LOADER: BOBBY HATFIELD
DESIGNER: DARREN LANGER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KURT BRAUN OPERATORS: JAMES B. PATRICK, ALLEN VOSS, ED SARTORI, HENRY ZINMAN, BOB CAMPI,
LIGHTING DIRECTOR: MARISA DAVIS PED OPERATORS: ART TAYLOR, MARK GONZALES, ED STAEBLER HANDHELD OPERATORS: RON BARNES, KEVIN MICHEL, JEFF JOHNSON JIB OPERATOR: RANDY GOMEZ HEAD UTILITY: CHARLES FERNANDEZ UTILITIES: MIKE BUSHNER, DOUG BAIN, DEAN FRIZZEL, BILL GREINER, JON ZUCCARO VIDEO CONTROLLER: RICHARD STROCK STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RON JAFFE
“WHY WOMEN KILL” SEASON 2
BONANZA PRODUCTIONS, INC
“ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT” SEASON 40
“THE TALK” SEASON 11
LIGHTING
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC BRANCO OPERATORS: MICHELLE CLEMENTINE, QUENELL JONES, SOC ASSISTANTS: VANESSA VIERA MORRISON, JOSUE LOAYZA, KYLE GORJANC, JD SLATER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MICHAEL MAIATICO LOADER: COURTNEY DENK
COOKING UP CHRISTMAS, LLC “COOKING UP CHRISTMAS”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DUSTIN DIAMOND OPERATOR: BODIE ORMAN ASSISTANTS: STEVE WORONKO, TRENT WALKER STEADICAM OPERATORS: BODIE ORMAN, ALFEO DIXON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREA ACS
COOLER WATER PRODUCTIONS, LLC “BETTY” SEASON 2
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JACKSON HUNT OPERATOR: JOEY DWYER ASSISTANTS: MEGAERA STEPHENS, GOVINDA ANGULO, JOSH REYES, HELEN CASSELL LOADER: EMMA HING
“IN TREATMENT” SEASON 4 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN FIERBERG, ASC, ANNE ETHERIDGE OPERATORS: JAY HERRON, TAMMY FOUTS ASSISTANTS: MICHAEL ENDLER, DONALD BURGHARDT RUDY D. PAHOYO, MIKE PRIOR DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: TIM NAGASAWA LOADER: EMILY GOODWIN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SUZANNE TENNER
DECEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS
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CRANETOWN MEDIA, LLC
HORIZON SCRIPTED TELEVISION, INC.
NARROW ISLE PRODUCTIONS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: HOLLIS MEMINGER OPERATORS: PETER VIETRO-HANNUM, BEKA VENEZIA ASSISTANTS: AMANDA ROTZLER, DAMON LEMAY, EMILY DEBLASI, KRISTINA LALLY DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JAMES STROSAHL LOADER: TANEICE MCFADDEN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE RIVELLI
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LOREN YACONELLI OPERATORS: SCOTT DROPKIN, BROOKS ROBINSON ASSISTANTS: DAVE EGERSTROM, PATRICK BENSIMMON, ERIC GUTHRIE, CRISTY ARBOLEDA STEADICAM OPERATOR: SCOTT DROPKIN STEADICAM ASSISTANT: DAVE EGERSTROM DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JEFFERSON FUGITT DIGITAL UTILITY: GOBE HIRATA STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: EDDY CHEN
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: J.B. SMITH, GONZALO AMAT OPERATORS: BO WEBB, MATT LYONS ASSISTANTS: LAWRANCE GIANNESCHI, III, MATTHEW KELLY JACKSON, DOMINIC ATTANASIO LOADER: NICK CANNON CAMERA UTILITY: DANIEL BUBB STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JACKSON DAVIS
“YOUNGER” SEASON 7
CURMUDGEON, INC. “ALICE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ALEX DISENHOF OPERATORS: DAVE HIRSHMAN, JORDAN BOSTON JONES ASSISTANTS: WARREN BRACE, CHRISTY FIERS, LAURA ROBINSON, BRIAN PHAN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREA ACS DIGITAL UTILITY: BRODY DOCAR
DISNEY/FOX 21
“QUEEN OF THE SOUTH” SEASON 5 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ABE MARTINEZ OPERATORS: DOMINIC BARTOLONE, MATT VALENTINE ASSISTANTS: JASON GARCIA, DAN MCKEE, RIGNEY SACKLEY, ZANDER WHITE STEADICAM OPERATOR: DOMINIC BARTOLONE STEADICAM ASSISTANT: JASON GARCIA DIGITAL LOADER: ADAM LIPSCOMB
EYE PRODUCTIONS, INC.
