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Bang in the zone. Barry Ackroyd BSC. ––– on The Hurt Locker & Green Zone
Inside. BSC Show 2010 Preview. ––– Shooting the Future Wally Pfister ASC & Diretor Chris Nolan. ––– collaborations On the Job Andrew Dunn BSC. Dariusz Wolski. Atilla Szalay. ––– Up close & personal Tim Wooster. ––– Meet the New Wave Michael Goi ASC President. ––– Letter from America
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Introduction –––Ron Prince Editor
Contributers.
“It represents a lifetime’s work really” Joe Dunton speaking to Edith Bowman after receiving a BAFTA for his outstanding contribution to cinema. Contents.
20 Shooting The Future.
Bob Fisher ––– has authored 3,000 magazine articles about cinematographers and filmmakers during the past 35 plus years. He has also moderated many panel discussions for both the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers Guild.
Preview of the upcoming BSC Show 2010
05 President’s Perspective. Sue Gibson BSC
07 Production /
Post & Techno News. The latest news for DPs
12 Who’s Shooting Who?
The low-down on which cinematographers are working where
14 To Live & Let DI.
See who’s dialling-in the DI grades
16 On The Job.
The collaborations of Wally Pfister ASC & director Chris Nolan
18 Meet The New Wave.
Tim Wooster… a chip off the old block!
19 Special Insert.
24 Camera Creative.
Multiple award-winner Barry Ackroyd BSC on The Hurt Locker and Green Zone
26 Close-Ups.
Andrew Dunn Bsc Dariusz Wolski Atilla Szalay
30 Letter From America.
Michael Goi ASC President
31 F-Stop Hollywood.
News from our West Coast roving reporter
32 IMAGO News.
Nigel Walters BSC, President of IMAGO
36 GBCT News.
The chairman’s statement & all the latest new from the Guild
BSC 2010 Show guide
Cover Image: The Hurt Locker, lensed by Barry Ackroyd BSC. Image courtesy of Optimum Releasing.
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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 the international marketing and communications company Prince PR (www.princepr.com).
Precious…
It won’t have escaped your notice, but we’ve given British Cinematographer Magazine a complete makeover. We’ve been able to invest in this fresher, newer, better design thanks to the on-going support of our advertisers and subscribers. The new style and format mean we can now include even more news and features about cinematography, and develop new items of interest that will keep you reading. But our passion for what we do does not stop there. To enhance the profile even further, the magazine now is getting even wider distribution in the UK, Europe and the US, through film schools and via partnerships with trade organisations such as IMAGO. One had a sneaky feeling that Avatar would take the Oscar for best cinematography in 2010. Our congratulations to Mauro Fiore for this incredible and historic achievement. For anyone who has seen Avatar, the experience of more than two and half hours of immersive 3D is both impressive and captivating. However, whether 3D will ultimately prove the main attraction for cinemagoers, remains to be seen. Film critics, such as Mark Kermode, have begun to posit that 3D will end up as the MacGuffin for the gaming market, not cinema. Time will tell whether 2D prevails. Nevertheless, the zeal for stereo in the film and TV markets, fuel-injected by the rampant box-office success of Avatar, has spawned significant R&D, productisation, debate and new training initiatives right across production and post production. This surely has to be a good thing. Congratulations too to Barry Ackroyd BSC and Joe Dunton MBE BSC. Barry’s work on The Hurt Locker has propelled his name, and his considerable talents, into the global limelight, as he garnered Oscar and ASC nominations, wins at BAFTA and the ES Awards, amongst many other accolades. Joe’s BAFTA recognition is for his lifelong work of making “constant technological leaps”, according to Terry Gilliam, who awarded the great man with his prize. Both Barry and Joe typify the innovators the industry needs. They are ideal role models for anyone aspiring to work in cinematography. And they embody what the BSC is all about. Which brings us neatly to the BSC’s 60th anniversary. As you will read in our special Celebrating A Diamond supplement, the society has achieved a great deal since it was founded, particularly during the last decade. Cinematographic talents who bear its acronym continue to build on the considerable legacy of 60 years, and the society mirrors the ever-evolving world of filmmaking. However, cinematographers of today, and tomorrow, work in a different climate to those who created the legacy of excellence. The right to decide format and camera choice, the rise of digital motion picture and HDSLR cameras, DI, authorship rights, working conditions, the collection of residuals – these are the chief concerns for the foreseeable future. The BSC has come a long, long way in 60 years, but its job is only just starting in many respects. All of its members, young and not-so-young, will need to carry forward the torch of excellence with passion and steely determination. We dedicate this edition to Tony Imi BSC, a gentleman cinematographer and a much-loved member of the society, who passed away on March 8th. Ron Prince, Editor BC
British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038 British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography. Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom t/ +44 (0) 1753 650101 f/ +44 (0) 1753 650111 Publishers. ––– Alan Lowne t/ +44 (0) 1753 650101 e/ alanlowne@ britishcinematographer.co.uk ––– Stuart Walters t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e/ stuartwalters@ britishcinematographer.co.uk Editor. ––– Ron Prince e/ ronny@dircon.co.uk Sales. ––– Alan Lowne t/ +44 (0) 1753 650101 e/ alanlowne@ britishcinematographer.co.uk ––– Stuart Walters t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e/ stuartwalters@ britishcinematographer.co.uk
Carolyn Giardina ––– is a freelance journalist based in the US. She previously served as the technology reporter at Hollywood Reporter, the editor of Film & Video, and as senior editor of post-production at SHOOT. Her work has also appeared in IBC Daily News, Digital Cinema, Post and Below The Line. 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 in the UK and abroad. John Keedwell ––– the GBCT News Editor, is a documentary and commercials cameraman who has worked on many productions around the world. He crosses over in both film and tape productions and has great knowledge of the new formats and their methods of production.
Design & Creative Direction. Open Box Media & Communications ––– Lee Murphy Design Studio Manager t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e/ lee.murphy@ob-mc.co.uk 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. Laws Publishing Ltd Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom. The publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography are not representative of Laws Publishing Ltd but the responsibility of the individual contributors.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Presidents Perspective –––Sue Gibson BSC President BSC
An inspiration. ––––– The marvellous Sue Gibson.
Although I am coming to the end of my two year term of office as president of the society, I do feel poorly qualified to write about the history of the BSC in this its 60th year. As so many eminent cinematographers have been president before me, I’m sure they could give their perspective far more eloquently. So this is my personal view of the last 60 years, and what the BSC means to me.
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The original aims of the society which were laid out by Freddie Young BSC and his board in 1949 are as true today as they were then… ––– Promote and encourage the pursuit of the highest standards in the craft of motion picture photography ––– Further the application by others of high standards in the craft of motion picture photography and encourage original and outstanding work ––– Cooperate with all whose aims and interests are wholly, or in part, related to those of the society. ––– Provide facilities for social intercourse between the members and arrange lectures, debates and meetings calculated to further the objects of the society. I like to think those aims are still being served today, and it is without doubt that the current members work hard to fulfil them. Since the inception of the BSC our cinematographers have won 22 Academy Awards, and since 1963 there have been 23 winners of the BAFTA Award for cinematography, Barry Ackroyd being the most recent. This goes without mentioning all the other numerous awards and nominations our members have received over the last six decades. In 1972, the year Geoffrey Unsworth won an Oscar for Cabaret, there were just over 100 members. Today there are still only just over 100 members, but more than 70 honorary members, and over 60 associate members. That is not to mention the many friends and patrons who support the society and help to further its aims. There is, however, only one secretary and treasurer, introduced to us by Les Ostinelli nearly 27 years ago, and that is Frances Russell, without whom we would be lost. She is the glue that sticks us all together, and truly is a paragon within the organisation. Few have given longer service to the BSC than her, and she has become known amongst the board members as, “She Who Must Be Obeyed”. It goes without saying that she has helped ensure continuity amongst the board, and we own her a great debt of gratitude for all her hard work.
I can only begin to scratch the surface of what has happened in the last 60 years, but know this issue of the magazine will be full of wonderful memories of those members past and present, and their achievements. Although being president is a great responsibility, it is also a great honour to play a small part in steering the society for a short period of time, and is also not without its lighthearted moments. I recently went to Paris, having been invited by the AFC to showcase the BSC, at their Micro Salon We were able to talk about our members’ achievements and show the work of John de Borman BSC on An Education, and Barry Ackroyd BSC’s on The Hurt Locker. Joe Dunton MBE, BSC and new BAFTA-winner, John de Borman and Nigel Walters BSC, also president of IMAGO, and I, all supported this where we also screened the newly completed Bluray of our Film & Digital Image Evaluation, the largest such evaluation ever undertaken in the world, to a very appreciative audience. Each one of us has had a hand in making the BSC what it is today. I like to think that it has grown in stature over the years, and is still an organisation where aspiring cinematographers can come for advice and inspiration. Our members are very generous in their support of the next generation, and at present there are at least seven prospective new members in the wings. Long may the tradition continue, and although subsequent generations may have their own issues to discuss, the artistry and craft of cinematography will always be of paramount importance to us all. This magazine is yet another example of how our friends and patrons support our aims, and a debt of gratitude goes to Alan Lowne and Ron Prince who have worked so hard to inform us of the issues surrounding our craft, and keep the cinematographer at the forefront of filmmaking. May the art and craft of cinematography remain undiminished in its importance for the next 60 years. I am truly proud to be named amongst the ranks of the BSC. Sue Gibson BSC
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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 038
––––– Winner: Barry Ackroyd BSC and his gleaming BAFTA.
News –––Production / Post & Technology round-up
Dunton’s and Ackroyd’s outstanding BAFTAs.
Joe Dunton MBE BSC received the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema Award in recognition of his long, influential and inventive career. He was presented with the Award by 2009 Academy Fellow Terry Gilliam at the Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday 21 February 2010. Movies such as Poltergeist, Return Of The Jedi, The Mission, Secrets & Lies, Eyes Wide Shut, the Harry Potter films and Nine all benefited from his expertise. Amongst Dunton’s innovations are the heated camera eyepiece, the Ladderpod, a video assist for the Louma Crane, the Moy Bazooka, the Mitchell Vitesse geared head and an HD camera magazine that is interchangeable with a traditional film magazine. “I’ll continue to spend my career looking for people who have interesting ideas,” he said. “Not only do I want to help these filmmakers harness future technology to tell their stories, I also want to remind them of the past so that they understand the grandeur and gift that is the silver screen.” Barry Ackroyd BSC was also awarded with the BAFTA for best cinematography for his work on The Hurt Locker, which earned him a clutch of other gongs during awards season including those from BIFA, the Boston and Austin festivals, Evening Standard, along with Oscar and ASC nominations. The Hurt Locker won six Oscars at the 2010 Academy Awards, including best picture and best director for Kathryn Bigelow. Discover more about Ackroyd and his work on The Hurt Locker and Green Zone in this edition.
Arts Foundation awards cinematography fellowship.
The winner of the cinematography fellowship, worth £10,000, was announced by Sir Nicholas Hytner recently at the annual Arts Foundation Awards held in London. The Arts Foundation was established a decade ago, and was funded through a generous anonymous donation of over £1 million pounds. It is the first time the art of cinematography has been recognised, and the three young filmmakers shortlisted attended the packed gathering. The chosen artists, all resident in the British Isles, originated from Bangladesh, Poland and Norway. The winner was 36-year-old Ole Bratt Birkeland, originally from Bergen, Norway, now living and working in London since studying at the London Film School from 1996-98. With this financial support Birkeland can now spend time testing for a new feature. He is also hoping to shadow Barry Ackroyd BSC whilst filming Coriolanus in Romania, and visit Camerimage in Poland. Birkeland’s most recent film, Helen, won a host of prizes including best cinematography at the Durban and Dinard Film Festivals. Two other exceptional cinematographers shortlisted by the panel of advisors for the award were Urszula Pontikos and Sadik Ahmed, who both trained at the National Film & Television School.
––––– Innovator: director Terry Gilliam is wowed by Joe Dunton and his BAFTA.
Major new 3D training initiative unveiled.
With the box office success of Avatar ringing around the production industry, a ground-breaking partnership between Skillset, Sky and the UK Film Council has been announced to develop and run 3D training for the UK film and television industries. The commitment to a £140,000 3D training budget was unveiled at Introducing Sky 3D – an event for the UK’s production community, which was supported by the UK Film Council and BAFTA. The fund will pay for specialist training across the board – from those needing to know the basics as they start a 3D project, to professionals sharpening up high-level specialist skills. Principal Large Format, the UK’s leading consultancy for 3D production, run by Phil Streather, has been awarded a 3D stereoscopic innovation grant by Skillset to research and structure the curriculum for delivering this definitive course programme for 3D training for the production sector. Brian Lenz, Sky’s director of product design and TV product development, commented, “We want the UK to be at the forefront of 3D’s assault on cinema and TV. With 3D cinema proving a hit at the Box Office, and 3DTV coming to living rooms this year, 2010 is the year for UK producers to grasp the 3D opportunity. We’re delighted to support the UK in becoming a 3D centre of excellence.” Speaking on behalf of the UK Film Council, CEO John Woodward, said: “This partnership is part of the UK Film Council’s ongoing Avance Rapide, which has organized the Dimension 3 Festival in France for the last commitment to securing the UK’s reputation as the home of the world’s three years, has announced an international 3D training course sponsored by the best creative talent, giving our filmmakers the 3D training they need to European Union’s MEDIA programme. The S3D Campus, “Mastering 3D from filming to stay ahead in the 21st century skills race.” broadcasting” will be held in Paris from May 24 to 28th, and aims to develop a network of qualified technicians, producers and creators who will master the new processes involved in creating 3D content. “Stereoscopic 3D is now a reality in cinemas and on TV screens, and Europe should not lag behind in terms on content ” said Stéphan Faudeux, manager of the training course. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Based on alternating conferences, hands-on workshops for 3D shooting and posthas presented Fujifilm with an Academy Award for its production, and keynote addresses, S3D Campus will gather a dozen international development of ETERNA-RDI, the first motion picture trainers. The five-day course, given in French and English, will host 35 trainees from all film designed specifically for use in converting digital over the globe. Geared towards technicians, directors, producers and teachers, the image data to negative film. course will tackle issues such as writing for 3D, pribciples of 3D mastering and screening, The award was given in recognition of the filming in 3D, colour grading and CG animation. Dimension 3, the international forum on significant picture quality and workflow improvements stereo 3D, will take place in Paris from June 1st to 3rd, 2010. made possible in the moviemaking process through the development of Fujicolor ETERNA-RDI.
S3D Campus brings 3D training to Europe.
Fujifilm scoops Academy Award.
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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 038
––––– Gong: the NFTS’s film Cloud Chasers won at the Kodak Commercials Awards.
Pinewood celebrates BSC’s 60th.
Pinewood and Shepperton Studios plc has commemorated the 60th anniversary of The British Society of Cinematographers with a speciallydesigned plaque. The plaque was created by a trainee of Film Design International, a Pinewood-based production design school run by production designer Terry Ackland-Snow (Batman, Superman The Living Daylights). It is placed in the BSC’s dedicated corridors at Pinewood Studios, and was unveiled by the society’s president Sue Gibson in February. BSC president Sue Gibson commented, “The society has always enjoyed an excellent relationship with the studios and is very grateful for its continuing support and presentation of this special anniversary plaque.” “As the industry enters the digital era giving rise to evolving techniques and technologies, the BSC will continue to play a prominent role in educating and inspiring both the international industry at large as well as the next generation of British filmmakers,” said Pinewood Shepperton CEO Ivan Dunleavy.
––––– More Apple genius: the awesome iphone.
Kodak iPhone app.
Kodak has released the Kodak Film Calculator and Glossary application, the first of several cinema tools to be released as free downloads from the iTunes App Store. The tool determines the running time for any length of film in any format, or how much film is needed for a specific duration, making complex mathematical calculations quickly and conveniently. Film length can be measured in feet or meters for all formats, including Super 8, 16mm, 35mm, three-perf 35mm, and 65mm film. The application also includes Kodak’s Glossary, which provides instant definitions for hundreds of filmmaking terms.
Sci-Tech Award for ARRISCAN team.
In recognition of the critical role played by science and technology in the moviemaking process, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has bestowed a Scientific and Technical Award to the team responsible for the development of the ARRISCAN film scanner. This marks the 16th Academy Award to have been bestowed upon ARRI and its designers. The recipients are Michael Cieslinski, Dr. Reimar Lenz and Bernd Brauner. Cieslinski is credited with designing the sensor and serving as project manager for the scanner, while Brauner was responsible for the film transport and Lenz developed the micro scanning feature. More than 100 ARRISCANs are in use worldwide, and have been utilized on many features including The Blind Side, Up in the Air, The Twilight Saga: New Moon and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
––––– Diamond: Terry Ackland-Snow and Sue Gibson BSC at the unveiling of Pinewood’s celebratory BSC plaque.
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Rock On Tommy.
NFTS students win Kodak cinematography award.
Students from the National Film & Television School in Beaconsfield, led by Chris Moon, won the award for best cinematography for The Cloud Chasers at the recent Kodak Commercial Awards held at BAFTA. Open to all students studying on a full or part-time film, media or TV course in the UK or Ireland, the competition is based around briefs provided by advertising agencies Oglivy and BBH. The 2010 Awards received 250 script and storyboard entries from 22 different film schools. The entries were shortlisted by agency creative teams, with 52 films going into production. Each film was made by a team of up to five students. Along with a 400ft roll of 16mm Kodak negative stock, camera kit was available via ARRI Media and Soho Film Lab provided a one light transfer. The Cloud Chasers also won the award for best production design, and was judged second in the best commercial overall category.
