ICG MAGAZINE
THE INTERVIEW ISSUE
MISSING SOMETHING?
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
06-07/2017
THE INTERVIEW ISSUE
CONTRIBUTORS
Richard DuCree (Keys to the Castle, In The Trenches) “During my photo session with 1st AD Rick Johnson in his Atlanta home, my eyes became transfixed on a sculpture by JeanBaptiste Carpeaux entitled “Captive Negress,” the intent of which emphasizes the slavery’s horrors in American/French history. Our discussion about Johnson’s 30-year career in the film industry quickly changed to his pride in the artwork. “As a man of color I surround myself with my history, especially things that are meaningful; after having a 12-16 hour day, home is my sanctuary for peace – especially with family.” Our conversation ended on his new outdoor deck with one of Johnson’s other passions: premium cigars.
All Eyez On Me p.40 Baby Driver p.52 Girls Trip p.62
David Geffner (Dear Mama) “One would think a white Jewish kid from the San Fernando Valley wouldn’t have much in common with Tupac Shakur. But, then again, I, too, studied Shakespeare and acting in high school; I, too, wrote poetry and paid attention to social issues, always trying to merge words to impact, impress and influence people to my way of thinking, perhaps even change the world for the better. Like all great artists, Pac made his concerns universal by being completely specific. A quarter-century now gone, he remains one of music’s oldest souls.”
DEPARTMENTS GEAR GUIDE / 14 UNION LOVE / 26 DEPTH OF FIELD / 28 ZOOM-IN / 30 EXPOSURE / 34 PRODUCTION CREDITS / 110 STOP MOTION / 122
Valentina Valentini (Girls Gone Wild) “It was incredible to hear what Greg Gardiner and his team pulled off to film at a live event [NOLA’s Essence Festival] with half a million people. And the craziness behind the scenes never shows on the screen. As Greg told me, this film was all about ‘hiding the machine’ and making the crazy come through in story only.”
SPECIALS INTERVIEWS / 70 CORRECTION: We regret omitting Local 600 member Peter McCaffrey from the crew listing for our May cover story on Ghost in the Shell (page 49). Peter was the A-camera/Steadicam operator for DP Jess Hall, BSC, in both Hong Kong and New Zealand area locations.
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Wilson Webb, SMPSP (Stop Motion, Vanishing Point) “Every project has its own set of challenges, and car-based films have more than most for a still photographer. You get in where you can and keep trying to make good shots. Baby Driver had some great opportunities, and I tried to take full advantage of them!”
Photo by Scott Alan Humbert
PRESIDENT’S
LETTER
June/July 2017 {vol. 88 no. 05}
Steven Poster, ASC
Source-makers For this special Interview issue, I’ve initiated a series of equally special editorials comprising my ongoing conversations with the leaders of IATSE Craft Guilds. IATSE Local 800 Executive Director Chuck Parker is a veteran Hollywood-based production designer whose credits include Detroit 1-8-7, Monk, and Under the Dome. Chuck took over the reins of the Art Directors Guild (ADG) in June 2016 in a special election. Founded in 1935 (but with roots stretching back to the dawn of filmmaking), the ADG is made up of Art Directors, Graphic Artists, Illustrators, Matte Artists, Model Makers, Scenic Artists, Set Designers and Title Artists. In Part One of our conversation, Chuck and I talked about the challenges of new technology for our respective memberships. Steven Poster: We now have new digital tools that are virtually limitless in what we can do with on-set capture. How do we continue to sustain the suspension of disbelief that’s so vital to cinematic story telling? Chuck Parker: As Adrian Monk would say, “[All this new technology] is a gift and a curse.” [Laughs.] I mean, the capabilities for shooting at very low light levels – with natural light and just set-dressing fixtures – are fabulous. I feel like [cinematographers] can realize what Kubrick tried to accomplish with Barry Lyndon (way back in 1975), shooting entirely with natural candlelight. Of course, the downside is how easily the flaws are now depicted, particularly when talking about artificial set building on stage – seams, flats, but also skin complexions when everything is so microscopic. SP: More resolution, more colors, more depth, shooting at higher ISO’s – how much farther can we, or do we need, to go? CP: We’ve reached a point in visual storytelling of having to determine what is the ultimate capability of the eye. My own feeling is that when we go past that point, it’s really another kind of reality. SP: Yes, and it’s a road [camera crews] have been traveling for the last 25 years! I remember 8 JUNE/JULY 2017
National President International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600
when digital effects were first coming into commercials, and they were asking us to shoot film at 30 frames per second – there was no 24P – because it was an easier translation for their visual effects. I remember thinking back then that moving off 24 frames looked like live video. CP: The soap-opera effect! SP: It’s the elephant in the room for all of these new technologies, and something to this day that scientists and engineers still don’t understand. Many people don’t know that every TV in this country is delivered to consumers in “dealer mode,” which has the highest amount of motion interpolation, also called “smoothing,” or sometimes “sports or live mode.” The vast majority of people wouldn’t think to turn that off in order to see imagery the way both our memberships work so hard on set to create, which is, again, aimed at the suspension of disbelief. CP: And I don’t buy the idea that a new generation is so weaned on video displays, they think that’s the only way narrative stories can be told moving forward – this hyper-real approach that puts so much pressure on your camera teams and our art crews. SP: I’ve been trying to blow a hole in that theory for some time by calling for scientific testing that can reveal what parts of the brain are lit up by different forms of exhibition. When digital was just coming in, I went to Kodak, to Jim Cameron, to the Academy, to UCLA’s brain-scanning department – everybody loved the idea but didn’t want to pay for it. Finally, we’ve been able to get neurologists and communications experts at Baylor University to undertake this testing – before FMRI brainscanning is utilized. All forms of physiological tests are being done with more than 200 subjects, including a very sophisticated test where an infrared camera records the blush under the subject’s eyes. Early results from this [Baylor group] have proven that hyper-real
imagery does not result in a more compelling emotional involvement with the story. CP: My example is less scientific and more anecdotal. My daughter, who is now a directing candidate at the School of Visual Arts, started working on 8-millimeter film. All of her peers look to film, not digital, as their preferred aesthetic. SP: I get the same responses when I speak at various film schools. Maybe it’s nostalgic; maybe it’s a rejection of their digital upbringings… CP: [Laughs.] Or maybe they all just want to be John Cassavetes! SP: At the other end of the spectrum is James Cameron, whose Avatar sequels may transform the very idea of physical production. CP: I went onto [the Avatar] stages a few months ago. I walked around with a [virtual camera], with two C-stands and a 14-foot-long piece of 1-by-3 connecting them that represents a fully realized shed on the viewfinder! There was also another C-stand with a spring that pivoted a connected a 2-foot piece of 1-by-3 – I looked at the screen and saw a palm frond waving! It’s amazing, bizarre and so different than how I work. SP: Yes, but those virtual sets still have to be created by production designers. CP: They do, and we have some of our top illustrators and art directors working on those films. And those lucky folks will be employed for four years straight. ( To be continued, August 2017)
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June/July 2017 vol. 88 no. 05
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INTERNATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHERS GUILD Local 600 IATSE NATIONAL PRESIDENT Steven Poster, ASC NATIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT Heather Norton 1ST NATIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT Paul Varrieur 2ND NATIONAL VICE-PRESIDENT John Lindley, ASC NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER Eddie Avila NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER Douglas C. Hart NATIONAL SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Christy Fiers NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rebecca Rhine 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) Published Monthly 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 2017, 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: $92.00 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.
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WIDE ANGLE
JUNE/JULY 2017 THE INTERVIEW ISSUE
David Geffner, Executive Editor Twitter: @DGeffner Email: davidgeffner@icgmagazine.com
If this magazine feels bigger, bolder, and just plain heftier in all respects than is typical for ICG, that’s because our second double issue of 2017, June/July, is the largest we’ve ever printed. “Ever,” as in dating back to the magazine’s inception in 1928. To reflect all that “hugeness” (to quote an unnamed source), we’ve compiled content and photography that often feels bigger than life. And that starts with our cover story on All Eyez on Me (page 40), a new narrative feature on the life of Tupac Shakur lensed by Peter Menzies, Jr., ACS, and directed by Benny Boom. There have been many “live fast, die young” superstars in pop music history, but few can claim Pac’s lasting social impact; his prescient takes on police brutality, urban unemployment, single motherhood, and a hedonistic thug life anticipated (and still reflect) generations of concerns and issues about and for young black men. Shakur slammed an incredible amount of living into 25 years, and the film covers it all – from his birth into a family of Black Panther activists and upbringing in Harlem, Baltimore and Marin City, CA (all steeped in the arts) to his early success in rap music that clearly unhinged the white-male power structure. (Remember Vice President Dan Quayle’s announcement that 2Pacalypse Now had “no place in our society”?) To cover such a big canvas, Menzies shot with a live, journalistic intimacy – three handheld cameras at all times followed by a restless, roving Steadicam (courtesy of A-camera operator George Bianchini, Jr., SOC) – that beautifully captures the intense trajectory of Shakur’s life. Our second feature, written by ICG regular contributor Kevin H. Martin on Baby Driver (page 52), also portrays a film (and production crew) hurtling forward with outlandish speed and skill. Bill Pope, ASC, was behind the camera once again for Edgar Wright, a hyper-prepared director who only shoots film and never likes to repeat a shot. “But,” as Pope notes in Martin’s article, “[Wright] also loves to get lots of shots; so if you’re not doing 30 shots in a day, you’re falling behind.” Referencing such classic car flicks as Walter Hill’s The Driver (from which the movie takes its name), Pope (along with 2nd Unit DP Duane Manwiller) used crazy amounts of gear to capture all that motion, ranging from MovieBirds, Edge Arms and MōVi to the Biscuit Jr. and drones. One spectacular set piece, which involved more than 50 12 JUNE/JULY 2017
cars, had stunt-driver Jeremy Fry heading the wrong way on the I-85/I-75 interchange. Local authorities had to perform “rolling blocks,” as the downtown Atlanta route was far too busy to shut down. Rolling through the back half of this super-sized issue, readers will find our most comprehensive Interview section yet. Guild photographers in Budapest (Murray Close), New York (Sarah Shatz, David M. Russell and Linda Kallerus), Atlanta (Richard DuCree) and Los Angeles (Nicola Goode and Sara Terry) hunted down the dozen or so portraits featured in this section. Subjects ranged from lighting designers who bask in Emmy glory for live events like the Super Bowl Halftime Show (Bob Barnhart has 37 nominations and 10 statuettes) to first AC’s who grew up on a movie set. (Rebecca Arndt’s parents met on the indie classic Return of the Seacaucus 7.) ICG staff writer Pauline Rogers (who penned all the interviews) talked to trailblazers (Rick Johnson was one of the first African-American AD’s to lead a primetime series, Dallas) and a key grip who started when he was 20 years old. (Michael Coo first pushed a dolly on Eight Is Enough for thenoperator Richard Rawlings.) My personal favorite is Cut & Paste, featuring long-time photo editors Bill Mona (Fox Studios) and Chrissy Quesada (Sony Pictures). Both maintain tremendous aplomb when sifting through the massive amounts of publicity stills destined for hard-to-please editors (like yours truly). Music, like great cinematography, has a flow to it, and Me Against the World is my favorite Pac album for just that reason. The best track has got to be “Dear Mama,” and it’s the title I chose for our cover story. Given this July will be the fourth year since the passing of my own mother, allow me to conclude with lyrics that any son or mother would cherish and connect to, regardless of where, who, or why: And when it seems that I’m hopeless You say the words that can get me back in focus When I was sick as a little kid To keep me happy there’s no limit to the things you did And all my childhood memories Are full of all the sweet things you did for me Lady Don’t ya know we love ya? Sweet lady And dear mama Place no one above ya, sweet lady You are appreciated Don’t ya know we love ya?
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GEAR GUIDE
June/July 2017
ETC Gio @5 + Compact control for lighting rigs of any size + Backlit keyboard and alphanumeric keyboard + From 2K to 32K output capacity + Remote programming via PC/Mac software + Full-tracking backup optional + Advanced color-control functionality
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GEAR GUIDE
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18 JUNE/JULY 2017
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GEAR GUIDE
ThunderPack Mini + All-in-one, battery-powered DIT solution for remote and difficult locations + Powered via Anton Bauer VCLX solar panels, Dionic HC, internal battery or AC power + Portable, shockproof, watertight, and carry-on friendly + ThB 2 or ThB 3 hardware RAID with 2.5-in. SSDs or HDDs + Codex and LTO compatible + HD-SDI monitoring via built-in Blackmagic UltraStudio Mini monitor
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20 JUNE/JULY 2017
Russell Carpenter, ASC
COMPROMISE IS OVERRATED. After putting it to the test in his latest project, cinematographer Russell Carpenter, ASC was impressed by the flexibility and color output of the new Canon EOS C700. It’s a Super35 format camera combining 4K onboard recording, a 15-stop dynamic range, and 4.5K resolution. Designed to match industry standards, operating the EOS C700 is instantly intuitive. Your story deserves no less.
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GEAR GUIDE
Zero Optik’s Bausch & Lomb Baltar Rehousing + Initially introduced in 1938 + Eight focal length set from 25 mm to 152 mm + Cam-driven focus mechanisms + 95-mm front diameters + Expanded focus and iris scales + Identical gear placement across focal lengths
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22 JUNE/JULY 2017
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GEAR GUIDE
Barger 20 + Large 3-by-4 frame with 20 LED T8 Tubes + Tubes are color-tunable from 2700k to 6000k + CRI range (97-99) TLCI: 99 + Each tube can be controlled and dimmed individually + Has ability to create custom looks and save custom presets + Fits Medium Chimera front screen and Medium Lighttools egg crates
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24 JUNE/JULY 2017
UNION LOVE 2ND AC
MATT JACKSON
26 JUNE/JULY 2017
photo by Daniel McFadden
the interview issue
Most twentysomethings who are socially conscious study political science; others, like Matthew Kelly Jackson, head for the front lines of a work action or rally. Jackson’s passion for social issues began in his teens – that is, when he wasn’t reshooting movie scenes on video. After graduating high school, his then-girlfriend encouraged him to audition for the Art Institute of Atlanta, where he was accepted, later landing an internship with production company Digital Soul. He worked as a PA on indie features, commercials, and music videos, doing anything and everything, with all roads leading him toward the camera department. With two Local 600 members vouching for him and a letter of intent, Jackson applied for membership as a Guild 2nd AC. Within weeks he was working on a non-union project and using his political chops to help ICG Business Representative Justin Conway flip the show. Recent AC credits for this “all in” union worker include The Hunger Games, Endless Love, and the Academy Award–nominated Hidden Figures. What inspired you to be outspoken about Union membership? I come from a very conservative religious family, where a lot of things that were exposed to me, at a young age, didn’t quite add up. I would read the lyrics of songs and the Cliff Notes of albums and reference the writers and other musicians. Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn were big influences. So was music, especially punk from the early 1980s. With the political unrest and national right-to-work bills of today, it is even more important that we come together for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and human rights. Earlier this year I went to the Women’s March [in Atlanta]. I was happy to see a lot of Union members there – but we weren’t “together” representing Local 600. What’s the biggest difference between a union and non-union show? Communication, coordination and experience. In today’s world it’s a budget thing – most non-union projects start at tier level. We’re not getting a lot of Dances with Wolves. The hours and pay are the biggest things. I remember working a project as a 2nd – a commercial – where we got paid $300 flat – and worked 19 to 20 hours. What do you say to someone when you are encouraging them to join the Union? Experience and quality. We are the gold standard. We set the bar high. If we don’t cut it, we don’t work. Our members have the best technical skills in the entire world due, in large part, to the ongoing national training that Local 600 does. And then there’s the solidarity factor with your Brothers and Sisters, looking out for each other and doing the best we can to keep each other safe. How have you given back? The Expendables Drive was a big success. But what’s even more important is just to be active in our elections.
The biggest thing any Guild member can do is vote! Around 30 percent have been voting in union politics as well as on a national level. What is the best advice you can give newcomers? Something that I didn’t take to heart at first and that more than one person told me: “We have two eyes, two ears and one mouth. So, use them, and listen twice as much as you talk.” Pay attention and keep your eyes on the set. You will learn a lot without having to ask. What do you want to see happen in the years to come, union-wise? It’s time we moved on from the old politics and ideas. It’s been 20 years since the locals merged. Most members weren’t around when we were three locals – but some of the bickering is still around. We’re in a new (and union-hostile) era, so unification is so important. Honestly, I’d like to see more of the younger people in union positions put “their money where their mouths are,” as the saying goes. What’s it like on sets today? Quite honestly, if we aren’t vigilant, almost every show will cross the line. It’s important that our BA’s regularly swing by the sets and make visits. The old saying of “see something, say something” shouldn’t be taken lightly. We shouldn’t be afraid to say something. Sets are dangerous places and we, as crew members, must look out for one another. How has the new technology impacted your world? It’s good and bad. The “digital revolution” has given a lot more people opportunity to get into the business. At the same time, it has allowed some people to take short cuts. I remember how on Hidden Figures there was more respect for the camera department because we were shooting film. In my mind, while I’m working, I can tell who has come up under film and who hasn’t. One is not better than the other – it’s just different. It’s good that Local 600 is spending our money to train people on new technology, but there is so much you learn that can’t be taught at these classes. People do things very differently, and you must learn to adjust accordingly. Who has influenced you most? I’m first generation in this business. I got in when I was 20, maybe 21 years old: a rebellious 20-year-old kid from the suburbs of Atlanta. I rubbed a lot of people the wrong way early on. I had to prove this was what I wanted, but it took a lot of growing up to get there. Over the years, guys like Paul Varrieur, SOC, and Larry Nielsen saw something in me. They’ve both really become close friends and mentors to me. I look at their careers over the years, and I see professionals I want to emulate. There is a reason we made movies the same way for the last century, and they always bring that “old school” ethic to the workplace. JUNE/JULY 2017 27
DEPTH OF FIELD Photo Courtesy of Darla McGlamery and Matthew Kelly Jackson
the interview issue
THE EXPENDABLES DRIVE
Joining the union, especially at the dawn of a new career, is always a big deal; the hours that have to be logged, the recommendations that have to be secured, the paperwork – and the initiation fee. But the hurdles are more than worth it in peer support, health insurance, and long-term horizons like a pension. Having that Local 600 card also goes hand-in-glove with needing to build a proper kit to get the job done to union standards, which, of course, costs more money. One day, AC Matthew Kelly Jackson stopped by the Atlanta office to have lunch with Central Region Business Representative Darla McGlamery. She had a new woman member, who was talking about how she didn’t know how she was going to build her kit. Days later, when Jackson was cleaning out his closet of set items he no longer used, something clicked. McGlamery and Jackson came up with (drumroll please)… “The Expendables Drive,” which Digital Utility Zak Norton describes as a “great idea.” “Jennifer Braddock and Matt Jackson went around town and put together expendables to be donated for entry-level members to get a step-up with building their kits, using the surplus expendables many of the more seasoned assistants had lying around,” Norton explains. The drive soon branched out to rental houses around the city. Kee Haspel at ARRI Rental, Atlanta, notes that “the idea was to save the beginners money while supplying them with some of the items they would need on set: tape,
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sharpies, et cetera. Boxes were delivered to rental facilities around town, and Union reps would come around every few weeks to empty them.” ARRI involved camera prep crews who willingly donated a variety of supplies upon returning equipment after a shoot. “Particularly crews who do not live in Atlanta and did not have a way to fly home with a box of replaceable expendables,” Haspel adds. “We got everything from assorted colors of tape, cart rain covers, and cleaning cloths to scrubbing bubbles and cable ties. Occasionally, we would have new loaders come in to practice or a crew person would come in to practice some other skill, and they would always look into the box to see what was there. Recycling of usable expendables is such a positive gesture for everyone involved. And from our perspective, it shows the new crew person what brand or quality of expendables they should look to purchase for their own kits down the line.” VER’s Mindy Bee agrees. And she should know. As a camera assistant for many years, she knew the importance of expendables on a job. Although productions would pay for the items at the beginning of the shoot, AC’s would generally keep the leftovers. “Over the years that box in your garage gets bigger and bigger,” she remembers. “We all would use a number of these items as part of our kit. Knowing how much a bottle of Pancro lens cleaner or a roll of Camera Black gaffer tape costs, we would never just discard them,” Bee adds. “However, if these are not used
within a certain amount of time, they generally will dry up or stick together.” New members heard about the drive through newsletters, training events and word of mouth. Prepacked bags were handed out at meetings. “It was a great way to help those who haven’t had the opportunity to work full-run shows on which you typically acquire personal expendables,” remarks Digital Utility Will Peterson. “The bags were great – paper tape, gaffer tape, pens, bongo ties, binder clips, canned air and even a space blanket.” Digital Utility Tyler Latham got an extra boost at his first Union meeting when Jennifer Braddock handed him a bag. “It had tape, batteries, cleaning supplies. Honestly, it made me feel good because who doesn’t like receiving free stuff ? And, it showed how much my Union was going to support me. Those things from the bag have saved me in a pinch more than once.” The Expendables Drive is not just about building goodwill – it’s about support and networking. As Digital Utility/Loader Nick Cannon states for all involved in the Atlanta production community: “It would be nice to see this drive happen annually across the country. This is an ultra-competitive market, and everything we can do to better prepare our newer utilities will only benefit the entire crew and the production.” McGlamery added, “this started out as a simple discussion and turned into members and communities of interest taking action to support each other. When that happens, we call it a win-win.”
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ZOOM-IN the interview issue
When Chris Haarhoff, SOC, picked up his first Steadicam in South Africa it was a secondhand Model 2, already 10 years old. It came with a dog-eared book of instructions. “The first shot had me following a hyena hundreds of miles away from a medical facility,” he recalls. “It was in the desert in an area populated by large stone outcrops. I saw that he was heading for a small arch and I doubled back to catch him on the other side. He beat me to it and I found myself eyeball to eyeball with a confused hyena, with only the grinding sound of the Arri 2c as company. All I could do was lower my gaze and prepare for the impending violence. Right then the last frame slipped through the gate, and with one more look of disgust the hyena parted ways with our project. I like to think that the Steadicam or the 2c played a role in my survival.” Indeed it must have for a man who has worked on some classic Steadicam films, a partial list of which includes Birdman, Fight Club, Casino, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. Perhaps the turning point (way back in early 1990s when Haarhoff had just moved to L.A. to get started) was meeting Steadicam operator Rusty Geller, SOC, who passed off a non-Union job to an eager young Haarhoff. “It was Universal Soldier – it was shot anamorphic, and it got me started here in the States,” he recalls. Back in those days, equipment was a challenge. The company that made the initial Steadicam models (Cinema Products) didn’t seem to listen to the operator’s needs. “We all had to really modify the rigs to make them suit our work,” Haarhoff adds. “We couldn’t fly a Panavision camera, for example, unless
(Continued on page 32)
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ZOOM-IN the interview issue
“ ALWAYS TRIED TO KEEP THE I’VE EQUIPMENT SIDE SIMPLE.” we converted the stock Steadicam from 12 volts to 24 volts. The green screen monitor relied on cumbersome 1950’s circuitry, and if it malfunctioned, Cinema Products would service it at their leisure.” That’s when Haarhoff; Dave Emmerichs, SOC; Mark Moore, SOC; Ted Churchill and a few other operators got involved with George Paddock and GPI, which Haarhoff describes as an “enthusiastic” company that “embraced” the operator’s desires. Through many modular developments, the Pro Series evolved – a simple tool that was favored by the most active Steadicam operators. “I’ve always tried to keep the equipment side simple,” Haarhoff continues, “but these days companies are still trying to turn a classic grand piano into an organ with bells and whistles we don’t really need.” In fact, Haarhoff says that what often appears on the screen as a “polished shot” can begin on a set awash in confusion and stress. “I’ve done so many incredibly complex shots with all kinds of things going on and I look at them now in horror: ‘How did we end up in this situation?’” he laughs. Like The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and a scene where Julianne Moore battles with the raptors as Jeff Goldblum comes to the rescue. She falls off a roof barely escaping the raptors. Then Goldblum arrives with Vanessa Chester and they take off at a full sprint through all sorts of debris, up a set of stairs, onto a landing and through a door that Vince Vaughn is holding open. Once inside they make their way up a flight of stairs to a helicopter that is hovering over the roof. “Now, this shot wasn’t in my day plan,” Haarhoff states. “It was about 10:30 p.m. and this was the first I had heard of it, so nothing is prepared. We had a midnight cut off with children and a helicopter over a populated area [Universal City]. When Steven Spielberg and Janusz Kaminski described it – I actually thought it was a joke. I had to build the rig to do it in low-mode. We had to coordinate the mechanics of the shot – door opening and closing, the helicopter hovering, and there was
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a Musco light on the edge of frame.” Ever game for a challenge, Haarhoff says they dove right in, trying to gather all the moving components while chasing the clock. “After about four takes, midnight arrived, and we still hadn’t gotten the shot,” he says. “The AD got us an extension, and I turned to Steven. ‘I need 10 minutes.’ No one could believe I actually said that to him and the look on his face was priceless. He took a breath, nodded and I had 10 minutes to get the blood back into my legs and think about the shot. By the last two takes the grips almost had to carry me across the interior of the set to catch the group charging up the stairs to the waiting helicopter. I was so done, but at least they had one take that worked, and Steven seemed ecstatic.” As the crew hurried off, 1st AC Karl Owens quietly said: “Chris, I don’t think I got that one.” At the moment Julianne Moore sat up into minimum focus, Spielberg was trying to get a view of the monitor and blocked Owens as he was timing his focus pull from minimum to 11 feet as the Steadicam surged back. “When we went to the dailies, we expected the worst,” Haarhoff recounts. “But, what we saw when she sits up and I start to pull back, was Jeff Goldblum’s shadow obscure her as her focus softens. As Karl is pulling back it runs through [Goldblum’s] back as he is arriving – almost as intended. You could look at it as a complete disaster – but Karl puts it down to divine intervention.” Steadicam has evolved a lot since Lost World, some 20 years ago. It isn’t the equipment, as much as the operator. “Initially, we were specialists,” Haarhoff explains. “We came in with shots in mind, a day or two max. Then, we became B-camera/Steadicam so productions could have us on call. A-camera could walk away from time to time, and Steadicam could prepare for an upcoming shot.” Today, Haarhoff says, he plays a much more challenging role. “On most projects, particularly larger movies,” he reflects, “it’s
A-camera/Steadicam. That makes for almost two jobs at the same time because you have to have your head wrapped around A-camera with all its demands, with cranes and dollies and handheld, then go back to strap on the Steadicam. You kind of never leave the set.” Steadicam and handheld also play a bigger part in selling VFX. Haarhoff feels that the camera traveling through multiple planes enhances the believability. “A pivotal realization occurred to me on the second Jurassic where I was running behind the ‘dinosaur’ that isn’t there and a guy is being stomped on by a foot and picked up by a claw and then deposited,” he remembers. “It was a long running shot in low mode through a pool of water. I was trying to offer the smoothest plate possible. My timing was good, but when we finished, I went to the legendary [VFX Supervisor] Dennis Muren. ‘My leg straightened and the camera shimmied when I hit the water,’ I told him. I thought I messed up. Dennis just shrugged it off. ‘You’re fine. We’re going to add so much shake ourselves.’ His comment flew in the face of where we had come from. It blew my mind that VFX could track that degree of high frequency vibration and preserve the plate.” Haarhoff just recently came off Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (ICG May 2017, “No Quarter”) where he says he had a great time with the Australian crew. As is the more common approach, the 1500-plus VFX shots in the film were tightly budgeted with little room for spontaneous creativity. “We knew exactly where the Steadicam would be of benefit,” Haarhoff says. What did he enjoy most about the movie? “I think when I was working around Javier Bardem’s character, who was amazing. His hair is always flowing as if under water and I had to leave room for that. We favored a wider lens to retain volume and kept the Steadicam moving – drifting and rolling slightly. I think the shots are going to be great.”
