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24
NOVEMBER 2007
ALSO INSIDE
PRINT THE LEGEND #23: ALL TIME GREATS A LOOK AT THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE LEGENDARY LÁSZLÓ KOVÁCS ASC, HSC
#17: CLOSE-UPS MIKE SOUTHON BSC ON THE NUTCRACKER, DION BEEBE ASC ON RENDITION, AND MATTHEW LIBATIQUE ASC ON IRON MAN
#19: PLUS CAMERIMAGE PREVIEW – YOUR GUIDE TO THE UNMISSABLE CINEMATOGRAPHY FESTIVAL WHICH TURNS 15 THIS YEAR!
#20: CAMERA CREATIVE WE INTERVIEW STEPHEN GOLDBLATT BSC, ASC THE RECIPIENT OF THIS YEAR'S PLUS CAMERIMAGE LIFETIME AWARD
#30: ON THE JOB GAVIN FINNEY BSC TAKES ON THE GIRLS OF ST TRINIAN'S
RRP: £3.50
Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Fax: +44 (0) 1753 650111 PUBLISHERS Alan Lowne Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Stuart Walters Tel: +44 (0) 121 608 2300 EDITOR Ron Prince Email: ronny@dircon.co.uk SALES Alan Lowne Tel: +44 (0) 1753 650101 Email: alanlowne@britishcinematographer.co.uk Stuart Walters Tel: +44 (0) 121 608 2300 Email: stuartwalters@britishcinematographer.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 BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER 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.
>> C O N T E N T S UK P05 P07 P08 P14 P17 P32 P36
President's Perspective: Gavin Finney BSC calls for the model contract to end uncertainty and confusion for cinematographers POV: Steve Smith sheds light on the new Panalux Production News: the latest news concerning DPs Who's Shooting Who?: find out who's attached to which project this autumn Close-Ups: up close and personal with DPs on Iron Man, The Nutcracker and Rendition Shooting The Future: news from the kit manufacturers exhibiting at IBC in Amsterdam GBCT News: the new chairman's statement, plus other news from the Guild
INTERNATIONAL P19 P26 P28 P29
Plus Camerimage Preview: it's always a special event, but the 15th edition of the cinematography festival promises more magic than ever Post and Techno: the latest news concerning DPs Letter from America: is Steven Poster ASC advocating a new 'global' guild? F-Stop Hollywood: it's awards season in the movie-making capital
FEATURES P20
Cover Photograph: a frame from the cult classic Easy Rider, shot by László Kovács ACS, HSC
P23 P30 P35
Camera Creative: Stephen Goldblatt ASC BSC, lifetime laureate at this year's Plus Camerimage All Time Greats: László Kovács, the man who woke up American filmmakers and audiences On The Job: Gavin Finney BSC gets to grips with naughty schoolgirls on St Trinian's Innovation UK: Light By Numbers gets ready to expand
British Society of Cinematographers – 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, Robin Vidgeon, Nigel Walters. Secretary/Treasurer, Frances Russell.
>> Editorial Team
Guild of British Camera Technicians – Board Members: Jamie Harcourt (Chairman), Trevor Coop (Immediate Past Chairman), Peter Hughes (Vice Chairman), Darren Miller (Vice Chairman - North), Tim Potter (Vice Chairman), Caroline Sax (Vice Chairman), Jacob Barrie, Steve Brooke-Smith, Jason Coop, John Keedwell, Rupert Lloyd Parry, Suzanne McGeachan, Keith Mead, Shirley Schumacher
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).
Writers block
Carolyn Giardina: is the technology reporter at Hollywood Reporter in the US. She previously served as editor of Film & Video and as senior editor of postproduction at SHOOT. Her work has also appeared in IBC Daily News, Digital Cinema, Post and Below The Line.
Dear Readers… John Keedwell: the GBCT's Eyepiece Editor, is a documentary and commercials cameraman who has worked on many productions over all the world. He crosses over in both film and tape productions and has great knowledge of the new formats and their methods of production. Kevin Hilton: is a freelance journalist who writes about technology and personalities in film and broadcasting, and contributes film reviews and interviews to a variety of publications
Natasha Block is a freelance clapper/loader working in features and shorts. She started her career at a grassroots level - on the rental house camera floor as a technician.
Pauline Rogers has published over 1,200 articles on the technical side of the movie-making process. She is a staff writer for ICG Magazine, and freelances for various venues.
Ian White is a journalist 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.
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
If it's not on the page, then it won't go on the screen. That's the simple but effective principle behind the current screenwriter's strike. It's interesting to see how quickly their mass walk-out has begun to paralyse TV production in the US, and shockwave spreading across the film production world. But Hollywood knows the show must go on, and there are calls for an early resolution from moguls like Tom Cruise. However, with some stars like Ugly Betty's America Ferrera already vocalising support for the writers, it will be fascinating to witness the power play that might emerge if, when the actors walk-out next year, the writers are still on strike. The question is… could cinematographers ever put toolsdown on an effective, collective basis? Right now that sounds a little far-fetched perhaps, as cultural, economic and legal practices between countries worldwide are so varied. One only has to look at the differences between the UK, France and Germany to see this in microcosm. Nonetheless, within the pages of this magazine you will find at least three calls from three different parts of planet for cinematographers to galvanise, to mobilise, to work more effectively together on a range of crucial matters from working condition and authorship rights.
In his president's column, Gavin Finney BSC calls for a universal contract that would help to remove the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the employment of DPs in the UK; one that provides a more level playing field from production to production. In our Camerimage preview, IMAGO, the European federation of cinematographic societies, will again be at Camerimage in Poland this year, with a unifying message. There's likely to be a draft model contract on the table, along with a debate about streamlining European working regulations, not to mention the issue of authorship and image rights. Steven Poster ASC, former ASC president, and the current president of the International Cinematographers Guild, posits that in an increasingly globalised world, cinematographers and the other filmmaking crafts might well look towards greater international cooperation as they face multi-national orgainisations across the bargaining table. As he says, if DPs are to compete on a global stage, they should begin to address issues globally. From tiny acorns…! Let's see how the writers get on.
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presidents’ perspective
Model contract needs to end uncertainty Have you looked at your contract recently? That's the document you don't usually see until the end of the shoot, with a request to sign and return immediately if you want to receive the remainder of your salary. A brief glance through, and there are some things you don't agree with, but hey, the shoot's over so it doesn't matter and you want to get paid. Sound familiar? Unfortunately this kind of thing has been happening more and more these last few years. The trouble is, once signed, it can set a precedent for the next time you (or someone else for that matter) are employed on a similar job. We seem to have forgotten that contracts are meant to be a two-way agreement, set up and signed before the job starts. If you don't like any part of it, you can negotiate to have it changed, explained or cut out. It seems that in the absence of any union influence, and with an unclear piece of Euro legislation, contracts are made up from production to production with no clear standard. What is a working week? Is it five or six days or an 11-day fortnight? Is the day 10 or 11 hours on camera, with 1 hour for lunch, or is it a continuous working day, and if so, how long is that? And how do all these variations affect your rate? Should you charge more for an 11-hour day than ten, or for a six day week rather than five? And what about your rate? Not only has this not kept pace with inflation - in many areas it hasn't risen in the last ten years - it has also been cunningly eroded further by the ridiculous situation we find ourselves in with regard to holiday pay. The TUC was terribly proud of itself when it insisted on this bit of Euro legislation, naively believing that all employers would actually pay the additional 8.33% on top of your salary in lieu of holidays not taken. Now we are sometimes faced with the situation where 8.33% or one twelfth the weekly rate (from October 2007 it will be 10.17%) is deducted from what our rate would normally have been and 'given back to us' as
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Gavin Finney BSC President BSC
'Holiday Pay' only at the end of the contract without any of the interest it might have been earning (companies are not allowed to include holiday pay in the weekly pay packet). Once this is in a signed contract it becomes your 'contractually agreed rate' and is binding, so it is vital that you establish whether holiday pay is being deducted from your normal rate before you sign your contract.
We s e e m t o h a v e forgotten that contracts are meant to be a two-way agreement, set up and signed before the job starts One option I've heard mentioned is to ask (if necessary via your agent) what their policy is and have two figures for your rate before you go in, one of which adds on 10% to what you would usually charge. Another risk associated with having your rate reduced in this way is that if the production goes down, you will most likely lose that portion withheld from your pay received to that point. The most recent EU ruling on this matter is that 'deducting holiday pay from a freelancer agreed rate, to add it back on at the end of contract, is entirely contrary to European law' PACT actually advises its members to pay holiday pay on top of a freelancer's agreed rate, and the more responsible productions do indeed seem to be abiding by this ruling. According to employment lawyers contacted by the website: 'tvfreelancers' "Any practice which constitutes a reduction of
a worker's basic pay to cover the cost of their holiday entitlement will be void, and the worker will be entitled to recover holiday pay as a separate entitlement above and beyond basic rate pay. The practice of providing a separate payment, intended to meet a worker's entitlement to holiday pay, within their basic rate, is against the spirit of the legislation and is to be discouraged." As 'tvfreelancers' goes on to assert: 'Paid holiday time is a legal liability, and not one which the freelance community should be subsidising.' Another solution would be for all freelancers in the Film and TV industry to simply opt out of this legislation and protect their original rate in the same way in which all current contracts 'opt us out' of the 48 hours per week limit as per the 1998 Working Time Regulations. Of course the contract reserves the right for you not to opt out of Regulation 4, so long as you give 'not less than three months notice'! Not very practicable when the contract period is only for a couple of months, and you don't see the contract until the end of the job. IMAGO is in the process of drafting a new model contract which aims to unify the ways in which different countries apply European working regulations, and also to address the issue of authorship and image rights which apply in some European countries but not currently in others. Let's hope we can soon have a contract that at least removes some of the uncertainty and confusion surrounding our employment and provides a more level playing field from production to production. Gavin Finney BSC President, British Society of Cinematographers
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Shedding fresh light S t e v e S m i t h , M D o f t h e n e w l y- f o r m e d l i g h t i n g b u s i n e s s Pa n a l u x , b e l i e v e s t h e c o m p a n y ' s f u t u r e success will depend largely on the histories of its component parts.
Panalux… a name that had not even been conceived less than three months ago and one that I am sure will still be new to many. For those who haven't heard, Panalux is the newly created lighting rental business formed through the merger between AFM Lighting and LEE Lighting. It's plain to see that bringing together two such established and well-supported brands will not be easy, but it's a process that is well under way. However, I aim to ensure that Panalux maintains the best of both brands whilst developing new standards in equipment quality, technical innovation and customer service which I am sure will eventually receive a nod of approval from the staunchest diehards of both AFM and LEE. It would be remiss of me to talk about the future without pausing a moment and paying homage to what has gone before. I am most certainly not qualified to do justice to the Lee dynasty created by John and Benny, but without doubt their influence shaped much of the UK and international lighting rental market into the highly respected institution that it is today. Both Ronnie Pearce and Tony Lucas maintained the Lee culture over many years, and their immense contributions to the success of the Lee Empire cannot go unmentioned My introduction to the industry was through former Lee Gaffer Terry “Lew” Lewis at Space Lighting, from whom I learnt probably more than I needed to, especially at the annual Christmas “day out” at which the likes of Peter Bloor and Tony Spratling BSC would come over and lead us astray. The list of contributors to the Lee Lighting success story is one that I cannot begin to cover comprehensively, and so I am not even going to try.
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enthusiastic manner. By focussing heavily on technical and operational brilliance and building an impressive network of gaffers, DPs, producers and production managers AFM enjoyed growth that, at times, could only be described as exponential. On a foundation of music videos and commercials the feature film market was successfully penetrated in the mid-nineties, which led to the prestigious achievement of facilitating AFM's largest project at the time Eon Productions Goldeneye. This achievement would not have been possible without the likes of Phil Méheux BSC and Anthony Waye at EON Productions putting their faith into a lighting business, which at the time was lacking in feature film pedigree. Fortunately, their trust was vindicated and proved to be the beginning of a relationship with Eon Productions that has lasted to this day. Successful international expansion followed into Prague and South Africa followed by forages into the studio, photographic, camera and grip markets, all of which became the component parts of the AFM Group. After many years of respectful rivalry both AFM and LEE have now made way for the introduction of Panalux, which promises to be an adventure and success story worthy of its predecessors. The challenges that lie ahead are numerous but are already being met head on. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a Panalux team that is knowledgeable, experienced and focussed on the future. With a depth of knowledge spanning all manner of production types from music video, commercial, TV shows, events, TV drama and of course feature film, there is a genuine desire to deliver the very best in both technical and customer service.
Suffice to say that today we are fortunate enough to have many long-serving Lee stalwarts plying their trade both in house and on the road, who will contribute enormously to the future success of Panalux.
As part of the Panavision family the foundations are now firmly in place to springboard Panalux into the position of market leader and I personally look forward with eager anticipation to help write the next chapter of lighting industry folklore.
The AFM story is one that I was obviously closer to. Andy Martin founded the business in the 80s and I teamed up with him in about 1992. We set about trying to compete with the established giants of the day in a very deliberate and
Steve Smith Managing Director, Panalux Europe Ltd
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production news
With today's everchanging technology the options available to the cinematographer are immense. DP Sue Gibson chaired the afternoon session
Sue Gibson BSC
Gavin Finney - president of the BSC and Chairman of the conference.
The BSC’s Film, Digital and HD Day Most people on the production and post-production side the television and film industry will readily offer an opinion on the general film vs HD video debate - and it will typically be a strongly held one too, reports Ian White. But narrow the subject down a little, say to whether Super 16mm is a viable format for a high definition television drama to be transmitted in a given line standard and, though the opinion may be as strongly held, it may not be as well informed.
Robin Hood, by contrast, was shot on two Panasonic Varicams. Palmer liked the look but reported that “logistically it was a nightmare” with 90 cases of equipment being taken on location to Budapest. “We had Zeiss Digi Primes and the Panavision Digital Primo zoom but nothing is really, truly compatible with film accessories. With Varicam, the edit suite needs a decoder and that costs the production some £20,000 plus it takes 10-15 minutes to set up a slo-mo shot.”
The British Society of Cinematographers staged its Film, Digital and HD Day at the National Film Theatre on September 21 with the stated objective of being a 'comprehensive, unbiased guide from budget to post for industry professionals'.
Next, it was the turn of Ian Sharples and BSC President Gavin Finney to describe their experiences as producer and DP respectively on Hogfather, the TV spin-off of the 20th book in Terry Pratchett's long-running Discworld series. The project was originally intended to be shot on 35mm but, after testing the ARRI D-20 digital HD camera and getting great results, the team decided that Hogfather would be the first major production to use it.”
Thorny 16mm debate The event was well attended and attracted a healthy mix of delegates from both the film and television industries. All the speakers, to a greater or lesser degree, attempted to give a balanced and fair presentation on the pros and cons of particular film and HD formats. Jonathon Smiles, managing director of film and TV services company Digital Safari, began with the question, “What is HD?” However, he was soon being grilled on the thorny 16mm debate. “If you shoot 16mm for HD deliverable, and you're allowed to, then you have to make sure it's the best 16 you can possibly produce,” he responded. “16mm has its challenges, but I think it's lazy to say we can't shoot 16. It's fashionable at the moment for people to pick up on the grain but, if the grain really bubbles, that has issues right down the post-production chain to transmission when it gets amplified. Grain is detail when you're digitising and, if you remove the grain, you start removing some fine detail. You can end up with something very soft with no noise but that's not HD anymore.” The next speakers were Chris Clough and Simon Massey, producer and director respectively of the drama series Skins, commissioned by E4 and currently airing on Channel 4. “Skins was shot on HD,” said Clough. “I'd always been extremely sceptical about it but we found the prices (last year) for equipment hire were tumbling and I was able to do a deal on post-production with BBC Bristol. I have to say that, apart from the size and weight of the cameras (Sony 750s), I've not really been aware that we were not shooting on film. We're careful with our colour palette, but we'd probably be just as careful if we shot on film. There will be specialist uses for film in future but the digital route has hit the tipping point.” Clough and Massey showed a clip of a café scene in which there is a film insert of a girl walking down a road in slow motion. This provoked veteran DP, Billy Williams (Gandhi, On Golden Pond), to comment from the audience, “The film was alive and the HD looked dead.” “HD is the way it's going to go,” Clough responded. “If people are going to be resistant to change then I can't see how that's moving forward. Ten years ago, when we started editing on Avids, old film editors were very loathe to walk away from their Steenbecks. Now most film editors work on Avid and that's what going to happen with HD.” DP Tim Palmer used clips from two BBC drama series, Robin Hood and True Dare Kiss, to illustrate his talk. The latter, a six-part psycho thriller with a large star cast, was shot on Kodak 7218 (night) and 200T 16mm film stock using two ARRI SR3 cameras (“We won the BBC over with tests,” he explained). If we'd used tape it would have been harder and slower in post-production. Because I was lighting and operating, I could work much quicker and more instinctively on film. I don't need a monitor - I just look through the camera and take a reading.”