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The mould that made Tommy Moran may have been lost somewhere in the Irish Sea, but fortunately not before he had worked with David Jason, who proceeded to “nick” (as Tommy may say) the inspiration of his unique character and mannerisms to create one of Britain’s most loved characters, Del’ Boy, writes Nigel Walters BSC. Gaffers, ARRI staff, cinematographers, friends, mates Tommy has never forgotten and who will never forget him and, most importantly, his wife and daughters gathered together to celebrate Tommy’s 25 years as MD extraordinaire of ARRI Lighting Rental in La Rucolo Italian restaurant, Uxbridge recently. In a search for the aspect of his character, which distinguishes this extraordinary manager of men from ordinary mortals, I questioned those who know him best. A gaggle of gaffers gave a spontaneous analysis of the reasons for his success: “Tommy came before corporate greed.” Quite a complement! The more you analyse those words the deeper they dig into the soul, and the more there is to reflect on the changing nature of our industry. Tommy is generous. He has always called a spade a spade. You know where you stand. If he makes a mistake he admits it. He has never changed and that is probably the secret of his managerial success. There are no two sides. His judgement of character is impeccable, with the ability to surround himself in his management team, with mates of integrity – ex-gaffers such as Dave Mason, Tony Hestor, the finest of men in any profession. In his speech he remembered especially the help he received in those early days from good friends such as Mike Southon BSC. Tommy has built a strong team at Uxbridge, and he is particularly proud that his daughter, Sinead has become the rock in his company due to the strong relationships she has built up with both productions and technicians, along with general manager Mike Ohara and HODs of Films & Drama servicing Jason Hunt and Sandro Leone. For many years as Union representatives we conspired together to outwit the vagrancies of management within the BBC. Not that they were wholly bad, far from it, but when the time came to break free with Barry Bell to start Bell Lighting (later ARRI Lighting), Tommy had learnt to distinguish between a good manager and a bad one. The bad ones inspired him. He is a good one. One Tommy story, there are so many, I did not tell under the alcoholic inspiration of this fine restaurant, was the occasion Tommy was at home watching the Grand National on TV. His wife rushed in to say that she was worried about the fire he had lit in the garden to burn garden rubbish. With the race about to begin Tommy , with a wager to follow, and not a man to be distracted by a fire at such an important time, waved aside her concerns and asked her to prepare the garden hose for after the race. An inspection of his garden after the race revealed that his sheds and fence and the neighbour’s sheds and fence where now a blazing inferno to which Tommy said, “Forget about the f-ing hose, and call the fire brigade!” The stories would fill this magazine.
––––– The gang all together. ––––– Derek Suter BSC speech in acknowledgement to Tommys 25th year at ARRI LIGHTING. ––––– standing ovation for Tommy Moran from colleagues. ––––– Renos Louka reads the citation to Tommy Moran.
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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 038 ––––– Honoured: Dennis Fraser MBE was given an award for his long-term contribution to advancing the cause of grips and crane technicians.
Sun-Mover focused reflector.
California Sunbounce, the German developer, manufacturer and distributor of photographic accessories and light modulating equipment, has launched the Sun-Mover, a flat, collapsible light reflector that transforms sun and studio lighting into controlled spot and soft lighting. The new product, created by Wolfgang-Peter Geller, chief designer and owner of the company, consists of an oval shaped, reflective screen and two solid built-in handles. It allows spot, natural and soft light effects to be made by bending the two motorcycle-like handles in-or outward to control the beam of light. The oval 85x79cm (33.46x 31.1 inch) system is available in silver/white fabric for slight warm light and zebra/white fabric for neutral light, and folds like a regular collapsible reflector.
Fraser honoured by grips branch.
The Grips & Crane Technicians Branch celebrated its 25th anniversary recently in Panavision’s preview theatre in Greenford. The event, took place barely a stones throw away from its very first meeting held at Grip House in 1985, and provided an opportunity for the branch to honour one of its founding members, Dennis Fraser MBE. Fraser, along with several other motion picture grips, helped to form the first Grips Branch committee to represent grips and promote the grade as a professional body of highly-trained technicians. Over the last quarter century the Branch has grown from around 35 members, working exclusively in film and TV commercial production, to a current membership of more than 150 grips and crane technicians working across all sectors of the industry, predominantly in London and the South East. A unique feature of this group of individuals is that the majority now hold Grips or Crane Techs qualifications, and carry Skills Passports, in the form of a laminated photo ID cards, issued by Skillset. Achieving the Grips/Crane Techs NVQ is the aim of all branch members. Fraser has been the standard bearer of the grips qualification and has achieved almost singlehanded cross-industry recognition for a craft grade that had previously only existed within the confines of the camera department. He was honoured for his considerable achievements with a gold plaque, presented by the first branch chairman and his former colleague at MGM Studios, Jimmy Dawes.
Matthews supplies Budapest studios.
Matthews Studio Equipment, has shipped multiple quantities of over 465 different items of grip and lighting control products to Origo/Raleigh Studios and Hollywood Rental in Budapest as part of a shipment worth several hundred thousand dollars. Origo/Raleigh Studios, Hollywood Rentals Budapest, opens in April 2010, with nine sound stages, including a super stage 45,000 sq. ft. and 65-feet of grid. It will also feature a 15-acre back lot, a production training school, high-tech production facility and a digital film laboratory. In addition to supplying lighting support, grip and lighting control Matthews also manufacturers Doorway Dollies, the Ed Dolly, plus camera support devices and systems.
BlueBolt VFX appoints Jeffers as chairman.
Independent VFX post-production facility BlueBolt has announced that David Jeffers, former CEO of MPC, Technicolor’s London VFX division, has joined as non-executive chairman, a hands-on role that will see him support the future growth of the company. Under Jeffers’ 20-year leadership MPC became a worldwide industry-leading provider of VFX and post-production services to both the feature motion picture and commercial advertising industries. Along with its successful growth, he also managed the relocation of MPC into London’s premier custom-built facility in Wardour Street, Soho, as well as its subsequent sale ($105million) to Thomson/Technicolor in 2005. Jeffers retired from the company in 2007 to pursue other business interests. Jeffers commented: “Bluebolt is an exciting new company with a highly creative, experienced and professional offer. I am delighted to be able to share my experience with the team from this early stage. As a boutique facility in the highly-regarded Soho/ London VFX industry Bluebolt is set to succeed in a VFX marketplace that has enjoyed unrivalled growth in recent years – the future demand for which is perhaps best exemplified by the recent box office success of James Cameron’s Avatar.” BlueBolt was established last September by three former Moving Picture Company (MPC) staff – VFX supervisors Chas Jarrett and Angela Barson, along with VFX producer Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor. It is currently working on the John Landis-directed comedy Burke & Hare, and has completed VFX work on a number of features including Sherlock Holmes and Prince of Persia: The Sands Of Time. The following motion pictures are shooting on Kodak filmstocks… Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part II, DP Eduardo Serra, dir. David Yates; West Is West, DP Peter Robertson, dir. Andy De Emmony; John Carter Of Mars, DP Daniel Mindel, dir. Andrew Stanton; Killing Bono, DP Kieran McGuigan, dir. Nick Hamm; Burke & Hare, DP John Mathieson BSC, dir. John Landis; Flutter, DP Christopher Ross BSC, dir. Giles Borg; Clean Skin, DP George Steel, dir. Hadi Hajaig; and Peter, DP Michael Miles, dir. Sanjay Kumar. The BBC television series ––––– Louis-Philippe New Tricks, DP Sean Van Hales, is also using Kodak.
What’s Shooting on Kodak?
ZipCalc DP simulation freeware.
ZipCam Systems has released its new freeware planning tool, ZipCalc DP. This freeware application is intended primarily for DPs and key grips. It provides interactive simulations of cable camera flight paths and plots them on a graph. This helps users determine the best flight path for cable-suspended tracking cameras such as the ZipCam cable camera system. ZipCalc DP is currently available for download, without charge, from the ZipCam Systems’ website.
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Capelle joins Eyelite.
China Film Archive purchases Quantel gear.
China Film Archive in Beijing has purchased a Quantel iQ 4K Dl and finishing system. The iQ includes QColor in-context grading and the Quantel Stereo3D toolset. In addition to its role safeguarding China’s film heritage of over ten thousand films, China Film Archive is also charged with adopting and exploiting new film technologies; hence the Stereo3D tools.
Following the closure of DI facility HoverlorD last October, cinematographer and IMAGO treasurer Louis-Philippe Capelle has joined Belgian rental group Eye Lite in a consultancy role. Capelle’s task includes the establishment of the company’s new digital cinema camera department to complement its existing film camera rental business. Eye Lite is the biggest rental company in Belgium. Capelle will remain active in IMAGO and as a cinematographer.
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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 038
––––– Here comes the sun-mover: an ingenious focusable, collapsible reflector.
What’s shooting on Fuji?
The latest of features and TV dramas shooting on Fujifilm include…Hereafter, DP Tom Stern ASC AFC, dir. Clint Eastwood; Clash of the Titans, DP Peter Menzies Jr, dir. Louis Letterier; Eagle of the Ninth, DP Anthony Dod Mantle DFF, BSC, dir. Kevin MacDonald; The King’s Speech, DP Danny Cohen BSC, dir. Tom Hooper; The First Grader, DP Rob Hardy, dir. Justin Chadwick; Tamara Drewe, DP Ben Davis BSC, dir. Stephen Frears; Murder on the Orient Express, DP Alan Almond BSC, dir. Philip Martin; Oranges & Sunshine, DP Denson Baker, dir. Jim Loach; Spooks Series 9, DP Fabian Wagner, dir. Michael Caton Jones; and Men Don’t Lie, DP Justin Brown, dir. Jane Spencer. Commercials include… Johnnie Walker commercial (Home Corp) DP Benoit Delhomme AFC; Mercedes (RSA) DP Ole Bratt Birkeland; Whizz Kidz charity ad (Smuggler) DP Denis Crossan BSC; Malaria No More charity ad (Partizan) DP Barry Ackroyd BSC; Homebase (Independent Films) DP Remy Cheverin; Tesco 7 commercial (Smuggler) Denis Crossan BSC; Promos using Fuji stocks include… McLean (Pixelloft) DP Erik Maddeson; Corrine Bailey Rae (Believe Media) DP Riego Van Wersch; Jamie T (Black Dog UK) DP Matthew Fox; Plan B ‘Live’ (Partizan) DP Stuart Bentley; and Plan B promo (Partizan) DP Lol Crawley.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
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Who’s Shooting Who? –––Which cinematographers are working on what...
Keeping focus.
––––– I Robot: Steve Chivers with the star of the recent Honda Civic ad for Scott Lyon at Outsider. ––––– Vroom!: Manel Ruiz shooting a Ford commercial in Argentina with director Nacho Gayan. ––––– Hold it!: Mel Griffith on Snowdon shooting the film Did directed by Jake Wynne. ––––– Frosty: It won’t be sunbathing weather when Jallo Faber starts filming The Hunter II in the north of Sweden. ––––– Lucky: John Perez in Rio shooting a carnival scene for a Neste Commercial ––––– Out-side-in: Mary Farbrother shooting Carol Morley’s new feature Edge. ––––– Surfer dude: Nicolaj Bruel taking time out from shooting down in Cape Town ––––– Nice work: Ollie Green filming on Xtra Factor for ITV. ––––– Still lucky: John Perez in Rio.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
MY Management.
Roger Bonnici is still out in Bangladesh shooting Bishaash with director Indra Bhose. Robbie Ryan BSC has just wrapped Slave with director Gabriel Range, and is confirmed to work on Wuthering Heights with Andrea Arnold. This production is going through Ecosse Films, and shooting is due to start end of March/beginning of April in Yorkshire. In the mean time Robbie will be shooting a short film called Lost Explorer with director Tim Walker. Jallo Faber FSF is confirmed on the feature film The Hunters II, a follow-up of the highly successful Swedish thriller The Hunter of 1996. This film won Best Film in 1997 at The Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish equivalent of the BAFTAs). The sequel will star Peter Stormare (Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Minority Report) and Rolf Lassgard (A Rational Solution, The Tribunal). Shooting will begin on location in the very north of Sweden, in a village called Overkalix in mid August until November, with Kjell Sundvann the director, through Sonet Films. Simon Archer BSC has shot an episode of Dr Who with director Catherine Moorshead in Cardiff. Jo Willems SBC is busy on commercials, as are Ekkehart Pollack, Manel Ruiz, Anders Flatland, Tim Spence, Olivier Cariou and John Perez, Steve Chivers and Ray Coates.
Wizzo & Co.
After completing the thriller Murderland for ITV starring Robbie Coltrane, Erik Wilson has recently wrapped on the feature Submarine directed by Richard Ayoade and produced by Andy Stebbing and Mary Burke through Warp and Channel 4 Films. The film is an adaptation of the novel by Joe Dunthorne and stars Sally Hawkins & Paddy Considine. Peter Hannan BSC is currently prepping for the 3D feature, The 4th Reich for producer Phil Morris. Damian Bromley is currently shooting The Deep, directed by Colm McCarthy through Tiger Aspect. Mott Hupfel’s most recent feature, Jack Goes Boating, Philip Seymour Hoffmann’s directorial debut, premiered at The Sundance Film Festival last month and Nurse Jacky, for which Mott shot the first episode, is currently airing on the BBC. Fede Alfonzo’s short, Sidney Turtlebaum, directed by Tristram Shapeero and shot last year, narrowly missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Short. Angus Hudson was nominated for Best Cinematography at this year’s Fuji Shorts Films for his work on Voyage D’Affaires directed by Sean Ellis (the short has also been nominated in the Best Film category). Karl Oskarsson received two nominations for Best Cinematography at the Icelandic Edda Awards and the Czech Lion Awards for his feature 3 Seasons In Hell directed by Tomas Masin and set to hit the festival circuit this year.
Vision at Wizzo & Co.
McKinney Macartney Management.
Balazs Bolygo has just completed filming Ashes To Ashes for director David Drury. Ben Butler, Mick Coulter BSC, Denis Crossan BSC, John de Borman, John Lynch, Sebastian Milaszewski, John Pardue and Darran Tiernan have all been busy shooting commercials. Gavin Finney BSC is currently filming Reunited for director Simon Delaney. Graham Frake is on Freaky Farleys with directors, Nic Phillips and Simon Hynd for Foundation TV/RDF Media for Nickelodeon. Phil Méheux BSC is in New York filming The Smurfs for Raja Gosnell. Chris Seager BSC has just completed Daughters for Phillippa Lowthorpe for the BBC and is about to start prep on Joe Maddison’s War for Patrick Collerton through ITV. Katie Swain is filming The History Of America for Jenny Ash through Nutopia. David Tattersall BSC is in New Orleans shooting The Hungry Rabbit Jumps for Roger Donaldson. He will then come to London to film pick-ups on Gullivers Travels. Fabian Wagner is shooting Spooks for Michael Caton Jones through Kudos. Fujifilm Short Film Competition shortlisted Felix Wiedemann for best cinematography for two shorts that he lensed, Beyond The Wall and Why Don’t You Dance?. Michael Wood is currently lighting Watch Over Me for director Chris Jupe through.
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Martin Ruhe has wrapped The American starring George Clooney, directed by Anton Corbijn. This assassin movie was shot in Italy. Ed Rutherford has just finished shooting Joanna Hogg’s working title Joanna Hogg Project 2, shot in the remote Isles of Scilly and starring Tom Hiddleston. Richard Mott is currently shooting Young Lazy and Unemployed, a six-part comedy drama series for BBC3 directed by Richard Laxton. Adam Frisch’s Shank is released in March. Directed by Mo Ali, this futuristic gangland drama stars Skins actress Kaya Scoledario and Bashy. Christopher Sabogal’s short film Big Tingz, directed by Mustapha Kseibati, was screened at London short Film Festival 2010 as part of the UK Film Council’s Digital Generation “Best of Shorts” selection. Magni Agustsson, August Jakobsson, Ian Murray and Martin Hill have all been busy lensing commercials.
Creative Media Management.
John Rhodes is shooting River City for the BBC, and Colin Munn is shooting Midsomer Murders for ITV1.
Of Independent’s DPs.
Kieran McBuigan is just finishing shooting Nick Hamm’s I Was Bono’s Doppleganger in Belfast. Ryszard Lencewski is in pre-production on Pawel Pawlikowski’s feature The Woman in Fifth. John Mathieson BSC is currently shooting John Landis’s Burke and Hare, starring Simon Pegg and Andy Serkiss as the naughty grave-diggers. David Odd BSC has just started shooting Whitechapel, series 2, for ITV, and Ben Smithard is about to begin pre-production on The Trip, directed by Michael Winterbottom. As well as grading KickAss and shooting additional film for Tamara Drewe, Ben Davis BSC has been back-to-back on commercials. Benoit Delhomme has been keeping busy on commercials too. Anthony Dod Mantle BSC DFF is prepping Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours in Utah. Starring James Franco, it tells the story of a mountain climber who becomes trapped while canyoneering alone and resorts to desperate measures in order to survive. In between
DI grading The Baster, Jess Hall BSC been lensing commercials, as have Dan Landin and David Ungaro. Sam McCurdy BSC has been in Malta shooting Lee Tamahori’s, The Devil’s Double. Mark Patten has been wielding his Canon 7D on commercials, and Dick Pope BSC is over in the US shooting Jill Sprecher’s next feature The Convincer. George Richmond is lighting Dana Lustig’s new feature The Veil of Maya. Chris Ross BSC is currently lensing Giles Borg’s new feature Flutter, a black comedy starring Joe Anderson and Ricky Tomlinson. Ed Wild is prepping Phil Traill’s Chalet Girl. Shooting in southern Germany and Austria, it stars Bill Nighy, Felicity Jones and Ed Westwick.