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EXPOSURE
photo courtesy of Paul Hughen
the interview issue
34 JUNE/JULY 2017
EDGAR WRIGHT by Kevin H. Martin / photos by Wilson Webb, SMPSP
Of his frequent partner in creative crime, Edgar Wright, cinematographer Bill Pope, ASC, describes the director as someone who remains open to collaboration that expands on his vision. “You can always suggest something different to [Wright], and if he likes it, he’ll say, ‘Yeah, let’s do that too.’ He thinks the cardinal sin for any filmmaker is to bore the audience.”
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Based on Wright’s track record as both writer and director, there’s little chance of that ever happening. Beginning with the 1995 16-mm indie project A Fistful of Fingers (don’t bother Googling it; the film is not commercially available) and continuing through his early work in the U.K., Wright’s edgy and eccentric humor has struck a resonant chord with audiences, particularly fans appreciative of his throwaway references to other films. His first two features, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, went beyond just sending up the zombie horror and buddy-cop genres, delivering moments of poignancy rare for comedy satire. JUNE/JULY 2017 35
EXPOSURE the interview issue
Before concluding his trifecta with actor Simon Pegg with 2013’s The World’s End [a trio of projects alternately dubbed The Three Flavors Cornetta Trilogy or Blood and Ice Cream by its makers], Wright adapted the quirky graphic novel, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which launched his ongoing collaboration with Pope. Cameras rolled six thousand times on Pilgrim – and that’s not counting the setups needed to shoot the film’s music videos! Wright also contributed a short segment to the Rodriguez/Tarantino Grindhouse and has been linked to upcoming adaptations of the novels Grasshopper Jungle and Fortunately, The Milk. While detractors say Wright caters too much to pop-culture devotees, there’s clearly more to his storytelling than just homage and flashy cinematic innovation.
This is evidenced by Sony’s Baby Driver [page 52], which, while not shirking on the filmmaker’s trademark strong visuals, also mines a deeper dramatic vein. You once said that many of your characters are “governed by the media they consume.” Does that continue with the main character in Baby Driver, forever tuned to pop songs that rev him up to drive?
Wright: It’s a little bit more organic in this movie, in that it’s quite literally happening. Baby [Ansel Elgort] listens to music throughout to drown out his tinnitus. I took the idea of how music can be a powerful motivator for some people, and wanted to explore how that can border on obsession. This became the central conceit of the movie, making it a car-chase movie truly driven by music. And sustaining this for a whole film is what really offered the most appeal for me initially, before I started getting deeper into the characters.
Did it take the crew a while to get into this metronome/ playback approach you wanted? It wasn’t that different from
shooting a music video, really. The stunt guys and Bill Pope knew what was needed to make it match up, and I’d get the songs to everybody else in advance so the camera operator and the grip would be familiar with the beats as well. There were some noisy times during the shoot when the actors and crew couldn’t hear the music, so we also had a [metronome] for cadence. I had boarded the whole movie nine months in advance. The five big (Continued on page 38)
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EXPOSURE the interview issue
action set piece sequences were readied in animatic form so we could show it to the studio to let them wrap their heads around it. We did a huge amount of prep, rehearsing with a choreographer and actors. We had storyboards cut to music. So there was a lot of material to help everybody get on the same page and be in sync, so to speak.
movie – that these are professionals who do a job and then get out. I always find the procedural aspect fascinating. How they don’t often use fancy cars to stay inconspicuous.
Having one of your editors [Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos] on set to cut as you went seems unorthodox.
Yeah, but this one is almost like watching a “workplace” movie because Baby is the apprentice of this gang – he’s like an unpaid intern working to pay a debt. [Laughs.] When Kevin Spacey tells him that his debt is paid and now comes the fun part, Baby has to make a decision about doing this professionally or not. Can you be involved in crime without being a criminal? The answer is no!
We did that to make sure the music was working as intended and we wouldn’t have surprises. Editing on set is easy when you’re in the same place all day, but when you’re doing full-on moving car-chase stuff, it is a lot tougher. We had a command van with [the editors] aboard, but even with the best technology, you’re at the mercy of the transmission if the satellite link goes out. Sometimes, just to be sure we were getting the images I needed, I’d strap myself to the car alongside the focus pullers and watch the take on a hard-wired monitor.
Was there one particular film that inspired you to do this? As our title
suggests, Walter Hill’s The Driver is an influence. I saw it when I was 14 on latenight TV, and while it is very simple, I found it quite hypnotic. I think Walter was on the cutting-edge as a director, and to me he is the forerunner to James Cameron, Michael Mann and Quentin Tarantino in a lot of ways. Nicholas Refn too. I consider this whole movie to be a tribute to Hill, who actually has a cameo – you can hear Walter’s voice in a scene at the end, for those of you who know what he sounds like. [Laughs.]
Is the professionalism evinced by the characters somehow appealing to you? That’s it in part, but I’m a big fan
of 1960s and ’70s car-chase movies. Not just the obvious ones like Bullitt and The French Connection, but Vanishing Point is one, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, and later on The Blues Brothers and To Live and Die in LA. I consider three ’90s movies as the holy trinity of heist movies: Point Break, Reservoir Dogs and Heat. All three are Los Angeles-based and tales about the gangs themselves. Reservoir and Heat very much have the attitude I’m going for in this
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Critics have said all your films – including the Spaced series – are to some degree about immature adults facing that they have to grow up.
And yet your characters might be inclined to rationalize away their actions. Baby feels that as a driver he
isn’t as complicit, because he’s not the one holding up the bank. I wanted the moral quandary to be an issue, like older movies that had to follow the Warner/gangster message. Recent caper movies don’t seem to have any repercussions for these criminals. In the Fast and the Furious movies, they get involved with taking down the worst criminals, which I guess makes them, what, okay? Ultimately, I think Baby is, at his core, more like the good guy in the nest of vipers, who has to figure a way out.
How does your energetic visual style juxtapose with the more weighty ethical considerations? The set pieces
modulate as the film goes on. The first chase is a dream chase; it all goes like clockwork, not a scratch on the car. But then things start to go wrong, and Baby even gets out of sync with the song he is hearing.
Like your previous features, Baby Driver was shot on 35 millimeter. Was that a hard sell? There’s always the
conversation about how much you save by shooting digital. I think the financial savings is not quite as advertised. For one thing, when you shoot on film, you start out way ahead on the grading. On this and my previous two films with Bill, I think we achieved the final grade much faster. Also, I like both the discipline of film and the
richness of it. Eric [Fellner, with Working Title], who has produced most of my films, asked me to explain in the simplest terms why film is better than digital. To be sure I gave the right answer, I asked Bill his opinion, and his response was that it is more “transportive.” I liked that answer. Film isn’t like real life; it’s like the movies.
On Scott Pilgrim, the “magical realism” sequences are differentiated from the rest of the film, in part, by switching from spherical to anamorphic. But there was still the matter of seemingly real characters suddenly imbued with great powers. You were confident audiences would accept that leap? I thought of it as being
something more in the way of an old movie tradition for certain genres, like when a character suddenly burst into song or Gene Kelly starts dancing. It’s a leap, yes. But even in the regular part of the film, we still have the fantasy of how Scott lives in his own head. He hears studio applause when he enters a room! Bill and I did the switch from 35 millimeter to anamorphic and back on The World’s End too, to save money on stock. I justified going anamorphic for the scenes when they get drunk, and then in the epilogue we’re back to spherical.
You acted as executive producer for Joe Cornish’s debut feature Attack the Block. Any further interest in pursuing that as well as directing? I haven’t done it since helping get Sightseers [directed by Ben Wheatley] off the ground, but I wouldn’t rule it out. There and with Attack, I was just lending a hand to filmmakers. Offering some support to up-and-comers is really what that is all about.
You also lend a lot of support postrelease to your features. The fans really
love all the extras, and it’s fun getting together to record the commentaries. There’s a tenth-anniversary screening of Hot Fuzz next week, and Timothy Dalton is going to do the Q&A with me. I did a Q&A for The World’s End in which some film nerd got up and asked, “Am I right in thinking that only part of the film was shot anamorphic?” I was ecstatic and told him, “You’re absolutely right – and I’m so glad you noticed!”
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DEAR MAMA TUPAC SHAKUR’S STATUS AS MYTH AND ICON HAS ONLY GROWN IN THE QUARTER-CENTURY SINCE HIS PASSING. NOW COMES A NARRATIVE FEATURE BRASH AND BOLD ENOUGH TO TELL PAC’S STORY.
BY DAVID GEFFNER PHOTOS BY QUANTRELL COLBERT Even compared to the long list of the musical artists who “lived fast and died young,” Tupac Amaru Shakur, aka 2Pac, Makaveli, or just “Pac” jammed an incredible amount of living into his brief time on earth. Consider that by the time he was murdered in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at the age of 25, Shakur had already sold tens of millions of records, including his acknowledged masterpiece, All Eyez on Me (certified 9x platinum less than two years after his death.) He was also a social prophet in his teens; Shakur’s debut album, 2Pacalypse Now, released when he was just 20, was publicly censored by then Vice-President Dan Quayle for its scathing attack on police brutality.
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T
here were also acting roles in seven films, scores of references to
medieval philosophy, poetry and literature in his lyrics, and enough violence and trouble with the law for several lifetimes, including the shooting of off-duty police officers in Atlanta, prison time for sexual-assault charges, and most notably, being robbed and shot five times in the lobby of a Manhattan recording studio, where his friend and later rival, Chris Wallace (Notorious B.I.G.), was working. Rapper, poet, movie star, social iconoclast, ladies man, gangsta – there never seemed to be enough labels to describe Shakur in his short, hectic life, including those auspicious months spent pre-birth in the womb of his mother, Afeni Shakur, a Black Panther activist who was arrested on bombingconspiracy charges (and later acquitted one month before Pac was born). Now, a quarter-century and change since his passing, comes the first narrative feature on Shakur, All Eyez on Me (Tupac: Resurrection, narrated entirely in Pac’s voice, was nominated for a Best Documentary Oscar in 2003), directed by longtime music-video filmmaker Benny Boom and produced by L.T. Hutton. Eyez takes us all the way from the fiery social activism into which Pac was born to the final hail of bullets on a Vegas street that ultimately took his 42 JUNE/JULY 2017
life. (Afeni told doctors to abandon life-support efforts seven days after the shooting.) Sandwiched in between, in a beautiful arc of visual styles facilitated by cinematographer Peter Menzies, Jr., ACS, and production designer Derek Hill, are scenes from a lifelong friendship with Jada Pinkett Smith, a handful of iconic musical performances at L.A.’s House of Blues, the fated connection with rap impresario Suge Knight and Death Row Records begun in prison, and, the most important person in Pac’s life, his mother, whom he forever immortalized in the single “Dear Mama,” from his 1995 album Me Against the World. In that song, Shakur, a selfdescribed “mama’s boy,” pays tribute to the grit and fight of all single mothers struggling to raise their sons out of poverty. “I had just come straight off of Roots and decided to use the same 1.3 anamorphic lenses from Vantage; they’re gorgeous lenses and perfect for many of the challenges we faced on this movie,” recalls the Australia-born Menzies, whose credits include large franchise projects like Clash of the Titans and The Incredible Hulk, action dramas such as Four Brothers and Shooter, and more recently the TV movie Surviving Compton, about West Coast rapper Michel’le.” Menzies explains that the production was required to shoot four days in Atlanta [to retain the rights to the story] before going on a short
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“ THE SCHEDULE WAS TIGHT, SO USING THREE CAMERAS AT ONCE, WHICH IS HOW I’VE BEEN WORKING RECENTLY, HELPED BENNY A LOT WITH COVERAGE.” -PETER MENZIES, JR., ACS
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hiatus and fleshing out the visual template with Boom in preproduction. “Those four days were all dialogue when Pac’s in prison,” Menzies adds. “The scenes were key to the story, of course, because Pac’s music changed so much after his incarceration. But it was demanding on our young star [Demetrius Shipp, Jr.] straight out of the gate. My crew [including A-camera/Steadicam operator George Bianchini, SOC, A-camera 1st AC Steven Cueva, and B-camera operator Eric Wycoff ] was like, ‘When are we going to get to shoot some music scenes?’ Cueva was with me on Roots and he did the most amazing job getting the package from New Orleans to Atlanta with almost no turnaround.” The Douglas County Jail, outside Atlanta, not only comprised Pac’s prison scenes but many other sets built by production designer Hill. Those included scenes from Shakur’s youth in a Harlem tenement, in 1975; the Indiana Black Expo, years later, which gives context to Pac’s rising social activism; and the Marin City apartment where he lived with Afeni as a teenager. The core of Menzies’ camera package used on Roots (and then transposed to Eyez) were the 1.3 anamorphics mounted to ALEXA Studio cameras with mirror shutters. “That particular setup is the closest we can get to a film look in our digital world,” Menzies offers, “using a mechanical shutter.” That filmic look floods through Shakur’s time in prison, where his meetings in the stripped-down visitors’ room (gaffer David McLean and his team used LED units and practical fluorescents combined with natural sunlight) included his mother and his attorney, as well as Suge Knight, the latter of whom forever altered Pac’s life. “The schedule was tight, so using three cameras at once, which is how I worked on Roots, helped Benny a lot with coverage,” Menzies continues. “After we had run through each scene with three handheld looks, we would often do a separate pass [with Bianchini] on Steadicam just to make sure the scenes all had a bit of life to them.”
Life, or rather the attempt to take it, shapes one of the most intense scenes in the movie:
when Shakur is robbed and then shot five times in the lobby of Quad Recording Studios in New York City. Shooting handheld, Bianchini and his camera (with an optical flat) were shrouded in Duvetyne. To best capture POV angles of the emotionally charged incident (many in Pac’s camp suspected Biggie Smalls of setting up the ambush to look like a common robbery, with the real motive to kill), Bianchini was literally inches from the blank guns, which were popping off in his face. “I wore gloves and ear plugs and let the gun fire right into the lens,” the operator recounts. “I was so close I could feel the heat and compression [of the blank charges] coming through the Duvetyne. In the scene, Pac is thrown to the ground and on top of the guns going off; the actors didn’t hold anything back for realism,” he laughs. “It’s an incredibly dramatic and emotional scene and not without some safety concerns. But I just got so lost in the story I didn’t want to hold back.” The following day, Bianchini did more POV’s for the scene that included his wearing a portion of Shipp’s wardrobe. “A few of the takes I’m wearing Pac’s pants below JUNE/JULY 2017 45
“ THE POV APPROACH MADE THINGS AS INTIMATE AS WE COULD POSSIBLY PULL OFF TO HELP THE AUDIENCE UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE.” -PRODUCTION DESIGNER DEREK HILL
the waist,” he continues. “I get dragged into the elevator and I see my pants covered in blood. The goal was to capture how frightening it was for Pac to be shot at such close range. I’ve been involved in armory and gun work, but nothing at this proximity. I could feel everything through the Duvetyne, but fortunately the adrenaline took over.” Adds Menzies, “The space was really small and confined, so the energy in the room is really communicated through the camerawork. The POV approach made things as intimate as we could possibly pull off to help the audience understand what it must have been like.” Production Designer Hill adds that his team built walls to close in the lobby of a period Walgreen’s in downtown Atlanta, used to replicate Quad Recording Studios. “We created outside signage and had the police car and ambulance come up on the curb to tighten up the shot,” he explains. “There were many different versions of what happened that night, so [for the exterior scenes] I knew if the camera kept tight, and we could provide a metal railing, the door, the ambulance up on the curb, Benny and Peter would be okay.” Hill, whose credits include other true-life biopics like W., Into The Wild, and Born on the Fourth of July, says the key to sets and locations that must recreate real events is to offer the director enough of the reality to tell the story. For example, when Pac’s entourage gets in the fight in the MGM Grand, Hill videotaped the casino where Menzies was to shoot 46 JUNE/JULY 2017
(Harrah’s) and compared that side-by-side to the MGM Grand video footage. “I knew it wouldn’t be exactly the same,” he adds, “but if we could get the key characters in the scene, as well as the background crowds, set up in an area that looked similar – slots, tables, et cetera – and with all the fighting and movement, that would be okay. LT Hutton was part of Pac’s core group back in those days, so I always deferred to him on the final look. If LT said it was close, then that’s what I would ultimately trust.”
Trust, in his own scrambled identity and the society that celebrated him, was a big part
of Shakur’s demons. And those personality contradictions are seen in stark relief when the somber, naturalistic prison and courtroom scenes (when Pac is tried for sexual assault) are contrasted with the color-infused club and performance scenes (shot in an Atlanta warehouse to double for L.A.’s House of Blues), mainly in a marathon collaboration of lighting, camera and production design. Menzies says Hill was “a genius” at providing so many different looks in the Douglas County Jail, as well as other Atlanta locations. “I’m a huge believer that if sets can light
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“ I KNOW BENNY LOVES DRAMATIC MOVE-INS, FLARES, AND WRAP-AROUNDS, AND PETER KNEW HOW TO LIGHT FOR THOSE, SO I COULD FIND THOSE MOMENTS OPERATING.” -GEORGE BIANCHINI, SOC
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themselves, it provides a huge boost in flexibility and speed, especially with a limited budget and schedule,” Menzies states. In fact, the “green room,” where Jada takes Pac to task [for his immersion in thug life] after a concert [at the House of Blues], was lit almost entirely with practical units built into the set. It was amazing.” For the HOB “green room,” Set Decorator Merissa Lombardo brought in more than a dozen period- lighting fixtures, hung from the ceiling as well as above the room’s many paintings. Hill then draped fabric on the walls and ceiling so Menzies could push in more LED light from above and behind the material. “The whole room was color-toned in deep reds and browns, much of it pulled from YouTube footage of Pac when he was performing at the House of Blues,” Hill recounts. “We put together renderings in advance to show to Benny and LT [Hutton], and then followed those pretty closely. Everything began with us painting all the walls red and took off from there.” Practical period lighting units were also used for the concert scenes Menzies shot in front of a live audience, using seven cameras, a drone, a Technocrane, and, most importantly, music-video veteran Bianchini’s free rein on and around the stage. “Benny and I both come from music videos, and we’ve known each other for about 18 years,” Bianchini explains. “I worked on Benny’s directorial debut (on a music video) in 2002, so he really knew what I could do in a performance situation.” Bianchini would run through an entire 20-minute set on Eyez roaming with a Steadicam. “There were a couple of thousand people in the audience, and I know Benny loves dramatic move-ins, flares, and wrap-arounds, and Peter knew how to light for those, so I could find those moments operating,” he adds. “I can’t say enough good things about our focus puller, Steve Cueva. No matter what I threw at him, he would take the journey and nail it.” For the concert footage, Bianchini was using the lighter ALEXA MINI with the Vantage anamorphic primes. Variation was key (using a static prime focal length), so, he relates, “I was pretty much moving all the time, throwing focus back and forth from
foreground to back. A lot of the time I would let Steve dictate where the camera went. When I saw his focus went deep, I would frame for deep and move closer. I never got to work with Pac directly, but I got my start with Hype Williams, who had directed Pac’s famous ‘California Love’ video. The opportunity to recreate Pac’s early Digital Underground video for this movie, which we tried to do frame for frame, was really a blast.” Menzies, too, had shot many music videos earlier in his career, as well as live concerts. “Using all period lighting elements for the concert scenes provided a lot of options with color temperature. For the first show, we had a lot of moving lights and color changes, and that went into a whole red look for ‘Hail Mary.’ David [McLean] worked with PRG in Atlanta, and they had plenty of those old [PAR can] lights sitting around, since nearly everyone has moved into LED’s. We used an interior drone as well for these scenes to give some speed and pace to the high wide shots, which we couldn’t really get with the crane.” With roughly 70 percent of the film being shot handheld, Bianchini says it was essential he memorize the entire script, to always account for where the camera needs to be in relation to the dialogue. “There would be scenes where there wasn’t any coverage at all,” the operator continues, “and Benny and Peter would just want the camera to be ‘swingling,’ i.e., swinging into singles. We wanted to make the handheld as much like Steadicam or a dolly as possible. Smooth and clean that doesn’t call attention to itself.”
Such was the approach for many of the earlier scenes in Pac’s life –
waterside with a young Jada Pinkett in Baltimore, or when the FBI bursts into Afeni’s Bay Area apartment to arrest Pac’s stepfather, Mutulu, a prominent Black Panther who had spent years on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. The dramatic final moments of Shakur’s life, which begin with Pac, Knight and their entourage JUNE/JULY 2017 49
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attacking an L.A. Crips gang member in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel and culminates with a hail of bullets to the passenger side of Knight’s BMW sedan, where Pac was riding, were shot on an Atlanta stage, with Menzies using large LED screens (from PRG Atlanta). The plates for the stagework were shot in Vegas with nine cameras (to provide a 360-degree view). The route the plate car followed exactly matched the journey Knight’s BMW took that fateful September night. Back on the stage, Menzies used two LED screens on the floor and one suspended above his car. “We did all the tight coverage on stage using the screens and plates, and then went to Vegas to do the wider shots,” he notes. “The LED screens were quite amazing – they were 30 feet by 15 feet and could light the whole set.” The original plan was to shoot Pac’s car with green screen, but Menzies says the LED screens offered a more “organic and interactive” approach to the long, slow cruise through the Vegas night. “The LEDs were programmable, of course, so we could reproduce the way the actual ambient light from the Vegas strip would grow and wane, changing as the car drove,” Menzies adds. “It was the first time I used LED walls of this magnitude, and it allowed for great flexibility, as I could still use three cameras at once, just like the rest of the movie.” Menzies took a similar approach for a scene where Pac is talking with Biggie Smalls on the balcony of a New York City building. “We shot the scene on stage against translights,” the DP continues. “[The translights] are so much better for the actors than green screen, as [the actors] can walk out onto the balcony and see [a facsimile] of New York City right there behind them. Of course, the translights have limitations, and we will be adding the odd CG airplane and light twinkles as
needed. But I’ve done an awful lot of blue and green screen in my career, and I always prefer going incamera whenever possible.”