“BLUE BLOODS” SEASON 11 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DONALD THORIN, JR. OPERATORS: STEPHEN CONSENTINO, GEOFF FROST ASSISTANTS: GRAHAM BURT, JACOB STAHLMAN, MARTIN PETERSON, KENNETH MARTELL LOADER: JONATHAN SCHAEFER STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: PATRICK HARBRON
“SWAGGER” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RODNEY TAYLOR OPERATORS: BODIE ORMAN, GARY HATFIELD ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER GLEATON, ELIZABETH SILVER, MARK BAIN, ZAKIYA LUCAS-MURRAY, ERIC EATON, MAXWELL FISHER LOADER: BRITTANY WILSON
FLYNN PICTURE COMPANY “RED NOTICE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARCUS FORDERER OPERATORS: GEOFF HALEY, IAN CLAMPETT, MARK LABONGE ASSISTANTS: STEVE CUEVA, JOZO ZOVKO, HAYDN PAZANTI, MANNY SERRANO, TIM METIVIER, ROBIN BURSEY DIGITAL UTILITY: SAM CHUN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JEROEN HENDRIKS LOADER: JEFFREY TIDWELL STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: FRANK MASI PUBLICIST: CAROL MCCONNAUGHEY
GWAVE PRODUCTIONS, LLC
“SECRETS OF SULPHUR SPRINGS” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEFAN VON BJORN OPERATORS: GREG MORRIS, BOB FOSTER ASSISTANTS: BROUKE FRANKLIN, RYOSUKE KAWANAKA, ERIC VANDERVYNCKT, MATT GUIDRY DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PAUL RAHFIELD DIGITAL UTILITY: DAN LACY STILL BRIAN ROEDEL
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“ANIMAL KINGDOM” SEASON 5
“DELILAH” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANKA MALATYNSKA OPERATORS: JESSICA LOPEZ, ASHLEY HUGHES ASSISTANTS: JAMIE MARLOWE, DANIEL TUREK, MONICA BARRIOS-SMITH, SAMUEL KIM DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON JOHNSON
JAY SQUARED PRODUCTIONS, LLC “MANIFEST” SEASON 3
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREW PRIESTLEY OPERATORS: CARLOS GUERRA, RYAN TOUSSIENG ASSISTANTS: ANDREW PECK, WESLEY HODGES, CORNELIA KLAPPER, KAIH WONG LOADERS: WILL FORTUNE, PHILIP THOMPSON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ELIZABETH FISHER
KANAN PRODUCTIONS, INC. “RAISING KANAN” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: HERNAN OTANO OPERATORS: FRANCIS SPIELDENNER, GREGORY FINKEL ASSISTANTS: MARK FERGUSON, EMMA REESE-SCANLON, MARC LOFORTE, GREGORY PACE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BJORN JACKSON LOADERS: KEITH ANDERSON, JESSICA CELE-NAZARIO STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: ZACH DILGARD, PAUL SCHIRALDI PUBLICIST: SABRINA LAUFER
KENWOOD TV PRODUCTIONS, INC. “JUST ROLL WITH IT” SEASON 3
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH W. CALLOWAY OPERATORS: KEN HERFT, BRIAN GUNTER, GARY ALLEN, JACK CHISHOLM DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ARMEN ALLEN CAMERA UTILITY: LISA ANDERSON, TERRY GUNTER, RYAN ECKELBERRY, ROGER COHEN JIB ARM OPERATOR: JOSH GOFORTH JIB ARM TECH: JEFF KIMUCK VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEITH ANDERSON BEHIND THE SCENES: DAVID LIZ, STEVEN PAUL
LIONSGATE