Sara Putt Associates.
Oliver Cheeseman is lighting another block of The Bill for Talkback Thames. Mary Farbrother has just wrapped on Carol Morley’s dark comedy feature Edge. Peter Greenhalgh is just about to start on a block of Merlin for Shine. Paul Lang just started on a Formula 1 feature documentary for Spitfire Films, directed by Paul Crowder. Dave Marsh continues on Handle With Prayer, a new comedy drama directed by Peter Cattaneo for Big Talk Productions. Will Pugh has been working on Stefan Gates On E for Plum Pictures, and has gone straight on to Cambodia to shoot Locked Up Abroad for Raw TV, and Graham Smith is off to Brazil to do a Black South America project for Wall To Wall. Of the agents operators… Gareth Hughes is just completing work on Metamorphosis an adaptation of a Kafka novella with Chris Swanton directing. Vince McGahon is about to start on Joe Maddison’s War for Mammoth Screen. Julian Morson is on Joe Cornish’s first outing as director, Attack The Block for Big Talk Productions, and Joe Russell is currently lensing both of Sue Bourne’s new documentaries, one looking at Internet dating and the other Irish Dancing.
Digital Garage.
Ollie Green is currently on tour with Britian’s Got Talent for Talkback Thames, and Pete Hayns is in the Amazon shooting the Human Planet for BBC Earth. Jeremy Humphries has just completed another block on Police, Camera, Action for Optomen. Andrew Mott is currently in St Morritz shooting for Transworld Sport/Channel 4. Chris Openshaw is shooting The Art Of Maps for BBC, and Mark Warmington has been shooting some music promos for a Paul Weller documentary directed by Julien Temple.
United Agents.
Barry Ackroyd BSC won a BAFTA for his work on The Hurt Locker. He is now prepping for Coriolanus, directed by Ralph Fiennes and shooting in Serbia. Alwin Kuchler BSC is shooting Hanna, directed by Joe Wright in Berlin. Brendan Galvin and Simon Richards are now busy on commercials. Eduardo Serra AFC, ASC continues on Harry Potter and Tony Slater-Ling has just finished shooting an episode of Dr Who in Croatia, directed by Jonny Campbell and is now shooting Worried About The Boy in Manchester, directed by Julian Jarrold. Haris Zambarloukos BSC is shooting Kenneth Branagh’s Thor in LA. Marcel Zyskind has finished grading Michael Winterbottom’s The Killer Inside Me, shown at Sundance and Berlin. Alan Almond BSC has wrapped on Philip Martin’s Poirot: Murder On The Orient Express. Steve Lawes continues to shoot Hartswood’s Sherlock in Cardiff. Dale Mccready has begun prepping series 3 of Shine’s Merlin. David Higgs BSC is in the midst of shooting Peter Kosminsky’s Homeland in Israel, whilst John Conroy has wrapped on Parked in Ireland and is due to begin prepping Agnes Merlet’s The Last Furlong in Dublin from March. Charlotte Bruus Christensen work on Thomas Vinterberg’s Submarino, opened at the Berlinale in February. Neus Olle has just finished a feature in Barcelona and is attached to The Mapmaker, an imminent MJZ/Sarah Radclyffe short to be directed by Stephen Johnson. She goes to Qatar in April for a documentary feature. Carlos Catalan remains in India, shooting a doc feature and is confirmed to shoot a Bollywood road movie on location in Spain from May, whilst Niels Reedtz Johansen starts work on a Danish drama in March. Zac Nicholson has just finished camera operating on The King’s Speech and is set to shoot short film Junk up in Sheffield next month. Jonathan Harvey is grading Legacy for Black Camel Films. And on the commercials front, Alessandra Scherillo has just finished a new filmic collaboration with artist/filmmaker Justin Anderson for Damaris, which has recently been featured in Vogue.TV. Tat Radcliffe, Alex Barber, Daniel Bronks, Simon Chaudoir, Stephen Keith-Roach, Danny Cohen, Alwin Kuchler BSC, Stephen Blackman and Alex Melman have also been busy creating short-form magic for commercials all around the world.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Live & Let DI –––Who’s dialling-in the DI grades
Fully equipped. Molinare.
Molinare has carried out the DI on over 150 films since entering the market in 2005, including titles such as The Damned United and Man On Wire, plus Mugabe And The White African and Moon, both which it also co-produced. The company is currently converting its drive-in TV studio into the largest grading theatre in Central London. It will open in April, equipped with digital and film projection, Baselight for grading and a “robust” theatrical sound system. With its 8m-screen and generous seating, it will also double as a screening theatre. Among the first films to use Molinare’s new theatre will be The Kings Speech directed by Tom Hooper, with Danny Cohen the DP, and Ironclad directed by Jonathan English, with David Eggby the cinematographer, for which Molinare is also providing a complete post production service including all the VFX. Africa United, currently shooting with Sean Bobbit BSC at the helm, will also get the DI treatment in the new theatre. Director James Marsh, who won an Oscar for Man On Wire, is also back with his next feature-doc entitled Project Nim. Molinare’s take on DI, and activities in equity financing, is that it is directly assists the craft of storytelling. Speaking about his work on the Benoit Delhomme-lensed Chatroom, senior DI colourist Tim Waller said, “The story is all about the life of a group of teens who spend a lot of time socialising on internet sites. Benoit wanted a clear distinction between the online and offline worlds of these kids who, when not online, lead dark and depressed lifestyles. The virtual sets for the online world were cleverlydesigned, bright vibrant places and the end result was a lovely blend of styles which told the story brilliantly.” For Mugabe And The White African, directed by Lucy Bailey and DP Andrew Thompson, as 90% of the footage was shot covertly on various small format cameras Waller not only optimised the look of the footage in colour terms, but also ensured the quality of the images held up after being blown up to 35mm and projected on the big screen. Everybody’s Fine, directed by Kirk Jones, starring Robert Di Nero, Drew Barrymoore, Kate Beckinsale and Sam Rockwell, with cinematography by Henry Braham BSC, was graded by Gareth Spensley. He commented, “Kirk and Henry wanted a grade that never overwhelmed the story and the emotion of Frank’s (Di Nero) road trip. The changing landscapes ushered in each chapter and provided a flowing palette throughout the narrative. The DI grade therefore required careful consideration of saturation so that the pastel tones of the photography were retained, but the warmth of the characters skintones still came through. We used gentle secondary corrections to accentuate details in the scenery to draw the eye when required, and for each of Frank’s reunions with his children we subtly introduced shapes and grads to gradually heighten the intensity of the scene.”
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Pepper.
Pepper, another of Soho’s leading feature film postproduction facilities, has grown into a well-known brand since it was founded 10 years ago. CGI-animated feature Planet 51 (Sony/Ilion Studios) was graded by colourists Alex Gascoigne and John Claude in the company’s main 4.5m DI theatre using a Digital Vision’s Film Master combined with a 2k Barco DP90 projector and Cinespace colour management. Digital Vision Film Cutters were used for conforming and management of additional VFX and title elements. Unlike a live action production, the grade was intensely technical as the look had been already created by the animation team in Spain. The challenge was to reverse-engineer the colour science to match the colour space and viewing conditions that the Ilion Animation Studios had been using for seven years since the project started. CGI, by its very nature, is artificial and the created environment on the alien planet was not natural either, meaning that Pepper had to deal with an incredible range in gamut and colour space. To respect the subtle hue differences of the alien characters and their surroundings a complex matrix was required to bring the images within range of the negative whilst maintaining character and background separation. The process also had to respect the film’s additional video deliverables requirement with similar attention to the complex looks. Pepper acted as a data hub for all rendered scenes, which were supplied in 16-bit log and QC’d before conforming. Changes and re-renders were delivered digitally throughout the grade, which meant Pepper having editorial systems working in parallel with the DI grade. Senior Colourist John Claude also graded Patagonia (Rainy Day Films), shot mainly on S16mm by DP Robbie Ryan BSC. It’s the tale of two women – one looking for her past, the other for her future – one travelling through Wales in the springtime, the other through the Argentine autumn. Scanning was completed on Pepper’s Spirit at 2K. Early in the film the looks are established from the yellow and ochre landscapes of Argentina to the cooler greener world of Wales. The dusty feeling of the wilder outposts of Patagonia were helped by the slightly grainy nature of the super 16 and Jean Claude added a touch of grain to some 35mm shots to blend them in to the overall feel.
––––– Molinare: The King’s Speech, Mugabe & White African, Man On Wire, Moon, Everybody’s Fine and The Damned United all got the DI treatment. ––––– Pepper did the DI on CG adventure Planet 51 and Patagonia amongst others. ––––– Hat Factory: becoming a magnet for up-and-coming filmmakers, including Richard Perry whose DI for Following Footsteps was done by Gwyn Evans.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Digital Vision / The Farm.
Digital Vision’s Film Master was recently used to grade the second series of the BBC’s BAFTA-winning drama series Wallander. The three 90-minute episodes, which aired last month, were graded by colourist Aidan Farrell at The Farm. Shot on RED, The Farm handled all of the data files from acquisition to delivery. After the offline edit, material was delivered to the facility on hard disk and conformed using a combination of the Film Master, DVS Clipster and Monkey Extract. It was then graded by Farrell using RED log DPX files extracted from the native RED files. He was presented with an RTS Craft and Design Award in Best Picture Enhancement last November for his work on the first series.
Ascent Media.
Ascent Media provided an extensive package of post production services for The Hurt Locker, shot by Barry Ackroyd BSC. The production entrusted the digital intermediate, over 75 visual effects shots, and all of the processing and dailies work in a coordinated effort between Company 3 in Santa Monica and sister companies in Hollywood and London. The post workflow began as Company 3’s sister facilities, London-based Soho Film Lab who processed the film negative and Ascent142 graded the dailies. The original negative was then shipped to Company 3 in Los Angeles for scanning. Then, its visual effects team set to work primarily putting the audience in the middle of the film’s intense explosion sequences through a combination of 2- and 3D-CGI. As the scope of the project grew, Company 3 enlisted Encore Hollywood’s Visual Effects group to help quickly turn around the additional shots. The feature was finished at Company 3 in LA.
Hat Factory Post.
Hat Factory Post has busy with DI grades for a number of up-and-coming filmmakers. Using the Nucoda Filmaster system, colourist Gwyn Evans has graded Following Footsteps (Perry Pictures), starring Matt Di Angelo and Loui Bailey, with DP Robin Vidgeon BSC; Persian Eyes (Orchard Garden Films), with Matt Bailey, Sheri Staplehurst and PJ Moriarty, directed by Paul Slatter, and lensed by Mark Moriarty; A Kingdom Without A King (Perry Pictures) starring Emma Rigby, directed by Richard Perry, with cinematograpjhy by Phil Méheux BSC; and Waving At Trains (Made Up North Prods), starring Pete Postlewaite,
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direction by Sean Crotty, with John E Walker the DP. Hat Factory also worked on VFX for Wolfman, and music videos for The Saturdays, Depeche Mode, Chipmunk, Future Heads and Codeine Velvet Club.
Mytherapy D-Cinelab.
Mytherapy D-Cinelab has appointed David Wilson to head up its digital cinema mastering (DCM) department, and is aiming to offer “seamless” DCM workflow for distributors and exhibitors. Wilson was born in Melbourne, Australia, but he has worked in London for several years, at facilities such as The Machine Room, Dubbs, Uncle (part of The Farm Group) and, more recently, at digital cinema mastering company, Arts Alliance Media. “Distributors often have to deal with inflexible workflows, such as having to provide edited material in specific formats, dealing with more than one facility to handle different tasks or, more annoyingly, having to wait a considerable amount of time for the process to be carried out,” said Wilson. Mytherapy’s aim is to provide digital deliverables within 24 hours of receiving the finished masters. “This includes adding logos and subtitles in multiple languages and, if required, passing the material to our grading department to subtly change the look of the project to emulate specific film stocks,” says David. Mytherapy D-Cinelab can also handle stereoscopic 3D deliverables, working with directors to ensure subtitles are placed within the correct plane for the shot. This is an important part of the 3D mastering process, as subtitles that appear too close or too far away in a given shot can add unnecessary strain to the viewers’ eyes.
Company 3.
Over in Los Angeles, the Santa Monica-based Company 3 colourist Stephen Nakamura has applied his colour grading skills to four major motion pictures slated for release later this year: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Conspirator, The Town, and Robin Hood.
Double Negative.
On the VFX front Double Negative has been working on Green Zone Kick Ass, John Carter Of Mars, Inception, Iron Man 2, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Paul, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time and The Debt.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
On the Job –––Wally Pfister ASC & Chris Nolan
Collaboration is king.
Cinematographer Wally Pfister ASC has worked with director Chris Nolan half a dozen times. Here he speaks to Bob Fisher about the progression of their work.
Inception marks the sixth collaboration for Wally Pfister ASC and Christopher Nolan. The script is a product of Nolan’s fertile imagination. The story will take audiences from England to France, Japan, Canada and the United States following a clever group in a journey through the architecture of the mind. The history of their collaborations reads like a script for a feel good movie. It began with Memento, which premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2000. Insomnia was their second co-venture. Pfister subsequently earned three Oscar nominations in four years for Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. Pfister met Nolan in 1999 while they were both in the dawn of their careers. Pfister had shot The Hi-Line, which was in competition at Sundance. Nolan was at the neighbouring Slamdance Festival with Following, which was based on a short story authored by his brother Jonathan. Nolan wrote the script, directed and shot the film, but he wasn’t interested in becoming an auteur filmmaker. “When I saw The Hi-Line, I thought it was a beautifully executed film that was clearly produced with limited resources,” Nolan says. “I had to meet the guy who shot it.”
Memento
Around a year later, while Pfister was working on a film in Alabama, he received the script for Memento in the mail. After reading it, he caught a Sunday morning flight to Los Angeles to meet with Nolan. The rest is history. “Memento was a dark story about man who was losing his short term memory. He was determined to avenge his murdered wife,” Pfister says. “Chris brings a lot of soul to his work and that inspired me. We used colours, darkness and light to help set the tone as the story evolved, and shot about a quarter of the film in black and white.” He and Nolan referenced books featuring black and while pictures taken by Gordon Parks and other still photographers for inspiration. “There was a synergy that affected our ability to translate ideas into images,” Nolan says. “The sum of those images rather than individual shots told the story.” Insomnia was their next co-venture. Al Pacino played a New York City detective who came to Alaska with his partner to help solve a puzzling murder mystery. After accidently shooting and killing his partner, the detective tried to cover it up. The film was produced during the summer months when the sun set at midnight. Nolan and Pfister agreed on a natural look to help transport the audience to the land of the midnight sun, while using subtle nuances of light, darkness, contrast and colors to seamlessly augment the emotional tone and flow of the story.
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“Most people think of artful cinematography as a beautiful sunset or spectacular vista,” Pfister observes. “Chris and I agree that it should be more subtle. We told the production designer where we wanted the bed in the detective’s hotel room in relation to the window. There were times when we wanted to mask his face in shadows, and other times when we used artificial sunlight as a visual metaphor for the guilt he was feeling.” There is a scene where the detective is hiding in the bathroom when a few local policemen come to his hotel room looking for him. “I wasn’t going to tell Al Pacino how to do his job, but I was hoping he might embrace the light of the environment in his performance. I told him that the light I was bringing through the window was eight stops over-exposed,” Pfister says. “I said, when you’re in the shadows, you’ll be catching the ambient bounce. If you move forward, you’ll be in this nuclear, bright melting light. He knew exactly how to play it.” Their collaboration on Batman Begins began with a phone call from Nolan, who told Pfister he was going direct the film, and that Christian Bale was in the leading role. Nolan and Pfister delved deep into the history of the franchise, including popular radio shows, comic books and the five previous Batman movies produced since 1989.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
––––– Batman: the word “stealthy” was a key descriptor for Pfister’s work. ––––– The magnificent Memento: the start of a long-running relationship between Pfister and Nolan. ––––– Cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC (left) and director Christopher Nolan (right) on location in Hong Kong discuss a scene for The Dark Knight. (Photo by Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros). ––––– Cinematographer Wally Pfister, ASC on the set of The Dark Knight. (Photo by Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros). ––––– Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ sci-fi action film “Inception,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. (Photo by Melissa Moseley).
Batman
“Chris wanted to shoot Batman Begins without relying on visual effects or digital intermediate technologies,” Pfister says. “He wanted it to look and feel natural. Chris wanted Batman’s car and costume to be non-reflective, matteblack so they could be concealed in the shadows. He frequently used the word stealthy. “When we filmed Batman against a dark background or sky, sometimes we used a very small thin layer of smoke to help separate his matte black costume from the background,” Pfister says. “Other times, we used backlight or had city lights in the background. Bruce Wayne and Batman share the same soul, which is reflected by the light in their eyes. I found a comfortable way to light their eyes using a ring light at very low exposure. This gave me the eye light without adding too much fill.” The Prestige was based on a book about magic and human nature. The story opens in London in 1896 where two magicians are engaged in a friendly rivalry that becomes increasingly more intense with deadly consequences. The story takes place before the transition from lighting with candles and carbon arc lamps to electric bulbs. Despite the many dark night exterior and interior scenes, they decided to produce The Prestige in 35mm anamorphic format, frequently “pushing” Kodak Vision 2 5218 500T film one or two stops. They also filmed several action scenes in IMAX format.
