British Cinematographer - Issue 40 by Open Box Media & Communications

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk July 2010 ––– £7

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Covering International Cinematography

Dream weaver.

Wally Pfister ASC . ––– how he set about the visual fantasies in Chris Nolan’s Inception

Inside. Carry on up the Croissette 2010. ––– Cannes review Natasha Braier, James Friend Philippe Ros & Erik Wilson. ––– Up close & personal Roger Pratt BSC talks about his exeriences of shooting The Karate Kid in China. ––– On the Job Cine Gear review. ––– F-Stop Hollywood Stuart Biddlecombe. ––– Meet the New Wave

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Introduction –––Ron Prince Editor

Contributers.

“It has been a great honour to be head girl...” Sue Gibson BSC, president of the BSC 2008-10

Contents.

19 Camera Creative.

Ann-Marie Corvin ––– is a London-based journalist specialising in the film and media sectors. She is a contributing editor on TV Technology Europe and writes for Broadcast, Screendaily. com, Campaign, Television Business International, and the IBC Daily.

Wally Pfister ASC on Chris Nolan’s Inception

05 President’s Perspective. The final column from Sue Gibson BSC

07 Production /

Post & Techno News. The latest news for DPs

12 Cannes review.

22 Close-Ups.

Erik Wilson on Submarine, Philippe Ros on Océans, James Friend on Ghost, and Natasha Braier on The Milk Of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)

26 On The Job.

News from the Croissette!

Roger Pratt BSC on shooting The Karate Kid in China

14 Who’s Shooting Who?

28 F-Stop Hollywood.

The unique resource about which DPs are currently shooting what...

16 To Live & Let DI.

Discover who’s delivering the DI grades right now

18 Meet the New Wave.

Stuart Biddlecombe… grows his own veg!

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography. Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom t/ +44 (0) 1753 650101 f/ +44 (0) 1753 650111

32 All Time Greats. 34 IMAGO News.

Nigel Walters BSC, President of IMAGO

37 GBCT News.

The chairman’s statement & all the latest new from the Guild

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Wrap-up of Cine Gear 2010

The legendary Freddie Francis BSC

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).

Come together.

Dear Readers, Having done a sterling job, devoting a huge amount of time and effort, during her two years as president of the BSC – which saw the industry dogged by strikes and severely impacted by the recession – Sue Gibson BSC has handed over a solid platform for the incoming John de Borman BSC. A fine art graduate, with French connections, John is regarded for having a great eye when it comes to framing a production. But, for those who know the man personally, he is also known for his infectious enthusiasm and energy – élan, they call it on the other side of the channel. We’re living in the age of the “the new politics”, and it’s interesting to see how the spirit from Whitehall can trickle down into other walks of life. Speaking to him just after his election to the new role, it was interesting to hear words like “open”, “inclusive”, “collaborative” and “community” with regards to the future journey he’d like the BSC to embark upon. As Joe Dunton MBE BSC remarked, harnessing John’s passion and ideas, the BSC now has the opportunity return to the window of greatness much revered around the world. It’s equally interesting to peruse, in this edition, the keynote address given by IMAGO president Nigel Walters BSC at the recent EU XXL filmmakers’ forum, who is admirably doing much the same thing on a global level with the European coalition, sorry, federation of cinematographers. Amongst the other highlights in this, our 40th edition of the magazine, are an interview with the inimitable Roger Pratt BSC, who spent five months immersed in China for the modern reprise of The Karate Kid. What he has to say about his experiences there makes for fascinating reading. Also, you can discover more about the work of Wally Pfister ASC, who received a standing ovation when he presented a short clip of Inception during Cine Gear in LA. And we’re always keen to cover up-and-coming talents so make sure to check out Close-Ups on Natasha Braier, Erik Wilson and James Friend. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, but using “the new vernacular”. We’re united by a common purpose, and need to remain shoulder-to-shoulder, to keep spreading the word about the importance of the art of cinematography in the storytelling process. Talent will out! Ron Prince, Editor BC

Publishers. ––– Alan Lowne t/ +44 (0) 1753 650101 e/ alafilmuk@aol.com ––– 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/ alafilmuk@aol.com ––– Stuart Walters t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e/ stuartwalters@ britishcinematographer.co.uk Design & Creative Direction. Open Box Media & Communications ––– Lee Murphy Design Studio Manager t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e/ studio@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.

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. 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. David A Ellis ––– started out as a projectionist and then moved on to work for BBC Television in London as a film assistant. He has written numerous articles about the industry including many features about cinematographers. 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.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Presidents Perspective –––Sue Gibson BSC President BSC

Overview... This is last of my columns as president, as we have elected John de Borman BSC as our new president. I wish him the very best for the future and am confident he will be an admirable leader. He has lots of great ideas and will be ably supported by us all and his vice presidents – Joe Dunton BSC, Chris Seager BSC and Sean Bobbitt BSC. I’d also like to welcome David Higgs BSC as a new member of the board, and look forward to meeting our new members, both full and associate, and all friends and patrons of the BSC at the summer luncheon.

My two years seem to have passed incredibly quickly, and during this time there have been so many new developments in the industry, probably more than have ever been seen in the history of filmmaking in such a short period of time. With the advent of new digital cameras I think that we are now entering a new era where digital cinematography has become a more acceptable form of image capture than ever before, with post production workflows becoming simpler and the cameras becoming more like film cameras in their operation. As a result, Robert Richardson ASC and Martin Scorsese are set to use one of the next generation of cameras on The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, which shoots in London this summer There have also been great advances in film stocks too and, although film manufacturers have been under pressure from the digital world, there are still many features being shot on film, and I believe they always will be. The last two years has been very much a transitional period, and our Film & Digital Evaluation has had repercussions in several areas other than just being a series of presentations to the industry – the formation of the Image forum being one of them. They have now launched their website which has a host of valuable technical information, unencumbered by competitive hype, and has received a lot of interest from many companies wanting to become associate members at its launch at the Cannes Film Festival. I urge you to check out the website at www.theimageforum.org The BBC has also expressed an interest in the BSC being involved in its new round of camera tests to assess formats suitable for HD acquisition. So it appears all our hard work with the Film & Digital Evaluation has had some impact there. This is a welcome step forward in recognising the worth of cinematographers’ opinions.

British Society of Cinematographers, Board Members.

John de Borman BSC (President). Joe Dunton MBE BSC, Chris Seager BSC, Sean Bobitt BSC (Vice Presidents). Sue Gibson BSC, Gavin Finney BSC, Nic Morris BSC, Haris Zambarloukos BSC , Robin Vidgeon BSC, John Daly BSC, David Odd BSC, Ashley Rowe BSC, Nigel Walters BSC, Derek Suter BSC, Harvey Harrison BSC, Phil Meheux BSC, David Higgs BSC (Governors).

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At the recent BAFTA Television Craft Awards BSC members were nominated for the cinematography award, namely Alan Almond for Desperate Romantics, David Higgs for Red Riding, and Chris Seager for Hamlet, the Award going to David Higgs, who also went on to win the RTS Award for the same production. Congratulations from us all David. It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of two great men of the 20th Century, namely Ronald Neame CBE BSC who passed away on 16th June at the great age of 99. Ronald may be best remembered for his directorial work on The Poseidon Adventure but we are forever indebted to him for the wonderful wartime films as cinematographer. In Which We Serve, Blithe Spirit, One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing and This Happy Breed. These films, amongst many others are his legacy to us and our British culture, and we remember him with great fondness as he was always a great supporter of the BSC, even though he lived in L.A. for many years. It is also with regret that I report the passing of William Fraker ASC BSC who died at the age of 86 on 31st May. This was shortly before he was due to be at the opening of the ASC’s new clubhouse, and they have now named their lounge in his honour. As president of the ASC in 1979, 1984, and 1991 he worked tirelessly for their society and was a great friend to us too. Rosemary’s Baby, Looking For Mr. Goodbar and Heaven Can Wait amongst many others, have had a great impact on generations of cinematographers and filmgoers. The legacy of both these great men’s films will live on forever. Since we celebrated Gerry Fisher’s 90th birthday at the Summer Luncheon last year he has been looking after his wife Jean who had a stroke, and has since broken her leg too, which has thrown their lives into turmoil, and our best wishes and sympathy go to both of them for having such a rotten time. I wish them all the very best. Several of our members recently went to Cine Gear in L.A. and, although I was unable to be there myself, we were well represented by Joe Dunton, Derek Suter, Nigel Walters and David Higgs, as well as being supported by Alan Lowne and Martin Hammond who ably looked after the BSC and British Cinematographer stand. Sadly, Frances had to pull out at the last minute after being advised by her doctor not to fly, though am assured she’s back on good form now. It has been a great honour to be head girl, and although the world economic situation has not been the easiest for our industry there will be better times ahead, I’m sure. I look forward to putting more time into pursuing my own career, though will continue to support the society and our new president as much as I can. I have had a lot of support from the board and made new friends in the ASC and other societies around the world, which has been a great delight. Thank you to everyone for continuing to read this column and supporting British Cinematographer Magazine, which continues to go from strength to strength. Thank you once again for all your support in the last two years. It’s now time for me put my nose to the grindstone and get back to work. Sue Gibson BSC President