“BLINDSPOTTING” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TARIN ANDERSON OPERATORS: REID RUSSELL, JAN RUONA ASSISTANTS: IAN BARBELLA, ERIN NAIFEH, BRIAN FREEMAN, BIANCA GARCIA STEADICAM OPERATOR: REID RUSSELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: AARON PICOT CAMERA UTILITY: NICOLA CARUSO
MRC/APPLE/EASY MARK, LLC “EASY MARK”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHELLE LAWLER OPERATORS: ROSS COSCIA, SARAH LEVY ASSISTANTS: CHELI CLAYTON SAMARA, IGNACIO MUSICH, AMANDA MORGAN, ARTHUR ZAJAC DIGITAL IMGAGING TECH: PETER BRUNET DIGITAL UTILITY: LARRINA JEFFERSON
“OUTER BANKS” SEASON 2
NBC
“BROOKLYN NINE-NINE” SEASON 8 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: RICK PAGE OPERATORS: PHIL MASTRELLA, LAUREN GADD, JOEL TALLBUT ASSISTANTS: JAY LEVY, BILL GERARDO, DUSTIN MILLER, WILLIAM SCHMIDT, CHRIS CARLSON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: NICK GILBERT LOADER: KURT LEVY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JOHN P. FLEENOR
“CHICAGO MED” SEASON 6 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LEX DUPONT, ASC OPERATORS: FAIRES ANDERSON SEKIYA, JOE TOLITANO, BENJAMIN SPEK ASSISTANTS: GEORGE OLSON, KEITH HUEFFMEIER, SAM KNAPP, PATRICK DOOLEY, JOEY RICHARDSON, MATT BROWN STEADICAM OPERATOR: FAIRES ANDERSON SEKIYA LOADER: CHRIS SUMMERS UTILITY: ELIJAH WILBORN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ELIZABETH SISSON
“CHICAGO PD” SEASON 7 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES ZUCAL OPERATORS: VICTOR MACIAS, DARRYL MILLER, SETH THOMAS ASSISTANTS: JOHN YOUNG, DON CARLSON, DAVID WIGHTMAN, JAMISON ACKER, KYLE BELOUSEK, NICK WILSON STEADICAM OPERATOR: VICTOR MACIAS LOADER: MARION TUCKER DIGITAL UTILITIES: CHRIS POLMANSKI, STEVE CLAY
“F.B.I.” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARC RITZEMA OPERATORS: AFTON GRANT, JAMIE SILVERSTEIN ASSISTANTS: LEE VICKERY, YURI INOUE, GEORGE LOOKSHIRE, NKEM UMENYI STEADICAM OPERATOR: AFTON GRANT LOADERS: RAUL MARTINEZ, CONNOR LYNCH
“GOOD GIRLS” SEASON 4 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON OLDAK OPERATORS: MIKA LEVIN, BRIAN OUTLAND, SHELLY GURZI ASSISTANTS: JOHN RUIZ, PATRICK BLANCHET, JENNA HOFFMAN, ROBYN BUCHANAN, CARTER SMITH, JONNIE MENTZER LOADER: MATT SCHOUTEN STEADICAM OPERATOR: MIKA LEVIN STEADICAM ASSISTANT: JOHN RUIZ CAMERA UTILITY: GLEN LANDRY DIGITAL UTILITY: DEEPAK ADHIKARY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JORDIN ALTHAUS
“NEW AMSTERDAM” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREW VOEGELI OPERATORS: SCOTT TINSLEY, GARETH MANWARING ASSISTANTS: PEDRO CORCEGA, JAMES MADRID, MATTHEW MONTALTO, ROBERT WRASE LOADERS: ANABEL CAICEDO, KATHERINE RIVERA
“RUTHERFORD FALLS” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ROSS RIEGE OPERATORS: RON BALDWIN, PATRIK THELANDER, APRIL KELLY
ASSISTANTS: BIANCA BAHENA, TYLER ALLISON, ALAINA MCMANUS, VANESSA WARD, ALDO PORRAS, JR., MIMI PHAN STEADICAM OPERATOR: RON BALDWIN LOADER: BRIAN WINIKOFF CAMERA UTILITY: CHRIS DE LA RIVA TECHNOCRANE OPERATOR: NAZARIY HATAK TECHNOCRANE TECH: BRIAN LOVE REMOTE HEAD TECH/OPERATOR: JAY SHEVECK STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: COLLEEN E. HAYES
“TICK, TICK...BOOM!”