IMAX
During an early meeting about The Dark Knight, their second Batman film, Nolan told Pfister that he wanted to produce the opening six-minute sequence, where the audience meets The Joker during a daring bank robbery, in IMAX format. An IMAX 65mm frame is ten times larger that a 35 mm anamorphic frame. The film was going to be released in both traditional 35mm and IMAX formats. DKP 70MM, an IMAX subsidiary,
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was brought onboard to provide guidance about use of the format, and also to provide postproduction services for the IMAX release prints. During preproduction they decided to film all big action sequences, aerial cinematography, car chases and physical effects scenes in IMAX format. That accounted for 38 of the 152-minute film. In an article that he wrote about The Dark Knight, New York Times journalist David Halbfinger quoted Pfister referring to his camera crew as, “My jazz ensemble… I played the guitar in a rock-and-roll band in high school. It is still one of my passions. When I look at a shot through a lens, I hear music in my mind. Films, like music, need a sense of rhythm that affects everything from composition to editing… I use the same parts of my brain to play a melody that I use to make a decision about how to pan or tilt the camera…it’s about a beat or a rhythm. It’s a collaborative effort with Chris, the actors, my crew and everyone else who is part of the team.”
Inception
Inception features Leonardo DiCaprio as the criminal who has mastered the science of invading people’s minds. After a while, he loses track of the difference between dreams and reality. “The film is based on an original story that Chris dreamed up 15 years ago,” Pfister says. “It’s fascinating imagining what the world looks and feels like in dreams.” They covered dramatic scenes in 35mm anamorphic format mainly with handheld cameras, action and visual effects sequences in 65mm format and aerial sequences were recorded in Vista Vision format. They also shot a number of sequences with Photosonics cameras in 65mm format at 1,000 frames per second. “Our collaborations and relationship have evolved in a phenomenal way,” Pfister says. “We enjoy a cinema verité style of shooting. Chris loves the freedom it gives him and the actors, and I love the look and the feeling.” Their collaborative spirit extends to the cast and crew. “We believe it’s important for cast and crew members to watch film dailies together and discuss how we are progressing,” Pfister says. Warner Bros. plans to release Inception in IMAX and 35mm formats in July, and British Cinematographer Magazine will feature an in-depth report about the production. Stay tuned.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Meet the New Wave –––Tim Wooster Cinematographer
Carry on. Filmography (so far): As DP on Exam, Beacon 77 and Trinity. 2nd Unit DP on Wanted, Solomon Kane, Cold Mountain, Shanghai, 1408, Babylon AD, Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow. Underwater DP on Harry Potter 4 & 6, The Count Of Monte Christo, The World Is Not Enough and Ondine.
––––– Brrr: Tim on a skidoo, somewhere cold. ––––– Crew: (l-r) Ang Richards (2nd AC), Sean Connor (operator), Tim Wooster (DP), James Ray (grip) Simon Heck (1st AC). ––––– DP: a shot from Exam ––––– Bubbles: at work underwater on Harry Potter ––––– Scorching: Tim hard at work, somewhere hot ––––– DP: another shot from Exam
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18 When did you discover you wanted to be a cinematographer? When I was 12, seeing my father (Arthur) travel all over the world filming, and obviously enjoying what he was doing, I thought, “That’s what I want to do!” Where did you train? First job was as a trainee on Lifeforce with the lovely Alan Hume BSC, followed by various films as camera trainee on the floor. Then I worked my way up through the grades. What are you favourite films? Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (DP Conrad Hall, dir. George Roy Hill) – my all-time favourite, shot by an all-time great. It’s a film that has it all. I especially love the opening B&W bank /gambling scene. Somebody Up There Loves Me (DP Joseph Ruttenberg, dir. Robert Wise) – again with Paul Newman. Das Boot (DP Jost Vocano, dir. Wolfgang Petersen) – great tension and realism in a story about a German U-Boat crew. Groundhog Day (DP John Bailey, dir. Harold Ramis) – a great comedy, a great concept and brilliantly done. What’s the best advice you were ever given, and from whom? “Treat every job as if it’s your last,” from my father. Who are your DP/industry heroes? Arthur Wooster BSC – he’s a great inspiration to me. If I can achieve half of what he has, I should do OK. Alan Hume BSC – living proof you can be incredibly successful and also be a genuinely nice guy. John Seale – for the way he shoots. He keeps things simple with minimum fuss and produces incredible results. Have you won any awards? Not as yet in the film industry. But I won the egg and spoon and three-legged races at school. What’s your proudest moment? Apart from the birth of my two beautiful daughters, I’m still waiting for it! What’s the worst knock-back/rejection you ever had? Sometimes whilst working on 2nd units, the main unit director in a crowded rushes viewing asks, “Why did you shoot it like that?” Sometimes it’s a fair question and answering it is not easy. Other times, we shot it exactly the way he asked us to, and then the answer is even more difficult. Tell us about your best and worst moments on set? Best moments are when you do good work and the director/producer commend you on your work. The worst are realising that you have forgotten a vital piece of equipment needed for the next shot. But, this usually only happens once. Tell us your most hilarious faux pas? Working on a film with Marlon Brando, as a focus puller. A series of mistakes culminated in shooting without the camera being laced up. We’ve all done that at some stage, haven’t we! He took it very well. Away from work, what are your greatest passions? Sport – mainly golf, cricket and tennis. What one piece of kit could you not live without? The silver board reflector cut up into all sizes and shapes – the best bounce board for subtle fill or back light. Which films are you most proud of to date? As a main unit DP it has to be Exam, a film I shot last year, which is enjoying cinematic release now. We shot it on a low budget, but despite that I think we produced something quite special. Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever shot? Shooting David Blaine in a hotel suite doing card tricks in front of ten totally naked models. The card tricks were so good even my focus puller Simon Heck was transfixed on the tricks, and not the women. What’s the hardest shot/thing you’ve had to light/frame? Following footballers at full speed on a 600/1000mm, keeping them in frame and pulling focus. In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would you love to have shot? Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid. What are your current top albums? I’ve just got into Jason Mraz, and have been catching up on Derek & Clive. What’s your greatest extravagance? The money I spend on The Sporting Life. What’s the best thing about being a DP? As I have come up through the grades, becoming a DP allows you to be really part of the creative process as opposed to being a technician. Oh, and the groupies! What’s the worst thing about being a DP? Nothing bad about being a DP. I just love it. Which three adjectives best describe you and your approach to cinematography? Imagination. Simplicity. Loyalty. If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing now? I would be a furniture maker – I love working with wood. What are your aspirations for the future? To carrying on learning, work with great directors and, in this climate, to keep shooting.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Shooting the Future –––BSC Show Preview
Get ready. Abakus.
Abakus has won awards for its high-quality lenses and optical systems for the TV/film industries, and specialises in very wide angle lenses. Look out for the new Abakus Super Hi-Vision designed for large audiences and outside broadcast, such as the 2012 London Olympics where events could be shown on outside screens in major cities with a resolution 16 times higher than standard HDTV. Super Hi-Vision has scanning lines of 7680 x 4320 pixels This new lens follows in the footsteps of the Abakus B4-mount lenses such as the Abakus-Stadium lens (picture-diagonal 210 degrees) and the Abakus-Arena (picture-diagonal 140 degrees). Abakus will also be showing small lenses suitable for pairing in 3D which fit 2/3” single-chip HD cameras, format converters and adapters, plus C-Mount zoom and prime lenses.
Airstar.
Airstar’s balloons have been used on The Duchess, Pride And Prejudice, Brideshead Revisited, The Queen, Mamma Mia!, Harry Potter, The Wolfman, Nowhere Boy, The Boat That Rocked – all shot either in heritage sites, rough terrain, around water or in forests, where normal lighting rigs were unsuitable. The company is flying examples of its rapidlydeployable Mini-cloud, Solarc 8.4K Hybrid combined HMI and tungsten elliptical balloons, plus Diamond and Tube lighting balloons with sodium lamps, which can also be used with Rosco colour filters or custom gels. Airstar is adding Sodium Vapour and Mercury Vapour to its products lines, with 2K, 4K and 8Ks available in sphere, ellipse, tube and diamond shapes. www.airstar.co.uk
ARRI.
ARRI will unveil a working prototype of its highly-anticipated Alexa, the first model in a new generation of 35mm-format digital cameras, which sports on-board recording and simple, integrated workflows, along with extraordinary sensor performance. ARRI Media is showing an ARRICam Studio fitted with a newly-refined 2-perf movement and ARRI’s new high-definition video assist unit, the HD-IVS. It will also display the 3D Stereo Tango, a mirror rig for 3D capture. On the digital side, the D-21 will be demonstrated with a Panasonic P2 HD recorder. In addition, a Canon 7D fitted with a PL mount will illustrate how digital SLRs can now utilise the same vast array of high-end lenses and accessories as 35mm film cameras. ARRI Lighting Rental is showing the M18, a compact relative of the award-winning ARRIMAX 18/12 - as well as the ARRISUN 18. ARRI’s versatile PAX LED panels will also be available to try out. www.arrimedia.com / www.arridigital.com
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Here are just some of the new products and service companies you’ll find at the BSC New Equipment Show 2010, at Elstree Studios on March 19-20, 2010, reflecting the ever-evolving world of film and digital production technology.
cmotion.
Celebrating eight years of developing and manufacturing arguably the world’s most ergonomic, modular and innovative lens and camera control solutions, cmotion will be talking about a “cvolution”. This hand unit can evolve from a simple wireless focus control system to a complete 3D lens and rig control package, with synchronized camera Start/Stop and digital offset capabilities. The built-in display gives a user-friendly menu control for changing motor direction and torque, synchronization for 3D and panoramic applications. cmotion has recently supplied systems for the Grammy’s, Oscars, We Are The World 2010 music video, and a live concert for the Dave Matthews Band. www.cmotion.eu
Cooke Optics.
Lens manufacturer Cooke will show not one, but two new sets of prime lenses – the Panchro/i and 5/i. There will be initially be nine lenses in the Cooke 5/i series: 18, 25, 32, 40, 50, 65, 75, 100 and 135mm – all T1.4 - T22. Each covers Super 35mm and they have a front diameter of 110mm. The 5/i lenses feature an “industry-first” – since these lenses will surely be used on locations at night, dark places or other dimly-lit sets, they feature built-in, dimmable lighting to illuminate the focus scale. There are six lenses in the Panchro/i set: 18, 25, 32, 50, 75 and 100 all T2.8 - T22 with a front diameter of 87mm for all lenses. www.cookeoptics.com
Elstree Studios.
Elstree Studios, which again hosts the BSC Show, is one of the most famous film and television studios in the world, where some of the most famous films and TV shows in the world have been produced. These include Star Wars and the Indiana Jones trilogies, Superman, The Dam Busters and Ice cold in Alex. Most recently Elstree hosted Matthew Vaughn with his productions Kick Ass, staring Nicholas Cage and Harry Brown staring Michael Caine. Currently running along side the George Lucas stage, occupied by the BSC Show, is one of ITV’s top TV shows, Dancing On Ice. “The BSC Show for us is one of the most important events held at Elstree Studios and also in the UK film industry,” said MD Roger Morris. “It is a trade show for people at the top of their profession showing the latest advances in cinematography and lighting technology. It is a chance for industry professionals to meet each other and to discuss some of these new products. It also gives Elstree an opportunity to show off the studios to the visitors. “Elstree has always been a centre of cinematography innovation. Infact, BAFTA-winner Joe Dunton was based at Elstree Studios for many years, and is a leading figure in the organising of the BSC event. We congratulate Joe on his BAFTA award and look forward to this year’s exhibition.” www.elstreestudios.co.uk
Fujifilm.
With the work of Barry Ackroyd BSC on The Hurt Locker and Green Zone exposing what you can do with its stocks, Fujifilm Motion Picture UK will be at the show to provide filmmakers with all the information they require on the full range of Fujifilm camera and post-production film products. This includes the new Eterna Vivid 500T colour negative film stock, a high-speed, high-saturation, highcontrast, fine-grain film stock, which offers sumptuous inky blacks and beautifully rendered skin tones. www.fujifilm.co.uk/motion
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Kodak.
Kodak will be trailing two new Vision3 filmstocks – one for your camera, one for your post house. The company will also share some exciting news on a collaboration between itself, Ascent142 and ARRI’s Relativity software, and showing the possibilities when shooting 2 and 3-perf, with examples from recent TV productions including Emma, Turn Of The Screw and Small Island. All this, along with the latest from Cinesite, Kodak’s London VFX division, and a chance to catch up with the Kodak team. www.kodak.com
Lights Camera Action.
LCA will be showing the latest in Briese lighting products, including a range of the larger reflectors, the 4kw HMI and the new Globe (Chinese Lantern). In addition it will have the latest Lite Panels products on display, including the 4x4 frame (16, 1x1s) and the 2x2 (4, 1x1s), plus the ever-popular Rosco Lite Pad Gaffer kits and the Big Softie, brand new 24” circular ringlite with a 118mm hole in the middle. Also on display will be Filmgears’s all-new 6w LED Pen, which is as thin as your finger, the 12w LED Pad and the 4ft four bank and 2ft four banks using LED lamps. www.lcauk.com
Lee Filters.
Lee Filters is showing its recently-launched Urban Effect filter range, and a new edition to the Flexi Frost range. Urban Effect filters allow you to create the look of sodium street lighting with either a tungsten or daylight source. These new colours have been specifically designed to recreate different types of urban lighting effects ranging from high and low-pressure sodium, to the general orange and mustard look associated with street lighting. The Urban range will give a dirty, gritty feel to existing light sources that has previously been difficult to achieve. Flexi Frost filters are durable and are made from a material that makes very little noise when handled, or used in windy conditions. They’re waterproof too, enabling them to be used outdoors, and can even be sewn or grommetted together for use on large frames. The new 439 Heavy Quiet Frost, a strong diffuser that is pliable to handle, virtually eliminates shadows at close distance. www.leefilters.com
Licth-Tecnik.
Renowned for its innovative and well-built products, German manufacturer Licht-Technik will showcase three main products. The LT SkyLight is a large light panel (12.5 x 5.1m) useful for such things as shooting cars. Each module is DMX-dimmable from 10% to 100%, plus switch off. The frame can be tilted with four roof motors. The company’s Bag-o-Light is an air filled bag, that can be put in front of a PAR light, making for a very soft and shadow-free light. It comes in a range of sizes from 2m to 28m, and is available for different lamp sizes from 2,5k to 18k MAX. The Click-and-Move is “click on” motor system for remote control of headlights. It has pan, tilt and focus, and an optional mechanical dimmer shutter. It can be controlled wirelessly too, within a range of 250m. www.licht-technik.com
Litepanels.
Litepanels’ Emmy-winning LED lighting is generally considered flattering and comfortable to work with, especially good for illuminating today’s HD images. Its products provides soft, directional illumination, plus 100%-0 dimming with minimal colour shift, and major savings on energy bills. The products are ultra-flat, modular 1x1s, and come in five models that offer variable colour and variable focus: MiniPlus, Micro, MicroPro, LED Ringlites and SeaSun underwater housing. www.litepanels.com
P+S Technik.
German manufacturer P+S Technik will demo what it calls “a milestone in 3D rig technology”, the Freestyle Rig. This brand new 3D mirror rig is designed to maximise creative choice for 3D camera movement. It uses the same carbon technology as used in F1 race cars to deliver a manageable combination of load capacity, stability, form, weight and balance. Integrated motors for stereo base and convergence adjustment can be wirelessly remotecontrolled. The rig can carry a wide range of professional lenses and cameras up to a 7 kg per camera set-up, and ergonomic mounting accessories allow steadicam, shoulder, crane and dolly use. The company’s high-speed, uncompressed Weisscam HS-2 is on Movietech’s stand. www.pstechnik.de
Panavision.
With 3D stereo uppermost in the mind, Pananvision will be highlighting its Panavised 3D Element Technica rig. The company has also been working on workflow issues for digital cinematography and will show its Digital Transfer Station for Genesis, which imports material from the SSR on-board recorder and converts to DPX for editorial. Expect to see new zoom lenses and additions to the G-series Anamorphic range. www.panavision.co.uk
New York Film Gear.
Inspite of its East Coast moniker, New York Film Gear is a London-based lighting, camera and grip supply company, and is taking the opportunity to announce the opening of a shop at Pinewood Studios. It is the UK dealer for Modern Studio Equipment, as well as Lanternlock, Hoodman and Cardellini. It is now handling all Moy products, including bazookas, ladderpods and track, along with many other film industry suppliers. So if you’re a camera assistant looking for a US Stanley tape measure, a Cardellini laser pointer, or a grip needing a fast and efficient car rig, or a gaffer looking for a sturdy quick method for mounting a paper lantern, drop by their stand. www.newyorkfilmgear.com
Panalux.
Members of Panalux’s rental and technical teams will be at the show, where the company’s equipment display centres around a fully-functioning installation of its Vizilink system. Vizilink allows precise, creative command over complete production installations from a single ‘base station’ or via a range of unique hand-held remote devices. It delivers real-time control of live effects and lighting sequences, and stores each performance in an internal memory allowing instant set-up and playback for multiple takes or re-shoots. This system has garnered largescale interest and been used on major productions shot in the last year. Panalux will also be showing some innovative LED systems and other low energy lighting solutions. www.panalux.biz
Vantage.
