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contents SUMMER PREVIEW ISSUE May 2022 / Vol. 93 No. 04
DEPARTMENTS gear guide ................ 16 deep focus ................ 20 depth of field ................ 22 exposure ................ 26 production credits ................ 84 stop motion .............. 90
SPECIALS Water World ...... 74
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FEATURE 01
FAMILY MATTERS Salvatore Totino, ASC, AIC, and Elie Smolkin, CSC, capture The Godfather’s wild ride from print to screen in The Offer.
FEATURE 02 COPS & ROBBERS Director of Photography Larkin Seiple goes on a “deep cover” assignment to portray the personalities at the core of America’s most famous break-in for STARZ’s Gaslit.
FEATURE 03 SHADES OF GRAY Yaron Orbach keeps it real for the new HBO drama We Own This City, charting corruption in the Baltimore P.D.
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president's letter
Evolution, Revolution… We all know that change is a constant in our work, but the pace of change has never been faster. New cameras and better sensors appear regularly. New lenses and lights seem to arrive weekly, as vendors and end-users struggle to keep pace. When we step back a bit, we see the advent of virtual everything moving onto our stages. Video walls, once the domain of the biggest budgeted movies, have now entered television series production as prices for LED panels drop and are offset by efficiencies that reduce costs. And that’s not all. We have seen traditional tools of publicity upended by social media and the changing habits of potential audiences, with social media radically disrupting the way our still photographers do their work on set. With this rapid evolution also comes jurisdictional disputes. Who handles motion-capture devices? Who controls LED walls and volumes? Who develops the images and stories that launch a campaign? No matter how the work is accomplished, the end result is the same: we tell stories with moving images, and we publicize the shows through many new formats and outlets. It is clear to our members, our Local’s elected leaders, and our professional staff what work is ours, regardless of the new technologies to which our members continue to adapt at breakneck speed. If there is a camera capturing images, whether it is attached to a dolly or a drone or anything else, it is our work. If those images and the people in them are used to attract an audience, it is also our work. Naturally, our union welcomes and embraces the many swiftly-moving changes that are noted in the pages that follow; and the skills we bring to bear will ensure that the moving images that draw viewers to screens of all sizes will support our talented workforce well into the future. Evolution is not just technology and hardware. Our skilled members are evolving constantly and rapidly to ensure continued success well into the future.
John Lindley, ASC National President International Cinematographers Guild IATSE Local 600
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Publisher Teresa Muñoz Executive Editor David Geffner Art Director Wes Driver
STAFF WRITER Pauline Rogers
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Tyler Bourdeau
COPY EDITORS
Peter Bonilla Maureen Kingsley
CONTRIBUTORS
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle, SMPSP Braden Haggerty Matt Hurwitz Kevin Martin
ACCOUNTING Mark Rubinfield Dominique Gallal
May 2022 vol. 93 no. 04
Local
600
International Cinematographers Guild
IATSE Local 600 NATIONAL PRESIDENT John Lindley, ASC VICE PRESIDENT Dejan Georgevich, ASC 1ST NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Christy Fiers 2ND NATIONAL VICE PRESIDENT Baird Steptoe NATIONAL SECRETARY-TREASURER Stephen Wong NATIONAL ASSISTANT SECRETARY-TREASURER Jamie Silverstein NATIONAL SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Deborah Lipman NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Rebecca Rhine ASSOCIATE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Chaim Kantor
COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE
Spooky Stevens, Chair
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ADVERTISING POLICY: Readers should not assume that any products or services advertised in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine are endorsed by the International Cinematographers Guild. Although the Editorial staff adheres to standard industry practices in requiring advertisers to be “truthful and forthright,” there has been no extensive screening process by either International Cinematographers Guild Magazine or the International Cinematographers Guild. EDITORIAL POLICY: The International Cinematographers Guild neither implicitly nor explicitly endorses opinions or political statements expressed in International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. ICG Magazine considers unsolicited material via email only, provided all submissions are within current Contributor Guideline standards. All published material is subject to editing for length, style and content, with inclusion at the discretion of the Executive Editor and Art Director. Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild, retains all ancillary and expressed rights of content and photos published in ICG Magazine and icgmagazine.com, subject to any negotiated prior arrangement. ICG Magazine regrets that it cannot publish letters to the editor. ICG (ISSN 1527-6007) Ten issues published annually by The International Cinematographers Guild 7755 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, CA, 90046, U.S.A. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, California. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ICG 7755 Sunset Boulevard Hollywood, California 90046 Copyright 2021, by Local 600, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States and Canada. Entered as Periodical matter, September 30, 1930, at the Post Office at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscriptions: $88.00 of each International Cinematographers Guild member’s annual dues is allocated for an annual subscription to International Cinematographers Guild Magazine. Non-members may purchase an annual subscription for $48.00 (U.S.), $82.00 (Foreign and Canada) surface mail and $117.00 air mail per year. Single Copy: $4.95 The International Cinematographers Guild Magazine has been published monthly since 1929. International Cinematographers Guild Magazine is a registered trademark.
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wide angle
O
ur 2022 Summer Preview issue could also be subtitled America: Through a Lens Darkly, as all three features tackle recent (and seminal) events in this nation’s history. Kevin Martin’s cover story on Paramount +’s The Offer (page 30), shot by Sal Totino, ASC, AIC, and Elie Smolkin, CSC, portrays the making of Francis Coppola’s The Godfather (or rather, how one of America’s greatest films almost never got made). Totino, making his episodic series debut, shared this gem with Martin about the long shadows (pun intended) cast by twotime Oscar nominee Gordon Willis, ASC, who shot the original. (Amazingly, Willis was not Oscarnominated for The Godfather.) “I was respectful of the way films looked in the 70s but wasn’t about to judiciously follow [The Godfather]. I wouldn’t have wanted to even try – it would have been sacrilegious!” Totino says he did light scenes with real Mafia figures (who figure prominently in the story) darker than the rest, much like a Caravaggio painting. “There’s a scene in Coppola’s office with Gordon [Willis] talking about that artist,” Totino adds, “so I thought it was appropriate to invoke that since it was established in the dialog.” Smolkin, with the help of Production Designer Laurence Bennet’s “memorable sets,” says he tried to match “the quality of light” from Willis’ original work, “but since the technical requirements for exposure with the Sony VENICE differ so greatly from film stocks of that time, it was more about matching the mood rather than the intensity of light. I remember there was one scene in a practical location where I felt Gordon used just a single light bulb. We tried the same thing, and it worked!” Revisiting American history through lesserknown eyes (The Offer’s protagonist is producer Albert Ruddy) is also the subject of Ted Elrick’s article on the new STARZ series Gaslit (page 46). Shot by Sundance perennial Larkin Seiple (working with his largest budget to date) and directed by Matt Ross, Gaslit centers on Martha Mitchell (Julia Roberts), wife of Attorney General John Mitchell (Sean Penn) and among the first in Nixon’s inner circle to publicly question whether the President had direct involvement in the Watergate break-in. To recreate Washington D.C.’s 1970s beltway culture on L.A.-area soundstages, Seiple aimed for a Super 35mm look with older lenses and filters, as
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Courtesy of Herb DeWaal
Photo by Sara Terry
CONTRIBUTORS
well as a post-process to age the image. “Our challenge was to embrace minimalism, à la All the President’s Men,” he recalls in the piece, “but with modern techniques – building tension was certainly a touchstone.” Shooting America’s most famous burglary (at L.A. Center Studios) offered Seiple the chance to highlight historical details. “Like the infamous tape on the door that the security guard discovers the second time and calls the police,” Seiple continues. “We lit [the break-in] mainly with flashlights and brighter bulbs, letting the flashlights kind of create images of the criminals against the walls.” Ross, who describes Seiple as a “primary collaborator” with whom he discussed every element of the production, had never used multiple cameras. “The reason so many people insist on one camera is that you’re guaranteeing you’re not having one good shot and one compromised shot,” Ross shared with Elrick. “That’s why I was honestly shocked at Larkin’s ability to find complementary and powerful imagery using all three cameras. It was indicative of his depth and talent as a filmmaker.” Diving deep into a time and place also describes our final May feature, which, like Gaslit, enjoyed that rarity in series TV – a single DP/Director partnership. Matt Hurwitz’s article on HBO’s We Own This City (page 60) details how closely Director of Photography Yaron Orbach and his Guild camera team partnered with director Reinaldo Marcus Green to portray the corruption that coursed through the Baltimore P.D.’s Gun Trace Task Force from Y2K and beyond, including the notorious murder of Freddie Gray in 2015. As 1st AC Waris Supanpong, who has worked with Orbach for years, shared in the article, “Yaron brings over a documentary style, and Rei really likes a frame. So, instead of moving the camera on the dolly, they did it via zooms…which feels very different than moving the camera in physical space.” Orbach’s love for the grit and grime of real life is at the heart of the show’s naturalistic look. It’s an approach to lighting a series set in the last two decades that, ironically, draws more from the era portrayed in our other two May stories. “I love films like The Conversation, The French Connection, and Serpico,” Orbach explains, “where there’s suspense within the frame.”
Braden Haggerty Water World “Working as an underwater camera person has given me a unique eye into the world of filmmaking. And being an ICG 669 member in Vancouver, B.C. has also added the experience of dealing with the challenges of cold-water capture. What I really enjoy is the trust that other members of the film community put in you to guide them through the underwater journey, whether that’s in a tank or an openwater environment. I feel fortunate to have met and worked with so many wonderful people in such a collaborative way.”
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle, SMPSP Family Matters, Stop Motion Period pieces are among my favorite genres to photograph, but what made Gaslit particularly special is that it offered a different perspective of a ubiquitous event – Watergate. Martha Mitchell was a bold woman who had her keen eye and outspoken mouth fixed upon political conspiracy, but her knowledge and experience were discredited at the time. It was a pleasure to photograph her story as illustrated in rich, emotional performances by an outstanding cast.”
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David Geffner Executive Editor
Email: david@icgmagazine.com
Cover photo by Nicole Wilder
C A P T U R E
GEAR GUIDE
LUMIX GH6 $2,199.99 (BODY ONLY) $2,799.99 (BODY + L-KIT) WWW.LUMIXGH6.COM
The LUMIX GH6 is the latest flagship model of the LUMIX G Series digital mirrorless camera based on the Micro Four Thirds system standard. Panasonic has developed a new 25.2-megapixel Live MOS Sensor with high-resolution, high-speed signal readout that reduces rolling shutters and achieves a wide dynamic range. The GH6 has again evolved to achieve 4:2:2 10-bit C4K 60p unlimited video recording time, 4:2:0 10-bit 4K 120p, 4:2:2 10-bit FHD 240p high frame rate (HFR), and FHD maximum 300-fps variable frame rate (VFR). For greater workflow efficiency, 5.7K 30p video recording is available in Apple ProRes 422 HQ for the first time in a LUMIX camera. In addition to 4:2:0 10-bit 5.7K 60p, 4:2:0 10-bit 5.8K 30p (4.4K 60p), anamorphic 4:3 video can be recorded utilizing the full area of the sensor. The GH6 contains V-Log/V-Gamut – a first for LUMIX G Micro Four Thirds cameras – and provides 12+ stops and even 13+ stops of wide dynamic range using the new Dynamic Range Boost mode. Extended recording time is made possible with LUMIX’s heat management technology.
SIGMA Fujifilm X-Mount 16MM F1.4 $449 30MM F1.4 $339 56MM F1.4 $479 WWW.SIGMAPHOTO.COM
SIGMA Corporation has announced its first three lenses available for Fujifilm X-mount, the 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, the 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, and the 56mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary. These APS-C/Super 35mm lenses have already proven themselves as high-performance compact primes for Micro Four Thirds, L-mount, Sony E mount, and Canon EF-M mount. Each lens features nine rounded aperture blades and weather resistance at the lens mount. Additionally, a control algorithm including AF drive and communication speed optimization has been developed specifically for X-Mount interchangeable lenses. In addition to realizing high-speed AF, the lens also supports Continuous AF (AF-C) and in-camera aberration correction.
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Zeiss Supreme Prime 15mm T1.8 TBA WWW.ZEISS.COM
The 15mm T1.8 is the widest-angle lens in the Supreme Prime family 14-lens series. It provides an extremely wide-angle view on full-frame-size sensors and a fast maximum aperture and is optimized for low-light situations. This design offers a smooth gradient between in- and out-of-focus areas and has high-dynamicrange performance that results in a wide ratio of contrast levels. Other features include ZEISS’s eXtended Data technology, which provides lens metadata critical for VFX-intensive productions and workflows. The 15mm covers a wide range of camera sensors offering broad compatibility with 35-mm camera models like ALEXA Mini and RED Helium, as well as full frames like Sony VENICE 2, ALEXA Mini LF, and RED Monstro/Panavision DXL2. According to Snehal Patel, ZEISS Head of Cinema Sales, Americas, “the lens is quite rectilinear, with low distortion and high resolving power. Some cinematographers will like it for the ability to accurately reproduce wide, majestic spaces, and others will value the close focus capabilities for all kinds of interesting shots.”
Optical Palette (IOP) Angénieux Optimo Primes $128-$375 WWW.BANDPRO.COM
“I recently shot Angénieux Optimo Primes with IOP on Daisy Jones & the Six for Amazon,” says Checco Varese, ASC. “We decided to use a Tiffen 1/8 Glimmerglass internal IOP, which was like seeing light through a glass of champagne. For some scenes, we added netting in the back of the lens instead of rear filtration, which created a timeless glow in the highlights that was unique.” The IOP technology, designed to integrate into full-frame Angénieux Optimo Primes, allows cinematographers to craft their own unique looks, while maintaining complete control of their optics. The lenses are made up of internal elements, iris cartridges, and rear-filter options. The official Stage 1 IOP Options include internal elements: Clear (coated and uncoated) Glimmerglass, Black Satin, Black Pro-Mist, Low Contrast, Hollywood Black Magic, and True-Blue Streak. Iris cartridge options include 3-Blade and Oval. Rear Filtration options will soon include key looks from Tiffen and Schneider Optics to provide an ever-expanding palette. Customized looks are available upon request.