NETFLIX PRODUCTIONS, LLC
ORANGE CONE PRODUCTIONS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TIMOTHY IVES OPERATORS: MARK SCHMIDT, CHARLIE LIBIN, PETER AGLIATA ASSISTANTS: ADRIANA BRUNETTO-LIPMAN, ROSSANA RIZZO, ANDREW HAMILTON, MARC LOFORTE, MIKE SWEARINGEN, COREY LICAMELI LOADERS: AMBER MATHES, WILLIE CHING
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN SMITH, MICHAEL KARASICK OPERATORS: BRIAN DAVIS, SOC, STEWART SMITH, SOC ASSISTANTS: GERAN DANIELS, KELLY POOR, BENJAMIN EADES, SAGAR DESAI STEADICAM OPERATOR: STEWART SMITH, SOC DIGITA IMAGING TECH: BILL MUELLER LOADER: JESSE EAGLE DIGITAL UTILITIES: AMANDA KOPEC, EMILY GIBSON
“HALSTON” SEASON 1
“METAL LORDS” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANETTE HAELLMIGK OPERATORS: COLIN HUDSON, MATT MORIARTY ASSISTANTS: KYRIL CVETKOV, JERRY TURNER, MIKE CROCKETT, PATRICK LAVALLEY STEADICAM OPERATOR: COLIN HUDSON STEADICAM ASSISTANT: KYRIL CVETKOV DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: SEAN RAWLS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SCOTT PATRICK GREEN
“THE HARDER THEY FALL” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MIHAI MALAIMARE OPERATOR: DAVE CHAMEIDES ASSISTANTS: SHAUN MAYOR, LIZA BAMBENEK, MARCUS DEL NEGRO, KATY JONES STEADICAM OPERATOR: DAVE CHAMEIDES DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ELI BERG LOADER: JASMINE HARVEY DIGITAL UTILITY: OSCAR CIFUENTES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID LEE PUBLICIST: CLAIRE RASKIND
“THE UPSHAWS” SEASON 1 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DONALD A. MORGAN, ASC, CHUCK OZEAS OPERATORS: KEVIN HAGGERTY, VINCE SINGLETARY, DON DAVIS, CHRIS WILCOX ASSISTANT: AL MYERS CAMERA UTILITIES: JOHN WEISS, WILL BROWN VIDEO CONTROLLER/DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: VON THOMAS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ALICE BROOKS OPERATORS: MICHAEL FUCHS, SOC, STANLEY FERNANDEZ, JR. ASSISTANTS: BRADLEY GRANT, GAVIN FERNANDEZ, SUREN KARAPETYAN, CONNIE HUANG DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ABBY LEVINE DIGITAL UTILITY: MATTHEW INFANTE LOADER: KYLE TERBOSS STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MACALL POLAY
“LEGACIES” SEASON 3
PACIFIC 2/1 ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC.
“AMERICAN CRIME STORY: IMPEACHMENT” SEASON 4 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SIMON DENNIS, BSC OPERATORS: ERIC SCHILLING, JAMIE STERBA ASSISTANTS: DAVID LEB, NATHAN CRUM, JARED WILSON STEADICAM OPERATOR: ERIC SCHILLING DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: SPENCER SHWETZ DIGITAL UTILITY: SHANNON VAN METRE
LOADER: ALEC FREUND STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: SARAH SHATZ
ROCART, INC.