CREW LIST Director of Photography Peter Menzies Jr., ACS A-Camera Operator/Steadicam George Bianchini, SOC A-Camera 1st Assistant Steven Cueva ‘ A-Camera 2nd Assistant Megan Morris B-Camera Operator Eric Wycoff B-Camera 1st Assistant Nino Neuboeck B-Camera 2nd Assistant Mike Fisher C-Camera Operator Keith Peterman C-Camera 1st Assistant Mark Boyle C-Camera 2nd Assistant Kyler Dennis DIT Jason Bauer Digital Loader Manny Serrano Digital Utility Jimari Jones Still Photographer Quantrell “Q” Colbert
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VANISHING POINT BILL POPE, ASC, HITS THE ROAD FOR EDGAR WRIGHT’S HIGH-OCTANE, MUSIC-FUELED DRAMA, BABY DRIVER.
BY KEVIN H. MARTIN PHOTOS BY WILSON WEBB, SMPSP Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a veritable prodigy behind the wheel, serving as a fantastically skilled getaway driver for a gang of bank robbers that is led by Doc (Kevin Spacey) and includes Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Bats (Jamie Foxx). But after meeting waitress Deborah (Lily James), Baby starts to consider the possibility of life outside his world of crime.
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T
he new Sony feature Baby Driver represents the fulfillment of
an idea writer/director Edgar Wright (Exposure, page 34) first had more than two decades ago: to deliver a carchase movie that is literally driven by music. (Baby has tinnitus and has to listen to music constantly to drown out the sounds in his head.) Along for the ride was Bill Pope, ASC, who also shot Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The World’s End. Fresh off The Jungle Book, for which he shared a VES award for outstanding virtual cinematography, Pope first heard about Baby Driver several years back. “Edgar had discovered this little-known story about the Culver Ghost,” the DP recalls. “Twenty years ago, some small person raced at very high speeds through Culver City. This went on for years, but the police never caught him. Edgar wanted to make a film based on this character. I loved the idea, and as years passed, whenever we talked I’d ask, ‘Can we just do Baby Driver?’” Part of the delay owed to budgeting. “We couldn’t get any tax breaks in Los Angeles, so it got switched to other cities,” Pope continues. “Edgar didn’t want to make a movie in an unnamed city that looks like another unnamed city, so each locale required a new draft.” Eventually Atlanta emerged as the best bet, although it was not without a bleak history for the filmmakers. “It’s where we had worked on a version of Ant-Man before leaving the project,” Pope laments. “But then [Wright] found out from a real 54 JUNE/JULY 2017
bank robber-turned-consultant that Atlanta was the bank robbery capital of America; its complicated freeway system is like spaghetti. Over the course of nearly a year, Edgar re-plotted each heist and chase to fit what was available in that city.” Aiding in the location search was production designer Marcus Rowland, whose association with Wright dates all the way back to the filmmaker’s quirky Spaced series. “We had gone to Cleveland and Louisiana, but Atlanta was very flexible in giving us access,” Rowland describes. “It’s compact and easy to get from one location to another quickly. With the weather at the time of year we filmed, Atlanta looked very concrete and gray, so we juxtaposed brighter vehicles against that neutral background.” Costume design, led by Courtney Hoffman, also helped pop the characters out from the gray Atlanta backgrounds. “We always dressed Jamie in reds, while Ansel is black and white,” Pope reports. “Lily and Baby’s mother are the only blonde people in the whole movie, so we gave them both golden-haired backlight – a subtle detail I hope the audience takes in on an emotional level.” Referencing a pair of Burt Reynolds films shot in Atlanta, Wright told Pope he wanted the look raw and urban. “Edgar went on about how gritty Sharky’s Machine [shot by William A. Fraker, ASC] looked, compared with Smokey and the Bandit,” Pope smiles. “He kept saying: ‘Less Smokey, more Sharky.’” Another reference was Walter Hill’s cult hit The Driver, shot by Philip H. Lathrop, ASC.
“ WITH THE WEATHER AT THE TIME OF YEAR WE FILMED, ATLANTA LOOKED VERY CONCRETE AND GRAY, SO WE JUXTAPOSED BRIGHTER VEHICLES AGAINST THAT NEUTRAL BACKGROUND.” -PRODUCTION DESIGNER MARCUS ROWLAND
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POPE DESCRIBES WRIGHT AS ONE OF THE MOST PREPARED DIRECTORS HE’S EVER WORKED WITH. “HE BOARDS EVERYTHING, AND THEN ON LOCATION IT GETS RE-BOARDED.”
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Pope describes Wright as one of the most prepared directors he’s ever worked with. “He boards everything, and then on location it gets re-boarded,” Pope explains. “We scouted locations numerous times, even while shooting, taking stills and editing them into a shot list.” That level of preparation informs the movie’s chief conceit, since the action plays out against the music pouring into Baby’s ears. All the actors wore ear buds so they could hear the music, even sometimes speaking their lines to the music. Choreographer Ryan Heffington rehearsed all the actors so they would know how to move during each beat. Pope says, “Even the wipers on the windshield are on the beat!” Another key contributor was 2nd-unit director and stunt coordinator Darren Prescott (John Wick films and Drive), who says Wright approached him with a clear idea of how to stage chase scenes. “We presented him with different stuntdriving ideas, which sometimes changed the animatic,” Prescott recalls. “One part of a car chase could be choreographed for six shots, with the animatic showing a car turn the corner in three seconds – but after measuring the actual location, we went to Atlanta Motor Speedway and timed the move, discovering it took eleven seconds. That meant Edgar had to lose four of the six planned cuts if he wanted the images to slave to the music.” According to Pope, Wright does not like
to repeat camera angles. “But he likes to get lots of shots,” he smiles, “so you burn through the coverage, which means if you’re not doing thirty shots today, you’re falling behind.” Pope gives props to Gaffer Stephen Crowley and Key Grip Mike Duarte for helping to attain the necessary quantity of setups daily.
Because Wright only shoots on film, Pope opted for Kodak Vision3
5219 500T and 5207 250D stocks, processed through FotoKem. “During prep, I went to L.A. and worked with Efilm to create mock dailies so dailies colorist Matt Wallach knew what we liked,” the DP explains. “Every Monday, Edgar and I viewed dailies on a big screen at a Deluxe subsidiary in Atlanta while in communication with Efilm.” B-camera 1st AC Sean Moe says given the onslaught of digital capture, it’s become challenging to find an experienced film loader. “We had a list of good people,” Moe notes. “Unfortunately, only two had film experience! Lauren Gentry had a lot of 16-millimeter experience from The Walking Dead [and] did an amazing job.” Even with the commitment to 35 mm, certain scenes did wind up being captured on ALEXA, including a MōVi move with A-camera/Steadicam operator Roberto De Angelis chasing full speed after Ansel Elgort. Pope cited a night scene in a parking
garage where he couldn’t put any lights up to get an exposure on film. “So we shot digital and grained it up,” Pope notes. “But there is still a real difference. The immediacy of digital is so close to reality, it holds viewers back emotionally from entering the narrative.” Parts of Scott Pilgrim and World’s End were shot with Panavision’s G-series lenses, and they again saw action on Baby Driver (supplied by Panavision Woodland Hills). “They gave me sharpness, warmth and the right fall-off,” Pope explains. Production also carried a full range of C-series glass; longer-focal-length T/E lenses; and ATZ, AWZ and ALZ zooms. “We wound up using Arricam bodies, because the assistants loved Arri’s HD video tap,” Pope adds. “The tap helped with focus, and was also needed because Edgar had [longtime editor] Paul Machliss on set cutting our takes to make sure they matched the music.” Pope’s usual preference for lighting is to keep things as location-based as possible. For instance, this genre of film often uses parking garages for backgrounds, where the existing lights give a “great mood with their greenish hues,” he explains. “Whenever I added light, it was in matching color temperatures, bluegreen and spiked all over the place – it gave a real feel of menace, and for the final chase with Jon Hamm’s character. Again, just trying to let the natural grittiness bleed through.” That is evidenced in another ‘found’ interior location, Doc’s loft. “It had two JUNE/JULY 2017 57
windows, and I liked the light coming through them,” Pope continues. “Except for a bank of fluorescents over his conference table, I lit everything in the loft through those windows, for both day and night scenes. It was like the room lit itself while also delivering the appropriate built-in noir feel, and we could move quickly.”
Given the level of visual dynamics in Wright’s films, it
comes as no surprise that all manner of equipment was deployed for moving the camera, ranging from MovieBirds to MōVi and Steadicam and even a drone shot. A-camera 1st AC Emil ‘E.J.’ Misisco marvels over a four-minute Steadicam shot that opens the movie. “We burned through the entire 400-foot magazine for what we called ‘The Harlem Shuffle,’” Misisco recalls. “Roberto followed a character out of a building, then down half a city block into a café. We’re shooting wide open, doing close-ups and two 360s in there, then we follow him back out, up the hill till he reenters the first building. They’ll be talking about this one in film schools!” Baby Driver’s elaborate chase scenes often involved Prescott’s second unit, but since Wright liked putting his actors into highspeed action, a number of shots featuring his 58 JUNE/JULY 2017
principals were captured using the Biscuit Jr., a drivable process trailer from Allan Padelford Camera Cars that is capable of high speeds as well as slides and spins. Stunt coordinator and Biscuit operator Rob Nagle would occupy the vehicle’s repositionable drive pod, permitting a variety of camera angles. “A lot of the time we’d have the pod on the roof, letting me drive from up there, out of frame,” Nagle reveals. “To keep things light enough for us to maneuver, we strip out the production car’s drive and suspension, leaving only the shell to go on the Biscuit, which is set up so the car is only two to three inches higher than it would be on the road. “When we took Edgar for a ride,” Nagle continues, “it really opened up his eyes to more options. Plus, with our approach, the actors get thrown around by real G-forces, which helps ground the audience in the reality of the moment.” And it wasn’t just the actors getting tossed around, as Sean Moe remembers how he and Misisco would strap themselves to the Biscuit before trying to pull focus at high speeds and while pulling 180-degree spins. While being shot at, Baby has to drive partway up a rock wall to get around cars obstructing his escape. “We didn’t know how to get a shot of our actor in the car while it was up on two wheels, tipped halfway over,” reports Pope. “But Rob solved it by building a hydraulic system that lifted the Biscuit-
mounted car to a 45-degree angle, which put Ansel’s head just a foot or so from the speeding ground.” More elaborate stunts featured the work of Jeremy Fry, whom veteran 2nd-unit DP Duane Manwiller calls “the best [stunt] driver I’ve ever seen.” Fry looked a lot like Ansel Elgort, so Manwiller says, “We’d be shooting car-to-car with [Fry] from the camera car on the Edge Arm for a lot of the wilder driving moments.” Prescott describes one of the more elaborate bits of camera/car ballet work. “We originally had a 180 planned, but thought, ‘What if we go 270 degrees, tracking and countering the car’s move with the Edge, which let us bring the car right to camera?’ J-Fry came so close we seemed close to putting the camera right in the driver-side window. The Edge also let us get close to the deck, so it is my definite weapon of choice for second-unit work, though we used crash-cams too.” For one hair-raising moment when Jamie Foxx’s pickup gets wedged beneath a moving semi-truck’s belly, a collaborative effort went the extra step beyond static crash camera. “Darren came up with the idea of a remote head under the semi,” Manwiller recalls. “Key grip Guy Micheletti built this rig, which took us beyond the limitations usually experienced in such cramped situations, where a lock-off camera is all you can deploy.”
“A LOT OF THE TIME WE’D HAVE THE POD ON THE ROOF, LETTING ME DRIVE FROM UP THERE, OUT OF FRAME.” -STUNT COORDINATOR ROB NAGLE
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CREW LIST Director of Photography Bill Pope A-Camera Operator/Steadicam Roberto De Angelis A-Camera 1st AC EJ Misisco Jr. A-Camera 2nd AC Billy McConnell B-Camera Operator Bill Pope B-Camera 1st AC Sean Moe B-Camera 2nd AC Dwight O. Campbell Loader Lauren Gentry
Location limitations also drove camera innovation. “There’s the 180-in/180-out move seen in the trailer,” notes Prescott. “It takes place in a tight alley, and the stunt driver is going 60 to 70 miles per hour. There was no room for maneuvering on either side, so the Arm couldn’t snake through, and to get the shot we needed to be above the car. We didn’t have the resources for Cablecam, so a drone was our only option.” Steve Blizzard’s Aerial MOB (a Panavision partner) handled the drone shot, which required the unit to fly ahead as the speeding car overtook it to capture and hold the reverse-spin gag. “The drone guys were really good,” affirms Manwiller. “Honestly, it seems like only one time out of ten that you get what you need from a drone, especially on second unit when you’re doing something gnarly.”
In a film chock-full of set pieces, one sustained highway pursuit
with wrong-way driving stands out. In fact, Moe says, “[location manager] Doug Dresser should really get an Academy Award for how he put things together. Nearly every time we turned a corner during a chase, it was another location, probably shot on a different day. We couldn’t ever shut down whole grids because the I-75/85 interchange is the main north/ south artery. So to shoot on the freeway, we had rolling blocks.” This involved local police, scores of stunt drivers and deft coordination of multiple 60 JUNE/JULY 2017
departments. “The cops would pull out and do a serpentine move three miles back from where we were starting, in order to create a traffic break,” Prescott explains. “The I-85 scene couldn’t really be rehearsed, even though we had about 50 cars and drivers involved,” he adds. “J-Fry begins by heading the wrong way on an on-ramp. We start our fleet of drivers three to four miles away, pulling out on the highway with the Edge deployed till we near the ramp. Jeremy had to anticipate our approach to get up to speed in time to cut off our cars, and then do a 180 into oncoming traffic. It was a lot of action to cover in a single run, and then an hour to reset.” With so many successful in-camera solutions, the volume of CG work – substantial in the ‘invisible’ vein – was relatively minor. “Edgar will use that tool to remove unwanted eye blinks,” Pope acknowledges. “But we only had to add one digital car, plus a helicopter – the latter because we weren’t allowed to fly them over the freeway.” Pope says that great directors like Wright ask a lot of their crews, “but because they are great, the crew cannot wait to give it to them,” the DP offers. “That’s true when you’re shooting a relatively low-budget film with Edgar, or a much-larger project like I just shot with Jim Cameron and [director] Robert Rodriguez [Alita Battle Angel]. Nobody wants to just drift through a shoot, you really want to contribute when it’s special.”
DIT Chad Oliver Still Photographer Wilson Webb Publicist Rachael Roth
2ND UNIT Director of Photography/ A-Camera Operator Duane Manwiller A-Camera 1st AC Jim Apted A-Camera 2nd AC Tonja Greenfield B-Camera Operator Brown Cooper B-Camera 1st AC Jon Lindsay C-Camera Operator J. Christopher Campbell C-Camera 1st AC Tom Hutchinson C-Camera 2nd AC Zsolt Haraszti Sony A7 Camera 2nd AC Christy Fiers Loader Austin Blythe A-Camera 1st AC – Insert Unit Mark Boyle A-Camera 2nd AC – Insert Unit Victoria K. Warren Loader – Insert Unit Daniel Irons
WHAT YOU SEE. Sony’s HDR Monitors. What you see on the set is what you see in the suite is what you see in delivery. When it comes to viewing HDR, the image on our new BVM-E171 TRIMASTER EL™ on-set monitor agrees with our PVM-X550 quality assurance monitor, which agrees with our multi-award winning BVM-X300 critical evaluation monitor. Your monitor in London agrees with the monitor in L.A. And your monitor experience today will agree with what you see next year. No wonder so many colorists, color shaders and cinematographers agree: in HDR, the choice is Sony. See everything at sony.com/OLED.
All images are simulated. © 2017 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Sony, Trimaster EL and the Sony logo are trademarks of Sony.
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GIRLS GONE WILD SISTERHOOD SHINES BRIGHTLY IN THIS SPICY COMEDY SET DOWN NOLA WAY.
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BY VALENTINA VALENTINI PHOTOS BY MICHELE K. SHORT Remember when Bridesmaids came out? Hollywood (i.e., its mostly male executive suits) wasn’t quite sure what audiences would make of women farting, getting sloppy drunk and fighting on airplanes. But the industry (and the general public) quickly got on board; after all, men had been doing it since the dawn of The Three Stooges. Bridesmaids grossed over $288 million worldwide and remains compulsory repeat viewing on VOD platforms the world over. This July, Girls Trip is poised to make us laugh just as hard with characters that are more likeable.
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G
irls Trip follows The Flosse Posse – four friends
(Queen Latifah, Regina King, Jada Pinkett Smith and Tiffany Haddish) that make up a high-spirited, adventurous crew who take a long-needed weekend holiday to New Orleans for the annual Essence Fest. “When [producer] Will Packer approached me with the idea a couple of years back,” remembers director Malcolm D. Lee, known for The Best Man franchise, “he reminded me how we’ve already seen the movie where the guys go off to Vegas or Miami and behave badly and get into trouble, their wives none the wiser.” Packer didn’t need to do much convincing of Lee to pull off that same high-energy, down-therabbit-hole tale with women. “I was 100 percent in,” the director continues. “Women are an underserved audience; they don’t get to see themselves in crazy ways on screen nearly enough. We see men doing silly, wild things, so I wanted [to be a part of giving that story to women], and in particular, to black women. [They] never get that opportunity, and Essence was the perfect situation to place it in.” Lee and cinematographer Greg Gardiner first partnered in 2008 on Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins and have since worked together on a TV pilot, The Best Man Holiday and Barbershop: The Next Cut. For Lee, Gardiner was a natural fit. “He’s childlike in his demeanor and approach,” says Lee about the collaboration. “Greg comes in with so many ideas and has this unbounded positivity. He brings an enthusiasm to not just tell a story visually, but to tell a story.” Gardiner’s comedy roots go back to Tommy Chong’s Far Out Man, in 1990, and he’s shot other laugh-fests like Men in Black II (2002), Elf (2003) and She’s The Man. Each time Gardiner comes back to comedies (he never leaves for long), he aims for naturalistic lighting with a sense of attractiveness. “Comedies play best in a real environment,” the California native describes. To film Girls Trip on the streets of NOLA, Gardiner chose the Sony F55, a system he’s favored since Sony put it on the market in early 2013. “I like a snappier look with more detail,” he notes, in comparison to the ever-popular ALEXA. Having come up the ranks shooting Kodak film, Gardiner equates the ALEXA with 5274 200 ASA film stock that was very gentle and creamy. The F55 is more like 5219 without the grain – very detailed – because the pixels are smaller. “You’ll see the F55 go to Africa to shoot wildlife or to Asia for an adventure show,” Gardiner explains, 64 JUNE/JULY 2017
“ SONY HAS BUILT A ROBUST, CINEMATIC CAMERA WITH TREMENDOUS LATITUDE AND DEFINITION. I SHOOT [THE F55] LIKE FILM, AND I UTILIZE TESTS FOR IT JUST LIKE FILM, ESTABLISHING LUTS OFF MY METER. ” -GREG GARDINER
“because Sony built a robust, cinematic camera with tremendous latitude and definition. I shoot [the F55] like film, and I utilize tests for it just like film, establishing LUTs off my meter similar to establishing printer lights with a lab. All four days at the Essence festival, shooting those live concerts, days and nights on the streets of New Orleans, I was without a DIT or monitors and always just using my meters, lighting like I would with a film camera.”
The yearly Essence Music Festival was started in 1994 at the Superdome in
New Orleans as a one-time event to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Essence Magazine. The massive event, which typically draws more than 500,000 attendees, wasn’t going to wait for the Girls Trip team to be ready, so Gardiner prepped for weeks in advance, in tandem with his A-camera first assistant (and New Orleans local) Peter Roome. They used maps, flowcharts and schedules to leapfrog camera crews throughout the nearly milelong New Orleans Convention Center, into which the festival has spilled over as it has grown. Nearly all of Girls Trip takes place at Essence; there was no way to recreate the size and scope of that economically. “Shooting at the actual festival was the only way to capture it authentically,” Packer observes. “Our challenge was that we needed to fit a full-scale film production – not a documentary crew – inside a live festival, and
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“ OUR CHALLENGE WAS THAT WE NEEDED TO FIT A FULL-SCALE FILM PRODUCTION – NOT A DOCUMENTARY CREW – INSIDE A LIVE FESTIVAL.” -PRODUCER WILL PACKER
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the very point of our shoot was to have the festival flowing, unobstructed as a backdrop. It required an incredible amount of coordination between us and the Essence team; I’m not sure I’d do something like this again unless I absolutely had to!” Lee interfaced with the Essence Magazine team in New York, who he says were enthusiastic about the collaboration. “But the people running the festival were like, ‘Uh, we have a festival to run,’” he admits. “There were a lot of starts and stops, and they had an idea that we were going to come in and be intrusive, or deter their fans from enjoying the festival. Really, we just wanted to fit in where we could. We wanted to capture that experience of being there and wanted to make sure the audience felt immersed.” Logistics to achieve Lee’s vision were a big part of the camera department’s prep –the chief technical concern was getting Lee images to monitors for as many cameras as possible. The convention center was scouted several times for receiver and transmission points to send playback to Lee, who wore a backpack with a wireless monitor with quad images on the single screen. “We had a lot of restrictions put on us and had to pare down our crew and gear a lot when it came to shooting at Essence,” Gardiner states. “We couldn’t bring in cases or carts, it was just backpacks and a few Arri LoCasters.”
Every day at the Essence Festival is followed by an evening of concerts at the Superdome. This meant a company move at 5 p.m. to prepare to shoot music shows that started at 7 p.m. For camera, this meant packing two trucks, traveling a dozen blocks through rush-hour traffic, unloading, going through
security, and then setting up in various parts of the Superdome. There were backstage scenes and scenes at satellite stages located throughout the venue, as well as scenes at, on and around the main stage. There were also challenges with signal broadcasting and bandwidth availability. “On the last evening of Essence we were in the Superdome for the third time,” recalls Roome. “We had had a few hiccups in our video transmissions over the previous few days, but overall, things had gone according to plan.” The final act of the entire event was a performance by Sean Combs (aka Puff Daddy and P. Diddy). This coincided with a penultimate scene in Girls Trip where the iconic Diddy gives one of the ladies a wink and a wave during his performance. What actually went down was pure gold in terms of comedic, live-event filmmaking. “There’d been a lot of back and forth as to whether or not Diddy would be able to do it [during a live performance],” Lee remembers. “But my producers and I had talked with him earlier that day, and he said he was game to make it work.” In the scene, the four women have made their way to the VIP standing area located in the wings of stage right, and as they’re dancing and enjoying themselves, they think Diddy is going to come over and give them their moment. Gardiner had his two LoCasters to keep the ladies lit as they watched the show from the side, sometimes flashing the light in Diddy’s direction to help remind him they were there.
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“ OUR TEST AUDIENCE TOLD US THAT IT LOOKED SO REAL, LIKE WE WERE REALLY THERE – IT WAS HILARIOUS TO TELL THEM THAT WE REALLY WERE THERE!” -GREG GARDINER
“We were in the middle of the wireless mics, lighting controls and transmitters for the live stage show,” recounts Roome. “We shot for over an hour backstage and in the VIP seats without [any trouble]. Then, just as Diddy started to come our way, my [Preston] remote focus stopped responding. Knowing the airwaves were over-crowded, I switched channels and regained control, thinking I was back on track.” As Diddy started backing toward the actors and Lee, Gardiner, and A-camera operator Mick Froelich, SOC, Roome’s focus unit signal cut out again. And instead of just a wink and a wave, Diddy grabbed Haddish’s hand to pull her onstage. With massive amps on the edge of the stage creating a sizeable obstacle to Haddish in heels and a tiny dress, Latifah had to get behind her and push her up over the amps. “I hear Malcolm beside me – who has been a rock throughout – asking if Peter was okay as he could see there was something wrong,” Gardiner recalls. “Most guys would have been in a panicked frenzy by that point. But Malcolm wasn’t.” The only option was to disengage focus and iris with Roome’s hands on the focus knob with the camera atop Froelich’s shoulder. “Mick is very strong,” Gardiner adds, “and he held frame throughout” – at the same moment that Diddy starts heading from the front of stage toward them in front of 60,000 fans. “I tell Peter he’s coming, and Malcolm yells to me, ‘Are we okay?’” says Gardiner, “as I turn my light onto [Haddish], telling Peter to roll and telling Malcolm that he’s pulling focus by hand.” Gardiner recalls the collective sigh of relief after they realized they’d actually captured all of the wild moments with Haddish and Diddy, and it was in focus. “Our test audience told us that it looked so real, like we were really there – it was hilarious to tell them that we really were there!”