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The final case history of the morning was presented by seasoned DP Geoff Boyle who explained why a recent big-budget BA commercial was shot on HD. With the idea being to use covert cameras to shoot real people over six days with six cameras, film was not an option and nor were film-style digital cameras such as the Genesis or Viper because they would be too noticeable. Instead he opted for the Sony HDW-F900R and, by bypassing its internal recorder, was pleased with the results. “I've left my tests of all the digital cameras available on cinematography.net,” he concluded. Comparison tests - film vs HD DP Sue Gibson chaired the afternoon session, with a fascinating insight comparing the differences and similarities of a variety of film stocks and HD cameras. “With today's ever-changing technology the options available to the cinematographer are immense,” said Gibson. “It used to be that the choice was which film stock to use. But now, with HD, it is also that of which camera format to use, and more than that, the minefield of post production.” The idea of a comparison test was partly inspired by the BBC, which announced last year that it would no longer use material originated on 16mm for its future HD transmission. This encouraged the British Society of Cinematographers to attempt an objective view of the situation, and to illustrate the options available today. It was decided to shoot test footage using as many different camera formats as possible and to compare them like-for-like. The cameras were: a 35mm Arricam LT, 16mm Arri 416, Panavision Genesis, ARRI D-20, Sony F23, Panasonic Varicam, Sony F900 and a Panasonic DVCPRO P-2. The lenses used on the ARRIs were Cooke S4 24mm on 35mm, and 12mm on 16mm. The Genesis had a 27mm Primo, the F23, Sony 900 and Varicam all used a Primo digital zoom, and the P2 had a Fuji zoom lens. The test would have included the Red camera, but none was available at the time. Shooting took place on a replica set from Gone With The Wind, at Ealing Studios, built by students of the London College of Communication and the Ealing Institute of Media, as part of a Skillset Screen Academy Initiative, which the students has been shooting on the previous week. To provide a level playing field a Mo-Sys motion control system was employed on a wide shot to provide identical camera moves, the only variables being the movement of the artists, and the difference in lenses because of the different shooting formats. Lighting remained the same throughout, and the grey scales and colour charts were correctly exposed for each film stock and
camera format. It was hoped that by including a variation of skin tones, blocks of strong colour and challenges in both the highlight and shadow areas would reveal the strengths and weaknesses in all the formats. The aperture remained the same for all the cameras enabling normal, under and over exposures in the same way. The normal exposure was shot at T4 throughout. A close up was done in exactly the same way, with the emphasis on investigating how each format handled skin tones, depth-offield, sharpness and detail. The film material was ARRI-scanned at Soho Images, with all of the different footage was graded by Gywn Evans at The Hat Factory. The entire presentation was projected digitally, with film stocks shown with split screen and cross fades with the HD footage, to help the audience analyse the differences in contrast, skin tone and detail, depth-of-field and grain. Comparing cameras and formats “The 35mm came out tops, and this will always be, but there were remarkably subtle differences between the HD cameras,” said Gibson after the event. “The Genesis and D-20 were fairly comparable to the 35mm, although both had issues on colour rendition. What surprised me was how the digital cameras could hang on to the highlights as well as they did, and how the shadow detail was not such a significant factor. “As for the 16mm, it was a came out very well against the Sony F23 and 900m cameras, which both have 2/3-inch chips. The Varicam footage was different again, as was the P2, but they all preformed pretty well.” On the rendition of skin tones, Gibson felt that some of the digital cameras could not provide as natural a skin tone as film, and that, “digital is not as kind to women's faces. It seems to bite into the shadow areas around the eyes particularly in the smaller 2/3” chip cameras. It is not always as sympathetic a medium as film. “If anything, the tests revealed that 16mm compares very favourably with the lower end of the HD cameras, such as the Sony 900 and Panasonic Varicam, which are the ones ones that get used most in dramas.” What also became apparent, is how important make-up, set construction and wardrobe, are when shooting HD. “HD tends to rend everything, warts and all, and overall is does not have that human organic quality of film. The high-end digital cameras, Genesis and D-20 came out well. I just wish that every HD production could be shot on these. We love the way they look, but the costs at the moment are sometimes too great… which is another story,” she concluded. The tests were designed to generate discussion which was exactly what they did, with some lively debate from the floor. There appears to be a place for all camera formats, and with the advances being made in digital technology the goal posts are moving all the time. Two clear points came out of this conference. The first that all HD cameras (and formats) are not the same. As Finney put it, “With HD, there's a whole new palette to play with, but we need to make choices creatively and sensibly. The camera you choose impacts on your workflow all the way through the production and post-production chain.” The second point is that there is no universally right way to shoot a production whether it be on film or HD- decisions have to be made on a project-by-project basis. Additional reporting by Ron Prince.
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Hungary shoots for the stars It's 2000, and Robert Halmi senior, Hungarian-born chairman of Hallmark Entertainment Network, finally gives up his dream of a $5m new studio outside Budapest in the face of a political stalemate. Come 2007 and his modest $5m would barely cover the cost of the parking lot in the massive $126m budget for the Korda Film Studios in Etyek, writes Natasha Block. Hungary's second wealthiest man, Sandor Demjan, is the owner of this magnificent new facility. Along with his investment partners, producer Andy Vajna (Judge Dredd, Die Hard: With A Vengeance, Evita, Terminator 3), financier Nathaniel Rothschild and gold tycoon Peter Munk, Demjan has sought and succeeded to make Hungary an attractive prospect for those seeking to get value for their Euro in Eastern Europe. Korda will eventually have six stages, including a massive 5,546sq.m soundstage that eclipses Pinewood's 007 stage (at 5,481sq.m) as the largest water studio stage in Europe.
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The Hungarian crew on Robin Hood: 2nd AC Tiger Racz holds the tape for 1st AC Attila Nagy, whilst gaffer József Szucsik looks on.
Producers looking to shoot in Hungary can expect 20% back on funds they spend on Hungarian soil. Furthermore, a company 'sponsoring' a foreign production can write off that 20% from their own tax base, saving themselves the 16% corporate levy they would have paid on it, without a penny spent. This all looks very inviting on paper, but what is the Hungarian experience actually like? “I think the problem with these places is just too much too soon,” says Miriam Segal, producer of Good, a tale of one man's moral challenges in WW2 Nazi Germany, which shot recently in Hungary. “There just aren't enough crews to
support the five or six films that were there when we were there.” “I was lucky but I know the art department had a different experience,” says Andrew Dunn BSC, the DP on Good “I had a terrific gaffer called Krisztián Paluch and great support from Judit Romwalter of Sparks,” [which represents Panavision's interest in Hungary]. “Equipment-wise we did well but the downside is that because the production company will cut a deal with Sparks, and therefore Panavision UK, to ship the stuff over, if you discover you haven't got quite what you wanted it can become costly.”
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Construction: Budapest's new Korda Studios will boast six impressive stages when completed next year, including an mammoth indoor water tank
Romwalter is frank. “For us, the most important thing is to give not 100, but 150% service. This year there was a boom, so we are training many more crew. Through the income we have we will improve our warehouse, so the next time there's an influx of foreign productions we will be able to better meet their particular needs.” “What makes it work in Budapest is the competence and the back up from people like Judit Romwalter at Sparks,” says Nic Morris BSC of his experiences shooting the second series of the BBC's Robin Hood. ARRI’s rental partner in Budapest is Visionteam. “All praise to my crew too, but it needs to be said that the lack of English is still common. There may also be an issue when it becomes very busy, that with not enough skilled crews to go round, the temptation is to promote people beyond their level of competence.”
facility around the world, and we are more than capable of handling the biggest DI and VFX projects and all of the deliverables.” All-in-all, the next few years are looking very positive for this fledgling international film destination - the present tax break ends in 2012. Of course, the great irony is that the improved film services will go some way towards boosting the country's economy, and a stronger economy means better wages and eventually a more expensive place to shoot. “I tell you something, it's Romania that is the next Hungary,” says Segal. “Once they get soft money everyone will move to Romania.” But that may be five years away. Additional reporting by Ron Prince.
But gaps in the service are swiftly being filled. Any productions spilling over from Korda are being mopped up by Stern Studios, around 12 miles outside of central Budapest, which has recently hosted the $65 The Nutcracker: The True Story (DP Mike Southon BSC). Both studios are in the process of developing their own film schools to boost any crewing areas that are currently thin on the ground. Filling a gap in post production is Colorfront, a brand new, DCI-compliant DI and VFX post production house in central Budapest, which represents a multi-million dollar investment by Mark and Aron Jaszberenyi, the Hungarian brothers who played a pioneering role in the emergence of digital intermediate, and who invented the Lustre DI grading system. “We are perfectly equipped to support the everyday requirements of productions shooting here in Hungary, with a digital dailies' service and digital projection theatres,” commented Mark Jaszberenyi. “Colorfront is optimised for efficient high-resolution post on a par with any other
Lake Balaton: one of the Hungarian locations chosen for Good
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Queen opens Pinewood's new entrance
Queens: Elizabeth: The Golden Age made full use of Pinewood's U Stage; HRH recently opened the studio's new entrance HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh visited Pinewood Studios on 2nd November to officially open the studio's new landmark entrance. The newly-built gate has been designed as “an impressive welcome” for UK and international stars and crew involved in the of film and television production at the studios. The Royal party was met by Michael Grade, chairman, and Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive, of Pinewood Shepperton plc, and then received a tour of Pinewood Studios including the TV studios, new 007 stage and Pinewood's unique Underwater Stage. This year, tricky sequences of Spanish galleons at war were filmed at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios for Working Title's Elizabeth: The Golden Age. The feature, which explores the relationship between Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) and Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), was based and filmed at Shepperton Studios, with a full size reconstruction of Sir Walter Raleigh's 'Tyger' ship built on H-Stage. Pinewood's Underwater Stage was used to stage a warship on fire with special entry and exit platforms rigged into the tank allowing access for stunt horses.
With vets on site at all times, trained horses swam across the 18m tank, alongside which fire effects were created via a gas pipe. The shots involved co-ordination with costumed stuntmen sinking beneath the horses concurrently, captured by cameras stationed at the bottom of the 6m-deep tank.
Production 2.0 event links Pinewood and Soho Codex Digital, Sohonet and The Hat Factory are to host Production 2.0 - a 'live' production and post event linking Pinewood Studios and Soho on December 6th, 2007. The three companies will show a range of new and cost-effective options for high-resolution, tapeless digital production between camera and post production. Taking place simultaneously between Pinewood and The Hat Factory, the aim of Production 2.0 is to demonstrate how the production and post-production processes can be brought into parallel, offering directors, producers, DPs, editors and post houses gains in speed, cost, efficiency and flexibility. With the Codex Recording/Production System at the hub of the workflow, HD/2K rushes shot on a set at Pinewood will be transferred via Sohonet to The Hat Factory for editing, and a DI grade. The results will then be sent back to Pinewood for on-set composting, and viewing, before distribution in lower
resolution formats to PCs and hand-held PDAs. “The point of the exercise is to show production companies the wide range of possibilities they have available to them today,” said Paul Bamborough, a cofounder of Codex Digital. “Whether they implement some or all of the options we are going to demonstrate, working digitally delivers tangible improvements to the quality and efficiency of a production. It can be much cheaper than shooting on film or tape, and it can all be done now.” Principal photography has recently been completed on several productions handled by the Codex Recording/Production System, including Speed Racer (DP David Tattersall, and Deadgirl (DP Harris Charalambous). As the production industry moves towards full digital cinematography, Production 2.0 will also examine the efficient and secure management of digital data throughout the entire life of a production.
Panavision partners with Barrandov Panavision and Barrandov Studios have announced an agreement to relocate Panavision’s camera operations into a new facility on the Barrandov Studios lot in early 2008. It will combine Panavision’s present rental operation in Prague with those of Barrandov Studios in a 600sq/m facility next to Panalux Prague, the new brand name for Panavision’s lighting operations, in the long-time home of the former AFM office in Prague. AFM was acquired earlier in the year by Panavision and combined with its Lee Lighting business into Panalux Europe.
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
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production news
Walter Lassally to be honored by ASC Walter Lassally BSC will receive the 2008 American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) International Achievement Award, which is presented annually to an individual who has made an enduring impression on the art of cinematography and compiled their main body of work outside the United States. The award will be presented at the 22nd Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards celebration on January 26, 2008.
Richardson, Karel Reizs, Lindsay Anderson and other directors. He earned more than 50 feature film credits, including Zorba The Greek, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1965.
Lassally's career spanned 50 years and took him to all corners of the globe. He was a main player in the evolution of the Free Cinema and British New Wave movements in collaboration with Tony
“Walter expanded the vocabulary of visual storytelling,” said ASC Awards chairman Russ Alsobrook. “His work with small crews, at real locations, with minimal lighting brought a new perspective to the British and international cinema. Many of his innovations are now considered standard film grammar.”
Who's Shooting on Fujifilm? Having just completed Eden Lake on Fujifilm negative stocks, DP Chris Ross is now using a range of 16mm ETERNA stocks on the feature film Cass. Also shooting on Fuji 16mm are… Richard Greatrex BSC who is lensing Three And Out, DP Ed Wild who is lighting Shifty, a low-budget film from new company Between The Eyes, and Robin Vidgeon BSC who has been on A Touch Of Frost for ITV Yorkshire. DP Mike Spragg also employed ETERNA 16mm stocks for the BBC's Waking The Dead, and has David Odd BSC for Ecosse Films' He Kills Coppers. Dick Pope BSC is using a combination of 35mm ETERNA stocks on Paramount Pictures' Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging. Director Danny Boyle is teaming up Anthony Dod Mantle DFF for the Indian-based film Slumdog Millionaire using a range of 35mm ETERNA stocks, as is Sean Bobbitt BSC on Steve McQueen's Hunger. Having been originated on 35mm ETERNA stock, New Line Cinema's His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass is also using Fujifilm's new intermediate stock ETERNA-CI 8503/4503 and new digital intermediate stock ETERNA-RDI 8511/4511. The film is being released worldwide on Fujicolor ETERNA 3513DI Positive Film. DP Henry Braham BSC lit the film.
Who's Shooting on Kodak? Feature films shot on Kodak stocks include, City Of Ember lensed by Xavier Perez Grobet and directed by Gil Kenan, Mamma Mia! with Haris Zambarloukos BSC as the cinematographer and Phyllida Lloyd in the director's chair, and Hippie, Hippie Shake, lit by Michael Seresin BSC for director Beeban Kidron. Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince, directed by David Yates with DP Bruno Delbonnel, plus Gerald McMorrow's Franklyn, helmed by Ben Davis BSC, are also being filmed on Kodak. Television series being shot on Kodak include the BBC's Ashes to Ashes, with DPs Julian Court and Nick Lawson shooting for Kudos Film & TV/Monastic Productions, HBO's Generation Kill, lensed by Ivan Strasburg BSC for Company Pictures, and ITV's detective series Lewis, with Chris O'Dell and Paul Bond sharing the cinematographic duties on this Granada production.
Lassally was born in 1926 in Berlin, where his father made industrial and training films. He and his parents escaped to England two months before the beginning of World War II. Lassally knew that he wanted to be a cameraman when he was 15 years old, and wrote letters to studios asking for work. After stints at a film library and a stills photography studio, he joined Riverside Studios as a clapper boy.
Gong: Walter Lassaly BSC with his Oscar for Zorba The Greek
By the early 1950s, Lassally was shooting documentaries and short narrative films with Richardson, Anderson and Reizs. He earned his first credit as a director of photography in 1954 on Another Sky. During the early 1960s, he shot such visually innovative films as A Taste Of Honey, The Loneliness Of The Long Distance Runner and Tom Jones with Richardson. He photographed six films with Greek director Michael Cacoyannis, including Zorba The Greek. Lassally began his association with director James Ivory in 1972 when he shot Savages for the director. His other Merchant-Ivory films included Autobiography Of A Princess (1975), Heat And Dust (1983) and The Bostonians (1984). The latter two earned him BAFTA and BSC Best Cinematography Award nominations. Lassally continued shooting well into the 1990s, while spending generous amounts of time teaching the next generation. He currently lives in Greece on the island of Crete.
DP David Higgs is also lighting ITV's Lost In Austen, for production company Mammoth Screen, using Kodak, as is Colin Munn for Bentley Productions' Midsomer Murders (series XI), and as are DPs James Welland, Chris Titus-King and Damian Bromley for La Plante Productions' Trial & Retribution for ITV. Deep Indigo's production The Passion, for BBC/HBO, with DP Tony Miller, and Cowboy Films' production Poppy Shakespeare for Channel 4, lensed by Danny Cohen are all relying on Kodak.
