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IT’S A KIND OF MAGIC #14: CAMERA CREATIVE OSCAR-NOMINEE DICK POPE BSC REVEALS SOME OF THE SECRETS BEHIND HIS SPELLBINDING TAKE OF THE ILLUSIONIST
INSIDE ... #06: PRODUCTION NEWS – THE LATEST NEWS FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRY #18: CLOSE-UPS – BEHIND THE SCENES WITH CHRIS MENGES BSC ON NOTES ON A SCANDAL, SIMON DUGGAN ON DIE HARD, ALWIN KUCHLER BSC ON SUNSHINE, FLORIAN HOFFMEISTER ON FIVE DAYS, EMMANUEL LUBEZKI ASC, AMC ON CHILDREN OF MEN, AND VILMOS ZSIGMOND ASC ON THE BLACK DAHLIA #21: SHOOOTING THE FUTURE – BSC SHOW PREVIEW & LIGHTING ROUND-UP 2007 #28: ALL TIME GREATS – MAESTRO ROBBIE MÜLLER IN BLACK & WHITE #34: ON THE JOB – BEN DAVIS BSC TALKS ABOUT HIS RECENT WORK ON STARDUST
RRP: £3.50
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Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Fax: +44 (0) 1753 650111
>> C O N T E N T S
PUBLISHERS Alan Lowne Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Stuart Walters Tel: +44 (0) 121 608 2300
UK
EDITOR Ron Prince Email: ronny@dircon.co.uk SALES Alan Lowne Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Email: alanlowne@britishcinematrographer.co.uk Stuart Walters Tel: +44 (0) 121 608 2300 Email: stuartwalters@britishcinematrographer.co.uk DESIGN Paul Roebuck, Open Box Publishing Ltd, info@openboxpublishing.co.uk contact: Stuart Walters Tel: +44 (0) 121 608 2300 THE PUBLICATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE comprises of Board members from the BSC and GBCT as well as the Publishers
P03 President's Perspective: Gavin Finney BSC P05 Letters: Thin End of The HDTV Wedge? P06 Production/Post & Techno News: the latest worldwide news concerning DPs P10 Who's Shooting Who?: the ultimate way to find out what's going on P18 Close-Ups: get behind the large and small screens with leading DPs P21 Shooting The Future: Lighting Round-Up 2007 P30 GBCT News: chairman’s statement, BAFTA voting P39 Family Matters: Alex and Chyna Thomson PLUS: Shooting The Future: BSC Equipment Show Previews
BRITISH CINEMATROGRAPHER covering International Cinematography is part of Laws Publishing Ltd, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH, UK The publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER are not representative of Laws Publishing Ltd but the responsibility of the individual contributors.
USA P25 P26
Letter from America: Steven Poster ASC says DPs need more then ever, to be at the top of their craft F-Stop Hollywood: it's awards season in Hollywood - get the low down here!
EUROPE P28 P32
Cover Photograph: Image from The Illusionist Image provided by Yari Film Group All rights reserved.
>> Editorial Team Ron Prince: has many years experience working in the film, TV, CGI and visual effects industries. He is the editor of British Cinematographer magazine and runs an international communications company (www.princepr.com). Carolyn Giardina: is senior editor of post production at SHOOT newsweekly in the US; she previously served as editor of monthly Film & Video. Carolyn’s work has also appeared in The IBC Daily News, Digital Cinema, Post, Below The Line, and in the second edition of the book The Guide to Digital Television.
All Time Greats: Robbie Müller - black and white says it all Imago News: insight into Estonian DP Rein Kotov's work
FEATURES P14 P34 P36
Camera Creative: enchanting, captivating, magical… Dick Pope BSC on The Illusionist On The Job: Ben Davis sprinkles his talents on Stardust Innovation UK: Formatt Filters, rocket science for lens filters
British Society of Cinematrographers – Board Members: President, Gavin Finney. Immediate Past President, Phil Méheux. Vice Presidents, Joe Dunton MBE, Alec Mills, Sue Gibson. Governors, John de Borman, Harvey Harrison, Chris Howard, Tony Imi, Nina Kellgren, Chris Seager, Tony Spratling, Mike Southon, Derek Suter, Alex Thomson, Robin Vidgeon, Nigel Walters. Secretary/Treasurer, Frances Russell. Guild of British Camera Technicians – Board Members: Trevor Coop (Chairman), Steve Brooke-Smith (Vice Chairman), John Keedwell (Vice Chairman), Jacob Barrie, Suzanne Clegg McGeachan, Mike Fox, Jamie Harcourt, Peter Hughes, Walter Kennedy, Keith Mead, Darren Miller, Barney Piercy, Tim Potter, Caroline Sax.
The Queen
Madelyn Most: is an experienced camerawoman, filmmaker and journalist who writes about production and cinematography for a variety of European and US magazines.
Dear Readers Kevin Hilton: is a freelance journaist who writes about technology in film and broadcasting and contributes film reviews and interviews to a variety of publications.
Ian White: is a journallist who has specialised in film and television production and post-production for over 20 years. Now based in Bath, he is a regular contributor to leading television trade magazines.
John Keedwell: the GBCT’s Eyepiece Editor, is a documentary and commercials cameraman who has worked on many productions over all the world’s continents. He crosses over in both film and tape productions and has great knowledge of the new formats and their methods of production. Roger Paul is a freelance entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. His work has appeared in both trade and international publications. In addition to reporting on the technical side of television and film production, he creates advertising campaigns and newsletters for many production and equipment houses.
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Muppets, beware! Genuine talent, like cream, has a natural way of rising to the top. After the immediate pomp and ceremony, joy and tears of the Oscar winning moments, came better moments of reflection as the winners were interviewed on TV and radio. And none were better than the thoughts of Dame Helen Mirren. She was asked about her Oscar win for best actress, the question tinged perhaps with a little regret that not more Brits had walked away with statuettes in 2007. Her reply was interesting. Of all people, she said that she'd never expected to be standing there, Oscar in hand. As she spoke, we learnt that everyday she has just got on with the job of being an actress, putting her essence into creating convincing roles, be it Det. Supt. Jane Tennison or different Elizabeth Rs. She noted that Brits are to be found at all levels, and in all departments of the filmmaking industry in Hollywood. And their talents are valued assets too. Dame Helen put this down to the US having a culture
that includes people and nurtures talent. Whether the talent rises to the top, didn't matter to her. Poignantly, the subtext was that it's not the winning, but that taking part that matters; enthusiasm, dedication and hard work create opportunities. You are in charge of your own destiny. After that, anything can happen. In this edition you can read the personal thoughts and insights of Dick Pope BSC, Oscar nominee for his spellbinding work on The Illusionist, maestro Robbie Müller, and the mighty Alex Thomson BSC. They all echo what Dame Helen was talking about. It's showtime. The BSC Show started out as a small, biannual affair to expose new equipment to DPs. But it has increased in popularity, with more exhibitors and record attendances year on year - reflecting the current vibrancy of filmmaking here. This year's event promises to continue the trend, and we are delighted to be able to give you the inside track exclusively in our pages. Get there if you can!
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president’s perspective
Colourful language In my first column for British Cinematographer I promised I would try to avoid the temptation to 'have bit of a moan' and then proceeded to have a bit of a moan. Well, as the success of the TV series Grumpy Old Men has shown, there's mileage in a bit of a rant when everybody seems to agree with you. I was having just such a moan over breakfast at last November's Camerimage festival, when several of the cinematographers at the table said, “Yes! That has happened to me too”. So with the majority of my colleagues in agreement with me, well four out of five at the table, I'm going to talk about colourists.
Gavin Finney BSC President BSC
Does the following sound familiar? Running just a couple of minutes late for a telecine, you arrive to find the first shot up on the monitor and the colourist adding his seventh power window: “Just a little vignette here to bring down the over exposed edges,” he says, whilst the producer and agency folk nod into their skinny lattes. “And I think a bit of secondary on the actress's skin tone, which is looking a little dodgy”, he intones, thereby denouncing both the work of the cinematographer and colourists don't the make-up artist.
Good automatically reach for the vignette tool - they listen to t h e c i n e m a t o g r a p h e r, h a v e watched the rushes, stored the grey scales and might even have read the script.
“Excuse me,” you say in as controlled a voice as possible, “but the edges are meant to be bright like that and no, they are not over exposed, and the director, producer, agency and client all wanted the actress to look pale.” “Rather like she did, in fact, before you started arsing about with my work you snivelling little knob pusher”, you want to add, but don't because it would be rude and, fortunately, you have worked with some very talented colourists who used their skill and knowledge to bring out the best in your photography, and did not attempt to change it wholesale and denigrate your skill into the bargain. We have enough on our plate countering the poor presentation of our work, through lacklustre rushes transfers and uncalibrated (read never calibrated) editing monitors, without the colourist adding to our woes. Another favourite ploy, which is as bound to get my blood up, is when the colourist stores an ungraded, completely flat, 'base setting' image of your work, with no reference to any grey scale, notes, or rushes and calls that the 'before' image. As in, “This is the flat, dull work your DP shot, and here's how clever and groovy I've been in rescuing it”, when all he's done is restore it to how it should have looked in the first place. New technology unfamiliar to the colourist can also be a problem, as when a commercial I shot in HD log was shown to the client without any look-up table applied (to be fair, they didn't have the correct LUTs, although they had said they did) and then 'rescued' in a similar manner. Luckily I was able to correct this misrepresentation of my work, but if I hadn't been there… I was amused, but not entirely surprised, to hear from a very good colourist I was working with recently who had sat on the BTA Craft Award jury for 'Best Colourist on a Commercial'. When he went to congratulate the winner, the winner replied, “Oh, that was an easy job, I didn't touch the controls at all, it looked great straight off the neg!”. Good colourists (and fortunately I've worked with many) don't automatically reach for the vignette tool - they listen to the cinematographer, have watched the rushes, stored the grey scales and might even have read the script. Their knowledge of the prodigiously powerful tools at their disposal can either bring out, with minimal interference, the best in what you've shot, or with your input, greatly enhance it,
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rather in the way a stills photographer's printer will work with their boss to produce beautiful exhibition prints. The BSC has long championed the (paid) presence of the cinematographer at the grade, as he or she is the person responsible for, and most qualified to deliver, the final intended image to the public. Good and experienced colourists understand and support this. Failing that, new and powerful grading tools are coming on to the market that run on an Apple home computer, can grade HD in real time and cost in the few thousands rather than hundreds of thousands of pounds. Tempting, very tempting. On a more positive note, I was recently delighted to be asked to help out on a production management training course run by the Production Guild. They had invited HoD's such as cinematographers, production designers, costume designers, etc. to talk about the relationship between their department and the production office. What a brilliant idea! Apart from being able to talk about the, thankfully few, times when that relationship had gone wrong and on how to avoid it, I was able to explain why we ask for things like a full crew, (because fewer mistakes are made due to tiredness, it's faster and therefore cheaper); why we ask for more prep time (because prep time is cheap and it makes the shoot better organised, faster and more efficient); why we ask for special pieces equipment, (the crane move is in the script not because we fancy a ride on one) etc.. And they listened and they understood. Hallelujah! Kudos to Fran Triefus at the Production Guild and producer Paul Sarony for running this excellent and timely course, it should be mandatory for anyone hoping to move up to this responsible and important position.
New and powerful grading tools a r e c o m i n g o n t o t h e m a r ke t that run on an Apple home c o m p u t e r, c a n g r a d e H D i n r e a l time, and cost in the few thousands… of pounds. Te m p t i n g, v e r y t e m p t i n g. By the time you read this, the winners of the Best Cinematography Award at the BAFTAs, the ASC and the Oscars will all have been announced. Whatever the outcome, congratulations are due to: Barry Ackroyd BSC, BAFTA nominee for United 93, Phil Méheux BSC, BAFTA nominee for Casino Royale; Dick Pope BSC, Academy Award and ASC nominee for The Illusionist; and Nigel Stone BSC, Visual Effects Society Award nominee for V for Vendetta. I have seen all these films and the skill and artistry they exhibit is outstanding. And on that positive note, that's my grumpy old column for this issue. If you want me to talk about something else, drop me an email c/o British Cinematographer Magazine. Gavin Finney BSC President, British Society of Cinematographers
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letters
Thin end of the HDTV wedge During the BBC HD Day (last September) the collective presenters caused one of the most controversial moments of 2006 in the UK with comments such as: “16mm is not an acceptable HD capture format for the BBC” and, “By 2010 the BBC will not accept Super 16mm”. The presentation showed premier BBC HD productions, and unlike the Super 16mm that was shown we were not seeing an equal HD image to that which our TV receives via the various broadcast steps, so it was a biased presentation given that we did not see equally presented Super 16mm material. In October 2001 the BBC R&D white paper WHP008, How To Recognise Video Image Source, had this to say about 16mm and 35mm film, “Motion - Judders, Sharpness - Soft, not sharp or crisp. Noise / Grain - Visible in old or new fast stocks. Saturation - Poor in old stocks better in modern slow stocks”. So the writing was on the wall as to how film was viewed for transmission purposes. In the preparation for the BBC and Independent broadcaster's trials in 2006 on terrestrial HD broadcast, they had to use an internationally recognised compression codec. The compression required to get Super 16mm onto the BBC HD experimental TV channel meant using the MPEG 4 AVC (H.264) Codec - the internationally agreed compression system for broadcast, and the BBC report described this as a relatively new and unproven codec. This is also true of BskyB, but they are apparently using MPEG 2 for some HD channel content. As a codec, MPEG 2 / 4 takes some of the bits / pixels (the non-changing parts) and uses them again in order that it does not have to transmit 100% of the available data. (Fantastic science - take a good image and throw some away!). Since grain moves it is constantly changing and this makes it harder to get good results using compression. Compare this to HD video which is virtually grainfree on standard camera settings (although if you tried taking that HD tape and blowing it up for 35mm theatrical release you would have a different story, particularly with highlights - this, however is irrelevant for TV production and the BBC argument). MPEG 4, like MPEG 2 before it, is still being refined, even though the basic building blocks have been agreed, and thus it proved various part of the trial required manufacturers to write new software and firmware. What the people at the BBC did not say is that, unlike only a year or so ago, software can now improve the grain issue affecting Super 16mm for MPEG 4 transfer without affecting the edge sharpness in doing so. E-Film in Los Angeles has been able to do this for some time, and this also helps films being released as 35mm prints from a Super 16 negative. MPEG 4 is also the standard for Blue-Ray disc / HD DVD so it stands to reason people have been seeking ways to protect and futureproof their catalogues for eventual HD home use including material originated on 16mm film, otherwise that back catalogue will be useless. The argument between Super 16mm and HD and trying to compare the two is nonsense anyway. They are, and will remain, very different capture media; each having strong pluses and minuses. Any industry that forces change is looking to fall flat on its face as people will always find a way of disproving any argument and invariably do. Clearly HD does not yet offer a full alternative to film and conversely film cannot offer some of the advantages of HD. Another issue, one that a simple Internet search will throw up and one that the BBC and other broadcasters should address if they are concerned with quality to the consumer of HD broadcast (and other forms of digital broadcast), is the growing problem of lip-sync, which one of their own R&D reports states is a problem more apparent with HD broadcast where users are using HD-ready TVs and Dolby sound: “There is growing evidence that with pictures displayed on a large screen, the viewer is less forgiving of lip-sync errors. (The reasons for this are as yet unclear, but may reflect a greater sense of reality and engagement with the content.) There are many points in the broadcast signal at which lipsync errors may occur and extra care has to be taken to ensure that these errors are minimised,” BBC R&D report into the 2006 HD trial. The digital processing required to re-assemble that MPEG4-compressed “better picture”
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in your TV means the sound is often heard first and to make things worse the offset is variable across different channels & platforms (light naturally travels faster than sound so to our brains this is also unnatural) Home cinema purists are already using devices such as the Felston box to adjust lip-sync on the fly via a remote control so aggrieved are they. MPEG 4 also has its own artefacts, some of which are not so pleasing, such as mosquito and halo effects, blockiness and stepped edges which are generally caused by a combination of the quantisation process and the compression algorithms by which the reduction in data-rate is achieved. The greater the compression the worst the picture will be. Another issue affecting the perception of these artefacts is “Concatenation” i.e. the sum total of all the errors in the various steps of the transmission chain so that, for example, grain in Super 16mm may be heightened by sloppy or bad compression in say the Avid, and the VTR and the Network Switch or indeed the actual transmission of the signal, so the shorter the process the more the picture will be like the original.
“ The industry has always raised itself to technical challenges and found ways to r e s o l v e t h e m . F o r t h e s a ke o f artistic as well as personal preference the industry and the BBC should be finding ways to resolve this issue without the need to ban a medium.” The HD standards debate is far from over with the EBU preferring the longer term adoption of 1080P rather than 1080i or 720P, but once again the bandwidth/quality issue will only be solved with better compression, which is not the case with the present incarnations of MPEG4. Interestingly, current technical opinion is that 1080P would be better for transmission of film images and thus drama. The Super 16mm issue can also be helped by selecting medium speed film stock where there is finer grain, and only using high speed stocks when absolutely necessary to do so, e.g. as an artistic or technical choice but again can be argued as a restriction. The industry has previously always raised itself to a challenge particularly technical challenges and found ways to resolve them. For the sake of artistic as well as personal preference the industry and the BBC should be finding ways to resolve this issue without the need to ban a medium. The BBC in particular has a vast back catalogue of 16mm material, particularly wild life and drama, so it is in its interest to make this futureproof for HD broadcast and knows full well it will try to do so. The real argument however may have never been a technical one, but rather a financial one and any technical resolution will not alter economics. Jeff Allen
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production news
Ealing Studios £50m to boost production Ealing Studios has begun the second phase of a £50m redevelopment of two connecting buildings providing 25,000 sq ft of prime multi-media space, due for completion at the end of 2007. A consortium, including Fragile Films and Manhattan Loft Corporation, purchased Ealing Studios, the world's oldest working film studios, in April 2000. The aim is to revitalize Ealing both as a production facility and as a producer of films. The news coincides with the release of Ealing Studios’ latest film, the British comedy, I Want Candy, starring Hollywood pin-up Carmen Electra as the delicious Candy Fiveways, alongside rising UK stars Tom Riley, Tom Burke and Michelle Ryan. Lensed by Crighton Bone, I Want Candy follows two hopeful young men who stumble upon the opportunity of a lifetime - to make a ground-breaking graduation film, with scenes of an 'adult' nature in one of their parents' houses. “It's great to be a part of Ealing's resurgence, especially shooting a comedy on the famous sound stages,” said Michelle Fox, co-producer of I Want Candy. “The studios have a really positive vibe and personal atmosphere. They still have the familiarity you'd imagine they had in the 1940s and 1950s.” Major regeneration of the oldest working studios began in 2000, and more than twenty film, postproduction, animation, broadcast, music and other media companies have since settled there. The new multi-media production space will sit alongside the Grade II-listed sound stages, workshops and offices, principally dating back to the 1930s. Ealing Studios confirmed it is in early discussions with several companies interested in occupying the new space, which has been designed for single or multi-use. Ealing Studios is about to start filming St Trinian’s, the DP will be Gavin Finney BSC. Filming from mid March on location in and around London, it is being produced and directed by Barnaby Thompson and Oliver Parker. Currently in production at Ealing Studios is The Bank Job, starring Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows, DP Mick Coulter, with Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, in pre-production. Recent productions made at Ealing Studios have included Death Defying Acts starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Guy Pearce, shot by Haris Zambarloukos, and Frank Oz's Death at a Funeral, lensed by
3D visualisation of Ealing Studios £50m revitalisation programme Oliver Curtis. The Oscar-nominated Venus, DP Haris Zambarloukos, and The Queen, shot by Affonso Beato, both made Ealing their home during 2006. In 2005, Ealing Studios secured £1.2 m of development funding from the UK Film Council for its own and other producers' films. 2005 also saw the worldwide release of Ealing's CGI feature Valiant, cinematography by John Fenner BSC, which went on to be the year's highest grossing independent movie in the UK. Ealing has also recently released Alien Autopsy, with DP Simon Chaudoir, and romantic comedy Imagine Me & You, which was shot by Ben Davis, with Fade to Black, shot by John de Borman BSC, to be released in 2007. I Want Candy, is an Ealing Studios and Thema Productions presentation of a Fragile Film, in association with Grosvenor Park Films and Sky Movies, and will be released nationwide by Buena Vista International (UK) on March 23, 2007.