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GEAR GUIDE
Cine Lens Manual Sourcebook $200 WWW.CINELENSMANUAL.COM
“It’s an essential text for all filmmakers,” says Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS of Jay Holben’s and Christopher Probst, ASC’s just published The Cine Lens Manual sourcebook. A definitive journey through the world of cinema lenses investigates every possible aspect, from the formation of glass to today’s top cinematographic, optical tools. Comprehensive, it is written in clear, easily digestible language. Extensively illustrated with 1500 full-color photographs, diagrams and graphics, it details 300 lens families. This comprehensive hardback is written for all individuals interested in the lens – cinematographers, directors, visual effects artists, camera assistants, animators, technical journalists, historians, students, instructors, rental house technicians – anyone looking for a deeper understanding of cinema optics.
Cooke S8/I FF Spherical Lenses $34,650 - $36,200 WWW.COOKEOPTICS.COM
“The full-frame Cooke S8s, when shot wide open at T1.4, gave me a wonderfully smooth yet contrasty image, with luscious out-of-focus backgrounds, even with the wider focal lengths,” says Bill Bennett, ASC, first to test the new lenses. “Cooke’s designers fully understand that most cinematographers want lenses with character. The S8s deliver that.” The Cooke S8/i family offers an outstanding lens aesthetic in a fast, smart and light package with T1.4 throughout using a novel modular approach. The current range, introduced at NAB 2022, includes 25-, 32-, 40-, 50-, 75-, 100-, and 135-mm focal lengths. An additional nine lenses will be added to the range in late 2022. Creating film-like images and the Cooke Look® requires the optimization of contrast. Cooke’s design team – and Academy Award-winning designer Iain Neill, Chief Optics Advisor at Cooke – undertook a huge study to ensure S8/i’s contrast performance is maximized to suit the actual resolution of digital cameras.
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Tiffen Filters for Mavic 3 Drones $150 WWW.TIFFEN.COM
“As an aerial cinematographer, I travel all over the world for my work in extremely harsh environments that constantly push me and my gear to the limits,” describes Alex Kavanagh, Creative Director at DRONEGEAR. “I’m in Chilean Patagonia as I write this and have been flying the Mavic 3 Cine and Tiffen filters, which allow me to have my aperture where I want it, keeping every shot perfectly exposed with zero shift in color.” Tiffen’s 6-Filter Neutral Density Kit for the DJI Mavic 3 and Mavic Cine 3 offers multiple aperture and shutter-speed options for operators of the popular drones. It comes with neutral density/polarizer filters (ND4 Polarizer, ND8 Polarizer, and ND16 Polarizer) that reduce light from passing through while the polarizer controls reflection and reduces glare. Each filter snaps in front of both Mavic 3 lenses: the 4/3 in. and ½ in. Stacked on top of the ND, the polarizer may be rotated to affect the degree of saturation, intensity, glare reduction, and reflection removal. Tiffen drone filters are made from optical glass with waterproof and scratch-proof multi-coating, which reduces reflection while maintaining clarity and color fidelity.
Sumolight SUMOMAX TBA WWW.SUMOLIGHT.COM
Sumolight’s newest lighting tool performs as a key light, hard light, punch light, spacelight or soft light. Fully modular, this powerful 700-W full-spectrum RGBWW LED fixture offers a high output of 1800-15000K. With a lightweight hexagonal form factor and a one-click quick-release connecting system, it can stand alone or be tiled, honeycomb-style, to build lightboxes, light walls, or unique patterns and shapes. With its “swoptic” module interchangeable optics, beams may be enhanced and directed from a narrow 20-degree native beam up to a super-wide 120-degree beam via clip-on optics. Built-in effects include 0-30Hz Shutter/Strobe and other automated programs. In addition, SUMOMAX runs silently thanks to its passive cooling design. Each fixture comes complete with an internal power supply; an on-fixture touch-display panel; and DMX/RDM, Ethernet, and WiFi control ability. Built for safe indoor or outdoor use, SUMOMAX is IP65 rated.
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DEEP FOCUS
COURTESY OF DAVID B. NOWELL
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David B. Nowell, ASC AERIAL DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
My career started from the kindness and trust of a friend willing to give me a chance. He was responsible for telling clients: “The kid can do it.” This was with one of two makers of helicopter side mounts in the early 1970s, antiquated by today’s standards, but cutting-edge at the time – counterweighted gimbal systems, where you sat in an open doorway with your hands on the camera to feel what you were shooting. A great example of having hands on the camera and eye to the eyepiece was getting the combat dogfight sequences in Pearl Harbor. The action was flying by so fast, I never would have been able to keep up using a gyro system. It was the greatest teaching lab ever. But with just a handful of aerial cinematographers at the time, I didn’t get much advice. Everything was learned by doing, not seeing how somebody else did it. “Always see your dailies” was the idea that I lived by as I learned about film exposure, lab processing, printing lights, and what frame rates worked to achieve a certain look. On Flight of the Intruder, we decided to shoot all the aerial night shots during the day. To achieve the monochromatic look the human eye sees in low light, we shot with black-and-white film and a Red #25 filter to make the skies look black. At that time, fixed-wing aerial work was still being done with old WW2-era B-25 bombers. Cameras and fluid heads were bolted to positions in the nose, tail, side gunner ports and escape hatches. The problem was still no camera stability and being at
the mercy of air turbulence. The age of jet travel was highlighting the inadequacy of these slow, pistondriven aircraft. One of the last times this platform worked best was during the aerials for Iron Eagle III, as all the hero aircraft were vintage WW2 fighters. Enter the Jet Age, and it made sense that to film jets you had to be in a jet. The Learjet became the favorite as it had large windows to film through. Still, there was the same old problem of bolting a camera platform inside this jet and being limited by the window’s fixed position. I was privileged to be involved in the development of the first aerial-borne film periscope, which gave a camera operator the ability to pan and tilt, almost unobstructed, while flying at jet speeds and in the comfort of a Learjet. Now that the industry had this amazing new jet/periscope platform, we sent it over to the U.K. to film the beginning of the fastest commercial airliner in the world. The British Airways Concorde was about to enter service, and we were the first to capture aerial footage of this Mach-2 aircraft. Helicopter gyro-stabilized systems evolved in the early 1980s, all based on large film cameras. Some worked well, some not so much. With 1000-foot loads of 35mm film, these systems were very large, as much as four feet in diameter. With the coming of the digital era, the world of stabilized aerial systems began to miniaturize. My dream system was a fully stabilized platform attached externally on a jet aircraft. I wanted something unaffected by turbulence that could fly at
speeds reaching 400 mph and that could use a fullframe digital camera and a zoom lens of 10-1 range. It took nearly 40 years, but the technology finally reached a level that allowed my dream to come true. Helicopter-stabilized systems from Shotover had reached a small but robust level with its F-1 platform, so we felt we had something we could modify. Motors with enough torque to withstand 400 mph and gravitational forces of three G’s were installed, and a new system referred to as the F-1J came into existence. I was approached by a gentleman who owned an Embraer EMB-505 Phenom 300. Through mutual friends, he wanted to become involved in our world of aerial cinematography. With my help and input and his investment, the ultimate Aerial Camera Platform was born. When I worked on the original Top Gun, we used the highest level of technology at the time. With the Lear/periscope platform, we were able to achieve stunning photography never seen before. Thirty-four years later, with the new Phenom platform, we were able to achieve everything I had ever wanted on Top Gun: Maverick. I now had my fully stabilized platform, full-frame digital and a 6-1 zoom with a camera on the nose and another on the tail. Aerial photography, no matter how sophisticated it can get, isn’t the only way to shoot aircraft. One of the best ways to do this is to stand on top of a mountain with ground cameras and 1000mm lenses with aircraft flying around this position. The dynamics achieved from these long lenses are unattainable any other way. The results are always stunning.
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Women’s Weekend Film Challenge BY PAULINE ROGERS
Katrina Medoff and Tracy Sayre were both working in the New York indie film world, Sayre as a screenwriter/ producer and Medoff as a former actor who started writing and producing her own projects. Medoff saw so many casting breakdowns where “women were objectified or simply part of a man’s story,” she relates. “I have always been passionate about changing the landscape for women behind and in front of the camera.” For Sayre, who was organizing writing conferences, it was the desire to “bring people together so that they would come out with lifelong friendships and collaborators.” After the pair met, they decided to forge a path for women behind and in front of the camera. “We wanted to put together crews of women and nonbinary filmmakers – previously strangers – who would make a short film in one weekend,” Medoff describes. “We wanted them to have a new project to add to their portfolios and, more importantly, meet women in every role of production they could hire and refer [others to]. I posted the idea in a Facebook group, and more than 300 women responded in just 10 hours wanting to participate.” From such humble beginnings, the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge (WWFC) was born. Sayre picks up the story: “We hosted our inaugural film challenge in 2018, and at that point, we did not have any funding or industry connections. We made nine films with 150 filmmakers just by pulling together whatever resources we had. Professional filmmakers in every role of production applied for this program, and we put together crews so that everyone could build their network.” Since that first event in 2018, WWFC has held three more challenges, two in New York and one in Los Angeles,
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with the program growing every time. Sponsors and partners including, HBO, RED, AbelCine, Cinelease, Lightbulb Rentals, LaCie, Matthews Studio Equipment, and more have donated time, equipment and talent to grow the challenge. “Now we provide everything our filmmakers need to make an incredible short film, including cinema-quality gear, location permits, production insurance, and stipends to submit to film festivals,” Sayre adds. “We premiere the films at theaters like Museum of the Moving Image and ArcLight Hollywood with sold-out audiences.” “It’s a challenge – not a competition,” adds Medoff firmly. “Our teams help each other out. The team leaders [producers] help troubleshoot issues in a group chat. When one team encountered camera issues during our L.A. challenge, for instance, another team’s cinematographer drove to their set to help solve it.” One of the most significant benefits – aside from the chance to show participants’ work and meet others – is follow-through. “Whenever we host a premiere screening, the energy is contagious,” shares Medoff. “It’s so rare that filmmakers get to see their work on the big screen just a week or two after production, and everyone is excited to see the other teams’ films. The premiere for our inaugural challenge was in a basement screening room where filmmakers were sitting on the stairs and standing in the back. Now we’re able to fill 400-seat theaters like ArcLight Hollywood. But, regardless of the venue, it’s a celebration of our filmmakers’ work and
SOUND MIXER ASH KNOWLTON (FAR LEFT) ON THE SET OF WWFC FILM MILLENNIAL SUCCESS STORIES: FEMALE CEO IN N.Y.C., APRIL 2019 / PHOTO BY VANESSA CLIFTON
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WWFC CO-FOUNDERS TRACY SAYRE (L) AND KATRINA MEDOFF ON
CINEMATOGRAPHER EURICA YU (RIGHT) ON THE SET OF WWFC
THE SET OF GOOD DAY L.A. / COURTESY OF FOX 11 TV
FILM EMPTY / COURTESY OF IMAGE TAKER STUDIOS
talent, and it’s a fantastic way for them to network with one another.” Even COVID couldn’t slow the WWFC’s roll. “When we could no longer do in-person film production, we started hosting virtual workshops featuring the top women of Hollywood,” recounts Sayre. “For our community of filmmakers stuck at home, this was a great opportunity to hear directly from their role models and get feedback on their work samples. There is such a spirit of lifting each other and recognizing the journey we’re on.” The virtual event featured guests like Honey Boy director Alma Har’el, Russian Doll co-creator Leslye Headland, Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, and Harriet director Kasi Lemmons [ICG Magazine.com November 2019], as well as Queen Sugar composer Meshell Ndegeocello; P-Valley cinematographer Nancy Schreiber, ASC; and Tick, Tick…Boom! cinematographer Alice Brooks, ASC. WWFC has worked with 700 professional female and nonbinary filmmakers throughout its four in-person film challenges to produce 30 short films. “We have heard from so many of our participants that the challenge was career-changing for them,” says Sayre. “One of our sound mixers was told it would take her years to book her first feature.” “But right after the challenge, everything changed,” shares sound mixer Ash Knowlton. “WWFC allowed me to create relationships with women that would have taken years to make. There is something that happens when a team of women is under fire and hustling to make something happen. In 2020 I started a studio for women in sound, Split Milk Sounds. I met my business partner, Nicole Maupin, at the WWFC. We concentrate on
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Production Sound and Post-Production Sound Edit, Design, and Mix. None of this would have happened without WWFC.” For filmmaker Eurica Yu, a self-described queer, Malaysian-born, NYC-based cinematographer whose work focuses on women’s stories and advocating for LGBTQIA equality/diversity, “the WWFC provided an opportunity for all women to feel represented and seen in power positions,” Yu describes. “There is such a lack of female representation, especially for BIPOC and queer women like me. This allows us to feel that we can be in positions of power, and we can believe in ourselves, our skill sets and visions.” “I have never encountered a concentrated space of female-identifying filmmakers before WWFC,” says Alexis Floyd. WWFC helped her define her path, creating and centering stories by women and around women. “The sense of safety, honesty and generosity that is a natural by-product of women working hard for one another is empowering for all of us.” After making her project Daughters of Solanas, Floyd moved into more projects – but still keeps in touch with and works with women she met at the film’s premiere. “Whether I’m assembling a team for an independent film, have a question about a piece of equipment, or am simply seeking advice and support along the journey, my WWFC peers are always there to help.” Medoff and Sayre are gearing up for the 2022 challenge, set for later this summer. “Many of our sponsors, such as Zeiss, Final Draft, Cinelease, and Gotham Sound are once more getting involved,” says Sayre. “In past NYC challenges, the screening was the first time all of
our participants got together and the first time they realized the scope and scale of the program. For this next challenge, The CarStage [ICG Magazine October 2021] is donating their enormous studio for our pre-production meeting so all of our participants can meet before the weekend begins.” To help select participants out of the hundreds of applicants, WWFC has enlisted the help of judges, cinematographers Nancy Schreiber, ASC, and Carmen Cabana, as well as writer-director Chloe Okuno. “Katrina and Tracy saw my film Nocturne on a Blumhouse special, and they liked it,” says Cabana. “They reached out – and I was immediately onboard. It’s important for me to help advance the careers of up-and-coming female cinematographers. There aren’t enough of us out there. All of us artists are constantly honing our craft and expanding our knowledge. We need honest feedback and tips on how to address certain challenges. “Yes, there are other organizations out there who offer mentorship, experience and exposure,” Cabana admits. “But with Women’s Weekend Film Challenge, I see a great emphasis on the female aspect – women filmmakers, working with a female crew – and the result will be assessed by women. “As an audience member,” Cabana adds, “I want to watch quality content. I want to be entertained, moved, transported to new scenarios, and I want to be told stories that feel fresh and that expand my cultural experience. Therefore, new voices will help expand the boundaries, bring in new perspectives and techniques and offer us a more diverse cinematic universe. WWFC is simply a winwin situation.” www.womensweekendfilmchallenge.com
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EXPOSURE
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Dexter Fletcher DIRECTOR | THE OFFER BY KEVIN H. MARTIN PHOTOS BY NICOLE WILDER / PARAMOUNT+
With a career in acting dating back to the mid1970s, Dexter Fletcher has amassed a diverse array of experiences for some of the world’s best directors, including Alan Parker, David Lynch, Franklin J. Schaffner, Roger Donaldson, Hugh Hudson, Ken Russell and Derek Jarman. Given that background, one might think the directing bug would have bit Fletcher early on. But he continued acting in a mix of high-profile and indie feature projects over the next few decades, plus innumerable TV roles. When Fletcher did move behind the camera – for the 2011 heartfelt drama, Wild Bill, that he also co-wrote – it was an immediate success, securing a BAFTA nomination. He followed that up with the equally wellreceived Sunshine on Leith, then ventured into sports biopic territory with Eddie the Eagle. After stepping in to complete the Oscar-nominated Bohemian Rhapsody, Fletcher continued in the music biopic genre, with Rocketman, a solid, well-reviewed hit.