Because Roome was scheduled to begin prepping season three of
NCIS: New Orleans and the principal first assistant 68 JUNE/JULY 2017
Robert Baird – an Angeleno who relocated to New Orleans in 2009 – was on another show that didn’t wrap until after Essence was over, a smooth transition was needed after the live-event footage was completed. Roome prepped Girls Trip with Gardiner, which meant coordinating and preparing crew and equipment for both Essence and three weeks of principal photography afterward. They even worked for three weeks prior to prep in order to put crew and equipment together. “That would both facilitate the work on Essence and transition smoothly into principal photography with a minimum re-tooling between the two,” explains Roome, who was in constant contact with Zac Sieffert [the B-camera first assistant who was on the same show as Baird]. Also, in order to ensure a smooth transition, loader Chad Taylor was hired for the entire
CREW LIST MAIN UNIT (33 DAYS) Director of Photography Greg Gardiner A-Camera Operator Mick Froehlich A-Camera 1st AC Robert Baird
run. Baird also sent his second assistant, Rome Julian, over from his project to start prep on Girls Trip so that they would have someone in the camera department with a vested interest in the equipment and crew going forward after Essence photography was complete. This ensured that Baird and his crew were able to step right in and start principal photography without a hitch. “The logistics of shooting in a busy and heavily populated location such as Bourbon Street can be daunting,” describes Baird, whose main challenge was dealing with partying tourists. “It took every member of our camera team to help each other stay organized and on our toes at all times. To our advantage was the skill and experience of our local New Orleans police, locations and security personnel. In a city that regularly hosts massive events such as Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and Essence Fest, the local authorities’ experience with crowd control is unparalleled.” In fact, one benefit of shooting on Bourbon Street was how seamless the crowd of film extras in the high, wide-angle shots blended with the sea of tourists in the adjacent blocks. Gardiner says Gaffer Michael McGlaughlin lit the production block with numerous practicals, colored fluorescents and small units to match the five blocks in the background, making the action appear to be completely natural and live. “There is no other city like New Orleans,” gushes Lee. “It was the perfect setting for what we wanted to do. It came with great set pieces, humor, heart and culture.” Having finished the by-the-seat-of-your-pants footage at Essence, Gardiner had to ensure he could match that look with the rest of the women’s weekend. He needed to make Bourbon Street and Frenchman feel like the concert had felt. “The goal was to make those like the rest of the movie – like we were in the mix the whole time,” the DP describes. “[That meant] no big crane shots pulling away and showing the whole of Bourbon Street – nothing staged like that.” Gardiner recalls a scene of dialogue between the four women on Bourbon Street in the middle of the day. “That generally wouldn’t be done, as logistically it would be difficult. Plus, it was so hot out, which created a balance issue with the women under the balcony and the sun shining brightly just beyond,” he concludes. “But I wanted that feeling of being out of control because that was how the street, and how Essence, felt. The artistry of this movie was how to match the live footage to the planned stuff. I call it ‘hiding the machine.’”
A-Camera 2nd AC Rome Julian B-Camera Operator/Steadicam Grayson Grant Austin B-Camera 1st AC Zac Sieffert B-Camera 2nd AC Cody Gautreau Loader Chad Taylor Digital Utility David Stellhorn Still Photographer Michele K. Short Publicist Staci R. Collins Jackson ESSENCE FESTIVAL UNIT (3 DAYS) Director of Photography Greg Gardiner A-Camera Operator Mick Froehlich A-Camera 1st AC Peter Roome A-Camera 2nd AC Rome Julian B-Camera Operator/Steadicam Grayson Grant Austin B-Camera 1st AC Channing Brenholtz B-Camera 2nd AC Mike Kennedy C-Camera Operator Jerry Jacob E-Camera Operator Vincent Bearden E-Camera/Movi Operator Dave Anglin E-Camera 1st AC Allan Keffer E-Camera 2nd AC Hai Le Loader Chad Taylor Digital Utility Kolby Heid Still Photographer Michele K. Short
JUNE/JULY 2017 69
THE INTERVIEW ISSUE 70 JUNE/JULY 2017
72-75
KEYS TO THE CASTLE: KEY GRIPS
80-86
CRITICAL FOCUS: 1ST AC’S
88-94
LD’S LIVE: LIGHTING DESIGNERS
98-103
IN THE TRENCHES: 1ST AD’S
104-107
CUT & PASTE: STUDIO PHOTO EDITORS
ALL INTERVIEWS BY PAULINE ROGERS
JUNE/JULY 2017 71
MICHAEL COO
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Michael Coo became a full-time dolly grip when he was 20 years old. Pushing dollies came naturally to him and he really enjoyed it. Around the time that he was pushing dolly for Jan de Bont, ASC, on Black Rain and The Hunt for Red October, his wife of five years told him she wanted to go to college and get a degree. Early in their marriage, Coo had promised he would support her in that endeavor. So, it was fortuitous that at the end of Red October, de Bont asked if Coo would be interested in becoming his key grip. That job led to Basic Instinct, and at 33, Coo officially became a key grip. Today, Coo has amassed an envious résumé – ranging from The Muppets, Man of Steel, Oblivion, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Ride Along 2, Captain America: Civil War, and The Conjuring 2 to the upcoming Same Kind of Different as Me. Portrait by Richard DuCree
“ I THINK YOU’LL FIND THIS TRUE FOR MOST OTHER GRIPS AS WELL AS ME: IT’S SIMPLY THE CHALLENGE OF HOW TO CREATE A SHOT THAT HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.”
What was it like when you started as dolly grip? I was awestruck! I was 20 years old and behind the camera on the front lines of a popular TV show, Eight Is Enough, where the operator was Richard Rawlings, Jr. He moved on to shoot Charlie’s Angels and brought me along. Things could not have been more loose and fun in those days. Watching Jeff Kibbee, the first AD, wrangle the three stars to the set was a work of art because if one came first and the other two weren’t there, the first one would go back to her trailer! We shot sevenday episodes, had a wrap party, and started over. Watching from the sidelines, most normal people would be shocked at the fun we had while making a living on that show. The stories are abundant as it was just a much more carefree time in our industry. You’ve said being a key grip on big movies is easier than on small ones. Why? I started on big movies, so I got used to having everything we want to get the job done. Most of the challenges are always about tomorrow or next week’s work. A particular day of shooting is usually set to go by my rigging key and best boy. I scout the job, figure out how to get the shot or lighting done, with what equipment, and then turn it over to my crew. And I need to emphasize that I’m only as good as the crew that supports me. When I look at what we have done together as a “bunch of grips,” I’m proud. I consider myself a “camera movement” kind of key. I really enjoy creating something new that a director wants, and I consider that my strongest point. I’m the solution guy in life; I do it at home as well as at work. I love to figure out the puzzle, and having all options open with the budget of a big movie makes it easier. You’ve worked with some really highprofile directors. Anything in common? Working with people like David Fincher, Gore Verbinski, Richard Donner, Jan de Bont, and Michael Bay, you get to witness many unique personalities in action. Each one brings their own approach – chaos, humor, intense perfectionism. Even if a job is extremely grueling, somehow in the end, you think back upon it fondly. The collection of one-liners that have been thrown at my crew and me over the years by these big personalities has kept us amused. Such as: “That’s exactly what I don’t want!” Or: “You are ruining my movie!” “Oh, if it’s a big deal, maybe we shouldn’t do it!” And my all-time
favorite from David Fincher, “The least amount of human involvement in this shot the better.” By the way, my crew and I consider every one of those a badge of honor! What’s the most fun aspect of your job? I think you’ll find this true for most other grips as well as me: it’s simply the challenge of how to create a shot that has never been done before. And pretty much every movie I’ve done we’ve had that opportunity. I’ve been able to design a $100,000 crane for a commercial, then have it taken apart so no one would know how we accomplished it. I’ve rigged seven Santa Monica City buses for different camera angles in Speed. And I’ve spent $35,000 to build camera mounts on sculling boats to shoot one scene in The Social Network. There was the time I put a car on 400 feet of 5-foot-wide track and pulled it down the street so the camera would not move “one pixel” for the opening shot in Zodiac. The point is, big movies like big shots, and we look forward to those challenges. How does lighting impact your work? When it comes to lighting, I feel fortunate to have started when we used only hard light, which left a lot of shaping to do on the grip end. I’ve always been able to see light well and understand what the cinematographer is looking for. I’ve worked with 25 different cinematographers and I’ve learned something from all of them. Now, with all the LEDs, lighting is getting to be a lot less cumbersome – a lot less gel, heat and weight; there’s nothing like a tight egg crate on a little LED light panel to make a key grip smile. That change goes for big films as well? Definitely! What is happening now with LED and cinematography on [franchise films] is astounding. I’m really glad I’ve been around to see us go from using carbon arcs to SkyPanels run through a lighting console. On the grip end, we went from wood, rope, block and falls to truss and motors – and lots of them. Doing a movie now is akin to producing a rock concert. The quality of our rigging department for both Grip and Electric is vital to the success of a big movie. Actually, all the departments on a big movie are vital, and that’s the best thing about these projects. You get to work with the top people in the business making some of the most elaborate and memorable shots in cinema. JUNE/JULY 2017 73
BOBBY TH0MAS
Bobby Thomas began his career working Swing Gang for the Art department on the series Freddy’s Nightmares. But, he says, “watching the grips” gave him a focus for his future. “You can’t learn this stuff in school,” he remembers them telling him. “You need to find someone to take you under his wing.” So, Thomas would drive around L.A. looking for production trucks. He’d ask the best boy if he could work for free – just to learn. Although most told him to take a hike, occasionally a paid day came along. The first real break came through his college roommate at USC and film school director, John Singleton. Working on Singleton’s groundbreaking Boyz N the Hood was Thomas’s entry into Local 80. Today, he’s is one of the busiest key grips in town, with a focus on series television, such as Baby Daddy, Pitch, Sons of Anarchy and more. Portrait by Nicola Goode, SMPSP
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What is it like working with [two-time DGA President] Paris Barclay? We have a unique director/key grip relationship. Just this past season on Pitch, Production screened one of our episodes for the crew during lunch. After we came back, there were a lot of people sitting around the director’s monitors discussing the episode. I’m sitting in my normal seat on the edges of all the producers’ chairs when Paris turns to me. “What did you think of the episode, Bobby?” All of a sudden, you could hear a pin drop. I quickly said, “Come on, Paris, nobody cares what some grip thinks.” He said, “Nonsense; your opinion counts.” He got up from his director’s chair and pulled up a chair next to mine, and we had an honest conversation on what we liked and didn’t like about the episode. The whole time, the producers and writer were paying close attention to our conversation. It was very uncomfortable, to say the least, but it was classic Paris [Laughs.] How different is comedy from drama? The two can’t be more different. You must approach a sitcom set like Baby Daddy by lighting as if you are lighting a grid of six-by-six areas of the floor plan. Each area needs to have three-quarter back cross key, a backlight and front bounce fill light. But you have to cut it so there is a smooth transition. Also, you have four cameras. On this show we do a lot of backdrop changing. One big challenge is that we don’t have the luxury of having high perms. It’s basically a warehouse with pipe grid. We use a rig we called an Oleo, which is a mechanism that uses irrigation pipe, rope and pulleys that rolls the back up from the bottom. How tough was Sons of Anarchy? In a word: weather! Seven seasons of hot, dusty, dirty locations and shooting on a terrible warehouse stage in North Hollywood. The biggest grip challenge was to stay mobile. Because of the nature of our locations, it was impossible to get our 40-foot grip truck anywhere close to our shooting sets, so we had to find a way to fit pretty much our entire grip package into two stake beds. We used one for grip and the other for our two Chapman dollies with track. I credit my long-time best boy grip, Frank Orozco, for developing a system to perfection. One tool we put to good use was a camera bike: basically, a motorcycle with a sidecar platform onto which we would mount two Alexa cameras. What do sets look like today, personnelwise? They look more diverse than when I started keying, and it was extremely difficult to break into
mainstream Hollywood. But we still have a way to go. I used to get jobs where Production wanted the DP to make a diversity hire, and I always hated that; I want to work because I am good! Paul Maibaum gave me the first real opportunity, and it’s funny as I look back. The job was Run of the House, and I got the false impression Paul didn’t like me. I figured, one season only. Then, after we wrapped, I ran into him in the hallway at Contract Services, and he said; “I was just going to call you. We got another show.” I answered, “We do?” That was 15 years and some 350-plus episodes of TV ago, and Paul and I are still going strong. Someone opened the door for me – but we still have a long way to go. Besides diversity, what is your biggest passion? Safety. We work in a place with lots of moving parts. Large equipment moving all around you all the time combined with the pressure to work quickly. It’s very easy to let your guard down. Every day we go to work, the most important thing is that everyone goes home in one piece. I remember we had a P.A. on set that was always running on stage trying to do her job as fast as she could. I would always get on her to stop it, but she just wouldn’t listen. Unfortunately, she was running down a fire lane and turned a corner and ran into a grip carrying a 10-feet piece of dolly track. She caught the end of the track right in the mouth and lost seven teeth. I felt bad because it’s an accident that could have been avoided. You’ve even pulled a crew off a set because of safety? I did. Back in the 1990’s, we were shooting long nights in the desert. It was an extremely tough job, and we were getting beat up. After several weeks, my crew said they were nearly falling asleep on their two-hour drive home. I asked Production to put the crew up, but the UPM didn’t go for it. I even offered to pay half. I pulled the crew. It was a difficult decision, but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. What’s the overall biggest challenge for key grips these days? All grips are builders and problem solvers. It is our nature to make something out of nothing, and we love to play with our toys. But I think sometimes we tend to over-engineer things. We build these big impressive rigs. Snap a picture of them and go, “Wow, that’s cool.” We all do it. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that it’s better to work smarter, not harder. True genius is to find that simple solution to a complex problem. What’s important is what looks good in front of the camera, not behind it.
“ EVERY DAY WE GO TO WORK, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT EVERYONE GOES HOME IN ONE PIECE.” JUNE/JULY 2017 75
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LISA WIEGAND, ASC ON CINEMATOGRAPHY
‘ ’
As our verbal language changes, so does our
visual language in order to express the way we live now. So I speak my mind and luckily our
producing team appreciates my perspective. They like my dynamic approach and the fact that I keep it morphing—continually evolving the look.
Lisa Wiegand does not mince words. Her forthright approach shows in her gutsy shooting style. Never relying on the status quo, she and her loyal crew work hard to bring life to the script, dynamically moving to capture the subtly of each new look. But when she’s on the job there’s always time for a joke, a jab, an infectious giggle—to keep it upbeat regardless of the pressure to make the day. Its no wonder top producers like Dick Wolf count on her to set the look for new shows and to keep her at work on series after successful series.
In addition to the new series Chicago Justice, Wiegand is also known for her work on Chicago Fire, American Crime, Necessary Roughness, Wedding Band and Dollhouse.
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JUNE/JULY 2017 77
TREVOR LOOMIS Trevor Loomis grew up in the business. His father, George Loomis (SOC, currently A-camera on NCIS) is a former NBC Sports camera operator, so Loomis met pro athletes up close. When he graduated high school, he joined the Navy (along with first-AC buddy Chris Garcia). It was here Loomis says he learned what it takes to succeed in a team environment: responsibility, organization, multitasking, accountability, and watching your partner’s back. When he got out, Loomis set his eyes on being a prep tech at Panavision – something he could have done forever, until he met some top AC’s. These days Loomis is one of the best focus pullers in the industry, with an enviable list of credits that includes Red Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Logan, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Maze Runner, Divergent and more.
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Portrait by Murray Close
How is being a first AC different now than when you moved up in 1996? Back then all we had were the big three in film: Panavision, Arri and Moviecam. Now I find myself learning everything about the latest and greatest digital cameras. I’m still a technician; if something fails or goes wrong, I have to have answers. But, in the end, six feet is six feet whether it’s on a film camera or a digital camera. For me, focus is still standing next to the operator with your hand on the knob and talking about the shot. We’re also a second pair of eyes for the operator, picking up boom shadows or spotting during panning shots. You’ve said it’s one of the most difficult jobs on set. Why? Your work is seen on a huge screen. There’s no fixing out-of-focus shots. You can paint out a c-stand, or reframe a shot, but there’s been no way [so far] to fix an out-of-focus shot. What focus pullers need to remember is we can help tell a story with where and how we play focus, and can direct the audience’s eyes. It’s okay to have ideas about focus and present them to the DP and director. Sometimes they like the idea and sometimes they don’t – but you are part of the creative process. Are all genres similar to your line of work? Comedy and drama are. One or two cameras. Very specific shots. Action, multiple cameras - five, even 10. As the A-first it’s your job to know where all of those cameras are, what lens is on them, what their shot is. What filter package. On those kinds of movies you have to multitask - crash housings or cranes or water housings, who is where and who is doing what, and still stay on top of your shot on the A-camera. That being said, pulling focus on a comedy or drama can be just as hard as on an action movie. That’s the beauty of this job. You never know what’s going to happen. What’s it like working with so many different kinds of operators? I’ve worked with some of the best – Martin Schaer, Dave Luckenbach, Scott Sakamoto, Colin Anderson, Chris Haarhoff, Dave Thompson and more. The operator/ first relationship is one of the most important on set. You have to have the same instincts and approach to a shot. When the operator and assistant are in sync, you can really push the story with seamless camera work. There have been many scenarios where the operator and I turned to each other and said, “I have no idea how I’m going to do this shot.” That’s the beauty – we help each other. On Live by Night, Bob Richardson and Ben Affleck designed a couple of Steadicam oners. The movie was ARRI 65 and Panavision Sphero 65 lenses, so every shot was difficult, but especially the oners. Colin and I had to really be in sync with where the camera was and where focus was dropping off on dialogue and action. This is just one example of shots we do every day; communication is key. What was your first big A-camera job? Perfect Storm with John Seale and my fourth movie with him. Full-scale ships on huge gimbals, cameras on Technocranes on floating platforms. I approached Pete Romano at Hydroflex, and we came up with the Hydrobag. We thought that air was going to be the best way to keep the massive amounts of water off the front, but I was worried about the bags fogging up on the inside from the heat of the camera and the cold water. So we experimented with controlling that with splitting the air. Being able to blow a little air inside the bag in between the front element of the lens and the back of the thick sealed optical flat was the answer. But that
presented another problem, the bag blowing up like a puffer fish and popping. How did you solve it? Pete created a waterproof relief valve! Once the bags were perfected, we then had to figure out how to push a massive amount of air to two to four cameras on the end of a Technocrane 100 to 200 feet away. Jeff Pelton and I came up with a compressor system – two largecapacity compressors that fed into a huge 500-gallon reserve tank. From there, we fed air hoses to two dry-air systems that took the moisture and oil out. Of course, then we had to figure out how to pull focus – wide open in anamorphic! I’ve used that system on all five Pirates of the Caribbean movies since. It’s really great. Everyone always has an “oh shit” shot. What’s yours? It’s a classic! On the X-Files TV series in 1998, there was an episode (“Triangle”) that was all Steadicam, operated by Dave Luckenbach in real time. It was all done on practical ship locations, and every shot was a oner. At the end of the episode, we rode up an elevator with four actors. When we exited the elevator, an old Volkswagen van pulled up. The four actors were supposed to get in the van with Dave and me and pull out. I asked Dave how in the world we were going to do this. Dave said: “I’m going to get as far in the van as I can,” which, luckily had bench seats. “When you get in, hit me as hard as you can to slide me over the rest of the way.” That’s exactly what we did. I got in, hit him as hard as I could, slid him over the rest of the way, then closed the door and off we went.
“WHAT FOCUS PULLERS NEED TO REMEMBER IS WE CAN HELP TELL A STORY WITH WHERE AND HOW WE PLAY FOCUS, AND CAN DIRECT THE AUDIENCE’S EYES.”
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REBECCA ARNDT
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“ AFTER YEARS AS A NON-UNION CAMERA PERSON, IT’S GRATIFYING TO KNOW THAT MY UNION IS WORKING TO PROTECT MY RATES AND MY SAFETY.” Rebecca Arndt’s parents met on the classic John Sayles movie Return of the Secaucus 7. Her father (David Arndt) was the gaffer and her mother (Maggie Cousineau) was an actress. So, it was only natural that Arndt grew up on sets – running snack errands, chatting with talent, practicing holding a boom mic and (very) carefully holding a filter while the ACs prepped a shot. After graduating from Hampshire College, she decided to move to New York City – focusing on documentary production as an assistant editor, then production manager and associate producer. But every time Arndt visited a set, she felt the pull of production. Answering a Craigslist ad to be a camera assistant, she met Manuel Billeter (DP on Jessica Jones and Iron Fist), who was working as the first AC for Lisa Rinzler on The War Within. On that indie feature, some 15 years ago, Arndt worked for Billeter for free. Now, the list of Guild DP’s for whom she has been a first assistant include Tas Michos, ASC; Tim Ives; Igor Martinovic; Lisa Rinzler; Eigil Bryld; Sarah Cawley; Maryse Alberti and Yaron Orbach. Portrait by Linda Kallerus
Why is diversity in this industry important? When I started working as a loader, it was rare to see anyone other than white men in the camera department. As a woman, I knew that if I wanted to bump up I needed to be better than my male peers just to be considered. Last year I joined the Eastern Region Women’s Forum, which is working to foster positive change within the union and offer a community of support to female members. I think Local 600 is gaining ground in diversity – women, people of color and people of the LGBTQ community. It keeps our Union relevant to the global entertainment market. Has being a woman on set made a difference? At times. I’ve been on productions where the actress has requested that I pull focus for a scene that required nudity because it made her more comfortable to have at least one other woman in the room. In 2015, I was the 1st AC on Girls, season 5. At the end of the season, I received a thank-you note from Allison Williams (Marnie), saying that I was the first female 1st AC she had ever worked with and she hoped to see more of that in the future! It reminded me that diversity matters to the actors as much as it does to me. What have you learned from your mentors? Manuel Billeter was, of course, the first person to train me to be a 2nd AC, and he really taught me the responsibilities of a 2nd AC within the camera department. First AC Rob Koch showed me lots of
tricks that make an AC’s job easier. For instance, attaching a laser pointer to the flange of a camera, pointed down, so you know exactly when the camera hits a mark. How has the AC’s role changed with the new technology? I began as an AC when digital video started to become a viable option. It was a strange time – the learning curve got steeper. It wasn’t uncommon for me to work on a 35-millimeter commercial, a 16-millimeter feature and an HD industrial, all in the same month. I learned how to check the gate and pull with a whip on a film job, in tandem with learning how to pre-load a LUT. Pulling focus on film jobs has made me a better AC. I learned how to measure distances by eye, standing right next to the camera, so the DP/operator could whisper directions on the fly. Nowadays, I work mostly on HD productions, and a monitor is necessary to check focus. But that early eye training has come in handy. I was recently on a shot for the series Blacklist, where I was pulling on a 24–275-millimeter lens, zoomed all the way in, with a doubler. The actor was walking out of the ocean toward camera. The tide was coming in, the sun was going down and you can’t put marks in the ocean. I took a deep breath, gauged the actor’s distance, and muscle memory kicked in. I nailed it and my operator, Devin Ladd, could not stop talking about it! What shots have stuck with you? I was the assistant on the aerial unit for the
TV show The Witches of Eastwick. We had to capture the POV of a witch’s broomstick, at dawn and dusk. The helicopter pilot would fly up high, then dive-bomb and almost roll sideways for the shot. It was a wild ride. Another shot I often think about is one from the Barry Levinson HBO movie Wizard of Lies. It’s a dolly shot that starts by tracking with Robert DeNiro, who is weaving through a cramped office. He quickly gains on the camera, until he is about three feet from the lens, then he shouts into an office and the camera whip pans into the office to reveal Hank Azaria. The camera then pushes into an extreme close-up on Hank’s face. I had to utilize multiple tools to pull the shot: the Cinetape, physical objects as distance markers, tape marks for the dolly and a monitor to check focus for the [extreme close-ups]. My job was made infinitely easier because I was working with operator Charlie Libin and dolly grip John Gatland. What is important to you about being a member of Local 600? Being part of a Union makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself. It can be lonely as a freelancer, but the Union has given me a vast network of professional peers and friends. After years as a nonunion camera person, it’s gratifying to know that my Union is working to protect my rates and my safety. The work that Local 600 is doing allows me to focus on my craft and my life. No pun intended!
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GREG DELLERSON Greg Dellerson had what he describes as an “awesome” opportunity to learn the industry while working in the art department, but it was a six-week internship through Panavision that really started his career. While there, he spent a week meeting top-drawer camera assistants and forged a bond with then 1st AC Michael Price and his assistant, Stefan Tarzan, who were prepping the TV remake of The Shining. When the sessions were finished, Price wanted to pay Dellerson for his time, but all the budding AC wanted was more connections. With Price’s support and that of Local 600’s then National Executive Director Bruce Doering, Dellerson joined the union as a loader on the TV movie Alone. Now a busy 1st AC, he shifts seamlessly between television shows like Fresh off the Boat, The Catch, Superstore, and Detroit 1-8-7 and features like Little Miss Sunshine, Spy Kids 2, Furious 7 and The Fate of the Furious. Portrait by Nicola Goode, SMPSP
What are the highlights of working a long-running franchise like The Fast and the Furious? These are the types of jobs that you hope you are asked to do at some point in your career. For me, that opportunity happened when A-camera 1st AC Julie Donovan asked me to join her and top-notch key 2nd AC Jerry Patton in Atlanta, for the seventh installment of the series. Six weeks down the road, Stephen Windon asked me if I’d be interested in heading overseas to shoot VFX plates with DP Marc Spicer. Next thing I knew, I was prepping for Abu Dhabi and dealing with a foreign crew. There were many e-mails, coordinating with B-camera 1st Andrea Quaglio, who was my eyes and ears in the UAE. I’m proud to say the shot of the Lykan Hypersport jumping across two 82 JUNE/JULY 2017
skyscrapers went off without a hitch and looked amazing. There was another very challenging aspect to Furious 7 that was tragic and unforeseen. Yes, not long after my return to the States [from the UAE], Paul Walker was involved in an accident that took his life. This brought production to a halt for about four months. When we started back up in L.A., I began working with a face replacement unit. What that entailed was three cameras tight (left side of face, center of face and right side of face) in 4x3 mode at 72fps on what would be Paul Walker’s character. This would give visual effects the image they would need to do their magic. Greg Irwin, who I was lucky enough to work with, led that team, (Continued on page 84)
“ NEXT THING I KNEW, I WAS
PREPPING FOR ABU DHABI AND DEALING WITH A FOREIGN CREW.”