Kodak's 79th Oscar streak Kodak kept a remarkable streak alive at the recent Oscars in Los Angeles. For 79 consecutive years, tracing back to the first Oscar presentations in 1928, the Best Picture winners have all been produced on Kodak motion picture film. That tradition continued in 2007, as all five features vying for an Academy Award in the Best Picture category were produced on Kodak film. The nominees were Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen, with The Departed winning best picture.
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Children of Men shot by Oscar winner Emmanuelle Lubezki
The Prestige lensed by Wally Pfister
All of the films nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Achievement in Cinematography were also produced on Kodak film. “From the beginning of the industry, Kodak has
recognized that cinema is a form of artistic expression,” said Mary Jane Hellyar, president of Entertainment Imaging, and senior vice president, Eastman Kodak Company.
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Navarro wins cinematography Brilliant Oscar for Pan's Labyrinth engineer Karl Kelly dies
British hopes of winning an Oscar for Best Cinematography at the 79th Academy Awards were dashed when Guillermo Navarro ASC, AMC scooped the prestigious award for his work on Pan's Labyrinth. Navarro's win also confounded many pundits who expected Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC to Children Of Men to be this year's runaway winner, having already won in the cinematography category at the BAFTA Awards and the ASC's Outstanding Achievement Award. The other nominees in an exceptionally strong Oscar field were: Dick Pope, BSC for The Illusionist; Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC for The Black Dahlia; and Wally Pfister, ASC for The Prestige. Dick Pope BSC was also nominated for the ASC Awards. During his acceptance speech, Navarro said: “I want to congratulate my fellow nominees. It's a great honor to be among you. This award is a recognition for the collective effort to support the vision of the genius of Guillermo Del Toro (director)”.
The film industry lost its most brilliant camera engineer in January 2007, writes Robin Vidgeon BSC. Karl, in life, was a very private man. In the workplace, he was so kind and helpful to everyone. From the early 50s to the present day, every member of all the camera crews benefited from his experience, no problem too great or too small. When I first met him at Sammies, I knew he could be a bit odd. He would make tea in a plastic cup with one tea bag. As we talked, I noticed he was dunking the bag in the hot water. This went on for ages, one hundred dunks to be precise. I queried this and was told that the tea was no good any other way. He made me a cup, I stood the spoon in it, and it was like glue. Over the years, as cameras became more sophisticated, all the major manufactures asked for his advice - Panavision, ARRI and Moviecam. He was, and always will be, remembered for his infinite knowledge of cameras, and his kindness to technicians. He became a Granddad last year, I know he worshipped the ground that his
granddaughter walked on; the joy he showed as we looked at the many pictures he had taken. How cruel that he should be taken from his family and friends after such a sudden and short illness just after Christmas. At the service at Mortlake, Sir Sydney Samuleson gave a short address, during which he paused, looked around the packed chapel and remarked, “ I hope the industry has no camera problems today, as every engineer in the country is sitting in front of me.”
The last British cinematographer to win an Oscar was Freddie Francis BSC who won in 1989 for American civil war film Glory, directed by Edward Zwick. Prior to Pope's nomination, John Mathieson BSC was the previous British Oscar nominee in 2004 for his work on Phantom of The Opera.
GBCT turns 30 with awards ceremony Set to coincide with its thirtieth year as an organisation, the GBCT's board of governors is implementing plans for the guild's first annual awards ceremony to take place in London in June. GBCT chairman Trevor Coop said, “With our own annual event every GBCT member, as of right, will be able to attend with their partners or guests.” The event will take place on June 2nd at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. One of the awards for the membership's best assistant cameraperson has been titled The Golden Knob.
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production news
Film Council and BBC Films partner on new film projects
Film Council statistics show £840m UK film spend
The UK Film Council's Development Fund recently announced Lottery funding for several new films being developed in partnership with BBC Films. At press time, none appeared to have DP attached.
The amount of money spent in 2006 on making films in the UK such as The Golden Age, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Atonement, and His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass jumped by 48% to £840.1 million making it the second best year ever, figures from the UK Film Council reveal.
Jenny Borgars, head of the UK Film Council's Development Fund said, “These projects represent a fantastic array of talent developing films, draw on our cultural heritage and have the potential to impact at international level.” Coram Boy, set to receive just under £70,000, is an adaptation of the best-selling children's novel by Jamila Gavin with Alison Owen (Elizabeth, Sylvia, Proof, Shaun of the Dead) and Scott Rudin (Closer, Venus, The Queen) producing. Writer Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Pirates of the Caribbean) is to adapt Len Deighton's acclaimed novel Bomber about 24 hours of the Allied bombing campaign against Germany for producers Roger Randall-Cutler and Rob Cheek of the The First Film Company (Dance with a Stranger, The Commitments). Pete Travis (Vantage Point, Omagh) will direct. The production with receive £75,475. My Week with Marilyn, set to pick up £45,750, takes its inspiration from the memoirs of Colin Clark and tells of the week-long friendship he had with screen legend Marilyn Monroe. Film and TV writer Adrian Hodges (Rome, The Ruby in the Smoke, Metroland, Tom and Viv) is writing the script with Simon Curtis (Five Days, Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, David Copperfield) to direct. David Parfitt of Trademark Films (Shakespeare in Love, The Madness of King George) is producing.
According to the statistics covering films with production budgets of £500,000 and above, production spending in 2006 totalled £840.1 million, up from £568.8 million in 2005, with UK involvement in 134 feature films. Inward investment rose by over 80% to £569.6 million from £312 million in 2005. Andrea Arnold’s Red Road won in Cannes 2006 Brideshead Revisited, supported by £37,000 from the Development Fund, is now being co-funded with a further £1.2m from the UK Film Council's Premiere Fund. Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane) will direct, with Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae (Becoming Jane, The Waterhorse) producing for Ecosse Films. Leading film and television writer Andrew Davies (Bridget Jones, TV's Pride and Prejudice) will work with writer Jeremy Brock (The Last King of Scotland) on this adaptation of the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh. This new slate of projects follow a successful chain of Development Fund-BBC partnered films including Andrea Arnold's Cannes Jury prize winner Red Road; Justin Chadwick's forthcoming feature The Other Boleyn Girl written by BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning British screenwriter Peter Morgan; and Peter Pan in Scarlet, the film version of the official sequel to JM Barrie's classic Peter Pan.
The figures cover the UK spend of indigenous UK film production, inward investment productions (films with finance from overseas but made mainly or significantly in the UK), inward co-productions, and UK co-productions filmed both in the UK and abroad using UK crew and expertise for the calendar year 2006. John Woodward, CEO of the UK Film Council commented, “2006 was a great year for film production in the UK. We are back in business with British filmmakers winning international awards, a crop of great British films produced, British talent and facilities in demand from filmmakers around the world, and the new tax credit which came into force this year will ensure that the UK stays one of the best places in the world to produce a film.” This figures do not show the split between money spent on pre-production, production and post production, especially the latter as London is fast becoming a world leading hub for digital effects, CG and grading.
Frears accepts Cannes jury presidency Director Stephen Frears will lead the jury at the 60th Cannes Film Festival this May. Frears, whose latest movie The Queen earned Helen Mirren as Oscar for Best Actress, first came to public attention in 1985 My Beautiful Laundrette, followed three years later by Dangerous Liaisons. "Of
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course, it's an honor, but it's also a treat to be able to watch terrific films from all over the world in such heady surroundings," Frears said in a statement. "God Save Cannes, as well as the queen." It is not yet known who else will serve on the jury, which decides the festival's highest
award, the Palme d'Or, and other honors. Last year, Hong Kong's Wong Kar-wai, director of In the Mood for Love, presided over the festival jury, which awarded the Palme d'Or to British director Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley, lensed by DP Barry Ackroyd BSC.
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production news
Band Pro unveils the new F23 Cine Alta camera In a meeting of invited guests at Band Pro's One World on HD '06 event in Burbank, LA last December, Amnon Band from Band Pro announced the launch of the new Sony F23 camera system to the world. It is immediately clear that this new camera has the ptential to become a serious contender in digital film making, and with Sony announcing that Cine Alta as a format has had sales in excess of $3billion, this can only grow as momentum gathers, writes John Keedwell It is obvious the F23 has been designed and built to meet the specific needs and requirements of film cinematographers. It comes in an ergonomic film-style compact package that is compatible with the full range of high-quality HD speciality accessories such as matte boxes and follow focus's. The camera speed and settings are shown in a film camera style window, and other buttons are kept to a minimum. Sony was making it quite clear that this is not another “Son of Genesis” camera. The design favours a new body that is much more in keeping with film working style over the “camcorder style” body shell seen before in the F900 and the 750 and others.
The F23 has various ways of recording the camera body output. In cable-free mode the recording “magazine” sits atop the camera in the form of the Sony SRW1 HDCAM-SR recorder. The recorder can also attach at the rear of the camera for Steadicam shots or if height is restricted. The F23 takes its name simply from the 2/3 inch 1920 x 1080P Power HAD EX CCD sensors that are used. Improved CCD drivers are now better matched to the imaging devices. Selectable Frame-rate Capability (SR Motion) is available, 1fps ~ 30fps in 4:4:4 mode and 1fps ~ 60fps in 4:2:2 mode. The various colour spaces are 4:4:4, RGB, and YUV 4:2:2, and a RAW output is also potentially possible in the near future, and is currently being reviewed. It appears the camera is actually a repackaged HDC 1500 and has a much-expanded dynamic range for improved highlight handling along with indicators and controls layout that follow film workstyle conventions. The F23 is not yet available for purchase, although a guide price anywhere between £100,000 and £150,000 is estimated, and will be available for a summer 2007 delivery.
Foundry's Furnace team grabs Academy Award
The British development team at The Foundry responsible Furnace, a range of visual effects and image-processing plugins, has been honoured with a Scientific and Engineering Academy Award, informally called a “technical Oscar”. The Foundry's head of research and development Dr. Bill Collis, chief engineer Simon Robinson, and senior software engineer Ben Kent, along with consultant Dr. Anil Kokaram, received the award for their work in optical flow or motion estimation.
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This is area in which The Foundry has pioneered a new generation of algorithms which enable the tracking of every pixel in a frame to those in subsequent and preceding frames. Over 30 plug-ins within the Furnace package take advantage of this technology, enabling a diverse range task to be completed more easily, including wire and rig removal, grain reduction, tracking and retiming.
Cooke and Pixel Farm collaborate Software developer Pixel Farm and lens manufacturer Cooke Optics have announced a collaboration in which the Pixel Farm will develop its PFTrack software to work in conjunction with in-camera data acquired via Cooke's revolutionary /i Technology. This new technology is designed to enable motion picture post-production professionals to save time and money in postproduction. Les Zellan, chairman of Cooke Optics, “We developed our /i Technology in response to the production community's need to streamline the production process and to more accurately interface with their postproduction colleagues to achieve cost and labour savings, while ensuring enhanced quality control and greater creative freedom.” The Cooke S4/i system will work via a /i data link that will record all camera and lens settings, including focal length, on a per-frame basis, all synced to time code. The information is recorded as metadata during filming and given to the facility, guaranteeing that the relevant lens data will be available, and ensuring even more accurate calibration of shots in post. Initially, this will be available in PFTrack with plans to include the system in other PF products at a later date.
ilab opens in Soho The UK's newest film processing laboratory opened in Poland Street, Soho, last November. The new company offers 16mm and 35mm negative processing, Photomec equipment, ultrasonic cleaning, rushes telecine transfers via Spirit Datacine, sound sync, negative cutting and EDL management. I lab has collaborated with the VTR Group to offer 'i lab consultancy', a post production package including DI post at 2k / 4k, as well as digital VFX and 2k screening facilities. i lab was founded by Nigel Horn, Martin McGlone and Vaughn Mullady . Since launching i lab clients have included BBC Drama, Mentorn Productions and Carnival Films.
Oops in BC19: Derek Suter BSC was credited as having shot A Class Apart on HD in the Who's Shooting Who section. The production was filmed on 16mm. DP Steve Arnold was credited as an ASC member, in The Chips Are Down, when he is in fact an Australian society member, an ACS.
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Who’s Shooting Who? Young guns: ARRI Crew's Kit Fraser wants to be a member of the BSC. Pictured on the set of Friends And Enemies, a 16mm feature directed by Danny Hiller. Kit was the B Camera operator and 2nd Unit DP (1st Unit was Shane Daly). The focus puller pictured is James Foster. In Edition 18 we heard from Sam Care, a 21-year old DP. This time round got a note from 22-year old Kit Fraser (rep'd by ARRI Crew), a graduate from Westminster Film School with a BA in Film Production, who is now regularly shooting music videos, commercials and drama. He wrote: “I am shooting a series called Dubplate Drama for Channel 4. It is 12 x 30min episodes, which will be broadcast on C4 in the summer at
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10:30pm. The drama is now in its second series (Damian Bromley shot the first) and has quite a lot of buzz surrounding it because it is the first "interactive" drama. At the end of every episode the audience has the choice between two different paths a certain character could take which will in turn affect the next episode. We are shooting on the DSR570 with a full kit supplied by ARRI Media and lighting supplied by
AFM. The 1st AC is Romain Choay and the Gaffer is Sol Sahaiti. I started shooting when I was 16; my first job was a corporate video for a machining company. I was the lighting cameraman for the two-day shoot and knew from then on that DP'ing was the only job I'd ever want to do! I have shot nearly 30 music videos since leaving college, over 10 commercials (including some international work), numerous
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Experienced hands: Barry Ackroyd BSC had a great time in Vancouver filming Battle in Seattle, assembling an awesome crew and even enticing Haskell Wexler to shoot some additional photography.
short films and last summer shot my first feature, Cold Earth on HD. Two days after wrapping Cold Earth I went onto my second feature, Friends & Enemies, as the B Camera Op. My ultimate wish is shoot high-end feature films and commercials, and one day become a member of the BSC.”
Menges BSC is prepping Udayan Prasad's The Yellow Handkerchief with William Hurt shooting in Louisiana. Tim Palmer is currently lensing Truth Dare Kiss for Granada with director Jeremy Webb. Heading off to Creative Media Management … DP Colin Munn is continuing to photograph the hugely successful ITV series Midsomer Murders for Bentley Productions. Mike Southon BSC recently teamed up with director Jamie Payne to shoot Life Line, a two-part supernatural thriller being produced by Carnival Films for BBC Scotland. It was all shot on location in London on 16mm, and features Joanne Whalley and Ray Stevenson. Gavin Struthers recently finished shooting Super 16mm in Dumfries and Glasgow on Outpost, an action-horror film from debut feature director Steve Barker, starring Ray Stevenson, Richard Brake and Michael Smiley. Having lit two blocks of Holby City for director Fraser Macdonald, Duncan Telford has followed up with an environmental campaign for MTV Europe and a gruelling twomonth shoot for a worldwide Emirates commercials campaign.