Oops! In Edition 21, we printed that Gurinder Chadha's Angus, Thongs & Full-Frontal Snogging was to be shot on Kodak stock. It is actually filming on Fuji stock, with Dick Pope BSC the DP.
New website for undiscovered filmmaking talent Icewhole.com, a new international film and music website dedicated to short filmmakers, has just launched. The free-to-use site is supported by large number of film industry professionals including Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman, film director Richard Attenborough, producer Paul Hitchcock, production designer Stuart Craig and, on the cinematography side, David Watkin BSC and Guillermo Navarro. Icewhole.com aims to provide aspiring and often ignored filmmakers and musicians worldwide with a unique opportunity to showcase their work and indulge their passion for film. Users can submit work to Icewhole's monthly, quarterly and annual award schemes, which will begin in November with the first winners being
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announced in December. Awards are judged globally, with an independent panel of over 100 judges reviewing and awarding prizes every month totalling $12,000 (£6,000) as well as a monthly award voted for by the users themselves. The Winner of 'Best Movie' at the annual awards (The IcePics) will be given a top prize of $10,000 (£5,000) as well as professional representation by leading talent agents. Icewhole.com as also provides an online forum enabling budding film talent and musicians to share their work online, a royaltycleared music library, as well as networking and blogging facilities. Pearl & Dean is backing Icewhole.com and will showcase the best short films on cinema screens across the UK.
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who’s shooting who?
Who’s Shooting Who? Praised: DP Martin Ruhe has been applauded for his work on Anton Corbijn's Control
Control: DP Ruhe and his crew on set up North! Wizzo's… DP Martin Ruhe is enjoying a lot of exposure for his work on Anton Corbijn's Control which has been hailed as the "coolest" British movie of 2007. The film is based on the biography of Joy Division front-man Ian Curtis. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, wrote, “Ian Curtis's great and terrible prophecy, the one about love tearing us apart, is followed through to its fulfilment in Anton Corbijn's glorious movie, filmed in stunning high-contrast monochrome by cinematographer Martin Ruhe.” Nick James in Sight and Sound said, “Corbijn's widescreen images of Macclesfield backstreets and Manchester rehearsal rooms are gorgeously lit high-contrast near-etchings , that perfectly match the seedy grandeur of the promotional pictures of the time.”
DP Trevor Forrest wrote in with details about Bombil and Beatrice which, after showing in the market place at Cannes 2007, s about to start a journey around the festivals in 2008. The film is Kaizad Gustad's third, with a £6,million budget, produced by Quest Films. It is a thriller set in period expat Matheran and contemporary Mumbai. “Kaizad found me after a search here in the UK and I described how I would approach the quite complex story using stills shot in India on commercials, and further stills I shot on a period reenactment weekend I visited of 1905 England. After a lengthy prep we shot for 40 nights and 27 days. For this story to work, the main challenge was to control the colour and contrast. We desaturated modern Mumbai with Storm Blue and Cooke S2 lens from JDC. The monotone approach helped us watch the actors' faces rather than the saturated colours we normally expect in India. We made a yellow filter set with a friend of my grip, Hussein, in the back streets of Mumbai, with Nikon glass and a color-matching system he had developed, to increase contrast in the UK to match a hot India summer in 1905.” Kaizad is now in preproduction on a $50 million project with Trigger St. Films in LA, starring Ralph Feinnes. Shooting in Rajistan 2008. Trevor's second feature Someone Else has just finished a critically successful stint in London. Sticking with Dinedor…Florian Hoffmeister is back from Tunisia shooting BBC/HBO's drama based on the life of Saddam Hussein Between Two Rivers. Peter Field was the 'A' camera operator on Waldon Media's City Of Ember and has gone straight on to 'B' camera operater on The Mummy III in China. Grant Cameron is on Taggart, and Mike Fox BSC
has started on Norman Stone's 60-minute drama Miss Nightingale shooting on HD, after completing 50 Not Out for the BBC's recent Stephen Fry Night. Young Sam McCurdy shot a spate of idents for Sky TV in September, and Andrew Johnson has wrapped on the Cutting Edge documentary King of Cons. The 2007 CADS cinematography award winner Tom Townend lit The Vivienne Vyle Show starring Jennifer Sauders, and music videos for Hard Fi, Girls Aloud, Kaiser Chiefs and Roisin Murphy. Garry Turnbull has been on commercials for Nestle, Ford Kuga and Ford Focus, whilst Ben Filby has come back from a lengthy worldwide tour for the Prudential, Peroni, Ericsson, British Airways and Ernst and Young. Peter Ellmore has been on shoots for Halifax, Aldi and ING, David Rom has shot Oxford University Press, BBC Idents for Radio 3, and several promos for Jack Wills, and new boy Steve Annis has completed music videos for bands Vincent and the Villains, Tunng, and Nine Black Alps. PFD's… Alan Almond BSC is shooting an episode of Poirot for Ashley Pearce at Pinewood. Strength And Honour, which he lit for director Mark Mahon, just picked up best pic at the Boston Film Festival. Danny Cohen is shooting the television feature Poppy Shakespeare for director Ben Ross in Manchester. Andrew Dunn BSC has just completed the grade for Good, starring Viggo Mortensen. Lukas Strebel is in Canada prepping Burn Up, a high profile Kudos two-parter penned by Simon Beaufoy. Director Omar Mhada is at the helm. Peter Middleton BSC has recently been back in the
Evocative: DP Trevor Forrest had to control the contrast and colour for the brooding tale of Bombil and Beatrice
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
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who’s shooting who?
UK shooting Robin Sheppard's Octavia, based on a Jilly Cooper novel with Jilly Cooper in a cameo role. It was a Touchpaper production for ITV1. Simon Richards will soon be shooting Carnival's Midnight Man, starring Jimmy Nesbit, for director David Drury. Eduardo Serra AFC, ASC, is about to finish on Ed Zwick's Defiance, starring Daniel Craig. They have been based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Tony Slater-Ling is off to Mozambique as the second unit DP/director on one of Susannah White's episodes of Generation Kill for Company Pictures/HBO. He recently shot Kenny Glenaan's feature film Summer for Sixteen Films. Haris Zambarloukos BSC has now completed Mamma Mia!, the mammoth musical which he commenced last February. Daniel Bronks recently lit Tony Hickox's feature Knife Edge in the UK which is now in post, and worked with Juan Cabral through Blink on that hugely popular Cadbury's commercial featuring a drumming gorilla! Alwin Kuchler BSC, Mik Allen, Brendan Galvin, Peter Suschitzky BSC, Simon Chaudoir, Alex Melman, Adam Hall, Stephen Blackman and Colin Watkinson have all been on commercials. McKinney Macartney Management's… Stuart Biddlecombe is shooting award-winning director Avie Luthra's new feature film My Brothers and Sisters, a comedy about mixed-race relationships in London and the problems that a dysfunctional “family” encounter as they mess up their personal lives. Balazs Bolygo is out in the fields in the early 20th century for director Charlie Palmer on the new BBC period drama Lark Rise to Candleford. It's an adaptation of Flora Palmer's classic novels, and is one of the big BBC projects for next year.
Splash: is DP David Katznelson pondering the depth of the pool or the depth-of-field? Denis Crossan BSC is with director Harald Zwart shooting The Pink Panther 2, that sees Inspector Clouseau teaming up with an international squad of detectives and follows their disastrous adventures across Europe. John de Borman BSC is working on Last Chance Harvey with director Joel Hopkins. This romantic comedy stars Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson as fate brings them together in London. Gavin Finney BSC has finished shooting The Colour of Magic for Vadim Jean. Following the hugely successful Terry Pratchett adaptation of The Hogfather, it is the second novel set in the magical Discworld series. Read about Gavin's exploits on St Trinian's in this edition.
about a lost spoilt chihuahua trying to get out of Mexico and back to her Beverley Hills home has an all-star cast and looks to be one of next year's hits. David Tattersall BSC has signed on for the big-budget remake of the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, which 20th Century Fox is prepping with Scott Derrickson, and will be released in 2008. Darran
Graham Frake is shooting the Company Pictures drama The Palace for ITV with director Maurice Phillips, telling the fictionalised account of life at Buckingham Palace. Richard Greatrex BSC is shooting 3 and Out, a comedy about a tube driver and the man he employs to kill himself under the train. Ben Butler, Mick Coulter BSC, Nina Kellgren BSC, John Pardue, Jake Polonsky, Katie Swain, Clive Tickner BSC and Michael Wood have all been busy working on commercials around the world.
Pasta: DP Mark Patten in Italy on a Barilla ad
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
Hong Manley is shooting The Baby Doll Night for director Adel Abeeb, a post-911 look at relations between Arabs and the West, reportedly the biggest production in Egyptian film history. Phil Méheux BSC is lensing South of the Border with director Raja Gosnell for Disney. It's a live-action family film
John Pardue on the backlot at Pinewood shooting Frequently Asked Questions about Time Travel, which he is now grading
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Eye, eye: DP Natasha Braier awaits the verdict of director Shane Meadows on Somerstown Tiernan is shooting the second series of the drama Single Handed for director Anthony Byrne, a police drama set in Ireland. Brian Tufano BSC is shooting Adulthood with writer/actor Noel Clarke directing the follow up to the eyeopening teenage drama Kidulthood. Wizzo's… Rob Hardy is in pre production for director John Crowley's Is There Anybody There? produced by David Heyman of Heyday Films. The film stars Michael Caine, David Morrissey and Anne Marie Duff. Peter Hannan BSC is shooting 2nd Unit and Visual FX for main unit DP Michael Seresin BSC on Hippy Hippy Shake for director Beeban Kidron through Working Title. Shane Daly has just finished shooting an independent feature film called The Rainbow Tribe for Australian director Chris Watson and is now shooting another film in LA called Mate, which is similar in style and content to Memento. Donal Gilligan has wrapped on the film Time of the Comet based on the Man Booker Prize winning novel of the same name; directed by Fatmir Koci through LARA Enterprises in Dusseldorf, shooting on location in Macedonia and Albania. Per Tingleff, having just finished both series of Jack Dee's Lead Balloon for BBC, is now in preproduction on Space Hopper commissioned by BBC Manchester. Philipp Blaubach has just lensed the lastest Warp X feature called Hush. It's a slasher-chiller-thriller, directed by Mark Tonderai through Vertigo Films. Ben Cole who recently lit the feature biopic The Future is Unwritten directed by Julien Temple has just shot a test feature shooting in Uganda through Nitrate Films. Cassarotto's… Sean Bobbitt BSC is in prep on artist and filmmaker Steve McQueen's Hunger about the hunger-striker Bobby Sands for Blast Films. Natasha Braier has completed shooting an extended short Somerstown with director Shane Meadows. Benoit Delhomme has been lighting The Masked Ball shot in Prague directed by Mike Figgis. Mike Eley, having just come back from directing and shooting 2nd Unit for Generation Kill in Africa, is off to Toronto to light Grey Gardens for HBO starring Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore. David Katznelson is shooting the MySpace MyMovieMashup winner Faintheart this autumn having just completed work on Miss Austen Regrets with director Jeremy Lovering. Seamus McGarvey BSC is just about to start prep on Joe Wright's next film The Soloist for Dreamworks, shooting in LA. He also shot the simply fabulous Chanel Coco Mademoiselle commercial also with Joe Wright, starring Keira Knightley. James Welland will film Hancock And Joan about Tony Hancock with director Richard Laxton for World Prods. Wojciech Szepel has just shot White Girl for Tiger with directror Hettie MacDonald and is now filming the first block of The Fixer for Kudos. Tim Palmer, who enjoyed his speaking role at the recent BSC HD Day event, is shooting the BBC's Being Human in Bristol. page
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Steamy: Seamus MacGarvey BSC at work on No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency
The news from Creative Media Management… is that Mike Southon BSC has just wrapped at Stern Studios near Budapest on Nutcracker: The Untold Story with director, Andrei Konchalovsky. Toby Moore is lighting Stag Night, his second feature for producer Arnold Rifkin. Stag Night will be directed by Flightplan scribe Peter Dowling in Romania. Colin Munn is working on Series 11 of the successful ITV series Midsomer Murders for Bentley Productions, whilst John Rhodes is working on Series 2 of family drama Roman Mysteries for the BBC. Duncan Telford has recently worked on the ad campaign for the BBC's new multi-platform teen content BBC Switch and has just finished lighting the contemporary urban drama W10 LDN for Kudos. Independent Talent Group… reports that after shooting some First Direct commercials that Barry Ackroyd BSC about to start prep on Working Title's, The Green Zone, to be directed by Paul Greengrass. Ben Davis BSC is shooting Gerald McMorrow's, Franklyn. The film is set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and a future metropolis, and is the story of four lost souls, on course for an explosive collision. Anthony Dod Mantle BSC DFF is working on Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire. Set in India, it is based on the true story of an illiterate boy who looks to become a contestant on Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Martin Kenzie BSC has finished shooting a documentary about US pop culture in the 1960s, directed by Martin Scorsese. Dick Pope BSC is lensing on Gurinder Chadha's
Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging. Christopher Ross is shooting Jon S. Baird's Cass, about West Ham's most notorious football hooligan. Oliver Stapleton BSC has started shooting Stephan Elliot's Easy Virtue, based on the Noel Coward play about an American divorcee who meets her new in-laws after marrying a young Englishman on the spur of the moment in France, and Nigel Willoughby BSC is working on Trial & Retribution: Trial 18, to be directed by Gillies MacKinnon. Eigil Bryld has been busy with award-winning director Arran Bowyn shooting a Noah Francis promo in London followed by a series of 6 short films for Sony starring John Malkovic in Paris. Simon Coull, Jess Hall and Mark Patten have been shooting commercials, as has John Mathieson BSC, who has shot a promo for Kylie and is just starting on Autonomous' feature Boogie Woogie with director Duncan Ward. Ben Smithard is back in commercials after finishing The Cranford Chronicles. John Daly has just commenced shooting on Block 2 of the second series of BBC1's Holby Blue. Cinders Forshaw BSC is lensing the Hercule Poirot murder mystery, Cat Among The Pigeons for Granada as part of their The Christies season, which James Kent is directing, and Karen Thrussell and Trevor Hopkins are producing. John Ignatius is shooting the 2 x 60mins Tiger Aspect satirical drama May Contain Nuts, with John Henderson directing, and Lucy Robinson producing.
Dashing: DP Tim Palmer on the set of Bike Squad ISSUE 24
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
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close ups
DP Matthew Libatique ASC
Iron Man
DP Mike Southon BSC
The Nutcracker: The True Story
If you're a family of 2.5 children, expect to be lured into cinemas during the Christmas 2008 season by The Nutcracker: The True Story. This $65m production, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, produced by Paul Lowin, and lensed by Mike Southon BSC, is an attempt to restore the “family musical” as a cinema-going experience. It stars Elle Fanning, John Turturro, Nathan Lane, Richard E.Grant and France de la Tour. Lyrics provided by Sir Tim Rice are set to a Tchaikovsky-influenced original score, with Terry Davis the musical director.