“SIDE HUSTLE” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL FRANKS OPERATORS: GEORGE LA FOUNTAINE, KRIS CONDE, ELI FRANKS, BOB MCCALL TECHNOJIB OPERATOR: ELI FRANKS TECHNOJIB TECH: COREY GIBBONS ASSISTANT: VERONICA DAVIDSON CAMERA UTILITIES: ERINN BELL, RICHARD FINE, CHRIS COBB DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DEREK LANTZ VIDEO CONTROLLER: BARRY LONG
SAN VICENTE PRODUCTIONS, INC. “THE BLACKLIST” SEASON 8
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: SAADE MUSTAFA, MICHAEL CARACCIOLO OPERATORS: DEREK WALKER, DEVIN LADD, PETER RENIERS ASSISTANTS: DANIEL CASEY, MIKE GUASPARI, JAMES GOURLEY, EDGAR VELEZ, EDWIN HERRERA, KATHERYN IUELE STEADICAM OPERATOR: DEVIN LADD STEADICAM ASSISTANT: MIKE GUASPARI LOADERS: HAROLD ERKINS, MARK BOYLE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: WILL HART
SCRAP PAPER PICTURES “YEARLY DEPARTED”
PICROW STREAMING, INC. “MODERN LOVE” SEASON 2
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: YARON ORBACH OPERATORS: PHILIP MARTINEZ, LUCAS OWEN ASSISTANTS: WARIS SUPANPONG, BECKI HELLER, RANDY SCHWARTZ, NATHALIE RODRIGUEZ LOADERS: MATEO GONZALEZ, BRIAN M. LYNCH
RANDOM PRODUCTIONS, LLC
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PAULA HUIDOBRO OPERATORS: DAVID KISTER, BONNIE BLAKE, LAUREN GADD, JAMIE STEPHENS ASSISTANTS: AL COHEN, PENNY SPRAGUE, ROSIE OXNARD, MICHELE MCKINLEY, YEN NGUYEN, YOSHIHIRO KINOSHITA, JONATHAN STROMBERG, BEN PERRY, LOREN AZLEIN, JOEL FLETCHER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: IAN SPOHR DIGITAL UTILITIES: WALLACE DIXON, GLENN AMPIL, TIM BALCOMB STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: NICOLE WILDER
“MARE OF EASTTOWN” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN RICHARDSON OPERATORS: STEVEN FINESTONE, ALEX KORNREICH ASSISTANTS: KALI RILEY, ZACH RUBIN, ANDY HENSLER, SARA BORDMAN
DECEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS
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SHOWTIME PICTURES
THIMBLE PEA PICTURES, LLC
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOSEPH COLLINS OPERATORS: EDGAR COLON, ERIC ROBINSON ASSISTANTS: JOHN REEVES, SCOTT KOENIGSBERG, SARAH SCRIVENER, MARC CHARBONNEAU DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JEFFREY HAGERMAN LOADERS: BRITTANY JELINSKI, MAX COLLINS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TIMOTHY NORMAN OPERATORS: GEORGE BIANCHINI, GREGORY PRINCIPATO ASSISTANTS: ROBERT MANCUSO, NICHOLAS HAHN, JUSTIN MANCUSO, EVE STRICKMAN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DOUGLAS HORTON LOADER: JONATHAN PERALTA STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: NICOLE RIVELLI, LIZ FISHER, CHRIS SAUNDERS
“CITY ON A HILL” SEASON 2
SONY
“CALL YOUR MOTHER” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GARY BAUM, ASC OPERATORS: EDDIE FINE, RON HIRSCHMAN, DEBORAH O’BRIEN, DAVID DECHANT, BRIAN GUNTER ASSISTANT: JASON HERRING VIDEO CONTROLLER: DEREK LANTZ UTILITIES: RICHIE FINE, DAN LORENZE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JESSICA BROOKS
“JEOPARDY!” SEASON 36 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC, MIKE TRIBBLE, JEFF SCHUSTER, L. DAVID IRETE JIB ARM OPERATOR: MARC HUNTER HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON VIDEO CONTROLLER: GARY TAILLON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROL KAELSON