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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 040

News –––Production / Post & Technology round-up

De Borman elected as new BSC president.

John De Borman BSC was elected as the new president of the British Society Of Cinematographers at a board meeting on Sunday 27th June, taking up the mantle from outgoing president Sue Gibson BSC, who had completed her two-year stint in the role. De Borman, who was born in Paris and has a fine art background, is well regarded amongst peers for his passion and commitment to filmmaking. His credits as a cinematographer include, The Full Monty (1997), Hideous Kinky (1998) for which he won the Evening Standard, best technical/artistic achievement award, Hamlet (2000), Serendipity (2001), Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006), which earned him a BAFTA nomination, and An Education (2009) for which he received a best cinematography award at the Sundance Film Festival. His work on Gillies MacKinnon’s Small Faces (1996) was the picture that saw him accepted into the BSC’s ranks. De Borman commented, “It’s a great honour to take on this role. The BSC has a rich and wonderful history, and I want its future to be more open, inclusive and collaborative – to bring together not just cinematographers and their crews, but to create a community where anyone involved in filmmaking is welcome – directors, producers, actors and the other departments like design, construction, costume and make-up, even runners.” He said that he had already written an extensive proposal to the BSC governors outlining his aims and plans for new events, industry collaborations and the society’s website, to be revealed in more detail in our next edition. “I have a lot of enthusiasm and energy for the role of president, and have listed a whole bunch of things to shake things up,” he added. BSC vice president Joe Dunton MBE BSC commented, “John has tons of passion for operating, lighting and making pictures, derived from a fine arts background. He has a really good eye as a cinematographer. I’ve known him since 1982 when he was operating on Dance Craze. His outgoing personality will help to put the profile of the BSC and cinematography – film and digital – back into the window of greatness that the society’s forefathers created.”

Higgs collects a BAFTA.

David Higgs BSC, who was recently voted on to the BSC board of governors, won BAFTA’s Photography and Lighting Fiction Award for his cinematography work on C4’s Red Riding: In The Year Of Our Lord 1983, directed by Anand Tucker and written by David Peace, which he shot using a Red camera. Higgs won out against Chris Seager BSC, nominated for his work on BBC2’s Hamlet, and Alan Almond BSC for BBC2’s Desperate Romantics. Also nominated were Tony Miller for BBC1’s Small Island, and Lukas Strebel for BBC1’s Garrow’s Law and BBC’s Wallander.

Head honcho: John de Borman BSC set to bring new joi de vivre to the society. Cooke: updated /i Technology protocol will give camera operators and post production teams more useful metadata.

ARRI announces first Alexa shipments.

ARRI announced that it shipped its first Alexa digital camera in June. Production ramp-up of the new camera is now underway, with initial delivery priority given to customers who purchased the flagship D-21 camera following Alexa’s unveiling at IBC2009. ARRI is also shipping, in-camera, all the required hardware expansion for its brand new DTE (Direct-To-Edit) capability, which through the use of Apple’s ProRes 422 (HQ) and ProRes 4444 codecs allows high fidelity footage to be recorded onto Sony SxS PRO removable media cards, providing immediate availability of material into Final Cut Pro and Avid editing systems. A small number of betatest customers will pilot the DTE capabilities of the camera for a limited period of time to further evaluate performance of these new features. The full release of Alexa’s DTE functionality will be made available to all customers as a firmware upgrade after the beta-test phase. Coincident with product roll-out is the pioneering use of Alexa by Pace on the forthcoming 3D motion picture Hugo Cabret, directed by Martin Scorsese, which entered principal photography on the 28th of June with Robert Richardson ASC as cinematographer. Pace, a key technical partner for ARRI, and the first customer worldwide to take delivery of Alexa, is supplying cameras, lenses, stereoscopic systems and a new generation of 3D rigs designed around the camera. Commenting on his investment in Alexa, Vince Pace, CEO, stated “We’re excited by Alexa’s roll-out into the new age of stereo cinematography. Our commitment to the industry is centred around the fact that the new trend in 3D has to be built on a strong 2D legacy. ARRI has done just that, delivering a camera with both technical and creative performance that raises the bar for digital cinematography. For a DP, the camera delivers on increased dynamic range and sensitivity to help make the transition to 3D seamless.” Franz Kraus, MD of ARRI in Munich, commented, “ARRI has delivered on its commitment to customers, with an entry price point of 45,000 Euros, and a rich feature list which today’s technologysavvy and quality-driven customers have fully embraced. With important reference productions such as Hugo Cabret and many accolades from industry innovators, Alexa is now positioned in the market at the very highest level, offering unrivalled quality, reliability and performance at a very competitive price.”

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Cooke extands /i Technology tools.

Cooke Optics Ltd, a premier manufacturer of precision lenses for the motion picture industry, has announced that a set of valuable new functions has been added to its /i Technology protocol for users of Cooke 5i prime lenses, which will provide further lens and camera information to camera operators and post-production teams. The new functions allow data to transfer from third party external equipment to the lens, as well as from the lens to the camera, for recording with other metadata information. The combined data stream of information, which can then be stored in the camera or on an External Data Source Unit (EDSU), can provide a wide array of relevant data, such as 3D encoder information, details from electronic slates, or metadata from wireless devices such as iPhone apps. “We’re delighted to be working with Cooke on yet another significant advance in bringing production and post closer together,” said Michael Lancaster, managing director of The Pixel Farm, a development partner with Cooke for four years and whose PFTrack software intergrates with Cooke’s /i Technology. “The streamlined transfer of data from the set, lenses and camera into post production makes accurate, high-quality VFX creation easier for everyone involved – cinematographers, VFX supervisors and VFX artists – as well as saving time and therefore money.” “/i Technology is designed to be open access, and this set of functions takes that a step further,” said Les Zellan, chairman and owner of Cooke Optics. “The kind of data you can transfer is user-defined, so you can really record anything relevant or useful to you, as long as it fits into the allowed space - 60 characters with no carriage return.” The new functions are available immediately within new and existing Cooke 5i lenses. The new manual, which details the functions, is available to download from the Cooke’s website.

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Vision: Kodak underlines its unwaivering commitment to film with its new 5213 stocks delivering cleaner whites and deeper black tones. Cameraman: Jack Cardiff aficionado Craig McCall with Martin Scorsese in Cannes. Credit Yves Salmon. Chopper: DP Larry J. Blanford did the aerial work on The A-Team using Pictorvision’s new Eclipse aerial camera stabilising system. Titchy: Element Technica’s new ultra-small Neutron 3D rig.

Kodak’s new brace of Vision3 stocks.