Based on the long-running Marvel comic book series, Paramount Pictures' action drama Iron Man tells the story of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) the enigmatic heir to the Stark Enterprises fortune. A driven inventor and executive, who seems to have it all, Tony is haunted by his dark side. Though he commands his empire by day, by night he secretly becomes Iron Man, the living embodiment of decades of defense spending and innovation. Strapping on billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art armor and weaponry each night, he fights terrorism and corporate espionage. Soon he begins to crack under the strain of his fractured lifestyle and must ultimately confront the one enemy he can never beat - himself. “I like to keep set-ups as simple as possible with the least amount of equipment in the way of the actors,” says cinematographer Matthew Libatique ASC (The Number 23, Inside Man, Gothika, Phone Booth). He highlights MAX, the mechanical, articulated arm from Matthews Studio Equipment, a being of great help with solving production lighting problems on set or location. “We used it everywhere,” he says. “But it helped, specifically, in a cave set where Tony Stark is held captive and begins his transformation into Iron Man. The set had very high ceilings, which made it difficult to get angles on backlight and separation. The MAX allowed us to get the light in the correct position without the disruption of ladders and rigging overhead. The footprint and the counterbalance make it much more convenient than previously used menace arms and C-booms.” Crew: Camera operator 1st AC B 1st AC 2nd AC B 2nd AC Loader Intern/Preview
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Colin Anderson Peter Berglund Taylor Matheson Matt Stenerson Joey O'Donell Gary Bevins Hannah Levin
BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
The Nutcracker is an allegoric retelling of Tchaikovsky's fairy-tale ballet. It is set at Christmas-time in 1929 Vienna, where the first rumblings of what will take place ten years later are echoed by a marching band fighting for ear space with the symphony orchestra in the local square. Mary (Fanning) receives a magical nutcracker - really a 12-year-old prince - and enters a fantastic world where all of her beloved toys are alive. The Nutcracker needs Mary and her brother Fritz's help to defeat the evil Rat King (Turturro), who plans to turn all the city's toys into firewood. As the story flits between the “real” and the “rat” worlds, Southon created as many as 15 different looks on a Mac Pro set-up in his apartment, adjusting the gamma and desaturation to enhance the drama and the action. He says there is some “uncompromising” imagery during the film's darker moments that echoes footage of the ghettos in the 1940s. Soho's iLab developed the rushes, with the HD dailies graded by Simona Harrison according to Southon's e-mailed JPEGs and notes. “It
was a great way to get us into the ballpark,” says Southon, who will supervise the DI. “The second unit could match to the board, and it all worked like clockwork.” The Nutcracker was based at Stern Studios, some 12 miles from the centre of Budapest. Principal photography began on July 16th and completed on October 20th 2007, with the production shooting 6-day weeks. Southon says he was thrilled when Hungarian legend Lajos Koltai ASC, HSC visited the set, the pair discussing the ins and outs of lighting greenscreen; a sizeable chunk of the production will feature CG set extensions. Southon lensed The Nutcracker as 2.35 widescreen, with Arricams shooting 3-perf Kodak Vision 2 2518, some 5217 film stock. We'll cover this production in greater detail next year. Crew: Operator 1st AC, Puller 2nd AC Loader B Cam Operator B Cam 1st Asst B Cam 2nd Asst Gaffer Key Grip
Mike Rintoul Peter Carty Tamas Lehoczky Zoltan Janossa Gabor Forgacs Tamas Janossa Akos Gulyas Steve Costello Attila Szucs Jr
DP Dion Beebe ASC
Rendition Supposed calls received on a cell phone lead to the abduction of an Egyptian-American by the CIA. The investigation's centerpiece becomes a suicide bombing in an undisclosed North American Country. “We went for strong compositions and disciplined camera movement in Rendition,” says cinematographer Dion Beebe ASC. “No post effects, nor an attempt to manipulate the look in a stylized way. “If I were to focus on a single aspect, it would be the 90-second explosion sequence in the square,” he adds. “Shot over two weeks, the script has manipulated the timeline and it became essential to establish and maintain a rigorous continuity of light and action.” Location. A neighborhood outside Marrakech. The town square was actually a circle and action played 360 degrees. Director Gavin Hood, production designer Barry Robinson and Beebe decided where to build key exteriors within set, locate blasts and move actors in and out. “The use of SunPath software and on-site plotting of sun positions by gaffer John Buckley gave me the needed information,” he explains. “We had certain windows of time for certain scenes. That meant walking away from a shot if the sun had shifted. At
times, we rigged large scrims and artificially lit shots. Not always possible with hundreds of extras, moving cars, scooters and donkey carts. “Creating repeatable action was essential and the responsibility fell to 1st AD, Peter Cohen and his team. Each extra was given a very precise set of directions. Fortunately, Gavin clearly saw the sequences of events in his head and with that we were able to work out coverage. “When the time finally came to assemble this sequence, we were able to really see the benefits of the planning. The continuity of light creates a seamless progression of events.” Crew: Cinemaographer A-Camera B-Camera 1st AC Gaffer Key Grip
Dione Beebe ASC Peter Rosenfeld SOC Damien Beebe Scott Rathner John Buckley Don Reynolds
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Plus Camerimage Celebrations Pack up your thermals! It's time for the annual trek to Lódz in the heart of Poland for Plus Camerimage, the 15th International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography, taking place from November 24th to December 1st. Ron Prince provides a guide to this year's goings-on. It's always a special event for anyone involved with cinematography, but with a significant anniversary to celebrate there's something special in the air this time around. And when you realise you just might get to rub shoulders with luminaries such as… Alan Parker, Anton Corbijn, Jiri Menzel, Jan Sverak, Stephen Goldblatt, ASC, BSC, Michael Seresin BSC, Vilmos Zsigmont ASC, Billy Williams BSC, Vittorio Storaro ASC, AIC, Pierre Lhomme, Pawel Edelman, Karl Walter Lindenlaub, Lilly Kilvert, Jaromir Sofr, Affonso Beato, Cesar Charlone, Slawomir Idziak, Miroslav Ondricek, Adam Holender, Ed Lachman, Janusz Kaminski, Haris Zambarloukos BSC, Tibor Mathe, Jost Vacano and The Quay Brothers among others… it's quite frankly unmissable. Again, the splendidly imposing Grand Theatre will be the Festival Centre, with screenings also sprouting in abundance at the Charlie Cinema, Silver Screen multiplex and LDK (Lodz Cultural Centre).
WITHIN YOU AND WITHOUT YOU: There will be a retrospective of this year’s lifetime laureate Stephen Goldblatt’s photography in the Grand Theatre including Beatles In Garden submitted from all over the world, the international selection committee chose feature films produced in 2006 and 2007 for the main competition, including:
Punishment, Freedom of the Leg, A Gentle Spirit), and UCLA lecturer Lawrence Grobel, the author of biographies of Marlon Brando and Truman Capote.
Across the Universe (cin. Bruno Delbonnel, dir. Julie Taymor), Caravaggio (cin. Vittorio Storaro, dir. Angelo Longoni), Control (cin. Martin Ruhe, dir. Anton Corbij), The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, (cin. Janusz Kaminski, dir. Julian Schnabel,), Elizabeth: Zloty wiek (cin. Remi Adefarasin, dir. Shekhar Kapur) I’m Not There (cin. Edward Lachman, dir. Todd Haynes), I Server the King of England (cin. Jaromir Sofr, dir.. Jiri Menzel,), Love in the Time of Cholera (cin. Affonso Beato, dir. Mike Newell,), Lust, Caution (cin. Rodrigo Prieto, dir.. Ang Lee), The New Man (cin. Jarkko T. Laine, dir.. Klaus Haro). Opium - the Diary of a Mad Woman (cin. Tibor Mathe, dir. Janos Szasz), Sleuth (cin. Haris Zambarloukos, dir.. Kenneth Branagh), Time To Die (cin. Artur Reinhard, dir.. Dorota Kedzierzawska), Tricks (cin. Adam Bajerski, dir.. Andrzej Jakimowski), Ulzhan (cin. Tom Fahrmann, dir.. Volker Schlondorff),
Lifetime Achievement Award winner This year Stephen Goldblatt ASC, BSC, the cinematographer on such films as Lethal Weapon, Angels in America, The Cotton Club and Closer, Academy Award nominee for The Prince of Tides and Batman Forever, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. A retrospective exhibition of his photography works will be showing in the Grand Theatre. The Plus Camerimage organisers will screen various of Goldblatt's films, including Angels in America, which will be projected in 35mm for the first time in Poland.
This year's highlights include… Frog of Frogs Competition: Based on an internet vote, the organisers have been encouraging “internauts” to choose the best film from among all the films granted with Golden, Silver or Bronze Frogs during the last 14 years of the Festival. The results will be announced at the Opening Ceremony of Plus Camerimage Festival, when the cinematographer of the winning film will be awarded with the Frog of Frogs gong. Main Competition Unlike any other film festival in the world, Plus Camerimage honours films based on the quality of the photography and its success in supporting the story. Out of some 320 entries
DYNAMIC DUO: The Cinematographer-Director award will be presented to Jiri Menzel and Jaromír Sofr
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Judges include cinematographers Brett Ratnet (director, producer Czerwony smok, The Family Man, Skazany na smierc) Przewodniczacy Jury, Oliver Stapleton (cinematographer Ned Kelly, Przypadkowy bohater, Casanova), Robbie Greenberg (cinematographer Even Money, Warm Springs), Pawel Edelman (Love Stories, The Revenge, The Pianist, Katy), Pierre Lhomme (Cyrano de Bergerac, Camille Claudel, Le Divorce) and Karl Walter Lindenlaub (Independence Day, Rob Roy, The Jackal), production designer Lilly Kilvert (Legends of the Fall, The Last Samurai, The Siege), animated-film director Piotr Dumala (Crime and
Student Etudes Competition Students are the lifeblood of cinematography, and etudes with high visual values have been submitted from film schools across the world. The judging panel includes cinematographers Vilmos Zsigmond ASC (Academy Award winner for Close Encounters of the Third Kind), Billy Williams BSC (Academy Award winner for Gandhi), producer Gene Gutowski (Roman Polanski's Repulsion, and The Pianist), animated-film director Witold Giersz, (co-founder of Studio Miniatur Filmowych in Warsaw and the inventor of a new technique called “animated painting”), and British photographer Chris Niedenthal, who has worked for Newsweek and Time magazines. In recognition of the legendary Laszlo Kovacs' commitment to the education of young cinematographers, there's a new Laszlo Kovacs Student Award in The Golden Tadpole competition, which will be presented by Kovacs's wife Audrey and Vilmos Zsigmond.
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camera creative
Extraordinaire: from L to R shots of Angels in America, a Goldblatt still entitled Woody dives with Deborah, and Natalie Portman in a shocking pink wig in Closer
Angel Face Stephen Goldblatt BSC, ASC – recipient of the 2007 Plus Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award – spoke to Carolyn Giardina about his latest productions and techniques.
Goldblatt says the biggest challenge of film was this dilemma: “How do you do something that is based on historical fact, in which the key participant, Charlie Wilson, is very alive and kickin’, and on the set, and not bore people to death? It’s all very well to do a film that is true to the facts, but you’ve got to stretch everything so that visually it’s interesting, but it’s not a complete cheat.” Of the look, he says, “It’s rich, it’s real, it’s sometimes beautiful when it should be. It’s a narrative look. I’m not trying to draw attention to the camera. Almost never. If you had to label it, it’s a heightened reality. “But Mike [Nichols] really insists on some semblance of reality. Even in the fantasy sequences in Angels in America, Mike wanted an internal logic.” Charlie Wilson’s War was lensed in Super1:85 formats using a Super 35mm camera with a recentered lens. It was lensed on location in Morocco and in Los Angeles. “The idea and prep was that we were going to do a great deal in Morocco, but due to unfortunate circumstances with the weather, our main set was destroyed,” Goldblatt relates, explaining that this set was a refugee camp that was originally built at just over 10,000 ft in the Atlas Mountains. “A winter storm came in a month before its usual time,” he says.
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At press time, Goldblatt was in Hollywood, where colour grading on the film was about to begin at Efilm, with colourist Steve Scott. Angels In America Stephen Goldblatt was born in South Africa, and moved to the UK at a young age. He began his career as a photojournalist, working for newspapers and magazines, as well as shooting bands such as The Beatles. He then started shooting documentaries and television commercials, and then features. He moved to Hollywood in 1987 and lensed Lethal Weapon and Lethal Weapon 2. Goldblatt recalls: “Lethal Weapon was amazing for me. I was an Englishman, newly living in Hollywood, looking for locations with Richard Donner and his designer, Michael Riva, and everything. Everything seemed so fresh and new – doing a genre movie, which I had never done before. That was great. I look for films to do where I can repeat that sort of experience... something that is new and character-driven, something I can throw myself into heart and soul.”
Looking back at films where he collaborated with director Mike Nichols, Stephen Goldblatt BSC, ASC says: “If we have a conscious collaboration, Mike Nichols and myself, it would be looking to amplify character. I believe there’s no landscape more interesting that the human face. The way the camera works, I hope, is showing that.” Goldblatt, the recipient of the Plus Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming 15th anniversary festival in Poland, has enjoyed a collaboration with Nichols that goes back to 2002, when he lensed HBO’s film adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer prize winning drama Angels in America, which featured a cast that included Al Pacino, Meryl Streep and Emma Thompson. Goldblatt teamed up again with Nichols on the 2004 theatrical release Closer, which starred Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Jude Law and Natalie Portman; and the soon-to-be-released Charlie Wilson’s War. The upcoming drama is based on the true story of Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who persuaded the CIA to train and arm resistance fighters in Afghanistan to fend off the Soviet Union. Charlie Wilson’s War stars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
beyond it. That was a difficult shot. It’s bubbling and then it breaks the surface. The dialogue starts and it’s very funny. I did enjoy that.”
Stephen Goldblatt BSC, ASC
There is no landscape more interesting than the human face. “We were very lucky we didn’t have serious injuries. People were stranded on the mountain. The set was destroyed. There were landslides; it was quite dramatic. There was nothing left. The set was gone. “It was impossible to rebuild it once the bad weather started. So we finished what we could and returned to Los Angeles. We did a lot less than planned, but there are still significant sequences in Morocco. The refugee camp set was reconstructed and filming was completed in Southern California. Scenes that Goldblatt particularly enjoyed included one that took place in a decadent suite in Las Vegas, where Wilson is introduced sitting in a hot tub, engaged in dialogue. “I had this idea to start actually underwater and just have the camera rise up and break the surface of the water into the story. And then the camera goes around and we see Charlie Wilson in the hot tub with the two strippers. Mike liked that idea and so we got a special underwater rig on a sealed extendable Chapman arm. The underwater camera starts in the hot tub and then rises up, and we have the first two characters, and continues to pull back to reveal the whole fantasy suite and the Las Vegas Strip
Goldblatt went on to compile an impressive list of credits and accolades. He earned two Academy Award nominations for achievement in cinematography, for Batman Forever (1995) and Barbra Streisand’s The Prince of Tides (1991). He has also earned multiple ASC Award and Emmy nominations. Additional feature credits include The Hunger, The Cotton Club, The Pelican Brief, For the Boys, and Rent. In 2001, he photographed the HBO film Conspiracy, directed by Frank Pierson, on Super 16mm. With this project, Goldblatt became an early pioneer of the ‘digital intermediate’, using the digital process for the first time on Super 16mm in the USA, to blow-up and colour correct the original negative. He received an Emmy nomination for this production. In 2002 Goldblatt photographed his seminal work Angels in America for Nichols. The director of photography received Emmy and ASC award nominations for this production. “I think that I was born to shoot Angels in America for Mike Nichols,” Goldblatt, says. “Everything came together for me. I had the technical background from the Batman films. I had the ability to light visual effects through those sort of films. I did Prince of Tides with Streisand and I knew how to photograph actresses. I’m so interested in narrative filmmaking, and that’s what Mike does. So Angels in America for me was a real turning point in my career, and also my life, because I was able to commit myself to something I believed in so much.” Camerimage Looking ahead, Goldblatt shared his insights on digital filmmaking technology. “The central problems of making a film, of getting a story to work, are going to be common problems, whether you shoot on digital or film stock. And they are the most difficult problems. They are the struggles which really should engage filmmakers all the time. You do your best with everything else, but the big problems remain. They are not solved whether it’s digital or film.” Speaking about his Plus Camerimage honour, Goldblatt says: “It’s rather stunning. I wasn’t expecting it and I’m very flattered. To get an award that heroes of mine like Sven Nykvist and Vittorio Storaro have received, surprises me, but in the nicest way … I’m going to enjoy it.”
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plus camerimage
SPECIAL AWARD: Lilly Kilvert, production designer on The Last Samurai (pictured) is getting a special award
Outstanding Achievements In Music Videos This new award will be presented to guest-of-honour Anton Corbijn, who has gained recognition as a director on videos for Depeche Mode, Metallica, U2 and Brian Adams. Corbijn's latest acclaimed feature film Control (lensed by Martin Ruhe) will have a screening within Main Competition, fighting for Golden Frog Award. Nokia Mobile Movie Competition This is the second year when ten finalists will get Nokia N95 multimedia computers to make short films during the Festival. The topic is 'This Happy Day' and all ten movies will be presented to the festival audience and at the official Nokia website - www.nokia.com.pl. The winner chosen will be announced at the closing ceremony. Renowned Polish cinematographer and director Slawomir Idziak (A Short Film About Killing, Three Colors: Blue, Black Hawk Down, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix), is the jury chairman and the artistic mentor of the competition, Phil Meheux, Louis-Phillippe Capelle are jury members. Polish Honours Of course, with Camerimage having its roots in Poland, there are a number of awards to Polish filmmaking talents. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award for a Polish Artist goes to
Jerzy Stuhr, the highly-popular Polish actor, screenplay writer, film director, drama professor and the Rector of Ludwik Solski Academy of the Dramatic Arts in Krakow. A former collaborator of Krzysztof Kieslowski the Festival will present Korowód, Stuhr's latest directorial outing. The Polish Film Competition, sponsored by Plus, will present a slew of recent Polish film productions, judged by a panel that includes cinematographers Jaromir Sofr (Closely Watched Trains, Cutting It Short, Larks On a String, I Served The King of England), Affonso Beato (All About My Mother, Ghost World, The Queen, Love In the Time of Cholera), Franz Rath (DP on films by Margarethe von Trotta and Volker Schlondorff among others), and Cesar Charlone (City of God, Constant Gardener). Cinematographer Adam Holender ASC, and a member of the DGA and AMPAS, whose credits include Midnight Cowboy, To Kill a Priest, Brooklyn Boogie and Carlito's Way, will pick up the Special Award to the Polish Cinematographer for his Immense Contribution to the Art of Film. Special Awards and Reviews The Duo: Cinematographer-Director award is granted to film collaborators whose joint achievements have significantly contributed to cinema. The first Duo Award: Cinematographer-Director will be presented to Jiri Menzel and Jaromír Sofr who have made 12 feature films together, including Closely Watched Trains, which won the Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film in 1966. The Special Award to a Cinematographer for their Immense Contribution to the World Cinema will be presented to Miroslav Ondricek, author of cinematography with body of work spanning over 40 films such as Hair, Amadeus, Ragtime, Valmont and Awakenings, and well-known for his work with Milos Forman. He was Oscar-nominated twice for Best Cinematography on Ragtime and Amadeus. Alan Parker and Michael Seresin BSC will be granted with Plus Camerimage Duo Award: Director Cinematographer. Since 1976 they have made eight films together: Bugsy Malone, Midnight Express, Fame, Shoot the Moon, Birdy, Angel Heart, Angela's Ashes and The Life of David Gale. Their films gained worldwide acclamation and received many prestigious awards and nominations, such as Grand Prize of the Cannes Film Festival Jury for Birdy. The Special Award to the Production Designer with Unique Visual Sensitivity will be granted to Lilly Kilvert, production designer on The Last Samurai, City of Angels and The Crucible, and an Oscarnominee for Legends of the Fall and The Last Samurai.