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and he gave me a great focus pulling tip. He said ‘be confident and don’t tense up.’ As soon as you tense up you’re done! How was Furious 8 different? It was 2nd unit. No actors or dialogue, all crashes, explosions, and awesome stunts. The fun stuff you did as a kid with your Hot Wheels. [Laughs.] I was there to assist Lou DeMarco, Jerry Patton and Terry Wolcott, managing three RED Epics and an Alexa on car mounts, POVs and handheld. We built a RED Epic in Finder mode first thing in the morning – stripped down to just lens and monitor. Then operator Nino Pansini and [2nd Unit DP] Jacques Haitkin, along with director Spiro Razatos, would start lining up shots with the finder camera. Key 1st Greg Luntzel and I would go over which cameras would go where and with what lens. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Superstore is a TV comedy. How is that different? It’s one hundred percent handheld, which means I’m pulling focus with a Preston FIZ unit and some sort of wireless video for viewing. I prefer the Panavision Follow Focus knob or an ARRI FF7 – pulling focus that never changes
– five feet is five feet – and eight is eight. I just have a better feel being next to the camera and judging distance from the film plane. Also being on the knob gives me a chance to communicate with my operator on any last-minute focus choices. What was your most challenging and interesting series? Detroit 1-87. First time with DP Lisa Wiegand and Key 1st Lewis Fowler. It’s where I took the plunge to full-time focus puller. It, too, is handheld. That meant wireless focus and video, but the real challenge was that I wasn’t able to be in the same room as my camera. They shot documentary style, which meant 360 degrees and a tight, shallow depth of field. Pulling focus from another room was new for me and I found that communicating with operator Reza Tabrizi, and 2nd AC’s Pete Caronia and David Speck, and, at times, relying on my Cinetape, made those challenges more doable. Reza knew what I was facing since he was a focus puller. I remember a scene that had Michael Imperioli rushing into an office with Reza chasing him to get a dirty over what turns into a tight single on Michael’s head turn. Afterward, I came from my focus station to see what was next,
and Reza turned to me and said, “Dude! Nice work, you nailed it.” It was a great moment. You call Little Miss Sunshine a kind of game-changer in your career. Why? For one I was able to work with DP Tim Suhrstedt. It also gave me the opportunity to meet more assistants and operators, and it’s now those same assistants and operators that I work with from time to time as a 1st AC today. Assistants like Theda Cunningham, Chris Mack and Heather Lea LeRoy, and Operators like Jeffrey Greeley and Lawrence “Doc” Karman, who have all helped me advance in my career. You’ve worked with a lot of different directors. Who has impressed you most? Jeannot Szwarc. Not so much for his style or ability, but rather that he took the time to study everyone’s name and job title, so when he came in on day one he knew the entire crew. It made you feel like you were needed and appreciated. For me, little things like that go a long way. A simple “thank you” at the end of the night is always nice as well.
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JENNY BLOOM
Jenny Bloom knew she wanted a career in the industry, but realized performing wasn’t her path. So, when her instructors at Arizona State University nudged her toward lighting design, something clicked. While earning her BA degree, Bloom served as an executive board member of ASU’s autonomous student production company. At UCLA, studying for an MFA, she managed to squeeze in cinematography courses between lighting plays. She was later hired by Design Partners Inc. (DPI) as a draftsperson, where she built and tested virtual 3D lighting rigs in ESP Vision for other LDs to pre-program cues for TV shows and rock tours. Eventually, Bloom worked through every lighting department position (electrician, best boy, gaffer, board-op) before joining Local 600 in 2012. She counts herself blessed in the mentor department, listing Max Brenner, Greg Brunton, Marisa Davis, Kim Killingsworth, Lee Rose and Kirk Witherspoon as being influential in her career. When DPI was dissolved in 2015, Bloom joined Academy Lighting Consultants, where she now lights a range of interesting and challenging projects. Portrait by Nicola Goode, SMPSP
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You worked as a best boy/electrician with BET. How did that play out in live events? That was the first of many sink-orswim experiences and my first time in a rated position. BET Comic View was a months-long stand-up-comedy shoot that loaded in and out for weekend raves. There were overlapping crews in multiple locations, and overnight setups. As best boy, I was meant to be in charge of manpower and equipment, but I ended up taking on a lot more responsibilities until a suitable gaffer was found. He then took the reins and brought along his feature rigging aces. What are telethons like? Jerry Lewis, for example? The key to anything live is to plan every minute detail and have a contingency, because once you are on-air, there are no second takes. Twenty hours of continuous live television requires an extraordinary amount of preproduction, many months in advance. The on-production schedule was about two weeks from load-in to off-air, including a marathon fivehour production meeting detailing the tasks of a hundred-plus crew for every second of those 20 hours. What is the challenge of lighting reality shows? That they don’t get a lot of respect! It’s the classic cheap-good-fast dilemma, in which the client is Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka – she wants the world and she wants it now. Lighting RuPaul’s Drag Race, All Stars and Drag U required comfort in many styles – shooting outdoors, sitcom, drama, talk-show, game-show, theatrical, music-video, pro-wrestling, runway fashion, behind-the-scenes, talking-heads interviews, beauty lighting, green screens and production shoots. Greg Brunton originated the design starting in Season 2, which we refined and improved over seven years as the needs of the show grew. There was no VC/DIT on daily shoots, so consistent metering and meticulous recordkeeping became crucial for repeatable, reliable results. How does that compare to lighting talk shows? Those are an exercise in quick thinking and time-management. A typical shoot day allows one to three hours of on-camera rehearsals, where we set and light looks on the fly for segments beyond the usual “home-base” setup. What’s it like being a woman in this male-dominated area? I’ve experienced the full spectrum of sexism and misogyny in Hollywood over the years, and that’s from both men and women. My focus has always been on doing good work because my position is truly not dependent on gender. I’m excited by the increasing awareness and conversation about equality in our industry, and I’m extremely proud
“THE KEY TO ANYTHING LIVE IS TO PLAN EVERY MINUTE DETAIL AND HAVE A CONTINGENCY, BECAUSE ONCE YOU ARE ON-AIR, THERE ARE NO SECOND TAKES.”
to be a woman in my field; it’s important to me to represent a positive professional image to those coming up. I have seen attitudes toward women improve over my lifetime, and I’m proud of my male colleagues who contribute to the continuing normalcy of women on the crew. I’ve enjoyed projects where the entire front row of the control room was women, and the most remarkable part about it was that it was, in fact, not remarked upon – just another day at work for the crew. Social and political progress follows the function of evolution, which moves slowly. Considering the strides we have made in the last 100 years, we are now in a relatively fast-moving period of growth, which I find encouraging. What are the obstacles working live events with a smaller budget? You’re forced to make thoughtful and precise choices, manage producers’ expectations toward realism, and maintain constant communication amongst departments. Spare or TBD fixtures are a luxury. Knowing old-school and low-tech approaches can help achieve the A-level look for C-level money. After intellect and gear, your crew is your strongest asset, so I make it a priority to surround myself with the best people available, trust their skills, and treat them with respect. Having held every rated position in the past means I can make decisions quickly – for instance, I know moving a wall one foot to the right for background will cost 30 minutes of labor and lost time on camera, unless you move the camera, or the subject, or both. Suddenly, what was a 30-minute project turns into a five-minute fix, and that can take the sting off already-packed 12-hour schedules. What do you consider the state of lighting today? Technology is making available lots of new lighting toys, so the trick is to know what will accomplish your design effectively – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should. There is a move toward on-camera talent wanting to look Photoshopped, so balancing light on faces for multiple cameras simultaneously has become an extremely valuable skill set, especially with the continuing trend toward more detail on screen. What are your thoughts about the transition to LED lighting? A few years back, I worked on a seminar exploring new technology for Local 600. One of the big concerns was the “chromatic chaos” of using LEDs, since their spectrums have fewer curves and more spikes. Since then the fear has subsided and people are embracing the changes and adapting to them, as we have since the beginning of filmmaking. We know the skill lies in how the equipment is used, adjusting our approaches as needed, and getting creative with what is available. Of course, everyone loves the lowpower needs of LED technology; it just has to be the right tool for the situation. JUNE/JULY 2017 87
BOB BARNHART With 37 Emmy Nominations and 10 Emmy Awards, Bob Barnhart is clearly a “go to” lighting designer for live television. He’s done 22 Academy Awards ceremonies, 19 Super Bowl Halftime shows, the VMA’s, Miss Universe, the ESPY Awards, AFI Tribute to Barbra Streisand & Andrea Bocelli in Central Park as well as 14 seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. One of his first jobs was best boy on It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, where his lighting designer would have to key light at 125 footcandles due to the tube cameras they worked with. Today, if he chose, he could light under 10 foot-candles and still blow the lens out. Along with his partners Jon Kusner, Matt Firestone and Marie Turner of 22 Degrees, Barnhart has used evolving technology in the world of broadcast to push the limits of the medium – and have a lot of fun in the process. Portrait by Sara Terry 88 JUNE/JULY 2017
What was your first major job as lighting designer? The Super Bowl 32 Halftime Show. It was in San Diego, and it was due to take place near dusk. However, the first half of the game went very quickly, so the show ended up in more sunlight than we had expected. We were disappointed that we were not able to show off as much work as we had put into it. Over the years I have done countless live TV shows outside, and the ones that start in daylight and end at night are always the hardest. Do you have a counterpoint to that example? Last year’s Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show in Santa Clara [CA] was the opposite. It had something like 40 cameras, and the performers were, at times, facing the 50-yard line, and then switching to look toward the end zone. So we had to cross-fade the key and back-light as they turned, which complicated our overall lighting rig, as we had to protect the star from getting clobbered by 600 moving lights. The first half of the game was incredibly long, and the sun was setting as we went into halftime. We started the show at 150 foot-candles of key light, and by the end, just 12 minutes later, we were down to 35 foot-candles. That’s how fast the sun fell out of the sky. When we got off the air, Guy Jones and Rob Levy, our two video controllers, and I looked around like a train had just hit us. You’ve said you can’t watch the revolution in this industry – you have to be part of it. For me – yes! In 1991 I started a company named More Useless Tools (M.U.T.). I invented and manufactured the first of many tools, called the Pinsplitter. Just a few years ago PRG (Production Resource Group) developed an idea I had to get follow-spot operators out of the air called Ground Control. It allows you to put a follow spot anywhere you can hang a normal moving light. The operator is now safely on the ground. It’s not just much safer, but now operators who were no longer able to climb a wire rope ladder can still run a follow spot. What’s exciting about lighting today? So many things have been developed in the last eight years, from fiber-optic networks, allowing us to put our larger systems together, to lighting instruments that are half the size and twice the intensity. The advent of LED has been a fantastic new tool. Where we used to have neon tubes lighting parts of scenery, we now have LED tape that can color-mix to our desire. The introduction of LED moving-light fixtures has reduced some of our power consumption to twenty percent of the previous year. How have drones impacted your work? For years I have been trying to work a large fleet of “coordinated flying lights” into a show like the Super Bowl Halftime. The technology is coming together rapidly, and we’ll see more and more drone performances this year. The current holdup is with the positioning system they use and the programming time it takes. There’s a little issue with safety as well
– but let’s stay positive. The really cool thing is to be able to interact with the performers and create three-dimensional images that can morph throughout a performance. To have a lighting instrument that, to the audience, appears out of nowhere and can disappear as easily, really gives us a fun tool we have never had. I think the trick is going to be in how these moments are shot. It can be quite magical in person, but on camera it can appear to be CGI. You often rely on programmers. Why? They’re an integral part of the creative process. When you are working with more than 600 fixtures in your lighting rig, you don’t have time to tell a “programmer” what to do with each light at each moment. You have to paint an image in their head as to how you envision that particular cue or look. They must then take their skill set and lighting rig at hand and actually paint their interpretation of your vision. I do a show every fourth of July called A Capitol Fourth. It’s on the lawn of the Capitol in D.C. under a custom white fabric roof that we use as a canvas to paint on. [My programmer] Dave Grill took my vague idea of painting an eclectic American flag and turned it into this fantastic red, white and blue five-point star cluster that has become a signature look for the show to this day. What is it you like most about doing live events? Just like in theater, everyone is performing – cast and crew – and it’s never perfect, which may be the key to it all. We line up our ducks, put on our seatbelts and let the adrenaline flow; then instinct takes control. When it’s over we generally laugh at all the bullets we dodged and the few that found their way on camera. Speaking of letting the adrenaline flow – what single moment stands out after all these years? Just talking about Super Bowl Halftime shows alone – there are hundreds. The follow spots blowing up in the rain during Prince’s performance, the control cable getting crushed and the tech holding the bare wires in the female connector during Tom Petty’s 12-minute show. The entire building power going out right after Beyoncé’s show ended. Losing my headset communication to the spots 30 seconds before Bruno Mars took the stage. Or watching Lady Gaga climb seven flights of stairs and two straight ladders, and crawl out a hatch to get to the roof for Super Bowl 51. Those are just the titles to the stories – there’s so much more after that.
“ THE TECHNOLOGY IS COMING TOGETHER RAPIDLY, AND WE’LL SEE MORE AND MORE DRONE [LIGHTING] PERFORMANCES THIS YEAR.”
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LUX MACHINA PHILIP GALLER AND ZACH ALEXANDER The best thing about this unique partnership for Phil Galler (a lighting designer and programmer) and Zach Alexander (a former electrician and LED technician) is that they get to surprise people with options they couldn’t have imagined existed. They’d worked numerous jobs together and enjoy a similar style with overlapping skills. The initial idea was that the pair could do five times as much work together as either one alone. Their first collaboration as a formal company was on Tomorrowland, and the jobs haven’t stopped since. Their company, Lux Machina Consulting, is becoming known for introducing new concepts in programming to clients ranging from Lucasfilm to established awards shows like the AMA’s, CMA’s, and Golden Globes, helping them push artistic and creative boundaries. Portrait courtesy of Lux Machina 90 JUNE/JULY 2017
What exactly does a programmer do? Phil: That’s the person who pushes the buttons that tell the hardware what to do and when to do it. In simple terms, this person translates the creative vision into the technical hardware. Sometimes this means coming up with the creativity themselves, other times it is interfacing with a variety of designers and producers to translate their vision into the lights and media servers. Zach: We always try to partner an engineer with our programmers. An engineer makes sure that all the buttons the programmer pushes actually do the things desired, and to a level of precision that is appropriate for the particular project. Explain tool agnostic versus vendor specific. Phil: While we use PRG’s Mbox and D3 Technologies’ 4x4pro as a vendor-specific item on certain shows, we try to use infrastructure that is vendor agnostic. We often choose equipment that will work with any vendor-specific equipment or can be reconfigured. For example, the Hi Res Control product line is completely configurable and reprogrammable to work with many network protocols and hardware. We’re also investing in some KVM products that will allow us to more easily interface with any type of computer remotely, including vendor-specific servers. Why is being vendor agnostic a plus? Zach: Being vendor agnostic allows us to be more adaptable for our clients. By not being locked into any sort of vendor-proprietary technology, we are able to work around potential issues regarding availability. Our system designs are coming from a place of “what’s the right tool for the job in terms of functionality and budget?” rather than “what’s the right tool based on what is on the vendor’s shelf ?” That’s not to say availability does not play a part, but for us it’s not the primary factor in why we choose to use a particular product. It also forces us to consider these systems from a broader perspective. We’re constantly evaluating various products to discover which ones are interchangeable and which products are absolutely necessary for specific applications. That allows us to have multiple solutions for any given project based on the parameters laid out by the client. (Continued on page 92)
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“ON OUR MOST RECENT PROJECT, WE ARE PROVIDING A LARGE PROJECTION SOLUTION TO REPLACE GREEN SCREEN WORK ON SET.”
Why do you call yourselves a “bridge?” Phil: We help liaise between the technical products that are required for today’s shows and the creative vision of the producers and directors. Often this means creating a bridge in communication to explain abstract technical concepts to an audience that doesn’t often have to interface with those ideas. This comes up a lot with projection mapping, especially in the film industry. Zach: Exactly. My early career success happened because I was willing to read a manual about a lighting instrument that was controlled by video and then be able to explain it and maintain it for the company. Phil: Technology is becoming more complex. Resolutions have ballooned in the last few years, and the hardware required to continue to provide the same level of quality, support and flexibility from years ago has become immensely more intricate. As the “bridge,” we can solve the technological problems that help take something from just looking cool to actually working in a production environment. Why are musical performances so tricky? Phil: Musical artists with complex creative visions are often under extremely tight deadlines for pulling off their portion of the show. Let’s say a band is set and scheduled to perform stage left, and their content is produced for that side of the stage, but right before the rehearsal, they re-stage the act and it has switched sides of the stage. What becomes time-consuming for lighting becomes a nightmare for video and media servers, as media assets don’t translate to flipping. Being able to dynamically and quickly cut up and rearrange content for an artist is a huge time-saver and can expand the creative possibilities. Zach: I think the Green Day (“Bang Bang”) performance at the AMA’s is a great example. Not sure how much we helped lighting, but we certainly helped the rest of the broadcast video team. We were able to replace what would normally require multiple channels of EVS and specifically written cues with a real-time composited image triggered by a bump button we could hit 92 JUNE/JULY 2017
anytime. So, every time they hit a “bang bang,” we could support it with the visuals. How are media servers an asset to EVS – not a replacement? Zach: Both systems have shortcomings. EVS is particularly heavy in infrastructure requirements, and media servers tend to compromise on quality. However, they both excel in specific areas that make the partnership great. The media servers are much faster to program and offer flexibility that an EVS cannot. And EVS offers high-quality playback, often tied to audio, that the media servers don’t always live up to. How can you help VFX? Phil: We have a wide range of tools and utilities. On our most recent project, we are providing a large projection solution to replace green screen work on set. This helps with both the storytelling and the interactive lighting. Additionally, it saves a huge amount of money in the VFX budget by creating realistic lighting, realistic reflections, and realistic backgrounds that do not need to be replaced in the post-production process. Why is being on the set, especially in feature work, so important? Zach: We are constantly brought in to do something like green screen replacement or create immersive environments, and no matter how much we explain that our system is flexible, I feel that nine times out of 10, no one really “gets it” until we’re all there standing on set. It’s usually at that moment someone says something like, “Man, the contrast is a little off on this” kind of to no one in particular, and then we can pipe up and say, “You know, if you want, we can tweak the contrast for you,” and then add, “and we could adjust the perspective of the content to compensate for parallax.” It’s usually at that point, where we offer the immediate on-set solution along with a solution to a potential upcoming issue, that the client really starts to understand the power of the tools that we have packaged for them. Where do you get so many out-of-thebox ideas? Zach: I do a lot of web surfing, looking through YouTube and checking out art installations to see if anything can be adapted for our workflow. Phil: A lot of our ideas stem from looking at hardware and technology that encompasses many industries, and seeing what can be used and incorporated. It also means looking at what is happening on the fringes, such as VJ’s, VR shots, and experimental marketing. By looking at the big picture, we see what tools fit nicely with our work and how those tools can bring new facets to creativity, efficiency and hardware for our clients.
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DOUG TORRES
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Doug Torres was born in Manila, Philippines, but has made his home in New York City, where he jumped into the indie moviemaking boom of the early 1990s. Since that world was non-Union, he became a first AD almost immediately. The scene was also filled with hip-hop music and a bunch of 25-year-olds directing videos for bands. And the work was unconventional as along with being an AD, Torres would also wear producer/location manager hats. Torres still has feet in New York’s indie scene, having worked with stalwart directors like Griffin Dunne and his most recent cohort, James Gray. (They are about to start Ad Astra.) Torres has worked outrageous comedies like Zoolander 2, dramas like 12 Years a Slave, and even large action films, such as his most recent project, The Lost City of Z (also directed by Gray). Portrait by Sara Terry
“ EVERYONE HAS TO CHIME IN AND CALL OUT WHEN SOMETHING IS WRONG.”
AD’s are supposed to be the voice of reason – but it must be frustrating when no one listens. Back in the ’90s during my music days, I worked on a major video for the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan. The creatives wanted Raekwon to wear a Louis Vuitton suit. In the production meeting, wardrobe brought ninety thousand dollars of LV luggage to use the leather to make the suit. My question was, “How can he move in that type of leather?” No one listened to me. On the day of the shoot we closed down a bridge, had a helicopter to shoot, and Rae wouldn’t come out of his trailer. Everyone was scared of him, so I went to the trailer, and he looked like Tin Man in the suit. “I can’t move,” he said. It took 30 minutes to talk the creatives into letting him perform in his tracksuit. If they’d only listened to me in the first place… Sometimes it’s all about relationships – especially with actors. Every two years I tend to reach for the saltshaker wrong and totally mess up my back. On The Beaver (shot by Hagen Bogdanski), directed by Jodie Foster, I was on the floor in pain. Between setups, Mel Gibson came over and said, “You don’t look so good.” He told me to come to his trailer during lunch. When I got there, he told me to take off my shirt and get on the ground. Then he started like a therapist digging into my back for 30 minutes. Lunch over. We were both ready for the next setup. Any more actor stories? On Two Lovers, with Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow (directed by Gray and shot by Joaquin Baca-Asay), there was a scene in an apartment building where Joaquin’s character falls crazy in love with Gwyneth’s character. We had been in that apartment for a long time and were comfortable there. Joaquin asked me to do him a favor – have the set dressers move the furniture out six to eight inches. He needed to break down his muscle memory of the space so he could organically bump into things, but he didn’t want to do it consciously. What was your most difficult shoot? My last one, The Lost City of Z. We shot Northern Ireland for England, and the Colombian jungle for the Amazon. The logistics alone were impossible: handheld, and DP Darius Khondji had to shoot with no lights. We had smoke, alligators, snakes – and we had to keep everyone safe. It was vital to schedule our shots and angles in a way
that was best for Darius. At 4 a.m. every morning we would load into 15 fishing boats – glorified canoes – and travel an hour and a half into the jungle. The actors would be trailing 15 minutes behind. At 3:30 p.m. the skies would open up and wash us down the river. We were all glad we did it. But never again! Tell us about an interesting solution to a problem – say, with VFX? On The Immigrant (directed by Gray and shot by Khondji) they needed the grandeur of the big processing room at Ellis Island. It was a huge deal to be allowed to shoot there, but it had to be at night, even though we had to make it look like day. It was a low-budget indie, so we couldn’t light from outside. The top of Ellis Island is a big fishbowl. One half has roof access, the other half no structure. When I looked at images, I saw that it was perfectly symmetrical. I thought: let’s light half the set, pan down to bottom level with extras one way, then flip the shot and stitch it together. VFX said it would work. I took it to Darius. We have a great relationship; he knows I always have his challenges in mind. On this one, he trusted me – and we got a huge, majestic wide shot. How key is safety for the first AD? I am the prime safety officer. But I need help. Everyone has to chime in and call out when something is wrong. I will meticulously pace the set and look for that one thing that could come out of nowhere and trip us up. On We Own the Night, we had a car-chase sequence where we ran an action grid under a roadway. It was about a half-mile grid (ten blocks), in a mostly industrial area to which we had access from 6 to 9 a.m. on the weekends. By the last weekend we had gotten accustomed to the desolation, and that gave us a false sense of security. We had just sent the grid into motion when a person came out of an abandoned building a few blocks in front. I saw this person for a brief second but it was enough for me to call off the shot and shut the moving grid down. You can’t ever let your guard down. Period. Why is it so important to be part of the DGA? The DGA is incredibly powerful and necessary for a first AD. As an organization, it provides me the credibility to make decisions that will protect my crew. On a personal basis, it makes sure that I am protected contractually and financially for the work that I do. JUNE/JULY 2017 97
ANN C. SALZER The prospect of sitting in a cubicle writing software and never seeing the end product was disappointing for Ann C. Salzer. So, eschewing her degree in computer science and math, she started to follow her passion for photography, landing a job for the renowned New Orleans photographer Louis Sahuc. Although the work was “exciting,” when her cousin – producer Albert J. Salzer – asked if she wanted to try the film business, Salzer was all in. She started as an office PA for $60 a day, and soon moved to L.A., with a headwind for working on sets. More than two decades later (and an envious career in both series TV and features), Salzer tries to work as close to her NOLA home as possible. That includes past projects like Ray (shot by Pawel Edelman, PSC), Dead Man Walking (shot by Roger Deakins, ASC) and Wild Card (shot by Shelly Johnson, ASC). In 2015, Salzer worked on the first season of Zoo, shot by Derick Underschultz, and has recently reteamed with the DP on the CBS drama about trial science, Bull. Portrait by David M. Russell/CBS 98 JUNE/JULY 2017
“ I ALWAYS RUN A SET WITH A STRONG
HAND AND A STRONG SENSE OF HUMOR. I SUPPOSE I’M GOOD AT DIFFUSING CONTROVERSY.” How would you describe the first AD’s job? We are the main mouthpieces on set and everyone looks to us to lead them efficiently through the daily grind. We do everything from breaking down the script into components and scheduling to developing shot lists to carry out the director’s vision. We manage budget, locations, and actors and run tech scouts so that our technical crew can walk through the locations understanding the times of day we will be there and how they will supply power and more. I have a saying: “And, I want a pony.” We are basically generals/air traffic controllers/stand-up comics, who can juggle like pros. Why do people call you a “fixer”? It’s hard for me to put this into words – but over many decades I have developed teams of extraordinary AD’s and PA’s. I always run a set with a strong hand and a strong sense of humor. I suppose I’m good at diffusing controversy. Typically, I poke fun at myself, create some nicknames, use my southern charm and let everyone know that “hey folks, come on, wine does not drink itself,” which I stole from Savage Steve Holland, inserting wine where he would say beer. [Laughs.] What’s the main difference between working first and second unit? Sometimes a second unit will stand alone and sometimes not. On Ray I was on full time as the first AD of the second unit. The show spanned decades from the 1930s to the 1970s. It was a constant dance of time periods and important scenes. We worked very closely with the first unit to accomplish [director] Taylor Hackford’s vision, often following behind to pick up pieces the first unit left for us so that they could move on. Talk about television versus features. They are very different.