“UNTITLED ANNA DELVEY ART PROJECT” SEASON 1
TOPANGA PRODUCTIONS, INC. “FOR LIFE” SEASON 2
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CLIFF CHARLES OPERATORS: ELI ARONOFF, RICARDO SARMIENTO ASSISTANTS: DEAN MARTINEZ, JELANI WILSON, KELLON INNOCENT, BRIAN GRANT LOADER: JAMES ABAMONT
“S.W.A.T.” SEASON 4 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: FRANCIS KENNY, ASC, CRAIG FIKSE OPERATORS: TIM DOLAN, RILEY PADELFORD, MICHAEL OTIS ROPERT ASSISTANTS: RYAN PARKS, TIM COBBS, THANE CHARACKY, BAIRD STEPTOE, II, LOGAN TURNER, GARY BEVANS, MIKE FAUNTLEROY STEADICAM OPERATOR: TIM DOLAN CAMERA UTILITY: CARL LAMMI LOADER: TREVOR BEELER
“WHEEL OF FORTUNE” SEASON 37 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFF ENGEL OPERATORS: DIANE L. FARRELL, SOC, L.DAVID IRETE, RAY GONZALES, MIKE TRIBBLE CAMERA UTILITY: RAY THOMPSON HEAD UTILITY: TINO MARQUEZ VIDEO CONTROLLER: GARY TAILLON JIB ARM OPERATOR: MARC HUNTER STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CAROL KAELSON
STALWART PRODUCTIONS
“FEAR THE WALKING DEAD” SEASON 6 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JALALUDIN TRAUTMANN, BVK, RAMSEY NICKELL OPERATORS: RAMON ENGLE, KRIS HARDY ASSISTANTS: MARK BOYLE, THEDA CUNNINGHAM, SAM PEARCY, DON HOWE STEADICAM OPERATOR: RAMON ENGLE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JAMIE METZGER DIGITAL UTILITY: JASON HEAD LOADER: LOUIS WATT TECHNOCRANE OPERATOR: JOE DATRI TECHNOCRANE TECH: RYAN CROCI REMOTE HEAD TECH: JOE DATRI STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RYAN GREEN PUBLICIST: SHARA STORCH
“KEVIN CAN F**K HIMSELF” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ADRIAN PENG CORREIA OPERATORS: SHANNON MADDEN, JOEL SAN JUAN ASSISTANTS: GREG WIMER, DEAN EGAN, JAMIE FITZPATRICK, MATT HEDGES LOADER: AUDREY STEVENS DIGITAL UTILITY: ANNI ABBRUZZESE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: JOJO WHILDEN
STARZ P-TOWN PRODUCTIONS, LLC “HIGHTOWN” SEASON 2
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRAD SMITH, RADIUM CHEUNG, HKSC OPERATORS: DAVID KIMELMAN, DEREK TINDALL ASSISTANTS: ALAN ALDRIDGE, SEAN YAPLE, SETH LEWIS, NICK COCUZZA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MALIKA FRANKLIN LOADER: CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DANA HAWLEY
116
DECEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS
TRULY ORIGINAL ENTERTAINMENT “SHAHS OF SUNSET” SEASON 9
OPERATORS: JOSH BARNET, JEREMIAH SMITH, TJ YERKE ASSISTANTS: CARLOS CAMACHO, LANCE HARWELL, MATT HACKBARTH
UNIVERSAL
“LAW & ORDER: SVU” SEASON 22 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MICHAEL GREEN OPERATORS: JONATHAN HERRON, MICHAEL LATINO ASSISTANTS: CHRISTOPHER DEL SORDO, MATTHEW BALZARINI, JUSTIN ZVERIN, EMILY DUMBRILL LOADERS: MAX SCHWARZ, JASON GAINES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL PARMELEE
VERTICAL HOLD PRODUCTIONS, LLC “PRODIGAL” SEASON 2
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANTHONY WOLBERG, CHRISTOPHER RAYMOND OPERATORS: MALCOLM PURNELL, BRIAN JACKSON ASSISTANTS: ALEX WATERSTON, HAMILTON LONGYEAR, WARIS SUPANPONG, KEVIN HOWARD, KATIE WAALKES, RANDY SCHWARTZ CAMERA UTILITY: MCKENZIE RAYCROFT DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KYO MOON LOADER: MATTIE HAMER