RENOWNED: Polish cinematographer and director Slawomir Idziak chairs the Nokia competition
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The review of a European country or a region is always key fixture on the Festival programme. This year 30 of the most interesting film productions made in The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium (Walloon, Flemish and French), will be screened, along with meetings with filmmakers.
Starting this year, animated films will also be screened at Plus Camerimage. The artistic mentor of this section of the festival is Witold Giersz, a laureate of many prestigious awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Polish Minister of Culture, some of his works will be presented at Plus Camerimage. One highlight will be attendance of Stephen and Timothy Quay, The Quay Brothers, whose original work has won them recognition and admiration all over the world. The festival will also present the latest animations from Estonia, plus screenings of the best films shown at the Reanimation Festival in 2006 and 2007. Plus Camerimage Market Some of the leading production technology vendors have again taken stands at the Festival Centre in The Grand Theatre, including ARRI, Panavision, P+S Technik, MAT, K5600, Sony, Nokia, Sachtler, Technocrane, LCA, Finn Light, J. L. Fisher, as well as presentations from Kodak, Framestore, Discovery, Technicolor, Color By Deluxe, Osram and Quantel. Kodak will use Camerimage for the worldwide product launch of its next generation film technology. This will take place on Thursday 29th November - Kodak Day - at 4.00pm in the main screening room and also include a presentation of Kodak’s Accurate Image Management (AIM) by facility Laser Pacific. As part of Kodak Day it will host the Cinematographers dinner on Thursday evening. Technicolor is exhibiting its DP Lights system on ARRI's stand, connected to the ARRI D-20 and S.two recorders, showing real-time colour correction. Technicolor is also sponsoring a seminar where Brian Gaffney, VP/GM of Technicolor Creative Bridge will demo this entire workflow from camera to recorder, and the benefits for post production. Panavision will be showing Genesis with the new SSR-1 solid state recorder, a Millenium XL2 with PCZ zoom lens and the Hylen lens system. Workshops and seminars The perennially popular workshops and seminars provide a great opportunity for direct contact with the leading cinematographers, directors, editors and other professionals of the film industry. Again located at the Festival Centre and Opus Film Studio, these will be lead by Stephen Goldblat, Harris Savides (Elephant, Zodiac, American Gangster), Chris Doyle (Hero, Paranoid Park, Meeting Helen), Editing workshops will be lead by film professionals including Roger Crittenden, Larry Sider, Michal Leszczylowski, Sylvia Ingmarsdotter, Haris Zambarloukos (Panavision workshops), Sean Bobbitt (Arri Workshops), Mikael Salomon (Arri presentation), David Higgs (Arri Workshops), Murray Close, Simon Philips, Alan Parker, Michael Seresin. In the year of its 90th anniversary ARRI is planning a host of screenings and workshops. Cinematographer David Higgs will discuss his experiences with the ARRIFLEX D-20 camera on Guy Ritchie's latest action movie RocknRolla. The presentation
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plus camerimage
ANIMATED: Witold Giersz and The Quay Brothers head up a new animated film section
UNMISSABLE: Check out the Vittorio Storaro photography exhibition at the City History Museum
will include discussions with S.two Corps regarding the D20's HD and data modes, and explore colour management workflows from dailies to deliverables. Director Mikael Salomen will talk about his approach to shooting US TV drama The Company, using three D-20s and an ARRIFLEX 435 35mm camera. Sean Bobbitt BSC, DP on the BBC's recent period drama Sense and Sensibility, will host a workshop on the ARRI 416 16mm camera, and in a
Plus Camerimage Special Guests
Sky-diving artist Greg Gasson jumping out of an aircraft with a 235 strapped to his helmet.
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screening of ARRIFLEX 235 Adventures, audiences will get to see sky-diving artist Greg Gasson jumping out of an aircraft with a 235 strapped to his helmet. Panavision’s workshops will feature Haris Zambarloukos BSC discussing “photography of the face” and will examine how to use Anamorphic lenses in the process, plus Stephen Goldblatt BSC demonstrating various lighting techniques with the use of both Panavision film and digital cameras. The Forum One of the key aims of the Festival is to raise awareness of the issues and problems facing filmmaking and filmmakers. At Camerimage 2005 IMAGO, the European federation of cinematographers, led a series of debates devoted to working conditions and copyright issues, with one of the outcomes being a declaration concerning working conditions, signed by 20 world-acclaimed directors of photography. In 2006, the forum concentrated on the recognition of the cinematographer as the coauthor of audiovisual works, copyright law, and extended the debate about working conditions in the film industry. This year's Forum will be held on Nov 28th, with IMAGO's Tony Costa planning a conference on the model contract for cinematographers, plus a screening of a short documentary he made featuring vox pops from DPs about working conditions in the film industry.
There's a Vittorio Storaro photography exhibition in Lodz City History Museum in Poznanski Palace, which was opened by the artist himself. Storaro won Academy Awards for Apocalypse Now, Reds and The Last Emperor. There will be a performance by Luxembourg actress and singer Ingrid Caven (Enter), and a screening of her latest film, Deepfrozen. The Big Animation Review will be partly devoted to the films of Stephen and Timothy Quay, who will present and discuss their film achievements.
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all time greats
Legend: Laszlo Kovacs with Tatem O’Neil next to him and Ryan O'Neil behind on the set of Paper Moon
Legendary László It is impossible to talk about the legendary László Kovács without his soul brother, partner, fellow Hungarian refugee, Vilmos Zsigmond ASC, writes Pauline Rogers. Their story is aptly unfolded in the introduction to a privately-funded documentary in the works, entitled László & Vilmos: The Story of Two Refugees who Changed the Look of American Cinema. The film is helmed by devoted fan, former student and intern, and Emmy-nominated cinematographer James Chressanthis ASC.
In America, the two men separate and struggle in the new land working at odd jobs: tapping maple syrup, lab technician, studio assistant, baby photographer, until they reunite in Los Angeles. Still outsiders, they work tirelessly, borrowing, then buying a movie camera, always looking to shoot films no matter how modest the project. After struggling for years, they begin to shoot low-budget features, each helping the other, forming a bond deeper than friendship. Though their success grows, the immigrants are still not accepted by the Hollywood establishment.
It was his use of natural light and innovative camera m o v e s t h a t w o ke u p A m e r i c a n f i l m m a ke r s and audiences.
“There's a story the gypsies know is true…” Two young film students in Budapest, confronted with the Hungarian revolution of 1956, film the Russian army crushing the revolt. Leaving family and friends for an uncertain future, they make a perilous journey to the Austrian border carrying some 30,000 feet of precious film with them. The refugees speak no English, yet they have a burning desire to go to America and Hollywood, a place they know only from cinema.
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In 1969, one of them filmed the road movie Easy Rider, the sensation of the Cannes Film Festival, which catapulted Jack Nicholson to stardom. Two years later the other one filmed McCabe and Mrs. Miller establishing himself as an artist of images, then goes on to shoot the first feature film of Steven Spielberg. The expatriate Hungarians have made an indelible impression
on the art of cinema. In their own words: “We were at the right place at the right time to work with the new directors to help create an American New Wave.”
A personal history László Kovács was born May 4th, 1933 on a farm near a small rural village outside Budapest, Hungary. His mother's
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all time greats
Innovation: Laszlo Kovacs and director Peter Bogdonovich on the set of Paper Moon
Certain cameramen are able to create an atmosphere on the set that is quiet and efficient and loving and c a r i n g, n o t o n l y a b o u t the movie but about the people who are making the movie. The director and the actors. There is something that László had in this area that the actors embraced him. He embraced them. [With l i g h t i n g, t o o ] , i t w a s something instinctual. Yo u c o u l d s e e i t i n a shot here and a shot there. A shade here, a s h a d e t h e r e . Yo u c o u l d tell from the temperament of the man. Fi v e E a s y Pi e c e s Pr o d u c e r / D i r e c t o r / c o writer Bob Rafelson
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Camping out: some of the techniqes and imagaery Kozics employed in Easy Rider broke the mould friendship with a woman in the village who ran a makeshift cinema in the school auditorium led him to the magic of movies. At 11, he was distributing flyers for viewings. His pay: a front row seat for the screenings. At 16, he was off to school to be a doctor or lawyer. However, the lure of local cinema caused him to skip maths and science classes. And, in 1952, he was accepted at the Academy of Drama and Film in Budapest. When no communist officials were around, the teachers allowed students to view American films. It was Gregg Toland's cinematography (Kovács could not understand the words) on Citizen Kane that turned a fascination into an obsession. He was going to become a cinematographer. The October 1956 uprisings changed everything. Kovács and recent film school graduate Vilmos Zsigmond “borrowed” a 35mm camera and film - and, hiding the camera in a shopping bag, began to shoot. While one was a look-out the other captured images of civilians in hand-tohand combat with Russian soldiers. Escaping with their lives, and the film, the two began a long journey to Hollywood. It took a long time for Kovács to be accepted in Hollywood. Occasional National Geographic documentaries, and a Western shot over a weekend for $12,000. This lead to Richard Rush low-budget “biker” movies, including Hell's Angels on Wheels. In 1968, he worked with another young “new” director named Peter Bagdonovich on a movie called Targets. When they paired several years later on Paper Moon, it was magic. So was the magic of the Dennis Hopper directed and starring role Easy Rider. As Bagdonovich says, “he (Kovács) changed the look of American movies.” It was his use of natural light and innovative camera moves that woke up American filmmakers and audiences. The way he “started on the spokes, came up and saw Peter, then Jack and then catches me and goes out…,” recalled Hopper, of Kovács' work on Easy Rider. “The things he did were sensational.”
In his own words “Everyone thinks that my big break was with Easy Rider,” Kovács stated in an interview printed in the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers. “But not really. That film was really a result of something that already started happening. You're a filmmaker, you're making movies! … Early on I was teamed up with Richard Rush, and we did all kinds of crazy bike movies and psychedelic movies like Psych-Out which was about the flower children in San Francisco. That was significant to me. “Dennis Hopper just happened to see this crazy movie. It was actually very rough and raw, but it was visually very, very interesting. He knew a production manager that I also worked with, and Dennis said, 'Look. I want to find the guy who shot this movie and I want him to shoot my first picture.' “The production manager said 'this is a different kind of bike movie. Dennis is going to come into a meeting and explain the whole thing'. The first thing I thought was, 'this guy is crazy.' Then he started talking about these two guys who take this incredible journey. And that's what basically grabbed my imagination, which made me beam. Finally I could do something really interesting here. And then he finished the story that sounded like a Greek tragedy.” In an on-line interview for the International Cinematographers Guild, Kovács admitted he had no idea that Easy Rider would become a classic. “The only thing we were hoping for was that it would be better than the standard drive-in programming. We had a lot of freedom even though we were working with a tiny budget. It was a very tightly organized production. “We packed everything in two five-ton trucks. One truck was for the bikes, and we carried all of the camera and lighting equipment in the other one. The cast and crew travelled in station wagons, and my camera car was a 1968 Chevy convertible. I picked it because of the shocks. We put the top down and put a four-by-four sheet of plywood on the
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all time greats
Laszlo Kovacs, ASC, HSC - Selected Filmography Every movie comes down to the cinematographer's l a n g u a g e . We ex p r e s s ourselves through the way we control light, whether it's nature's light or the light we create on a set
back. With a High Hat, I could swing the camera from left to right. We had kind of a sign language. It was very simple. We pointed and waved. There were no PAs, ADs, police or twoway radios.” One of the movies Kovács is most proud of is Paper Moon. Director Peter Bogdanovich wanted to shoot it in black and white. He wanted it to feel and look like time has passed the characters by and their lives are standing still. It was perfect for a black-and-white style. “I sort of knew about the principals of black-and-white photography, and the basic filtration needed to enhance certain tones and repress others,” Kovács said in an interview for the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award. “One of my tests was in the Mojave desert with rolling hills and different rock formations. There were lights and shadows and a cobalt blue sky that was flat with no texture. I shot 10,000 feet of black-and-white film just on that test. Peter told me that Orson Welles was his house-guest and he invited me to visit one night. It seemed like I was in the presence of a giant. I didn't know what to say. Orson told me he heard Peter and I were going to make a black-and-white movie. He said, 'Use a red filter, my boy.'” Whether he was shooting a black-and-white film like Paper Moon, an effects-driven piece like Multiplicity or Jack Frost, Kovács was always aware of what he had to bring to the project. In the Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers he summed up his work. “When I'm lighting, I like to feel that every light has a dramatic logic and function in the composition. It really is like painting; each piece of light is a brush-stroke, giving different emotional values, defining and texturing each part of the shot from foreground to background, highlighting what's important for the audience to see.”
2006 2002 2000 2000 1998 1997 1996 1995 1995 1994 1994 1992 1991 1989 1988 1986 1985 1984 1984 1982 1982 1981 1980 1980 1979 1979 1978 1978 1977 1976 1976
Torn From the Flag Two Weeks Notice Miss Congeniality Return to Me Jack Frost My Best Friend's Wedding Mutiplicity Copycat Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home The Scout The Next Karate Kid Radio Flyer Shattered Say Anything Little Nikita Legal Eagles Mask Ghostbusters Crackers The Toy Frances The Legend of the Lone Ranger Inside Moves Heart Beat The Runner Stumbles Butch and Sundance: The Early Days Paradise Alley F.I.S.T. New York, New York Nickelodeon Harry and Walter Go to New York
1976 1975 1975 1974 1974 1974 1973 1973 1973 1973 1972 1972 1972 1971 1971 1970 1970 1970 1970 1970 1969 1969 1969 1969 1968 1968 1968 1968 1967 1967 1967
Baby Blue Marine Shampoo At Long Last Love Freebie and the Bean For Pete's Sake Huckleberry Finn Paper Moon Slither A Reflection of Fear Steelyard Blues The King of Marvin Gardens What's Up Doc? Pocket Money The Last Movie The Marriage of a Young Stockbroker Alex in Wonderland Five Easy Pieces Getting Straight The Rebel Rousers Hell's Bloody Devils Blood of Dracula's Castle (as Leslie Kovacs) That Cold Day in the Park (as Leslie Kovacs) Easy Rider A Day with the Boys Single Room Furnished (as Leslie Kovacs) The Savage Seven Targets Psych-Out Hells Angels on Wheels Mondo Mod A Man Called Dagger
In the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award interview, he continues that thought. “Cinematography requires tremendous control and it is getting more complex by the day, especially with the digital effects that are now integrated into almost every movie. It affects everything from production design to the director's concept. But, basically, every movie comes down to the cinematographer's language. We express ourselves through the way we control light, whether it's nature's light or the light we create on a set. You start with black, turn on the first light and start to build a structure. At that point, it's just a vision in the cinematographer's mind. Some people consider us technicians, but that's not true. Most people aren't aware of who creates the images. Cinematography is probably the most underrated art form of the 20th century.” As Five Easy Pieces actress Karen Black says in László & Vilmos, “His gifts can never be forgotten.” Awards 1970 – Golden Laurel (2nd Place), Cinematographer for Easy Rider – Laurel Awards 1971 – Golden Laurel (3rd Place), Best Cinematographer for Five Easy Pieces – Laurel Awards 1998 – Lifetime Achievement Award – Camerimage 1998 – Excellence in Cinematography Award – Hawaii International Film Festival 1999 – Lifetime Achievement Award – WorldFest Flagstaff 2001 – Hollywood Film Award, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography – Hollywood Film Festival 2002 – Lifetime Achievement Award – American Society of Cinematographers 2005 – A Legenda Award – Hungarian Society of Cinematographers
Special thanks to James Chressanthis ASC, Dr. David Kaminsky M.D. and Bob Fisher, for the use of introduction and director quotes from the inprogress documentary László & Vilmos, which was begun before Kovács death on July 22, 2007. Their plan is to premiere this film of two lifelong friends, as told by them, their peers and a new generation of filmmakers whom they've influenced and inspired at the Cannes Film Festival.