Liz Smith at the camera on Int. Bedsit – Day Liz Smith recently shot 35mm Anamorphic on Int. Bedsit Day, a six-minute short illustrating the extreme side of writer's block directed by James Larkin, for Film 38 Ltd. It was filmed on location in Primrose Hill and at Greenford Studios with the support of Panavision and Fuji film. Berlin Associates' Robin Vidgeon BSC is currently working in Leeds on the second series of Diamond Geezer, coming out of Yorkshire TV. Directed by Paul Harrison, and produced by David Reynolds, the show stars David Jason as the career criminal in a new big scam. Casarotto's… Remi Adefarasin BSC has completed shooting Fred Claus for director David Dobkin and Warner Bros, with Vince Vaughn. James Aspinall is prepping on Foyle's War with director Tristram Powell. James and Tristram have worked together on several projects including Company TV's Sparkling Cyanide and Yorkshire TV's Falling. Sean Bobbitt BSC is due to shoot the Sense & Sensibility for the BBC with director Alexander John, whilst Henry Braham BSC is nearing the end of his voyage on The Golden Compass with director Chris Weitz, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig for Newline. David Katznelson DFF is prepping Marie Lloyd with director James Hawes for Hat Trick, and Chris
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Movement of the people: Bearing an uncanny resemblance to Tom Cruise, here's Dench Arnold DP Jakob Ihre on the set of Exodus, on C4 this Easter
The Dench Arnold agency's… Jakob Ihre has lensed Exodus directed by Penny Woolcock and produced by Ruth Kenley-Letts for Artangel and Channel 4. Shot at the end of 2006 it's a story about identity and migration, a contemporary re-telling of the Old Testament tale set in Margate with the participation of the local population. It will be transmitted as a two-part drama across consecutive nights on Channel 4 at Easter with a UK cinema release at the same time. Ihre told BC magazine that the film's visual language attempts to be
epic and mythical in the tone of the biblical story that the script is based on. He shot cinemascope on 16mm, with anamorphic lenses, advice and support provided by Joe Dunton at JDC Rentals, trying to keep it as fine grained as possible by shooting on 50D and 100T on exteriors as well as in interiors. The challenge he faced was blending “old school” techniques with the modern setting of a coastal town in Kent set in some near future, achieved by occasionally breaking off from slow tracks and strong framing to seemingly uncontrolled moments of searching handheld camerawork in natural light. It's been a busy few months at Dinedor … Florian Hoffmeister is taking a well-earned rest after the hugely acclaimed Five Days for BBC/HBO directed by Otto Bathurst and Simon Curtis. Peter Field lit second unit on the current Edgar Wright / Simon Pegg action comedy Hot Fuzz. He is now the main unit DP on puppet-flick Agent Crush, and is set to go on to second unit Doomsday, Neil Marshall's eagerly awaited follow up to The Descent, lit by…Sam McCurdy, who's just finished the Martin Weisz / Wes Craven horror The Hills Have Eyes II. Mike Fox BSC lensed episodes of E4's Skins, whilst Eric Maddison FSF has been finishing Exit, a Swedish language action thriller starring Mads Mikkelson for Universal. Tom Townend lensed the Film Four short Dog Altogether for debut director Paddy Consadine and Warp Films, and is about to shoot a Yellow Pages ad at very high speed for a very long time. Mike Parker headed up the aerial unit on The Asian Games for Helifilms, and Andrew Johnson has completed lighting his first series of Dream Team for Hewland. Trevor Forrest, Ben Filby, Peter Ellmore and legendary spring chicken Stuart Harris have been on commercials and promos. At ICM… Barry Ackroyd BSC has completed three months filming on Battle in Seattle with director/writer Stuart Townsend. Though the film was a small budget, they managed to reconstruct the events around the 1999 World Trade Organisation Meeting when activists went on a violent rampage. The film shows the events that led to the suspension of democracy by the Seattle authorities and the eventual collapse of the WTO "closed door talks". The requirements were to integrate video footage, from the period into the film. So Barry decided they should shoot S16mm. ARRI Media provided new ARRI 416 cameras, which worked beautifully in difficult conditions, and kept the film lightweight and flexible. Barry felt that S16, in conjunction with DI, would make for the most cinematic look, when blown up to 35mm.
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The news from PFD is that… Alan Almond BSC has been jetting off to Ireland and Arizona with the exciting Darlow Smithson drama Comet, directed by Keith Boak. Danny Cohen has finished on the Untitled Poliakoff Project, and is about to embark on Mark Haddon's drama Coming Down The Mountain for Tiger Aspect, with director Julie Anne Robinson at the helm. The Lake District is now enjoying a major tourism boost thanks to the beautiful photography of Andrew Dunn BSC, whose work on Miss Potter has recently been seen in cinemas nationwide. He's now on Helen Stanley in the USA. Lukas Strebel is currently filming the new ITV drama Whistleblowers which will keep him busy until April.
NICE CHOPPER: Jess Hall recently did the DI on Hot Fuzz and Son of Rambow The subject of the film helped him to gather a great crew based in Vancouver: Stewart Whelan, 1st A Camera, who managed the camera team, Scotty MacDonald B Camera and additional photography from Haskell Wexler. Stewart Townsend and his team put together an amazing cast including Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson and Ray Liotta. Barry is hopeful the film will get released towards the end of 2007. Eigil Bryld has started Blueprint Pictures/Focus Features film In Bruges, produced by Jane Evans and Graham Broadbent, directed by Martin McDonagh. Oliver Curtis BSC has been busy with commercials and stills work, since completing shooting Death At A Funeral, directed by Frank Oz. John Daly BSC just finished filming Cape Wrath, a dark thriller for TV centred on a secret community built to house people under witness protection scheme. Mark Waters also worked on the show, to be screened on C4. Seamus Deasy has completed a feature in Ireland called Summer of the Flying Saucer, directed by Martin Duffy, and Cinders Forshaw BSC has shot block four of Agatha Christie's Marple - Series II with director Moira Armstrong. Jess Hall recently did the grading on Hot Fuzz directed by Edgar Wright and on Son of Rambow directed by Garth Jennings. Martin Kenzie completed the second season of Rome, and has since worked on some additional photography for the feature Amazing Grace, directed by Michael Apted. Darius Khondji ASC, AFC has wrapped on Michael Haneke's Funny Games, shot in North Carolina and starring Naomi Watts. Sam McCurdy has started on the next Neil Marshall project Doomsday, a futuristic political action thriller. David Odd BSC is in NZ shooting Head Cases with director, Terry Johnson, producer is Eve Gutierrez for Greenlit Productions. Dick Pope BSC recently lensed John Sayles' Honeydripper, and has been heavily caught up in the awards race with an Academy Nomination and an ASC Nomination for his work on The Illusionist. Christopher Ross, hot from the success of London to Brighton, has now started work on Paul Andrew Williams' latest project The Cottage, a dark comedy gangster horror set at night in the English Countryside. Ashley Rowe BSC has finished grading on Mike Baker's Butterfly on a Wheel and Ben Seresin has completed Pirates of the Caribbean 3, directed by Gore Verbinski. Ed Wild is in Morocco shooting Roger Christian's Prisoners of the Sun, the story of a young American archaeological apprentice drawn into a perilous expedition. Of Mckinney Macartney's roster… Stuart Biddlecombe has been filming promos for Draw Pictures and Between the Eyes. Balazs Bolygo is on the first two episodes of new drama Mistresses for SJ Clarkson for Ecosse Films, developed for BBC 1, telling the story of five female friends who have all ended up as “the other woman”.
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Ben Butler, Denis Crossan, Gavin Finney BSC, John Lynch and Jake Polonsky Clive Tickner BSC and Darran Tiernan have all been working on commercials and promos. John de Borman will be shooting Bharat Nalluri's new film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day starring Frances McDormand as a nanny in 1930's London. Mick Coulter has wrapped on Roger Donaldson's Baker Street, starring Jason Statham, which promises the real story about the infamous 1971 robbery that had the press gagged, led to no arrests, and not one penny was recovered. Gavin Finney has jumped on board the school bus heading for the new term at St. Trinian's, which will be directed by Barnaby Thompson and Oliver Parker for Fragile Films. Rupert Everett and Sienna Miller star in this remake of the classic books and films about an all-girls boarding school. Graham Frake is underway on the latest series of Wire in the Blood for director Richard Standeven, about a psychologist who helps the police in solving seemingly impenetrable murder cases. John Pardue has finished Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel, a comedy about a group of friends discussing time travel and the fundamental physics behind finding a wormhole into the future in the toilet of a pub, for director Gareth Carrivick. Chris Seager BSC recently lensed Monster Film's horror movie Flick starring Faye Dunaway and Leslie Phillips for David Howard, and is now in Chicago on actor and director Michael Keaton's directorial debut Merry Gentlemen. David Tattersall BSC is gearing up to shoot Speed Racer for the Wachowski Brothers, based on the hugely popular Japanese cartoon, telling the story of a young racing driver who aspires to win the championship in his family-created advanced car Mach 5. Ian Wilson has lit the adaptation of Anthony Sher's Primo for actor-turned-director Richard Wilson. This award-winning play was celebrated in its stage incarnation both on Broadway and in the West End, and this new production reunites both director and writer/star Sher in telling the Holocaust story of author Primo Levi's life.
Peter Suschitzky BSC recently wrapped on David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises, which was shot entirely in London. Haris Zambarloukos BSC, who is thrilled to have been recently nominated a BSC member, has just wrapped on Sleuth, directed by Kenneth Branagh, starring Jude Law and Michael Caine, shot mainly at Twickenham Studios. Marcel Zyskind, shot most of The Mighty Heart for Michael Winterbottom in India, and recently completed the film in the US. It's the story of the assassination of the American journalist Danny Pearl in Pakistan, with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie starring. Alwin Küchler BSC, Alex Melman, Alex Barber, Stephen Blackman and Simon Richards have all been on commercials shoots for big brand names. The lovely ladies at Sara Putt Associates… told us that Graham Smith is just about to start on Sex And The City with director Philippa Lowthorpe, for Blast! Films. Chris Howard has finished New Tricks for Wall to Wall TV, and David Marsh is starting the drama Bloodlines. Doug Hartington is doing City of Vice for director Justin Hardy of Hardy & Sons, whilst David Higgs continues on Britz for the location shoot in India, a Mentorn TV production for C4. Peter Greenhalgh just did the last block on Jeckyll for Hartswood Films. Wizzo's… most recent signing Philipp Blaubach is currently shooting The Escapist with director Rupert Wyatt, while recent recruit Shane Daly, having just returned from Prague on horror flick Psych 9, is now shooting an episode of Wire In The Blood for Sandra Jobling's Coastal Productions in Newcastle. Donal Gilligan is just finishing on Sea of Souls, part of the Supernatural thriller series for Carnival Film and TV. Angus Hudson has just finished principal photography on Sean Ellis's latest film starring Lena Headey called The Broken. Meanwhile Sean's last film Cashback, that Angus Hudson also shot, has just been released all over France and Europe. Rob Hardy as recently finished lighting Dogging for Vertigo Films. Vision@wizzo… has just signed Denzil Armour-Brown who has been shooting a spot with Dominic Murphy for Toyota.
On-set: PFD's Lukas Strebel is currently filming the new ITV drama Whistleblowers until April. Andrew Dunn BSC is pictured taking a reading n the set of his forthcoming film Hot Rod.
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All these vertical troughs contained period bulbs
Conjuring with light Interview by Ian White “ When I read Neil (Burger)'s script, I loved it, saw the way it could build, g o t v e r y exc i t e d and thought, 'I have to shoot this film, it's what I've been working towards.'”
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Dick Pope BSC was negotiating the price of a car at a south London dealership when he heard the news that he had been nominated for an Oscar for his work on The Illusionist, Neil Burger's spellbinding film which opened in the US last August. From its initial screening across 50 cinemas, the film proved immediately popular with critics and audiences alike and spread to 2,500 cinemas in the run up to Christmas.
Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) in a power struggle which depicts both a clash of egos and an emerging enlightenment fighting against darker times. From the moment it opens, with its flickering titles and seemingly hand-tinted images, an eerie and other-worldly presence inhabits this film. When, later, we see Eisenheim performing his sleight-of-hand tricks and illusions on stage, the entire medium of film with all its paraphernalia disappears and we too are sitting, spellbound in a gas lit theatre in a creepy corner of 19th century Europe as it begins to look to the future.
Approaching the 'look' “It was Enzo (Vaclev Cermak), my Czech gaffer on the film, who called me,” Pope recalls. “He was with Guillermo Navarro (DP on Pan's Labyrinth) who had just been rung very early LA time and given the news that he had been nominated. He got the other names on the list and, when mine came up, he got Enzo to call me.” On hearing the news, there was much excitement in the showroom, the dealers shook Pope's hand and asked for his autograph, and he left in something of a haze rather than in the car he'd been after. Based on a novel by Steven Milhauser, The Illusionist is set in Vienna, 1900 and tells the tale of Eisenheim (Edward Norton), a charismatic magician who uses his extraordinary skills to steal his childhood sweetheart (Jessica Biel) from Crown
“The look we sought for this film is a culmination of many of the other films I've shot and has naturally led up to it,” says Pope. “You don't put each film in a separate box and move on. The experience and knowledge you gain each time is hopefully ever-growing. I could source back to The Reflecting Skin (1989), a ghost story set in the wheat fields of North America that I photographed for Philip Ridley and to be honest further back still. There are a lot of things that I did in both Nicholas Nickleby (2002) and Vera Drake (2004), which I moved on into The Illusionist. I also developed techniques I used on Topsy Turvy (1999).” In fact, it was Pope's work on these period films for Mike Leigh that particularly attracted Burger because, as he put it, “They inhabit their particular time so perfectly and
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Dick has a very beautiful way of lighting faces that makes them more luminous”. “I know he really liked the colour palette I used in Vera Drake,” says Pope. “It had a slightly faded but burnished yellow/green feel and I explored that more in this film. When I read Neil's script, I loved it, saw the way it could build, got very excited and thought, 'I have to shoot this film, it's what I've been working towards.'”
“ We c o u l d s a y n o w t h a t f i l m m a ke r s t o o k o v e r from those early i l l u s i o n i s t s … Pe o p l e f l o c ke d t o t h e c i n e m a because it was the u l t i m a t e i l l u s i o n . To m e , it still is.” However, he dispels any notion that he knew he could be working on a prizewinner or that The Illusionist represents some kind of personal best. “I'm not sitting back in a director's chair with lots of time to time to ponder, and thinking 'this is the one', or 'what a clever guy I am'. That sounds like a recipe for disaster to me and doesn't even come into it. You work fast and put in long hard days,” he says. “You're too caught up in what you're doing and
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Preparing a shot with the very tight-fitting Technocrane
making those days, and anyway, I'm not out there to create my own award-winning showreel. I'm shooting Neil's film, which he's carried for years, and helping him put it on the screen. If I thought anything at the time we were shooting, it was that Neil was terrifically prepared; the costumes by Ngila Dickson were splendid and the production design by Ondrej Nekvasil was outstanding. I'm there to help tell the story and create an atmosphere in which the actors have an opportunity to give their very best.
“Every project is equally important. After The Illusionist, I did Man Of The Year (2005/6), a contemporary satire/thriller for Barry Levinson, starring Robin Williams. It was very 'now' and involved all modern techniques. I had great fun on it, and was pleased with the results. Even though the look is very understated, and hardly mentioned at all I got a great kick out of it.”
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Autochromes and Nine Inch Nails Nevertheless, Pope who is well known for his collaborations with Leigh, has also become celebrated for his work on period dramas, set in the 19th century and often incorporating theatres. Burger had always wanted the film to have an early-cinema feel to it and had become enchanted by the look of autochrome photography. For his first meeting with Pope, he brought with him a book called The Art of the Autochrome (by John Wood), which describes the Lumière brothers' invention of 1903/4with faithfully reproduced images of the results. “When Neil opened up that autochrome book, it came as a revelation to me,” says Pope. “The images were impressionistic and beautiful, from an era that marked the beginning of colour photography in the 20th century. Neil's idea was that Eisenheim's world had to seem futuristic for the turn of that century. Illusionists of the time were looking forward with new ideas, new mechanics and tricks. They were clever and very successful, with money to research and develop the latest technology and they certainly used early cinematic tools such as projection devices to help create their magic. “You could say that early film makers took over from those illusionists and that that was the beginning of the demise of those meticulously staged routines and magic shows. People flocked to the cinema because it was the new magic, the new illusion, in fact the ultimate one, and for me, it still is.” As well as The Art of the Autochrome, Burger and Pope looked at such diverse works as films by the Quay Brothers (both animated and live action) and videos by the band Nine Inch Nails. “They were key references for Neil,” comments Pope. “He wanted this weird, other-worldly look and these films are jagged and very disorienting.” Pope's main challenge before filming started was to find a way to recreate the desaturated, delicately detailed look of the original autochromes which were made using microscopic starch grains dyed red, green and blue, coated on a glass plate to form a screen of coloured particles (for details, buy the book ISBN number: 0877454132). On location in Prague, he used stand-ins in full costume and make-up inside and outside one of the theatre locations to conduct a comprehensive series of tests in which he experimented with
Sunlight effect achieved with a 100K SoftSun various lighting techniques, film stocks and filters. “It took a full day, from morning until very late at night,” he recalls. He took the results to visual effects supervisor Victor Muller at UPP in Prague where they worked together to find an authentic autochrome look. “We tried various strengths of bleach bypass applied to the prints, the interpositives and digital negative or a combination of all three,” says Pope. “The principle was there but the effect was always too much - autochromes are more subtle. When you first look at autochromes, they appear quite pastel but, actually, within them there are areas with strong colours. So we abandoned the physical bleach bypass ,but took the basic idea and went into the DI suite at UPP and devised a look-up table, designing it to bring out the greens, reds, and yellows. After that, we really were there very quickly. It was a lot of fiddling about but it was only through those tests that we could sign off on the look of the film.” Indeed, as there were no printed dailies, this look-up table, was programmed into the telecine suite at UPP and became critical in maintaining a consistency in Pope's DVD dailies. “Neil was very supportive to me in my efforts to get the look
right,” recalls Pope. “I recommended (colourist) Steve Scott at Efilm in Los Angeles for the DI. I'd been introduced to him by Roger Deakins, and just thought I'd love to work with him. Neil went to see him with the autochrome book and he got it immediately. Steve's just won a major award for his work on the film which pleases me no end.” This award, in fact, was the first ever Hollywood Post Alliance award for Outstanding Colour Correction in a Film that went through a DI process and it was presented by ASC president Daryn Okada.
Keeping it real Scott played a vital role in helping to create other antique cinematic effects such as hand-cranking, vignetting, iris transitions, and the look of hand tinted frames, which are all seen most strongly at the beginning of the film but Pope was determined that, wherever possible, Eisenheim's illusions should be performed in camera. “We wanted to create magic that was 'real' as opposed to CGI,” he reasons. “The basic principal is that we as a film audience are actually sitting in that theatre in 1900 enthralled and believing in these illusions. We mostly photographed the stage with Eisenheim on it performing real tricks. “Off screen Edward (Norton) constantly practiced card tricks and rolling a ball around his hand, as did Aaron (Johnson) who plays Eisenheim as a boy. When you see him practising as a boy, it's the same sleight of hand trick that Edward uses later on stage.” This does make Eisenheim believable - so much so that, when he appears to slow the ball down as he throws it from one hand to the other, you momentarily forget about CGI and wonder how he did it. “That is a trick that the illusionists back then, would perform by means of an incredibly fine elastic thread,” answers Pope.
Actors rim lit by custom made period footlights
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As the mood in The Illusionist progressively gets darker, Pope uses unnerving atmospheric effects such as fans to blow the flames of the footlights towards the theatre audience, as Eisenheim appears to make contact with the 'other world'. “This fitted in with the idea of the air on stage becoming 'heavy' as described in the script,” he explains.
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“I contrived to make these scenes dark and mysterious, but also somehow dreamlike. You're not sure what's real and what isn't,” explains Pope. There are elements in these scenes where Eisenheim definitely appears to have supernatural powers such as when a boy, who looks ghostlike and is not quite real, walks out from the back of the stalls and down towards the stage. The shock of the audience in witnessing this, really sells Eisenheim, and the way the dimmed overhead light falls upon the boy really helps create this other worldly presence.
while in centre-stage foreground, Eisenheim was to step up to the table and begin the illusion. As the orange seed in the pot began to sprout and grow, we were to track in towards it, then circle it 180 degrees, then track back out over the front of stage and then out over the audience, skimming their heads as we pulled right back towards the rear of the theater stalls, while all the time the shrub was to continue to grow into a fully mature orange tree bearing fruit, but now with the camera angle diametrically opposed to where we had started”.