Kodak has sent another message that its commitment to film is unwavering, by adding two new films to its Vision 3 family of motion picture products. The stock additions include a medium-speed, tungstenbalanced colour negative camera film, and a colour intermediate film optimised to work with digital postproduction technologies. “These new stocks are the tangible results of our ongoing commitment to filmmakers,” said Kim Snyder, president of the Entertainment Imaging Division, and vice president of Eastman Kodak Company. “They were designed based on our customers’ suggestions and with the goal of increasing creative freedom and efficiencies in production and postproduction.” Kodak Vision3 5213/7213 is a 200-speed, tungsten-balanced film. It features extended latitude, enabling cinematographers to record more details in highlights, and delivers finer grain for naturallooking images in the darkest areas. The emulsion is designed for both controlled interiors and challenging high-contrast exteriors, and is available in all formats (65 mm, 35 mm, Super 16 and Super 8). “This new stock is a significant improvement over the already excellent Vision2 5217,” said ASC president Michael Goi (The Mentalist, My Name is Earl), who tested the film. “Reds in skin tones have a noticeably more natural balance, and I felt I could almost touch the high resolution results in texture.” Kodak Vision3 Colour Digital Intermediate Film 5254/2254 is designed for use with contemporary film recorders, both laser recorders and numerous CRT recorders, that are still widely used in the marketplace. The imaging characteristics of this new intermediate film enhance the speed and efficiency of DI postproduction while rendering sharper images that represent the intentions of filmmakers.

Pictorvision plays in the A-Team.

Second unit DP Larry J. Blanford is always excited when he can get to do aerial work himself. In the case of 20th Century Fox’s feature version of the 1980’s television series The A-Team, he says he was even more excited because he got to put Pictorvision’s latest aerial camera stabilising system, the Eclipse through its paces. For one particular sequence shot in British Columbia around the Vancouver Port, Blandford found shutting off the larger lighting fixtures first unit cinematographer Mauro Fiore ASC and gaffer Dave Tickell had made would make it easier, safer and the action would be much more visual. “I decided to shoot ‘au natural’ with the Genesis, along with Panavision’s f2.8 11-1 zoom,” he says. “Historically, most aerial systems tend to struggle with stability with that large a lens. The weight and length seem to always be an issue. Not with the Eclipse. “This was one of those ‘energy’ shots so important to an action picture,” he explains. “One thing we had working against us was that pilot Fred North had very little room to manoeuvre. With so many ships in port, the large space got small very quickly. So, to cover the action, Fred needed to make tight turns with the helicopter having to bank extremely steep.” Not a problem for the Eclipse even though Blanford was shooting anywhere from 100mm to 275mm in the banking shots. “At one point we did a shot where we rose up from the water to literally drop away as fast as Fred could, while I pulled back on the lens,” he adds. “Fred was able to almost dump the helicopter on its side and the Eclipse stayed level. We had the images being transmitted to the ground. Quite a few people commented that they could see what the helicopter was doing and then would look at the monitor and were stunned that the images they were seeing were coming from the same helicopter. These shots were fun!” At the core of the Eclipse’s stability is the patented XR Motion Management technology, enabling the most advanced steering, stability and pointing capabilities. The Eclipse will not topple, provides an absolute level horizon and also features faster start-ups and resets. “After using the Eclipse, Blanford says, I was so glad I decided to do this aerial work myself. The system really showed me what the possibility for aerial cinematography is for future films.”

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Element Technica introduces ultra-small Neutron 3D rig.

Element Technica, designer and manufacturer of 3D rigs for video production, has introduced a new, ultra-small Neutron 3D rig. 3D stereoscopic feature film production crews, as well as those who produce sports and entertainment venue programmes, have awaited the Neutron, which is designed to mount lightweight 3D camera packages for stereoscopic video capture from smaller jibs, Steadicams, portable camera and point-of-view positions. Live sports and entertainment production demand even smaller, less obtrusive cameras for point-of-view camera angles where the camera must fit into a tiny and sometimes dangerous space, where it is unseen and out of the way. The Neutron rig enables 3D imaging from a smallest form-factor, with the ability to mount the smallest 2/3-inch or 1/3-inch imager HD cameras such as the SI-2K MINI and the Iconix. Though the Neutron rig is much smaller and lighter in weight than Element Technica’s Quasar 3D rig, it provides the same simplicity of assembly and operation, ability to integrate with standard stereoscopic production controls, and the ease of changing camera configuration quickly between side-by-side and beamsplitter modes. Like the Quasar, the Neutron can be configured into both over/thru and under/thru beam-splitter modes.

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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 040

09 When Craig met Marty.

UK film contributes over £4.5 billion to GDP.

The UK film industry contributes a total of over £4.5 billion a year to UK GDP and more than £1.2 billion to the Exchequer, according to an independent report published by Oxford Economics. The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry – commissioned by the UK Film Council, Pinewood Shepperton plc, Framestore, Cinesite and Double Negative – concludes that the UK film industry is substantial, is weathering the recession well, and its long-term trend is one of strong growth and expansion. The report also concludes that the UK’s film tax relief is vital to sustaining current levels of global competitiveness and job creation. Without the UK film tax relief in place, UK GDP would be reduced by around £1.4 billion a year. That compares with a current cost of the film tax relief of around £110 million a year, meaning that an extra £13 in GDP is generated for every £1 invested. Welcoming the report’s findings, Minister for Culture, Communications and the Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey said, “The creative industries are a British success story. They continue to grow, and the government sees the real potential they have to help our economy in the coming years. This report is evidence of how important British film is, to our economy, as well as promoting our cultural life, our identity and diversity on the international stage.” The report examines the many ways in which the UK film industry contributes to ‘UK plc’. In terms of jobs, the UK film industry directly employs around 36,000 (up by 30% since 2000 and 7% since 2006), supporting a total of 100,000 direct and indirect jobs (up from 95,000 in 2007). The industry provides jobs for some of the UK’s most highly qualified workers, with 58% of the production workforce university educated and London having a global market share of approximately 20% in film visual effects work. Between 2000 and 2009, fixed capital investment in infrastructure and new technology has totalled almost £1.1 billion. In 2009 alone, capital investment in the core UK film industry is estimated to have been £147 million, with most of the investment undertaken in the production sector. Inward investment is estimated to account for around £3.6 billion of film’s contribution to GDP and £960 million in Exchequer revenues. Exports – in 2008, UK film exports totalled around £1.3 billion. Culturally, British films are important to UK audiences. A film shown in the UK can expect its box office to be up to 30% higher if it is indigenous. On this basis, UK films are estimated to have boosted the box office revenues by an average of around £60 million a year over the last decade. Tim Bevan, chairman of the UK Film Council, said, “This report highlights the financial and cultural benefits of a vibrant British film sector, driving growth and productivity across the creative industries. With world-class film facilities, a highly-skilled workforce and effective government support, including a film tax relief that provides certainty for business, the British film industry is firing on all cylinders and is well-placed to play an increasingly valuable role helping the UK economy grow in the years ahead.” Ivan Dunleavy, chief executive of Pinewood Shepperton plc, commented: “It’s clear to see just how important the film industry continues to be to the UK’s economy. The new coalition government has been extremely positive in recent times on issues such as the film tax credit which, along with the UK’s skills and expertise, has helped to keep the UK competitive in a global market.”

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This is the moment when Craig McCall, aficionado of Jack Cardiff, met director Martin Scorsese, also a fan of the late great British cinematographer, at the UK premiere of Cameraman: The Life & Work of Jack Cardiff at the BFI Southbank, London. A packed audience was present for the first public screening of the documentary. McCall, the film’s director and producer, plus actor and writer Sanjeev Bhaskar and BFI head Amanda Nevill joined Scorsese on stage to commence the evening.

What’s shooting on FujiFilm?