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INTERNATIONAL
post and techno
DI pioneers open Colorfront in Budapest Mark and Aron Jaszberenyi, the Hungarian brothers who pioneered industry-leading colour manipulation systems used on Hollywood blockbusters including The Lord of The Rings trilogy, King Kong, and the Harry Potter films, have opened Colorfront, a multi-million dollar, DCIcompliant post production company for motion picture and broadcast productions, in Budapest. Colorfront harnesses the Jaszberenyi's ten-year experience in digital post production, most notably as the inventors of Autodesk's Lustre grading system. The facility is opening as Hungary becomes increasingly popular as a production destination (see Hungarian article in this edition). It will service these productions as well as offering its facilities worldwide. “Central Europe, and Hungary in particular, has an amazing filmic history with leading directors, producers, cinematographers and technicians coming from here,” said Aron Jaszberenyi. “A modern facility in Budapest keeps that tradition going, and fills a gap in the market too. With skills and competitive pricing encouraging more producers to shoot in Hungary, we believe Colorfront is well-placed to service all broadcast and motion picture projects.” Colorfront is one of the most advanced companies in Europe. Its facilities include ARRI film scanning and recording, three Autodesk Lustre DI colour grading suites with 2K Christie digital
Quantel wins excellence award Quantel's “Genetic Engineering” teamworking infrastructure technology for DI and post, was recently named the winner of the 2007 Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) Engineering Excellence Award. The award was created to showcase and reward inventors and manufacturers for outstanding product or technology application offerings. Genetic Engineering is a suite of tools and technologies that enables fast, high-resolution post production and DI, not just between Quantel systems, but also allows “open” access to systems from other hardware and software manufacturers. "We are honoured that the HPA has recognised work which helps to solve some of the challenging teamworking issues that many of our customers face," said Mark Horton, Quantel strategic marketing manager. "Part of the uniqueness of Genetic Engineering is that as well as offering Quantel teamworking, it is completely open to third party systems, with no license or special APIs. This makes it a genuinely open and new approach to workflow, all the way to 4K and stereoscopic 3D” Phil Mendelson, chair of the Engineering Awards subcommittee of the HPA Awards Committee, noted, “In a field of compelling entries, Quantel's Genetic Engineering blew us out of our seats with an infrastructure that does indeed change the way we travel through the DI workflow. The HPA Engineering Excellence Awards honour genrechanging processes and products, and Genetic Engineering does just that.” Peter Jackson's Park Road Post Production, a leading New Zealand post production facility, recently purchased a second Quantel Pablo 4K non-linear colour correction system as well as Quantel's Genetic Engineering system.
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Colorfront: aims to capture the Hungarian market for dailies, DI and deliverables projection, Flame compositing, Smoke and Avid HD editing, Doremi digital cinema systems, sound mixing as well as picture mastering, digital dailies and deliverables. The Jaszberenyis made cinema history in 2001, pioneering the first DI grading system as used on Peter Jackson's The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. They also developed Autodesk's Lustre system, used on features including Apocalypto, The da Vinci Code and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, and have advised many companies worldwide about advanced digital post production.
Grip Factory launches new Quad Dolly Grip Factory Munich (GFM) recently introduced the new GF-Quad Dolly for use in film broadcast production. The dolly operates on almost all straight or round tracks, with either skateboard or track wheels. A quick release system allows for a quick changeover to pneumatic wheels, without the need for tools. A three-stage steering system, enables front wheel, four-wheel and rear wheel steering. In the four-wheel mode the dolly becomes, highly manoeuvrable, and is able to navigate a circle with an 80cm / 31” radius. The steering angle can be locked off to help repeat either straight or curved moves. The GF-Quad weighs 42kg / 92lbs, and
is constructed from lightweight aluminium with a hardened surface to aid the durability and lifespan of the equipment. GFM supplies a complete range of dolly accessories for the GF-Quad including a pushbar, camera risers and mounts, mini jibs and off-set rigs.
LipSync Post Expands Soho VFX facility LipSync Post has announced that it is to invest approximately £500,000 expanding its VFX department, following a sustained increase in demand for its film post-production services. The investment will acquire and equip a 6,800sq/ft site in Wardour Street, connected via Sohonet to LipSync's main building, also in Wardour Street. Recent high-profile films that have undergone the LipSync treatment include United 93, 28 Weeks Later, 1408 and Stardust. LipSync Post has also appointed Andrew Morley as its new head of 3D/VFX supervision. He brings over ten years of experience at
LipSync: posting high-profile films such as Stardust leading visual effects facilities including Lucasfilm, The Moving Picture Company and Industrial Light and Magic, and has worked on a number of high-profile film projects including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Batman Begins and Troy.
Panther announces Twister Dolly Early in 2008, Panther Broadcast is to launch Twister, a new doorway dolly designed to provide a range of new possibilities in movement on a production set. A key feature of the Twister dolly are the combined tyre and track wheels. They allow for camera movements on a track (62 cm / 2 ft gauge), or on the ground, without the need for time consuming conversion. With an overall width of 78 cm / 2'7'' the Twister is designed to glide through any door with ease.
The Twister has three steering modes, front, read and round-a-round, enabling the front wheels or the back wheels to move independently from each other, or all four wheels to move together. A minimum inner turning radius of 50 cm / 1'8'' allows operators to run narrow curves. The dolly's platform allows a payload of up to 250 kg / 550 lbs, and can be enlarged with different platforms. All standard Panther accessories such as turnstile attachments, Euro adapter, bowls and other brackets or bazookas can be used on the Twister Dolly.
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
INTERNATIONAL
post and techno
Cinesite provides VFX this Christmas Cinesite Europe Ltd has released details of the VFX work it has completed on His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass and on Fred Claus, which both release during the 2007 Christmas season. The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Eva Green is based on the first book in Philip Pullman's Northern Lights trilogy, and features fantastical animals, cities and people in parallel universes. Cinesite's extensive 3D work (around 400 shots) involved the creation of 13 photorealistic CG animals (including a husky, preying mantis, chameleon, crow, raccoon and rat), complete with bespoke fur and muscle systems. There are also epic cityscapes of alternative universe versions of Cambridge and London. For the climax of the film, Cinesite also created a 360-degree CGI panorama of the sinister Bolvanger detention centre, and the surrounding snowy mountains. Futuristic modes of transport also feature heavily in the film, including Lee Scoresby's CG hot-air balloon, the huge sky
ferry, Ma Costa's barge, the Noorderlicht ship and the Magisterium carriage. Fred Claus, is the tale of Fred, who is bailed out of jail by his older brother Nicholas (Santa) Claus, on the condition that Fred returns home to the North Pole and enters the family business. Cinesite worked on 180 shots including a spectacular, sleigh flight sequence where Fred saves Christmas by delivering presents all over the world. This sequence comprises five CG reindeer, a CG sleigh and CG doubles of Fred and Willy, Fred's elf helper. Each of the five reindeer were individually textured and modeled, with the real reindeer on set used as references they are completely photoreal with their own personalised characteristics and markings. Cinesite created cloud environments and stratospheres for the sequence, as Fred flies round the world at super-speed trying to deliver the presents before the children wake up. Cinesite also worked on numerous head replacements using an in-house bespoke tracking system.
Panavision launches new products Panavision is to launch a range of new camera, lens and accessory products from December 2007 and progressively into 2008. To compliment its Genesis camera, the company has designed and produced the SSR-1, a solid state recorder and docking station. The recorder will record uncompressed 4:4:4 or 4:2:2, with a recording time of 21minutes for 4:4:4 SP shot at 23.98fps, and 43 minutes in 4:2:2 LP mode. The unit weights 2.7kg/5.6lbs, utilises the same workflows and controls as the SRW-1 tape deck, but consumes less power and is much smaller. The SSRD docking station provides HD-SDI output with embedded audio from the SSR-1. It can be used for playback in post or on set. Panavision's new, compact PCZ 19-90mm, T2.8mm Primo zoom lens, is 8” in length and weights 7.3lbs. It maintains constant focus and T2.8 aperture throughout its zoom range and maximises contrast, resolution and field illumination while minimising breathing, veiling glare, ghosting, distortion and other aberrations. Panavision's G series of highperformance anamorphic lenses comprises a 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 60mm, 75mm and 100mm, all at T2.6 and with close focus under three feet. The two new zooms are the AWZ2 40-80mm T2.8, and the ATZ 70200mm T3.5. The AWZ2 is known as the “Bailey Zoom” after John Bailey ASC who
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was the first to use the lens and work with the designers. The Millennium XL2 camera builds upon the successful Millennium XL with completely new electronics and motors, enabling the camera to shoot variably from 3 to 50fps. The camera has new 24fps/172.8 and 50fps/180 degree shutter positions, plus a new integrated video assist to provide improved video assist pictures Panavision has also developed a new onboard battery holder for its Genesis, XL2&Millennium cameras, and a modular accessory kit that will work with all types of cameras and can utilise Panavision or ARRI accessories, such as matte boxes, lens supports and follow focus controls.
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INTERNATIONAL
letter from america
The Truly International Cinematographer In an increasingly globalised world, Steven Poster ASC says cinematographers and the other filmmaking crafts might do well to look towards greater international cooperation.
I would like to thank British Cinematographer magazine for the opportunity to air, or vent, my views in your forum every so often. My role as national president of the Guild that represents camera professionals throughout the United States allows me the privilege of speaking up for all those who practice our craft. Part of that representation is towards bettering the wages and conditions under which we practice our craft. But the other part of what I get to do is speak up for the craft of cinematography, the art of the moving visual image itself. As a working cinematographer, of course it is this passion that fuels my work. That same passion impels me to seek out, observe and study the work of others in this craft. I do this so that we can all share the knowledge of this art, and so that all of us, myself included, never stop growing in this craft we love.
Pe r h a p s i f w e a r e t o c o m p e t e on a global stage, we should begin to address issues globally… It is time for worldwide camera professionals… to build new bridges… no matter in which nation we practice our craft. I am offered many opportunities to learn about and speak about this craft. Even before I held the office of president of the International Cinematographers Guild I was often invited to the IBC in Amsterdam, or NAB in Las Vegas, as well as other forums and other gatherings of camera professionals. (I have been invited many times to Camerimage in Poland, but unfortunately have always had a conflict with my schedule. I promise next year to join all of you there). And let's not forget the lively ongoing online forum of the CML. These events and forums always give us the opportunity to discuss the unique fusion of technology and creativity that defines our craft. In those often international gatherings of camera professionals we usually also end up discussing the conditions under which we do what we do. As we have these discussions it often occurs to me that free exchanges of ideas such as we have are really how craft guilds and unions began. They began as discussions among artisans about how
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they face problems in their work, both creative and business. They discussed what challenges they met, and how they overcame them. They learned in those discussions that the entire craft benefited when they cooperated with each other, and that everybody's standard of living rose when they set reasonable standards governing their employment. And so it seems obvious that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Even today we can learn from the experience of our forefathers. As we have these discussions today we might do well to look towards a renewed spirit of cooperation between all of us who do this work. It seems it is time for worldwide camera professionals, and other affiliated production craftspeople, to build new bridges between all of us, no matter in which nation we practice our craft. Increasingly we are employed by multi-national corporations. Why is it then that we choose to face them across the bargaining table as regional, somewhat parochial labor organizations? That is certainly why in the United States we bargain alongside others who share our interests. Grips, electricians, props and all the crafts that go into motion picture production along with camera bargain together under the aegis of the International Alliance of Theatrical & Stage Employees, and under the leadership of its International President, Tom Short. Perhaps if we are to compete on a global stage, we should begin to address issues globally. The conversations we all have at various international gatherings are a good start. The opportunity that I have been given in this publication is another good start. Let us consider continuing, and growing, this dialogue. Most of us work in many different countries, with camera professionals from an even greater variety of nations and cultures. We are already international in our work opportunities, should we not be truly international in the standards we work under? Should we not be truly international cinematographers? Fraternally Steven Poster, ASC National President International Cinematographers Guild IATSE, Local 600
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
INTERNATIONAL
George Spiro Dibie
Stephen H. Burum ASC will receive the ASC 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, and George Spiro Dibie ASC will be presented the ASC Career Achievement in Television Award. Additionally, the ASC has dedicated the 2008 Heritage Award competition for film school seniors and recent graduates in the US to the memory of Laszlo Kovacs, ASC who died on July 22. This award will also be presented during the ASC Awards ceremony.
f-stop hollywood
It's that time again. Awards season has started in Hollywood, and as the film industry begins to predict who might be candidates, the ASC has started to reveal those who will receive special honours at the 22nd Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards, writes Carolyn Giardina. In 1984, Frank Stanley ASC, president of the Los Angeles Local, encouraged Dibie to run for second VP. He was elected and stepped up to president after Stanley retired because of a health problem. Dibie was re-elected in 1985. He served as president for 20 consecutive years. During that period, the three regional local organizations were merged into the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600.
Heritage Burum earned an Oscar nomination and ASC Outstanding Achievement Award for Hoffa in 1993, as well as additional ASC Award nominations for The Untouchables in 1988 and The War of the Roses in 1990. ASC president Daryn Okada said: “His innovative cinematography has made a deep impression on a constantly evolving art form. This recognition is an expression of our appreciation for what he has achieved, and what is yet to come. We expect Steve to continue exploring new frontiers and lighting the way into the next generation.” Burum's early career included television and commercials, and during that time he earned a share of a technical craft Emmy for a PBS TV special titled Cosmos. In 1976, his former UCLA classmate Francis Ford Coppola brought Burum to the Philippines as second unit director and cameraman on Apocalypse Now. Burum did more second unit work on The Black Stallion with director Carroll Ballard and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel ASC. When Deschanel directed The Escape Artist the following year, he gave Burum his first opportunity to earn a cinematography credit on a mainstream film. In 1982, Burum shot Something Wicked This Way Comes, and followed that film with The Outsiders and Rumble Fish, directed by Coppola; and Body Double, the first of his eight projects with Brian De Palma at the helm. Additional credits include Casualties of War, Carlito's Way, and Mission: Impossible. Dibie earned five Emmy Awards and seven additional nominations for multi-camera, episodic television series between 1985 and 1998. His award-winning programmes were Mr. Belvedere, Growing Pains, Just the Ten of Us and Sister, Sister. “George Dibie broke all the rules because he understood that there can be drama in comedy, and comedy in drama,” says ASC Awards committee chair Russ Alsobrook. “He ignored the broadcast engineers mandate to make all multi-camera shows look bright. George knew how to photograph beautiful actresses, but he didn't hesitate to use darkness and create gritty images when that was the right visual grammar.”
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
Steven Burum
most compelling documentaries of our times,” relates IDA executive director Sandra Ruch. Squires has compiled more than 80 documentary credits and lensed nearly all of Ken Burns' docuentaries, beginning with Brooklyn Bridge in 1981. Squires was the principal cinematographer for seven-part, 14-hour series The War, and earned credits on titles including The Civil War, Baseball and Jazz.
Laszlo Kovacs was chairman of the ASC Education Committee. As ASC president Daryn Okada explains: “Laszlo envisioned the Heritage Award as a tangible way for us to inspire talented young cinematography students to pursue their dreams. It was his idea to annually re-dedicate the Heritage Award to the memories of different ASC cinematographers.”
His films have earned 18 Emmy nominations with 13 taking top honours. Squires also shot eight films that were nominated for Oscars, including one Academy Award winner. Squires is only the second to receive this IDA honour. The first was Joan Churchill in 2005.
As his remarkable story goes, Hungary-born Kovacs was a student in Budapest in 1956, during an uprising against the communist regime. He and Vilmos Zsigmond ASC documented the events on film, and escaped into Austria. The pair arrived in the US as political refugees in 1957.
The ASC has completed version 1.0 of its Color Decision List, commonly known as the ASC CDL, an exchange mechanism for colour correction information designed to allow imagery to be viewed on different technologies while producing the same look.