Major crane shot
“The fact that I had never before worked with any of my crew made what was a very ambitious and complicated camera move even trickier. We had to deal with how to physically move around Edward Norton without destroying his performance, communicate with a largely non-Englishspeaking audience, and deal with the complicated mechanics and timing of the tree growing. It's the type of move that could be a serious contender for a heavily rotoscoped CGI effect, but it was mainly achieved in camera, and that makes it so much
One of Pope's greatest challenges came right at the beginning of the production when Eisenheim performs his first big illusion on stage in a ritzy Prague theatre. He plants a seed, which, in just a few seconds, grows and blooms miraculously into an orange tree. The tree was actually a marvel of mechanical engineering, akin to a Swiss watch, tucked inside a flowerpot. A set of gears pushed the plant up and unfolded branches from which leaves popped out. That wasn't the problem. The problem was how to get a shot that would show Eisenheim, the orange tree growing and the audience's reaction in one sweeping camera movement. “It was a logistical nightmare,” says Pope. “We had our principals on stage, a full audience of hundreds and the very first shot up on Day One was a major crane shot, the most challenging of the entire film, and which also involved lighting the entire theatre. This was compounded by the fact that, because a play was just finishing its run, all we had was just the one day to get into the theatre and prep the entire interior. There was a lot of sweat pouring off a lot of brows with the thought that we wouldn't make it. The camera was to be placed at the back of stage looking out at the packed theatre,
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more believable. “It was a tough call, but it worked great straight off, and my crew were superb. I think the success of this first major challenge set the tone for the rest of the shoot, which became a hugely enjoyable and rewarding experience.” Since the Oscar nomination, Pope has received much press attention. A reporter for a newspaper in Florida asked him if it had caused his phone to ring with more offers of work. “Sure,” he replied joking, “I've had to hire a team of professional script readers just to cope with the huge number of projects pouring in”. However, Pope adds that, “You never know what's round the next corner - you never know your luck! One of the biggest thrills is to be asked back by a director whose work one really respects… and my next film will be my eighth with Mike Leigh. It's going to be set in present day London, and though it will be on a fairly tight budget I'm sure to have a great experience and I can't wait for it to start.”
Dick Pope Filmography Honeydripper 2006 Man of the Year 2005/6 The Illusionist 2005 Vera Drake 2003 Chronicles of Narnia (additional photography) 2004/5 Nicholas Nickleby 2002 All or Nothing 2001 13 Conversations about One Thing 2000
Way of the Gun Topsy-Turvy The Debt Collector Amy Foster Career Girls Deadly Voyage Secrets & Lies Nothing Personal An Awfully Big Adventure The Air Up There
1999 1998 1998 1997 1996 1995 1995 1995 1994 1993
Naked Life is Sweet The Reflecting Skin The Fruit Machine Soweto Coming Up Roses The Girl in the Picture
1992 1990 1989 1987 1987 1986 1985
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DP Alwin Kuchler BSC
DP Simon Duggan
Sunshine
Live Free or Die Hard Every cinematographer will tell you they create the lighting to support the story. Few cinematographers are able to say they have carried that a step farther and have created their lighting to be a part, even a character, in that story. Such was the challenge for cinematographer Simon Duggan and gaffer Jeff Murrell, in the fourth instalment of the Bruce Willis driven Die Hard action franchise from 20th Century Fox.
Though director Danny Boyle's latest film Sunshine is set 50 years in the future and falls squarely into the science fiction category, it owes much of its atmosphere to the German classic Das Boot (The Boat) as DP Alwin Kuchler explains: “We didn't want to emulate any of the other science fiction films and Danny really liked the idea of these astronauts, who have been sent on a mission to revive the Sun which is dying, being cramped together on a spaceship for four or five years. The spaceship is the submarine in terms of the claustrophobia. It has no windows, just one observation deck with a 60 x 15ft screen. We wanted to get the contrast between sunlight and the complete absence of it - like being locked in a dark cellar for months, and then stepping out into the sun - and we wanted the audience to feel it.” Understandably, he says he found the task of creating the sun intimidating. “It's a problem trying to do it justice,” he explains, “and we were concerned that we would be too reliant on CGI. We wanted chemical reactions and a more organic feel so we did a lot of experiments with film stocks, including reversal stock, to get all kinds of over-exposure. We knew we wouldn't be able to use reversal, but it was a good way of finding the looks we wanted and using it as a guide for the CGI elements.” Lighting By Numbers' dimmer system was used on sets designed by Mark Tildesly at Three Mills Studios. Kuchler particularly likes a corridor sequence in which the lights turn on and off as the crew walk past them to save energy. “Lighting by Numbers could give us three speeds on that which made it very easy,” he says.
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“We literally had to create what we call interactive lighting for this picture,” says Duggan. “In Live Free or Die Hard, John McClane uses 'old school' tricks to foil a criminal plot to take down the entire computer and technological structure that supports the economy of the United States, and the world. Aided by a young hacker, McClane freewheels through many industrial locations like power plants and central government computer stations and warehouses, where, at any moment anything, including any and all lights, can be shut off at any given moment. “Our first lighting challenge was to transform 1,500 feet of a partially covered sub-ground service road to an underground motorway tunnel and light it from scratch,” he explains. “This was to be the first event in the film where we learn the control that the terrorists have over computer infrastructure, and the controlled lighting within the tunnel. They systematically switch it down to complete darkness putting McClane and Matt in danger. “Our rigging gaffer DJ Lootens relit the space with 70 Lumapanels DMX'd to a dimmer control box. We had complete control to sequentially switch down the lighting on cue from a bright tunnel into complete darkness. A massive pile up of cars ensues and dozens of tungsten PAR cans and Source-4 spotlight fixtures become flickering fires and headlights from wrecked cars, again being controlled through the same dimmer box as the overheads.”
Duggan and gaffer Jeff Murrell's lighting package consisted of a mix of existing industrial fixtures and an array of HMI, fluorescent, LED and strobe lamps, Lumapanels and Vistabeams, the smaller Parabeams, a full KinoFlo kit and the relatively new Litepanels LEDs with an occasion BeeBee Light for wide nightscapes. “As the story plays out, McClane and Matt do a lot of travelling, still at the mercy of the bad guy's ability to switch anything and everything computer controlled off or on at any given moment,” Duggan continues. “We did these shots greenscreen, allowing for us to create most of the interactive lighting in camera. Our grip Michael Anderson constructed numerous rotating lighting rigs for simulated car/truck and helicopter travel at night or day. And Michael Mienardus, our special effects coordinator, placed all the vehicles on a motion control base, which could throw the driver and passengers around realistically. “We looked at every lighting effect that would be encountered on our locations and imitated them as closely as possible on stage, keeping in mind reflections and other incidental elements that would be added in post. No matter what we were doing, we had to keep in mind that Live Free or Die Hard had another strong character - the affect our mysterious evil force could employ while trying to take over the United States.” Crew List Director A-Camera Operator B-Camera/Steadicam A-Camera 1st Assistant B-Camera 1st Assistant A-Camera 2nd Assistant B-Camera 2nd Assistant Camera Loader
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Len Wiseman Mitch Dubin Colin Hudson Anthony Cappello John Holmes Steve Cueva Kristi Arnds Haydn Pazanti
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DP Chris Menges BSC
Notes on a Scandal “Aah, look at all the lonely people.” The Beatles sang it and director Richard Eyre has done it with Notes on a Scandal. Shot on location in north London over nine weeks, this is a tale of two cities which focuses on two women, Barbara (Judi Dench) who lives in a basement flat in Archway and Sheba (Cate Blanchett) whose home is in Belsize Park. “This is also a story of inappropriate obsession,” says DP Chris Menges, “and there is a lot of satire and suspense. I wanted to shoot it in a way that had some spontaneity and tension so I used hand-held photography. I didn't want to over-plan how the camera would move, but live more in the moment which liberates the actors. It was exciting and so different from using a tripod - the camera responds to the performance. Richard liked the way the actors energised the camera. “Shooting on location is harder because you're dependent on exterior light, but it can bring interesting and delightful results. I am keen on (Kodak) 5218 stock because it's got the speed, but it also has the dynamic range and is very responsive. The two moods come from the locations themselves. Sheba's house is elegant, light and airy - we weren't allowed to fix
lamps to the ceilings there, whereas Barbara's flat is tiny and underground. We shot most of the film on 40mm which was very appropriate for the film. “If you can catch the performances with vivid images that reflect the story, they can speak in an emotional way. You've got to bypass the logic and find something that digs into your soul. It's what I call the third dimension and it can emotionally enrich the audience.”
Crew List Production Designer 1st Assistant Director Clapper Loader Clapper Loader Grip Gaffer
Tim Hatley Martin Harrison Sam Barnes Ula Pontikos Gary Hymns Lee Walters
DP Vilmos Zsigmond ASC
The Black Dahlia The film noir look of director Brian De Palma's motion picture The Black Dahlia resulted in ASC and Academy Award nominations for veteran director of photography Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, whose credits include The Deer Hunter and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Set in 1940s Los Angeles, the film follows the investigation of an actress' murder. “We were trying to do a film noir movie. We tried to imitate the style of the '40s and early '50s,” explained Zsigmond. “We had to do it in colour and they wanted to make the colour desaturated enough that the lighting resembled film noir movies.” Zsigmond explained that the film was lensed in Super 35, 3-perf, primarily on location in Bulgaria. Additional scenes were shot in Los Angeles at locations including the famed Pantageous Theatre. He explained that the team shot locations that still stand in L.A., but other locations such as the murder scene no longer exist and were therefore sets constructed in Bulgaria.
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In postproduction, the film went through a 4k DI process at Hollywood's Laser Pacific with colourist Mike Sowa. When asked about the most challenging shot in the film, Zsigmond responded, “There's a nice crane shot that starts in the street. A Technocrane goes up to the top of a building, and the camera keeps ascending over the top the building and we see a park where a woman discovers the body of the Black Dahlia. And then the camera picks up a woman up who is yelling “murder, murder” and we switch over to a bicycle and follow the bicycle and they you are back in the same street where you started, all in one shot. And then you pick up a man and a women talking to each other while crossing the street. This was all done in one shot. “Brian De Palma likes to design shots like this and I love to make these kinds of shots… I'm so happy to be working with him. He is a visual director and part of the success of this photography is tied to Brian and to Dante Ferretti, who is a great designer,” Zsigmond concluded. Zsigmond is in pre-production on his next feature, Bolden, which tells the story of New Orleans jazz musician Buddy Bolden.
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DP Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC
Children of Men Director Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men, a thriller set in future England where the human race faces the possibility of its own extinction, earned director of photography Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC honours for his cinematography at the BAFTA Film Awards and ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, as well as his fourth Academy Award nomination. “It was just incredible that we were able to shoot the movie in England, specifically in London where the story takes place,” Lubezki said. “I think this movie could not have happened anywhere else. The crew was absolutely incredible. The camera team, the art department, everyone involved.” When asked about challenging shots, the director of photography cited the farm sequence, which takes place at dusk. “The scene starts at night and little by little, every cut, you see that it's getting lighter and lighter until in the last shot where it is day,” he said. “There is really no way to do that … without people who support the vision,” he said, naming Cuaron and many on the crew.
“The whole movie was shot in 35mm on the shoulders of [camera operator] George Richmond; we would not have been able to achieve the shots we did without him,” he added. Lubezki explained that the biggest photographic challenge in the film was, “to find a language that was appropriate for the film and be consistent.” “One of the things that worried me the most was that there were violent, war-like scenes; I wanted to make sure we would not glamorise the violence,” he said. “The message [of
the film] is war should be abolished. [But] film likes smoke, and tanks look good on film; we didn't want to glamorise it even more. One of the ideas was to treat the movie as if we were a group of documentary filmmakers, and we were just following the actors.” Before completion, the film went through a digital intermediate process with colourist Steve Scott at Hollywood-based EFILM.At press time, Lubezki had just shot an Axe commercial with directing team Traktor on location in Buenos Aires.
DP Florian Hoffmeister
Five Days January saw the airing of Five Days, an innovative BBC drama that injected an added depth and tension into the traditional television crime thriller genre by dividing the plot, which unfolds over five 24-hour periods, into five programmes shown over five consecutive evenings. “I liked the idea,” says DP Florian Hoffmeister, “and what made Five Days such a joy to work on was the ability to place an emphasis on elements such as character and atmosphere that you just couldn't do on one 90-minute show.” Otto Bathhurst directed the first three episodes and executive producer Simon Curtis took over the helm for the final two. Hoffmeister's brief was to make the show look 'filmic', a task that was eminently achievable given that it was to be shot on 16mm film and then transferred to HD. “It was supposed to be a hot summer, when the sun gets so strong that it fades the colours,” he elaborates. “We wanted a desaturated rather than bleached look so we used a low contrast, low (50) ASA Kodak stock which enabled us to keep texture in the highlights and be able to see the clouds.”
Inspector Iain Barclay (Hugh Bonneville) with rescued kidnap victim Leanne Wellings (Christine Tremarco) from BBC production Five Days While working on two episodes of Cracker last year, Hoffmeister experimented with changing speeds in shot and developed the idea for Five Days. For a key sequence in which a child finds some flowers that his mother (who had mysteriously vanished) has left behind, Hoffmeister changed speed in shot and had the clapper loader change the f-stop manually so that the image becomes momentarily overexposed. “The boy in the shot just stood there looking helpless - he was amazing,” he comments. The transfer to HD and colour matching was done by Chris Beeton (who was given a lifetime achievement award by the Royal Television Society in 2005) at Pepper in Covent Garden.
Simon Curtis, executive producer and director of episodes 4 and 5 of Five Days in deep visualisation with DP Florian Hoffmeister. “He is very clever, especially when it comes to such a subtle and organic look,” says Hoffmeister. “I favour in-camera effects which are finessed in the grade but sometimes you run into graders who want to do everything themselves and re-invent the look but not Chris, he understands how to get the best out of what I've done.” Crew List Directors Production Design Costume Design Gaffer Focus Puller Clapper Loaders
Otto Bathhurst and Simon Curtis John Stevenson Lorna Marie Mugan Dan Fontaine Brad Larner Simon Gilmour and Abi Oseni
Close-ups were researched and written by Ian White, Carolyn Giardina, Roger Paul and Ron Prince.
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The BSC's New Equipment Show has gone from strength-to-strength in the last few years. Here are some of the highlights of the 2007 show…
Panavision will show its Genesis digital motion picture camera, recently upgraded to shoot at 50fps. It will also be focusing on the Hylen in-camera effects system, which enables the intermediate image (the image between the lens and the film plane or image sensor) to be creatively manipulated in “real time” via a range of plug-ins prior to image capture. ARRI Media will present its ARRIFLEX 416, S16mm film camera and the new Ultra 16 high-speed, wide-angle primes developed specifically for the S16mm format. The ARRIFLEX D-20 will also seen with a new high-speed fibre connection. Watch out for the brand new Hawk V-Plus anamorphic lenses, available in 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, 75mm, 100mm and 120mm focal lengths, and the Lensbaby 3G, a selective focus lens that brings one area of the image into sharp focus. Cooke Optics will have the latest in its stable of thoroughbred lenses, the 12mm T2, 150mm T2, 180mm T2, CXX 15-40mm T 2, plus its new 6mm S16mm lens. Cooke is also aiming to demo the new post production tools it has developed with British software developer Pixel Farm for those who use Cooke S4is Joe Dunton Cameras has a new set of high-speed spherical lenses, which Dunton says are designed to match to the Cooke S4s in look and colour. Manufactured in Japan, the new Xtal Express lenses come in 14.5mm, 17.5mm and 21mm, all at T1.2. JDC will also show its Xtal Express anamorphics.
JDC's Soho-based DI grading facility, The Hat Factory, will demo its new NuCoda grading desk.
sharpness which Fuji claims produces razor-sharp details and crisp, clean images.
Camera, lens and grip supplier Movietech is showcasing the Redlake Motion Pro X3 digital, high-speed camera, which has a 1280x1024 CMOS colour sensor capable of continuous adjustment to the chosen aspect ratio. It can shoot a 1280x720 (16:9) frame at 720P, with adjustable speeds up to 1480fps. Movietech will also be showing the ARRIFLEX 416 camera, reflecting ongoing commitment to the quality S16mm, and new lenses manufactured through its 'Imaging' lens brand.
If you thought you knew Kodak, think again. Kodak's heritage in film is well-known, but the company has an active outreach programme to inform the industry about the rest of its motion picture empire, from training to post production tools, digital cinema and special effects. The company will show the full Vision2 range of colour negative film stocks, and says it wants to “dispel some of the myths around film capture in a supposed HD world.”
On the filter front, watch out too for Tiffen, South London Filters, and Formatt with its new 4mm and HD filter ranges.
Louma UK will be exhibiting two new items, the Louma 2 telescopic camera crane, and its Key Head. The new camera crane, which had its first outing on the second unit of Harry Potter And The Order of the Phoenix, extends from 7' 10” to 32'. Custom-built software allows the crane's servo controllers to 'talk' to each other - making for smooth repeatable moves and easier whips pans. Louma's Key Head is a two axis remote head that comes in two small suitcasesized boxes. Ingenious design allows a camera weighing up to 25kgs to be set up in over twenty configurations.
This year's show will see Fujifilm unveil its brand new Fujicolor negative film stock - ETERNA Vivid 160T 8543 / 8643. Higher in contrast than other ETERNA stocks, Vivid 160T is characterised by extreme fine grain, higher colour saturation, pure and vivid colour reproduction, as well as increased
Off Trax is encouraging visitors to clamber over its new 5.7litre, 345bhp, LPG-converted Dodge RAM 2500 camera vehicle, as used on BBC's Top Gear and Crimewatch series. Two years in the making, the coachwork was designed and built by fire-engine specialists John Dennis Engineering.
Lee Filters will be showing its range of lighting filter products, and is inviting visitors to check out its latest swatch books. These include The Cinematographers' Edition, a large format book with grades of technical filters most frequently used in film, and The Venetian Edition, which takes the form of a collapsible poster allowing the whole range to be viewed simultaneously.