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EXPOSURE
While still acting, Fletcher has fully embraced his role as director, helming the first three episodes of Paramount+’s The Offer (page 30), which charts the wild ride that took The Godfather from print to screen. Fletcher and one of the The Offer’s cinematographers, Sal Totino, ASC, AIC, have since reteamed. for the feature Ghosted, with Sherlock Holmes 3 next up on his slate.
ICG: Do you recall when you first saw The Godfather? Dexter Fletcher: I remember feeling drawn in by it immediately, as it was completely immersive – the storytelling was so rich and layered. It’s one of those special films that accomplish magical things with the viewing audience; in that way, it is like other stories of good and evil that captivate an audience, regardless of whether they’re more drawn to one side or the other. That’s because you felt as if you were a part of that world, even though it told a dark story of a subculture I knew nothing about. That level of inclusivity made it resonate on just so many levels, and, of course, I appreciated how the performances all felt so right. I went and saw the second film straight after, and it’s easy to see why this flat-out masterpiece makes so many Top 10 lists, and why it demands revisiting, which we are in our own way doing with The Offer. Were you asked to direct The Offer because of your success with stories about other real-life figures? I’d imagine so. Between Eddie the Eagle and Rhapsody, I’d had some great luck with biopics. I have a particular approach to this type of story, wanting to make them entertaining and engaging, so there’s a sense of fun to things rather than their being dry and clinical. I found that depicting the particular kind of craziness in Hollywood of that period didn’t call for a heavy-handed approach. It features a remarkable confluence of factors and players – especially Coppola, Mario Puzo, Al Ruddy, and Robert Evans – coming together at just the right time to make film history. I liked having the opportunity to delve into these distinctive characters to get at what made each of them so compelling, which plays to the fun aspect I mentioned. Ruddy’s role seems to be a kind of narrator, giving the audience a look into Hollywood and the Mafia world. How do you get the performances for these characters – many of whom have some extreme moments – to hit the right notes? Keep in mind that these are fictionalized versions of real
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people. So, they’ve been written at various levels for deliberate dramatic and comedic effect. Reading the script, it seemed clear the directions one could go in bringing them to the screen. Giovanni Ribisi’s Joe Columbo brings such gravitas, weight and power in his speech. Ruddy crossed paths with some dark and dangerous people, so you’re seeing a man who didn’t encounter this type of situation in his everyday life have to adapt quickly to avoid bad things happening to him. It plays as a good story fifty years later, but at the time – and this came
ahead of time, and there are times when I wished I had such a faculty. I see Wes Anderson’s films and marvel at what he does so meticulously while I’m also laughing at the wonderful content. I’m not the guy who reaches those levels of craftsmanship, but I accept that isn’t my niche and that there is something I bring that is uniquely mine.
out in conversations with Ruddy – he had immense admiration for Columbo, while at the same time living in fear of how quickly it could all go wrong. There’s the old saying, “It’s only a movie.” But here, people could have gotten killed, and Ruddy didn’t at first realize the potential for such a dire situation.
entertainment industry is that you find any given bend in the road can send you off in a whole new direction and offer a new opportunity to express yourself in ways you probably hadn’t considered. I had decades of acting experience behind me when I worked for Guy Ritchie on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which gave me a good view of how blokes like him work on low budgets, which I found exciting. Then it seemed even more appealing to me a bit later after I worked on a higher-budget project with people who were distinctly untalented [laughs]. At that point, I started thinking back on my work for Parker, Hudson, Schaffner, Lynch, and Mike Leigh – a truly incredible list of directors, each with his own working methods that often challenged you as an actor but also brought what I guess you have to say is their own unique point of view to the material.
And you have some fun when Columbo comes out to L.A. Yes, when he sits down with the script he has demanded to read but isn’t willing to sit there and read it. [Laughs.] I love those kinds of contrasts and how they mess with expectations because you don’t know what you’re going to get with this guy, and it turns out to be a light moment and one that kind of cements a connection between these very different men. What sort of tools do you use as a director to help the actors work toward developing such complex relationships? Before starting the first episode, we had two weeks of rehearsal in L.A. I had everybody write their own character’s biography, which we all shared at this big table – everybody playing Mafia Dons and Hollywood power players. This created a huge and real bond, which was another way our film kind of imitated The Godfather, with their uniquely talented group of actors bonding together over the work they were doing. There was one time when Matthew Goode (Robert Evans) couldn’t make it to rehearsal, so we heard him on the phone as he read his biography of Evans, and he had the whole room roaring with laughter! With everything you put into getting the performances right, are you ever surprised by what you find during editing? Over the course of several takes, there’s an evolution at work, so you’re not getting the same performance each time. But seeing the performance in the context of edited film, you might find something that might allow for a new transition or trigger a new train of thought about how the scene might go together. I have great admiration for filmmakers who can work it all out
At what point in your acting career did you start to consider directing? What’s interesting about working over an extended period in the
Anyone in particular that stands out, looking back? Working with David Lynch on The Elephant Man – we were on location in London’s East End and some older local guy passed by while walking his dog. Lynch saw him and immediately put him into a costume, then shot this pair walking up the street! It happened right out of the blue – David seizing on something about them together, and he was able to deliver this nice snapshot of Victorian-era, Charles Dickens London. It struck me, even that far back, how the best-laid plans have to yield to what you feel in the moment. If you’re not open to them, you’re limiting yourself, and so a lot of the fun that comes out in my films is because I’m open to something new when I see it. You don’t tear up the foundation for the sake of some small inspiration, but if it can bring that something extra to the moment without diminishing the rest, then I’m all for it. How did your directing debut, Wild Bill, come about? I decided to challenge myself. I pulled together a number of friends and a bit of money to make the film, and by the time it got nominated for a BAFTA, filmmaking had become my absolute passion.
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“Because of my acting background, the collaborative experience is crucial to how I approach things.”
Was that debut a process of discovery on the day, or did you do a lot in the way of prep? I had a huge hand in writing the material and therefore knew it very well, so certain aspects were well in mind before we began. But I wanted to get the very best from everyone and encouraged input. It was a small film set in a restricted part of London, so we were getting shots almost guerilla-style, at spots that we may or may not have had permits for, and that made for a different kind of excitement. It also made me want to work with the same people again and again since they liked rising to this kind of challenge. George Richmond shot my first four features, and now I’ve gone on with Sal. Both of them, plus costume designer Julian Day, all understand the immediacy of inspiration that I love so much. Do you create shot lists during prep? Only to a degree. My prep isn’t specifically focused on
cinematography, but I find that collaboration with Sal and George is part of the process that sets my imagination to consider all sorts of ways of looking at the characters and where they are – in the world and the story. Talking with my department heads can inspire a new idea about what kind of transition we do that gets us back to the Valley from New York City. I don’t pretend to understand every lens and format, but knowing that I have somebody who does lets me not worry so much about the [logistics] and focus more on what I can do to help the actors get to that next level of exploration. There were some days when I didn’t have a good idea about the camera and told Sal that we’d find a beautiful shot to illustrate what was happening after figuring out what the actors were going to do in that set. Good collaborators like Sal understand, “Okay, he’s going a bit rock ‘n’ roll and calling an audible here, so my team will adapt quickly with all the energy necessary to make it happen.”
Showing the value of a great DP and an experienced camera team… Yes, and I also want to say that Sal further enabled my imagination, because if I suggested it would be good to have a crane move here, he could amplify that in ways I couldn’t even have considered. He’d explain how we can bring the operator down off the crane and have him follow or track back with the action as it plays out at length, and still find a good steady composition to end it all on. That kind of spark coming from one imagination to fuel another and back again was always very much in support of the story. Because of my acting background, the collaborative experience is crucial to how I approach things. Being able to extend that into directing, due to the efforts of this uniquely talented behind-the-scenes ensemble, in all of the departments, is one of the most satisfying parts of the process.
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FEATURE
THE OFFER
FAMILY BY KEVIN H. MARTIN PHOTOS BY NICOLE WILDER / PARAMOUNT+
SALVATORE TOTINO, ASC, AIC, AND ELIE SMOLKIN, CSC, CAPTURE THE GODFATHER’S WILD RIDE FROM PRINT TO SCREEN IN THE OFFER.
MATTERS
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niversally regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, The Godfather would have retained its classic status even if there hadn’t been follow-ups to the Best Picture winner. But the path from book to screen was a rocky one, with real-life mobsters terminally opposed to the film even being made, while some at the studio were just as resistant over the likelihood of it proving to be a box-office flop. With The Offer, Paramount+ dramatizes these events, showing how producer Albert Ruddy (Miles Teller) overcame an endless barrage of obstacles while committing Mario Puzo’s (Patrick Gallo) novel to celluloid. We see Ruddy struggling to recruit and retain director Francis Ford Coppola (Dan Fogler) while also battling Paramount studio head Robert Evans (Matthew Goode) over key casting calls. Writer/producer Michael Tolkin’s take on the material – collaborating with series showrunner Nikki Toscano – ranges from scary to outrageously funny, and Paramount secured the services of director Dexter Fletcher (Exposure, page 26), an actorturned-filmmaker with a solid history of lively biopics. The Offer marks the first episodic series for longtime Guild Director of Photography Sal Totino, ASC, AIC. With credits ranging from Concussion and Bird Box to Spider-Man: Homecoming and Space Jam: A New Legacy, Totino has a wealth of studio and location filming under his belt and tried to prep The Offer like a feature film. “The mentality of carrying a feature approach in mind throughout
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ABOVE: B-CAMERA OPERATOR ROXANNE STEVENS GETS DOWN “IN THE FOG” FOR AN L.A.-AREA NIGHT LOCATION SHOOT.
these months meant knowing not just what you need, but when you’re not going to need it,” Totino muses. “I would have preferred to prep it all at once, treating it like one big giant feature film, where you don’t have to double back to a location and can instead shoot it all out at once, which saves money. Instead of shooting that location for six days, you go back three different times over a period of months with other directors.” While dealing with the two-episode blocks was a new experience for Totino, he did figure out ways to continue prep for later episodes. “Usually, the DP’s and directors move together for a block,” he continues, “and that proved to be a saving grace when Miles Teller got COVID because I was able to use that downtime to prep with director Adam Arkin, giving us a big jump on the next few scenes. Overall, I don’t think The Offer suffered for going this route. My pre-rig crew went in
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early to light, so that part was as efficient as any feature, and there was never a time when I felt rushed or that we were sacrificing.” Since The Offer required recreations of scenes from The Godfather, this meant taking into consideration the immensely intimidating legacy of Gordon Willis, ASC [ICG Magazine.com July 2014]. “I was respectful of the way films looked in the 70s,” states Totino, “but wasn’t about to judiciously follow the look of that film. I wouldn’t have wanted to even try – it would have been sacrilegious! I did want to light the scenes with the actual Mafia figures more darkly than the rest; it was often kind of like a Caravaggio painting. And there’s a scene in Coppola’s office with Gordon talking about that artist, so I thought it was appropriate to invoke that since it was established in the dialog.” Collaboration between DP and director was ideal from Totino’s perspective. “Dexter
was open to my ideas, buying off on going anamorphic and also agreeing to shoot on the Sony VENICE, which, in addition to the useful dual ISO option, has a color space I find refreshing. I had also done [the unreleased] 65 on anamorphic and fell in love with combining the VENICE with Hawk V-Lite lenses, as there was a nice sense of emotion behind them. I tried to shoot wideopen to get some banding on the edges at times, which added another layer of emotion. I’m shooting a project now that is spherical on [Zeiss] Supremes because it needs to be crisper and cleaner. But sometimes I look at the scenes and and think, ‘I’m missing those anamorphics!’” A-Camera Operator Kris Krosskove offers up what he sees as an interesting trend. “Pretty much every project being offered is shooting anamorphic – even the ones that screen in 16:9,” he notes. “There are lots of
“SAL AND I ESTABLISHED A SINGLE LUT FOR THE SHOW UP FRONT,” RELATES COMPANY 3 SENIOR COLORIST SEAN COLEMAN. “FOR SAL, LUT’S ARE EXACTLY LIKE FILM STOCKS, SO PROPER APPLICATION IS CRITICAL TO MAINTAINING HIS INTENTION.”