Kovacs compiled more than 70 narrative credits, including Easy Rider, Five East Pieces, Shampoo, and Paper Moon. He stayed in touch with his mentors in Hungary during the mid-1960s, and offered tangible support to them and their students. Kovacs and Zsigmond organised and taught students from around the world at a bi-annual, summer master class at their alma mater in Budapest after the Cold War ended. “Laszlo was a great filmmaker, and an even better friend,” Zsigmond says. “But, his greatest achievement was his incredible generosity with students. He taught master classes during summers in Hungary, and mentored students in countless seminars at US film schools, festivals and at the ASC clubhouse. No matter how late it got, he always made time to listen to and answer their questions.” The ASC Awards will be held Jan. 26, 2008, at the Hollywood and Highland Grand Ballroom. In related news, Academy Award nominee and Emmy winner Buddy Squires will receive the International Documentary Association's Outstanding Documentary Cinematography Award. Sponsored by Kodak, the award will be presented during the 23rd Annual IDA Awards event on Dec. 7. “Buddy Squires is the author of the images for some of the
Colourful release
A group of manufacturers are working toward supporting the CDL in their products, including Avid, Autodesk, da Vinci, Digital Vision/Nucoda, DVS, Filmlight, Gamma & Density, Iridas, Pandora, Rising Sun Research, Silicon Color/Apple and Thomson. The ASC Technology Committee is chaired by Curtis Clark ASC, who outlined the details of the CDL for a Europe-based audience during his master class at the International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam this September. The CDL effort was lead by the ASC Technology Committeee's DI subcommittee. Colourist Lou Levinson chairs the DI subcommittee, whose vice chair is Technicolor's Joshua Pines. Participants in the effort included ASC Technology Committee secretary and industry consultant David Reisner, as well as additional members of the ASC, the post community, vendors and other industry leaders. “George Dibie broke all the rules because he understood that there can be drama in comedy, and comedy in drama,“ ASC Awards committee chair Russ Alsobrook. “His innovative cinematography has made a deep impression on a constantly evolving art form. We expect Steve (Burum) to continue exploring new frontiers and lighting the way into the next generation“ ASC president Daryn Okada
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FEATURE
on the job
Cry Havoc: DP Gavin Finney set out to capture the anarchic spirit of the original St Trinian's films whilst giving the new production a 21st century feel
Hells Belles! Fifty three years after they were brought to life on the big screen in The Belles of St Trinian's (directed by Frank Launder), Ronald Searle's outrageously naughty schoolgirls are at it again in a new Ealing Studios production scheduled for release on December 21. Director/producers Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thomas (head of Ealing Studios) were keen to capture the anarchic spirit of the original films while giving the new St Trinian's production a very 21st century feel, writes Ian White. “We recognised that the classic Ealing period is of itself, and when you watch those films it's with a feeling of nostalgia,” says the film's DP Gavin Finney BSC. “You can't recreate that so you have to change things round a bit, but the concept is the same and the characters are still there.”
bits taped up. From a design point of view, it already looked like the school and we didn't have to do much to it.”
Bi-directional Lighting Though working with two directors simultaneously might sound a bit perilous, Finney reports that the match worked well. “Barnaby has a good feel for comedy and took a very active role,” he says. “Oliver is a very experienced feature director and the two had worked together many times before so they complemented each other very well. If Barnaby had an idea he wanted to try out, he would say so. Oliver was very good at making everyone feel they could contribute something, whilst always remaining in control of everything - the sign of a very good director. So there was never any conflict.”
I planned lighting that wouldn't pin the actors down t o o m u c h , a n d p i c ke d a g o o d c r e w w h o w e r e ex p e r i e n c e d enough to react to actors who are not so well trained. The dual parts of the headmistress, Miss Fritton, and her shady brother Carnaby are played by Rupert Everett, Colin Firth plays Geoffrey Thwaites the minister who wants to bring the school to account and newcomer Gemma Arterton plays the head girl, Kelly. Russell Brand has been cleverly cast in the role of Flash Harry and, as ever, the eponymous school for young ladies is still in desperate need of cash. “We filmed some scenes at Ealing Studios though the bulk of the shoot was on location at Park Place, a large Victorian gothic house in Henley,” says Finney. “It had been a school for boys and was pretty dilapidated with broken windows and
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with the camera. The quality of the DVCAM footage is actually very good and we're having to degrade it a lot to make the shots look like surveillance tapes.”
St Trinian's was shot on Arriflex ST and LT cameras with Cooke S4 lenses and Kodak 250 and 500T stock. The format is 3-perf, Super 1.85. “I did toy with 2-perf, but we decided that the story is better suited to 1.85:1 than widescreen,” comments Finney.
From the outset, Finney wanted to reflect the strong sense of forward momentum in the script with a lot of moving camera work. He and the directors referenced slickly made heist films such as Oceans 11. Much use is made of Steadicam, operated by Sean Savage, and there are scenes such as one in the National Gallery where the girls are 'casing the joint' which have DVCAM inserts too. “They have covert cameras in their teddy bears,” reveals Finney, “and Miss Fritton's pet dog has a collar with a bone on it which contains another camera planted by the girls. The girls have got the whole school wired up to their dormitory. We designed different rigs to emulate the dog running around
The lighting was designed to handle large ensemble scenes, but simultaneously accommodate individual shots and give the actors as much space to work with as possible. “We had a mix of very highly trained actors and very new people,” Finney reasons. “So I planned lighting that wouldn't pin them down too much and I picked a good crew who were experienced enough to react to actors who are not so well trained. We had a good focus pullers in Ashley Bond and second camera's Iain Struthers to keep it all sharp. It's about keeping it looking interesting but enabling the director to get the shots. This is a comedy, but that's not to say it should be high key all the way through. It should look like a drama but feel like a comedy.” For the scene in the National Gallery, shooting had to take place overnight and, understandably with 120 schoolgirls running through it, certain rules had to be followed to protect the nation's most treasured works of art. “Any light on a stand had to be as far away from a wall as it is high,” says Finney. “So, if it's on a six-foot stand, it has to be seven feet away from the wall. That's tricky if you want to see the space so we used five helium balloon lights and the rest were low-output fluorescent fittings on the floor. We had to work very fast and our technique was to start wide and then pull out as we were shooting.”
Cast The cast of St Trinian's is stellar by any standards. As well as Firth and Everett, it features Jodie Whittaker, Stephen Fry, Richard E Grant, Mischa Barton, Amara Karan, Caterina Murino, Anna Chancellor, Tamsin Egerton, Talulah Riley, Celia Imrie, Lily Cole, and, just for good measure, Girls Aloud. When
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
FEATURE
on the job
Photos by Nick Wall
H a v i n g a n o p e r a t o r o n S t Tr i n i a n ' s m e a n t w e c o u l d h a v e t w o c a m e r a s , a n d I c o u l d t a ke t h e s e c o n d c a m e r a w h e n n e c e s s a r y.
Casing the joint: Gavin Finney (holding DVCam for surveilance footage) Sean Savage ('A' camera op and steadicam) / Gary Hymns (Key Grip) / Peter Eusebe (Boom Op) / Ashley Bond (1st AC)
Smashing fun: testing the dust and moisture sealing on an Arricam ST!
Careful: helium lighting at the National Gallery
the crew began filming in Trafalgar Square, the press had a field day. The situation was hardly less quiet at Park Place where, every day, the security staff would find paparazzi in camouflage gear hiding in the bushes. “Even though it was mainly a location shoot, the school became our studio,” says Finney. “Having an operator on St Trinian's meant that we could have two cameras and I could take the second camera when necessary. There was also a fair amount of second unit shooting as well.”
by the effect itself and agreed to treat them as if we really did have two actors in the room,” says Finney. “We wanted the camera moving and panning from left to right as they talked to each other.”
the afternoon or next morning and do the second pass. Controlling that on location was tricky.”
Aside from the challenges of filming in art galleries (Dulwich Gallery was also used), some of the most complex shots in St Trinian's were the scenes in which Everett has to be seen in the same room as himself, playing both the headmistress and the brother. “When we designed those shots we didn't want to be limited
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
This meant using a motion control rig and the team opted for MO-SYS, a small lightweight system which runs on standard dolly track and uses a small pan-and-tilt head. “Big make-up changes were involved and you have to try to schedule a time when you can do the whole thing in one day,” explains Finney. “Lighting continuity was tricky. We used large blackouts to take the sun out and then put it back in again with 18K lamps on a cherry picker so that it was in the same place in the morning and the evening. We achieved one pass in the morning and then shot other things around the school with the motion control locked up. Then we'd come back in
As we went to press Finney was presiding over the grade at Technicolor's new DI facility.
Crew List Ashley Bond – camera focus puller Iain Struthers – focus puller - B camera Joe Alexander – camera trainee Gary Hymns – key grip Martin Kenzie – second unit DOP Sean Savage – camera operator Kate Filby – clapper loader
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INTERNATIONAL
shooting the future
IBC report The International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) has always been a sprawling affair and the distance between the halls at either end of the RAI Centre can be symbolic of the difference between the types of technology o n s h o w, w r i t e s K e v i n H i l t o n .
Microdolly Power Head Model III remote camera pan/tilt head
companies. Cooke Optics signed up Aaton to the list of companies incorporating the /i dataLink system for recording lens and camera information, which can then be transferred to post-production systems. Cooke also displayed its S4/i Prime lenses and many of its rivals were also showing established ranges. Fujinon is seeing sales of HD lenses now outstripping those of SD glass and displayed the X-series, the XA88x8.8BESM telephoto unit and the HD Cine range.
This is true for directors of photography who have to walk from Hall 11, containing most of the cameras and lenses, filters, cranes and other support gear, to the far side of the complex for the image-processing and digital intermediate systems in Hall 7. Starting in Hall 11 the emphasis for film and film replacement cameras this year appeared to be improvements on new products introduced at IBC 2007. The Arriflex 416 Super 16 camera showed the continuing demand for the next generation of 16mm equipment and now has a re-built viewfinder with a shorter optical path, giving increased contrast and resolution and brighter images. The 235 35 MOS format camera has had its running speed increased to 75fps, while the D-20 HD camera was shown working with both ARRI's FlashMag integral solid state recording media and the Sony SRW-1 HD recorder, as well as a new and nifty hand crank.
The Red One digital camera was on display, while screenings were given on three evenings illustrating the Mysterium CMOS sensor and Red's new lenses, along with a 4K trailer of Peter Jackson's short Crossing the Line, which is using two alpha prototypes of the camera. The first feature made using the modular 2K digital camera from Silicon Imaging and P+S Technik was completed just before IBC. The SI-2K features a single 2/3-inch CMOS sensor, with images losslessly compressed using the CineForm RAW codec and stored on a standard hard drive inside the camera. The newest member of Sony's CineAlta family of digital 24p cameras, the F23, is being used in multiples for Speed Racer, the new Wachowski Brothers film. But the big camera launch for Sony was in the XDCAM range, which has moved to solid state recording from disc media. The PMW-EX1 uses a new flash memory card, the SxS PRO, which can record up to 100 minutes of HD material at 35Mbps or 140 minutes at 25Mbps onto two 16-GB SxS memory cards. Panasonic was again not exhibiting in the show proper but gave invited guests demonstrations of the HD version of its P2 solid-state cameras. Four new cameras were introduced: the handheld AG-HPX200, the AG-HPX500, an entry-level professional camcorder, the AG-HPX2100, a P2 version of the HDX900, and the higher-end AG-HPX3000, which operates in native 1080. These new cameras work on H.264 codecs and have two modes; 50Mb/s, comparable to DVCPro quality, and 100Mb/s, giving HD D5 performance. The Dalsa Origin digital camera is now able to work at 4K with the Codex Digital film recorder. Codex made its debut at IBC 2006 and its first product can now additionally connect to the ARRI D20 in data mode and will run with the Red camera "when it has raw output". New for this year was the Codex Portable, described as "no larger than a toaster", which can handle any high-end digital camera output, from HD to 4K.
Lenses and filters Dfx digital filter suite software
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The ability to connect with the latest technology from other manufacturers is now a priority for camera and optical
Two new HD Prime lenses from the Carl Zeiss DigiPrime range were added to Band Pro's portfolio. The 135mm T1.9 and 52mm T1.6 lenses work with 2/3-inch 3 CCD HD cinematography cameras and offer standard-pitch zoom, focus and iris gears. Zeiss technology forms the basis for P+S Technik's own brand 35Digital 35mm Prime lenses. These work on a Nikon mount and P+S's image converters and include 25mm/T2.8, 35mm/T2.0, 50mm and 85mm models. Canon launched three new optics, two for long-focus work in HD and one for HD studio operation. The DIGISUPER 100AF and DIGISUPER 86AF have been designed for sports broadcasting and can run in different focusing modes. The studio version, the DIGISUPER 27, is an improved version of the XJ27x6.5B. Filter technology continues to improve and diversify, as two of the leading suppliers demonstrated. Schneider Optics introduced the Century 4-inch by 4-inch filters, part of a fivefilter kit designed for DV and HDV work. The Tiffen Company had two major introductions: the Scene Makers Kit, designed in collaboration with the 2nd Unit TV Production Company, and the Dfx digital filter suite software, which simulates physical filters and is available as both a stand-alone edition and as plug-ins for video post-production systems.
Camera movement All these cameras and their lenses need to be supported and moved around, so Hall 11 was a fertile area for new hardware. Microdolly introduced the Power Head Model III, a remote camera pan/tilt head that can be controlled either manually by cable drive or motorised using a digital joystick accessory kit. Also new was Microdolly's Camera Mount Kit, which can fasten a camera to a moving vehicle, aircraft, train or boat using three strong suction cups, six universal joint clamps and a set of six rods. The fashion in modern filmmaking is to have as much camera movement as possible and among those making this possible is Steadicam, which introduced a number of new products, including one it claims to be its most advanced system yet. The Ultra2 builds on earlier big Steadicam systems and is a
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INTERNATIONAL
shooting the future
Furnace 4 suite of repair and enhancement tools for Nuke plug-ins.
Lamps and illuminations Sachtler made something of a departure by launching its first ever LED camera luminaire. With an output power of 8W the new lamp delivers a light output of 250 lumens and is designed to work with both small HDV cameras and standard broadcast camcorders. A more established name in lights, Filmgear, launched five new products: a set of built-in ballast heads, a redhead, Expo lights and two additions to the daylight PAR range, an 800W and the 400W mini kit.
The Century 4-inch by 4-inch five-filter kit from Schneider Optics modular arrangement featuring the G-70 lightweight arm. Also on display were a standard tilt head accessory for the Steadicam Archer, an arm and vest that allows the Merlin rig to support more weight and the Steadicam Pilot and Co-pilot, designed for lightweight video cameras. Challenging Steadicam is Glidecam, which launched the X-10 camera stabilisation system, designed to support up to 6 pounds when working with the Glidecam 2000 Pro or between 4 and 10 pounds for the Glidecam 4000 Pro. Some camera operators still like shoulder mounting cameras and to cater for them Chrosziel launched the DV Balancer brace, designed for cameras weighing up to 9lb (4 kg). More solid support came from Vinten with its Vector 750 pan and tilt head, which has been developed from the Vector 700 Standard and H versions and offers a centre of gravity span of 80mm to 250mm. Two fluid heads getting a first European showing were Sachtler's FSB 2 and FSB 6, while the SOOM HiPod system was debuted in Amsterdam. This comprises a 75mm (2.9-inch) tripod, monopod and baby tripod and is aimed at professional and semi-professional MiniDV and HDV users.
Quantel gave its Genetic Engineering networking system a European launch but, like many other companies in Hall 7, was more excited about stereoscopic 3D. Quantel showed a range of Stereo 3D tools for all new Pablo 4K, iQ4 and Max 4K systems, which include includes pre-visualisation, editing, VFX, colour correction, trailer production and mastering. Assimilate majored on 3ality Digita's U23D rock flick, excerpts of which played to a packed RAI Auditorium. While many observers are certain that the key to stereoscopic 3D will be the post-production process, no doubt the DP will have to learn all about it to be on the safe side. See you next year in Hall 7, then.
To celebrate its 90th year in the business ARRI put together a special kit of lights consisting of its most popular lamps. There were also new products: the ARRIMAX 18/12 lamp head combines the variable beam of a Fresnel with the high luminescence of a PAR; the MaxMover appeared with an optional automated stirrup, which enables remote pan, tilt and focus.