WARNER BROS
“ALL RISE” SEASON 2 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID HARP, AMANDA TREYZ OPERATORS: TIM ROARKE, STEPHEN CLANCY, SHANELE ALVAREZ ASSISTANTS: MATT GUIZA, KRISTI ARNDS, RANDY SHANOFSKY, ADAM TSANG, COLLEEN LINDL, BENNY BAILEY STEADICAM OPERATOR: STEPHEN CLANCY STEADICAM ASSISTANT: KRISTI ARNDS LOADER: PETER PEI DIGITAL UTILITIES: MORGAN JENKINS, KAREN CLANCY
“BOB HEARTS ABISHOLA” SEASON 2 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PATTI LEE, ASC OPERATORS: MARK DAVISON, CHRIS HINOJOSA, JON PURDY, MICHELLE CRENSHAW ASSISTANTS: JEFF JOHNSON, VITO DE PALMA, MARIANNE FRANCO, ADAN TORRES, LISA ANDERSON, ALICIA BRAUNS, LANCE MITCHELL, JORDAN HRISTOV VIDEO CONTROLLER: JOHN O’BRIEN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: T. BRETT FEENEY STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MICHAEL YARISH PUBLICISTS: KATHLEEN TANJI, MARC KLEIN
“B POSITIVE” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: GARY BAUM, ASC OPERATORS: ALEC ELIZONDO, TRAVERS HILL, LANCE BILLITZER, EDDIE FINE ASSISTANTS: ADRIAN LICCIARDI, MICHELE MCKINLEY, JEFF ROTH, CLINT PALMER, JASON HERRING DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DEREK LANTZ VIDEO CONTROLLER: JOHN O’BRIEN UTILITIES: RICHARD FINE, DAN LORENZE
“MOM” SEASON 8 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN V. SILVER, ASC OPERATORS: CARY MCCRYSTAL, JAMIE HITCHCOCK, SOC, DAMIAN DELLA SANTINA, CANDY EDWARDS ASSISTANTS: MEGGINS MOORE, NIGEL STEWART, SEAN ASKINS, MARK JOHNSON, WHITNEY JONES CAMERA UTILITIES: ALICIA BRAUNS, COLIN BROWN, JEANNETTE HJORTH VIDEO CONTROLLER: KEVIN FAUST DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BENJAMIN STEEPLES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: ROBERT VOETS PUBLICIST: MARC KLEIN
“THE KOMINSKY METHOD” SEASON 3 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JAIME REYNOSO, AMC OPERATORS: MICHAEL WALSH, BONNIE BLAKE, JOEL PERKAL ASSISTANTS: ROBERT MUTHAMIA, JIM THIBO, CAMERON OWEN, YEVGENIY SHRAYBER, OLIVER PONCE STEADICAM OPERATOR: MICHAEL WALSH LOADER: ROSE LICAVOLI CAMERA UTILITY: CHRISTOPHER BROOKS STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: ERIC VOAKE, ANNE MARIE FOX
“YOUNG SHELDON” SEASON 4 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BUZZ FEITSHANS, IV OPERATORS: NEIL TOUSSAINT, SOC, AARON SCHUH ASSISTANTS: MATTHEW DEL RUTH, GRANT YELLEN, BRAD GILSON, JR., JAMES COBB STEADICAM OPERATOR: AARON SCHUH STEADICAM ASSISTANT: GRANT YELLEN DIGITAL LOADERS: BAILEY SOFTNESS, JENISE WHITEHEAD STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: ROBERT VOETS, MICHAEL DESMOND, DARREN MICHAELS, NICOLE WILDER
WAR PARTY/SCULPTOR.
“COP SHOP”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JUAN MIGUEL AZPIROZ OPERATOR: ALEX ELKINS ASSISTANTS: ANDREW BRINKMAN, BESS JOHNSON, SCOTT FORTE, AUSTIN TAYLOR DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CHRIS RATLEDGE LOADER: ERIN STRICKLAND
WORLD PRODUCTIONS, INC. “RUN THE WORLD” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MAURICIO RUBINSTEIN OPERATORS: PATRICK QUINN, ALAN MEHLBRECH ASSISTANTS: JUSTIN WHITACRE, STEPHEN MCBRIDE, JOSHUA WATERMAN, MICHAEL DERARIO DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ROSS CITRIN LOADER: MICHAEL WILLIAMS, JR.