reasons to choose anamorphic, from the flares to the distinctive falloff on depth of field. But the top and bottom areas of the anamorphic lens are not the crispest portion of that piece of glass, so you can get a bit limited with how headroom works. The demand has made it trickier to get the lens sets you prefer because there are only so many of them around. Two of the calls I’ve gotten in the last month-anda-half were for film projects, so that is also filtering back into the equation. I come from that film generation, and it still has a charm and unique look – one we’re all still striving to emulate with digital.” Totino reteamed with Company 3 Senior Colorist Sean Coleman to work out a look for the series. “Sal and I established a single LUT for the show up front,” relates Coleman. “That’s our usual workflow; I’m on another show now where we are considering using more than one LUT, and that’s a departure
from the norm, given potential issues with CDL’s, deliverables and pipelines. For Sal, LUT’s are exactly like film stocks, so proper application is critical to maintaining his intention. Once he’s satisfied things are correct, he can relax and concentrate on other aspects. After screening the few dailies [handled by Tomas Klane, working from material supplied by DIT Francesco Sauta], we knew the look was going to work. From day one, everyone up at Paramount seemed stunned by what they were seeing, which is exactly the vibe you want on a project that is going to be shooting for another six months.” When Fletcher’s episodes concluded, he asked Totino to shoot his next feature, so the DP sought a partner to shoot the last four episodes. Guild Director of Photography Elie Smolkin, CSC, had substantial TV credits,
including Good Behavior, Dirty John, The Magicians and The Stand, and on Totino’s recommendation, Toscano hired him. “A biopic about film history that features some of the most daring cinematography up to that point … You bet I was all in!” Smolkin laughs. “I jumped into prep and scouting, then sat in with Sal on set. He talked to me about the ethos, indicating that the show’s pace meant we’d be in motion, but that whenever we landed, we wanted to settle on very steady tableaus. That, along with watching dailies, gave me a good idea moving forward.” (There was no 2nd Unit save for a crew handling car background plates, and some drone work handled by Action Drone in Italy and Helinet domestically.) Smolkin’s first two-episode block included scenes involving the shooting of actual scenes from The Godfather. “I was recreating Gordon Willis’ lightning, and our production
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designer, Laurence Bennett, duplicated those memorable sets with great precision,” he explains. “We tried to match the quality of light for those scenes, but since the technical requirements for exposure with the VENICE differ so greatly from film stocks of that time, it was more about matching the mood rather than the intensity of light. I remember there was one scene in a practical location where I felt Gordon used just a single light bulb. We tried the same thing, and it worked!” With Fletcher’s penchant for energizing his reality-based characters, Totino found himself challenged to deliver more camera dynamics. “Dexter wanted additional movement incorporated into the shoot to help offset so much sitting and talking in offices,” Totino recalls. “So, when we had a scene of a golf cart driving the backlot, we covered that using a small Technocrane, [hung] off a grip truck’s electric cart. That lets us see not just the action of Juno Temple driving, but also be able to look around at everything else going on around the lot.” Krosskove reports that both he and Totino would develop ideas for shots after observing the rehearsals. “To cut down on the talking heads, we did several 180s and even some 270s, which can get challenging when it comes to hiding lights,” Krosskove recounts. “I’d set the shots, and then Sal, after seeing the frames, would somehow figure out a way to hide what we didn’t want visible. He’s amazing in that way.” The filmmakers faced an all-too-familiar
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challenge of having to shoot all the New York scenes in Hollywood. “I did work hard to differentiate the look for the two coasts,” Totino reflects. “It was tricky, given the way light plays in the canyons between New York skyscrapers. We used backlots and big blue screens, but it was hard to fully recreate the look of those big building shadows and the occasional hot bursts of sunlight between them. I had 90 linear feet of blue screens on Pettibones that had to get moved around that backlot. Luckily, we had planned things so efficiently that it all just worked, which was crucial when we had a day/night split at Universal. During that time we shot six different scenes set in New York and Los Angeles. New York was supposed to be the Upper East Side/Madison Avenue/Fifth Avenue, so we had to put up blue screens to give the location the necessary depth.” VFX supervisor John Mangia utilized five vendors to accomplish hundreds of CG shots, a mix of full CG environments and set extensions in addition to digital vehicles and crowds. Smolkin’s New York scenes included another ambitious tracking shot. “We did a big 180 that followed an AD walking past a scene everybody remembers from the film,” Smolkin recounts. “We come all the way around to Ruddy and Coppola as the latter calls ‘action.’ He did it by pulling back on rails while tracking the AD, then doing a push-in on our heroes. Throughout it all, we had to keep the sun hidden behind our two-and-ahalf-story backlot buildings to preserve that
“I JUMPED INTO PREP AND SCOUTING, AND SAT IN WITH SAL ON SET. HE INDICATED THAT THE SHOW’S PACE MEANT WE’D BE IN MOTION, BUT THAT WHENEVER WE LANDED, WE WANTED TO SETTLE ON VERY STEADY TABLEAUS.” CO-SERIES DP ELIE SMOLKIN, CSC
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ABOVE/OPPOSITE: OF THE SHOW’S MANY INTERIORS CHIEF LIGHTING TECHNICIAN JOHN VECCHIO SAYS HE LOVES HOW TOTINO EMBRACES NATURAL LIGHT WHEREVER HE FINDS IT. “SAL’S NOT ONE OF THESE DP’S WHO FEELS COMPELLED TO CHANGE THE LOOK OF A THING JUST TO PUT HIS STAMP ON IT,” VECCHIO DESCRIBES.” HIS GUT INSTINCTS ARE SO GOOD, SO HE ONLY AUGMENTS AS NEEDED.”
New York feel. For shooting after the sun had crested, we had two flyswatters on one side of the street and another opposite those that were rigged with silks, so we could knock down the sun from actors or backgrounds.” ARRIMAX and 18K Fresnels were used by each DP to augment location exteriors, while Totino favored a naturalistic look for the many interior offices. “I approach a lot of interiors by lighting from outside,” Totino explains. “That reflects how I live because I don’t have a lot of lights on inside my house during the day and just let the sun in. I used ARRI Studio T12s in the various offices and hotels as I wanted real tungsten bulbs. LED’s can give you the exact color of the real thing, but there’s something about them that doesn’t say ‘genuine tungsten.’ Not that we avoided using LED’s; a lot of the Caravaggio scenes were lit with LED mini Lekos bounced off tables. I let the light wrap, sometimes enhanced slightly with Astera tubes and ARRI S30 SkyPanels, along with a bit of diffusion.” Chief Lighting Technician John Vecchio says he loves how Totino embraces natural light wherever he finds it. “Sal’s not one of
these DP’s who feels compelled to change the look of a thing just to put his stamp on it,” Vecchio describes.” His gut instincts are so good, so he only augments as needed.” Vecchio, having just come off Marvel’s WandaVision [ICG Magazine Februar y/ March 2021], for which he had excavated and scrounged up period lighting from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, was initially thinking those units would work for The Offer. “Once I understood that wouldn’t be part of the equation,” he continues, “I started doing my homework, which included this terrific two-part Gordon Willis interview where he had discussed purposely underexposing half a stop while lighting the way he did, and how the frustration and anger poured forth from execs when they saw early rushes. But he asserted control over the look to ensure it wouldn’t be tampered with.” A large number of scenes take place in Evans’ Paramount office. Exteriors were shot on the lot outside the actual office once occupied by the executive, while interiors were built on stage. Vecchio says they tried to do Evan’s office as a combination of hard and soft light. “For the soft parts we had ARRI 360s coming through the windows,” he adds.
“We also hung a 360 on an I-beam slider so direction could be varied, and there was a 10K as well; we could change the mood quickly to achieve more of a hard sunlit look.” The art department had photographed the area opposite Evans’ office, then created a front-lit backing that showed the grounds as they would have been seen with Evans looking out. “It’s always a challenge to do outside/ inside link-ups that look convincing,” Vecchio concedes. “But after greens came in, fans were used to give them a little motion. Tiny touches like that help when you’re dealing with huge windows.” For Ruddy’s hotel, day and night translights were used. “Due to space limitations, LED ladder lights were the way to go for backlighting the transparencies,” Vecchio continues. “They’re hybrids, so you can make them 3200 tungsten or 5500 daylight. Multiple units on grids above the windows let us choose our parameters quickly, so we could go from a low sun vibe to a much bluer look for different times of the day.” Daytime scenes taking place at author Puzo’s residence used 18Ks externally, augmented by two-foot and four-foot Astera Titan tubes. DoPChoice diffusion bag with Helios tubes also saw substantial duty, owing
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to the soft look and the flexibility to position them without an extension cord. “It was very easy to dance those around on set without worrying about cabling,” Vecchio shares,” and also stage them outside the set. Working with the programmer, each tube had its own number, so if Sal wanted an eyelight for Juno, I could call that into the programmer and tell him to take a specific numbered tube down 200 degrees Kelvin and turn it to fifty percent. In the high ISO world, I like to say that every reflection can be a source. We use any little kick that might not otherwise register, and take advantage of an unexpected warm glow,
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augmenting it with a light dialed down to two or three percent and colored appropriately.” As with every production in the last two years, COVID took a toll on the shooting schedule. “Originally the plan was to shoot Sicily-for-Sicily,” Smolkin recalls. “But then Omicron hit, so we ended up building Sicily in Santa Clarita. We did a crane shot that started down in the dirt and rose way up as a van comes by, and we pushed in to see all these hero characters roll out, almost like a clown car. Making a set-in-70s period piece about
great artists making a set-in-40s period piece had to have been some of the coolest days on set ever; we were all feeling the whole ‘magicof-movies’ thing, and that took it to another level.” Final color grading at Company 3 proved straightforward, with Coleman doing a pass, then sitting with the DP’s to do another that locked in the desired look. “When we started, I had questions about whether we were going to be adding a lot of grain and various other gags,” Coleman describes. “But the decision was made that those weren’t necessary and that a clean, classical look was more in
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY TOTINO (ABOVE WITH GUILD CAMERA CREW ON “GODFATHER” SET) AND SMOLKIN (OPPOSITE PAGE WITH DIRECTOR GWENYTH HORDER-PAYTON) BOTH SAY THE CHANCE TO TAKE PART IN A “CELEBRATION OF CINEMA HISTORY” WAS NOT LOST ON THE OFFER’S PRODUCTION TEAM. “THE IMPACT OF THE GODFATHER MADE THIS PROJECT SPECIAL TO EVERYBODY WORKING ON IT,” SMOLKIN RECOUNTS. “FROM THE PRODUCERS AND THEIR COMMITMENT TO GETTING THINGS RIGHT AND CREATING A GREAT WORKING ATMOSPHERE TO THE ACTORS WHO WERE SUCH JOYS THROUGHOUT.”
keeping with The Godfather itself. There are a lot of variables that can creep in during post, so keeping things simple makes the whole process more manageable.” Coleman worked in Dolby Vision 4.0 HDR, the company’s newest version. “HDR has to be carefully controlled to avoid producing something that doesn’t resemble the original film,” he warns. “It is exciting to create in Dolby, but it’s only just now that filmmakers are shooting with HDR in mind; previously it was always P3 or rec. 709, so there’s still a way to go to get everybody on this new page. About twenty years back, I saw a demonstration for
Dolby that suggested we’d only need to do one finishing pass, and that all other deliverables would emerge from that single Dolby pass. But there’s not a lot of creativity to that approach, and it could push things in the wrong direction unless everything is carefully controlled. We took Dolby into account when devising our LUT, so the highlights would be contained at a certain nit value.” The chance to participate in a celebration of cinema history was not lost on The Offer’s many collaborators. “The impact of The Godfather made this project special to everybody working on it, from the producers
and their commitment to getting things right and creating a great working atmosphere to the actors who were such joys throughout,” Smolkin concludes. “ There was some discovery along the way; for example, the sound boom operator gave me a documentary on Robert Evans, and it was only then I realized the true genius in what Matthew Goode was doing. This show was as much an education as it was a fun thrill ride.” Totino concurs: “I think we all were excited to revisit a classic in this unique way; The Offer was filled with a genuine sense of energy that was flowing off us throughout filming.”
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LOCAL 600 CREW Directors of Photography Salvatore Totino, ASC, ISC Elie Smolkin, CSC A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Kris Krosskove, SOC A-Camera 1st AC Raymond Milazzo A-Camera 2nd AC Kevin Sun B-Camera Operator Roxanne Stephens B-Camera 1st AC Sarah Galley B-Camera 2nd AC Casey Muldoon DIT Francesco Sauta Digital Utility Dante Totino Loader Criss Davis Still Photographer Nicole Wilder 44
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A-CAMERA OPERATOR KRISS KROSSCOVE, SOC, HERE FILMING THE OFFER’S LEAD ACTOR MILES TELLER, SAYS ALL HIS RECENT SHOOTS HAVE BEEN ANAMORPHIC – EVEN THE ONES THAT SCREEN IN 16:9. “THERE ARE LOTS OF REASONS TO CHOOSE ANAMORPHIC, FROM THE FLARES TO THE DISTINCTIVE FALLOFF ON DEPTH OF FIELD,” HE OBSERVES. “BUT THE DEMAND HAS MADE IT TRICKIER TO GET THE LENS MAY SETS 2022 YOU PREFER 45 BECAUSE THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY OF THEM AROUND.”