Anamorphic is always of interest to DPs, and Vantage will be showing is full range of Hawk lenses. These include the 65mm/T3 super close focus, 85mm/T2.2 and 150mm/T3 additions to its existing V-Plus range, the V-Lite 1.3x Squeeze lenses, which make it possible to use nearly the entire sensor area of a 16:9 digital camera and achieve the popular widescreen 1:2.40 release format, plus a quintet of V-Lite lenses for 16mm, and the new Vantage PSU-3 HD digital video assist system. www.vantagefilm.com
––––– cmotion: new cvolution handheld controller. ––––– New York Film Gear: handy US tape measure. ––––– Airstar: will be flying a range of balloon lights. ––––– Lee Filters: new Urban range gives a gritty look. ––––– Panalux: will demonstrate the virtues of its Vizilink desk. ––––– LCA: showed its Briese lighting to DPs in Berlin recently. ––––– ARRI: showing Alexa, the first model in a trio of digital camera systems. ––––– Licht-Technik: new LT SkyLight large panel and renowned Bag-o-Light. ––––– P+S Technik: new Freestyle Rig. ––––– P+S Technik: updated Weisscam HS-2 high-speed shooter, shown on Movietech’s stand.
Movietech.
After more than two years of development the complete Weisscam HS-2 product family is now shipping. The Weisscam HS-2 uncompressed digital, high-speed, standalone camera has a full-format Super35 CMOS sensor with a global shutter. The PL lens mount accepts 35mm lenses like Cooke S4s, but by using the Interchangeable Mount System (IMS) from P+S Technik you can attach nearly every lenses on the camera (PL Mount, Nikon F Mount, Panavision Mount, etc.). It can shoot up to 1500fps in 2K, 2000fps in 1080p, and up to 4000fps in 720p. Optional accessories are DM-2 DigiMag recording device, DBB DeBayerBox and HU-2 HandUnit, which controls the camera and image-processing. www.movietech.co.uk
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Your Guide –––BSC Show Exhibitors List & Event Map A.C. Entertainment Technologies Ltd CONTACT. Kirsteen Vaughan Centauri House Hillbottom Road High Wycombe Bucks HP12 4HQ 01494 446000 01494 461024 kirsteen.vaughan@ac-et.com Abakus CONTACT. Ken Pollitt Grange Farm Bourne Road Carlby Stamford PE9 4LU 01778 590117 01778 590118 ken@abakus.co.uk www.abakus.co.uk
ACS France Marie-Claire Bouscaud 54 Rue des Artistans - BP343 78 553 Buc Cedex France +33 (0)1 39 45 79 80 +33 (0)1 39 56 7989 accueil@aerial-france.fr
CONTACT.
Aimimage Ltd CONTACT. Mike Robinson Unit 5 St. Pancras Commercial Ctr 63 Pratt Street London NW1 OBY 0207 482 4340 0207 267 3972 miker@aimimage.com www.aimimage.com Airstar (UK) Ltd Victoria Stanway 13 Meadow View Crendon Industrial Park Long Crendon Bucks HP18 9EQ 01844 203640 01844 203649 film@airstar.co.uk www.airstar.co.uk
CONTACT.
Alpha Grip Ltd Eugene McDonagh The Matte Stage Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Bucks SLO ONH 01753 656 886 01753 656 959 eugene@alphagrip.co.uk www.alphagrip.co.uk
CONTACT.
Arri Lighting Rental CONTACT. Tommy Moran 4 Highbridge Oxford Road Uxbridge Middx UB8 1LX 01895 457200 01895 457201 tmoran@arrirental.com
ARRI Media Michelle Smith 3 Highbridge Oxford Road Uxbridge Middx UB8 1LX 01895 457100 01895 457101 m.smith@arrimedia.com
CONTACT.
British Cinematographer Mag Covering International Cinematography CONTACT. Alan Lowne Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom 01753 650101 01753 650111 alafilmUK@aol.com www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Cine Power International Ltd Diane Nyiry Magnolia Lake Mamhead Nr Exeter Devon EX6 8HG 01626 888433 01626 888435 diane@cinepower.com www.cinepower.com
CONTACT.
Cirro Lite (Europe) Ltd CONTACT. David Morphy 3 Barretts Green Road London NW10 7AE 020 8955 6700 020 8961 9343 d.morphy@cirrolite.com www.cirrolite.com
Cmotion Stephen Chappell 4 Milton Terrace Milborne St. Andrew Blandford Forum Dorset DT11 0LJ 07989 573087 stephen.chappell@cmotion.eu
CONTACT.
Cooke Optics Ltd Geoffrey Chappel 1 Cooke Close Thurmanston Leicester LE4 8PT 0116 2640700 0116 2640707 geoff@cookeoptics.com www.cookeoptics.com
CONTACT.
Fujifilm UK Jerry Deeney Fuji Film House 125 Finchley Road London NW3 6HY 0203 040 0404 0207 494 3425 jdeeney@fuji.co.uk www.fuji.co.uk
CONTACT.
GBCT Dee Edwards c/o Panavision Metropolitan Centre Bristol Road Greenford, Middlesex UB6 8GD United Kingdom 020 8813 1999 020 8813 2111 admin@gbct.org www.gbct.org
CONTACT.
iLab
Emma Devonshire 55 Poland Street London W1F 7NN 0207 287 9520 0207 287 9550 emma@ilabuk.co.uk
CONTACT.
K5600 Lighting CONTACT. Marc Galerne 475 Rue de Flins 78410 Bouafle France 00 33 13090 5600 00 33 1 3095 3607 mark@k5600lighting.com www.k5600lighting.com KGS Development SPRL Juan Garcia 13 rue de la faisanderie 7140 Morlanwelz Belgium + 32 487 290564 00 322 7060900 info@kgsd.eu
CONTACT.
Kodak Limited Julie Taylor-Butt Hemel One Boundary Way Hemel Hempstead Herts HP2 7YU 01442 846970 01442 846594 maryse.goater@kodak.com www.kodak.com
CONTACT.
LCA
Nick Shapley Unit 30, 8 Taunton Road Metropolitan Centre Greenford Middx 020 8575 8219 07771 662298 sales@lcauk.com www.lcauk.com
CONTACT.
Lee Filters Ltd Adrian Marsh Central Way Walworth Ind. Estate Andover, Hants SP10 5AN 01264 366245 01264 355058 amarsh@leefilters.com www.leefilters.com
CONTACT.
Licht Technik Bernie Grill Osterwaldstrasse 9-10 80805 Munich Germany 00 49 89 3605 280 020 49 89 3605 2830 bernie.grill@licht-technik.com www.licht-technik.com
CONTACT.
Mark Roberts Motion Control Ryan Fear Unit 4, Birches Ind Estate Imberhorne Lane East Grinstead West Sussex RH19 1XZ 01342 334700 01342 334701 ryan@mrmoco.com www.mrmoco.com
CONTACT.
MK-V Europe Ltd CONTACT. Rachael Ingram MediaCityUK The Pie Factory 101 Broadway Salford Manchester M50 2EQ 0161 850 0658 07908 014032 0161 850 0729 rachael@mk-v.com
Movietech Camera Rentals Ltd CONTACT. Andy Cooper Pinewood Studios Pinewood Road Iver Heath Bucks SL0 0NH 01753 650007 01753 650006 andy.cooper@movietech.co.uk www.movietech.co.uk Moy E.F. Lester Dunton Unit 3 184 St. Albans Road West Hatfield Herts AL10 OTF 01707 271007 01707 271220 joe@efmoy.com
CONTACT.
New York Film Gear CONTACT. Howard Davidson 10 Shalmar Road Acton London W3 9JD 07983 455050 howard@newyorkfilmgear.com www.newyorkfilmgear.com On Sight - Axis Films Tom Higham 14 Berners Street Studios Road Shepperton Middx TW17 OQD 020 7637 0888 01932 572246 tom@onsight.co.uk www.onsight.co.uk
CONTACT.
P+S Technik Matthias Brabetz Siemensstr. 12 85521 Ottobrunn Germany 49 89 4509 8230 49 89 4509 8240 matthias.brabetz@pstechnik.de www.pstechnik.de
CONTACT.
PAG Limited Steve Emmett 565 Kingston Road Raynes Park London SW20 8SA 020 8543 3131 020 8540 4116 steve@paguk.com
CONTACT.
Panalux Ian Sherborn 12 Waxlow Road London NW10 7NU 020 8233 7236 020 8233 7337 ian.sherborn@panalux.biz www.panalux.biz
CONTACT.
Panavision London Christian Malone The Metropolitan Centre Bristol Road Greenford Middx UB6 8GD 0208 839 7333 0208 839 7310 christian.malone@panavision.co.uk www.panavision.co.uk
CONTACT.
Pirate Michael Ganss Disraeli Road London Nw10 7AX 020 8930 5000 020 8930 5001 michael@pirate.co.uk www.pirate.co.uk
CONTACT.
Power Gems Patrick McGuane 15 Irlam Wharf Road Irlam Manchester M44 5PN 0161 776 7030 0161 776 7039 patrickmcguane@powergems.com www.powergems.com
CONTACT.
Prokit Mark Holmes 111 Power Road London W4 5PY 020 8995 4664 020 8995 4656 mark@prokit.co.uk www.prokit.co.uk
CONTACT.
Rosco David Lapham Blanchard Works Kangley Bridge Road Sydneham London SE26 5AQ 0208 659 2300 0208 659 3153 grantd@rosco-europe.com www.rosco-europe.com
CONTACT.
Solid Grip Systems Onno Perdjik Condensatorweg 30 1014 AX Amsterdam Netherlands 00 31 20 4282155 00 31 20 4282164 onno@solidgripsystems.eu www.solidgripsystems.eu
CONTACT.
Take 2 Films Tracey Pryor Unit 10, West Point Trading Est Alliance Road London W3 ORA 020 8992 2224 020 8992 2204 tracey@take2films.co.uk www.take2films.co.uk
CONTACT.
Tiffen Europe Ltd Robin Thwaites Unit 5, Avonbury Business Park Howes Lane Bicester OXON OX26 2UA 0870 100 1220 0186 932 1766 robin.thwaites@tiffen.com www.tiffen.com
CONTACT.
Vantage Film Gmbh Sylvia Goessner Altstrasse 9 92637 Weiden Germany 49 961 6349 6510 49 961 6349 6529 administration@vantagefilm.com www.vantagefilm.com
CONTACT.
Braziers Ryan Ronford Baker Oxhey Lane Watford Herts WD1 4RJ 0208 428 5941 0208 428 4743 jeff@ronfordbaker.co.uk www.ronfordbaker.co.uk
CONTACT.
Navigate –––Exhibition Floor Plan 2010 BCine38.indd 22
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Camera Creative –––Barry Ackroyd The Hurt Locker, Green Zone Sometimes the opportunity comes to get inside the head, and the heart, of a cinematographer. With the explosive The Hurt Locker grabbing headlines and awards galore, and Green Zone deploying at a cinemanear-you now, Ron Prince got the chance to find out what makes Barry Ackroyd BSC tick.
––––– Green Zone: (top and bottom this page) was Ackroyd’s second collaboration with director Paul Greengrass. ––––– Ackroyd: likes real stories that mix the personal and the political. Photo by Jonathan Olley/www.jonathanolley.com ––––– Hurt Locker: (top and bottom opposite) Ackroyd kept the camera at head height to heighten the audience’s feelings towards the characters. ––––– Lining up: director Kathryn Bigelow and DP Barry Ackroyd at work on location in Jordan.
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It was the world of sculpture that really changed everything for Barry Ackroyd. As a teenager growing up amongst the cotton mills of industrial Oldham, Lancashire, he was urged by his art teacher, rather than take a job in the factory, to attend the local college of art. The whole experience opened his eyes to new worlds of opportunity and fresh horizons. “I just loved it, fantastic. It gave me a completely different world to live in,” he says. “During the course of my studies I realised that whatever material sculpture is made from, it has to impress from all angles and in different lighting conditions. This is definitely something that has informed my approach to cinematography.” Another defining moment came as a student at the Fine Art Department of Portsmouth Polytechnic. “We got our hands on all sorts of film kit, like 16mm Éclair NPR cameras, Nagras and Steenbecks, and it was there that I picked up the camera. My first job was filming titles, just white Letraset on a blackboard for a third year student. I remember my heart pounding as the camera started to turn over. It’s that feeling I try to reproduce even today. I was lucky to have found something that really thrilled me. It still does. “The more I picked up the camera, the more I realised that all the qualities you want in a great sculpture – weight, shape, texture and intimacy – are the same qualities you want on film. Film has a texture, a patina, something that is tangible, that touches us. On every project, I want people to feel engrossed in the picture, it should have qualities that are tactile as well as visual.” Asked what type of films he’s attracted to, Ackroyd says, “I like a combination of the personal and the political. As a cinematographer you have to play to your own strengths, and that’s what you see in The Hurt Locker and Green Zone, all of my films really. I like to see inside the minds of characters, and to translate that to the frame in a realistic way. I think capturing the moment, capturing some form of realism, stems from my days in documentary, where you had to find the story. Ultimately, it means I’m probably not as right for some films as others.” Ackroyd has been the DP on some of the most influential and provocative British films, TV dramas and documentaries of the last 15 years, including Hillsborough (1996), the dramatisation of the 1989 football stadium tragedy, and Sunday (2002), the story of the infamous 1972 Bloody Sunday atrocity in Northern Ireland – both directed by Charles McDougall, and written by Jimmy McGovern. He worked with documentary filmmaker Nick Broomfield on The Leader, His Driver And The Driver’s Wife (1991), driving the AWB crazy while shooting with Eugene Terreblanche, leader of a white supremacist movement in pre-Apartheid South Africa, and Tacking Down Maggie (1994), when the pair went in fruitless search of an interview with the then PM Margaret Thatcher. He also shot Out Of Control (2002), the powerful drama about three teenage boys sent to a young offenders’ institution, and Love + Hate (2005) a hard-hitting story about interracial relationships, for director Dominic Savage, as well as Karen Adler’s Under The Skin. Ackroyd has collaborated with director Ken Loach no fewer that 12 times, and won the director/ cinematographer duo award at Camerimage in 2002, after the pair completed Sweet Sixteen, the tale of a Scottish teenager’s attempt to rescue himself and his mother from a life of poverty and crime. His other credits with Loach include The Wind That Shakes The Barley, Palme d’Or winner in 2006, for which Ackroyd also won the European cinematography award that year, and Ae Find Kiss, winner at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004. He has completed two films with Paul Greengrass – United 93 (2006) about one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed in Pennsylvania, and now Green Zone. The film was inspired by roving reporter Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s book Imperial Life In The Emarld City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone, recounting the American Army’s ordeals in Baghdad after the fall of Saddam. “I have worked with directors who make some very real films,” he says. “Directors find you as much as you find them. I have great admiration for them all, and they get the best out of you by knowing your strengths and getting you to run with it. That’s the best way to make a film – to let people do their work as best as they can.” Ackroyd shot The Hurt Locker, which follows an elite IED disposal squad in post-Saddam Iraq, his first collaboration with director Kathryn Bigelow, nearly three years ago on location in Jordan, but knew he would start on Green Zone almost immediately afterwards. Green Zone was filmed in Spain and Morocco, as well as locations in London, and at Longcross Studios in Surrey. When asked about how he treated two films which deal with similar subjects in war-torn Iraq, he responds, “I
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
The brutal truth is...
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was prepping for one with the other in the back of my mind. There is a continuum between the two films. Green Zone has some elements from The Hurt Locker, but still they are essentially very different films. Green Zone is more like a regular tale, a political thriller that has a beginning, middle and an end, whereas The Hurt Locker, is a series of episodes that each has a beginning, middle and an end. “I carry images, visual references, with me from my previous documentary work, and I build on these for the next project. I use styles and techniques, but they are never the same twice. It’s a cumulative progression. If there were any references, I’d say The Hurt Locker was informed to some extent by the immediacy of the imagery of real events, the things you see these days on the Internet and You Tube. It’s observational, but hyperreal, with mutiple points-of-view of dramatic events. I deliberately kept the camera with the characters at street level, to live with them and the adrenaline-fuelled situations they encounter. With Green Zone I see it now as a Western, with the good guy battling for justice against the odds over WMDs. As a 90-minute feature, it’s very tight, fast and has some hectic storytelling. I made the action scenes as frantic as I possibly could, in true Greengrass tradition, with lots of handheld camera, tracking shots and running over ground.” With a modest £11m budget for The Hurt Locker, Ackroyd chose S16mm Aaton XTRs, cameras, four in total, supplied by ICE Films in London. “It’s a documentary-style camera that I am very familiar with. The great thing about S16 mm is you can put a fantastic range of lenses on the camera. My main lens of choice was a Canon 11.5-165 mm T2.7 zoom that let me crash into huge close-ups or go wide, whilst doing handheld work.”