A feature will have a block of time – months – while television is paced. On TV we alternate between prepping and filming – while episode one is shooting, those same days episode two is prepping, so we need two AD teams. We usually prep for eight days and shoot for eight days. You are always keeping the next episode in mind. New York, of course, has its own challenges – unlike other cities. Especially right now, that city is experiencing the most production it has seen in a decade. The fact that we might have to shoot an interior location in the daytime for night, such as a high-end restaurant, is typical. You have to allow for crews to black out windows, for example. Office buildings are tough as well. Later is always better for them, but in New York the view is everything. You’re having a blast working on Bull. Why? [Lead actor] Michael Weatherly. He comes to work determined to make sure everyone is having fun. I remember one blistering hot day on the steps of the famed 60 Centre in Manhattan. He was sweating like a pig and there was a PA holding an umbrella over him for sun. Hair and makeup were touching him up. Costume was standing by with his jacket. He simply ‘dropped trou [trousers]’ right there in public! We sent him a picture with the disclaimer that I wouldn’t put it on social media. His response: “Too bad, I already did!” It ended up on James Corden and other talk shows. Subsequently, we started having #nopantsfriday. It’s a saying on the set these days. Michael is an amazing team leader, who’s always armed with a wicked sense of humor and a smile.
they had the day where women were supposed to skip work. As I sat around our conference table, I told my producer this show would shut down if [all the women] all walked out. On Bull, the DGA is represented by our Line Producer, UPM, two first AD’s and two second AD’s. I am all for diversity of sex and color – always have been. But you must be able to do the job first and foremost; not be hired because of sex or race. Last year I was fortunate to be asked to AD the first season of Queen Sugar for OWN. This is Ava Duvernay’s creation to give female directors a shot at making an episode. It was arguably the most challenging of my career and most rewarding. It is a brilliant vehicle to introduce women, who might be stalled otherwise, to the opportunity of directing fast-paced, demanding television. How has being a DGA member impacted your career? I have enjoyed a fruitful relationship with the DGA, maintaining strong communications with our reps and executive directors, especially regarding New Orleans. Since I am the first DGA member of record in that market, I have been responsible for raising many extraordinary teams of AD’s and PA’s who have moved up and on to successful positions throughout NOLA and many other markets. I am thankful for the DGA’s unending support system for our efforts. I have been asked and nominated to serve on their boards; however, I have declined since traveling to the meetings would always be within the workweek, and I have been fortunate to have a very busy career since joining in 1991.
What’s it like being a woman in this job? Diversity is still very new to the world of film, which means there’s a fine line between being strong and being perceived as a bitch. Recently, JUNE/JULY 2017 99
RICK JOHNSON
Several chance events conspired to make first AD Rick Johnson choose a career in film. The Portrait by Richard DuCree Mafundi Institute, located in Watts right near his home, was his first exposure. Then later, while attending UCLA, his sister was head of payroll for a film studio and introduced him to her co-workers. And while studying for his private pilot license, Johnson became friends with 2nd AD David Lawson. That friendship led to Johnson’s first 2nd AD job on Knots Landing, from TV heavyweight Lorimar Productions. Back then, Johnson says, black faces on crews were very rare. An African-American AD, especially in Texas, put him on an island. However, using strong interpersonal skills – and his knowledge of the industry – Johnson became a part of the Lorimar family. They worked, played, even skied and played softball together. The Atlantabased Johnson has worked as a 1st AD on many series and features since, including The Bernie Mac Show, George of the Jungle, Detroit 1-8-7, Black Knight and Being Mary Jane. 100 JUNE/JULY 2017
What were some important lessons you learned from first AD’s before you moved up from being a second? Learn the language – and I don’t mean just film. Residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles were always challenging. Every time we started to shoot, the Latino gardeners would start their leaf blowers! Communicating with them was important so I learned to speak Spanish at a time when few other nonLatin AD’s could. There was also a time when a first AD was trying to translate information to Grip and Electric on the opposite side of a football field about adjusting equipment. He didn’t know what to call it. I was with the director who eventually exploded and said, “It’s a silk! If you tell them to move the f… ing silk and the 12K, they’ll know what you’re talking about.” I also noticed many AD’s didn’t know the actual process of what it meant to reload the camera, why the 1st AC was always faster than the 2nd AC, the difference between 3-perf or 4-perf (and now the different levels of digital cameras) or why DP’s always seemed to add more doubles and change the stop as the light would start to fade. I learned everything I could about the DP’s job. [Laughs.] Talk about working primetime soaps like Dallas. Larry Hagman was definitely the patriarch on and off that set. When he was acting, no one could ever have white hats or bright scarves or stand in his eyeline. I remember when Larry was directing, he would never get out of the van when we were location scouting because too many people would have mobbed him – he was crazy famous, so he would just tell me to give him the notes. The show was a working machine. We were on location for three months shooting
exteriors – blending 12 episodes at a time, keeping track of four or five directors and scenes from different episodes. We then came back and would shoot in Hidden Valley (northwest Los Angeles) and on stage. The biggest challenge was to make L.A. look like it was a ranch out in nowhere. You’ve compared prep to Sun Tzu’s famous treatise, The Art of War. Why? He relates everything to war. The general who studies for war, but not diligently: for every battle he wins, he will lose one as well. And the general who doesn’t prepare himself at all is defeated before taking one step. But the general who studies long and hard can go into a thousand battles without fear of losing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve slept on my couch in my office, trying to figure out my battlefield. If we have a 7 a.m. call, with an 8:30 a.m. shoot but don’t get off until 9:30 a.m., we’re going to have to try to make up that lost time and there’re always negative compromises. The director might have to compromise his shots or performance, the DP might have to compromise how he lights the set. The actors might not be able to deliver the perfect performance because they can’t get that one more take, because we’re pressed for time. Why is it so vital that all departments be on the same page? One of the biggest disasters I ever had to deal with was on an 18-day shoot, where the script came in badly formatted and only 99 pages. Seems like a little thing, but the proper format is 12-inch Times or 11-inch Courier with double space between slug lines or action, with 9.5- to 10-inch paging and margins. It helps every department understand their needs – and facilitate
“ [THE AD’S JOB] IS COMPARABLE TO SUN TZU’S THE ART OF WAR ; I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I’VE SLEPT ON THE COUCH IN MY OFFICE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT MY BATTLEFIELD.”
the ability to structure the shoot in the time allowed. This was single space, smaller font, full page. In some cases, there were two to three scenes combined into one scene, sometimes even being in various locations. I fought for proper formatting – we had a conference call with the studio and the writer, which prompted the head of production to send it out to Barbara’s Place for correct formatting. It came back in a way we could break it down – but it was now 132 pages! Which now changed the schedule, I assume? Absolutely. We realized that the little girl was in most of the movie. She could only work six hours a day and there wasn’t much chance of using a double. The next problem – half the script took place at night, and the little girl couldn’t work at night. That meant cuts and rewrites with a writer who really didn’t care about being on “page” that would work for production. It was a nightmare because the communication and cooperation needed to make any project successful just weren’t there. Safety is paramount, and you’ve said it can be the little things. I was doing a film in middle of summer in L.A., around 2000, and we were at the Hawthorne Mall, which had been closed down for a while. We were shooting with 400 extras. I requested portable air conditioning, and, at the last minute, the day of shooting, the producer decided he didn’t want to spend the money. We had three people fall out from heat exhaustion and were lucky that no one actually died. He risked the safety of all those people over a few dollars. That’s not even your most egregious example. That’s true. On another occasion, a UPM, trying to save money, had a Ritter fan picked up and brought to location by the teamsters on a stakebed truck instead of paying to have it delivered by the company. The teamsters tried to unload it, and my friend’s feet slipped from under him and the Ritter fell on his head, killing him. It was one of the saddest days of my life – and while you would never expect anything so awful to happen – it can and it did. I hadn’t been made aware of the change – and, if I had, I would never have let it happen. AD’s always think safety first – saving a few dollars isn’t worth a life. JUNE/JULY 2017 101
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BILL MONA Southern California native Bill Mona originally thought he’d become a reporter and photojournalist. Fresh out of Cal State Long Beach (where he took photo classes and began his passion for photography), Mona began working personal publicity at Rogers & Cowan. A brief stint as a producer/manager in music sidetracked him for a little while. But publicity (and the photo department) kept drawing him. He worked in a photo lab back when 35-mm slide and black-and-white prints were the norm; a later move to Fox’s Photo Archive, and Sony as a photo editor solidified his passion for still imagery. Mona’s return to Fox as a photo editor started him on a 10-year path that has culminated in now heading up a threeperson team (with Andrea Foster and Ariell Brown). He has overseen photo editing for such acclaimed projects as The Revenant, Deadpool, The Martian, Logan, and Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. Portrait by Sara Terry 104 JUNE/JULY 2017
“ ONE CAN’T DENY HOW QUICKLY CONTENT IS MADE AVAILABLE, BUT ONCE AN IMAGE IS OUT THERE, IT IS NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO “PULL IT BACK” SHOULD THERE BE ANY CHANGE IN MARKETING STRATEGY.”
Do you still work with a lab? Yes. But the technology has changed so dramatically that it is a completely different experience. Back in the old days things were not as instantaneous, and it would take time to see the results of what was shot. There were also many more labs from which to choose. Since I worked at a lab, I understand the process and know that, even in today’s digital world, it does take some time to process materials properly to achieve the best results. I have always looked at the labs as an extension of the photo department. One of the highlights of my career was working on Gone Girl, with unit stills shot by [Guild unit still photographer] Merrick Morton. Film Solutions was the lab on this film, and we established a system to ensure that the color and tone of the images reflected the look of the film. Kyle Cummins and his team were completely involved with the process, and the results were amazing. How has digital impacted your job? Digital photography has made the process much quicker and simpler in many ways, but one of the biggest challenges is the amount of images that are now turned in by photographers. At times, I would like to say, “You’ve got it, please don’t shoot so much!” [Laughs.] But, of course, I would never really interfere with their creative process. I would much rather they concentrate on capturing amazing images than think, “Have I reached my 300 shots for the day?” Digital also carries a misperception: just because you can see it instantly doesn’t mean that you can have access to use it instantly. How has social media changed the promotional process? This is a tricky one. I think it has been beneficial in many ways, but it has also changed things dramatically. One can’t deny how quickly content is made available, but once an image is out there, it is next to impossible to “pull it back” should there be any change in marketing strategy. Are social media’s needs different than marketing’s? They need images beyond the typical unit cover. For example, on the movie Logan, Fox’s Social Media department wanted to tell a more intimate story of the character and hired its own “social media” photographer. I try to get a list of what social’s needs will be before the production starts, so that our units can cover. I try to stress that the unit is completely qualified and perfectly capable of capturing anything that social may need – as long as we provide the proper direction. How do you build a “successful” campaign, especially for a franchise? A great example would be The Wolverine. When production started in 2012, Ben Rothstein was an up-and-coming photographer who had just arrived in the U.S. from Australia. When the unit photographer who we had hired dropped out of the project, we sent Ben to Australia, since he could work as a local. His images blew me away and were the building blocks to a great campaign. There was an amazing image that showed Wolverine taking on a group of armed ninjas who were riding motorcycles. It was a practical shot that showed Wolverine standing on the ground while the ninjas, on their motorcycles, were jumping from the roof of a building toward him. When Logan began production in 2016, Ben was again hired. He had established a great rapport with the filmmakers and actors and was asked back for this new installment. The feel and look of Logan was quite
different from The Wolverine, but Ben nailed it. His images conveyed the grit and moodiness of the film. What was the wildest campaign you have worked on? Deadpool. It incorporated many different aspects of photography. The campaign was built with elements from unit photographer Joe Lederer, creative advertising images and images from our social team. We started with an image of Deadpool lying on a bearskin rug and followed up with images of him hitchhiking to Comic Con provided by our social department and then released shots of him sitting on the freeway overpass with his crayon drawings. It was one of those films where everyone from the filmmakers to the actors to the marketing executives to the photographers all worked together to build something unique. I don’t think I’ve ever worked on a project like Deadpool where everyone was so perfectly on the same page. We won the Publicists Guild Award for the campaign. How has the job, for a stills person, changed? I think that it is imperative that we have a union photographer on the set every day. I know that photographers have experienced later call times, no wrap time, et cetera, and many spend most of their downtime processing files. I think people underestimate how much time it all takes. Often I’ve heard that we don’t need a photographer on set and that we can just pull it from the film. I respond with, “What about behind the scenes, empty sets, and candid moments?” All those things that the unit captures that we cannot pull from the film. These elements are currently very important to social campaigns, so missing this type of coverage is very short sighted.
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CRISSY QUESADA
One semester studying journalism at USC was enough for Long Beach–born and –raised Chrissy Quesada, whose first job was at The Long Beach PressTelegram, organizing the photo library for the Sports section of the paper. An internship at Carolco Pictures in the Marketing/Publicity department turned into a five-year stint – and proved to be a great training ground. When Carolco went out of business, Quesada worked at Sony’s photo department for seven years and then at Fox for 13. Now she’s back at Sony going on three years. Quesada began on projects like Terminator 2 and Total Recall. Today, she’s helming a department that oversees blockbusters like Spectre, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Portrait by Nicola Goode, SMPSP
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One of the most important jobs you have is ensuring the appropriate photographers are hired for each film. Do you look at different styles for different films? Sometimes it is about relationships. The photographer, along with the unit publicist, is my eyes and ears on set – giving me the heads up if there are any issues with regard to photography as well as any helpful tidbits about talent, like letting me know if there are photos that an actor really likes. I recently worked with Frank Masi on Jumanji (due out December 20, 2017). Frank has an incredible working relationship with Dwayne Johnson, and, because Frank had quite a long laundry list of images he needed to capture on and off set, his relationship with Dwayne made it easier to get everything I needed. How do you ensure all of the departments are on the same page with regard to photography? Once a movie is green lit, I have a meeting with the publicity, advertising, digital, promotions, consumerproducts and product-placement people. Each of these departments has specific photo needs, and I always strive to give our photographer the most comprehensive list possible so he/she is made aware of the needs of all departments within marketing. The Shallows is a good example of how all the departments utilized the unit photography and created a successful campaign. The final one-sheet art was created from a unit shot; our digital department used the unit photography quite extensively, and publicity also used the photos throughout the campaign. Do you miss the good old days of working with a lab? I really do. “Back in the day” I relied heavily on labs to fulfill orders and print press kits. When there were hard copies – slides, prints, CDs – it was important that labs had really good quality control. They were our partners. There were quite a few movies for which we utilized large prints for the publicist to pitch and for promotional pieces for the press. For Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World we created a leather-bound box that held a selection of unit photography, which was shot by Stephen Vaughan. I believe the prints were eleven by fourteen. Filmmakers sometimes think studios over-control the roll out of the photo process. Why is that so necessary? It’s because stills are such an integral part of a movie campaign. There is a strategy for every movie, and the photos have to align with that strategy. There was a time when the “less is more” philosophy was something I heard often discussing photos – now, with social media and the need for content, especially in the international market, we tend to release more photos than ever before. What is the most memorable campaign you’ve worked on? I would say Avatar. It was a new property and so visually stunning, and much of the “stills” were finished CGI images from the film. However, there was a still photographer, Mark Fellman, on set every day covering
the actors in their motion-capture suits and Jim Cameron and his crew. The stills Mark shot on set were used quite extensively in much of the publicity as well as during the Academy campaign. The stills may have been pulled from CGI, but Mark’s photography of the filming process complemented all the art from the film beautifully. Do you do more than oversee a feature? I also coordinate and oversee international publicity photo shoots – these shoots capture a variety of setups, wardrobe, et cetera for our international publicity team to service worldwide. The most recent shoot we did with Tom Holland (the new Spider-Man), we shot for a full day at studio and on the streets in downtown Los Angeles. Michael Muller was our photographer. I also work the red carpet – hire a staff photographer to cover talent arrivals, executives and the after-party. We also work closely with our corporate communications team to get photos of executives with or without talent, do head shots and more for the corporate arm. How important is it for you to be a member of Local 600 and hire Union photographers? I am very proud to be a member of Local 600 and work with my fellow union members. I come from a long line of union people. My dad and uncles were involved in their unions, and I learned very early on the importance of a strong union. I love being part of one! The union photographers I have the pleasure of working with are all so experienced and talented. They know their jobs so well; they make me look really good every day. [Laughs.]
“ THERE IS A STRATEGY FOR EVERY MOVIE, AND THE PHOTOS HAVE TO ALIGN WITH THAT STRATEGY.” JUNE/JULY 2017 107
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COMPILED BY TERESA MUÑOZ – AS OF MAY 12, 2017 ICG Magazine strives to maintain an up-to-date and accurate record of all crew members for the Production Credits section. In order for us to continue to provide this service, your input is of the utmost importance. You are our only source of information. Please take note of the following requests. They will allow us to better serve you. Please provide up-to-date and complete crew information (including Still Photographers, Publicists, Additional Units, etc.). Please note that the deadline for the Production Credits is on the first of the preceding cover month (excluding weekends & holidays).