COMMERCIALS
JON KURT, GAVIN GROSSI STEADICAM OPERATOR: EVERETTE SILAS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: CASEY SHERRIER
ARTS & SCIENCES
FARM LEAGUE
“SAMUEL ADAMS”
“GARMIN”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: PETER DONAHUE OPERATOR: BOB RAGOZZINE ASSISTANTS: MATTHEW MEBANE, DAN KECK, WILLIAM POWELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JASON JOHNSON
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ROB HAUER ASSISTANTS: TIFFANY AUG, MICHAELA ANGELIQUE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: SCOTT RESNICK
HUNGRY MAN
PRETTYBIRD “IBM”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MATTHEW J. LLOYD, ASC ASSISTANTS: DAVID EDSALL, KRISTINA LECHUGA STEADICAM OPERATORS: DANA MORRIS, XAVIER THOMPSON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KYLE HOEKSTRA
RADICAL MEDIA “HONDA”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT ASSISTANTS: LILA BYALL, CARRIE LAZAR DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN SPELLMAN
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KAI SAUL OPERATOR: TOM ARSENAULT ASSISTANTS: NICOLAS MARTIN, DAVID E. THOMAS, ALAN CERTEZA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: SCOTT STEPHENS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT OPERATORS: ALAN CAUDILLO, JOHN PINGRY, ROBERT RUSS ASSISTANTS: DANIEL HANYCH, LAURA GOLDBERG, JORDAN MARTIN DIGITAL IMAGING TECHS: JOHN SPELLMAN, STEVE HARNELL, DAMON MELEDONES
BRIM & BREW
“AT&T, I KNOW YOU:30”
“ARTISTRY”
“AT&T”
BISCUIT
“MICROSOFT”
“INVESCO”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRADLEY STONESIFER OPERATOR: CONNOR O’BRIEN ASSISTANTS: ADRIEL GONZALEZ, ERICK AGUILAR, ANGELO GENTILE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: DEAN GEORGOPOULOS
BULLITT
“YUPERLI” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TAMI REIKER, ASC OPERATOR: WILL DEARBORN ASSISTANTS: DANIEL HANYCH, SCOTT KASSENOFF, JORDAN MARTIN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: LANCE HASHIDA
COMPANY FILMS “VA LOTTERY”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: LEIF JOHNSON ASSISTANT: SEAN SUTPHIN DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN-MICHAEL WHEELER
DIVISION 7
“BURGER KING” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC ZIMMERMAN OPERATORS: HASSAN ABDUL-WAHID, ROBERT RUSS ASSISTANTS: DIONA MAVIS, LAURA GOLDGERG,
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KAI SAUL OPERATOR: JACOB PINGER ASSISTANTS: NICOLAS MARTIN, DAVID E. THOMAS, ALAN CERTEZA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BEN HOPKINS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: TRISTAN SHERIDAN ASSISTANTS: JOHN CLEMENS, SCOTT MILLER STEADICAM OPERATOR: YOSHI TANG DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KAZ KARAISMAILOGLU
“FRITO LAY, LAY’S POTATO CHIPS”
“GA LOTTERY”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KAI SAUL OPERATOR: CHRIS CUNNINGHAM ASSISTANTS: NICOLAS MARTIN, ALAN CERTEZA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: BRYCE MCDONALD
“JETBLUE”
SHADOWLIGHT PICTURES DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DANIEL BOMBELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JAZZ PIERCE
SMUGGLER
“MONTEFIORE”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ERIC SCHMIDT ASSISTANTS: LILA BYALL, BRYAN HAIGH, CARRIE LAZAR DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JOHN SPELLMAN
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID DEVLIN ASSISTANTS: KYLE SATHER, TOMMY SCOGGINS DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MARIUSZ CICHON
O POSITIVE
“SHOPRITE”
“SPECTRUM MOBILE” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STUART DRYBURGH OPERATOR: CHRIS REYNOLDS ASSISTANTS: JASON KNOBLOCH, ROB KOCH, JAN BURGESS, MATT ALBANO DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KAZIM KARAISMAILOGLU
SUPPLY & DEMAND DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JEFFREY KIM ASSISTANTS: RORBERT RAGOZZINE, DAN KECK DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: IAN EDWARDS
TOOL OF NORTH AMERICA “AT&T”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KARINA SILVA ASSISTANTS: ERICK AGUILAR, KELLY MITCHELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: NICK FRY
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DECEMBER 2020 PRODUCTION CREDITS
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STOP MOTION
12.2020
Elizabeth Morris UNIT STILL PHOTOGRAPHER FARGO: SEASON 4
“When I arrived on set and saw the scene unfold, I knew I needed to capture this image. But we were in a confined space with the Technocrane down low, directly in the center of the floor, so there was no way to get a clear shot. And to stop production for a setup was not an option. So as they called, ‘Cut!’ and began to pull back the crane, I slid in under the crane on my knees so fast (think Tom Cruise in Risky Business) that the cast saw me, with my camera in hand, and stayed in place/ character for the two seconds I needed to snap this photo. When I say I love the crew and cast of this show, I truly mean it! Without their help, kindness and tolerance, I wouldn’t have been able to do my job.”
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