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FEATURE GASLIT
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COPS & ROBBERS DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY LARKIN SEIPLE GOES ON A “DEEP COVER” ASSIGNMENT TO PORTRAY THE PERSONALITIES AT THE CORE OF AMERICA’S MOST FAMOUS BREAK-IN FOR STARZ’ GASLIT. BY TED ELRICK PHOTOS BY HILARY BRONWYN GAYLE, SMPSP / STARZ
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r guably one of the most seismic events in American politics was the collapse of the presidency of Richard M. Nixon due to the bungled June 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Headquarters, at the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. The reporting that led to the exposé was brilliantly depicted in Alan J. Pakula’s All The President’s Men (1976). That Oscar-winning film was adapted from the book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward and featured photography by Gordon Willis, ASC, that established a virtual template for an entire genre of movies known as “paranoid political thrillers.” And while All the President’s Men reveals how the plot was uncovered, the personalities of the characters involved remained rather elusive and is why Gaslit Showrunner Robbie Pickering (Mr. Robot) felt there was far more of the story left to tell.
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Pickering, who grew up in Texas in a right-wing Evangelical family, says the White House culture created by President Nixon was a locus point for the Conservative movement. Pickering’s Gaslit is a loose adaptation of the first season of a Slate podcast called Slow Burn, but it also draws from several disparate sources – Nightmare by J. Anthony Lukas, Will by G. Gordon Liddy, Martha by Winzola McLendon, Washington Journal by Elizabeth Drew and Nixonland by Rick Perlstein – who served as a consultant on Gaslit. “I always wanted to do a show about the people and the culture around that president, particularly after reading Nixonland,” Pickering explains. “But no one was interested in doing a show. Then I got my Mr. Robot boss, Sam Esmail, listening to the podcast Slow Burn, and Sam said, ‘Let’s make a show about this.’” (Esmail serves as an executive producer on Gaslit.) “I didn’t live through this period,” Pickering continues. “Most of my views come from Oliver Stone movies and films like All the President’s Men. And while I love those movies, I feel they portray the time as a bit black and white – great heroes like Woodward and Bernstein, and evil villains like
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Richard Nixon; there’s not much in between.” (Martha Mitchell was the first person in Nixon’s inner circle to express, publicly, fears of the President’s direct involvement in the Watergate break-in.) Pickering compares those Watergate-era films to a book like Nightmare, written right after Watergate, “that feels very present because the people are not as big and are more human and grounded. I wanted to bring some of that complexity to this story,” he adds. “The mythic quality given to the period tricks people into thinking it was a once-ina-lifetime event, rather than something very human; the propensity for the complicity for these horrible things lies within each of us.” An eight-part series on STARZ, Gaslit is directed by Matt Ross (Captain Fantastic, Silicon Valley) with Sundance perennial and music video veteran Larkin Seiple (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Luce, Spider-Man: Far From Home) serving as director of photography. Among the series stars are Sean Penn as former Attorney John Mitchell; Julia Roberts as his wife, Martha; Dan Stevens as John Dean; Betty Gilpin as Maureen “Mo” Dean; and Shea Whigham as G. Gordon Liddy. Although nearly the entire story takes place in Washington, D.C., Seiple
says roughly 60 percent of the show was shot on soundstages at Universal Studios. “Our key locations for all the main characters were sets that (Production Designer) Daniel Novotny built,” Seiple shares. “We were working on three or four of the stages there, and we would hopscotch depending on the day of the week. “Dan built everything, even a two-story penthouse for Martha Mitchell with a massive backdrop of Washington, D.C. and the Potomac River,” Seiple continues. “We had game show sets [to recreate moments on The Mike Douglas Show and Garry Moore’s hosting of To Tell the Truth], and the Executive Office Building, where all the lawyers who worked for the White House were based. We even built the West Wing and the Oval Office. I hadn’t done that many sets before, so it was a fun challenge to make it all feel authentic.” Novotny (Outer Banks, Gotham, The Arrangement) says that even though the 1970s weren’t that long ago, it was tricky finding the necessary elements to help the sets ring true. “We were restricted to filming in L.A., and most of the time on Universal Studios property,” he recounts of the COVIDsafe shoot. “Even if we had been able to go to D.C. and shut down streets, it takes so much
ABOVE/OPPOSITE: DIRECTOR ROSS TOLD SEIPLE HE DIDN’T WANT GASLIT TO LOOK LIKE THEY “RIPPED IT OUT OF THE 70S.” “IF WE DID THAT, WE WOULD MAYBE SHOOT ON 16 MILLIMETER AND MAKE IT GRITTY,” SEIPLE STATES. “THE GOAL WAS TO FIND A BALANCE BETWEEN WHAT’S MODERN AND WHAT’S A TRIBUTE.”
work to make them look like the 1970s. There are LED streetlights, the cars are incorrect, everything’s modernized. I think we did a decent job of finding sections of Los Angeles that told that story. “Even in D.C.’s poorer neighborhoods, in the 70s, there was no graffiti,” Novotny continues. “There were boarded-up windows, but the crack epidemic hadn’t yet hit. For the upper-class, it wasn’t that fancy compared to our standards today. We did a lot of research on things like what would a closet look like in a penthouse apartment – and nobody had walk-in closets! They had Formica shelving, the doors, everything was what we would consider to be pretty cheap, but at that time it was high-end. It was the age of plastics.” In fact, high-end kitchens from the era had basic beige or yellow Formica countertops. “ We had to capture this period that was outdated, but still elegant,” Novotny adds. “So, you’re at an upper-class conservative Republican barbecue in the 70s and what are they serving? Hot dogs and those Jell-O molds with little marshmallows! There was glitter in the toilet seats and countertops. You can’t just go to Home Depot to buy these mustard yellow tiles because
nobody buys them now. So, we had to have everything custom-made. Wallpaper, paint, all those finishes had to be fabricated because there’s no market for that stuff.” For driving sequences occurring in D.C., rural Maryland, and Virginia, the production turned to DrivingPlates.com, which offers a vast library of period and current backgrounds. The DrivingPlates.com footage was fed to four large LED screens (driver and passenger side, front and rear of the set car), allowing the actors to react with each other and with the road. According to Chief Lighting Technician Matthew Ardine, the LED screens had an additional benefit. “We designed the screens so that not only were they on camera, they were also lighting the talent and reflections in the car,” explains Ardine, who met Seiple at Boston’s Emerson College, and gave the DP his very first job pulling cable. “At any time during a car shot, with four screens, only about ten percent of the screens are on camera. So, we’re using the other ninety percent of lighting surfaces to provide reflections and to light the actors in the car. We were able to hook those up to
a media server, which was attached to the lighting console, and dial-in different chunks of the screens as if they were lighting fixtures.” A- Camera/Steadicam Operator Brian Freesh also has a rich history with Seiple, the pair having worked together for more than six years on commercials and music videos, including This Is America, where Freesh had to execute a series of long Steadicam shots. Seiple describes Freesh as “beyond talented. It feels like a dolly when Brian is operating. He has amazing instincts and [he knows] how to move with actors and make it feel like the camera’s not moving.” Freesh cites several memorable sequences, many involving reflections of Julia Roberts’ Martha, such as in the pilot episode where her daughter is reading and Martha’s at the vanity, or later a huge fight between John and Martha Mitchell that took an entire day to shoot. That scene began on the second floor of the couple’s penthouse and moved down to the ground floor. One shot that particularly stands out “begins in a wide shot of the empty penthouse, the dark kitchen in the foreground, while Martha arrives home in the background,” Freesh describes. “ The blocking brings
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Martha closer to camera, and she notices somebody’s on the phone line. In the dark she quietly picks up the receiver to listen in, and we start a slow and subtle push that ends in a dramatic close-up. It’s not flashy, it’s just classic and elegant visual storytelling, where you let things play in a single shot. I think we did have one piece of coverage for safety, but it works as a oner. By not cutting away, you raise the curiosity, they want to lean in to get closer, and then the camera does just that.” C-Camera Operator/2nd Unit DP Mario Contini spent a quick four days in D.C. to get plate shots, and notes that, “of the many buildings we had to capture, photographing the White House from the ground level proved to be a bit of a challenge,” he reflects. “A tall wrought iron fence now surrounds the building, and on the day we were scheduled to shoot, a rally of a few hundred people took place! Second Unit Director/VFX Supervisor Chad Peters had the idea to tile the shot so we could remove the fence and people in post. This was done by repositioning the camera to the left and right of center in three-foot increments and rolling long takes until we had useable “clean” areas of the frame when the crowd dissipated that could be stitched
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together into a final comp.” Seiple used the ALEXA Mini “with a plethora of lenses,” according to 1st AC Matthew Sanderson, “primarily Cooke Speed Panchros and Zeiss Super Speeds for the majority of the show,” Sanderson shares. “The older glass we used the most was the Panchros, which have a unique characteristic with edge falloff. We were looking at a little more of the lens than was intended for the Super 35 glass by shooting 3.2K, and the edges would fall off. You had to pull by eye most of the time. As actors crossed from the edge of the frame to the middle, I’d be pulling backward or maybe not pulling as much. I had to know where [the actors] were in the frame and have an idea of how that related to the type of lens we were using.” Other lenses used included Canon K-35, Canon 200 mm, Cooke Cinetal 10X (paired with Veydra 1.2 expander), Cooke Cinetal 5X, and Angénieux 12X (28-340). Some glass that dayplayed included TLS Bausch & Lomb Super Baltar (used for Martha’s POV waking up after being drugged); MiniHawk; Atlas Orion; Tribe BlackWing; Zeiss Supreme; Innovision Probe; Laowa 24mm Probe; Laowa 12mm; ARRI Master 12 and 14; Leica Summilux 16 and
18; Claremont 1000mm (for a shot of Martha standing on a D.C. curb watching traffic); Angénieux 19.5-94, 16mm HR and 12XFF; and a Canon K-35 Macro Zoom; along with Canon TV lenses on a period Ikegami camera for TV game-show sequences. DIT Matt Conrad notes the inherent challenges of such a mixed bag of glass. “The vintage lenses had a lot of different color shifts and contrast,” Conrad explains. “So, we had to make sure it wouldn’t be distracting or that it would fit for scene-toscene color matching and contrast matching. I was doing the live grading on set, and consistency was the biggest challenge. You start the show with a certain look, and then over time that evolves, and you have to go back. We were cross-boarding the entire show. I think it wasn’t until close to the last three weeks of the shoot that we had an entire episode completed. Every week was critical to completing all the episodes just by the way it was broken up. It was a fun challenge.” Conrad’s on-set toolbox included Pomfort Livegrade Pro for color and Silverstack XT for data management. A film grain and halation pass was applied during dailies and editorial offlines with the plug-in Filmbox. (DIT Earl
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DIRECTOR MATT ROSS (BOTTOM IMAGE) DESCRIBES DP LARKIN SEIPLE (TOP AT MONITOR) AS “MY PRIMARY COLLABORATOR WITH WHOM I DISCUSSED EVERY ELEMENT OF THE PRODUCTION.” ROSS, WHO HAD NEVER SHOT WITH MULTIPLE CAMERAS SAYS LARKIN’S ABILITY TO FIND POWERFUL IMAGERY USING ALL THREE CAMERAS WAS “INDICATIVE OF HIS DEPTH AND TALENT AS A FILMMAKER.”
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Fulcher came out and helped Conrad, who left for a few weeks on new-baby leave.) Seiple says he and Ross worked closely in prep to determine the show’s look. “I asked Matt, ‘What do you want it to look like?’ and he said, ‘I want it to look bold.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘That’s something we’re going to find out on set. It has to look like it was a choice,’” recalls Seiple, who adds that they began aiming for a bigger contrast ratio without heavy lighting. “We opted to not light everything and let scenes play out.” Ross made it clear to his DP he didn’t want Gaslit to look like they “ripped it out of the 70s.” “If we did that, we would maybe shoot on 16 millimeter and make it gritty,” Seiple adds. “But the goal was to find a balance between what’s modern and what’s a tribute.” “You look at these films,” Ross explains, “and there wasn’t a lot of information, meaning they weren’t lighting street after street in the background. I wanted to use more modern film grammar and language with a 1970s look. Ultimately we did end up doing far more zooms than I imagined. We’d try the shot on a dolly, then zoom it, and I’d like the energy of the zoom more.” Ross also said they looked at the reality of 101 days of shooting, some 400 scenes shooting 5 to 6 scenes a day. “At one point Larkin and I looked at each other and realized that we’re basically shooting five indie movies in a row without a break,” he laughs. “It’s very difficult to have the same rigor that you have when you’re making a
two-hour movie with 100 pages. So, I’m pretty happy with what we did.” Seiple said they embraced a Super 35mm look with older lenses and filters as well as a post-process to age the image and give it a bit of an edge. “All the President’s Men is one of the best films ever made in terms of execution,” Seiple observes. “The approach to visual storytelling and editing as well. Our challenge was also to embrace minimalism with more modern techniques – building tension was certainly a touchstone.” Gaslit was shot with three cameras – something Seiple and Ross have never done before. “We found that the actors were so funny, and so on fire, that we had to crossshoot as much as possible,” Seiple remembers. “That meant always two cameras and usually a third angle at the same time so we could let the actors explore the scene and play off each other as well.” While Gaslit is built on personal dynamics between the different high-power characters, the Watergate break-in (Episode 2) was a key action sequence. It covers that famous event from multiple perspectives – the security guard’s to the burglars’. Finding a suitable stand-in for the iconic Watergate building in Los Angeles led the team to L.A. Center Studios, which, according to Seiple, had the right architecture. “It had an open window plan that worked for the break-in sequence, and we were able to find specific angles,” he recalls. “We could even use an industrial crane and a floating remote head camera outside the building
to span across the windows and watch the burglars enter. “There were many tiny details we had to play with,” he continues. “Like the infamous tape on the door that the security guard discovers the second time and calls the police. The whole scene we tried to keep minimal and lit mainly with flashlights opting for brighter bulbs, letting the flashlights kind of create images of the criminals against the walls.” Pickering says he wasn’t chasing a “Wikipedia rundown of events. I was interested in the emotionality of the characters,” he concludes. “So, I really plotted it out as to these two parallel relationships. Martha’s marriage to John was destroyed, while John Dean and Mo Dean became a lifelong couple – both of those arcs are made very clear in this story.” “On working with Seiple, Ross describes: “I could say so many complimentary things about Larkin. He was, for me, more than a DP. He was my primary collaborator with whom I discussed every element of the production. But among his many, many filmmaking contributions, the one thing that stands out is that I have never shot with two or three cameras before and felt like we had three great shots. Obviously, the reason so many people insist on one camera is that you’re guaranteeing you have the proper shot, and you’re not having one good shot and one compromised shot. I was honestly shocked at Larkin’s ability to find complementary and powerful imagery using all three cameras. It was incredible and indicative of his depth and talent as a filmmaker.”