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“BONES” SEASON 11 Dir. of Photography: Bobby Altman Operators: Gerry O’Malley Assistants: Gary Johnson, Maurizio “Nino” Dotto, Larissa Supplitt Steadicam Operator: Gerry O’Malley Loader: Kara Rittenhouse Still Photographer: Dean Hendler, Ron Jaffe “THE CARMICHAEL SHOW” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: George Mooradian, ASC Operators: Marvin Shearer, Gary Allen, Ron Hirshman, David Dechant, Kris Conde, SOC Assistant: Veronica Davidson Camera Utility: Kate Steinhebel Digital Utility: Connor Heck, Selvyn Price Video Controller: Keith Anderson Still Photographer: Chris Haston “THE GREATEST SHOWMAN ON EARTH” Dir. of Photography: Seamus McGarvey, ASC Operators: Maceo Bishop, Jack Donnelly Assistants: Robert Macuso, Christopher Silano, Tony Coan, Tory Sola Camera Utility: Eddie Goldblatt Digital Imaging Tech: Abby Levine Loader: Connie Huang Libra Head Tech: Lance Mayer Still Photographer: Niko Tavernise Publicist: Frances Fiore “THE LAST MAN ON EARTH” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Carl Herse Operators: Jeff Bollman, Brian Sowell Assistants: Mark Legaspi, Barry Elmore, Emily Zenk, Devon Hoff-Weekes Camera Utility: Clayton Daily ABC STUDIOS “AMERICAN CRIME STORY: VERSACE/CUNANAN” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Nelson Cragg Operators: Andrew Mitchell, SOC, Brice Reid, Jesse Feldman Assistants: Penny Sprague, Ben Perry, Greg Williams, Jared Wilson, Eric Guerin, Dawn Nakamura Steadicam Operator: Andrew Mitchell, SOC Steadicam Assistant: Penny Sprague Digital Utility: Justin Steptoe Camera Utility: Baird Steptoe, II MIAMI UNIT Dir. of Photography: Nelson Cragg Operators: Andrew Mitchell, SOC, Brice Reid, Jesse Feldman Assistants: Penny Sprague, Ben Perry, Greg Williams, Marvin Lee, Eric Guerin, Dawn Carla Sosa Steadicam Operator: Andrew Mitchell, SOC Steadicam Assistant: Penny Sprague Digital Utility: Justin Steptoe Camera Utility: Ian Hernand “GREY’S ANATOMY” SEASON 13 Dir. of Photography: Herb Davis Operators: Fred Iannone, SOC, Steve Ullman Assistants: Nick McLean, Forrest Thurman,
Chris Johnson, Marte Post Steadicam Operator: Steve Ullman Steadicam Assistant: Forrest Thurman Still Photographer: Adam Taylor, Nicole Wilder
Digital Utility: George Montejano, III Digital Imaging Tech: Andrew Lemon Still Photographer: Mitchell Haddad, Nicole Wilder
ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY Dir. of Photography: Fred Iannone Operators: Leslie Morris, Joe Antczak, Kenny Brown, Frank Perl, Eric Fletcher Assistants: Phil Shanahan, Lisa Bonaccorso, Bob Heine, Wendy Finn
“THE PUNISHER AKA CRIME” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: William R. Coleman, Manuel Billeter Operators: Francis Spieldenner, Joshua Blakeslee Assistants: Gregory Finkel, Andrew Peck, Emma Rees-Scanlon, Jason Rihaly, Anthony Defrancesco, Ryan Toussieng Camera Utility: George Byers Loader: Patrick McKeown, Jonathan Peralta, Jye-en Jeng Still Photographer: Miles Aronowitz, David Giesbrecht, Cara Howe, Linda Kallerus, Nicole Rivelli
“HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Michael Price Operators: Joe Broderick, John Hankammer, Scott Boettle Assistants: Heather Lea-LeRoy, Vanessa Morehouse, Darrell Herrington Drew Han, Scott Birnkrant, Mark Sasabuchi, Summer Marsh Digital Imaging Tech: Andrew Osborne Digital Utility: Andrew Hays Still Photographer: Nicole Wilder DOUBLE UP UNIT Dir. of Photography: Joe Broderick Operators: Victor Macias, Andrea Rossotto Assistants: Mark Sasabuchi, Mike Rush “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” SEASON 15 Lighting Director: Christian Hibbard Operator: Randy Gomez, Parker Bartlett, Kris Wilson, Garrett Hurt, Marc Hunter, Mike Malone Camera Utility: Scott Spiegel, Travis Wilson, Randy Pulley Video Controller: Guy Jones Still Photographer: Karen Neal, Michael Desmond 2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Jimmy Lindsey “QUANTICO” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Anthony Wolberg, David Waterston Operators; Jeff Muhlstock, Andrew Voegeli, Nicola Benizzi Assistants: Alex Waterston, Eric Swanek, James Madrid, Hamilton Longyear, Ken Thompson, Megan Masur, Vince Tuths, Michael Guthrie, Samantha Silver, Brent Weichsel Digital Imaging Tech: Luke Taylor, Guillermo Tunon Loader: Zakiya Lucas, Tyler Swanek Still Photographer: Giovanni Rufino, David Lee, Peter Zimmern “SALAMANDER” PILOT Dir. of Photography: Theo Van de Sande, ASC Operators: Henry Tirl, Craig Haagensen Assistants: Eric Swanek, Anthony Cappello, Michael Guthrie, Cameron Sizemore Digital Imaging Tech: Tiffany Armour-Tejada Loader: Frank Milea, Tyler Swanek Still Photographer: Mary Cybulski, Giovanni Rufino “SCANDAL” SEASON 6 Dir. of Photography: Oliver Bokelberg, ASC, Daryn Okada, ASC Operators: Steve Fracol, SOC, Bill Boatman Assistants: Jon Zarkos, Anthony Schultz, Jorge Pallares, Hannah Levin Steadicam Operator: Steve Fracol, SOC Steadicam Assistant: Jon Zarkos
“UNIT ZERO” PILOT Dir. of Photography: Michael Price Operators: Scott Boettle, John Hankammer, Joe Broderick Assistants: Heather Lea-LeRoy, Vanessa Morehouse, Darrell Harrington, Drew Han, Mark Sasabuchi Digital Imaging Tech: Andrew Osborne Digital Utility: Michael Stampler Still Photographer: Doug Hyun “UNTITLED SINGLE DAD PROJECT” PILOT Dir. of Photography: Donald A. Morgan, ASC Operators: Jack Chisholm, Larry Gaudette, Jamie Hitchcock, Neal Carlos Assistant: Damian Della Santina, Al Myers Camera Utility: John Weiss, Steve Masias Digital Imaging Tech/Video Controller: Doug DeGrazzio AFN PRODUCTIONS-TELEPICTURES “THE REAL” SEASON 3 Lighting Dir/Dir. of Photography: Earl Woody Operators: Kevin Michel, David Kanehann, Steve Russell, Bob Berkowitz Steadicam Operator: Will Demeritt Camera Utility: James Magdalin, Henry Vereen, John Markese Jib Arm Operator: Jim Cirrito Video Controller: Jeff Messenger AMAZON STUDIOS “BEAUTIFUL BOY” Dir. of Photography: Ruben Impens Operator: Jody Miller Assistants: Jeff Porter, Sarah Brandes Steadicam Operator: Jody Miller Digital Imaging Tech: Lonny Danler Loader: Natasha Mullan Still Photographer: Francois Duhamel Publicist: Spooky Stevens A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION, INC. & WAD PRODUCTIONS “THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW” SEASON 14 Lighting Director: Tom Beck Ped Operator: David Weeks, Paul Wileman, Tim O’Neill Hand Held Operator: Chip Fraser Jib Operator: David Rhea Steadicam Operator: Donovan Gilbuena Video Control: James Moran Head Utility: Craig “Zzo” Marazzo Utilities: Arlo Gilbuena, Wally Lancaster
PRODUCTION CREDITS
20TH CENTURY FOX “BEHIND ENEMY LINES” Dir. of Photography: Ramsey Nickell Operators: Nikhil Paniz Assistants: Jon Jung, James Ridings, Mike Fauntleroy, Kaoru “Q” Ishizuka Digital Imaging Tech: Justin Warren Camera Utility: Seth Sherman Still Photographer: John P. Fleenor
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AWESOMNESS “FREAKISH” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: John Smith Operators: Dale Vance, Jr., Ellie Anne Fenton Assistants: Mike Skor, Logan Hall, Brad Greenspan, Elise Martin BEACHWOOD SERVICES “DAYS OF OUR LIVES” SEASON 52 Dir. of Photography: Mark Levin, Ted Polmanski Operators: John Sizemore, Mark Warshaw, Vickie Walker, Michael J. Denton Camera Utility: Steve Clark, Steve Bagdadi BRANDON’S DAD PRODUCTIONS “WHO DO YOU THINK WOULD WIN?” Dir. of Photography: Brad Shield Operator: Peter Gulla Assistants: Roger Wall, Greg Wimer, Christian Hollyer, Talia Krohmal Digital Imaging Tech: Ethan Phillips Still Photographer: Robert Clark CBS “BROTHERHOOD UP” PILOT Dir. of Photography: Gary Baum Operators: Glenn Shimada, Travers Hill, Lance Billitzer, Eddie Fine Assistants: Adrian Licciardi, Jeff Goldenberg, Alec Elizondo, Clint Palmer, Jason Herring Digital Imaging Tech: Derek Lantz Utility: Sean Askins, Danny Lorenze Video Controller: Kevin Faust
PRODUCTION CREDITS
“DRAMA HIGH AKA RISE”PILOT Dir. of Photography: Markus Foerderer Operators: Afton Grant, Arthur Africano Assistants: Toshiro Yamaguchi, Ethan Borsuk, Elizabeth Casinelli, Maxwell Sloan Digital Imaging Tech: Michael Maiatico Loader: Andrea Romansky, Peter Westervelt Still Photographer: Peter Kramer “ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT” SEASON 36 Dir. of Photography: Kurt Braunb Operators: Jaimie Cantrell, James B. Patrick, Ed Sartori, Henry Zinman, Bob Campi, Rodney McMahon, Anthony Salerno Camera Utility: Terry Ahern Video Controller: Mike Doyle, Peter Stendal “HIGHER GROUND AKA UNTITLED JENNY LUMET PROJECT”PILOT Dir. of Photography: Giles Nuttgens Operators: Rod Calarco Assistants: Edwin Effrein, Gus Limberis, Leonardo Gomez, Nicholas Koda Loader: Derrick Dawkins Still Photographer: Patrick Harbron, K.C. Bailey “INSTINCT”PILOT Dir. of Photography: Jimmy Lindsey Operators: Peter Nolan, Thomas Wills Assistants: Scott Koenigsberg, Dean Martinez, Jonathan Monk Digital Imaging Tech: Matthew Selkirk Loader: James Abamont “NCIS” SEASON 14 Dir. of Photography: William Webb, ASC Operators: Christos Bitsakos, George Loomis Assistants: Chad Erickson, James Troost,
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Nathan Lopez, Helen Tadesse Still Photographer: Adam Taylor “NCIS: LOS ANGELES” SEASON 8 Dir. of Photography: Victor Hammer Operators: Terence Nightingall, Tim Beavers Assistants: Keith Banks, Richie Hughes, Peter Caronia, Jacqueline Nivens Steadicam Operator: Terence Nightingall, Tim Beavers Steadicam Assistants: Keith Banks, Richie Hughes Digital Imaging Tech: John Mills Digital Utility: Trevor Beeler Still Photographer: Ron Jaffe “NCIS: NEW ORLEANS” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Gordon Lonsdale, ASC Operators: Jerry Jacob, Tony Politis, Vincent Bearden Assistants: Peter Roome, Brouke Franklin, Jeff Taylor, Toni Weick, Dave Edwards, Sienna Pinderhughes Steadicam Operator: Vincent Bearden Digital Loader: Christian Wells Digital Utility: Kolby Heid Still Photographer: Sam Lothridge “SCORPION” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Ken Glassing, Fernando Arguelles Operators: Paul Theriault, Wally Sweeterman Assistants: Scott Ronnow, John Paul Rodriguez, Chris Mack, Tim Sheridan, Digital Imaging Tech: Greg Gabrio Utility: Tyler Ernst Still Photographer: Ron Jaffe “THE INSIDER” SEASON 13 Dir. of Photography: Kurt Braun Operators: Jaimie Cantrell, James B. Patrick, Ed Sartori, Henry Zinman, Tom Van Otteren, Bob Campi, Rodney McMahon, Anthony Salerno Camera Utility: Terry Ahern Video Controller: Mike Doyle, Peter Stendal “TAKE MY WIFE” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Tarin Anderson Assistants: Ian T. Barbella, Evey Franceschini Digital Imaging Tech: Ben Molyneux “THE TALK” SEASON 7 Lighting Director: Marisa Davis Ped Operators: Art Taylor, Mark Gonzales, Ed Staebler Hand Held Operators: Ron Barnes, Kevin Michel Jeff Johnson Jib Operator: Randy Gomez Head Utility: Charlie Fernandez Utility: Doug Bain, Mike Bushner, Joe Zuccaro, Robert Cade Video Controller: Richard Strock Still Photographer: Ron Jaffe COLUMBIA “TOSH.0” SEASON 9 STAGE CREW Operator: Jason Cochard Camera Utility: Benjamin Steeples, Kyle Kimbriel, Roger Cohen FIELD CREW Dir. of Photography: Andrew Huebscher
Operator: Jason Cochard Assistants: Benjamin Steeples, Kyle Kimbriel, Roger Cohen, Delfina Garfias CONACO “CONAN”SEASON 7 Operator: Ted Ashton, Nick Kober, Kosta Krstic, James Palczewski, Bart Ping, Seth Saint Vincent Head Utility: Chris Savage Utilities: Baron Johnson, Josh Gwit CRANETOWN MEDIA “SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Daniel Patterson Operators: Christine Ng Assistants: Pierce Robinson, Andrew Brinkman, Alec Nickel, Mabel Haugen Santos Steadicam Operator: Brandon Sumner, Technocrane Tech: Sebastian Almeida Libra Head Tech: Kevin Kasarda, Sean Folkl Loader: Michelle Clementine Still Photographer: David Lee CRACKLE “SPORTS JEOPARDY!” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Jeff Engel Operators: Mike Tribble, Jeff Shuster, David Irete, Diane L. Farrell, SOC Jim Arm Operator: Marc Hunter, Steve Simmons Video Controller: Gary Taillon Head Utility: Fortino Marquez Utility: Ray Thompson Still Photographer: Carol Kaelson DELTA BLUES PRODUCTIONS, LLC “QUEEN SUGAR” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Antonio Calvache, ASC Operators: Grayson Austin, Robert Stenger Assistants: Michael Charbonnet, Bryan DeLorenzo, Jonathan Robinson, Ryosuke Kawanaka Steadicam Operator: Grayson Austin Steadicam Assistant: Michael Charbonnet Digital Imaging Tech: Brian Stegeman DETROIT CITY PRODUCTIONS, LLC “WHITE BOY RICK” Dir. of Photography: Tat Radcliffe, BSC Operators: Ari Robins, SOC Assistants: William Coe, Jorge Sanchez, Ryan Creasy, Melissa Fisher Steadicam Operator: Ari Robbins, SOC Digital Imaging Tech: Daniel Hernandez Loader: Colleen Mleziva Still Photographer: Scott Garfield Publicist: Alex Worman ELEVENTH HOUR MOVIE, LLC “MOST LIKELY TO MURDER” Dir. of Photography: Charles Gruet Operator: Zack Schamberg Assistants: Olga Abramson, Pedro Corcega, Mabel Santos Haugen, Haffe Acosta Loader: Myo Campbell Still Photographer: Seacia Pavao, Linda Kallerus EYE PRODUCTIONS, INC. “ELEMENTARY” SEASON 5 Dir. of Photography: Ron Fortunato, ASC, Tom Houghton, ASC Operators: Alan Mehlbrech, Jeremy Weishaar Assistants: Kate Larose, Jason Cleary, Charlie Foerschner, Kyle Blackman
FAIR ENOUGH, INC. “LIFE, ITSELF” NY UNIT Dir. of Photography: Brett Pawlak Operators: David Isern, Frank Larson Assistants: Andrew Juhl, Doug Durant, Blake Johnson, Gregory Pace Loader: Matthew Harding, Jackson Lewis Still Photographer: Jon Pack FORESIGHT UNLIMITED “LAST FULL MEASURE” Dir. of Photography: Byron Werner Operators: Jerome Fauci, Dean Mitchell Assistants: Keith Porkorski, Stephen Cook, Sarah Bowman, John Metcalfe Loader: Violet Jackson Digital Utility: Peter Johnston FREEFORM “STITCHERS” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: John Newby, ASC Operators: Rick Drapkin, Darrell Sheldon Assistants: David Leb, Toby White, Betty Chow, Vanessa Ward Steadicam Operator: Rick Drapkin Steadicam Assistant: David Leb Camera Utility: Jacob LaGuardia Digital Utility: Johanna Salo UNDERWATER UNIT Operator: Ian Takahashi Assistant: David William McDonald
“THE FOSTERS” Dir. of Photography: Kees Van Oostrum, ASC Operators: Stephanie Martin, Jordan Keslow Assistants: Carlos Doerr, Megan Boundy, Tammy Fouts, Nicholas Neino Digital Utility: Duncan Robertson Digital Loader; Glen Landry HBO “INSECURE” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Ava Berkofsky Operators: Julie Kirkwood, Michael Wilson Assistants: Jacqqueline Stahl, Stephen Taylor-Wehr, Giselle Gonzalez, Andy Kennedy-Kerkay Digital Utility: Jenise Whitehead, Farasai Kambarami Digital Imaging Tech: Joe Hedge, Ryan Prouty Still Photographer: Lisa Rose, Justina Mintz “VEEP” SEASON 6 Dir. of Photography: David MIller Operators: Bo Webb, Josh Williamson, Johnny Martin Assistants: Mark Figueroa, Aaron Bowen, Maryan Zurek, Tony Martin, Greg Kurtz, Will Evans, Chris Garland Digital Loader: Rachel Mangum Digital Utility: Luigi Ventura Still Photographer: Justin Lubin, Colleen Hayes HGMT, INC. “HIGH MAINTENANCE” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Charlie Guret, Dagmar Weaver-Madsen, Brian Lannin Operators: Zach Schamberg Assistants: Michelle Sun, Pedro Corcega, Rodrigo Millan Garce, Haffe Acosta Loader: Austin Chang
HORIZON PRODUCTIONS “ANIMAL KINGDOM” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Loren Yaconelli Operators: Simon Jayes, Brooks Robinson Assistants: Ray Milazzo, Patrick Bensimmon, Blake Collins, Kirsten Laube Steadicam Operator: Simon Jayes Steadicam Assistant: Ray Milazzo Digital Imaging Tech: Jefferson Fugitt Digital Utility: Mike Prior SURF UNIT Dir. of Photography: Peter Zuccarini Assistant: David William McDonald IT’S A LAUGH PRODUCTIONS, INC. “K.C. UNDERCOVER” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Joseph W. Calloway Operators: Brian Gunter, Larry Blumenthal, Deborah O’Brien, Cory Gunter Camera Utility: Selvyn Price, Lance Mitchell Video Controller: Nichelle Montgomery JAX MEDIA, LLC “BROAD CITY” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Chris Teague Operators: A.C. Litton, Matt Fleishmann Assistants: Timothy Trotman, Rebecca Rajadnya, Tricia Mears, Tsyen Shen Digital Imaging Tech: Jaime Chapin Still Photographer: Jon Pack, Christopher Saunders JCVJ “JEAN-CLAUDE VAN JOHNSON” Dir. of Photography: Jas Shelton Operators: Ron Baldwin, Tom Clancey Assistants: Troy Blischok, Keith Jones,
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Loader: Tricia Mears, Patrick O’Shea Steadicam Operator: Alan Mehlbrech Still Photographer: Thomas Concordia, Cara Howe, Michael Parmelee, Christopher Saunders
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Steadicam Operator: Faires Anderson Sekiya Loader: Joey Richardson Utility: Matt Brown Still Photographer: Elizabeth Sisson “CHICAGO PD” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Rohn Schmidt Operators: James Zucal, Will Eichler, Seth Thomas Assistants: John Young, Don Carlson, David Wightman, Jamison Acker, Phillip Walter, Bing Liu Digital Utilty: Corinne Anderson, Nick Wilson Steadicam Operator: Will Eichler Loader: Kyle Belousek Digital Utility: Nick Wilson, Michael Gleeson Additional Unit Dir. of Photography: James Zucal “POWERLESS” Dir. of Photography: Buzz Feitshans, IV Operators: Neil Toussaint, SOC, Steve Clancy, Jay Herron, Assistants: Matthew Del Ruth, Grant Yellen, Brad Gibson, Jr., Nathan Lewis Steadicam Operator: Steve Clancy Steadicam Assistant: Grant Yellen Still Photographer: Evans Vestal Ward “SNL” SEASON 42 Dir. of Photography: Blake McClure Operator: Andy Kugler, John Clemens, Vince Vennitti Assistants: Ken Walter, Nick Medrud, Jon Sandin, Scott Miller Steadicam Operator: Korey Robinson
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Joey Joyce, Koji Kojima Digital Imaging Tech: Bret Suding Digital Utility: Spencer Shwetz Technocrane Operator: Chris Mayhugh Technocrane Tech: Colin Michael West, Nico Bally Remote Head Tech: Jay Sheveck JUANITA 5, LLC “JUANITA” Dir. of Photography: Luc Montpellier, CSC Operators: James Ball, Michael May Assistants: Mark Bain, Austin Burnette, Kyra Kilfeather, Alex Guckert Steadicam Operator: Michael May Steadicam Assistant: Mark Bain Digital Imaging Tech: Matthew Martin Still Photographer: William Gray MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT “AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Feliks Parnell, Allan Westbrook Operators: Kyle Jewell, Bill Brummond Assistants: Coby Garfield, Derek Hackett Steadicam Operator: Bill Brummond Digital Imaging Tech: Ryan Degrazzio Digital Utility: Josh Novak Remote Head Operator: Clay Platner Still Photographer: Kelsey McNeil, Ron Jaffe 2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Kyle Jewell Operators: Operators: Tony Cutrono, Miguel Pask
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“FUTURE MAN” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Cort Fey, ASC Operator: David Sammons, SOC, Chad Persons Assistants: Stephen Pazanti, Haydn Pazanti, Shane Carlson, Michael Thomas Steadicam Operator: Chad Persons Steadicam Assistant: Haydn Pazanti Loader: Josh Schnose Digital Utility: Terrance Lofton, Jr. NBC “CHICAGO FIRE” SEASON 5 Dir. of Photography: Jay Crothers Operators: Jack Messitt, Billy Nielsen Assistants: Melvina Rapozo, Hunter Whalen, Zach Gannaway, Gary Malouf Digital Loader: J’mm Love Digital Utility: Amy Tomlinson Still Photographer: Elizabeth Morris
MINIM PRODUCTIONS/NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC “THE LONG ROAD HOME” Dir. of Photography: Yasu Tanida, Jeremy Benning Operators: Beau Chaput Assistants: Robert Rendon, Rob McGrath, Kelly Bogdan, Robert Rendon, Leslie Frid, Wes Turner, Jack Lewandowski Loader: Amber Rosales Digital Utility: Leslie Kolter Still Photographer: Van Redin MY ABANDONMENT PRODUCTIONS, LLC “MY ABANDONMENT” Dir. of Photography: Michael McDonough, ASC, BSC Assistants: Jerry Turner, Patrick LaValley Digital Imaging Tech: Sean Rawls
“CHICAGO JUSTICE” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Lisa Wiegand, ASC Operators: Tari Segal, Christopher Glasgow Assistants: Luis Fowler, Matt Rozek, Stephanie Dufford, Matthew Feasley Steadicam Operator: Christopher Glasgow Loader: Drew Fulton Camera Utility: Ryan Shuck
NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION “STRANGER THINGS” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Timothy Ives Operator: Bob Gorelick, SOC, Jeff Crumbley, SOC Assistants: Julie Donovan, Jason Lancour, Angela Holford, Nelson Moncada Steadicam Operator: Bob Gorelick, SOC Loader: Laura Mattingly Camera Utility: Kevin Wilson Still Photographer: Jackson Lee Davis Publicist: Denise Godoy
“CHICAGO MED” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Lex duPont, ASC Operators: Scott Steele, Faires Anderson Sekiya, Joseph Fitzgerald Assistants: George Olson, Laura Difiglio, Keith Huffmeier, Sam Knapp, Jason H. Bonner, Patrick Dooley
NICE LITTLE DAY/ADAM RUINS EVERYTHING “ADAM RUINS EVERYTHING” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Matt Garrett Operators: Andrew Ansnick, Andrew Aiello Assistants: Nick Kramer, Logan Turner, Tiffany Nathanson, Alexander Paul Loader: Ben Booker
2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Billy Nielsen
NICKELODEON “HENRY DANGER” Dir. of Photography: Michael Spodnik Operators: Tim Heinzel, Mike Tribble, Scott Ostermann, Dana Ross Camera Utility: Frank Maronski, Jimmy Elliott, Doug Minges Jib Tech: Ryan Elliott Video Controller: Jim Agnor, Bob Kaufman Still Photographer: Lisa Rose “THE THUNDERMANS” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Wayne Kennan Operators: Keith White, Vickie Walker, Dave Forrest, Pete Wilson Utility: Brian Lynch, Selvyn Price Video Controller: Stuewe Prudden Still Photographer: Dale Berman OLD HARBOR PRODUCTIONS “THE CATCH WAS A SPY” NY UNIT Dir. of Photography: Andrij Parekh Operators: Jill Tufts, Joe Christofori, Julia Liu, Leonard Mazzone, Pat Kelly, Nathan Swingle, Tim Sweeney Steadicam Operator: Afton Grant Digital Imaging Tech: Dave Kudrowitz OPEN 4 BUSINESS “GONE” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: James Chressanthis, ASC Operators: Marcis Cole, Rich Schutte Assistants: Deb Peterson, Darin Miller, Jared Jordan, Jason Cianella Digital Imaging Tech: Curtis Abbott