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Tiffen Europe Ltd +44 1869 343835 www.tiffen.com
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What DPs want… “I'm most interested in lens developments, especially the Cooke range and ARRI Master Primes. Digital technology is still emerging and changing, but the lenses are always key to image quality whether we shoot on film or digital.” DP Oliver Curtis “ The BSC Equipment Show is always a good place to catch up with colleagues, get a sense of which way the industry is moving. But I've often wondered what would happen if the BSC Show and the adjacent Big Brother house somehow got mixed up?” Nigel Stone BSC, GBCT “I'll be looking at the new camera technology in the HD area and to see how it is developing for feature and drama production.” To n y I m i B S C “I've been using the new Kino Flo lights like Parabeams and Vistabeams, they're great. The ARRI 416 is something I'd love to get my hands on, but haven't had a chance to road test it yet. Panavision's Hylen system is quite a fun development.” D P J a k e Po l o n s k y “One of the highlights is always Howard Smith from MKV with this Alien Revolution equipment.” N i g e l Wa l t e r s B S C “I used the Clairmont F/X highspeed digital camera from the US in New Zealand which was amazing, plus the Super G helicopter mount. Some UK companies have similar equipment, which would be good to see. Clive Tickner BSC “I was very pleased with the Astro monitor from ARRI I used on my last HD production. I hear Joe Dunton has been developing numerous bits of kit that I would love to see.” Sue Gibson BSC
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list of exhibitors
See the Abakus high-end range of top quality High Definition B4 mount lenses in action including the amazing ultra-wide Abakus Stadium lens with its 210° diagonal view, seeing is believing! Also the Abakus Arena and Theatre lenses. Examine format converters the Abakus-132 and Abakus-260 which enable B4-mount lens use for super-16 and super35 respectively and the Abakus 1.2 which converts10-100 Zeiss to super-16. If you use video lenses on a tripod you will appreciate the Abakus Viewfinder Extender system, it will save your back. The Abakus system is still the best on the market.
ABAKUS LTD Grange Farm, Bourne Road, Carlby, Stamford PE9 4LU Telephone: 01778 590117 www.abakus.co.uk A.C. Lighting Ltd Tel: 01494 446000 Fax: 01494 461024 kirsteen.vaughan@aclighting.com Abakus Tel: 01778 590117 Fax: 01778 590118 ken@abakus.co.uk Airstar (UK) Ltd Tel: 01844 203640 Fax: 01844 203649 vic@airstar.co.uk Alpha Grip Ltd Tel: 01753 656 886 Fax: 01753 656 959 eugene@alphagrip.co.uk ARRI GB Ltd Tel: 01895 457000 Fax: 01895 457001 sday@arri-gb.com ARRI Media Tel: 01895 457100 Fax: 01895 457101 pcooper@arrimedia.com BKSTS Tel: 01753 656656 Fax: 01753 657016 wendy@bksts.com British Cinematographer Magazine Tel: 01753 650101 Fax: 01753 650111 alafilmuk@aol.com Camera Revolution Tel: 01932 592322 Fax: 01932 592202 mail@camerarevolution.com Camerimage Film Festival Tel: 00 48 56 62 10019 www.camerimage.pl Cine Power International Ltd Tel: 01626 888433 Fax: 01626 888435 diane@cinepower.com Cirro Lite (Europe) Ltd Tel: 020 8955 6700 Fax: 020 8961 9343 d.morphy@cirrolite.com Cmotion GmbH Tel: 43 1 789 1096 11 Fax: 43 1 789 1096 19 christian@cmotion.at Cooke Optics Ltd Tel: 0116 264 0700 Fax: 0116 264 0707 geoff@cookeoptics.com
Daylight Grip & Textiles Ltd manufacture performance products for the Film, Television and Photographic lighting industry. A comprehensive range of Overhead and Butterfly textiles made up and stocked in the UK, we constantly source only the best materials offering continuity and competitive pricing. Industry and custom sizing available on request. Daylight also manufacture a complete range of Lightbanks, offering the end user excellent diffusive opportunities. Further information on these products can be found on our web site www.daylightgriptex.com Contacts; Mr Philip Leonard
Daylight Grip & Textiles Ltd Unit 4, Agecroft Network Centre, Lamplight Way, Swinton, Manchester, M27 8UG P: + 44 161 351 6720 F: + 44 161 351 6721 E: sales@daylightgriptex.com Daylight Grip & Textiles Ltd Tel: 0161 351 6720 Fax: 0161 351 6721 sales@daylightgriptex.com DeSisti Lighting (UK) Ltd Tel: 01842 752909 Fax: 01842 753746 desisti@globalnet.co.uk Digital Vision AB Tel: 46 (0) 8 546 18232 mari.fogelberg@digitalvision.se Elstree Film Studios Tel: 0208 953 1600 Fax: 0208 905 1135 jwicks@elstreefilmtv.com FilmGear Europe Tel: 0203 255 2050 Fax: 0203 255 2060 nick@filmgearlighting.eu Fujifilm UK Tel: 0207 465 5753 Fax: 0207 753 0601 mmorrow@fuji.co.uk Gearhouse Broadcast Ltd Tel: 0845 8200000 Fax: 01923 691499 uk@gearhousebroadcast.com Green Door Films Tel: 01844 217148 Fax: 01844 217148 info@greendoorfilms.co.uk Guild of British Camera Technicians Tel: 0208 813 1999 Fax: 0208 813 2111 www.gbct.org Guild of Television Cameramen Tel: 01822 614405 HD Optical Filters Ltd Tel: 01685 870979 Fax: 01685 877007 david.stamp@formatt.co.uk ICE Film Tel: 0207 278 0908 Fax: 0207 278 4552 sales@icefilm.com Joe Dunton and Company Tel: 0208 324 2311 Fax: 0208 900 9840 joe@joedunton.com John Rossetti Lighting & Camer Tel: 01753 653397 Fax: 01753 653397 john.rossetti@24fps.tv
Happy Birthday DeSisti Lighting is celebrating its 25th Anniversary this year.
Performance, durability, versatility, low weight, esthetics, value for money, it is these characteristics that set our standards.
The long awaited Louma 2 (7’ 10” - 32’) telescopic crane is now available for hire in the UK. Many years of research and development have produced a tool that takes telescopic crane technology to new heights. Custom software allows servo controllers to ‘talk’ to each other. Any axis can instruct or follow the instruction of another axis. Pan, tilt, roll, telescope; together with the arm’s movement, can be set to interact with each other. Preset limits on the telescope and all new remote head result in the camera stopping on its mark – every time!
State of Art production facilities, world wide representation, an enviable reputation - No small achievement from such a dedicated team.
For more information go to www.louma.co.uk
From an initial 1Kw spotlight, to the immense catalogue of product available today. Lighting to suit film, television and location, studio suspension equipment and turnkey project engineering. Cutting edge development providing pioneering product, to meet with the exacting demands of immage originators.
Kodak Limited Tel: 01442 846970 Fax: 01442 846594 maryse.goater@kodak.com Kontrol Freax Ltd Tel: 0208 992 8222 info@kontrolfreax.com Lee Filters Ltd Tel: 01264 366245 Fax: 01264 355058 ryoung@leefilters.com Location Dailies Ltd Tel: 07074 822165 Fax: 0208 357 5450 matt-bowman@tiscali.co.uk Louma UK Tel: 0208 959 3082 Fax: 0208 906 3217 info@louma.co.uk Mark Roberts Motion Control Tel: 01342 334730 Fax: 01342 334731 helen@mrmoco.com MK-V Modular Systems Tel: 01204 574900 Fax: 01204 574930 info@mk-v.com Mole Richardson Co Tel: 001 323 851 0111 x228 Fax: 001 323 851 5593 paul@mole.com Movie-Intercom Lighting FX Tools Tel: 00 49 30 223 20575 Fax: 00 49 30 223 20571 michalke@movie-inter.com Movietech Camera Rentals Ltd Tel: 01753 650007 Fax: 01753 650006 andy.cooper@movietech.co.uk Off Trax Ltd Tel: 020 8232 8822 Fax: 0208 3232 8877 michael@offtrax.co.uk Panasonic Tel: 01344 853465 Fax: 01344 705919 john.joicey@eu.panasonic.com Panavision London Tel: 0208 839 7333 Fax: 0208 839 7310 martin.elvin@panavision.co.uk Panther Gmbh Tel: 00 49 89 613 900 01 Fax: 00 49 89 613 1000 frank.wisniewski@panther.tv
Prokit Tel: 020 8995 4664 Fax: 020 8995 4656 mark@prokit.co.uk Ronford Baker Tel: 0208 428 5941 Fax: 0208 428 4743 jeff@ronfordbaker.co.uk Rosco Tel: 0208 659 2300 Fax: 0208 659 3153 aphamd@rosco-europe.com Showreel Magazine Tel: 01273 227048 denise@showreel.org SIM2 Multimedia Tel: 01825 750850 alan.roser@sim2.co.uk Solid Grip Systems Tel: 00 312 042 82155 onno@solidgripsystems.eu South London Filter Ltd Tel: 020 7735 1900Fax: 020 7820 1718 carey.duffy@camerfilters.co.uk Take 2 Films Tel: 020 8992 2224 Fax: 020 8992 2204 vince@take2films.co.uk Technicolor Creative Services Tel: 020 8759 5432 Fax: 020 8759 6270 simon wilkinson Tiffen Europe Ltd Tel: 01869 343835 Fax: 01859 343836 robin.thwaites@tiffen.com Top-Teks Ltd Tel: 01895 825619 Fax: 01895 822232 mike@top-teks.co.uk VMI Broadcast Ltd Tel: 0870 850 1444 Fax: 0870 850 1445 bb@vmi-tv Willy’s Widgets Tel: 0121 445 2741 bhemedia@hotmail.com
South London Filter Ltd The Company has designed and built many unique lighting fixtures for the Film & TV industry. Very High Brightness Fluorescent Bulbs are now available in colour temperatures up to 8800 degrees Kelvin and 4ft in length, also dimmable, using the new T5 ultra thin technology. We have also designed and installed lighting systems for over 40 Studios in the UK in the last 3 years. Our New CDM 150 has become an industry standard as a replacement for a 650 incandescent pup. Rololight has also become very successful as one of the lightest and brightest fluorescents in the world.
South London Filter Ltd the UKs leading independent rental and sales Motion Picture, HD and Broadcast camera filter supplier will be exhibiting a wide range of camera filters from a variety of filter manufactures. These will include new Diffusion Ranges from Formatt Filters, Tiffen Filters and Schneider Optics. Plus a variety of in camera and optical filter solutions for DoP’s. We will also be exhibiting the MOVIEtube 35mm camera system for 1/3” chip HD & DV cameras. MOVIEtubes patented “Filmscreen” captures a full S35mm gate and DOF. For technical information please use our web sites. www.camerafilters.co.uk or www.movietube.com
Top-Teks was established in 1989 and is now on the leading suppliers of HD Camera equipment in the UK, currently supplying 80% of camcorders to the UK market. Top-Teks provide a complete support service through our fully equipped, purpose built service centre, ensuring customers have the back up they need. Located in a modern 2 storey building just off jnct 17 on the M25 and within an 8 minute drive (6 miles) of Junction 1 of the M40/A40. The showroom has demonstration models from HDV through to HDCAM and Varicam plus a wide selection of lenses and peripherals.
Willy's Widgets has been providing standard and custom solutions to the needs of the motion picture, television and video production industry for more than 25 years. We are the world's only manufacturer of Tracking Vehicle Components, including knuckles, tube bases, bridge plates and camera leveling heads. Willy Wheels gives you a number of ways to move the camera. From the student filmmaker to the feature filmmaker, these are available in kits or fully assembled. We also manufacture a large selection of Camera Mounts, Risers, Leveling Heads and other accessories. Contact Details: Bruce Heideman Willy's Widgets UK, 185 Old Birmingham Road Bromsgrove, B60 1DQ UK Tel/Fax: +44(0)121 445-2741 E-Mail: bruce@widgets-uk.com URL: www.widgets-uk.com
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The future looks bright Painting with light, making actors and actresses look good and creating the right atmosphere, are amongst the chief concerns of every cinematographer. Ron Prince spoke to some of the manufacturing companies and rental houses that want to light up your world in 2007.
Barfly, small but powerful new lights from Kino Flo.
Perhaps the biggest story to grip the lighting business currently is the takeover of lighting house AFM by the Panavision Group, which will see the merger and consolidation of AFM with Panavision's Lee Lighting division. At the time of writing, Panavision's president and CEO Bob Beitcher was in the UK for “integration talks” with both Lee and AFM management teams. There will be a lot to manage and integrate, as the Lee and AFM empires are extensive. AFM is especially strong in the commercials markets in Eastern Europe, South Africa and the UK. Few details were available, but it is understood that AFM's Andy Martin will be chairman of the enlarged company, likely to be called Panavision Lighting, with Steve Smith the managing director. Beitcher told British Cinematographer, “We're very much looking forward to bringing these two great companies together. In many ways, they are complementary and additive to what Panavision is trying to achieve not only in the UK market but also on a pan-European basis. There are no specific plans yet as to how the integration will work, but everyone should be assured that all actions will be taken with the benefit to the customer front of mind. Our goal is to continue to service British cinematographers, on camera, lighting and grip, at the absolutely highest quality level.”
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Tommy Moran, ARRI Lighting's MD, commented, “The beginning of 2007 has started off much busier than expected. March and April look set to be very busy with dramas and then feature films later on in the year.” ARRI has recently services films including Hot Fuzz, The Other Boleyn Girl and Eastern Promises, plus broadcast dramas including Spooks, Holby Blue, Cape Wrath, Brits and Miss Marple.
Rising star in the east They say that competition is healthy. As Chinese manufacturers eye global markets, one of the most significant developments in 2006 was the emergence of lighting manufacturer Filmgear, through its newly-established European subsidiary, seen showing its wares last autumn at the BSC Clubhouse. Filmgear manufactures a range of daylight HMI pars and fresnels, tungsten fesnels, fluorescents, space lights as well as conventional and flickerfree ballasts, and claims to be doing well in Europe, Australia, South Africa, South Korea and India. Now updated, the Classic Dedolight is a favourite of many professionals around the world, and has won numerous awards and accolades since it’s creation by Dedo Weigert a cameraman and self professed lighting enthusiast.
Pa t r i c k M c E n a l l y a n d L e e L i g h t i n g, i n c o n j u n c t i o n with Cirro Lite, got us the first heads in the UK for the shoot on C Stage Shepperton in late summer 2006 and the units solved the problem ex a c t l y a s w e h a d h o p e d . ” – Nigel Stone BSC, GBCT Outlook is bright Speaking about the lighting business in general, Lee Lighting MD Alan Piper commented, “Last year was pretty good, and saw a move back to busy trends of 2003. The feeling is that 2007 will be the same, if not even busier.”
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Lee has recently provided lighting packages to several of the larger productions including Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix, Fred Claus, Stardust and The Bourne Ultimatum. The company is currently supporting Inkheart and has pre-rigged multiple stages at Pinewood on Sweeney Todd to enable director Tim Burton to jump between sets as required. Of the lighting rental companies out there ARRI is probably the most likely to be troubled by AFM and Lee merger. However, ARRI has kept up its momentum in the lighting business in both manufacture and rental, with three new products brought to market at IBC 2006, served from UK from capacious premises in Uxbridge and Manchester. Along with the X Ceramic 250 and Studio Ceramic 250, ARRI also launched what it hails as “the most powerful HMI light on the planet”, the ARRIMAX 18/12 designed for productions requiring high levels of light output. The engineering employs a reflector for beam control that eliminates the need for spread lenses, the upshot being that shadow quality is sharper. ARRI is currently researching the area of LED lighting and showed prototypes at IBC and Video Forum in the UK this year, but this project is still in the early development stages and no time line has been set.
“What Filmgear brings to the market is high-quality, performance and reliability,” remarked Nick Shapley MD of Filmgear Europe on the phone from Italy. “An increasing number of rental houses now have a serious alternative source of supply from a brand that is getting recognition.” With Lee and AFM its two biggest UK customers Filmgear has, not surprisingly, found its equipment being used on shoots for Casino Royale, Henry VIII, Pride & Prejudice, and Extras.
The moon's a balloon In the highlycompetitive, heliumfilled world of balloon lighting, Leelium Balloons reported a buoyant 2006, and painted a rosy picture with a busy agenda for 2007 w i t h equipment currently deployed on Inkheart, The Golden Compass and Coronation Street. Established by John Lee and Bobby Jeffs over 11
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years ago, after spotting gap in the market for dirigible lighting, the company's innovative work was recognised in 2003 with a technical Academy Award. Leelium has just expanded its operations with Switch On, a new outlet near Paris, to take up opportunities in the film, commercials and broadcast markets, and recently expanded its range with a new dual purpose, 5kw daylight/8kwtungsten balloon. Jeffs said the company was in R&D with other products, but refused to be drawn further about these. “Balloon lighting has taken a little bit of time for people to get used to, but producers who have use them quickly recognize the advantages,” said Jeffs. “The main thing is that balloons are cost effective and convenient. There's no rigging or scaffolding involved, they can be easily pulled around the set, and they are quick to de-rig. Working with Ken Fischer and Whites in the US, we are servicing a lot of pictures in LA, Toronto and Vancouver, and think that France will be a great hit for us.”
New products It's reassuring to find R&D continuing, with new products continually flooding into the market. Dedolight and Kino Flo, both represented in the UK by Cirrolite, have just released new products. Dedolight's Classic is now available in two new versions, which run directly from a DMX lighting console or studio dimming system. Kino Flo has released Barfly, a new line of wafer-thin, high output soft lights that they claim are “small enough to fit in the palm of a hand but bright enough to light a sound stage”. Lighting rig on Sleuth Essentially, the Barflys are designed to work in tight locations where larger, hotter conventional fixtures cannot be used. Rosco, represented by LCA, has a competitive offering in the form of its new LitePads, available in six sizes from 3”x3” to 12”x12”. LCA is also touting Litepanels' LED lighting systems, which have also become valued for their cool running operation and soft directional output. Building on the success of its Mini compact, Litepanels has just launched the MiniPlus, available
in daylight (flood and spot) and tungsten (flood) models, and offering 25% greater light output. John Rosetti Lighting, based opposite Pinewood Studios, has just shipped 20 of its new CDM150 hard keying lights, based around the longlife Philips bulb, to Anglia TV, but its eponymous MD said there was “no reason why it can't find a place on film productions.”