For Green Zone, which had a much larger budget and was shot on 35mm, he selected ARRICAM Lite (LT) s and ARRIFLEX 2Cs, as part of a camera and lighting package from ARRI. In keeping with the notion of continuum, he opted for the equivalent zoom for 35mm, an Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm. “It’s a phenomenal lens, but it’s 11 kilos in weight. The approach was the same as with the S16mm on The Hurt Locker, but then the challenge is to give the camera the same freedom.” Ackroyd likes to operate himself. “I like to get into the place where the film is really happening. Operating helps me to light, to picture the edits and the story, to see the coverage and the quality of what’s being captured. Also, I am always looking for the thing that’s not in the script, but will be good for the story, to throw in a trick and create moments that transcend the original idea.” Although neither of the films was shot in Iraq, Ackroyd believes the natural light of the temperate Mediterranean zone helped in creating the immediate look and feel. As did the film stock. Both The Hurt Locker and Green Zone were shot using a combination of Fuji 250 daylight, and 500 Tungsten and Daylight stocks, pushed on occasion by as many as four stops to give a texture that heightens the tension and realism. “I have been to the Middle East a lot on documentaries, I know what the light is like, the way people move, and how to capture that on film. I have liked Fuji stocks for quite some time, and they make interesting changes and evolutions to the look of their films,” he explains. “Kodak seems to me to be more realistic, but Fuji has a slightly non-realistic thing about it. The black is strong and sharp, and this can make it feel more like a painting, where the objects seem as though they have been outlined. I am very used to shooting with Fuji stocks, and can put my eye to the camera and know what to expose and with the result will be on the negative. Obviously you can achieve this through a DI of course, when you have the time and money.” Ackroyd graded both The Hurt Locker and Green Zone with Rob Pizzey at Ascent 142 in London. “DI is now a familiar subject, more affordable, and a great tool. These films would be very different without that grade,” he adds. Asked about his recent glut of nominations and wins on the awards circuit (he won at the ES and BAFTA awards, and was ASC and Oscar-nominated for The Hurt Locker), his gracious reply is, “Whether I win or not does not matter. I feel like a winner anyway. The film has had lots of attention and publicity, and more people will be aware of my work now. “But ultimately filmmaking is about collective skills – the director, the actors, the DP and all other departments like design, construction, costume, make-up and sound – all collaborating into making the moment happen.” When asked about recent films that he finds inspiring, this realist with a penchant for French verité responds, “I am constantly in awe of talented cinematographers. I loved Stéphane Fontaine’s cinematography on Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet. You can see in his work that the best cinematography is the servant of the film.”
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Close Up –––DP Dariusz Wolski ASC Alice In Wonderland
––––– All Alice in Wonderland images courtesy of Disney Enterprises Inc. All rights reserved.
Visionary director Tim Burton took director of photography Dariusz Wolski ASC and his team down the rabbit hole to create 3D fantasy. Inspired by the Lewis Carroll stories Alice In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass, the Disney release combines live action and animation, including live action actors, in some cases augmented by visual effects, and CG characters in CG environments. For Warsaw-born Wolski, an Oscar nominee for Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide, and whose credits include Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean films, this is his second collaboration with Burton, the first being Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Burton also assembled many of his longtime collaborators, including editor Chris Lebenzon, ACE, costume designer Colleen Atwood, and composer Danny Elfman. The film stars Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar and Mia Wasikowska as Alice. It also features Matt Lucas as Tweedledee/Tweedledum. Opening and closing sequences of the feature were shot on film on location in England. For the middle, taking place in the fantasy world of Wonderland, the actors were shot in front of a greenscreen at Culver Studios in Los Angeles, and the magical environments were conceptualised and then created in the computer. Greenscreen work was lensed digitally, with a combination of the Panavision Genesis, shooting 2K; and Dalsa Origin, shooting 4K. All imagery was captured using Codex recorders. Alice in Wonderland was given the 3D treatment in postproduction, an alternative approach to shooting with 3D camera rigs. Disney’s G-Force is another example of a movie that went 3D as a post process this past year. Explained Wolski of the decision to take that route: “I did extensive tests with 3D, and we found it extremely cumbersome and not reliable. When we saw the test of 3D being done in post, I didn’t see a reason to extend our production schedule (in order to use 3D camera rigs).” With that decision made, it was time to get creative. “It doesn’t pretend to be a realistic film,” Wolski said. “It is a world of its own. It has an interesting combination of being realistic to one extent and ‘cartoony’ to another extent.” As an example of the approach to lighting, Wolski cited a scene when Alice is meeting the Cheshire Cat for the first time. “It is a night scene in the forest with the moonlight going through the trees,” he said. “I tried to create as much of that with shadows, tree branch shadows in her face. The Cheshire Cat appears in different places with stronger shadows. It is very smokey and moonlit.”
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As well, there are different looks and colour schemes for each character. “The Red Queen’s castle was red, gold, very colourful, while the White Queen has white hair and a white dress,” he relates. “When Alice is at the White Queen’s castle, every shot is in a very high key. Everything is super-bright, super-soft and glowing. “You create certain looks that are eventually going to be repeated digitally,” he said of the greenscreen work. “But your control over what is happening later on is limited. It is such a complex process and there are so may people working on it.” As to the resolutions, the Dalsa was used when blow-ups were needed of the characters and the extra 4K resolution was therefore required. Pointing out that the character Alice grows and shrinks during the course of the movie, Wolski explained: “Using 4K we had so much resolution that you could make her a little bit bigger. Another reason to use 4K was for the Red Queen, whose head was enlarged maybe 75%. That’s when we used Dalsa.” Los Angeles’ Sony Pictures Imageworks, no stranger to stereoscopic 3D work with credits including G-Force, Beowulf and The Polar Express, was the lead visual effects house on the film. Imageworks also did much of the 2D-to3D conversion, by creating a virtual second eye. Additional firms including In-Three, Legend and Sassoon Film Design contributed with their 2D-to-3D conversion processes. “We wanted to take the 3D to a different level,” said Imageworks’ Ken Ralston, who served as senior VFX supervisor on the movie. “Tim wanted to play with it and have fun with the audience. Also, it gave us a more creative way to place characters into the environment so you could stress the loneliness of a scene or how claustrophobic an area might be.” Noting that the production schedule was tight, Ralston said: “We had to move very fast and still give Dariusz enough time to shoot. To assist him, we also had 3D models on set of each environment, so you could see a miniature of the set right there in 3D. It gave everyone a good idea of the shapes and the sculptural quality— where he might want to light from. “Dariusz was great,” Ralston added. “ This was such a giant effects-heavy film. I think a lot of DPs might be intimidated by it. But he is a very inventive guy.” Noting that during the course of the movie, Alice ranges in size from 6-inches to 20-feet tall as she moves within the CG environment, Ralston commented: “The nature of the project is so strange… 3D is a wonderful way to put her in a fanciful space. It really feels like she is in there. I found that on the creative side, 3D was a terrific tool.” As for Wolski’s perspective on 3D production, the cinematographer related: “For this particular film, 3D is great. But I don’t think it’s for the future. I think conventional cinema still has so much to offer visually. If people see a lot of it, it’s going to become a gimmick. Because this is Alice in Wonderland, and the characters are different sizes and in a very strange environment, the 3D adds to it. It is just one way of making a film.”
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Close Up –––Andrew Dunn BSC Precious
In all work there is a kind of comfort-zone attitude, staying with what one knows. A few, however, strive to break out of this, something Andrew Dunn BSC has done consistently in his career. He continued the trend with his latest film, Precious, a quintessentially American story of inner-city privation. This might sound an odd choice for a reserved English cinematographer, but Dunn has captured the grittiness of contemporary New York life, interspersing it with moments of fantasy, to help create a critically-acclaimed film. In his review of Precious The Observer’s film critic Philip French praised Dunn’s “excellent cinematography”, which he wrote was “mostly raw but on occasion appropriately romantic”. Dunn says the story, adapted from the gruelling but admired novel Push by Sapphire (American poet Ramona Lofton), features references to other films, giving him the chance to play with different looks. “It was great for me to be able to work with a range of styles within the one picture,” he says. Over the years Dunn has photographed many films in a variety of genres, each with a specific look. These range from Threads, Tumbledown, Edge Of Darkness and Life Story, during his days as a BBC staffer, to The Bodyguard, LA Story, Gosford Park, Mrs Henderson Presents and Hitch. What links all these, Dunn says, is the focus on people and stories. “I’ve been lucky enough to get involved with all sorts of films,” he comments, “but they’ve usually been more about the story itself and less about entertainment. That’s been good because it’s given me a huge range of work.” Precious certainly fits in with Dunn’s other films in this respect. A storyline about an illiterate, obese teenager expecting her second child by her abusive father trying to change her life, does not sound conventionally entertaining, but it has been critically welcomed for being well-made and acted, with a cast including stand-up comedian Mo’Nique, singer Lenny Kravitz, an almost unrecognisable Mariah Carey, with newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the title role. Dunn liked the script but nearly missed the chance to work on the film. Director Lee Daniels, who produced Monster’s Ball and directed the 2005 thriller Shadowboxer, was familiar with Dunn’s work and wanted him to shoot Precious. Dunn wasn’t available when the shoot was first arranged back in 2007, but he got a second chance after the production was put back. He arrived in New York to begin shooting with just three days prep. Precious was shot around the Brooklyn, Harlem and West Side districts of New York City on 3-perf 35mm using Arriflex Studios and LTs. Dunn used a mixture of Fuji 500T and 250D stocks to achieve different textures, from the grimy realism of the streets to Precious’ flights of fantasy. “The two cut together well,” Dunn observes.
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Daniels encouraged Dunn to experiment with different styles, including lighting scenes in which Precious meets kind characters in a warmer way, contrasting with the greyer look of her everyday life, to recreating the Italian neo-realistic look as she and her mother watch a Sophia Loren film. Handheld is a feature of the film, along with longer lenses - a mix of Angenieux, Optimas and Cooke S4s - to give a more observational experience than being right in with the action. Dunn shoots in the US on a regular basis and has formed working relationships with local crews in New York, although none of these was available for Precious. “I had to get a new crew for this film,” he explains, “but I get a kick out of going somewhere and working with people, learning from new collaborators and experiences.” This has certainly been the case with directors, both in the US and the UK, but Dunn wanted to work in different countries on his own terms. “I didn’t want to be one of those British cinematographers who go to America and work only with British directors there,” he says. “I made a conscious effort to work with American directors, as well as with them in Britain.” Dunn’s impressive list of collaborators includes Americans Andy Tennant (Hitch, Sweet Home Alabama in the US) and Robert Altman (The Company in Chicago and Gosford Park in Buckinghamshire, Middlesex and at Shepperton Studios), Brit Mick Jackson (in the UK with Life Story and over in the States for LA Story and The Bodyguard) and Australian Chris Noonan in Britain with Miss Potter. New Zealander Martin Campbell was a significant early creative partner for Dunn; the two worked together on the BBC’s seminal 1985 conspiracy thriller serial Edge Of Darkness. By coincidence Precious was released in the UK the same week as the big screen version of Edge Of Darkness, which was also directed by Campbell, but shot by his regular DP Phil Méheux BSC. The original series, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, and staring Bob Peck and Joe Don Baker, is regarded as among the finest ever TV dramas ever made. The moody, fluid camera work adds to the atmosphere of sadness and paranoia; Dunn himself considers Edge Of Darkness as amongst the best things he has worked on. “It’s something that you hope for, when everything just comes together at the right time,” he comments. “If we had made it a year before or a year later it might not have been so good.” The longevity and influence of Edge Of Darkness was brought home to Dunn when he was in the US making Precious and visited a video store in Portland. There on the shelf was a copy of the serial. “It’s very special,” he says, “one of those productions that lives on.” Andrew Dunn has similar hopes for Precious and is already in discussions with Lee Daniels for his next project, a film about the civil rights marches in Selma, Alabama during the 1960s. From Martin Luther King to conspiracies to whimsical romantic comedies to the mean streets of New York, Andrew Dunn doesn’t seem as though he’s going to be pigeonholed just yet. Close Ups were researched and written by Ron Prince, Carolyn Giardina and Kevin Hilton
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Close Up –––DP Attila Szalay The Pillars of the Earth
“Building the monumental television event of 2010”, is the tagline for The Pillars Of The Earth, the eight one-hour 12th century series, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Ken Follett. The German-Canadian co-production, spearheaded by Munich-based Tandem Communications and Montreal-based Muse Entertainment, in association with Ridley Scott’s Scott-Free Films, is set to hit TV screens during the second half of 2010. Starring Ian McShane, Donald Sutherland, Rufus Sewell and Matthew Macfadyen, the series is set against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart. During the course of the story spanning 70 years, a magnificent cathedral is being built in the fictional town of Kingsbridge. Against this backdrop, love-stories and intrigues entwine between master builders, noblewomen and sadistic lords. The job of lensing this passionate age of political turmoil, and wretched filth, fell to Attila Szalay CSC, HSC, whose extensive credits for high-quality TV series and movies include The Outer Limits, The X-Files, Smallville, Peacemakers, Touching Evil, To Love And Die and Touch The Top Of The World. Most recently he completed the miniseries Iron Road, for which he won a Leo Award for best cinematography. Szalay, who lives in Vancouver, was born in Budapest, but immigrated with his parents to England in 1967, before the family settled in Canada a year later. The Pillars Of The Earth took him back to shoot in Hungary for 100 days of the 112-day schedule, the rest being in Austria, and threw up a number of revelations. Szalay first became aware of the project whilst shooting Iron Road, about US Chinese railroad workers, in 2007. His hat remained in the contenders’ ring as various DPs became attached and unattached to the project.
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“I eventually had a three-hour meeting with the director Sergio Mimica-Gezzan,” says Szalay. “He had seen my reel, and liked the way I change my style like a chameleon between different projects. This production was interesting as we considered how people could read by candlelight, or work in a quarry with nothing but torches, and how we would keep the interest across the eight-hour series. Moonlight, firelight and sunlight were the only sources of light then and dominated our approach towards the look. Unlike The Tudors, which has a very rich and saturated look, we were going to get down in the dirt letting the natural colours of the sets and costumes come through in an organic way.” Szalay and the director spent weeks locationscouting in Hungary and Austria during April 2009, and the six-month production got underway at the end of May. Speaking about his director, Szalay commented, “Sergio is an amazing artist with a photographic memory. We were able to complete 5, 300 set-ups in the 112 days – over 50 shots a day. He somehow managed to keep all of this organized in his head.” In preparation for the look, Szalay says they watched a lot of movies based in medieval times. “We wanted to create a real feeling of living, working, loving and fighting in that period, not to mention the dirty conditions people lived in. Amongst the half a dozen films we honed in on was La Reine Margot, beautifully shot by Philippe Rousellot. We really like the way he captured that period, the sets and costumes, nicely colourful, but not oversaturated.” The production picked a site in Ocsa, around 45 minutes outside of Budapest, where a massive field allowed the cathedral and priory sets to be built, and provided 360-degree lines of sight. Other locations included a 700year old church nearby, and the blocks of medieval sets at Mafilm Studios in Fot, used by the BBC’s Robin Hood production. The interior sets were built at Astra Studios. Due to technical issues with Szalay’s first-choice camera during initial shoots involving torchlight, the production switched to a trio of Sony F35 cameras, two for A and B, the other for second unit. “The F35s had an ASA 500 rating, which meant we could push the exposures by 3db, without adding any grain artefacts, and we were going to do a lot of that,” he says. With international sales in mind, 1.78:1 (16:9) was chosen as the production format. To help attain a filmic look, Szalay’s lens choices included spherical Zeiss Super speeds, which he could open to T1.3 as needed, along with Cooke 5.1 zooms. The lighting and grip package was provided by Sparks in Budapest, of whom Szalay commented, “I first worked with them 17 years ago when they were a fledgling company, on Mrs ‘Arris Goes To Paris. I was amazed to see how far they have come. Their gear was in tip-top shape.” Another of the great revelations for Szalay was the collaboration with local DI post house Colorfront. The initial plan was to have DVD dailies provided by Technicolor Montreal, but waiting two or three days for the turnaround was not convenient, so Szalay went to explore Colorfront. “I almost fell over when the Jaszberenyi Bothers showed me around their ultra-modern facility in Budapest,” he says. “I was absolutely amazed by the advanced services they offer. It made me proud to be Hungarian. “Working with raw HD footage is notoriously difficult for the cinematographer in terms of judging the look, and making sure your instructions get passed down the line to the DI. I wanted to create LUTs that we could pick and choose between on set, giving the director, producers, myself and the editors a idea of how the picture would look in final grading. We shot side-by-side 35mm and F35 tests on a range of day and night exteriors. Colorfront created a series of LUTs to match how Kodak Vision 3 stock looked like under those lighting conditions It was amazing how they made the F35 look just like film when we screened the results in one of their theatres.” However, the collaboration had a deeper impact. Colorfont provided an on-set colourist, Benedek Kaban, who for the first two weeks of photography, created a series of LUTs for the various shooting scenarios, such a moonlight, firelight, etc. “I ended up with a dozen LUTs that I could apply non-destructively to the footage on set and watch on the Cinetal monitors in the video village. I would watch a scene with the director and choose the look, a template, that we felt appropriate for that scene. The great thing was that Colorfront also managed the transfer the LUTs to Technicolor in Montreal for the final DI. This meant we were already 90% there when it came to the final grade, and I only needed supervise the DI for a week.” “I love keeping up with these sorts of technical advances,” he adds. “It’s very creative and efficient way for cinematographers to work with HD, and the creative possibilities are endless.”
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Letter From America –––Michael Goi ASC ASC President
From America with love. Michael Goi ASC underlines how collaboration between the crafts is, and always has been, at the heart of visual storytelling.