The following features and TV dramas chose FuljiFilm stocks… Will, DP Oliver Stapleton BSC, dir Ellen Perry; Everywhere And Nowhere, DP Brian Tufano BSC, dir Menhaj Huda; Mad Dogs, DP Tony Slater-Ling, Dir Adrian Shergold; Age Of Heroes, DP Mark Hamilton, dir Adrian Vitoria; Spooks - Series 9, DP Fabian Wagner, dir Michael Caton Jones; Waking the Dead - Series 9, DP Mike Spragg; Attack The Block, DP Tom Townend, dir Joe Cornish; Jane Eyre, DP Adriano Goldman, dir Cary Fukunuga. Commercials & Promos supplied with FujiFilm via Island Studios and Panavision include… Tescos (Smuggler), DP Denis Crossan BSC; Mars (Partizan), DP Robbie Ryan BSC; Yves Saint Laurent (Eponymous), DP Andre Chemetoff; Knorr (Partizan), DP Baz Irvine; EGG (Another), DP Ben Butler; McDonalds (Smuggler), DP Carl Nilsson; Radio 4 (Red Bee), DP Rob Hardy; King of Shaves (Great Guns), DP August Jakobson; Carlsberg (Fold 7), DP Simon Paul; Biffy Clyro Promo (Academy Films), DP Ed Wild; Natwest (Rogue Films), DP Robbie Ryan BSC; Activia Yoghurt (2AM Films), DP Stuart Graham; James Corden’s World Cup Live Promo (ITV Creative), DP Dan Bronks; Plan B Promo (Partizan), DP Robbie Ryan BSC; Big Brother (Channel 4), DP Richard Mott; Daily Mail (Great Guns), DP Denzil Armour-Brown; Titan (Dab Hand Media), DP Rain Li; McLaren (Stink), DP Milan Chadima; and Rimmel (Annex), Robbie Ryan BSC.

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The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 040

What’s shooting on Kodak?

The following feature have employed Kodak film stocks…Harry Potter, dir David Yates, DP Eduardo Serra; Patiala House, dir Nikhil Advani, DP Santosh Thundiiayil; Chalet Girl, dir Phil Traill, DP Ed Wild; 127 Hours, dir Danny Boyle. DP Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC, The Veteran, dir Matthew Hope, DP Philipp Blaubach; The Awakening, dir Nick Murphy, DP Edu Grau; and Decoy Bride, dir Sheree Folkson, DP Nanu Segal. Plus the following shorts… Steve, dir Rupert Friend, DP George Richmond, and The Ham & Piper, dir Mark Norfolk, DP Bartlomiej Sienkiewicz. TV dramas include… New Tricks VII, Wall To Wall Television, DP Sean van Hales; Merlin III, Shine Ltd, DPs Dale McCready and Peter Greenhalgh BSC; Any Human Heart, Carnival Film & TV, DP Wojciech Szepel; Unreasonable Behaviour, Soho Casting Studio Ltd, DP Richard Stewart; Accused, RSJ Films Ltd, DPs David Luther and Fabian Wagner; and This September, Gate TV, DP James Aspinall. Commercials captured on Kodak include… Magnum (Spoke Films), DP Peter James; Very. com (Short Films), DP Chris Ross; Mini, (Hungryman), DP Steve Keith Roach; Asda (HLA Prods), DP Keith Goddard BSC; Morrisons (Park Village), DP Oliver Curtis BSC; Lacoste (Blink Prods), DP Simon Chaudoir; Santander (Partizan), DP Ben Smithard; Tetley Tea (Independent), DP Oliver Cariou; Coca Cola (ITV Creative), DP Tim Green; Morrisons (Home), DP Remi Adefarasin BSC; McDonalds (HLA Prods) DP Martin Hill; Youngs (Hungryman), DP Simon Chaudoir; The Times (Hungryman), DP Philipp Blaubach; Yeo Valley (Flynn), DP Alex Barber; Daily Mirror (Park Village), DP Oliver Curtis BSC; Mazda (Rattling Stick), DP Ben Smithard; Persil (Knucklehead), DP Simon Chaudoir; Britian’s Next Top Model (Virgin Media), DP Tim Green; Nike (Factory Films), DP Adam Frisch; Sky (Blink Productions), DP Stuart Graham; Million Pound Drop (CH4), DP Kieran McGuigan; Flake (Home Corp), DP Stuart Graham, and Boots, DP Adrian Wild; Natwest (Rogue Films), DP Martin Hill; Barclays (Stink), DP Will Bex; Stornaway (Davey Inc.), DP Steven Annis; Sainsbury’s (Academy), DP Remi Adefarasin BSC and Birdseye, DP Stuart Graham; Asda (HLA), DP George Richmond; Adidas (Knucklehead), DP Dan Landin; Morrisons (Outsider), DP Federico Alfonso; Vodafone (Rattling Stick), DP Franz Lustig; BBC Opera Season (Red Bee), DP David Johnson BSC; Nationwide (Spank), DP John Mathieson BSC; Thunderball (Station), DP Ian Foster; Mentos (Stink), DP Ulrik Boel Bentzen; Hyundai (Rasha Films), DP John Ignatiaus; Lacoste (Blink), DP Simon Chadoir; Savlon (Spank), DP Stephen Blackman; Kate Nash (Warp Films), DP Chris Ross; and Diane Vickers (RSA), DP Tat Radcliffe.

AimImage/Ice correction.

The GBCT section in edition 39 misreported news about cameras supplied to The Hurt Locker. To clarify, Barry Ackroyd BSC took four of AimImage/Ice’s Super 16mm cameras to Jordan to film Kathryn Bigelow’s multiple Oscar-winning film.

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Camerimage 2010 head to Bydgoszcz.

The city of Bydgoszcz, located in northern Poland on the Brda and Vistula rivers, has agreed to host the 2010 Plus Camerimage Festival of Cinematography. It is located 45km from Torun, where the festival was based in its formative years. An attractive university city, Bydgoszcz has a famous concert hall, the Filharmonia Pomorska, the Opera Nova opera house, and a hugely successful speedway team. There are flights to Bydgoszcz Ignacy Jan Paderewski Airport from Warsaw, Stanstead, Dublin, Berlin, Krakow, Vienna, Copenhagen and Birmingham.

Cinec 2010.

There will be numerous talks and workshops taking place at Cinec, Germany’s largest fair for cine equipment and technology, from 18 - 20 September 2010 in Munich. While more than 130 companies from 14 countries will demonstrate the current state of the art for film shooting and editing, the seminar programme will focus on two of the subjects the industry is currently most preoccupied by: stereo3D-production and digital workflow. The complete program and schedule will be available on www.cinec.de from end of August, and a preview of the show will be available in our next edition.

Panalight.

Italian film and TV kit rental house, Panalight, a partner of Cinecittà Studios and ARRI, has announced that ARRI’s new Alexa digital cameras will be available in its Rome, Milano and Bucharest outlets. To cope with the changing demands of the market, Panalight has also opened the Panadigital Lab on the Cinecittà lot, enabling filmmakers to discover a wide range of digital cameras and workflow into post production. Also from July, the newest version of Technocrane – the Supertehno 22 – will be added to the company’s inventory, meaning the complete family of Supertechno’s are available from Panalight – from 15 to 50.

New Lab: Panalight has opened a digital camera, workflow and post lab at Cinecittà Studios.

02/07/2010 12:41

The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 040

Cannes Diary 2010.

Is that ash up there? Or is it a strike down here? Friday14th:

Check in with plenty of time to spare at T5 for the BA348 flight to Nice, hoping the ash cloud doesn’t suddenly arrive. After getting through security, my mobile rings and I meet up with Kishor Ladwa of Technicolor in Huxleys restaurant /bar for lunch. We’re joined by Simon Wilkinson, Technicolor MD, and Kish’s colleague. After discussing the state of the industry, and what events are on in Cannes, we start boarding. Until, that is, we are held up by a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, who seems to have boarded with untold pieces of luggage. There could be trouble ahead. Arrive in Nice at 18.30, an hour late due missing the time slot. At the luggage carousel Marilyn is heard screaming at her male(?) companion, that he has lost her computer during the journey. He is seen scurrying off back to the plane. No chance, so he heads for lost property. Didn’t I tell you there would be trouble ahead? I am met at the airport by the ever-charming François Becharef, manager at the Hostellerie du Golf, which has been home-from-home during Cannes for many a year to a lot of the UK’s top facility and service companies, producers, directors and cinematographers. François tells me of the horrific storms and waves that hit the Cote d’Azur the week prior to the Cannes Festival opening, and how the beachside restaurants were only just clearing up. Don’t want to venture too far on first night, so the evening is spent in the company of several Hostellerie residents in a local restaurant we know well, trying to get through hugh portions of mussels, which are the house speciality.