“PLAYING HOUSE” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Mark Doering-Powell Operators: Joel Schwartz, Justin Browne Assistants: Robert Schierer, Simon Jarvis, Michael Kleiman, William “Tex” Dicenso Steadicam Operator: Justin Browne Steadicam Assistant: Simon Jarvis Camera Utility: Andrew Oliver OVUM PRODUCTIONS, INC. “PRIVATE LIFE” Dir. of Photography: Christos Voudouris Operator: Michael Hauer Assistants: Andrew Brinkman, Alec Nickel Digital Imaging Tech: Peter Symonowicz Loader: Joshua Bote Still Photographer: JoJo Whilden, Seacia Pavao PACIFIC 2/1 ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC. “MYANS” Dir. of Photography: Mike Spragg Operators: Matthew Pearce, Kyle Jewel Assistants: Beaudine Credle, Charlie Murphy, Tony Martin, Darin Krask Camera Utility: Dustin Keller Digital Utility: Danny Park Still Photographer: Prashant Gupta 2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Kyle Jewel Operators: Kenny Brown, Josh Turner Assistants: Chuck Whelan, Mike Cahoon, Mark Sasabuchi, Mason Thibo, Ian Barbella, Alex Gadberry Digital Utility: Chris McGovern “SEVEN SECONDS” Dir. of Photography: Yaron Orbach Operators: Phil J. Martinez, Arthur Africano Assistants: Waris Supanpong, Nicalena Iovino,
Rebecca Heller, Jenny Leavitt Digital Imaging Tech: Tiffany Armour-Tejada Loader: Peter Perlman, Josh Pressgrove Still Photographer: JoJo Whilden, Cara Howe PARAMOUNT “CLEAN PASS” Dir. of Photography: Dan Mindel, ASC Operator: Chris Haarhoff, Phil Carr-Forster Assistants: Serge Nofield, Robert Campbell, Baird Steptoe, Terry Wolcott Digital Imaging Tech: Chris Cavanaugh Loader: Rio Zumwalt “DADDY’S HOME 2” Dir. of Photography: Julio Macat, ASC Operators: Chris Jones, John Garrett Assistants: Glenn Kaplan, Zack Shultz, Max Macat, M. Dean Egan Steadicam Operator: Chris Jones Digital Imaging Tech: Kyo Moon Loader: Andreas Macat Still Photographer: Claire Folger Publicist: Tammy Sandler PEARL STREET PRODUCTIONS “LORE” Dir. of Photography: Steve Campbell Operators: Andy Fisher, Tim Dolan Assistants: Matt McGinn, Ian Cambell, Lauren Gentry, John Thorpe Steadicam Operator: Tim Dolan Steadicam Assistant: Matt McGinn Digital Imaging Tech: Stuart Huggins Jib Arm Operator: Kat Soulagnet PICROW “TRANSPARENT” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Jim Frohna
PRODUCTION CREDITS
2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Skyler Rousselet
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PRODUCTION CREDITS
Backstage Equipment, Inc. • 8052 Lankershim Bl. • North Hollywood, CA 91605 91 • (800) 692-2787 787 • (818) 504-6026 • Fax (818) 504-6180 • E-mail info@backstageweb. info@backstageweb.com • www.backstageweb.com
Operator: DJ Harder, Shelly Gurzi Assistants: Zoe Van Brunt, Faith Brewer, John Roney, Daisy Smith Steadicam Operator: Jessica Lopez Loader: Peter Brunet Still Photographer: Jennifer Clasen
Operators: Jim Orr, Bob McCall Assistants: Ryan Guzdzial, Richard Avalon, Seaton Trotter, Matt Brewer Digital Imaging Tech: Clifford Jones, Derek Lantz Still Photographer: John Fleenor
PREACH PRODUCTIONS “GREENLEAF” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Francis Kenny, ASC Operators: Paul Varrieur, SOC, Tim Fabrizio Assistants: Larry Gianneschi, IV, Steven Latham, Louis Smith, Nick Gianneschi Steadicam Operator: Tim Fabrizio Loader: Kelsey Symons Digital Utility: George Zelasko Still Photographer: Guy D’Alema
SIGH FILMS WWG, INC. “THE WAR WITH GRANDPA” Dir. of Photography: Greg Gardiner Operators: Billy O’Drobinak, Tim Fabrizio Assistants: Freddy Thomas, Ryan Weisen, Rodrigue Gomes, Scott Forte Steadicam Operator: Tim Fabrizio Loader: Jennifer Braddock Still Photographer: Ben Rothstein Publicist: Deborah Simmrin
PRIZE MATTERS, LLC “WINSANITY” Ped Operators: Jay Alarcon, David Carline, Keith Hobelman, Kathrine Iacofano Hand Held Operator: Brian Loewe Jib Operator: Joe Coppola Head Utility: Salvatore Bellissimo Utility: Adam Feliciano, Jody Roberts, Eric Taylor Still Photographer: Lisa Rose
SILVERSCREEN PICTURES “REBEL” Dir. of Photography: Larry Reibman Operators: Craig Fikse, Hilton Goring Assistants: David Dowell, Greg Williams, Gretchen Hatz, Rocio Meda Steadicam Operator: Craig Fikse Steadicam Assistant: David Dowell Digital Imaging Tech: Calvin Reibman Digital Utility: Robert Ruelas
PROFILER PRODUCTIONS/ LIONSGATE “MANIFESTO” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Zachary Galler Operator: J. Christopher Campbell, Michael Watson Assistants: Justin DeGuire, Brandon Dauzat, Taylor Case, Sterling Wiggins Loader: Bess Johnson Digital Utility: Trey Volpe
SONY PICTURES “JEOPARDY!” SEASON 33 Dir. 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
REDHAWK PRODUCTIONS, III, LLC “FARGO” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Dana Gonzales Operator: Mitch Dubin, George Billinger Assistants: Peter Geraghty, Craig Grossmueller, Paul Tilden, Nigel Nally Digital Imaging Tech: Chris Cavanaugh Digital Utility: Scott O’Neil SID & MARTY KROFFT PICTURES “SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS” Dir. of Photography: Michael Franks
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“THE GOLDBERGS” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Jason Blount Operators: Scott Browner, Kris Denton Assistants: Tracy Davey, Nate Havens, Gary Webster, Jen Bell-Price Digital Imaging Tech: Kevin Mills Digital Utility: Dilshan Herath Still Photographer: Nicole Wilder, Adam Taylor
“WHEEL OF FORTUNE” SEASON 34 Dir. of Photography: Jeff Engel Operators: Diane L. Farrell, SOC, Jeff Schuster, Ray Gonzales, Steve Simmons, L. David Irete, Mike Corwin Camera Utility: Ray Thompson Head Utility: Tino Marquez Video Controller: Gary Taillon Jib Arm Operator: Randy Gomez, Sr. Still Photographer: Carol Kaelson SKYDANCE TELEVISION “TEN DAYS IN THE VALLEY” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Edward Pei, ASC Operators: Andy Graham, Rob Carlson Assistants: James Sprattley, Maryan Zurek, James Dunham, Jim Gavin Steadicam Operator: Rob Carlson Loader: Jared Wilson Digital Utility: Peter Pei Technocrane Operator: Chris Mayhugh Remote Head Operator: Jay Sheveck Still Photographer: Alice Hall STALWART FILMS, LLC “FEAR THE WALKING DEAD” SEASON 3 Dir. of Photography: Scott Peck, Chris LaVasseur Operator: Craig Cockerill Assistant: Ray Dier, Victor Enriquez Digital Imaging Tech: Conrad Radzik Still Photographer: Michael Desmond Publicist: Diane Slattery “HALT & CATCH FIRE” Dir. of Photography: Evans Brown Operators: Glen Brown, Paige Thomas Assistants: Josh Gilbert, Jackson MacDonald, Cameron Schwartz, Mary-Margaret Porter Steadicam Operator: Glen Brown Digital Imaging Tech: Nick Hiltgen Loader: Ann-Marie Aloia “TURN” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Marvin Rush, ASC Operators: George Pattison, Jim Contner Assistants: Liz Heslep, Sean Sutphin, Shawn Mutchler, Eric Eaton Still Photographer: Antony Platt
2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Martin Ruhe, Luc Montpellier Operators: Dominic Napolitano Assistants: Chuck Whelan, Mike Cahoon Digital Utility: Danny Park “SURVIVORS REMORSE” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Byron Shah Operators: Paul Sanchez, Ramon Engle, Keith Peterman Assistants: Christian Satrazemis, Jonny Quintana, Matt Heath, John Metcalfe, Brett Lanius, Agnes Rodriguez-Sebek Steadicam Operator: Ramon Engle Steadicam Assistant: Christian Satrazemis Digital Imaging Tech: Andy Bader, Chad Oliver Utility: Cory Blake DOUBLE UP UNIT Dir. of Photography: Paul Sanchez THIRD RAIL STUDIOS “RAMPAGE” Dir. of Photography: Jaron Presant Operators: Mark Goellnicht, Tom Lappin Assistants: Bob Hall, Dan Schroer, John Hancher, Robby McMahan
Digital Loader: DJ Phillips Utility: Alfredo Santiago Still Photographer: Frank Masi TNT “THE LAST SHIP” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Chris Baffa, ASC, Peter Kowalski Operators: Bud Kremp, SOC, Chris Duskin Assistants: Michael D. Alvarez, , Roger Spain, Steve Pazanti, Haydn Pazanti Steadicam Operator: Bud Kremp, SOC Digitual Utility: George Ballenger Utility: Zac Prange TREE FARM FILM, LLC “THE SPRUCES AND THE PINES” Dir. of Photography: Terrance Hayes Assistants: Felix Giuffrida, Richelle Topping Still Photographer: Seacia Pavao TVM “QUEEN OF THE SOUTH” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: John Brawley Operator: Aaron Schuh, Abe Martinez Assistants: Matt King, Kris Hardy, Paul Armstrong, Ryan Patterson, Scott Reese, Noe Medrano Steadicam Operator: Aaron Schuh Steadicam Assistant: Matt King Loader: Matt Aines Utility: Kyle Novak 2ND UNIT Dir. of Photography: Abe Martinez Operator: Gary Jay, David Wilson Assistants: Jordan Jones, Robert Rendon, William Dicenso, Sam Pearcy
Loader: Shannon Cooke Utility: Dick Saunders UNIVERSAL “HOUSEHOLD NAME” Dir. of Photography: Patti Lee Operators: Mark Davison, Cary McCrystal, Jeff Miller, Jon Purdy, Brian Sweeney Assistants: Bobby Brown, Nigel Stewart, John Weiss, Bill Gerardo, Lisa Anderson, Jeff Johnson Camera Utility: Selvyn Price, Alicia Brauns Video Contoller: Dave DeMore “LAW & ORDER SVU” SEASON 18 Dir. of Photography: Michael Green Operators: Jonathan Herron, Ben Semanoff, Mike Latino Assistants: Christopher Del Sordo, Matthew Balzarini, Ian Bracone, Emily Dumbrill, Sara Boardman, Thomas Cioccio Steadicam Operator: Jonathan Herron Camera Utility: Christopher Marlowe Loader: Justin Zverin Still Photographer: Michael Parmelee “PITCH PERFECT 3” Dir. of Photography: Matthew Clark Operators: Chris McGuire, Jarrett Morgan Assistants: Don Steinberg, Jeff Civa, William McConnell, Frank Parrish Steadicam Operator: Chris McGuire Digital Imaging Tech: Mark Gilmer Loader: Lauren Cummings Still Photographer: Quantrell Colbert Publicist: Rachael Roth
PRODUCTION CREDITS
STARZ “COUNTERPART” SEASON 1 Dir. of Photography: Martin Ruhe, Luc Montpellier Operators: Andy Shuttleworth, Jonathan Bruno Assistants: Dennis Seawright, Beaudine Credle, Dale White, Charlie Murphy Loader: Dustin Keller Still Photographer: Nicole Wilder
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WOODBRIDGE “THE NIGHT SHIFT” SEASON 4 Dir. of Photography: Arthur Albert Operators: Mark LaBonge, Nick Albert Assistants: Chris Norris, Tristan Chavez, Aileen Taylor, Jeff Lamm Digital Imaging Tech: Jesse Heidenfeld Digital Utility: Claudio Banks
COMMERCIALS AERO FILMS “JEEP” Dir. of Photography: Amir Mokri Operator: Phil Carr-Forster Assistants: Steve Cueva, Brent Egan, Manny Serrano Head Tech: Yuriy Fuks Digital Imaging Tech: Derek Johnson B12 PICTURES, INC. “ASAHI” Dir. of Photography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw Operator: Phil Carr-Forster Assistants: Steve Cueva, Chris Strauser, Manny Serrano Digital Imaging Tech: Jordan Harriman Technocrane Tech: Steve Welch, Chad Eshbaugh Stab Head Tech: Jay Sheveck
PRODUCTION CREDITS
“SHADES OF BLUE” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Stefan Czapsky Operators: David Taicher, Eric Tramp Assistants: Raul Erivez, Michae Indursky, Dean Martinez, Pete Keeling, John Walker, Joshua Waterman Steadicam Operator: David Taicher Steadicam Assistant: Greg Pricipato Digital Imaging Tech: Chandler Tucker Loader: Brian Lynch, Ken Martell Technocrane Tech: Michael Ellis, Paul Goroff Camera Utility: James Abamont Still Photographer: Giovanni Rufino “THE GOOD PLACE” Dir. of Photography: David Miller Operators: Trey Clinesmith, Josh Williamson, Johnny Martin, Assistants: Mark Figueroa, Aaron Bowen, Sean O’Shea, Mark Kurtz, Will Evans, Chris Garland Steadicam Operator: Trey Clinesmith Steadicam Assistant: Mark Figueroa Loader: Rachael Mangum Still Photographer: Colleen Hayes “MR. ROBOT” SEASON3 Dir. of Photography: Tod Campbell Operators: Aaron Medick, Brian Jackson Assistants: Michael Garofalo, Wesley Hodges, Patrick Bracey, John Larson Digital Imaging Tech: Doug Horton Loader: Kaih Wong, Alivia Borab WARNER BROS. “BLINDSPOT” SEASON 2 Dir. of Photography: Dave Tuttman, David Johnson
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Operators: Andrew Priestley, Pyare Fortunato, Peter Ramos Assistants: Lee Vickery, John Romer, Marcos Rodriguez-Quijano, Nicknaz Tavakolian, Kyle Clark, Kjerstin Rossi Steadicam Operator: Pyare Fortunato Steadicam Assistant: John Romer Digital Imag ing Tech: Jeff Cirbes, Chloe Walker “MAJOR CRIMES” SEASON 6 Dir. of Photography: David A. Harp, Kenneth Zunder, ASC Operators: Chris Hood, Tim Roarke, Duane Mieliwocki Assistants: Matt Guiza, Randy Shanofsky, Dan Squires, Adam Tsang, Russ Miller, Veronica Bouza Digital Imaging Tech: Evin Grant “THE BIG BANG THEORY” SEASON 10 Dir. of Photography: Steven V. SIlver, ASC Operators: John Dechene, Richard Price, SOC, Jamie Hitchcock, Brian Armstrong Assistants: Nigel Stewart, Chris Hinojosa, Steve Lund, Meggins Moore, Benjamin Steeples Camera Utility: Colin Brown, Jeannette Hjorth Video Controller: John O’Brien Digital Imaging Tech: Robert Zeigler WEST OF 7TH DIGITAL PRODUCTIONS, LLC “LAFF” Dir. of Photography: Joe Meade Operators: Phil Anderson, Simon Miya Assistants: Cameron Carey, Justen Hundley
BOB INDUSTRIES “CRUSHER” Dir. of Photography: Jeff Powers Operator: AmandaTreyz Assistants: Jared Wennberg, Tom Arsenault, Paulina Bryant Digital Imaging Tech: Michael Borenstein BULLITT “BMW” Dir. of Photography: Mike Svitak Operators: John Skotchdopole, Andrew Laboy, Frank Zambetti Assistants: Darin Necessary, Lee Jordan, Derek Edwards, Sarah Galley Digital Imaging Tech: Joe Kocsis Camera Utility: Jack Damon Movi Tech: Andy DePung CAVIAR “MCDONALD’S” Dir. of Photography: Gabriel Patay Operators: Nicole Lobell Assistants: Devin Keebler, Chris Lymberis, Jessyca Harrison, William Powell, Dan Jones Digital Imaging Tech: Chris Hoyle CHARLEX “VERIZON FIOS GIGABIT” Dir. of Photography: Pete Konczal Assistants: Walter Rodriguez Digital Imaging Tech: Tyler Isaacson CMS “CLASH ROYALE” Dir. of Photography: Tristan Nyby Assistants: Renni Pollock Digital Imaging Tech: Scott Resnick
䈀爀漀愀搀挀愀猀琀 圀愀瘀攀昀漀爀洀 刀愀猀琀攀爀椀稀攀爀 昀爀漀洀 伀洀渀椀琀攀欀 猀甀瀀瀀漀爀琀椀渀最 戀爀漀愀搀挀愀猀琀 瀀爀漀搀甀挀琀椀漀渀Ⰰ 攀渀最椀渀攀攀爀椀渀最Ⰰ 䐀䤀吀ᤠ猀 ☀ 䐀倀ᤠ猀
吀栀攀 唀氀琀爀愀 吀儀 椀猀 琀栀攀 渀攀砀琀 最攀渀攀爀愀琀椀漀渀 戀爀漀愀搀挀愀猀琀 眀愀瘀攀昀漀爀洀 洀漀渀椀琀漀爀 戀愀猀攀搀 漀渀 琀栀攀 栀椀最栀氀礀 猀甀挀挀攀猀猀昀甀氀 唀氀琀爀愀 㐀䬀 吀漀漀氀 䈀漀砀 愀渀搀 唀氀琀爀愀 堀刀 琀攀挀栀渀漀氀漀最礀⸀ 吀栀攀 唀氀琀 唀氀琀爀愀 吀儀 瀀爀漀瘀椀搀攀猀 倀椀挀琀甀爀攀Ⰰ 圀愀瘀攀昀漀爀洀 洀漀渀椀琀漀爀Ⰰ 瘀攀挀ⴀ 琀漀爀猀挀漀瀀攀Ⰰ 瘀椀搀攀漀 猀琀愀琀甀猀Ⰰ 瘀椀搀攀漀 琀椀洀椀渀最Ⰰ 愀甀搀椀漀 洀攀琀攀爀猀Ⰰ 愀甀搀椀漀 猀琀愀琀甀猀Ⰰ 琀椀洀攀挀漀搀攀 氀漀最最椀渀最Ⰰ 戀愀猀椀挀 氀椀渀攀 琀攀猀琀 瀀愀琀琀攀爀渀 最攀渀攀爀愀琀漀爀Ⰰ 攀琀挀 愀氀氀 眀漀爀欀椀渀最 眀椀琀栀 愀 猀椀渀最氀攀 挀栀愀渀渀攀氀 漀昀 匀䐀ⴀ匀䐀䤀Ⰰ 䠀䐀ⴀ匀䐀䤀 漀爀 ㌀䜀ⴀ匀䐀䤀 愀猀 猀琀愀渀搀愀爀搀⸀ 쬥 䘀甀氀氀 儀䌀 椀渀猀琀爀甀洀攀渀琀 猀攀琀 쬥 䄀甀搀椀漀 ☀ 氀漀甀搀渀攀猀猀 쬥 伀倀㐀㜀Ⰰ 㘀 㠀 ☀ 㜀 㠀 䌀䌀 쬥 吀䌀ⴀ戀愀猀攀搀 攀瘀攀渀琀 䰀漀最最椀渀最 쬥 䰀椀渀攀 瀀愀琀琀攀爀渀 最攀渀攀爀愀琀漀爀 쬥 匀䐀 ⴀ ㌀䜀ⴀ匀䐀䤀 愀猀 猀琀愀渀搀愀爀搀
“DIOR-ADDICT” Dir. of Photography: Tristan Sheridan Assistants: John Clemens Steadicam Operator: Yoshi Tang Digital Imaging Tech: Jeff Flohr “EQUITY” Dir. of Photography: Garrett Hardy Davis Assistants: Courtney Bridgers, Seth Lewis Steadicam Operator: Matt Doll Digital Imaging Tech: Andy Bader “SAMSUNG DREAM” Dir. of Photography: David Vollrath Operators: Bruce MacCallum, Soren Nielsen, Mike Drucker, Htat Htut, David Morabito Assistants: Peter Morello, Rick Gioia, Dan Hersey, Bob Ragozzine, Walter Rodriguez, John Clemens, Nate McGarigal, Jordan Levie, Jeff Taylor Steadicam Operator: Jon Beattie Digital Imaging Tech: Joe Belack, Matt Martin Crane Operators: Stuart Allen Crane Tech: John Geisler “TOYOTA” Dir. of Photography: Eric Schmidt Assistants: Lila Byall, Kira Hernandez, Carrie Lazar Digital Imaging Tech: Calvin Reibman CRANETOWN “TBS: UPFRONT PROMO” Dir. of Photography: Kate Phelan Operator: Rachael Levine Assistants: Tom Greco, Christian Carmody, Scott Miller
“TBS: TRACY MORGAN UPFRONT” Dir. of Photography: Kate Phelan Assistants: Christian Carmody, Scott Miller DETOUR “SPECTRUM” Dir. of Photography: Johan Palm Assistants: Lucas Deans, Noah Glazer Digital Imaging Tech: Mark Wilenkin DOOMSDAY “BE HEARD” Dir. of Photography: Alastair McKevitt Operator: Thomas Graybael Assistants: Brian Aichlmayr, Andres Quintero Digital Imaging Tech: Robert Barr ELEMENT “MCDONALD’S” Dir. of Photography: Joseph Lavallee Assistants: Patrick Kelly “SLEEP-EZE” Dir. of Photography: Nathan Swingle Assistant: Jill Tufts FREE MEDIA “NEUTROGENA” Dir. of Photography: Pascal Lebegue Assistants: Nicolas Martin, Alan Certeza Digital Imaging Tech: Nathan Pena FURLINED “AE” Dir. of Photography: Max Goldman Assistants: Ethan McDonald, Chris Smith Digital Imaging Tech: Erica McKee Digital Utility: Shawn Aguilar
眀眀眀⸀漀洀渀椀琀攀欀⸀琀瘀 “UNITED HEALTHCARE” Dir. of Photography: Alwin Kuchler Operator: Will Arnot Assistants: Daniel Ferrell, Lucas Deans, Nate Cummings Digital Imaging Tech: Nate Kalushner GIFTED YOUTH “CITIBANK” Dir. of Photography: Sal Totino Operator: Ian Clampett Assistants: Ian Congdon, Justin Chefe, Kira Hernandez Digital Imaging Tech: Francesco Sauta HUNGRYMAN “CUMBERLAND FARMS” Dir. of Photography: Don Davis Assistants: Joseph Christofori, Julia Liu Digital Imaging Tech: Dave Kudrowitz “DISH” Dir. of Photography: Richard Henkels Assistants: Matthew Cabinum, Elver Hernandez Digital Imaging Tech: Shawn Aguilar ICONOCLAST “CHEERIOS” Dir. of Photography: Greig Fraser Movi Operator: Richard Moriarty Assistants: Paul Metcalf, Amanda Levy Digital Imaging Tech: Roham Rahmanian, Mike Borenstein JONAS & CO. “NICK JR.” Dir. of Photography: Rob Witt
PRODUCTION CREDITS
ⴀ 㐀 䨀唀一䔀 ㈀ 㜀 䠀漀氀氀礀眀漀漀搀 䌀䄀 ⴀ 唀渀椀瘀攀爀猀愀氀 匀琀甀搀椀漀猀Ⰰ 䤀渀猀椀搀攀 匀琀愀最攀 㔀
쬥 倀䠀夀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀 쬥 䐀愀琀愀 愀渀愀氀礀猀椀猀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀 쬥 䠀䐀刀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀 쬥 䄀搀瘀愀渀挀攀搀 挀漀氀漀甀爀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀 쬥 ㈀嘀Ⰰ ㈀㐀嘀 䐀䌀 漀瀀琀椀漀渀 쬥 唀瀀最爀愀搀攀愀戀氀攀 琀漀 唀䠀䐀
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The New Hollywood Standard
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Operator: Vincent Foeillet Assistants: Nicolas Martin, Alan Certeza, Yoshiki Abe, Kaoru Ishizuka Digital Imaging Tech: Jesse Tyler MIRANDA “COSENTYX” Dir. of Photography: Eric Schmidt Assistants: Lila Byall, Kira Hernandez, Noah Glazer Digital Imaging Tech: Calvin Reibman MJZ “MSNBC” Dir. of Photography: Adam Beckman Assistants: Jonny Meyer, Michael Panczenko Digital Imaging Tech: Michael Maiatico “PURINA” Dir. of Photography: Irv Blitz Assistants: John Troxell, Cliff Thenard Digital Imaging Tech: Kevin Zanit
PRODUCTION CREDITS
MOXIE “AFLAC” Dir. of Photography: Eric Schmidt Assistants: Lila Byall, JD Murray, Kira Hernandez Digital Imaging Tech: Johnathan Spellman O-POSITIVE “AD COUNCIL” Dir. of Photography: Richard Henkels “PIZZA HUT” Dir. of Photography: Adam Kimmel Operator: Ian Clampett Assistants: Ian Congdon, Brad Rochliztzer, Danny Brown Digital Imaging Tech: Elhanan Matos PARK PICTURES “DELL” Dir. of Photography: Eric Schmidt Assistants: Lila Byall, Kira Hernandez Digital Imaging Tech: Calvin Reibman “MAYBELLINE” Dir. of Photography: Matthieu Plainfosse, Mike Berg Assistants: Walter Rodriguez, Liz Singer,
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Al Rodgers, Nate McGarigal Digital Imaging Tech: Mariusz Cichon Phantom Tech: David Berman POWER PRODUCTIONS “CITY NATIONAL BANK” Dir. of Photography: Matt Egan Assistants: Jamiel VanOver, Jess Fairless Digital Imaging Tech: Michael Borenstein RADICAL MEDIA “GEICO” Dir. of Photography: Eric Schmidt Operator: Alan Caudillo Assistants: Lila Byall, Laura Goldberg, Kira Hernandez Digital Imaging Tech: John Spellman RAUCOUS “SHELL” Dir. of Photography: Rob Hauer Assistants: Liam Miller, Brittany Meadows Digital Imaging Tech: Daniel Applegate SMUGGLER “BAYWATCH” Dir. of Photography: David Devlin Operators: George Billinger, DJ Harder, Dylan Sanford, Rob Vuona, Peter Mercurio Assistants: Jake Rosenblatt, Mike Gorczynski, Matt Williams, Casey Muldoon, Digital Imaging Tech: Francesco Sauta, Michael Borenstein Digital Utility: Chris Carlson SPARE PARTS “WINTER OLYMPICS ATHLETE SUMMIT” Dir. of Photography: Adam Santelli Assistants: Jeff Nolde, David Thomas, Seth Peschansky, Diona Mavis Steadicam Operator: Liam Clark Digital Imaging Tech: Kevin Zanit, Loader: Calvin Reibman SPARKS “ROBERT MONDAVI” Dir. of Photography: Greg Daniels Assistants: Stephen MacDougall, Whitney Jones Digital Imaging Tech: Adrian Jebef
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STATION PARTS “SNACKABLE BENEFITS” Dir. of Photography: Joe DeSalvo Assistants: Chris Horne, Mike Panczenko Digital Imaging Tech: John Vallon SUPPLY & DEMAND “CHEVROLET EQUINOX” Dir. of Photography: Paul Cameron, ASC Operators: Martin Schaer, Kimo Proudfood Assistants: Mike Klimchak, Joe Martinez, Nick Infield, Seth Peschansky, Robert Campbell Digital Imaging Tech: James Petersmeyer, Sean Goller Technocrane Operator: Christian Hurley Technocrane Tech: Steve Welch, Karl Eckhardt Remote Head Tech: Jay Sheveck SUPPLY & DEMAND “CLAIROL BLOOM” Dir. of Photography: Riego Van Wersch Assistants: John Clemens, Scott Miller Digital Imaging Tech: Jeff Flohr Still Photographer: Lacey Terrell THE HUDSON COMPANY “NICKELODEON” Dir. of Photography: Rob Witt Assistants: Nicolas Martin, Alan Certeza Digital Imaging Tech: Wilson Chung TOOL OF NORTH AMERICA “LEAN POCKETS” Dir. of Photography: Joe Maxwell Operator: Ken Fisher Assistants: George Hesse, Dan Taylor, Matt Brewer Digital Imaging Tech: Dino Georgopoulos
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PRODUCTION CREDITS
COMPANY PAGE Adorama 17 AJA 19 ARRI 23 Backstage Equipment 116 Blackmagic 13 Canon 21 Chapman Leonard 95 Chimera 11 Cinemoves 9 Cineo Lighting 93 Cooke Optics 31 Creative Handbook 102 Creative Solutions LA/NY 39 CW Sonderoptic 123 ECA Awards 4 Filmotechnic 37 Fujinon 5 Hulu 7 IBC 76 IDX 113 JL Fisher 115 Interdrone 94 K5600 117 Kino Flo 84 Mole Richardson 120 National Geographic 15 NBC Universal Light Blade 25 Omnitek 119 Paralinx 124 Rosco 103 Schneider Optics 121 Sony 61 Teradek 2,3 The Rag Place 114 Tiffen 85 VER Camera Facilities 77 USA Network 29 Warner Bros Photo Lab 118 Zeiss 33
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STOP MOTION the interview issue
WILSON WEBB, SMPSP
I’m not nostalgic for film because I still shoot with it, although it ends up being a small percentage of the photos that I take. I only shoot black and white because I prefer the look that, ironically, becomes more unique as time passes. Film also keeps my brain working and still excites me every time I get negatives back from the lab. The directors and producers who have a strong passion for their craft appreciate the results and the historical context. The Hasselblad Xpan (used for these two behind-the-scenes images from the Atlanta set of Baby Driver) is my favorite film camera for unit work as it has the wide 1:3 aspect ratio that is similar to early Hollywood films. It also has some of the best-rendering lenses I’ve ever used. 122 JUNE/JULY 2017
THALIA
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