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Isn’t it great to be sixty? When you’ve passed that fifty hurdle, suddenly you don’t have to be concerned about whether you have what it takes to be in it for the long haul. You’re there. And every decade that passes only adds to the esteem that the industry already has for you. You can just kick up your feet and soak in the sunshine, and bask in the glory of sixty great years as a respected artistic entity within the business. Ah, if that were only true. As I am finding with my tenure as President of the ASC, the more years that the society accumulates, the more it is looked to for guidance in an industry that is driven to reinvent itself on a continual basis. The weight of the responsibility we both share, as the two oldest cinematographic organisations in the world, is really quite daunting if we would stop and consider it for a moment. We have very much the same goals. In many ways the ASC and BSC are sibling organisations, bound together by the desire to explore the creative aspects of our craft, and to define and refine the tools we use in the pursuit of visual excellence. It’s a sign of great esteem to be a member of our respective organisations, because the world knows how tough it is to be accepted as a member. Along with that membership, and those three letters, we all take on the responsibility to do what needs to be done to preserve and promote our craft. And where is the craft of cinematography going? With the advent of more sophisticated virtual production capabilities, where does the knowledge of how to evoke mood and tell stories in a visual manner take our profession? I think the answers are in the elements that have comprised our job from the very beginning. A visual story requires artists who are versed in the subtleties that affect human emotion. These artists are not mere button-pushers (and in fact, may best leave the actual pushing of buttons to someone else) but visionary minds who see the world differently. That they do so with impeccable taste, and an almost uncanny ability to do exactly the right thing at the right moment, is what makes them great.
A CGI artist recently told me about a large-scale production he worked on which used a great deal of computer generated material and proportionally less “live” filmed footage. Eager to please his producers, and to make an impact in this rapidly growing field, he undertook to incorporate into his computergenerated images the “look” he thought the movie should have, based on his interpretation of the script. He built-in dazzling camera moves and eye-popping colour effects. He created whip-pans to emphasise the rapid fire line delivery of the voice actors. And, he used his arsenal of computer effects to create incredible lighting that was more perfect than could ever have been achieved in real life. He created all this as a blueprint for the rest of production to follow; the cinematographer, the art director, the editor; everyone was to make their work match his. As the pre-production went forward, and personnel in the various crafts were brought on board, the CGI artist was continually confronted with opinions that differed considerably from his own. The cinematographer did not like the steely blue patina of the overall look, because he intended to light the live-action sequences with a chocolate filter in order that the brown tones could serve as an extension of the character’s past. The dazzling camera moves were swept away in favour of a simple composition that kept the two lead characters in the same frame so that the human quality of their interaction would be retained. And the perfect lighting was altered to be less perfect; in that subtle alteration, it somehow became more human. All through this process, the CGI artist made updates to his work to reflect the opinions of the other experienced craftspeople the production had brought on board. And what he found was a revelation; that the collective input of artists who were the best at what they did translated through him into the new medium in a way that made all the work better. He found that his own contributions were better because he was working with the best, and they continually challenged his expectations with their own original artistic vision. And the resulting movie was the best culmination of all these disciplines. Visual storytelling is a collaborative art. It always has been. Only the tools are changing. As we at the ASC and BSC move forward through this brave new world, it is our voice that a beleaguered and confused industry will need to hear. And it is our unflappable, unerring knack for doing what is instinctively right for the material that will be needed. It is our responsibility, one that we took on when our respective founders sat down and scribbled the beginnings of our charter on a piece of paper. Let the others panic; we know what we have to do. As you look back with deserved pride at the last sixty years, consider the artistic and technological hurdles your members had to overcome in the quest to do the best job they could. I have many personal favorite “BSC moments”: Freddie Young’s amazing lighting for the secret volcano rocket base in You Only Live Twice; Oswald Morris’ moody, overcast skies blanketing the back alleys of London in Oliver!; Wilkie Cooper’s great photography on just about every one of my favorite Ray Harryhausen films, and on and on. Their accomplishments, and the continuing accomplishments of your current membership, are an indelible contribution to the history of our art form, and any art form that it may evolve into. Congratulations on your 60th Anniversary, BSC. And don’t worry. The next thirty years are a walk in the park. Michael Goi ASC
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
F-Stop Hollywood –––The latest news from the West Coast
Awards season in Hollywood. At press time, The Hurt Locker was the frontrunner to win the Academy Award for best picture on Oscar night, following a busy awards season, writes Carolyn Giardina.
––––– Triumph: Christian Berger with his ASC trophy. (Photo by Phil McCarten). ––––– Greatest x 2: Chris Menges collects his ASC gong from Tim Roth. (Photo by Phil McCarten).
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Prior to the Oscar ceremony, Christian Berger, AAC earned the American Society of Cinematographers trophy in features for The White Ribbon, during the 24th Annual ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards. The range of work in the ASC feature competition included the photography of nominees Barry Ackroyd BSC for The Hurt Locker, Mauro Fiore ASC for Avatar, Robert Richardson ASC for Inglourious Basterds and Dion Beebe ASC ACS for Nine. Calling his film “modern black and white,” Berger commented that the nominees showed “what is photography today in cinema – or what will be the future.” In the television competitions, Alar Kivilo ASC CSC won the trophy for TV movie/miniseries for Taking Chance, and Eagle Egilsson, a native of Iceland, won the episodic category for Dark Blue. Before 1,500 guests, Chris Menges BSC ASC received a standing ovation and the ASC International Award. Said presenter Tim Roth: “Roger Deakins – no slouch to the camera himself – has called Chris the greatest living cinematographer. And I’m certainly not going to argue with the man.” Menges looked to the future and said that upcoming cinematographers “are in for a hell of a ride.” The Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on Caleb Deschanel, who shared his passion for shooting film and perspective on digital options. “I really don’t care about these comparison tests that show us that one system is better than the other because that is not the argument,” he said. “Digital just lacks the mystery, the loss of the adventure and surprise in how all that light and chemistry comes together not in an instant but over time. When film goes through the camera is a promise, it is an idea, and because you don’t see it right away, you think of it as a dream. It is not logical, but it is infused with all sorts of emotion that will show up on screen after a little journey to the lab. All that chemistry and light, and all that you and your crew and the actors and director do will be projected on a screen. And it will surprise and amaze you, but never be exactly what you though it would be.”
Also that evening, Sol Negrin ASC received the organisation’s Presidents Award, John C. Flinn III ASC was presented the Career Achievement in Television Award, and Morgan Freeman was honoured with the ASC Board of Governors Award. ASC president Michael Goi took a moment during the ceremony to congratulate the BSC on its 60th anniversary. Goi also presented Larry Parker, head of Hollywoodbased lighting company Mole-Richardson, an honourary ASC membership. Parker said: “What a way to celebrate your 50th year in the business.” The ASC also presented its 2010 Heritage (student) Awards, which this year was dedicated to the memory of Panavision co-founder Richard Moore ASC.
SciTech Awards Salute DI Developments
Tools that enable the DI process received the majority of the awards handed out at this year’s AMPAS Scientific and Technical Awards presentation. This included four awards that went to UK-manufacturer Filmlight products. “Ten years ago, the technology began being accessible so that we could consider doing a complete feature,” said honouree and Filmlight co-founder Wolfgang Lempp, of the DI process. “This gave us a new range of creative possibilities – things that were difficult to do without digital technologies.” Recipients of Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaque) included: Per Christensen, Michael Bunnell and Christophe Hery for the development of point-based rendering for indirect illumination and ambient occlusion; Dr. Richard Kirk for Truelight; Volker Massmann, Markus Hasenzahl, Dr. Klaus Anderle and Andreas Loew for the Spirit; Michael Cieslinski, Dr. Reimar Lenz and Bernd Brauner for the Arriscan; Wolfgang Lempp, Theo Brown, Tony Sedivy and Dr. John Quartel for the Northlight; Steve Chapman, Martin Tlaskal, Darrin Smart and Dr. James Logie for the Baselight; Mark Jaszberenyi, Gyula Priskin and Tamas Perlaki, now based at the Budapest post production facility Colorfront, for the development of Lustre; Brad Walker, D. Scott Dewald, Bill Werner and Greg Pettitt for TI DLP Projector technology; Fujifilm Corp., Ryoji Nishimura, Masaaki Miki and Youichi Hosoya for Fujicolor ETERNA-RDI digital intermediate film; and Paul Debevec, Tim Hawkins, John Monos and Mark Sagar for the Light Stage capture devices and the image-based facial rendering system. Technical Achievement Awards, an Academy Certificate, were handed out to Mark Wolforth and Tony Sedivy for Truelight: to Dr. Klaus Anderle, Christian Baeker and Frank Billasch for the LUTher; to Steve Sullivan, Kevin Wooley, Brett Allen and Colin Davidson for the Imocap on-set performance capture system; to Hayden Landis, Ken McGaugh and Hilmar Koch for advancing the technique of ambient occlusion rendering for CG lighting; and to Bjorn Heden for the Heden Lens Motors.
Editors Turn it Up to 11
At the 60th Annual American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards, the editors of The Hurt Locker won the award for dramatic feature, The Hangover earned the comedy award, and Up topped the animated film competition. Christopher Guest presented Rob Reiner the ACE Golden Eddie Filmmaker of the Year. Reiner added that the pair has “a friendship that goes way past eleven.” ACE also honoured Avid and its Media Composer with the organisation’s technical excellence award. “We would not have been able to make Media Composer the tool it is today without the countless hours you have spent helping us to make it better,” Avid CEO Gary Greenfield told the editors. In the feature competitions of the Art Directors Guild’s Excellence in Production Design Awards, Avatar (fantasy film), The Hurt Locker (contemporary film) and Sherlock Holmes (period film) all earned kudos. During the ceremony, British production designer Terence Marsh, who earned Academy Awards for Oliver! and Doctor Zhivago, received the ADG Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tech in Palm Springs
Some hotly anticipated 3D camera technologies were previewed at the recent Hollywood Post Alliance Technology Retreat In Palm Springs. That included Panasonic’s two-lens 3D HD camcorder, expected to ship in September for $21,000 (roughly 13,500 GBP), as well as a working prototype of the ARRI “Alexa” camera. There will be three models of the ARRI 35-mm format digital cameras: EV (electronic viewfinder), priced at €50,000. EV+, listing around €60,000; and OV (optical viewfinder), for €130,000. The ARRI and Panasonic camera systems will be prominent at next month’s NAB conference in Las Vegas.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
IMAGO –––Nigel Walters BSC President of IMAGO
Creative boost forward.
Awards Boost For S16mm.
––––– The legendary Gyorgy Illes ––––– Elles presidentes – Caroline Champetier AFC and Sue Gibson BSC. ––––– Emil Novak HSC Chairman of the 20th Anniversary Organising Committee. ––––– Nigel Walters BSC, IMAGO president with and Lajos Koltai HSC, cinematographer to Istvan Szabo, now directing.
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The acceptability of Super 16mm film for the big screen has received huge a boost from the various Oscar and BAFTA nominations and wins for The Hurt Locker, filmed by Barry Ackroyd BSC and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Along with this exposure, excerpts from this film were recently shown to an impressed audience at the AFC’s Micro Salon in Paris. This S16mm film follows on from last year’s Oscars success for The Wrestler, shot by Paris-born Maryse Alberti, which secured two nominations eventually winning the Oscar Best Actor for Mickey Rourke. The cinematographers, on two of the finest action dramas for several years, chose Super 16mm as the best tool to do the job with the support of the production team. When asked if he had any difficulty convincing his director that the best format for shooting The Hurt Locker was S16mm, Barry recalls referring Kathryn Bigelow to another of his films, also shot on Super 16mm, but using Arriflex 416’s, The Battle In Seattle. The cost saving was not an issue but the flexibility and lightness of carrying the Aaton XTR cameras with zoom lenses around the Jordanian desert for The Hurt Locker became a deciding factor. The alternative was a 35mm camera with a zoom lens which was alone kilos heavier than the lighter weight Cooke lenses he was using. “Kathryn had never directed a film shot on S16mm, but had complete confidence in my judgement that it was the finest tool for the job,” said Barry.” She is an amazing director, a delight to work with; we connected very well. Women directors somehow are able get the best out of crews.”
He went on to describe the challenge of capturing the intensity of the drama by effectively using his cameras, under her direction, to search inside the faces of the leading actors. The Hurt Locker, shot in 2007 on Fuji stock, almost disappeared from the face of the earth until it was revived by critical acclaim following showings to packed audiences in New York. Death by DVD was thus postponed and exhibitors found. The difficulty for the cinematographer in choosing the right camera and format for the job will be eased by the imminent launch of a new website, www.Image-Forum.org This new website has been specifically designed to enable directors and producers to make informed decisions when planning a film. IMAGO has assisted the formation of this important, impartial web ite for all filmmakers, and start date will be announced shortly. More than three years have passed since the BBC appeared anxious to drive a lethal nail in the coffin marked S16mm by prematurely declaring it was unsuitable for transmitting on HD television channels As IMAGO predicted, advances in technology since 2006, through grain reduction and improved film negative, have alleviated the compression difficulties in transmission. These technological advances are ongoing. S16mm now has a healthy future. When used selectively it can be the right tool for the job, as proven on so many successful films in recent years such as City Of God, Vera Drake, and Man On Wire. Slumdog Millionaire is a classic case of the cinematographer choosing himself the right tools for the job with incredible results, while many prestigious BBC dramas continue to be shot on S16mm film. The march of HD has resulted in an increase in the popularity of 35mm film, enhanced by the cost saving in 3or 2-perf shooting. Many directors and cinematographers have yet to find an alternative to that indefinable quality which makes film such a magical format. HD has arrived to liberate cinematographers, not to imprison them. Congratulations also to Christian Berger AAC for his Oscar and BAFTA nominations for best cinematography for the acclaimed The White Ribbon, which won the recent Golden Globe best Foreign Language Film award. Christian used his now familiar Cine Reflect Lighting System on his film. He is scheduled to help the AAC and IMAO at the EU XXL Festival in Vienna in May. Precious, another Oscar and BAFTA favourite this year was shot by Andrew Dunn BSC on 3-perf. Barry Ackroyd is testing 35mm 2-perf with the Aaton Penelope on his next film Coriolanus, which is set to shoot in March in Belgrade and be directed by Ralph Fiennes. Hunger was the first major European feature to be shot on 2-perf film by cinematographer Sean Bobbitt BSC. The first decade of the 21st century may well be remembered for its technological advances, and the amount of energy cinematographers have used conducting evaluation tests. The knowledge we have acquired will hopefully now be used by cinematographers to channel more creative resources towards shooting such fine films as The Wrestler and The Hurt Locker. Perhaps we can look forward to a decade in which cinematographers can concentrate their energies on creativity. Nigel Walters BSC
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Hungary For More.
An ambitious series of events has been announced by the Hungarian Society of Cinematographers to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its founding under the inspiration of the legendary Gyorgy Illes. To mark the culmination of these celebrations the HSC is planning the first World Conference for Cinematographers in late November in Budapest. IMAGO is giving its fullest support to this conference, which will be designed to meet the challenges of changes in global technology, examine working conditions everywhere and improve standards of training and the understanding of International Property Rights (authors’ rights). Budapest, which this year is the European City of Culture, will be the venue in September for a series of masterclasses involving cinematographers representing many of IMAGO’s 37 member societies. These will be scheduled throughout the month and will give practical guidance to cinematographers, lighting technicians and grips. It is expected the world-class venues available in Hungary, such as in the newly built Korda Studios and fine post production facilities such as Colorfront, will be utilised. It is planned to exhibit the latest and best equipment available for European professionals.
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In October projections of the finest movies from the broad spectrum of IMAGO societies from around the world will be shown in the presence of the “master cinematographer’ responsible for each film. A discussion seminar will follow each screening. The HSC was founded on April 19th 1990, although there had been an organisation representing cinematographers in existence for the previous decade. Its purpose is to bring together Hungarian film and TV cinematographers without distinguishing between artistic genres, in order to help protect its members’ professional, material, moral and social interests. It was also established to serve the development of Hungarian motion picture culture. Today the HSC has 150 active members, along with about 50 associate and honourary members. There are several departments covering also still photographers, assistant cinematographers, lighting technicians and make-up professionals. Ask any cinematographer who is responsible for the great respect for the culture of cinematography that exists in Hungary today, and there is invariably one answer, the cinematographer Gyorgy Illes. When the history of the great teachers of our craft comes to be written the name of Gyorgy Illes will feature at the pinnacle. It features as a permanent tribute to him on the Hungarian society’s website. A modest man, a great cinematographer in his own right, his joy was in giving rather than receiving. There cannot be many cinematographers who have been made an honourary citizen of their capital city. He was in 2001. He taught at the Budapest Academy of Drama & Film for more than 50 years before his death in 2006, aged 91. His philosophy included only teaching stills photography in the first terms and he was a great believer in the value of the instantaneous decision-making opportunity available to a photographer by the use of a zoom lens.
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The late Laszlo Kovacs in an interview with The Guardian in 2006 said, “I owe a lot to Gyorgy Illes. He had me draw charcoal portraits, and he taught us to see forms, light, tones, textures and all of the things you instinctively use in cinematography. We studied music, literature, art history and architecture.” When Vilmos Zsigmond received his Academy Award for Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, he thanked Illes before mentioning Spielberg. Lajos Koltai, whose skills as a cinematographer are synonymous with the work of director Istvan Szabo, recalls that, “Illes taught us to be accurate about details, because sometimes the only information people get about history is what they see in the movie.” Illes had helped Lazlo and Vilmos secretly film the 1956 Hungarian uprising. Among the innumerable cinematographers who also owe him so much are also Janos Kende, the president of the HSC, Elemer Ragaly, Janos Edelenyi and Sandor Kardos. It is not difficult to understand the motivation for the cinematographers of Hungary to make these celebrations an outstanding tribute to this inspirational teacher and colleague.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
Paris In The Springtime.
The season of flesh-pressing at exhibitions is upon us. The French Micro Salon may not be the biggest, nor grandest, but it has to qualify highly in any competition for the friendliest. The AFC invited the BSC to the 10th anniversary show as their guests, following the first of their annual society invitations in 2009 which went to the Belgian SBC. The very structure of the building housing the Micro Salon exudes film history. It is today the Femis Film School, and in its corridors and rooms are to be found for two days more cinematographers per square meter than other comparable gathering anywhere. The atmosphere is friendly, helped by the free baguette rolls and end-ofthe-day glass of the finest French wine! At the entrance was parked the latest French tracking vehicle (see picture), whilst inside some forty AFC ssociate members from the French film industry helped to meet and greet, press the flesh of the days’ visitors.