Saturday 15th:

Up early for breakfast in company of Joe Dunton, David Tresize of Hat Factory, Darren Smith and Jackie Rowden of Panalux , and several others including line producer Steve Harding, Gary Stone and Linda Deacy of Ealing Studios, Keith Heeks from Agfa. The traditional game on the first morning is, who can get accredited to the festival and get their badges quickest? Especially as the French authorities seem to change ideas every year to fox us all. This year they have organised the accreditation and Palais formalities to a tee, and really well in my case. I win the race, as am onto the Croisette in five minutes flat. Unheard of in previous years. Heading for the UK Film Centre pavilion in the International Village, I bump into Steve Abbott, producer of Fierce Creatures, and many other films of years gone by. Yes, he of Bradford City FC, ex board member, now board member of the Bradford Film & TV Museum. Moving through the UK Film Centre I am horrified, but pleased at same time, to learn that in the first two days of the festival, our initial supply of British Cinematographer magazine has gone, according to Christine Colvin, who runs the centre. She said they went like hot cakes, but I cannot believe so many went so quickly. On further investigation the next day we find an extra supply of mags, which go to the Kodak pavilion, Pinewood boat, Fuji terrace, Ascent Media boat, Carlton terrace, the Image Forum website launch on Kodak’s boat, plus various other pavilions in the International village, and press office at The Palais. At midday we have arranged to meet all BSC members present in Cannes at the Kodak pavilion, but unknown to us it closes at 12 for a private function. So in haste the venue is switched to the UK Film Centre next door. Kishor invites several people present to lunch at a nearby restaurant, including Alan Church, Simon Giles, Joe Dunton, Dave Tresize, Nikki Spencer, and the discussion soon gets onto 3D shoots, digital vs. film, which gets so interesting (despite a huge downpour outside), that we all forget our main course when leaving two hours later. Never been known before, but they all blame Kishor’s new budget restrictions for entertaining. After a visit to the Cyprus pavilion reception, where Michael Haps film is previewed, the evening is given up to a wonderful Fuji party on the Martinez Terrace. It seems like it is so popular, that half of Cannes is squeezed onto the terrace overlooking the sea, and the evening goes really well. A five-star event, with great food and drinks, hosted by David Honey, Millie Morrow, Jerry Deeney, Rachel Baker and Simon Baxter. Did anyone find out who won the cup final? (Yes, a boring 1-0 to Chelsea.)

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Sunday 16th:

The big event today is the IF (Image Forum) event and launch of their website on the Kodak boat. Dick Pope BSC arrives straight from his red carpet premiere the night before of Mike Leigh’s Another Year, (which received a ten minute standing ovation) a little tired, having got to bed at 2-30am, and fires questions about IF’s website. There is some talk of the F1 Grand Prix in Monaco at breakfast in the Hostellerie, as Dave Tresize and Richard (‘Buffy’) Dunton met a guy the night before offering them a lift from Cannes to the race. The crowd are beginning to arrive at the Kodak boat, and they include a cross section of producers, directors, post facilities and cinematographers, all keen to see the new IF website and hear more about the organisation. IF was formed two years ago by an all-industry committee including Kodak, Panavision, ARRI, Fuji, Ascent Media and Technicolor, in response to the BBC statement and directive that all future programmes be delivered on HD. The industry reaction was, ‘What was wrong with film?’, specifically 16mm, and they believe standards and quality must be maintained to the highest level. The IF members present in Cannes at the event included representatives from half a dozen facilities involved in the formation of the group, and the website was demonstrated by Paul Collard (Ascent) and Thierry Perronet from Kodak, who also hosted proceedings with Julie Taylor Butt, Dan and Sam Clark as a supporting cast on their very nice boat. In the accompanying photos you will see many of the distinguished guests engrossed in the presentations. Just then Richard Dunton received a phone call (it was 1-10pm) – it was the guy James who Buffy and Dave Tresize met the night before, asking if they on for the Monaco trip, as the FI race began at 2pm local time? Well, they looked incredulous, as with 50 minutes to the race start, how were they to get there? ‘Plenty of time, no worries’, he said. ‘Walk to the end of the harbour.’ He had his helicopter warming up on the helipad to transport them to Monaco. They ran to the end of the jetty, only to find the helipad was on other side of harbour. So into a little dinghy they scampered, as a French fisherman gave them a Bond-style race across to the helipad. I cannot describe the rest of their day /night, but they certainly had a fantastic view of the race from a private hotel suite balcony, with drinks and food laid on, then visited the Monaco Beach Club to watch the rich kids spraying bottles of champagne at £500 a bottle over everyone. Recession, what recession? Then on to the Casino, where they were provided with a few chips to chance their luck at the tables. On to Jimmys club party later that night, but when Paris Hilton arrived at 2pm, the quote from Dave and Buffy was they thought they better leave as the tone of the place went down. So into taxis they got for trip back to Cannes, and at 5am they hit their beds. We caught up with them at 9am breakfast to hear this wonderful day in their lives they will never forget. Back to the festival, and next on the agenda was the Women In Film event in UK Film Centre, then back to the Fuji terrace for the Cinecitta Studios/Italian tax breaks launch party. Do those Italians know how to party? Food and drink flowed, with the terrace almost as full as for Fuji’s own event the night before. This event was hosted by Mr Mancini, general director of Cinecitta, and Christina their PR. Larry Smith was in attendance, in deep discussion with Joe Dunton on industry matters, and was heard to quote at the end of the evening that Joe was the most famous person he knew. With so many people stopping to talk to Joe around Cannes, from Cyprus, where he was instrumental in a film being shot recently. to the USA where an actress and other people who knew him from being in his daughter Erica’s film turned up at various events, to Steve Lanning and Denise O’Dell over from Spain, it wasn’t surprising. That is Cannes, you never know who will be there!

02/07/2010 12:41

The Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.thecinematographer.info Issue 040

Monday 17th:

Monday breakfast is quiet, Have the numerous events taken their toll? Well, stand by for another big day in town. I head for the UK Film Centre to make sure the magazines are still being topped up, and deliver some to the Pinewood boat in time for the BDC brunch event, where Julia Kenny (sorry, Hilsdon) hosts, and a number of residents visiting Cannes enjoy the company, including producer Andy Birmingham, and director Murray Gough, here with their latest project. Crowds are moving towards the Kodak pavilion, for the annual lunch, and there is always a great crowd at this event. This year is no exception, with cinematographers, producers, directors and clients spilling onto the terrace, as well as packing the pavilion in the sunshine. A lot of people have afternoon appointments before heading to a new event in the calendar, which is the Ascent Media party on the Five Angels (Barclays)boat. If the crowd and quality of people are anything to go by this will become an annual Cannes fixture. I have not seen crowds on the keyside, nor on board, in such numbers since the famous Panavision, Fuji, Lee boat events of yore. Ascent’s Five Angels party was hosted by Neil Mockler, Paul Collard, Steve Boag, Rob Turpin and others, and it really was a highlight of the day, with Colin Brown, our Film Commissioner, hard at work on the top deck, fielding questions from various people, and facing a cross-section of industry folk looking for answers to the UK film industry’s problems.

Tuesday 18th:

Attendees at Image Forum launch on upper deck of Kodak boat include Jackie Wetheral (producer) Rachel Baker (Fuji) Dan and Sam Clark (Kodak) David Tresize (Hat Factory) Rob Turpin(Ascent) and in foreground Jerry Deeney(Fuji) with Nikki Spencer(producer). Paul Collard (Ascent Media)and Image Forum member explains website technicalities! Attendees enjoy the hospitality and Paul Collards presentation of the Image Forum website on board the Kodak boat in Cannes. Some of guests including Roger Moriss (Elstree Studios) Kishor Ladwa (Technicolor)and Keith Heeks (AGFA) concentrate on the presentations at Image Forum website launch.