Post and DI ARRI straddles the boundaries of hardware and postproduction and on the post side of the fence it introduced a HD/DI version of the Arrilaser, which works up to only 2K but a 4K upgrade is available, and Arricube, bringing new features to the Arri colour management system. Elsewhere there was a mixture of upgrading and new products for DI, with Assimilate introducing the 3.5 version of its Scratch workflow system; Cintel launching a digital servo system for its dataMill 4K scanner and Millennium 4K datacine, while also announcing a collaboration that sees Kodak factory calibration included on all new diTTo 2K and 4k scanners; Digital Vision launched Nucoda SD and HD grading systems for the broadcast and new media sectors, as well as Phoenix, an automated restoration software package; and visual effects developer The Foundry released a version of its
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BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER
FEATURE
innovation
Lighting up the world Light By Numbers provides lighting control systems and services to t h e f e a t u r e f i l m i n d u s t r y. U n t i l r e c e n t l y t h e b u s i n e s s c o m p r i s e d a bright and willing young man, a small number of able technicians, a n d a c l e v e r c o n f i g u r a t i o n o f e q u i p m e n t . H o w e v e r, R o n Pr i n c e d i s c o v e r e d t h e b u s i n e s s a t a p i v o t a l m o m e n t , w i t h ex p a n s i o n a n d ex p o r t b e y o n d t h e U K h i g h o n t h e a g e n d a . Although Light By Numbers has been servicing some of the largest productions shooting in the UK since 2003, including Thunderbirds, Alexander, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sunshine, Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Stardust, The Bourne Ultimatum and Sweeney Todd, it has, until recently, been very much a one-man show, based on the experience of its owner Chris Gilbertson. We meet at Extra's Coffee Bar at Pinewood, where the service is slow but the tea is all the more welcome because of it. Gilbertson struggles in with a large equipment case. He has just completed a stint on Mamma Mia!, lensed by Haris Zambarloukos BSC, servicing all of the Pinewood Studiobased shots on the film. He says that Light By Numbers will soon be billeted on a number of upcoming productions. However, the big difference will be that he hopes not to be hands-on during any of these. “We are in a bit of a transition,” he explains. “The plan is that Mamma Mia! is the last film I will work on directly. I'm going to spend time expanding the business, particularly in the US. It has only recently become possible to do this on account of enough UK desk operators getting involved with Light by Numbers and becoming proficient in its use. There are now eight guys, not including myself, with more learning so I should be able to take a step back now.”
Bright sparks Gilberston started out as a spark working on Bridget Jones, although he also had experience in the US in “corporate
theatre”, where the latest staging technology was used to add pizzazz to product launches. “I was always using the latest toy, and I found myself going between the film industry, which was miles behind in terms of its use of technology, and the corporate sector which could not get enough of it. I haven't invented any new technology, I just put the right pieces together for the purposes of the film industry,” he says. “A main reason I've been able to do all this has a lot to do with Biggles [John Higgins, gaffer on Thunderbirds, Alexander, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Stardust, The Bourne Ultimatum and Mamma Mia!]. He was the first gaffer out there to really embrace the new technology and risk letting me prove that it would all work. I know that new technology can appear daunting, but the service we provide really does make life on-set for everyone from the director to the sparks, and especially the gaffer. Its biggest asset to a production is that it saves time on set, but there is a creative aspect that becomes available which many gaffers and DP's find beneficial. It's human nature to resist change, but what I always say to those who are skeptical is. 'How would you live without your mobile phone now?' And then ask what they thought about mobiles when they first came out in the 80s. It usually makes people stop and think a little ”.
Workflow The DMX control protocol (which allows many devices controlled by DMX to be plugged into one controller) and equipment such as lighting desks, are standard items in the stage lighting business, but until recently very few films have made full use of the technology. “The trick is to bring all the lights under the control of one system” says Gilbertson. “It doesn't matter how many lights there are on the set. What we do is to allow the DP or the gaffer to easily identify the lights and then adjust them as required. It is all about the workflow, reducing things to their simplest element and un-complicating the otherwise complicated.” For example, on a 20 x 50 row of space lights, rather than allocating a single number for every light they are laid out in a grid format (much like the old battleship game) so that you simply need to count the rows and columns instead of hundreds of individual channels. Expand this out to include every light on the set, and Light By Numbers gives the DP and their gaffer total and instantaneous control over every space light, practical, and floor lamp without the need for handfuls of paper light plots, and notes.
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As well as using the lighting desk, any adjustments can be made wirelessly on-set from a PDA. During takes, three different types of handheld remote controller enable the director, DP or the gaffer to trigger any event or a lighting effect. On Mamma Mia!, two Light By Numbers systems were used to control around 400 moving lights and well over 1000 tungsten and practical lamps on the 007 Stage at Pinewood. One was dedicated to the main set, the other used for a backlit “backing” system - in essence a large white cyclorama, around 120m x 12m, upon which were cast lights to simulate a range of different skies - days, sunsets, night skies.
Expansion Gilberston acknowledges that whilst there are a small number of other operators doing some great bespoke work, his aim is to standardise practices, and to have the service adopted throughout the film industry. “On average we have three people per film - a rigging operator, who works with the rigging crew on the plot and cabling, and individual shooting unit operators. This makes for a very smooth and standard way of working and allows the various crews to stay together (1st unit operator with the 1st unit crew, 2nd unit operator with 2nd unit, etc), whilst also allowing them to swap if necessary due to schedule changes. In other words you get the best of both worlds”. “Although Light By Numbers has worked in Europe and the Americas, we have not really marketed our services beyond these shores. All of the cinematographers we've worked with have all said that if our system was available to them locally they'd use it no question”. “So I am now getting it ready to expand beyond the UK market. Most all the logistics are in place, so it's just a matter of getting on with it now”. As for the equipment case, it actually contains Gilbertson's next invention, or should we say “solution”. Gilbertson would not let us print what this is, but he has identified another practical area of film production that could do with some very simple standard kit. The boy just might do well.
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ARRI Tornado_Oval 2007
The potential of the Camera Operator
In a second article about the important role of the camera operator on film and TV productions, we take a closer look at the working day on a film. We take a look at why having an operator can actually save the production a great deal of time (and therefore money) and also enhance the production in more ways than is apparent at first glance. Most of the people working on a film or TV drama set would agree that having a DP and a Camera Operator on a film is a very big advantage, and will save valuable production time and will help to make shooting go smoothly. The operator is a vital element in the team that can take pressure off the DP and set up shots that may need some rehearsal and thought. The DP is most likely to be extremely busy on a film set in discussions with the gaffer and director, and creating the mood for the film can be both subtle and demanding work. However, even with this massive work load some very eminent DP’s actually prefer to operate themselves on feature films for many reasons, most likely because they desire the control of the whole look of the film, and feel that operating is a key part of that look. Indeed, some very successful DP’s who have a background in TV documentaries are very used to the thought of operating, lighting, and controlling the whole look. There is simply not always the luxury of employing a separate operator in TV, and that continues to this day.
GBCT – The chairman speaks Well, here we are again sitting at the computer, two days after the editor’s copy deadline, struggling to say something worthwhile. My excuse is the phone did something “amazing” last week, and I was whisked off unexpectedly to Bristol, or more precisely to the mud banks of the River Severn underneath the new Severn Bridge! And it was under the bridge that I managed to begin to scribble on the back of a call sheet, a few words of thanks to Aidan Boulter, who has manfully managed the GBCT office for the past eighteen months or so, and helped drag the Guild towards a better future. I suspect that Aidan would be the first to admit that his job has had its highs and lows, and at times I know he has been frustrated by the difficulty of conducting an orchestra that can’t get to rehearsals, with the effect that the concert either doesn’t take place or sounds a bit chaotic! In the end his frustration led him to offer his resignation, and after a couple of board meetings and a great deal of thought, we agreed to accept it.
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I think most of our membership would agree, and many have told me so, that the Guild is a far better organization than it was when Aidan joined. So thank you Aidan from us all. We wish you every success in the future, and sincerely hope our paths cross again. With best wishes from Jamie Harcourt, the GBCT board and GBCT members. Jamie Harcourt GBCT, Chairman, GBCT
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There is also the potential for some DP’s wanting to be in total control, and can’t bear the fact that there is someone else who has the ear of the Director. Whilst very rare this goes against the team work aspect of successful film making. An Operator can talk to a Director between set-ups about the way the sequence is progressing, how many more shots are needed etc without affecting the authority of the DP who will be busy with his Gaffer However some DP’s are now being pushed more and more by the production as some sort of cost saving exercise. They would certainly prefer to work with an operator, yet are being pressured to operate themselves. With the greatest will in the world an intricate track and jib needs to be carefully worked out with the grip and other crew members, and intricate set ups are likely to suffer for many set ups.. There is only a certain amount of finite time available each day, and if a DP is lighting then it is very difficult to give full attention to the finer nuances of an intricate set up. This can potentially lead to very static cameras, time lost in communicating the shot to the grip that needs to lay a long track, and extra time taken as all the work is loaded onto one person. Producers must understand that, by asking the DP to operate, they are not ‘doing away’ with one crew member but simply piling the workload onto another. Certainly, with ‘Up and Coming’ DP’s there is the feeling that if they don’t operate, they risk losing the job. These are the very DP’s who need a second pair of eyes when working with tighter schedules and more limited resources. Occasionally a Director will insist that a DP operates as they want to talk and communicate with only one person. Whilst this is potentially a valid reason on some shoots, it is an attitude that can often waste time, and actually be counter productive. (If a cost cutting exercise is necessary then a suggestion would be simply shave a fraction of a percent from the acting stars huge fees).
Technology In recent years there have been many technological advances in both cameras and camera tracking devices. The Steadicam ( amongst many others ) is often a vital tool for a DP and director, and it certainly takes a great deal of dedication and practice to be an excellent Steadicam operator. It is certainly not a device that anyone can just strap on and run around with without causing themselves a lot of harm, and potentially trashing very expensive lenses and cameras at the same time. There are also many remote head camera systems that certainly need the essential learned skills with the “wheels” on geared heads to get the best out of them. All these devices needs the dedicated skill and experience of a trained operator. Cameras still have to be pointed at the (expensive) talent by someone and who better than a trained, experienced Camera Operator. With technology comes progress, it appears, (and in other ways we can also apparently go backwards several steps too). It could certainly be argued that the authority of the operators skill has been somewhat diluted by the introduction many years ago of the film camera “video assist”. Before video assist arrived an operator had their eye pressed to the eyepiece and they were actually the only person to watch the action through the camera, and the director and DP were mostly required to trust the skill of the operator until the day of the rushes viewings. The days of asking “how was that?” are now long gone, and the Operator being the person who could call for another take, for whatever reason. We now live in an era of everyone being able to see the video picture (along with all the other members of the crew) and that can be counter-productive sometimes. In days gone by the final video picture from the video assist was often actually
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ARRI Tornado-eagle-landing
very grim, with a low rez mono image from a small camera, and the resultant picture was simply a guide for framing etc. Nowadays with great advances the film camera can show a very reasonable representation of what is happening, and colour video assist is now the norm. However, a down side of this is in extreme cases the Director could be directing by walkie-talkie in another room and communicate “pan left a bit, tilt up a bit!” Ugh! When the runner then starts to make directions it is a very slippery slope.
Hi-Definition cameras With the increasing use of Hi-Def camera systems, the camera operator is actually more needed than ever before. Whilst the Hi-Def monitor is now a vital tool in the DP’s toolbox, it needs a careful setting up and needs a blacked out tent if it is to be used properly. The DP now spends a considerable amount of time in the black tent that is vital for the close scrutiny of the images in relation to exposure control and focus checking. Back focus drift is also an issue that needs to be monitored carefully, which did not happen on film cameras due to their very nature of their optics. The camera operator is therefore needed more than ever to make sure that the filming procedure is developing coherently. Incidentally, the role of the Clapper/Loader is often seen incorrectly by some as superfluous on HD shoots. However the additional work in setting monitors up properly, cable bashing and routing, tape monitoring and labelling, along with a multitude of other additional tasks now requires a well trained 2nd A/C, as is definitely a false economy to take away from the camera crews. If production had their way there would be 2 ( or less) camera crew: a DP / Op and a 1st A/C who also does all the tasks above. Clearly an unworkable and potentially dangerous situation. One of the operator’s main role is to think ahead and be the directors and DP’s second line of thought, and hopefully foreseeing any potential challenges that can often raise their heads on a shoot. One vital job is making sure the image sizes will cut when back in the edit suite, and working through a difficult scene to make sure it all works. On a set there is also the obvious usual routine of blocking, rehearsal, camera movements, background action, checking
the sets for missing backings, positioning of props, and checking microphone positioning. Incidentally this is very difficult on most tape cameras as there is generally no cut-off area within the eyepiece to warn the operator of impending visitors. If the operator actually sees the microphone dip into shot then it’s in the shot! There is no margin for error, and no safe area out of shot that can give a warning to the operator. There is also the possibly of checking hair and makeup through the lens, along with the sets and art department. An operator can frame out distracting parts of the scene and make sure the scene will flow. On a drama shoot the operator also has a vital role in the relationships with the Director and actors. They can help them to block out the scene and plan the shots so that the editor ends up with a decent scene to edit, rather than a disorganized mess. It’s all been said before, I know, but with crews seemingly getting younger and younger these factors need to be pointed out if standards are to be maintained and upheld. (Incidentally, camera operator Jamie Harcourt strongly advises any operator to fight hard to get a colour viewfinder on any HD shoot). Jamie says “The decrease in subliminal information you get on a B&W eyepiece is a serious failing on a camera being used for drama. It also affects the operator’s compositional decision making abilities, as you simply don’t see the subtleties of tone which help to guide your eye”. Hi-Def generally is not as quick a method of shooting as film. There are more monitors to be positioned, cabled and positioned inside a light proof tent, and for this a good 2nd A/C and ideally a trainee too trainee are essential. Focus cannot often be judged through the eyepiece and thus the focus puller may need more prep time as they wrestle with either the main or supplementary monitors. The lack of safe areas on the edge of the viewfinder can lead to extra takes being necessary to get the frame clean of microphones or edgy lamps or flags. So an operator is not simply someone who points the camera at the artistes, the role has changed over the years, yet is now even MORE vital than ever before. I hope the many valid reasons above will help persuade productions to book a DP with an operator, and not force the DP to operate themselves. Leave the real choice with the DP as to the crew they would like to have around them on a shoot. You will get better results that way and therefore more people will enjoy your film.
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Technology, Art, Science and Content
The recent IBC show in Amsterdam showed surprisingly little in terms of radically new ideas, yet the prime interests were with the extremely interesting and also much hyped Red camera and with the different ways of delivering content to the viewer. Yes, there were many very clever technological advances elsewhere in many areas, yet nothing really stood out as being truly revolutionary, merely variations on a well trodden theme. As filmmakers we develop our craft and strive to work up the ladder over many years. We labour over the fine nuances in subtle lighting, camera work, costume, music, script and sound, and we assume that the fruits of our sweat and sacrifices will be lovingly recreated on the silver screen in the way it was originally intended. Also, camera and lens manufacturers continually push the boundaries of technology and create stunning new pieces of kit that we could only dream of a few years ago. Film stocks improve constantly and electronic camera sensors also improve at a breathtaking rate. In particular the ARRI D20, Dalsa, Red, Viper and other high-speed digital cameras such as the Vision Research Phantoms HD and 65 all have advanced rapidly in recent years
DALSA Evolution Camera
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to produce breathtakingly stunning images if they are put in the right hands. These are the tools at our disposal, and we now have a vast array of choices that we need to make for each particular production. We also now have the choice of shooting on truly spectacular film stocks from Kodak and Fuji, with a great new film camera from ARRI or Panavision, and with the excellent choice of Cooke or Zeiss lenses. Or we have the choice to go the electronic route with a vast array of extremely high definition cameras that can now be used to demonstrate great subtlety to create stunning images. We can post produce with a large choice of methods, and our final productions can be lovingly projected with film projectors or with electronic projectors that can take your breath away. Yet we are apparently now delivering “content” ( that is what is it now been labelled ) for a generation of viewers that apparently like to watch a tiny weenie screen (whilst presumably texting messages to their many friends). At IBC 2007 there was an IPTV zone and it was apparent that content is now being pushed and watched and seen on ever diminishing sized screens. How long this interest will last with
movies is anyone’s guess, as I cannot for the life of me imagine ever wanting to watch Lawrence of Arabia, Blade Runner or Star Wars (as three examples) on a 2-inch monitor screen with all the associated potential distractions around me! It seems the content is delivered because it is now possible, which doesn’t necessarily make it good or even vaguely acceptable. Camera operators and DP’s now have to potentially take this into consideration for the smaller screens, so the operators have to adjust their on-set framing to suit, with wide vistas being ditched in favour of closer shots to fill the miniscule screens. The whole language of film is potentially being eroded as more “content” can be delivered to various devices. Whilst this is clearly a potential new market for some to exploit, it is potentially eroding the true craft of film making, whilst unfortunately again appealing to the lowest common denominator. It is ultimately a question of education and whether the demand is really there for such diluted forms of the medium. My view is it is a fad that will go the way of many in the past, so why it is being pushed to the masses I really don’t know.
NN1viper
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