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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography Larkin Seiple A-Camera Operator/Steadicam Brian Freesh, SOC A-Camera 1st AC Matt Sanderson A-Camera 2nd AC Jonathan Dec B-Camera Operator Jessica Lakoff Cannon B-Camera 1st AC Nicole Crivlare B-Camera 2nd AC Bianca Garcia C-Camera Operator/2nd Unit DP Mario Contini C-Camera Operator David Speck C-Camera 1st ACs Evan Wilhelm Tiffany Nathanson C-Camera 2nd AC Erin Endow Ryan Monelli Utility Raul Perez DITs Matt Conrad Earl Fulcher Still Photographer Hillary Bronwyn Gayle, SMPSP Publicist James Ferrera 58
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FEATURE
WE OWN THIS CITY
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SHADESOF 62
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FGRAY
YARON ORBACH “KEEPS IT REAL” FOR THE NEW HBO DRAMA WE OWN THIS CITY, CHARTING CORRUPTION IN THE BALTIMORE P.D. BY MATT HURWITZ PHOTOS BY PAUL SCHIRALDI / HBO
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F
o r HBO’s new limited series, We Own This City, Guild Director of Photography Yaron Orbach wants to make sure we, the audience, are immersed in the story. That’s why whenever there’s a scene with protagonist Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal), bad to the bone as he is, Orbach says, “We need to see the world through his eyes.”
David Simon and George Pelecanos’ latest TV drama portrays the corruption that coursed through the Baltimore Police Department in the 2000s thru 2017. And as the show is centered on the activities of the Gun Trace Task Force, run by Jenkins, along with day-to-day abuses by many everyday officers, we’re either with the corrupt Jenkins as he abuses arrestees and steals his way to prison or we’re watching through the eyes of the people who lived through the mayhem caused by Jenkins and other bad cops. As Orbach shares: “No matter which perspective, we defer to real life.” Orbach, who also shot Seasons 2 and 3 of Simon and Pelecanos’ The Deuce [ICG Magazine September 2017], joined director Reinaldo Marcus Green, whose Oscarwinning feature King Richard [ICG Magazine November 2021], and production designer Valeria De Felice for the six-episode limited series, which was filmed on location in Baltimore, with stage work done at a converted warehouse. Joining Orbach was his regular New York team, including A-Camera/Steadicam Operator Philip J. Martinez, SOC; B-Camera Operator Lucas Owen; A-Camera 1st AC Waris Supanpong and Chief Lighting Technician Shawn Greene. To support Baltimore Local
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Photo by Hopper Stone, SMPSP / Apple TV+
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600 members, Orbach swapped his usual B-Camera focus puller for 1st AC Ian Axilrod, along with other Baltimore locals. With no DIT onboard, Orbach set exposure from a wireless T-stop device at his monitor, and employed a pair of ARRI ALEXA Minis, which he had first used on The Deuce. For prime lenses, he favored the Cooke S4s, while Green liked Panavision’s PVintage Primos (which he used on King Richard), so both were used (typically on Steadicam), with the PVintages put to work on tight and wide shots and the Cookes for mid-range. A great percentage of the show was also shot on Angénieux’s Optimo 24-290-mm zoom, with the camera stationary on a dolly. Besides taking advantage of the lens simply as a variable prime, Orbach and Green utilized it “as a way to slowly get into moments,” as Orbach describes, sometimes going the full length of the zoom’s range. “I love when you don’t know if it’s a zoom, and you don’t know if it’s a dolly,” Green adds. “It mixes the language of dolly and tracking very well.” “Yaron brings over a documentary style, and Rei really likes a frame,” shares
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Supanpong. “So, instead of moving the camera on the dolly, they did it via zooms. It’s different from moving a dolly from Point A to Point B. When you’re moving the camera in physical space, the background changes and has a different feel than if you were zooming in.” It’s a look rooted in 1970s-style films like The Conversation, The French Connection and Serpico, where, Orbach explains, “there’s suspense within the frame.” One thing Orbach and Green did not want was a typical cop-show look that now often includes a lot of handheld (courtesy of HBO’s ground-breaking Baltimore-based show, The Wire, which debuted in 2002). “We didn’t want to have to use this hectic handheld to heighten the drama,” Orbach shares. “We tried to find something that would give it a different feel – and also differentiate it from The Wire.” The main component of Orbach’s cinematography is to portray environments as they would appear to the characters in real life. “Yaron’s not about artifice in cinema,” notes Owen. “He’s about showing up to a place as it
exists and trying to live within that space.” Or as Orbach describes: “I’m not a DP who does glossy, layered looks, or magical, whimsical – that’s just not me. I’m more based in reality.” And, whenever permission was granted, many of the locations used were those in which the incidents depicted in the show took place. Green says about 40 percent of the locations used are the real deal. “We tried to be specific, to honor the actual locations and what happened,” he adds. Locations Orbach lit with his trademark combination of natural backlighting and practicals. “Yaron works with natural light, which is best,” the director continues. “I think the saying is: ‘God is your best gaffer.’” Orbach worked closely with De Felice, the two blocking with Green to best make use of light coming in windows (which Shawn Greene would supplement if needed). The rest of the set is lit with practicals sourced by De Felice’s set decorator, Paige Mitchell, who keeps an ample collection on the truck for availability. “I work very closely with Valeria and Shawn,” Orbach explains, to strategically place lamps in desired locations to work as
keys or fills and placed on dimmers. Working with De Felice, the two created a floor plan of the set. “We’re already logistically placing where windows are and where practicals are before we even get to set,” the designer says. “Then,” adds Orbach, “when we block a scene, my approach is to move the camera where it’s best positioned to capture the best light for the actors, as opposed to moving the lights. I put the camera on this side of the key light, versus moving the key light because we already have the blocking. I just light the way it is, and you can shoot all around, and then you can tweak as you go.” Observes the director: “Those moments are what feel the most natural, without feeling like you’re watching a documentary. Yaron achieves that balance so well.” Two key sets built on stage saw extensive use – the Interview Room and Conference Room – inspired by the architecture of Baltimore’s U.S. District Courthouse at West Lombard Street. For the Interview Room, De Felice created enough space for two cameras,
while still maintaining a claustrophobic feeling. It was lit with a single practical fluorescent fixture, which Shawn Greene and his team outfitted with a pair of Astera tubes to allow easy color adjustment. Both Martinez and Owen shot the interview scenes on a dolly, using the Angénieux, and often performing the slow zooms that Orbach and Green wanted. “It’s a gray room with four walls,” says Owen, “so your options get limited very quickly in how to make it interesting. It’s also a significant portion of the script.” Zooms would start wide and eventually zero-in on the expression of the interviewee, as he recalls an incident. “It’s then that we go extreme close-up,” Green reveals. “Not everything requires a close-up. Because then it dilutes the moment.” There are also countless offices for different police agencies and departments, covering eras anywhere from 2003 to 2017, which could easily confuse audiences where and when they’re watching. “From the beginning,” De Felice reveals, “we thought a good way to help the audience orient themselves was color coding.” Specific color
palettes are used only in each of the agencies’ offices – a green palette for Baltimore County, greys and blues and high contrast for Baltimore City, browns for Hartford County, etc. Those all have natural appearances. “Everything I designed was based on very thorough research,” De Felice adds. “We visited and documented Baltimore Police Headquarters, precincts, courthouses, and my entire department was in touch with our incredible police consultant, Detective Dre Severino, at all times. The challenge was keeping it real and yet cinematic.” DI colorist Jack Lewars, with PostWorks NY, says adding different types of grain in post helped define the different eras. “In the earlier part of the story, in 2003,” Lewars explains, “when Jenkins is young, there’s more grain, and the image is a little fogged and has a very pastel feeling, like 16-millimeter color. And as we make our way to 2017, the grain is much finer and tighter, and we see less of it, like 35-millimeter fine grain.” Police “run sheets,” as well as chyron stamps on surveillance footage, also helped to identify timeframe. There are also numerous raid scenes
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throughout, with Jenkins leading his team into crack houses and other locations. For these, De Felice would build in practicals and lamps “wherever I thought would make the most sense,” she says. Adds Shawn Greene: “The art department always had a few others on standby, and if there was a dark corner, I could just throw a practical in, tip it over, and color it up.” A big part of the show’s visual language is following Jenkins or Sean Suiter (Jamie Hector) into the raids. “That was something Rei and I came up with,” explains Orbach. “We always walk into a scene with the Steadicam either leading or following them,” taking full advantage of Martinez’s skills and his love for such photography. Orbach and Green’s fluid shooting style allowed actors like Bernthal tremendous freedom, often shifting from take to take without notice to Martinez or Supanpong. That’s in addition to the fact that Orbach never uses marks.
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“I don’t stage and rehearse it with the second team,” he notes. “I rehearse with the actors and shoot it, as I don’t want to constrict actors with marks. You get so much more magic if you let things flow and go and find things. And Phil, Luke and Waris have worked with me long enough to be very confident to adapt.” There is very little formal rehearsal, just Green doing blocking with his cast, which Martinez and Owen observe. “We’ll map it out and talk about it, but then we roll camera right away,” adds Martinez. “We always joke ‘Take 0’ on the slate! Because what if we get something amazing in that first rehearsal take, and we weren’t rolling?” Without marks, much is dependent on Martinez and Supanpong’s silent chemistry, developed over years of working together. “Waris just keeps it in focus – we hardly talk about anything that’s going to happen,” Martinez smiles. “And he has such a good eye – he can almost tell when I’m about to move. I don’t bat an eyelash about changing something in the middle, to grab something
new that’s happening.” Sometimes it’s Supanpong’s focus intuitions that drive the shot. “I’m going off of people’s looks,” he explains. “If we’re behind Jon Bernthal, and I see a look I know and give it a half a beat, then Phil’s going to start to go with the look. As a focus puller, I can just go with what I’m looking at and react. And Phil is keen enough to know that if he starts hearing the motors going, he’ll go for it because he knows it’s probably important.” “When push comes to shove,” Martinez continues, “when the actors go somewhere, they have to stay in frame, and in those raid scenes, it’s more about the shapes of the people in my frame than the corners [of the frame] as you’d do for something that’s more aesthetically composed. The only thing that mattered – when we moved into those spaces – was that I’m a moving person, and I’m going to see everything.” Working with an actor like Bernthal makes the operator’s job easier, as that actor has a constant awareness of the camera. “Jon’s hyper-aware of where the
THIS PAGE/OPPOSITE: ORBACH WORKED CLOSELY WITH PRODUCTION DESIGNER VALERIA DE FELICE, TO CREATE A FLOOR PLAN OF THE SET. “THAT WAY, WE’RE ALREADY LOGISTICALLY PLACING WHERE WINDOWS ARE AND WHERE PRACTICALS ARE BEFORE WE EVEN GET TO SET,” THE DESIGNER SAYS.
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Photo by Eli Joshua Ade / Apple TV+
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“YARON’S NOT ABOUT ARTIFICE IN CINEMA. HE’S ABOUT SHOWING UP TO A PLACE AS IT EXISTS AND TRYING TO LIVE WITHIN THAT SPACE.” B-CAMERA OPERATOR LUCAS OWEN
camera is, what lenses we’re using, and the camera movement,” describes Green. Adds Supanpong: “Even when we were using two cameras, Jon kept his performance within the frame. And it was very different each take – but it was always for the cameras. He always understood where his face was – even though the frame is changing, with the zooms, he always kept it within that space. We never had to tell him.” B-Camera was not used traditionally in such setups. “Yaron doesn’t like to squeeze me in alongside a Steadicam,” Owen explains. Instead, particularly on a multi-level rowhouse set, “I’ll be upstairs, lying in wait, in a room. So, Phil would cover the entrance and the action on the first floor, and I’m waiting upstairs to continue the action, either handheld or on a dolly. That way, the action can unfold in one take for the actors, and they don’t have to necessarily play to the camera, as would be the case with a traditional setup. They can just go in as if they’re raiding a house.” The practice of following an actor along his performance is put to great use in Episode 4 for a recreated uprising in downtown Baltimore in
2015, following the death of Freddie Gray after his arrest by Baltimore police. Several locations – the actual locations at which the uprising scenes took place – were used, including outside Mondawmin Mall, where it began, and Penn North, where the CVS was burned and a large standoff between protestors and police occurred the morning after. For both the Mondawmin and Penn North scenes, three cameras were used, adding in Baltimore-based operator Sheila Smith and 1st AC Alex Guckert. Owen’s B-Camera was set up on a 50-foot Technocrane on a Taurus base at Penn North (to allow it to maneuver within the crowd) and at Mondawmin, using an Aero Jib with a Talon head, shooting with a 15-40 Angénieux zoom in both instances. At Mondawmin, Jenkins arrives with a van full of riot gear for his fellow officers and pushes his way through the crowd to join them on the front line. Right behind Bernthal, of course, was Martinez on Steadicam. “That’s one of the reasons why I so enjoy working with Yaron,” the operator states. “I like being in there with all of these characters around you. It’s as if you’re experiencing the moment with them.” After Martinez completed several Steadicam passes with Bernthal (while
B and C cameras picked up other views), Owen captured Bernthal’s pass through the crowd without Martinez present. The several hundred background actors included both residents and police who were there in 2015, including several photographers who Supanpong spoke with – and made sure to pull to when they were in the shot, to honor their presence. “It was an emotionally charged day for everybody on set,” Green remembers. “We reached out to community liaisons, people that were there on the day, as we wanted a very accurate portrayal.” The portrayal was, in fact, so accurate that one resident – seeing the activity at Mondawmin Mall – got in the fray, thinking a new incident had occurred. “He thought we were really protesting,” Green concludes. “He got on set and was in our actors’ faces. It was scary that someone could get that close to our talent. Nobody got hurt, thankfully, but it was also a testament to how real it must have felt, that they didn’t know we were making a movie. On the flip side, it was inspiring to know we were making something that felt so authentic to the people of Baltimore. Hopefully those watching the show will feel the same.”