News breaks over breakfast that David Webb of Kodak and Ian Robinson of Deluxe have fallen foul of ash clouds and BA strikes, and people begin to change or cancel flights in fear of not getting home the way they came. I sit tight and don’t change my evening flight details, looking forward to another traditional highlight of Cannes – the Technicolor lunch at the Carlton Hotel, which does not disappoint. It is even better food, if possible, than previous years, and definitely seems more crowded, including the two 6ft tall, pink-haired, nose and earringed models having their photos on the terrace with some Spanish visitors. I retire after lunch to the Carlton saloon lounge (literally bumping into the diminutive and delightful Carey Mulligan (An Education) in the foyer, to have tea (yes, Englishman abroad) with Joe Dunton and Steve Lanning putting the world of film to rights. Head to the airport for flight BA349, sharing a taxi with Italian visitors based at Cinecitta, who had been down for the event on Saturday night and still extolling the virtues of Italian tax breaks. Everything on time – no ash or strikes intervene. Cannes had more events this year, in leaner times, than ever before from UK facilities, who are all looking forward to things turning round at home. We can but hope that the influx of USA movies continues, as UK projects and finance seem few and far between. Yours truly Alan Lowne BSC

More presentations by Paul Collard this time to guests Sam Clark (Kodak) standing up and Dick Pope BSC with Andy Birmingham (producer) and Tris Shorthouse (Scottish Screen).

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02/07/2010 12:41

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Who’s Shooting Who? –––Which cinematographers are working on what...

Keeping focus.

Top to bottom: Lester De Havilland on a Google iPhone shoot on location in London, directed by Kit Lynch Robinson. Chris Seager filming with the Red camera on Hamlet. Ben Moulden has a lovely-jubbly time with the hubbly-bubbly shooting the film Shadow Line in Morrocco directed by Matthias Hoene. Paul Lang on Diamond Documentaries’ feature documentary F1, the definitive story of Formula One. Steve Chivers feet taking in the splendid sights of Hong Kong while shooting Ford Fiesta with Scott Lyon. Dominic Bartels shooting Max Factor with Red in Palma Studio. Will Pugh in Johannesburg on the first episode of RAW’s new series Getting Out Alive, the story of the 1986 747 hijacking. Fabian Wagner on the set of The Accused. Operator Xandy Sahla on the set of Downton Abbey. Tim Spence shooting with a long one in Qatar for Oryx The Mill. Steve Chivers filmed the Brandon Flowers video at La Reve, in the Wynn, Las Vegas. Pete Hayns in India shooting Superhumans”for Off The Fence.

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McKinney Macartney Management’s… Balazs Bolygo is in prep for Toast, for director SJ Clarkson through Ruby Films. Ben Butler, Mick Coulter BSC, Denis Crossan BSC, John de Borman BSC, John Lynch, Sebastian Milaszewski and John Pardue have all been shooting commercials. Gavin Finney BSC has completed grading on Reunited, and is currently shooting commercials. Phil Méheux BSC is in New York filming The Smurfs for Raja Gosnell through Columbia Pictures. Having just returned from Morocco where he filmed The Nativity for director Coky Giedroyc, Chris Seager BSC is now grading Joe Maddison’s War. Chris received a BAFTA nomination for best photography and lighting for his work on Hamlet. David Tattersall BSC is filming The Walking Dead with Frank Darabont. Darran Tiernan is in Ireland shooting six episodes of Single Handed 4 with Thaddeus O’Sullivan and Charlie McCarthy directing. Congratulations to Darran who won the excellence in cinematography award at the Amsterdam Film Festival for Parallel Films’ short Cold Turkey. Brian Tufano BSC is shooting Everywhere And Nowhere with Menhaj Huda directing. Fabian Wagner is filming The Accused for David Blair for the BBC, and Felix Wiedemann shot an Iron Maiden promo for Nick Scott and is on a short film project with Julian Gibb through Intro.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Creative Media Management’s… James Friend has shot crime drama Jack Falls, for Kalimasu Productions / Press On Films, starring Danny Dyer and David O’Hara on 16mm. John Rhodes has completed series three of Waybulloo for Foundation TV Productions / BBC. Mike Southon BSC used a D21 on The Little House, a two-part TV drama via TXTV, directed by Jamie Payne, starring Francesca Annis, Lucy Griffiths and Rupert Evans. Mike has also shot Helping Henry, CK Films £3m production which shot at Pinewood, directed by Steve Cookson, with Timothy Spall, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent and Jon Voight amongst the players. Gavin Struthers just completed a stint on the BBC’s Holby City.

United Agent’s… Barry Ackroyd BSC has now finished filming Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus in Serbia, and Alwin Kuchler BSC has completed shooting Joe Wright’s Hanna, ending up in Morocco. Brendan Galvin is filming in Montreal on Tarsem Singh’s Immortals, and new client John Lee has worked with Kevin Macdonald on a trailer for a new project. Tony Slater-Ling is in Majorca until July on Adrian Shergold’s Mad Dogs, a four-parter for Left Bank. David Higgs BSC has finished shooting Peter Kosminsky’s Homeland, which was entirely shot in Israel under “interesting” conditions. Danny Cohen BSC has just worked again with Shane Meadows on the television version of This Is England and will be going straight on to Johnny English 2, directed by Oliver Parker. John Conroy, having recently completed work on the Irish feature film Parked, directed by Darragh Byrne, went on to light Silent Witness, directed by Anthony Byrne, for which he has been asked to do some more episodes in the summer. Paul Sarossy BSC CSC is in Hungary shooting Neil Jordan’s epic series The Borgias. Peter Suschitzky is once again working with director David Cronenberg in Berlin on his new film, A Dangerous Method. Eduardo Serra ASC AFC has finally reached the end of his two-year stint lighting parts 1 and 2 of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows. Grading on Part 1 will commence almost immediately. Haris Zambarloukos BSC is now back from LA and New Mexico where he has been filming Kenneth Branagh’s movie Thor. Marcel Zyskind is attached to Michael Winterbottom’s next film, which is expected to shoot in Israel. Alan Almond BSC continues shooting Ecosse’s third series of Mistresses. Dale McCready has begun prep on the third block of series 3 of Shine’s Merlin. Charlotte Bruus Christensen recently shot BAFTA-winner Martina Amati’s short Chalk Candy in Romania and is busy with commercial work. Carlos Catalan is in Spain, shooting Running With The Bulls for Indian director Zoya Akhtar. His films Cherry Tree Lane and Third Star premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Zac Nicholson has just wrapped This Is England as camera operator and steadicam for Shane Meadows in Sheffield and was presented with a Trailblazer Award in Edinburgh, where his film Skeletons premiered. Alex Melman , Alex Barber, Stephen Blackman, Daniel Bronks, Simon Chaudoir, Stephen Keith-Roach, David Raedeker, Niels Reedtz Johansen, and Simon Richards have all been lighting commercials. Philipp Blaubach has begun prep on the feature The Veteran with Matthew Hope through Insight Films, shooting on location in London. Tat Radcliffe is working on the new BBC Television project The Shadow Line with Hugo Blick in the Isle Of Man, for Company Pictures, and Colin Watkinson is still filming in Montreal on Tarsem Singh’s feature Immortals as second unit DP. Over at Casarotto… James Aspinall continues to shoot This September for Gate Television with director Giles Foster. Over in Chicago, Sean Bobbitt BSC has been shooting a documentary about the real life Wire with director Anthony Wonke. Julian Court is in Italy working with director Chris Menual on a new detective series Aurelio Zen for Leftbank. For the BBC, Florian Hoffmeister is on new legal drama Silk with director Michael Offer, written by Peter Moffat. David Katznelson continues on Carnival’s Edwardian House drama Downton Abbey, with director Brian Percival. Lukas Strebel is on ITV’s The Oaks, with director James Kent, about three families living in the same house in different eras, each being haunted by a strange presence. Wojciech Szepel has wrapped Any Human Heart with director Michael Samuels, currently on location near Barcelona.