Please visit www.imago.org Working for cinematographers everywhere.
––––– Nora Cser, granddaughter of Gyorgy Illes, and Nora Szilagyi, who run the HSC office at Mafilm studios. ––––– Emil Novak HSC Chairman of the 20th Anniversary Organising Committee. ––––– Pierre -William Glenn, AFC Vice president in conversation with John de Borman BSC outside the Micro-Salon Paris. ––––– John de Borman BSC in conversation with the Micro Salon visitors about An Education and introducing excerpts from The Hurt Locker shot by Barry Ackroyd BSC. ––––– President of the HSC, Janos Kende HSC. ––––– Joe Dunton CBE BSC at BSC Presentation.
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Exhibitors were there in force, some looking forward to better times, the minority buoyed by a rise in profits despite the economy. It is always reassuring to visit IMAGO’s sponsors on whose support we depend to fund the future promotion of the craft of the cinematographer. Panavision, K5600, Kodak, Fuji and Cooke all had stands whilst ARRI launched the world premiere of its new Alexa prototype, again to a packed house who waited patiently while the gremlins in the computer were fixed by Benjamin B. Gamma & Density in the capable person of Yuri Neyman ASC had arrived from Los Angeles and LCA from London was showing the latest Brieze lights on the Rosco stand. Following ARRI, the BSC gave a presentation to a packed audience in the main auditorium , the “star” performer being John de Borman BSC who, in fluent French, introduced excerpts from his highly successful An Education, which he shot as he explained on Cooke S2 lenses for an older, softer look. He also introduced clips from The Hurt Locker, shot by Barry Ackroyd BSC on S16mm Fuji film. A panel from the BSC also consisted of Sue Gibson, the president, and vice presidents Joe Dunton and Nigel Walters, who, with his IMAGO president’s hat on, thanked the AFC for the loyalty and support it has given the European Federation. It is one of IMAGO’s four founding Societies. Sue Gibson BSC later introduced the impressive BSC Evaluation to another packed audience. Fortunately the AFC contains the highest concentration of rugby fans in Europe amongst its members, and my friend Richard Andry AFC, and my new best friend Pierre-William Glenn AFC, retired to admire the quality of French TV transmission at a nearby apartment. By chance they were showing Wales vs. Scotland. Many hours later having witnessed France beat Ireland, I took my seat on the last Eurostar to London with some regret that I had lost money investing in the tunnel so many years ago, but much gratitude that it was moving at all. The fact that it arrived on time made a fine end to a fine weekend .The English may have built Martello Towers to keep out French thinking after the Revolution, but you cannot keep down the French flair for rugby, or cinematography. Merci AFC. Merci Mathilde.
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GBCT –––Jamie Harcourt Chairman of the GBCT
The Chairman speaks. This will be my last pearl of wisdom as Chairman of the GBCT, and no doubt by the time it is published we will all be too busy working to have time to read it! It’s been frustrating to be the Chair during this period. To begin with we had a couple of major upheavals financially and administratively which were thankfully sorted out once Dee Edwards settled into her role. Thank you Dee, from all of us, for working so hard and diligently on our behalves. Then the credit crunch thought it would be fun to wreak havoc with every producer’s dream of shooting their next project. Our thanks and admiration for those producers that have somehow managed to get their projects up and shooting. But seemingly a lot sadly didn’t and although we all desperately try to look on the bright side of life, it’s tough when there’s little or no income coming in. And especially tough on our families who have to put up with all the collateral damage that goes with unemployment. Thank you to them too for their patience. Sue Gibson’s comment in the last issue of this magazine about her concerns at the job prospects of all the young people being trained for our profession rang very true in my ear. While training is probably the most important aspect of the Guild it is very important that we train our members to nurture their already formidable skills before we get too carried away with promising too much. Perhaps the expression of “being cruel to be kind” is worth bearing in mind. The Guild did promote a number of trainees last year, but not before they had been whittled down from 250 applicants. Only those we thought were of the highest calibre were offered practical assistance in getting a foothold in the camera department. I wish them every success And so we move forward. This year we will have to master more new cameras as they come onto the scene - which means more training has to be done to keep up. And there are more applications for your i-phone too! Have you seen the viewfinder APP? Quite brilliant! And so it goes on, this wonderful crazy business of ours which keeps luring us onto the rocks! We must all be mad! Of course Chico Marx did say: “There ain’t no Sanity Clause!” All the very best, Jamie Harcourt
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Nevertheless, this ruling is good for the industry and for every working technician, because the future has to be protected. We had one of the best training regimes in the film world some years ago. It had come about because the industry, with the consent of both the producers and the craft unions, became completely regulated. Hence, the old Catch-22: you couldn’t get a ticket without a job, and you couldn’t get a job without a ticket. Thus, the way in, more by accident than design, was as a fully paid post-boy or junior in the admin offices of a big studio. If you showed promise, you were attached to one department or another: art, camera, sound, editing, production, publicity et al. As a result, some of Britain’s finest filmmaking talent came up from the very bottom of the ranks and by the time they became established ‘creatives’, they were also the top people working in their grades, industry-wide. Such days are a distant memory and we have a different industry to deal with now; one that is open to allcomers, with or without experience, with or without bona fides. It is a fairer business today: if you have the talent, you will get the job – eventually (if you keep trying). However, that job will be less remunerative and much, much more exploitative of you than ever it was allowed to be before. No matter; it’s always tough at the bottom, but that of itself can be a spur to getting on. What the minimum wage rate will do is allow fledgling newcomers to survive and retain their self-respect as valued members of the team while they are learning to fly. Nothing can be more disheartening to a pro filmmaker than seeing a young trainee working his or her backside off for 60-hours plus a week for no pay. It isn’t right and it is demeaning to be in any way associated with such heartless exploitation. There’s industry talk of trainee schemes that will train and certificate young newcomers; but that won’t stop producers’ relatives from getting the jobs. And why shouldn‘t they? Such training schemes only work if the production industry recognises them and agrees to take on only Guild and Union-certificated trainees. Well, wouldn’t that be nice? But how would you fairly choose those who were ‘suitable’ and those who weren’t? On what grounds and by whose judgment? It can’t happen, unless such schemes are enshrined in our labour laws. And there’s fat chance of that ever happening. What we can do, at least, is discreetly advise any trainee working with us of his or her rights. Maybe even a bolder colleague will take up their case with the production office, if it were necessary. Above all, we – and especially other trainees – should be grateful to that brave young art department assistant who, almost certainly, will never work again for that exploitative production company. She would have known that, but doing the right thing was obviously far more important to her. Bravo! Mike Fox GBCT
Still developing. The Death Of Exploitation Movies.
The long overdue ‘‘emancipation’’ of trainees
A recent edition of Film & Video News carried a report that should be of some considerable significance to all of us. A young art department assistant, employed on an ‘expenses only’ basis on a low-budget movie, brought a case against its producers, claiming that she was entitled to be paid at least the national minimum wage, plus holiday entitlements. Her case, supported by BECTU, was recently heard at the Employment Tribunals Service in Reading, who judged in her favour. This historical decision means the film industry has to comply with the legal obligations of the UK’s minimum wage regulations. From now on, anyone at work on a film, regardless of his or her title – ‘work-experience place-person’, trainee, runner – must now be paid the appropriate statutory rate. (Though we mustn’t rejoice too soon: remember the EU’s ruling making holiday credits mandatory – swiftly side-stepped by the producers’ Great UK ‘Rolled Up’ Holiday Credits Swindle?) As it stands at present, those under eighteen must be paid £3.57 an hour; those between 18-21 £4.83 an hour; and those over twenty-two £5.80 an hour. If you’re reading this out to a producer, be ready to break his or her fall: on a 60-hour week – ie. a normal shooting week – this translates to just under £214 for the lower figure, just under £290 for the middle figure, and £348 for the highest. All these figures must not under any circumstance include rolled up holiday credits!
If you were to take a look at a stills camera magazine recently, you may be left a little confused. It appears that camera manufacturers such as Nikon and Canon have decided their cameras are now movie cameras. And if you look further, it has now been seriously suggested that stills photographers now tool themselves up with a Red camera and start shooting, then select the images from the thousands captured! Have I missed something? I wrote an article several years ago now about this idea, before “Slumdog” and others used the stills camera HD output to produce some shots for the movies. It seems to me the ergonomics, functionality and accessories for each camera have developed along different lines, and are therefore wholly unsuited for cross-pollination roles. It seems to me it is happening only because it is possible, and an “I will do it because I can” attitude. However on closer look it has become important for other technology to be multi purpose. Any decent mobile phone can now take hi-resolution pictures, surf the internet, play movies and music, and become a radio, and turn into a helicopter or amphibious landing craft at the touch of a screen. Oh, incidentally it can make telephone calls as well. The technologies have now truly converged. It does strike me however, that the methods and functionality of shooting with a movie camera are somewhat different to shooting on a stills camera. Take the Canon EOS 7D, for example, the output can be 1920 x 1080 HD at 24, 25 or 30fps..and it can take stills pictures quite well too. However, the viewfinder cannot possibly be as good as a full movie camera, as the priorities are different for stills cameras to that of moving image cameras.
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Stills lenses are designed to be small and normally come with autofocus. Movie lenses are generally larger for good reason, so that the focus scale marks can be easily seen and accurately marked, and are normally wider apertures with some serious glasswork design involved. Put a Cooke lens against a Canon or Nikon still lens and you can see the huge difference in design philosophy. Sound is also an issue, with the Canon picking up handling noise in the built in microphone. There is no professional input, so a separate recorder really needs to be used, with the inherent synchronisation issues to sort out later, unless a clapperboard is used. The camera body shape is not ideal for shooting movies. In still mode it is designed to be used occasionally, and held to the eye for any time it is a bit of a beast to hold still. A tripod is therefore essential apart from the occasional effects shots. Not a bad philosophy anyway, but all of a sudden it is now becoming a different animal. An added viewfinder and lenses can be selected and added via a suitable mount, and bars and other focus and zoom accessories can be added. Suddenly it’s looking more like a movie camera shoot. But not as easy or ergonomic to use.. However it can have some redeeming features on a shoot. High quality time lapse can be achieved with the massive 5184 x 3456 sensor, imported into an edit suite and a sequence made. It even lends itself to a degree of pan and scan within the frame, due to its resolution. It can also lend itself to a degree of covert filming, and that’s how some of the shots in “Slumdog Millionaire” were achieved without drawing too much attention. A “Red One” movie camera used like a stills camera… hmm now that takes a bit of a paradigm shift. The ergonomics of a Red movie camera does not really lend itself to being used like a stills camera, with lenses, and a weight of 10lbs in lightweight EFP style. The sheer thought of the post production process wading through the endless images to find the one frame makes me glaze over. Of course, it is ultimately up to the user to choose their particular tools to create their vision. It does seem that the tools are becoming increasingly blurred. I guess that’s progress. John Keedwell GBCT
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GBCT –––John Keedwell GBCT
How Green Is Your Lighting?
Incandescent lamps have been around since the dawn of artificial light and work by passing an electrical current through a tungsten filament. This method of producing light is not very efficient when compared to alternatives as about 95% of the electricity ends up as heat, not light. Add to this the many European issues and a global initiative about reducing our carbon footprints and it becomes clear that the writing is on the wall for the humble light bulb. In spite of this, there are some companies who are still researching the possibilities of producing more efficient incandescent lights. GE, for example has announced that it has developed a new high-efficiency incandescent lamp that will be two to four times more efficient than current lamp technology. Then there is the tungsten photonic lattice from the US Dept of Energy’s Sandia National Labs which promises a 60% efficient tungsten lamp (not yet progressed from 2003 to public availability). Strangely enough, the one technology that may give us real high-efficiency incandescent lamps in the foreseeable further has its origins in entertainment technology. David Cunningham, the man that brought us Multi-Q, Light Palette, the CD80, ENR and the Source Four Lamp has filed a patent for a more efficient incandescent lamp. The concept is to put a coating on the inside of the lamp’s envelope that will trap the infrared emissions inside the bulb, but let the visible light get through. So instead of losing 95% of the input energy as radiated heat, the energy is used to keep the filament hot and produce more visible light. But what does it mean for us in the film and TV business? We’ve been extremely comfortable for decades using various sources of illumination on sets - from the older days of carbon arc Brutes to several different incandescent lamps, numerous specialist fluorescent tubes, discharge lamps and a host of other methods of illumination, none of which can be described as environmentally friendly. Does this mean that over the next few years as worldwide legislation to fight climate change takes hold, things will begin to look different not just in our homes but on set too?
Looking forward
Technology will ultimately create the strongest tide of change. The development of the LED light source has been going on since 1962 but has recently been moving rapidly to make a considerable contribution to the lighting of movie and television productions. The many benefits include: low current draw; lower heat; instant illumination; very long lifespan; and the ability to dim with no colour shift. But despite the many advantages of using LEDs they are not the cure-all for every challenge although they are now a viable proposition for the DoP.
Future developments
DoP’s currently illuminate their subjects using a selection of LED panel lights of different shapes and sizes without much control (which also vary greatly in colour rendition accuracy). In addition, there are some lamps that are difficult for performers to work under because of the inherent LED spot sources compared with other softer ones. Some light panels colour shift dramatically when dimming down, and readers of cinematography discussion sites have been left trying to work out which colour gel needs to be used when dimming to a certain percent. Is it ½ magenta, ¼ green - I still don’t know. But I do know I won’t be buying if I have to change the gel each time I dim it down!
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The Holy Grail for LED lamps has always been a source that is colour correct in either daylight or tungsten, and has a stable and accurate variable colour temperature; it needs to be controllable, dimmable and able to be focussed. This is not an ad for them, but Gekko Technology, a British company, does seem to be ahead of the game – especially with their kleer colour technology and also the Element Labs Kelvin Tile. This utilises a very powerful single-source colour changing lamp which emulates both Tungsten and Daylight sources to a very high quality. The actual light engine can throw a high quality tuneable white source which is indiscernible from an incandescent source, and also shows the user pre-sets for 3200K, 4300K, 5600K, and 6500K. And, it can also colour mix and produce literally millions of colours. This is great for washes or effects and light changing in shot without the direction of source changing. If required you can accurately pre-programme ANY colour gel you normally use. The technology involved in the colour generation apparently holds the pre-programmed colours totally stable for the life of the lamp – which can be a long time.
The Technology
In some applications, the intensity of light output by an LED is not critical and can be relied upon. However where the source uses a range of dyes and phosphors because colour temperature is critical, the drift in temperature between luminaries and the drift in output between different dyes in the same fixture will affect the colour consistency. Clearly when mixing different wavelengths of light to provide a desired colour output, small variations in the intensity of a single coloured light source can have a significant effect on the overall colour representation of the mixed colour source. In film and broadcast applications, when using multiple light sources it is important that the power output provided by a fixture is consistent and repeatable. In addition to colour consistency across temperature, discontinuous light sources require a special recipe when designed to be suitable for use in conjunction with film stock and electronic camera chip sets. LED light sources have numerous benefits over conventional light sources but previous systems have suffered from a discontinuous spectrum, inherent in single phosphor based luminaries, and many have failed to properly render a full range of colours or be colour stable.
High Speed camera lighting
High Speed photography is a tough test for any lamp, and normally produces its own set of unique challenges to overcome. Many lamps can flicker or pulse when shooting over a certain camera frame rate so special high frequency ballasts need to be used for discharge lighting with many other fixtures ruled out altogether. However, an LED light was recently demonstrated which illuminated a small tabletop scene, shot with a camera at 2700 frames per second with no hint of flicker - all from a lamp that draws just 85 Watts.
End Word
Now that innovations have shown that a carefully chosen LED light source is suitable for many different shooting situations – tabletop commercial shooting; working in difficult locations where sufficient power is an issue; or just being more user-friendly for actors in the studio – it may mean the difference between hiring a 280kW generator to a 100kW for the same lighting overall output. Producers will love the idea. This comes with a caveat, the DoP still needs to be in control of the tools they require to do a particular job, and not be tied to a particular system due to economic or other constraints. It is certain that as green issues become more intense, any contribution by our industry to address these issues will be welcomed because lighting is one area that we can really now make a difference. John Keedwell, GBCT
Abyss. ––––– The crew of “Abyss”, directed by Knut Asdam feature produced by Filmhuset Oslo and city Projects London shot in London East End Nov, Dec 09. They are (left to right) Dan Brough (loader), Alex Coverly (Grip), Martin (Teddy) Testar (DOP), Henry Gumble (camera car driver), Rebecca Wood (trainee), Simon Baker (operator) Alex Taylor (focus Puller), Stephen Finberg (gaffer).
Knut Asdam is directing the feature produced by Filmhuset Oslo and city Projects London, shot in London East End November and December 09.
A Shoot Out At The Docks In 37 degrees!
GBCT Director of Photography, MIKE SPRAGG is currently filming KIDNAP AND RANSOM in South Africa for ITV before starting to shoot the next series of WAKING THE DEAD for BBC-1.
Launch Of New Qualifications for 1ACs and 2ACs.
Diploma Qualifications for Focus Pullers (1ACs) and Loaders (2ACs) were recently launched by the Ealing Institute of Media (a Skillset Screen Academy) based on the work done by a small group of GBCT members.
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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 038
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