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LOCAL 600 CREW Director of Photography Yaron Orbach A-Camera Operator Philip J. Martinez, SOC A-Camera 1st AC Waris Supanpong A-Camera 2nd AC Randy Schwartz B-Camera Operator Lucas Owen B-Camera 1st AC Ian Axilrod B-Camera 2nd AC Jason Hochrein Loaders Tyra Forbesr Masha Pavlova Still Photographer Paul Schiraldi
ADDITIONAL CAMERA TEAM (Uprising shoot days) C-Camera Operator Sheila Smith C-Camera 1st AC Alex Guckert C-Camera 2nd AC Andy Kuester 72
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2022 BRADEN SHOOTING BREAKTHROUGH, 74HAGGERTYMAY WINNIPEG, MANITOBA (2018)
WATER MEET SOME OF THE INDUSTRY’S BEST AQUATIC FILMERS, EVER EAGER TO PLUMB THE DEPTHS OF A BEAUTIFUL (AND DANGEROUS) BLUE-GREEN UNIVERSE. BY PAULINE ROGERS PHOTOS COURTESY OF
WORLD THE MEMBERS
IAN SEABROOK IN THE CHANNEL ISLANDS
Water. It has a magnetic pull. Some people have to live near it. Some are deathly afraid of it. But everyone is fascinated by its natural power and beauty. And no matter the project, the lure of this uncontrollable world lends something exciting to any story. But capturing underwater images, in any body of water, requires unique and singular talent. The camera operator has to be in top physical shape, of course, but they also have to be fearless and creative in an environment that is unpredictable at best. To learn more about this specialized craft, ICG Magazine reached out to several top underwater specialists to hear about the risks (and rewards) of this watery world.
Ian Seabrook, SOC, CSC (The Rescue, Finch, Jungle Cruise) entered the industry as an unpaid intern. Then, with a longtime practice in underwater stills photography, he called one of the industry’s most acclaimed water shooters, Pete Romano, ASC, and the company he founded: Hydroflex. Romano, who saw Seabrook’s natural gifts for the genre, eventually brought him in to assist on films like Insomnia and Nestle Water. As Seabrook, whose work on the critically acclaimed documentary The Rescue set new boundaries for underwater capture, describes: “Narrative [feature] work can differ from television regarding the content, script and time frame allotted to tell the story. Television, historically, has had less
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time and money to be able to achieve the scale of the work of a feature, although this has evolved to the point where some television or streaming projects have similar budgets. And I love that work.” Years ago, Seabrook recounts, “I worked on a dolphin documentary, which explored the spiritual connection between dolphins and humans,” he continues. “Unfortunately, the director/producer hadn’t researched the subject fully, and due to the lack of preparation, we had to resort to hitching rides with different charters in The Bahamas and Bimini. To get the shots we needed, during one shoot day, I asked the captain to drop me off, alone, in the middle of the ocean, and motioned for the boat to depart, so the engines would not prevent the dolphins from interacting. Once alone, I rolled the Super 16-millimeter camera in short, concise bursts so that the sound of the motor whirling would attract the dolphins. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by a pod! I captured some wonderful footage of the dolphins in their natural environment.” Narrative work also fascinates Seabrook and challenges him to think quickly. For M. Night Shyamalan’s Old, Seabrook’s task was to capture two characters having to escape the island they were trapped on through a coral reef tunnel. The stars had to swim through 60 feet of continuous tunnel sets at Pinewood Studios in the Dominican Republic. “While there were escape [route] holes and air pockets built into the set, and successive takes had been
completed, during one particular take an actor got disoriented and missed the escape hole,” Seabrook recalls. “Still shooting, I reached up, grabbed him and pulled him towards the escape hole directly behind me, guiding him to the air pocket. “After some gasps, he regained his composure,” Seabrook adds, “and, making sure he was okay, I told the 1st AD that some reorientation was in order. I got him a mask and air source, and we went back into the tunnels, ran drills, and then removed the air source and then the mask. Safety of the talent in the water is always of paramount importance; and as the first line of defense, it is part of the job to make that happen.”
David McDonald (The Outer Banks, American Horror Story, Lone Star 911) made his connection with all things water – and the entertainment industry – through living in Hawaii, a love of surfing and editing casting tapes. He became a film loader for a commercial house and joined Local 600, rising up through the ranks. “The Phantom tech I had been working with asked if I had ever shot underwater,” says McDonald, who wrote a loving [ICG Magazine March 2015] tribute to veteran water shooter Sonny Miller. “And I said ‘yes.’ So, we prepped a Phantom package in an underwater housing for a surf commercial. When we showed up at the location, the tide and wave heights differed from when the land DP and director had scouted. I had a wetsuit. By the end
TOP: IAN SEABROOK ON AN IMAX SHOOT IN THE POLAR SEA BOTTOM (THIS PAGE AND PAGE 78 TOP): DAVID MACDONALD SHOOTING AMERICAN HORROR STORIES S10 PROMOS ON WARNER BROS. STAGE.
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BRADEN HAGGERTY WITH HER “FLOATING CAMERA” ON SEASON 3 OF SIREN, VANCOUVER. B.C. (2019)
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“ OVERHEAD LIGHT BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 10 A.M. AND 2 P.M. IS OFTEN UGLY ABOVE WATER, BUT IT CAN WORK WELL UNDERWATER, ESPECIALLY IF YOU WANT A SUNBEAM OF THE ‘GOD RAY’ EFFECT.” JAMIE ALAC, SOC
IAN SEABROOK SHOOTING IN TAHITI FOR BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE
of the day of shooting, I had found my niche.” Today, McDonald employs the “Yellow Box” on major features and commercials, using his custom UW housing, often with ALEXA Mini, RED DSMC2, and RED Komodo and prime lenses. “For an upcoming feature with a major star, we had to shoot some open ocean sequences with shore-break night exteriors,” he explains. “It was a military training exercise. So the Yellow Box was the right housing with ALEXA Mini and ARRI Primes. “Waves and tide in the Pacific Ocean change the distance to shore, and the current,” he adds. With these environments, McDonald pulls his own focus in low-light night conditions. “In this surf shoot, the director, DP, talent, and I discussed the shot. After that, I would swim out and get the shot, then come back to shore and open the housing plug-in for playback and review. I was lucky to have Local 600 DP Evans Brown in the water with me. He was impressively robust and lasted all night in the cold water, with me looking over my shoulder at the monitor. So, again, with collaboration, anything is doable – it’s always a team effort.” McDonald recently had an interesting challenge – a commercial for Netflix’s hit series American Horror Story, Season 10. “It was daytime on stage at Warner Bros,” he recounts. “That’s right, underwater on a stage! The theme was a two-part double feature – Vampires/Aliens. A three-day shoot with lots of action and camera toys on two stages with
two DP’s and four camera crews. My team was DP Chris J. Robertson, with underwater camera support from 1st AC Erin Zingale and 2nd AC Russell Miller. The logistics were to shoot all sequences in a 4-foot-deep, 20 foot diamater above-ground pool. Sequences required in our storyboards were 12-foot fake plastic shark teeth with push-in closeups of Vampire Bro and Alien Bro. In addition, we had various B-roll of bubbles, light ray elements, and anything else we could think up or get the agency to approve. I enjoy the free flow of this kind of work – especially when you have people who are open for coverage and options.” Occasionally, McDonald adds, coverage can go in the opposite direction. “It’s my position as a skilled waterman/cameraman to interrupt what is and is not possible based on simple physics and ocean conditions,” he notes. “Like for a recent sports drink commercial for DripDrop that required shots of a female underwater welder in open ocean in the Santa Barbara area. Production had land cameras and coverage of the nearby coastline and had scouted their spot to shoot. For my spot, I requested a rock or reef bed and kelp forest options if possible. “What I got was a kelp forest on sandbar with extremely low visibility,” he continues, “and a 4-to6-foot swell surge. The director wanted a wide establishing shot, yet the poor underwater visibility made that limited. I shot many different close-up variations on the first underwater pass, with the
saving grace being the orange light pops from the underwater fire. I cued my underwater welder to perform short on/off blasts with the torch followed by Morse code-type blasts, via hand signals that we had earlier established topside. After we surfaced, I talked to the director and DP and explained the water dynamics with the swell surge and visibility issue, and the problem was solved. They loved the tight shots.”
Braden Haggerty is a unique addition to this mix. The Vancouver, Canada-based Local 669 member trained as both an underwater and surface camera assistant before working as an underwater operator for Robert McLachlan, ASC, on Millennium. She was also fortunate to meet Pete Romano early on in her career. He has been a mentor and go-to source when she has a question – and, of course, the supplier of her favorite housing through Romano’s company, Hydroflex. Haggerty is upfront about being a woman in this specialty. “We might be a little more hesitant to wing it,” she muses. “We want to be sure we know what we are doing before we take a job. But, being in a specialty, I earned a lot of respect early on as most directors and DP’s have never done underwater. They are completely relying on you to answer a lot of their questions. Although I’ve always had that respect, even if I was new to the job; now, I head out knowing exactly what I want to do and how to do it, which is
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UNDERWATER FOCUS PULLER PETER MANNO
respect that goes with experience.” An early job that Haggerty calls “fun” was with Daryn Okada, ASC, on Lake Placid. She started as the assistant, but then the main underwater DP couldn’t finish, and she got the upgrade. “The biggest challenge was working with a less than perfect underwater housing [not Hydroflex] that was hard to see an image through, and the snapping turtle that I was told could tear your arm off – so careful does it,” she recounts.
story is about, and if we can see them, it’s beautiful. “In Pachinko, we were able to build something deep but have a raised section that the actress, who was nine years old, could reach,” she continues. “The art department showed me references to the Korean sea. In one of them, I noticed a deeper ocean bottom but a large rock that brought that bottom up higher. The art department went with that, and it was stunning. “The next challenge,” she continues, “was
a ferro-cement shipwreck out on the Great Bahama Bank, and our camera platform was a dive boat called the Ocean Explorer. Working with Pete and waterman James York sold me. It was about coordination in the positioning of the Ocean Explorer with multiple anchors over the set, the running and placement of lights in open water, the choreography of the action, and the preparation of camera gear and people in an uncontrolled environment.” The partnership with Zuccarini stuck, as Manno
Now an underwater veteran, Haggerty has weathered changes. “I think the biggest thing is digital,” she adds, “as you know exactly what you’ve got. Before, it was hard to gauge focus and exposure with everything always moving and no references. You don’t have the same marking abilities like on a surface set. Same with exposure. Now the DP can see exactly what is happening with exposure and focus instantly, which has made a complicated process much easier in many ways. Haggerty’s most recent job on Apple TV +’s Pachinko (lensed by Florian Hoffmeister, BSC) required her to figure out how to get a young actress to swim to the bottom of the ocean. “Sometimes the biggest challenges are how to build something that is accessible for the talent,” she explains. “I feel very strongly about creating an underwater world where we can work with the actual actors. This is what a
training a nine-year-old girl with very little water experience to do the shot in one night. I have a colleague who has done miracles with talent of all ages, and she got the young actress – who did not speak English – to swim across the tank, do her action at the final spot, and then come up happy as a clam. This makes my job shooting so much easier, as I am allotted the time to choreograph a beautiful shot using the actual actress. No hiding her face. The sequence came out amazing.”
now assists the experienced water DP on such large franchise films as Avatar 2, Get Christie Love, and xXx: Return of Xander Cage, even slipping into the operator’s role when called upon. Manno says he loves the unique challenges water capture presents. “Proficiency in maintaining neutral buoyancy is critical,” he describes. “Contact with surfaces or an errant fin kick can degrade water quality. It is especially important when focus pulling without the use of lens motors and a remote system. “There is a kind of choreography between assistant and operator,” Manno adds, “and a need to anticipate directional changes – left and right, up and down, maybe a roll. As an underwater focus puller, you want to be careful not to have too much physical input on the camera housing but, at the same time, keep close contact to make focus adjustments. Depending on the environment, other considerations
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Peter Manno is in an enviable – and fun – position. He started in the industry as a loader/2nd AC via Andrew Fischer and, after a few years, met an aspiring underwater camera operator named Pete Zuccarini. “One day, Pete invited me to assist him on a Visa Card commercial,” Manno remembers. “The location was
HAGGERTY ON BREAKTHROUGH, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA (2018)
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JAMIE ALAC, SOC, SHOOTING IN THE KELP OFF CATALINA ISLAND FOR A COMMERCIAL SPOT FOR ATHLETA.