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Dinedor Management’s… Peter Thornton won his second Welsh BAFTA for cinematography, this time for Boomerang’s Ryan & Ronnie. John Daly BSC shot Kafka’s Metamorphosis for Attractive Features and Tom Townend has completed Big Talk’s feature Attack the Block. Peter Field has been in Texas to light Riverhorse Entertainment’s feature Doonby. Mike Fox BSC has been shooting short film Trimming Pablo, on Kodak B&W stock for Citizen’s Band. In Germany Martin Fuhrer BSC has prepped the feature Schwestern (Sisters) for Munich based Dreamtool. Steve Buckland and Peter Butler shot the last two episodes of Talkback Thames’s long running drama The Bill, and Steve has gone on to White Van Man for ITV Studios in Manchester. Ian Moss is on Hattie, starring Ruth Jones for Angel Eye Media. Grant Cameron lit a block of River City for BBC Scotland. Jim O’Donnell helped with additional photography on Merlin for Shine. Mike Fox BSC shot The Show Must Go On and interviews with Terry Pratchet both for The Mob, and the documentary War Graves for Darlow Smithson. Whilst in Turkey Garry Turnbull lensed a documentary feature about traditional wrestling for Interfilm in Istanbul. Martin Ahlgren, Pete Ellmore, Ben Filby, Eric Maddison FSF and Tony Brown have been variously on commercials and high profile corporate productions, with Steve Annis and Tom Townend on music videos. Eric Maddison FSF shot the hilarious Hot Chip promo for Colonel Blimp. My Management’s… Robbie Ryan BSC’s filming of Wuthering Heights, via Ecosse Films with director Andrea Arnold, is now looking to start filming at the end of July beginning of August. In the mean time he’s been grading and shooting pick-up days for I Am Slave, directed by Gabriel Range at Potboiler Films. Lester De Havilland has been shooting with director Kit Lynch Robinson on the short films Love Me, Or Else, on super 35 and On The Inside, with director Gavin Knight which was shot on HD with film lenses. Ben Moulden who worked with director Suzie Halewood on the film Bigger Than Ben, will be working together again on a British sci-fi feature called Sector Zero, this time shooting on 35mm anamorphic. Prep starts in August with shooting starting in September on location in London and Spain. Dominic Bartels has just finished shooting a short film Nadia Circus, directed by James Laws at Saloon Prods, using the Red camera ,it’s about Eastern european sex trafficking in London. Roger Boninci’s film Do Elephants Pray, by Paul Hills, has been winning awards at the festivals this year at the Indie Spirit Film Festival Colorado, Santa Cruz Film Festival and it’s also in the official selection at The Phuket Film Festival. Roger has finished filming Bishaash in Bangladesh for the moment, but has been asked to go back for the final episodes in August. Dennis Madden’s horror film The Reeds, directed by Nick Cohen and shot on super 16, was screened at this years Horror Fest in LA. The film about a weekend boating trip through the Norfolk Broads becomes a terrifying, deadly ordeal for six 20 something year old friends. Jo Willems SBC is coming to the end of filming Dark Fields with director Neil Burger. Jallo Faber FSF is prepping on the feature The Hunters II, directed by Kjell Sundvann, shooting will begin in august for nine weeks. Steve Chivers, Ray Coates, Manel Ruiz, John Perez, Nicolaj Bruel, Olivier Cariou, Anders Flatland FNF, Andy Horner, Ekkehart Pollack, Richard Stewart, Simon Archer BSC and Vincent Warin have been shooing commercials and promos. Independent’s DPs… Eigil Bryld is currently shooting an HBO Pilot, Tilda, in the US. Kieran McGuigan has wrapped Chris And His Kind with director Geoff Sax and starring the new Doctor Matt Smith. Henry Braham BSC, Ben Smithard, Fraser Taggart and Ed Wild have been travelling all over the world on commercials. Bjorn Bratberg has recently joined the agency. Ben Davis BSC is midway

through shooting Mikael Hafstrom’s new feature, The Rite, in Hungary and Italy. Benoit Delhomme AFC is lighting Lone Sherfig’s new feature, One Day. Adapted from the David Nicholls novel and starring Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess, it tells the story of Dexter and Emma who meet for the first time during their graduation in 1988 and proceed to meet one day a year for the next 20 years. Eduard Grau is lensing Nick Murphy’s supernatural thriller, The Awakening. Shooting in London and Edinburgh, it stars Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton. Jess Hall BSC is over in the U.S. prepping Ruben Fleischer’s new comedy heist, 30 Minutes Or Less. Martin Kenzie is prepping to light and direct 2nd unit for Oliver Parker on Working Title’s Johnny English 2. Darius Khondji ASC AFC is on Woody Allen’s new romantic comedy, Midnight In Paris, starring Rachel McAdams, Adrian Brody, Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard. Sam McCurdy BSC has completed Richard De Aragues, TT3D, for CinemaNX. Using archive footage along with the latest 3D technology and HD equipment, the film follows the riders as they battle to conquer the infamous Isle of Man TT circuit. Mark Patten has biked to Cannes with the Fireflies 2010 Tour before shooting commercials with Jake Scott. Chris Ross is shooting season two of the BAFTA award winning E4 series, Misfits. Ben Seresin is preparing for Matthew Vaughn’s prequel to the original X-Men trilogy, X-Men: First Class, starring James McAvoy and Aaron Johnson, and Oliver Stapleton BSC has just finished shooting Ellen Perry’s Will. News from Sara Putt Associates is… Nick Dance is in Bristol to shoot series five of Skins for Company Pictures. Pete Edwards is on the children’s series Trapped for BBC. Peter Greenhalgh is out in France completing a block of Merlin directed by David Moore, and Doug Hartington is currently shooting Alan Davies’ Teenage Revolution, and three-part series by Oxford Film & TV for C4. Jan Jonaeus is lighting Song Of Lunch, a dramatised version of Christopher Reid’s poem. Directed by Niall MacCormick and staring Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, it will be transmitted on BBC for National Poetry Day. Paul Lang continues on Diamond Docs F1 Project and was in Canada snapping Jensen Button and Lewis Hamilton. He is then off to Madagascar, Mexico, Sri Lanka, India, Spain and Indonesia for a BBC series about Spice. Dave Marsh is starting on Great Outdoors, a three-part comedy written by Andy Riley, directed by Catherine Morshead for Ruth Jones’ Tidy Productions and BBC. Michael Miles has just wrapped on the feature Peter about Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, shot on 35m, directed by Skip Kite and produced by Stephanie Charmail. Will Pugh is in Munich and Vienna shooting The Art Of Germany for BBC Factual. New arrival Peter Robertson has finished grading on West Is West for BBC Films. Alan Stewart has been doing dallies on director Ellen Perry’s feature Will. Julian Morson continues in Budapest on The Rite for Warner Bros. directed by Mikael Hafstrom. Joe Russell is in the Amazon filming for the Atlantic Rising project. On his return he will be at Glastonbury shooting a project called Mutate Britain, and then goes straight onto the new series of Land Girls for BBC. Des Whelan is prepping as A-camera operator on Captain America for Paramount, and Peter Wignall has begun storyboarding prior to prepping for X Men for 20th Century Fox. Meanwhile over at Digital Garage… Pete Hayns has just returned from the Caribbean, Japan and Morocco after completing Superhumans for Off The Fence. Andrew Mott has been in South Africa covering the World Cup for Football Mondial, and Chris Openshaw is in Egypt shooting Arabian Nights. Presented by Richard E Grant, the documentary for Quickfire Media will be screened on C4. Wizzo Features’… David Luther recently signed and is prepping Accused, written by Jimmy McGovern, shot in Manchester for RSJ Productions, directed by Richard Laxton. Another new addition is Vladimir Subotic who has been shooting 2nd Unit for director Roland Emmerich on the feature film Anonymous, starring Vanessa Redgrave and tells the mysterious story of William Shakespeare’s identity. Erik Wilson has wrapped on the Paddy Considinedirected feature Tyrannosaur and is about to start work on Just William for the BBC. Gary Shaw is shooting the feature Bulla directed by Steve Lawson through Balagan Productions. Damian Bromley is on Spooks directed by Ed Hall. Luke Palmer has been lensing sequences for a documentary on Paralympians, called Inside Incredible Athletes, directed by Mike Christie and produced by Jennifer Burgis through Renegade Pictures for Channel 4. Stuart Bentley is shooting the horror feature Guinea Pigs, directed by Ian Clark through Vertigo Films.