And finally… ELP director Ronan Willson said that his company is pushing more and more into LED lighting, but remarked that, “Perhaps the most interesting thing that we are doing is to provide structures for lighting.” continued on Page 24 >>
“A t l a s t y e a r ' s B S C s h o w D a v e M o r p h y o n t h e C i r r o L i t e s t a n d h a d t h e l a t e s t o f f e r i n g s from Kino Flo, the result of several years' research into new and more powerful tube c o n f i g u r a t i o n s . M y g a f f e r, J o h n R o g e r s , a n d I w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e VistaBeam 600 heads to help improve the way we light the huge green backings required o n t h e H a r r y Po t t e r m o d e l s h o o t s , t h e f i f t h o f w h i c h ( O r d e r o f t h e P h o e n i x ) w e w e r e d u e t o s t a r t p l a n n i n g f o r l a t e r i n t h a t y e a r. ” – N i g e l S t o n e B S C , G B C T
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“ T h e o n l y d e v e l o p m e n t t h a t I ' d d e a r l y l i ke t o s e e t h a t d o e s n ' t s e e m t o b e c o m i n g, is a single lamp with an output beyond 18k HMI. The new ARRI 18k is a good s t a r t , b u t I s t i l l t h i n k w e n e e d t o g o f u r t h e r. W h e t h e r w e s h o o t d i g i t a l o r f i l m , w e still need to light and a large single 'sun' source allows us greater creativity and freedom. – Oliver Curtis << continued from Page 23
used by Alwin Kuchler BSC on Sunshine, Ben Davis on Stardust and Harry Potter And The Order of The Phoenix. Currently Light By Numbers has systems across five sets on Sweeney Todd, and is set for several weeks on The Bourne Ultimatum. Gilbertson commented, “We are now concentrating on getting the kit out on productions, making everyone feel comfortable with it and reassuring them that nothing will blow up if you do things digitally.” A number of new lights, provided by Cirro Lite, have been successfully pressed into action on the remake of the classic Sleuth, starring Michael Caine and Jude Law. DP Haris Zambarloukos and gaffer Julian White went with Kino Flo's new Vista Beam, which produces more than twice the light of the previous Wall-O-Lite. The Vista Beams have a central role to play during the making of the film as they are used on a moving truss system that covers the full set. Other interesting lights in use include five-foot Octodome from Dedolight. Also, whilst shooting Sleuth, the DP and gaffer discovered that the glow from one of the main props, a large Samsung PDA, simply wasn't bright enough. DP David Amphlett and the team at Gekko Technology, producers of the lightweight Kisslite and Lenslite LED ring light products which are now widely used on feature films and TV drama, came up with a solution consisting of 18 LEDs, a hard durable diffusion filter and a durable, rechargeable power source, which the engineer was able to conceal within the existing PDA. It is interesting to note that Amphlett is somewhat of a prime mover in LED ring light technology. The shape and scale of the incandescent ring lights had previously restricted their use to main studio set ups, severely limiting use on location. However, with the ability to draw power from camera bodies and batteries, the new LED's are becoming the logical lighting source for many of today's requirements.
Useful contacts… Litepanels introduces MiniPlus LED Light
Lights in production ELP developed a lighting rig for United 93, and has constructed a large butterfly frame for Sweeney Todd, making a massive softlight. The BBC's New Tricks and Waking The Dead are among its current portfolio. Also reporting a good year gone and a healthy outlook ahead is Chris Gilbertson, whose company, Light By Numbers, provides DMX-based lighting control systems and services as
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www.aclighting.com www.afmlighting.com www.airstar-light.net www.arri.com www.cleararc.com www.cirro-lite.com www.dedolight.com www.directlighting.co.uk www.elp.tv
www.filmgear.net www.gekkotechnology.com www.johnrossettilighting.com www.lee.co.uk www.leeliumballoons.com www.lightbynumbers.com www.litepanels.com www.kinoflo.com www.k5600.com
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letter from america
Top of your game S t e v e n Po s t e r s a y s t h a t n o w, m o r e t h a n e v e r, t h e cinematographer's career relies on seeing to it that the image on the screen is the same image they intended to shoot. But the technological changes happening across the entertainment industry mean that everyone has to be at the top of their game.
The cinematographer's role in post-production is drastically different today than it was for, say, James Wong Howe, and his role was different than, say, Billy Bitzer's. For many of the years that film has been the medium of choice, the cinematographer's role changed by seemingly infinitesimal increments. But since 1990 there has been a constantly accelerating evolution of technology that continues to involve the modern cinematographer in insuring the integrity of the image that he, or she, creates.
Every badly painted set wall, every flaw in the a c t o r ' s m a ke - u p , e v e r y m i s t a ke w e m a ke i n lighting will show up l i ke a n e o n s i g n . I d o n ' t necessarily see this as bad. But it will be harder to get away with d o i n g i t t h e e a s y w a y. Traditionally, when a cinematographer finished a movie and made an analogue print in the lab, the process only took a few days. Within those days only a few of the cinematographer's hours each day were spent on the print. And we did it without compensation. Today, in the digital intermediate (DI) suite, a cinematographer can spend up to six weeks finishing a movie. And that time is still usually with no compensation.
Change is a constant It is important that, issues of compensation aside, the director of photography be deeply involved in all aspects of bringing that image to the screen. The DI process allows us, as artists, to complete our work as it has never been done before. Just as the director goes into the editing room to focus and shape the story, with the understanding and consent of our director we now have the tools to shape and editorialise the story through our photography. We must do this work or somebody
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else who knows nothing of what our photography should look like will do it. Let's face it; now more than ever our careers rely on seeing to it that the image on the screen is the same image we intended to shoot. Slowly, some of us are starting to be compensated for this work. It is gratifying to note that in those situations our contributions are being adequately acknowledged. But what happens if we are not available to be there? We are rapidly coming to the day when the cinematographer can contribute ideas or direction remotely, or even as the movie is being shot. These are sea changes to the way we do our work that have happened in just a few short years. This process didn't even start until the art and craft of making movies was almost one hundred years old. And DI's are becoming the norm rather then the exception. These technology changes are happening throughout our entertainment industry. And they are affecting all of our lives in the workplace. I can't imagine one craft that hasn't been touched by these changes. Have any of you compared an old Technicolor Three Strip to a Genesis lately? And how about the Preston? The precision of that instrument never fails to astound me. It wasn't so very long ago that a remote focus was simply a long stick.
Transition to excellence There is another big change that will affect all of our work, from acquisition to digital posting our movies. This is the release of the new hyper-home entertainment devices just coming to the market; Blu-ray Disc Technology and HD-DVD home players. When I first saw a demonstration of Blu-ray we were watching a playback of Blackhawk Down, on two 50-inch screens simultaneously. The first source was a D5 Digital Master and the second was a commercial Blu-Ray Disc playing back on a Play Station 3. I stood there looking for the differences between the two. “Come on!” I muttered, between clenched teeth, “There must be some visible artifacts?” But it was very hard to tell them apart. I was asked to help introduce this new way of looking at movies to a group of tech journalists in London last September (I was only in the city for a day; if it was longer I would have called each and every one of you). My role in this discussion was to demonstrate the amount of control we have over the images today. I showed them a (very) simplified version of a demonstration of Autodesk/Discreet Lustre colour
Steven Poster ASC
correction technology to explain that, with little effort and very little time, we could affect every part of the image on the screen. This is why it is so important to us, the artists, the cinematographers, to have our audience see the best images possible. The reason I'm mentioning this is that I was astounded that this highly acute technology will show not just how good our work can be, but conversely it will also show every flaw in every visual part of our movies. (Can't help the script. That's not our department.) What I am saying is that every badly painted set wall, every flaw in the actor's make-up, (or in the actor) every mistake we make in lighting will show up like a neon sign. I don't necessarily see this as bad. But it will mean that it will be harder to get away with doing it the easy way. Every department will have to begin working at the top of their craft. And will our producers understand this transition to excellence? One hopes they will see it on their screens and know that we have developed ourselves into a place where we will all have to do our best work possible. I don't see that as bad either, just another creative challenge of a constantly evolving technology.
Steven Poster is president of the 6000 member International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600 of the I.A.T.S.E., as well as being highly active shooting movies, and commercials. He was nominated for an Emmy in 2006 for the HBO Movie Mrs. Harris, and is excitedly waiting the release of Southland Tales from Donnie Darko director Richard Kelly, a film that starts off where Dr. Strangelove ends.
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Above: Ron Howard collects his Gong
Above: Michael Ballhaus on stage with Scorsese
Left: Allen Daviau with glamorous assistant, Charlize Thereon A sold out crowd of 1,600 came out on Feb. 18 for the 21st Annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards in Los Angeles, writes Carolyn Giardina. There, the ASC gave its top award to Emmanuel Lubezki ASC, AMC, who won the feature film competition on the strength of his work on Children Of Men. This recognition came a week after winning the cinematography category at the BAFTA Awards.
"Cinematographers have been saving my ass for just about my entire life" – Ron Howard In the ASC competition, Lubezski bested a strong field that included nominees Dick Pope BSC for The Illusionist, Dean Semler ASC for Apocalypto, Robert Richardson, ASC for The Good Shepard and Vilmos Zsigmond ASC for The Black Dahlia.
Left: High honours for ‘Chivo’ Lubezki "It is a great honor to be here; it's incredible be nominated amongst these excellent cinematographers," said Lubezki, who thanked the cast, crew and the film's director Alfonso Cuaron. Lubezki emphasised the important contribution of Children's camera operator George Richmond, whom he invited to join him on stage, where the duo received applause. In the ASC's television categories, John Stokes ACS topped the television movie competition on the strength of his work on miniseries Nightmares and Dreamscapes and David Moxness CSC was awarded a trophy for episodic TV work on Smallville.
Amazing achievements Additionally, the ASC presented Allen Daviau ASC its Lifetime Achievement Award. Daviau has been nominated for Oscars for ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Avalon, The Colour Purple, Empire of the Sun, and Bugsy; he earned a BAFTA Award for Empire of the Sun and a second BAFTA nomination for ET. Actress Charlize Theron, who worked with Daviau of the film The Astronaut's Wife, presented the award. She related that the director of photography inspires a love of film. “He talks about grain in film and it's the sexiest thing you've ever heard,” she gushed.
“I'm meeting lots of directors of p h o t o g r a p h y. I ' v e k n o w n t h e i r w o r k a n d here I am meeting them in the flesh.” – D i c k Po p e B S C Ron Howard was recognized with the Board of Governors Award, which is presented to a flmmaker who is not a cinematographer. "Cinematographers have been saving my ass for just about my entire life," Howard said, bringing humour to the presentation with a story of how director of photography Robert Burks covered for his poor dance skills when he was a child actor in The Music Man. “I was a spaz,” he admitted. Director Martin Scorsese was on hand to personally present Michael Ballhaus ASC with the International Achievement Award for the artful and enduring contributions that he has made to advancing the global art of filmmaking. Ballhaus is the first German cinematographer to earn this recognition. Previous recipients have included a number of BSC cinematographers, including Freddie Young, Freddie Francis, Oswald Morris, Billy Williams, Douglas Slocombe, and Gilbert Taylor. Ballhaus has compiled roughly 100 narrative film credits in Germany and the United States, notably with directors R.W. Fassbinder and Scorsese. During the presentation, a compilation reel of Ballhaus' work was screened, including clips from Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun and Fox and His Friends, as well as Scoresese classics such as GoodFellas and this year's Academy Award nominee The Departed. It also included clips from Ballhaus' Academy Award nominated work on Broadcast News, The Fabulous Baker Boys and Gangs of New York. The ASC also presented Jerry Hirschfield ASC with the Presidents Award, and Donald M. Morgan ASC with the society's first Award for Career Achievement for Television Cinematography. All special award honourees received standing ovations. During the programme, ASC president Daryn Okada took a moment to recognise the 50th anniversary of Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond's escape from their home in Hungary after
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“No one's ever made a film about the Queen before, so you should give me a m e d a l f o r c o u r a g e . ” – S t e p h e n Fr e a r s documenting the revolt on 35mm film. In 1957, the pair migrated to the United States as political refugees. As well, the ASC saluted the life of director of photography Sven Nykvist ASC, who died last September. The awards ceremony concluded a weekend of ASC events. Friday night, a nominees dinner was held at the historic ASC Clubhouse during which nominees were presented certificates. The ASC hosted its annual open house Saturday at the Clubhouse there, the nominees also participated in an online chat. Hundreds attended this always-popular event. During the open house, Dick Pope was enjoying the festivities. “I feel very honoured,” he said. “It's a wonderful atmosphere here and I'm meeting lots of directors of photography. I've known their work and here I am meeting them in the flesh.”
DGA & Sci-Tech Awards Also around Hollywood this awards season, the Directors Guild recognized The Queen and director Stephen Frears at the DGA Awards. At this event, each nominee in the feature competition is presented a medallion. Dame Helen Mirren , via a pre-recorded video clip, paid tribute to Frears, who accepted the nomination medallion via a pre-recorded message as he was unable to attend the event. On accepting, Frears said, “No one's ever made a film about the Queen before, so you should give me a medal for courage.”
“ G r a i n i n f i l m … i t ' s t h e s ex i e s t t h i n g you've ever heard” – Charlize Theron In the end, seven-time DGA Award nominee Martin Scorsese won his first DGA feature film award, for The Departed. He received a standing ovation as he approached the stage to accept his award. DGA president Michael Apted offered the evening's welcome, and with a nod to the future, commented that the riddle for 2007 is “how old and new technologies will impact us all.” On the technology front, new processes for the preservation and archiving of motion pictures figured prominently at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Scientific and Technology Awards. Developers of digital image manipulations tools and wireless remote camera systems also received recognition. In all, host Maggie Gyllenhaal presented eight Technical Achievement Awards, four Scientific and Engineering Awards, a special Award of Commendation, and the Gordon E. Sawyer Award to visual effects software pioneer Ray Feeney. Additionally, the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation was awarded to Richard Edlund. Engineering teams from Hollywood post houses EFILM, Technicolor Digital Intermediates and Pacific Title and Art Studio were recognized for the development of archiving processes. Among the honorees from the UK were a team from The Foundry, who received Acadamy Plaques for its Furnace suite of software applications used by the visual effects community. On the recognition of multiple digital image manipulation tools during the ceremony, Foundry cohonouree Simon Robinson observed, “The improvements in the science mean that this is available to the mainstream and doable.” A special Award of Commendation was presented to a multi-company team for their contribution to the environmentally responsible industry conversion from silver-based to cyan dye analog soundtracks. Speaking on behalf of the group, Ioan Allen, said, “studios and theaters have worked together to achieve something signficant for the earth. Be proud.” Feeney, accepting the final award of the evening, an Oscar Statuette, received two standing ovations. “Today, virtually all post production is digital-and digital technologies hold great promise for production,” he said.
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all time greats
Robby Müller Black & White Minstrel Robby Müller's filmography of over one hundred movies covers the broadest spectrum from eclectic 'arthouse films' from European auteurs such as Andrej Wajda, Barbet Schroeder, Wim Wenders, Michael Winterbottom, Sally Potter, Lars von Trier and Jim Jarmusch to the sharply contrasting Hollywood studio directors Robert Altman, John Schlesinger, William Friedkin, Jerry Shatzberg and Alex Cox, among others. Madelyn Most met up with the great man to talk about his career The softly-spoken, reserved Dutchman hesitated before stepping on stage with his son to receive Camerimage's 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. Perhaps too much had already been said by director Wim Wenders, or perhaps Robby Müller, in his modest and unassuming way, just wanted to thank the public and quietly exit out of the spotlight. Müller says integrity is what is most important to him. “Integrity means respect towards each other, towards your partner, your friends, the team you work with. It also means maintaining a degree of control over oneself, not acquiescing to power, but showing courage instead.” Having suffered a lot under large American film crews, Müller says, “One has to carefully consider what situations to enter into because in critical situations one is often alone.” Müller carefully chooses which films he will work on, and the directors he will work with. “I try to work with directors who want their films to touch the audience. I like films that take risks and express real things that go on between people. I choose films that get closer to human feelings, films that I can connect with. I believe a director must be a person capable of thinking in terms of images, although some end up as directors only because of their ambitions. Twice I left a film because it made my life a misery. You have to think about your priorities, I want a real life.”
Integrity and character Müller discusses his early upbringing; born in Curacao in the Dutch Antilles, growing up in different countries and constantly changing schools because his father worked for Shell Oil. He was a young boy when his family was taken hostage during Indonesia's revolution. They moved to bustling New York in the 1950's and then returned to Holland where he experienced extreme culture shock. “I changed schools so often, I always had to find out right away who could be my friend. I did not choose the 'best', I always chose the 'good' people. I became a good judge of character and this helped me later on in the film industry.” In 1962, Müller studied cinematography at Amsterdam's Nederlande Filmakademie where he made friends with artists and poets. “I felt much more at ease with these people, they showed me an alternative way of living that I was immediately attracted to,” he recalls. While working as camera assistant to Gerard Vandenberg, he learned, “An interesting way of being lazy, of not doing too much, only doing what is necessary. I learned a lot about light using only one lamp. It fascinated me. I came up through Black & White photography and to me it is like poetry. Everything extraneous is out, setting the imagination free. I prefer B&W over colour: colour gives you too much information and it distracts you from the story you are trying to tell.” When starting out in film, Müller says he went to museums and studied paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer to discover how they used direct and reflected light. “Rembrandt's work is based on natural, real light, never theatrical. He plays with the logic of light coming from a certain light source and uses light reflected from the foreground, allowing for even the smallest details on a dark face to be seen. I thought, I must try this.” After moving to Germany, he worked with Wim Wenders in 1968 on Alabama: 2000 Light Years from Home. “We worked on low budget, independent films. There was no pressure to please an audience. Films were art”, he says. What became a 30-year collaboration generated a revival of German cinema in the 1970s and gave birth to some of the most original and memorable films in cinema history - The Goalkeeper's Fear of the Penalty Kick, Alice in the Cities, Kings of the Road, The American Friend, Paris Texas, Until the End of the World, and Buena Vista Social Club.
Emily Watson, Breaking the Waves (1995)
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It was not Germany, but France, where Müller intended to settle. “For me, France was the cradle of film, where it all began. In high school, I went to the movies every day. The 'Nouvelle Vague' had a great impact on me because they
Robbie Müller broke through a barrier and spoke about real life. It was Godard's films and especially Raoul Coutard's camera work, and also Agnes Varda's films, that influenced me.”
Hollywood and bust When Müller's unique imagery gained him international recognition, he was sought after by Hollywood directors to work on big budget studio movies (Honeysuckle Rose, Repo Man, To Live and Die in L.A., Fool for Love, Barfly, Mad Dog and Glory) but his memories of this period are filled with disappointment. Müller came into conflict with arrogant, bullying directors, rigid union regulations, “that destroy the familial, convivial atmosphere”, the reckless methods of the Teamsters, and camera operators, “who knew or cared little about the film they were making”. Müller spoke out about the abuse, the injustice, and discrimination and defended himself and other crew members, but adds “…in these difficult and delicate situations, I needed support from my brethren, but my colleagues were silent.” “The union system in America is crazy, instead of helping each other out, it is one department trying to sabotage the other. The Health & Safety department are the most dangerous: their rules are so ridiculous that they actually cause accidents. The whole American system of filming is now infecting Europe and I don't understand why more cameramen don't speak out. They all just keep quiet about it and accept it.”