are overhead obstructions or marine life. You are another set of eyes looking out for your operator, who may miss something outside their peripheral, which is reduced by the dive mask.” Manno says there’s a Zen art to assisting and operating that’s very different from surface capture. “Getting the camera back to the surface, over to the beach to dry off and open the housing, all the while being vigilant not to let one drop enter,” he adds, “is unique to underwater shooting – one drop is all it will take for the lens port to fog upright. Then you
set of challenges. “These shows sometimes don’t have a separate water unit,” Alac explains, “so you often don’t have a lot of time for the water scenes. Let’s say you’re shooting a scene where an actor must fall into a pool. Production will almost always schedule this as the last shot of the day since their hair, makeup and wardrobe will be ruined once they get wet. At the end of a long working day, everyone wants to get out of there as soon as possible, and Production wants to avoid overtime costs. So, you’re on your A-game all
have to close the gate safely to ensure no leaks and head back to the water. The advent of digital media has liberated us to be less focused on managing film consumption as an ill-timed reload potentially disrupts a rhythm in workflow or prolongs an actor’s exposure to the elements.”
the time.” What also interests Alac is the challenge of controlling light underwater. “When shooting in natural light,” he adds, “typically the magic hours around sunrise/sunset are best for above water. But for below water, it’s a different story. Overhead light between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. is often ugly above water, but it can work well underwater, especially if you want a sunbeam of the ‘God ray’ effect. Of course, water visibility plays a big role in what you see on the screen, too, especially in Southern California.” Alac says another challenge of shooting underwater is hiding backlight. “We often shoot from the bottom, looking up at our talent and with wide- to medium-angle lenses,” he continues, “so the correct placement of your backlight is crucial so that the stand and lamp are not seen. Easy to do when
For Jamie Alac, SOC, born in the surfing paradise of Perth, Western Australia (and a now 10-year resident of Los Angeles), the ocean and surf has been his life since he was two years old. Alac started working with traditional operators before meeting Romano, who mentored him in the ways of water filming, Hollywood style. Today, using the Hydroflex RAC MK5, Alac is in constant demand for such episodic series as The Lincoln Lawyer, The Orville, Bel-Air, Euphoria, 9-1-1, and more. He loves it, even if television has its own
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shooting above water – but difficult to do below.” For Alac, the most important thing with underwater lighting is safety. “Making sure all your lights are connected to a GFCI is essential, and the units underwater and the lamps near the water.” Alac will take on any kind of water capture, but his first love remains surfing. “It’s a high-risk/high-reward situation,” he explains. “Especially when the waves get bigger. Swimming out with a 25-pound housing, fighting against currents, waiting for the right wave, and being in the perfect position for the surfer to connect with you on the wave gets your blood pumping,” he describes. “Having your camera six inches away from a surfer as they ride past you is a rush! Thankfully, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great surfers and stunt people, which makes my job easier.” For all of these top-conditioned, uniquely talented water enthusiasts, syncing their thoughts with those of their DP’s and directors, before strapping on their gear, is a technical given. The real art (and thrill) of the craft, they all insist, is jumping into the shot, where the many variable elements can either help you or fight you. The payoff to such a consistently challenging and uncontrollable landscape is the undeniable beauty the world of water affords, bringing imagery and stories to audiences the world over, to which only a select few camera members can lay claim.
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PRODUCTION CREDITS COMPILED BY TERESA MUÑOZ The input of Local 600 members is of the utmost importance, and we rely on our membership as the prime (and often the only) source of information in compiling this section. In order for us to continue to provide this service, we ask that Guild members submitting information take note of the following requests: Please provide up-to-date and complete crew information (including that the deadline for the Production Credits is on the first of the preceding cover month (excluding weekends & holidays).
Submit your jobs online by visiting: www.icg600.com/MY600/Report-Your-Job Any questions regarding the Production Credits should be addressed to Teresa Muñoz at teresa@icgmagazine.com 84
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First Man / Photo by Daniel McFadden
Still Photographers, Publicists, Additional Units, etc.). Please note
20TH CENTURY FOX
“911: LONE STAR” SEASON 3 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDY STRAHORN, DAVID STOCKTON OPERATORS: BRICE REID, JACK MESSITT ASSISTANTS: JAMES RYDINGS, KAORU “Q” ISHIZUKA, CARLOS DOERR, KELSEY CASTELLITTO STEADICAM OPERATOR: JACK MESSITT DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: PJ RUSS DIGITAL UTILITY: BASSEM BALAA CAMERA UTILITY: JOE PACELLA
“JOSEPH” PILOT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MAGNI AGUSTSSON, IKS OPERATORS: BUD KREMP, PHILLIP MASTRELLA ASSISTANTS: MICHAEL ALVAREZ, BROOKE ZBYTNIEWSKI, SHANE CARLSON, GAYLE HILARY DIGITAL UTILITY: RENE RIOS LOADER: SARAH MARTINEZ
“ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING” SEASON 2 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CHRISTOPHER TEAGUE OPERATORS: KYLE WULLSCHLEGER, DANIEL SHARNOFF ASSISTANTS: TIMOTHY TROTMAN, SARA BOARDMAN, CORY MAFFUCCI LOADERS: STORR TODD, DEVEREAUX ELMES STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CRAIG BLANKENHORN
ABC SIGNATURE STUDIOS
“GREY’S ANATOMY” SEASON 18 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: STEVEN FRACOL, BYRON SHAH
OPERATORS: ADAM AUSTIN, STEVE ULLMAN, JEANNE TYSON ASSISTANTS: NICK MCLEAN, FORREST THURMAN, CHRIS JONES, KIRK BLOOM, LISA BONACCORSO, J.P. RODRIGUEZ STEADICAM OPERATOR: STEVE ULLMAN STEADICAM ASSISTANTS: FORREST THURMAN, LISA BONACCORSO CAMERA UTILITY: MARTE POST DIGITAL UTILITY: SPENCER ROBINS
ASSISTANTS: JOSEPH CANON, CHRIS MARIUS JONES, LUIS SUAREZ, CHRIS CARLSON STEADICAM OPERATOR: ROBERT ARNOLD DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: MIKE PEREZ CAMERA UTILITY: GEREMIAH EDNESS LOADER: BEN BOOKER STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: RON JAFFE, SER BAFFO
“GROWN-ISH” SEASON SEASON 5
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ADAM MCDAID OPERATOR: DOUG DURANT ASSISTANTS: MEGAERA STEPHENS, GOVINDA ANGULO, AMANDA URIBE, KATHY RIVERA DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: GUILLERMO TUNON LOADER: CHLOE LOCARRO STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK DOERING-POWELL OPERATORS: JENS PIOTROWSKI, AYMAE SULICK ASSISTANTS: ROBERT SCHIERER, MICHAEL KLEIMAN, GEORGE HESSE, DAN TAYLOR STEADICAM OPERATOR: JENS PIOTROWSKI DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: JACOB LAGUARDIA CAMERA UTILITY: ANDREW OLIVER DIGITAL UTILITY: LAUREN VANDERWERKEN STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: RON JAFFE
ABC STUDIOS
“EVERYTHING’S TRASH” SEASON 1
“JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” SEASON 19
DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: ABE MARTINEZ, TOM CAMARDA OPERATORS: DOMINIC BARTOLONE, DOUG OH ASSISTANTS: SIMON JARVIS, SCOTT MARTINEZ, STEFAN TARZAN, NANCY PIRAQUIVE DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEVIN COLBER DIGITAL UTILITY: JOE CROGNALE
LIGHTING DIRECTOR: CHRISTIAN HIBBARD OPERATORS: GREG GROUWINKEL, PARKER BARTLETT, GARRETT HURT, MARK GONZALES STEADICAM OPERATOR: KRIS WILSON JIB OPERATORS: MARC HUNTER, RANDY GOMEZ, JR., NICK GOMEZ CAMERA UTILITIES: CHARLES FERNANDEZ, SCOTT SPIEGEL, TRAVIS WILSON, DAVID FERNANDEZ, ADAM BARKER VIDEO CONTROLLER: GUY JONES STILL PHOTOGRAPHERS: KAREN NEAL, MICHAEL DESMOND
“REASONABLE DOUBT” SEASON 1
2ND UNIT DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BERND REINBARDT, STEVE GARRETT
“NATIONAL TREASURE” SEASON 1
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KIRA KELLY, ASC OPERATORS: ERIN G. WESLEY, ROBERT ARNOLD
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“STATION 19” SEASON 5 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DARYN OKADA, ASC, JAYSON CROTHERS OPERATORS: HARRY GARVIN, MARIANA ANTUÑANO, SOC, BRIAN GARBELLINI ASSISTANTS: TONY SCHULTZ, GEORGE MONTEJANO, III, WILLIAM MARTI, DUSTIN FRUGE, DAVID MUN, VANESSA MOOREHOUSE STEADICAM OPERATOR: HARRY GARVIN STEADICAM ASSISTANT: TONY SCHULTZ DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREW LEMON UTILITIES: GRANT JOHNSON, BELLA RODRIGUEZ SPLINTER UNIT DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BRIAN GARBELLINI
APPLE STUDIOS, LLC
“DEAR EDWARD AKA FUGUE” SEASON 1 DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID BOYD OPERATORS: GREGOR TAVENNER, LISA SENE, TIM BELLEN ASSISTANTS: STEVE BELLEN, WARIS SUPANPONG, JELANI WILSON, ROBBIE CLINE, RANDY SCHWARTZ, JAMES ABAMONT CAMERA UTILITY: ANDREA ANGELL LOADER: ARIEL WATSON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: DAVID GIESBRECHT
“EVER’S BLUEBERRY” SEASON 1 OPERATORS: JEFF MUHLSTOCK, JONATHAN BECK ASSISTANTS: JOHN LARSON, AARON SNOW, SPENCER MUHLSTOCK, BABETTE GIBSON DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: ANDREW NELSON LOADERS: AMANDA DEERY, MARTIN LUCERO
ASBURY PARK
“RED RIGHT HAND” DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHNNY DERANGO OPERATORS: JESS HAAS, MICHAEL BLACK ASSISTANT: JOHN WATERMAN STEADICAM OPERATOR: JESS HAAS
ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT “OPPENHEIMER”
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA, ASC ASSISTANTS: KEITH DAVIS, EMILY AMOS, MICAH MANOTT LOADER: BOBBY PAVLOVSKY IMAX TECH: SCOTT SMITH STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: MELINDA SUE GORDON, SMPSP VFX DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: DAVID DRZEWIECKI ASSISTANTS: MANNING TILLMAN, WILL HUGHES
A VERY GOOD PRODUCTION, INC. & WAD PRODUCTIONS
“THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW” SEASON 19 LIGHTING DIRECTOR: TOM BECK PED OPERATORS: DAVID WEEKS, PAUL WILEMAN, TIM O’NEILL HANDHELD OPERATOR: CHIP FRASER JIB OPERATOR: DAVID RHEA STEADICAM OPERATOR: DONOVAN GILBUENA VIDEO CONTROLLER: JAMES MORAN HEAD UTILITY: CRAIG “ZZO” MARAZZO UTILITIES: ARLO GILBUENA, WALLY LANCASTER, DIEGO AVALOS
BEACHWOOD SERVICES
COLD WEATHER PRODUCTIONS/CRANE TOWN
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: VINCE STEIB OPERATORS: MARK WARSHAW, MICHAEL J. DENTON, JOHNNY BROMBEREK, STEVE CLARK CAMERA UTILITIES: STEVE BAGDADI, GARY CYPHER VIDEO CONTROLLER: ALEXIS DELLAR HANSON
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: BURKE HEFFNER OPERATORS: MARKESE WILLIAMS, DAVID RODRIGUEZ, MICHAEL LOPEZ, KEVIN CHUNG, VINCE GOLD, JOE MITCHELL, DAVID GAINES ASSISTANTS: LISA GUEVARA, SHAWN BEACH, MICHAEL LANDRIAN, TIFFANY NULL, JOOYUP LEE, ANA FLORES STEADICAM OPERATOR: JOHN LOVELL DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: LORIE MOULTON STILL PHOTOGRAPHER: TOBIN YELLAND
“DAYS OF OUR LIVES” SEASON 56
CBS
“BULL” SEASON 6 DIRECTORS OF PHOTOGRAPHY: JOHN ARONSON, BARNABY SHAPIRO OPERATORS: ELI ARONOFF, ROMAN LUKIW ASSISTANTS: SOREN NASH, MICHAEL LOBB, TREVOR WOLFSON, NIALANEY RODRIGUEZ LOADERS: IVANA BERNAL, JONATHAN FARMER DIGITAL IMAGING TECH: KEITH PUTNAM
“ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT” SEASON 40 LIGHTING DESIGNER: DARREN LANGER DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: KURT BRAUN OPERATORS: JAMES B. PATRICK, ALLEN VOSS, ED SARTORI, HENRY ZINMAN, BOB CAMPI, RODNEY MCMAHON, ANTHONY SALERNO JIB OPERATOR: JAIMIE CANTRELL CAMERA UTILITY: TERRY AHERN VIDEO CONTROLLERS: MIKE DOYLE, PETER STENDAL
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STOP MOTION
Hilary Bronwyn Gayle, SMPSP GASLIT
One of the best parts of a project rooted in historic events is how real people’s stories are woven into the narrative. One such scene in Gaslit depicts a White House concert with the Ray Conniff Singers. The performance is interrupted when one singer, Carole Feraci (now Carole Addesso), pulls out a scrap of fabric declaring “Stop the Killing” and voices a powerful protest directly to President Nixon to end the war in Vietnam and Cambodia. The day we filmed that scene, we were honored by Carole’s presence, as she and her partner, Bob Conn, made an on-camera appearance with Julia Roberts. In between takes, I had the opportunity to photograph Carole with the actress who portrays her, Alyssa Sabo, holding Carole’s original banner.
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