Kings of the Road (1995)
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Ironically, this was one of the few times he did not operate the camera, instead French 'cadreur' Jean-Paul Meurisse composed the images that were mostly hand-held, unrehearsed, and never repeated because, “the director didn't want the actors to act,” he says.
Stellan Skarsgard, Emily Watson, Sandra Voe and Phil McCall in Breaking the Waves (1995)
Emotion with emulsion Disillusioned by the system in Hollywood, Müller branched off from the mainstream to work on films, “That are closer to life and to human emotions, that is where my heart is.” Müller's signature black and white photography transformed Jim Jarmusch from a small indie filmmaker into a cult figure with the success of Down By Law, Mystery Train, Coffee and Cigarettes, Ghost Dog (in colour), The Way of the Samurai, and Dead Man. It was Lars von Trier in 1996 who shook Müller from the "ennui" (boredom, loss of interest) he says one suffers after working a long time in the film industry. On Breaking The Waves, Müller had to abandon all professional and technical concerns in order to recapture a state of innocence, he says his brain was re-awakened and his creativity came back to life.
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Despite obvious technical inconsistencies, this unorthodox way of filmmaking earned awards worldwide and even Cannes Film Festival's Palme d'Or. A few years later, he collaborated again with von Trier on Dancer in the Dark under similar circumstances and again the film received international critical acclaim. “The new cinematic language that Lars wanted interested me. I respond to what happens in front of me, so I am not afraid of going on a set totally unprepared. My working methods may be compared to those of musicians who improvise. I am not a technical cameraman, and I don't make pretty pictures.”
One of the many disagreements Müller had with American unions was the issue of operating the camera. “I always operate the camera. I feel if I let the thing out of my hands, I would no longer be participating in the process. I'm very careful when deciding how to compose the image, there is not only the face but also the body language of the actor to consider and I find many solutions from intuition. That's why I operate all of my films; it's fun and it stimulates my interest. I want to make the light and the movement myself. How can another person decide for me what is important in the image and its movement? Many cinematographers are team players and don't worry much about their work, but I have quite a lot to lose since what I make is part of my life… "
Robby Müller - Filmography (from 1980) Nach grauen Tagen Visions of Europe Coffee and Cigarettes Poem - Ich setzte den Fuß in die Luft und sie trug 24 Hour Party People My Brother Tom Dancer in the Dark Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai Shattered Image The Tango Lesson Breaking the Waves Al di là delle nuvole
2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995
Dead Man 1995 Hoogste tijd 1995 When Pigs Fly 1993 Mad Dog and Glory 1993 Bis ans Ende der Welt 1991 Korczak 1990 Red Hot and Blue (TV) 1990 Aufzeichnungen zu Kleidern und Städten 1989 Mystery Train 1989 Coffee and Cigarettes II 1989 Piccolo diavolo, Il 1988 Barfly 1987 The Believers 1987
Down by Law 1986 The Longshot 1986 To Live and Die in L.A. 1985 Finnegan Begin Again (TV) 1985 Body Rock 1984 Paris, Texas 1984 Repo Man 1984 Tricheurs 1984 Klassen Feind 1983 Un dimanche de flic 1983 Les Iles 1983 They All Laughed 1981 Honeysuckle Rose 1980
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Armageddon around the corner Technology… big word isn't it? But I got it right. I was a klutz at spelling, bottom of the class me, but I got it right. That's because I have a button on my laptop. Magic stuff this technology, now I can do anything! WROOOONG! Unless somebody's fairy godmother turns up a bit sharpish with planning permission for a sizeable extension on a lot of wallets.
Trevor Coop Chairman, GBCT
The wonders of modern science have made it possible for creatives within the audio visual industries to do whatever is in their wildest dreams. But it comes at a price, and in order to pay that price some sacrifice has to happen. The question is where is that sacrifice going to be made? For many years now film budgets have been escalating out of all proportion to inflation. It has to stop somewhere; we are fast approaching the stage where film production will be totally pointless, because no matter how successful the project is, it will still not recoup its negative cost, and the old fallback position of sell-through and DVDs to make up the shortfall is also in serious doubt, because of what is currently evolving in terms of exhibition via the Internet. From a mere technician's point of view the problem for some time would seem to have been too many chiefs and not enough Indians. I fully understand the reason for multi producers. With so many co-productions in the independent sector, and even on some major Hollywood studio shoots, all the financial factions have every right to make sure that their buck is buying as much as the next guy's. The megabuck deals that so called bankable stars' agents demand, making hay while sun shines by any other name, are another major contributory factor. Add on to this the cost of all the
new toys that everybody wants to use, but nobody wants to pay for, and Armageddon is only around the next corner. In recent years the only way to cut was at the front line - shooting crew reductions. When we get to one Romanian wearing 107 hats working 140 hours for $53 with no per diems and shooting in downtown Beijing, where do we go from there? In the hope (we have to remain positive) that the entrepreneurial powers that be will move to reduce above the line costs to a tenable level before it is too late, the GBCT, in conjunction with Skillset, The National Film School, and others are already training the stars of the future, and have a substantial programme to continue doing so. Because we believe at the Guild that there is a future, 'It's a British film industry Jim, but not as we know it!' We have to change with the times, well we already have, like it or not, but now our employers have to follow suit! Trevor Coop GBCT chairman
Making piracy history, but at what potential cost to BAFTAs? “Several films have slipped through the system and have been passed by, largely due to DVD screener problems, Spielberg's Munich, which was not seen by any BAFTA members in the UK on DVD due to a manufacturing error which meant the DVD would not play on any machine in the UK.”
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Piracy is clearly still a huge threat to the entertainment industry, particularly for filmmakers and distributors alike. This has been made more acute by the introduction in recent years of DVD players and associated media, and it has been led by the computer business, where more data-hungry applications require larger amounts of accessible cheap data storage. The humble CD is now considered by many to be old technology, and indeed it is more than 20 years old, and the relative “new kid on the block” is the DVD in its many forms and multiple recording formats, including the newer Blu-Ray and HD DVD versions, of course. Whilst this is great for computer users who want to save their memories on something other than a computer hard drive, it introduces the age-old problem of illegal copies being made and distributed of films and music.
In previous years the VHS tape was not an ideal medium for the illegal pirates to use for their transfers, as there was always a large loss in quality with each generation due to the nature of the medium. For many years it was all they had, so it had to suffice. As the DVD is a digital medium it opens up possibilities for pristine cloned digital copies to be reproduced, and the possibilities of illegal copying to a very high standard are now more real than ever. Sophisticated measures therefore needed be put in place to halt the potential flood of illegal copies that could potentially cost the business millions and indeed billions of pounds, dollars or Euros. This issue has rightly been taken extremely seriously by the industry, and a variety of sophisticated encryption techniques have been introduced into the duplication stages to help combat the possibilities of illegal copying. One solution has
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been introduced by Cinea (a division of Dolby) that helps major studios and service providers protect digital video by making it extremely costly for pirates to steal content, and also increases the likelihood of their capture. This has been very evident in the latest round of Cinea encrypted DVD screeners for BAFTA and AMPAS members. Voting members of both Academies have been supplied with a Cinea SV300 DVD player in which multiple levels of security are incorporated. Cinea's SV300 player and S-VIEW discs incorporate industrialstrength security features that form a complete protection umbrella. During delivery and storage, content on the discs is secured using state-of-the-art AES 128-bit encryption. All of the protected audio and video content is fully encrypted. The discs can be time set, enabling content to be played only during the described period. Further, content-specific output controls allow content owners to choose which video outputs can be enabled for their content. The most advanced, industry-standard encryption system, AES, is used, with 128-bit keys to encrypt the content onto a DVD. According to the National Institute of Standards & Technology, it would take a computer faster than any existing today approximately 149 trillion years to crack the key. In addition, the SV300 itself has a variety of security subsystems that work together to ensure content and keys are never available in the clear: • A tamper-responsive security core provides highly secure storage for content keys and secure infrastructure enforcement. This circuit automatically destroys secrets when attacked. • A secure real-time clock enforces the window during which content can be played, as well as provides a time stamp for watermarking. • An embedded Cinea Running Marks inserter places an indelible, invisible watermark into each copy of the content as it is played out, facilitating forensic tracking if needed. • Macrovision protection on the analogue outputs provides additional protection against recording to media. This means that a film in the pre-theatrical release stage can be sent as a DVD though the post to a voting member, and if it were intercepted by a criminal gang of counterfeiters it could not be watched or copied by anyone who doesn't have a special DVD player. Furthermore, if the distributor wanted the film to have a limited life span, it could be activated to stop being playable after a certain time. A bit Mission Impossible, and “this DVD will self destruct in 20 days” sort of idea (although it doesn't self destruct, it just stops working.) All jolly good, in theory.
Whilst this would be a slight hiccup if the distributors spread the distribution of the screener discs throughout the year, most of them have a tendency to send the screener discs at the very last moment, apparently so that they are fresh in the minds of the voting members and thus more likely to get a vote. Many DVD's were arriving late in December, right up to and even beyond Christmas. This is not ideal to get the attention of the voting members, as your movie gets swamped with many others, and there is not physically enough time available to watch them all in the given time span. The problem with that is the voting member is not aware until late in December that there is a potential problem with the disc, and by then it's too late to get a replacement disc or player. Furthermore, this is compounded by the literal deluge of discs arriving in that last month before the first round voting ends. With most films running around the two-hour mark nowadays, to physically watch and concentrate on more than three or four films a day is extremely difficult, both in time and mental ability to focus. And the viewer needs to have a life as well. In the space of a few weeks alone in excess of 50+ DVD's arrive almost at once, which is well over 100 hours of viewing time. Or approximately a month of solid viewing for eight hours a day. Or in other words one film each and every day for approximately three months. To compact that viewing time into the last month of the year (when it is normally the busiest month of the year as well) makes it literally impossible to see all the films that are available to view. Impossible. Remember the Academy members are mostly working professionals who often have long working hours as well. Not everyone works near the screening rooms in Soho, nor has the time to see every film print that is being shown. Give the Academy members a proper chance to view your film in plenty of time and it will pay rich dividends, I can assure you.
The DVD screener This is why the DVD is actually now such a useful tool for the distributors to get their films nominated. The same discs can be either extremely expensive or very inexpensive and efficient depending on how they are utilised. If used wisely they can become an extremely powerful marketing tool that can influence the outcome of the awards, and as such can hugely swell the takings at the box office. If used unwisely, however, and they arrive too late or have too many restrictions, they become no more useful than extremely expensive coffee mug coasters. It is that simple. In all of the major categories in the 2006 BAFTA Awards, nominated films without exception have been sent to the members on DVD as a screener, which shows just how valuable they are in the awards season.
Just a bit too robust Voting The challenge comes when the encryption is possibly far too robust and sensitive to potential errors, and the legitimate viewer is totally unable to view the movie. This is exactly what happened with several of the machines both last year and this year. Some people found that several supplied DVD's didn't actually work in Cinea SV300 player, and the machine had to be sent back in some cases for replacement.
There are several stages to the voting procedure to be nominated. In round one every movie is made a potential equal contender. It is a knock out round, and if they are not voted for they are knocked out of the running. So, if your film has not seen by this point you will not get through to the second round. End of story.
This continues to the second round where there is now a shortlist of ten films in all categories of direction, cinematography, costume, hair, script, acting etc. Some of these films will not have been viewed by everyone at this point, for the reasons given above. This is also a crucially important time, as a film may have been supplied on DVD, but not yet viewed at this point. It is then another mammoth viewing session to catch up on any that have not been seen, either in viewing theatres or on DVD. If a DVD is then date restricted to only cover the first round voting (as two notable films were this year, Bobby and Miss Potter) they then become impossible to view by anyone, even with a Cinea SV300 player. Needless to say these two films did not find themselves in the final round. Talk about shooting oneself in the foot… I would personally be delighted to see the very best contenders win in their particular categories for that particular year. That surely is what the various contests are about, rewarding the very best. However, several films have slipped through the system and have been passed by, largely due to DVD screener problems. Some should have been nominated (or even win), but due to the late arrival and other problems the voting members did not get to see them. It is made quite clear at each stage that the film should only be voted for if it has been viewed by the member, and should not be voted for that film if it has not been viewed. All rightly so and correct, of course. Such previous years examples were Spielberg's Munich, was not seen by any BAFTA members in the UK on DVD due to a manufacturing error which meant the DVD would not play on any machine in the UK. It was both region 1 (USA) coded and also Cinea encrypted. It arrived way to late for the error to be corrected in time. Another example passed by in the BAFTA awards in 2005 was Million Dollar Baby directed by Clint Eastwood. This film won four Oscars, including best motion picture and best director, and was nominated for three other categories. It also won two Golden Globes and was nominated in three other categories, along with a heap of other awards. It did not get seen by many BAFTA voters so it was sadly passed by. It is clear to see that DVD screeners are an absolutely essential tool for the films to get seen by the various Academy voting members (and therefore be nominated and in for a chance to win!) However, to make the DVD work for the filmmakers properly it also needs to be available throughout the year, not just in a final flourish when everyone is busying themselves for Christmas and the end of the year. Distributors, please take heed if you want the awards and attention your finely crafted movie hopefully deserves. By the time you read this the BAFTA and Academy awards will be announced. May the best people win what they richly deserve. For more information try visiting, www.piracyisacrime.com, www.cinea.com, and www.bafta.org.
The GBCT news is compiled and edited by John Keedwell. ISSUE 20
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Dramatic scenes in Georg, the Estonian musical biopic shot and lit by Rein Kotov
From Estonia with love Rein Kotov ESC was educated in Moscow at the famous VGIK film school from 1987- 91, which at the time, when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union, was the main establishment for young filmmakers to get an education. After that he worked for a couple of years at the Estonian state studio Tallinn Film shooting short films, and later features. He has since shot 15 feature films and Georg is Rein Kotov's latest production. Principle photography has finished, leaving one week of production during the winter, which will take place in January 2007. In total, the shooting schedule for the production will be 44 shooting days. Rein considers that this was all right for this production, and adds that his previous production had to be shot in 27 shooting days, which was tough for a full-length feature film. Principle production on Georg was in Estonia, with further shooting in Moscow and a few days in Helsinki. He explains that shooting in Moscow was quite difficult, the city is enormous, and everything is very complicated; for example, on the spot alteration of a location shoot could be very difficult to implement, and getting permission for exterior shots with the Kremlin in the background would take months of paperwork. He says that bureaucracy is even greater than during the Soviet times. But the Russian crew and the studio they worked with were both professional and helpful. Georg is a period drama, set from the forties to the seventies. It's essentially a portrait of Georg Ots (played by Marko Matvere), a famous Estonian singer, much loved in Estonia, Finland and the previous Soviet Union - so his audience was huge. He was multi-talented - he sang at the opera house in Tallinn, but also had a more popular repertoire and furthermore acted in many musicals produced in Russia. The film starts when he was in his 20s and in love with his first wife, and depicts his life during the Second World War, his career after the war as an opera and pop singer until his death 1974, when he was at his peak. It's a film about his music - a tribute to his music and there are many musical performances in the film. He was very popular
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many documentaries. For the last ten years he has been a partner in one of the most active production companies in Estonia Allfilm. Here, Andreas Fischer-Hansen DFF, president of IMAGO interviews Kotov about his latest film Georg, directed by Peeter Simm.
in the whole of the Soviet Union, and his films are still screened in Russia. AF-H: This is the biggest production you have shot, and indeed it's the biggest Estonian production ever. Since it covers an historic period from the '40s to the '70s, how did this influence your lighting decisions and other stylistic choices? RK: I did think of the different periods, and the changes have been huge since the 1940s. People living through this period were born into a free and beautiful Estonia - the first independent republic was from 1920-40. Then during the Second World War half of our people were taken to Russia, Siberia, etc., to work in labour camps and to become part of the Soviet army, the other half of the young men were taken by the Germans for the German army. After the war the occupation started. So these were huge changes, and giving an idea to people who did not experience this period how intense and difficult a time it was, was our main thought during pre-planning.. On a simple technical level we had to avoid modern details, so things like exterior scenes and angles were very chosen carefully. We are doing some compositing and digital special effects in the post, which help this, but you have to be careful not to get lazy and think, 'I can fix that in post'. As for the lighting - this is quite a classically lit film. I did this to capture the real emotional stuff of the actors. I also wanted to bring out the textures and the colours of the really beautiful costumes made by our costume designer, to give them a true presence in the images too. We did do one very different lighting for a scene when we
were shooting in the Moscow studio, as this was a scene from a film that was shot in 1954, so had to create a more contrasty look, with more direct light.
“Georg is quite a classically lit film. I did this to capture the emotions of the actors and bring out the t ex t u r e s a n d t h e colours of the really beautiful costumes” In a way every film is a challenge, especially here in Estonia, where so few are produced. With Georg I was moved by the music and songs of Georg Ots - some of which I had heard for the first time many years ago. So my first and most profound feeling was how to make all the scenes, the framing, the lighting and the camera movements such that, after seeing the film, you have a pleasant feeling of 'hearing' and 'seeing' something beautiful. Something that was created and performed by Georg Ots, but which lasts for much longer than himself. AF-H: Shooting the war sequences, are there battle scenes or is it more “behind the scenes” stuff?
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economy, you have to earn your money to survive. At that time, as I remember it, you didn't think of the future in economic terms, perhaps just emotionally. AF-H: The production of films in Estonia at that time was much bigger, and the Russians came here to produce… (Andrei Tarkovsky shot Stalker in Tallinn.) RK: Yes. Eight or ten features a year, which is twice as much as today. There were constantly productions; it was all part of the planned economy. AF-H: What type of films were they?
RK: Well, the actual history is there in the background. We didn't shoot any battle scenes, or any communist party congresses. The film concentrates on one man's life and the history is seen through him. We still have the possibility of editing into the film documentary footage taken at the time, which would be nice because it would enhance the historical background of the story. AF-H: Talking about Estonian film production more generally, what are the normal production conditions in relation to time schedules, working conditions, etc.? RK: There's not an absolute fixed standard, but it is accepted by everybody that we work six days week and twelve-hour days, and this was the case on this production. But we had the privilege of a budget of €2,200, 000 Euros, which is big in our terms. The shooting schedule was 44 days, which is quite good for a feature of this size. The crew was about 40 people, which is large by Estonian norms. The crew members have contracts, and their overtime is paid. In Estonia three or four features are produced per year, with an average budget of €600,000 to €800,000 Euros. It's not so common to shoot on 35mm any more, because of the budget. So shooting on HD and Super16 is becoming more common. I shot a children's' feature film last year on Super16. The budget did not allow us to shoot on 35mm since the main actors were children, and the amount of raw stock we used was huge…
RK: They were very different, there was a lot of propaganda in the films, of course, but somehow filmmakers at the time managed to put some “between the lines” content into the films - about how life really was. In the late 70s and start of 80s there was a strange time when censorship was not so strict, so we did quite interesting films. And at the time TV was not so important, so films had a stronger influence and much stronger attraction than today. Today there is so much else to compete with - the TV and the Internet, have become much more important, so strong that you have to produce something which is really different and stands out from the mass-produced mainstream stuff to get attention. AF-H: How did you come to work with the director Peeter Simm? RK: I worked with him first on a short film many years ago, and last year I shot a feature film with him, called Fed Up - an Estonian/German co-production. At the end of the interview Rein Kotov said that even though there is no big film industry, even though productions are scarce and small-scaled, there are people who are trapped by the magic of film making,, who have passion for filmmaking, ensuring a presence for Estonian films. Georg was shot on Kodak Vision 2, 250D and 500T. The format is scope, Super35 / 3 perf., the camera ArriCam LT and lenses Zeiss Ultra Prime. The negative is processed by the Gorki Studios in Moscow and all 2K scanning and digital post production is handled by Digital Film Finland in Helsinki.
AF-H: … but it was OK shooting on Super16? RK: … it's fine for TV and all right for the big screen, but this was my first experience with Super16 and we had problems with the lenses, problems with the grain. I don't know whether it was the negative or the lab, but we had huge grain. The negative is so small, so that if you get something wrong somewhere it really shows up in the blow up. In that sense 35 is much safer, more reliable… AF-H: I presume you just had video rushes, so you couldn't control things properly? RK: Exactly. That's the main problem nowadays, you don't see the real image on a big screen before the answer print is done, But have seen other pictures shot on Super16 that have been much better… AF-H: Many years ago Super16 productions were quite common in Scandinavia, but at that time one had much better control because you had blow-up tests and proper rushes, nowadays it can even be a problem shooting 35mm, not getting rush prints. How did you see rushes on this production (Georg)… RK: We got them on DVD and when we had time we checked the scanned material on analogue Beta SP. We did not get rushes during the production, but we did tests on all the camera equipment, comparison tests on lenses, and the negative before starting the shoot. AF-H: Why did you become a cinematographer? RK: We don't really know why do we? When I was young, at ten or 12 years of age, I got a stills camera and became attracted to this process of making images. I was also attracted to filmmaking at school in our film club, where we had small 16mm cameras. AF-H: It must have been quite something at the time to decide to go off to Moscow, to VGIK, to study cinematography, or was it an easy decision? RK: Well, it was much easier then to decide to become a cinematographer than nowadays, because production volume was much greater, competition was not so tough at all life levels. You didn't have to think so much about the future as you have to today. Now we have a free
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Robert De Niro and Clare Danes on set at Pinewood
on the job
Stardust also spent time in the Brecon Beacons
A sprinkling of stardust It's a hot afternoon in July and DP Ben Davis is in the wilds of Wales with director Matthew Vaughn filming the final location sequences for Stardust, Paramount's $50 million-budget fantasy movie starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfieffer, Sienna Miller, Claire Danes and Charlie Cox. Davis, who has just become a member of the BSC, takes some tracking down. I arrive at the appointed hour in a field full of trailers, actors, crew and, impressively, three helicopters to discover that he's miles away on top of a mountain, shooting aerial sequences involving Romanian stuntmen on horseback. A couple of hours and two minibus rides later (and after an unusual lunch with said horsemen), I catch up with the DP and we sit down to discuss how on earth he has come to be at the top of the Brecon Beacons with flip flops on.
Wayward youth It all began when, as a “wayward youth” in England, Davis was sent off to stay with his father, a cinematographer based in New York. “He put me to work as a runner on a US made-for-TV movie he was shooting and I loved it,” Davis recalls. “After that, I worked as a camera trainee on HBO Movie of the Week-type productions for two months. When I came back to the UK, I knew I wanted to be involved in the industry in some way or another. It was difficult to get in then (the early '80s) because it was very much a closed shop, but I worked on a couple of film school graduation productions and then as a trainee on Insignificance (a British film for which Peter Hannan was the DP). Eventually I got a job at Samuelson's working in the camera department from 1982 to 1983 when I left to become first a clapper loader and then a focus puller.”
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“ I ' m ke e n t h a t S t a r d u s t has a sense of grain… most VFX people will tell you to shoot it clean and the grain will be added later… but to me, electronic grain is noise.” As a clapper loader, Davis was lucky enough to work with the likes of Billy Williams, Harvey Harrison and Dougie Slocombe. “They were really good people,” he says, “My regret is that I wasn't paying attention to what they were doing, because I was so intent on what I was doing. It wasn't until I'd lit my first short film and discovered I had a flare for it that I realised that's what I really wanted to do.” Davis' first film was Miranda, a Film Four production directed by Mark Munden in 2002, but he cites his first 'real break' as Layer Cake, shot in 2004 with Vaughn making his debut as a director. “I really enjoyed that,” says Davis. “I had nine weeks of prep which gave us a long time to define the look.” Time wasn't quite so much on his side for Stardust which Davis began work on at the end of February 2006, straight after shooting Young Hannibal with Peter Webber. “I finished Hannibal, got on a plane and started on Stardust the next day,” he says with just a hint of weariness.
Studio Dino De Laurentiis
Ian White met up with Ben Davis BSC at the end of the summer 2006, to discover how the young, up-and-coming DP set about bringing magic to the big screen for Paramount's Stardust, to be released later in the year.
Gong Li in Hannibal Rising
Defining the look It's now the end of July and this epic action fantasy feature, has taken him on a five-month journey through majestically rugged and windswept locations across northern Scotland, Skye, Iceland, England and Wales. So, having such breathtaking scenery to work with, what kind of look have Vaughn and Davis opted for? “Before we started shooting, I visualised it as being quite gritty and desaturated,” says Davis, “but, after seeing such elements as the wardrobe and set design come together, we went completely the other way so that it's become a very stylised, vivid, saturated piece.” Two worlds are depicted in this picture - an idealistic notion of Victorian England (for which the Wiltshire village of Castle Combe, used for Dr Dolittle in 1967, was perfect) and Stormhold, a stark, dramatic and magical realm. “I wanted the two worlds to be separate and different, but to still look as if they're from the same film,” says Davis. “The lighting style doesn't change and flows throughout the movie.”
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on the job
“Moonlight is a difficult thing to c a p t u r e a n d n o t w o D P s a r e l i ke l y t o agree on the best way to do it… I was ke e n t h a t o u r m o o n s h o u l d h a v e i t s o w n i d e n t i t y. ”
the film to create that. Most VFX people will tell you to shoot it clean and the grain will be added later but it's not the same. You cannot do it electronically. To me, electronic grain is noise.
Serious moonlight
“Digital grading is great,” he says. “At 2K there is still a drop in quality but it's not huge and it's a joy to be able to freeze on a frame, analyse the image and grade it rather than having something running through at real time and then coming back two days later to see if you made the right decision. I chemically graded Decameron and it was nice to do that but, compared to digital grading, it can be incredibly frustrating.”
Perhaps the biggest factor dictating the look of Stardust is the fact that 70 per cent of the film is set at night. “Moonlight is a difficult thing to capture and no two DPs are likely to agree on the best way to do it,” comments Davis, “but, in this case, the moon is actually a character in the film (as the mother of a star who has fallen to earth), so one of the first things we had to do was create a look and feel for it. I wanted to create the impression of this large full moon that gave this beautiful soft light which wrapped around the characters. Although I looked at a lot of films with moonlight scenes, we haven't really referenced any of them. I was keen that our moon should have its own identity. “I was lucky enough to have a good gaffer in John 'Biggles' Higgins and our starting point was to use very large 120kw soft light boxes which push light out in every direction. We used a lot of light to get the look we wanted and that's the advantage of doing a film on this scale. On some of our larger locations we'd have as many as five cranes. We'd punch a backlight in with something like a full Wendy - that's about the most weight you can put on a crane arm - and then wrap that round with one of the soft boxes.” For the stage work, shot at Pinewood (where at one point Stardust filled Pinewood's large E, R, S, L and M stages simultaneously), Davis used the Light by Numbers system, which offers a number of benefits including remote control. “It's a great tool for a cameraman,” he enthuses. “I can walk on to a rigged set, stand next to a man with a palmtop and say 'switch that one off, put those two on, put those at 50 per cent'… I can make any change I want from the floor instantly. It's an expensive piece of equipment to rent but it saves hours on set every day.”
“Similarly, I like to use atmos in a shot and, again, I don't like the idea of putting it in later. As a cameraman, you always have to fight your corner.” But Davis has no argument with the Digitial Intermediate route, having taken part in the DI for Young Hannibal.
The biggest challenge for Davis on Stardust has been the schedule, but he adds that it's been a pleasure too. Though his working relationship with Vaughn appears to based on the two of them relentlessly teasing each other, there is clearly mutual respect. “Thank God his taste in shoes doesn't affect his skill as a DP,” jokes Vaughn before adding, “Ben has a unique eye. His vision is classic, modern, edgy and beautiful. He is a pleasure to work with and a rock that any director would be lucky to have.” “As long as I'm lighting films I'll be happy,” concludes Davis. “I'd like my work to improve until I'm as good as Gordon Willis, Christopher Doyle, Gordon Watson, Roger Deakins…” As his list grows longer, I leave Davis on top of the Brecon Beacons in his flip flops.
Ben Davis BSC - Filmography Stardust Virgin Territory Hannibal Rising Decameron
2007 2007 2007 2005
Imagine Me & You Feeder Layer Cake Miranda
2005 2005 2004 2002
Digital likes and dislikes From the outset, it was obvious that Stardust, based on a Neil Gaiman fantasy novel adapted by Vaughn and Jane Goldman, would make great use of visual effects, but Davis stresses that he and the director have tried to achieve as much as possible in-camera. “I didn't want a lot of CG builds because there's a danger that you lose the reality,” he reasons. “VFX are really beginning to blossom and there's a lot you can do which would be totally impossible for us to achieve on set but, in discussions with Peter Chang the VFX director, we agreed that they shouldn't compromise the way I would shoot a scene. “I'm also keen that the film has a sense of grain so I've been using 500 ASA stock and pushing
Shock and awe in Hannibal Rising
ISSUE 20
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
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BC20 Inners FINAL
6/3/07
16:31
Page 40
FEATURE
innovation uk
Fighting talk Formatt Filters is a great British success story, without actually having conquered the UK - well not yet, anyway. The company's David Stamp is a man with a mission, as he revealed to Ron Prince. 2007 is the year many are predicting that HD will come of age as an accepted medium for production and post. The BBC has nailed its colours to the HD mast, camera rental houses have been buying HD cameras by the score, and even shows like Last of The Summer Wine have gone digital. Now Formatt Filters is stepping up to the plate with a range of glass filters designed for HD acquisition, and fire in its belly for success. Based in Aberdare, a quiet town in the Welsh Valleys, Formatt wants to become the leading player in the global filter market. The company is owned by its staff and has a determined leader in the shape of David Stamp. “We've focussed on the HD market in North America in the last two years, and had great success with our new range of softening filters developed for HD,” says Stamp. “Our HD Soft and Supersoft Gold filters, which are unique to us, are solving issues of actors and actresses having every blemish shown in full detail. With great support from our US distributor Bogen Imaging, Formatt has had an amazing regeneration. Many ASC members have adopted our filters, and we now want to emulate this success in the UK.”
A bit of history Formatt was formed in 1980 as Simcel Images, manufacturing Hitech resin filters for stills cameras. It was purchased in 1997 by the VFG Group, with a view to developing glass filters for the broadcast and film markets. VFG spent £4m on R&D, but Stamp says the 1999 launch was, “too early, and the filters hit the market with quality problems that should have been properly ironed out first.” However, Stamp's fundamental belief in the product was such that following VFG's demise he led a management buyout, and has spent the last three years revamping the manufacturing process, perfecting the glass filters and getting an HD-specific range together. He has also been clocking up air miles by the tens of thousands, sorting out worldwide sales and distribution channels.
Formatt's David Stamp modelling the company's new 4mm Supersoft Gold filter
including Roy Wagner ASC, the DP on TV series House, who said, “You know that Formatt filters are futureproof. The thing that is wonderful about their Diffusion filter is that it was built for HD. It's a great asset to a cinematographer because we get paid to make people look good, and these filters definitely make people look good”.
Formatt's filters have traditionally been different, in that they are 3mm in thickness, plus a protective frame, rather than 4mm. Hence, entry into the rental market has proven difficult, as rental companies like to standardise on their filters. Stamp has been quick on his feet to fulfil the need for a 4mm filter without a frame. There will be a preview in the UK at the BSC show in March, and the new range will be launched at NAB 2007. Following private previews in L.A., Stamp says that most major rental companies, including Panavision, Band Pro, Clairmont Camera and Otto Nemenz, have committed orders or expressed great interest. “Demand is increasing with ASC members, and in the video market we have been established for some time with major dealers such as B&H and Samy's.” Formatt's incremental success has encouraged a new financing package from its shareholders, Finance Wales, and its bankers, HSBC, to the tune of £300,000. The company has just spent £150,000 on state-of-the-art water jet and laser cutting technology, “making us the most advanced filter manufacturing plant in the world,” adds Stamp. A further £500,000 is being committed during the next two years on worldwide branding and marketing.
Cracking the UK market
Working with Bogen, endorsement for Formatt's HD filters came from a number of high-profile US cinematographers
“We want to establish ourselves as No.1 in the filter industry in the US in the next two years. We are achieving good results
36
“We are a great British success story, apart from in the UK, but are working hard to change that. We know we make the best filters. Now we need to get in front of decision makers to show them just how good we really are.”
The future is only 4mm thick
All of this activity was helped considerably by a £500,000 investment from Wales Fund Managers and HSBC, encouraged on board by Stamp's infectious energy. Last year Formatt began playing seriously again in the global market, launching a new range of HD filters at NAB 2006.
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across Western and Eastern Europe, Australia and South Africa, too, but our greatest challenge is the UK,” he says.
Formatt has struggled to obtain acceptance in its own back yard, which Stamp attributes largely to the problems when VFG launched Formatt products too early.
“At the BSC show, we will be offering DPs the chance to put three different NDs together and see which looks the best. We'll then ask them which they would buy if they didn't know the manufacturers' names,” he says. “We really want people to test our products and are happy for them to call us directly.” But filters are not enough for Stamp. The next phase will see the launch of a new HD matte box, and who knows what else after that? Perhaps he can put his enthusiasm into promoting Wales as a filmmaking destination.
Manufacturing with molecules “No other filter manufacturer can match the advanced science of our processes,” claims Formatt Filters' David Stamp. The secret is in the ingredients. The company's filters combine molecular-level dyeing technology (for which it won a Queen's Award in 1981) ultra high-quality components and meticulous manufacturing processes. Uniquely, the dye is absorbed into resin cells rather than being coated. The dyed resin is then sandwiched between plates of Schott Superwite glass (also used for lens manufacture). By this method, Formatt reckons it creates the most “optically perfect” filters on the market, and that filters of the same type will always look identical. Once the sandwich is made, the filters are ground, polished and tested before being shipped. New water and laser cutters will help to optimise glass usage, and ensure edges are nicely bevelled.
ISSUE 20
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
BC20 Covers
6/3/07
16:27
Page 3
FEATURE
family matters
Alex and Chyna There are many families, dynasties even, involved in the business of making films, where the experience of dedicated people is handed down between generations. Kevin Hilton got the inside track on Alex Thomson and daughter Chyna. Fathers and daughters share a strong bond but until recently convention dictated they did not routinely work together. A father and daughter that broke the convention early on are veteran cinematographer Alex Thomson BSC, and focus puller and camera assistant Chyna Woolfenden. Chyna seems to have been almost genetically programmed to work with visuals; aside from Alex's influence her mother Diana is the sculptor who cast bronzes of the first cinematographer, William Friese-Greene (on permanent display at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios), and her uncle is director of photography and camera operator John Golding. Alex started in the business in 1946, working up through the ranks to cinematographer. Chyna was born in 1967 and says ever since she could remember she had been on a film set. Her appreciation of what her father did for a living came aged 12, seeing Alex shoot a scene for Excalibur in which Helen Mirren as Morgana imprisons Nicol Williamson, as Merlin, in ice: "It was the most beautiful image I'd ever seen and it stuck with me." But, Alex recalls, by the time she was 16 Chyna, "didn't know what to do with herself". So he took her on the shoot for Ridley Scott's Legend, hoping it might provide inspiration. "I expected her to say she wanted to go into the cutting room or make-up but she chose photography," he says, although Chyna remembers she liked the idea of being a set designer. As a trainee Chyna loaded her first picture at the age of 17 and a half, gaining the 265 days experience necessary at the time to join the ACTT. Nepotism is alive and well in the film industry, Alex agrees wryly, but says no one took exception to his daughter joining his team. "I was pleased because I saw her everyday - and she was good at the job." These are not just the words of a proud father; Chyna pulled focus on the difficult 65mm shoot for Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet and during Cliffhanger, ran backwards, without a harness, filming Sylvester Stallone on a rope bridge. "Very courageous," says her father. Chyna says Alex "secretly loved" having family around him. "He was a good teacher and I wasn't
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ISSUE 20
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
Alex and Chyna on location at Salt Lake in 1994 for a commercial featuring the late Ray Charles treated any differently to the rest of the team." Chyna's forte, long lens work, got her away from the family circle, joining the teams of John de Borman BSC and David Dunlap. The careers of father and daughter would up around the same time. Alex shot his last film, Der Letzte Flug, (2004) at the age of 75. While she was seven and a half months pregnant Chyna was first "a" camera assistant on Shaun of the Dead, also released in 2004. She had met Stephen Woolfenden on The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain (1995) when she was first assistant camera and he was second assistant director. Stephen, who has a string of credits on well-known film and TV productions (Prime Suspect, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), has his own family business connections; his brother Richard is an actor and their father, Guy, a composer of film music. Chyna and Stephen married in 1999 and she eventually left the business because they wanted a family. As the grandfather of Albie and Freya Woolfenden observes, carrying young children and carrying a camera are mutually exclusive. Chyna says she misses the business, but can live vicariously through Stephen's work. Alex serves on the BSC board and edits its newsletter and agrees that the family dynasty could continue. Asked if her children will, at some point, go into the business Chyna says, emphatically, "I jolly well hope so!"
BC20 Covers
6/3/07
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