02/07/2010 12:42

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Live & Let DI –––Who’s dialling-in the DI grades

Colour fest. Molinare.

Pepper.

Molinare (all images apart from below): did the DI grading on Pelican Blood, A Man’s Story, Cherry Tree Lane, Soul Boy and The Flaw. Pepper: (3rd from top) Cannes contender, Another Year, was shot by Dick Pope BSC with grade by Jean Claude at Pepper. LipSync: (6th from top) Kick-Ass is one of the films posted by LipSync in Soho.

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Founded 10 years ago, has grown into a well-respected post-production brand with purpose built, state-of-the-art facilities across two sites in Soho. Its Greek Street location houses two Digital Vision Film Master DI grading suites, both equipped with 2K Barco DP90 projectors and Cinespace colour management for the creation of digital intermediates. The larger of the two suites has a 4.5m screen, and was where the DI for Another Year, yet another Cannes contender from director Mike Leigh, was carried out. The film, which has yet to get a UK release date, stars Jim Broadbent, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Peter Wight, David Bradley, Philip Davis and Karina Fernandez. Filmed in Derbyshire, it follows a happily married, middle-aged couple who endure other people’s problems, enjoy their son’s newly-discovered partner, and cope with an unexpected family bereavement over the course of four seasons. It was produced by Thin Man Films, Focus Features, Film 4 and UK Film Council, with Georgina Lowe the producer, and Gail Egan and Tessa Ross the executive producers, and was lit by Dick Pope BSC, an Academy Award and ASC nominee for The Illusionist. Pepper’s senior colourist John Claude was responsible for the DI. Having worked with both the director and cinematographer previously, John Claude says he was “excited” to get them into Pepper’s large DI grading theatre. Pope started by doing stock tests and decided to use Fuji Eterna as, unlike the bright colours that were achieved from Fuji’s Vivid range when shooting Happy-Go-Lucky, this piece was to have a different, more realistic feeling. Another Year is, typically, a dialogue-driven feature, with several interior sequences, often set in the house of the central couple played by Broadbent and Sheen. John Claude’s set-visit proved invaluable in allowing him to understand the layout, and production and lighting design of the house. The film follows the seasons from spring to winter and the colourist played on that in the grade, but in quite a subtle way.

Recently had three of its DI-treated films screened at the Edinburgh International Film Festival – Cherry Tree Lane, Soul Boy and Pelican Blood. Of other films, A Man’s Story looks set to go to Toronto, along with Kings Speech, Ironclad and Africa United. Cherry Tree Lane, directed by Paul Andrew Williams, produced by Ken Marshall and shot by cinematographer Carlos Catalán, is the tale of a couple who are terrorised in their own home by a violent gang of youths hunting their son. It stars Rachael Blake, Tom Butcher and Jennie Jacques. The film was graded by Tim Waller using Baselight. The director was keen to let the DI grade reflect the atmosphere of a normal suburban household and let the story – about the horrific ordeal of an average family held hostage in their own home – tell itself. The shoot took place on location in North London, so space within the house was limited for lighting. The story needed the detail of facial expression and body language in order for the emotion to be realised so Waller used shapes, and Baselight’s clever ‘D key’ facility in order to achieve this. Waller also graded Ipso Facto Films’ Soul Boy, a coming-of-age drama set in the 1970s Northern Soul underground music scene, starring Martin Compston, Alfie Allen and Huey Morgan. It was directed by Shimmy Marcus, produced by Christine Alderson, with Vladimir Trivic the DP. As the film is set in the seventies northern soul dance era, during the grade Waller says he achieved. “a very filmic, aged feel for the story, but without the cliché of a sepia tone”. The grade was set after discussions and test grades with the director, which the director says, “far exceeded my expectations for the movie”. In parts of the movie, archive footage was used during the dance hall sequences , which Waller graded to match the footage taken during the main shoot. Waller is currently grading the Wellington Films and BBF Ltd feature documentary A Man’s Story, highlighting the life and work of the fashion designer Ozwald Boateng. It was directed and lensed by Varon Bonicos, with Rachel Robey and Alastair Clarke producing. The documentary was shot over a 15-year period, and as a result many different formats of camera were used, clearly posing a big challenge for the grader, although looks have been formulated for the main grade. Waller also has his credit on The Flaw, another feature documentary from awardwinning director David Sington, about the underlying causes and consequences of the financial crash, produced by Nina Haines, and shot by DP Clive North. Meanwhile, Molinare’s Gareth Spensely dialled in the DI grades for Ecosse Films’ Pelican Blood, directed by Karl Golden, with Robert Bernstein, Douglas Rae, and John McDonnell producing, and Darran Tiernan the cinematographer. Starring Harry Treadaway, Emma

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Booth and Arthur Darvill, Pelican Blood tells the story of Nikko, a young man living in London, who, following a disastrous break up with his girlfriend, Stevie, takes life one day at a time, throwing all his energy into his hobby: bird spotting. Just as life becomes bearable Stevie arrives back on the scene, causing a rift between Nikko and all his friends who warn him she will destroy him. They are fully aware of how the couple first met: on a suicide website, pledging they will “end it all together”. As their intense and disturbing connection resumes, the relationship between Nikko, Stevie, his friends and his hobby are thrown into questionable chaos. Speaking about the DI on the film, director Golden said, “Myself and Darren, the cinematographer, were really keen to capture the beautiful golden colours of autumn which ,of course, tonally really worked for the story we were telling. So that was really the first ambition with the grade – to bring out the freshness and appeal of our character’s adventures in the countryside, and the world of birdspotting. That world needed to feel like an absolute escape from the deliberately more gritty London scenes. At the same time, we didn’t want it to feel forced and too heightened, as there was a wonderful natural style to the cinematography and performances. The phrase we came up with to describe the look was “unpolished brass”. We also worked very closely with Gareth on ensuring the film had a genuine warmth to it, this is a love story after all. I wanted the grade to really allow the audience engage with the intimacy on screen. The grade has certainly intensified every aspect of the story.”

LipSync Post.

Has invested in a range of new equipment and major upgrades for its audio, VFX and DI departments. The investment, worth approximately £400,000, demonstrates LipSync’s continuing confidence despite the shaky economy, and its ongoing commitment to provide clients with the latest technology available. Jon Diamond, MD of the LipSync group, said, “this investment underlines our commitment to remain at the forefront of the UK post market.” In the audio department, LipSync has upgraded all its Avid Pro Tools systems to version 8, and has installed new HD projectors in each of its mixing theatres. Its in-demand VFX department is now equipped with 20 additional 2D compositing licenses, and has also expanded its

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render farm by 30%. The DI department has new 3D stereo software across three suites– two Quantel Pablo systems and one Quantel iQ system, plus a JVC stereo monitor. LipSync is seeing a marked upsurge in 3D interest, with two projects completed and formal discussions progressing on several new 3D productions. Recent feature projects completed include Kick-Ass, Fantastic Mr Fox, Nowhere Boy, and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

Light Illusion’s.

Gamma curve technology was employed by DP Ulf Soderqvist to maximise the capture capabilities of Canon’s 5D and 7D cameras, which he used to shoot independent comedy And They’re Off, about a failed horse trainer desperately trying to get back into the winners circle. The film was directed by Rob Schiller, and penned by Alan Grossbard, with Grossbard, Pamela Fryman and Howard Bolter the producers. Soderqvist said, “The bulk of the film was shot outside, and in many of the scenes we had situations where the range of exposure was quite extreme. Using the super-flat Light Illusion curve helped me to capture scenes that would have required quite a bit bigger lighting package, bigger crew and more days.” The Light Illusion Canon gamma curves were developed on the back of the successful Sony CineAlta Gamma Curves that Light Illusion has made available. “Making curves for the Canon cameras was not an our initial intention”, said Steve Shaw, CEO of Light Illusion, “but we were inundated with requests, and after some experimentation and testing came up with a batch of three curves that do seem to be being well received.”

The Farm.

Has added a third Nucoda Film Master to its Nucoda grading suites. The new system, which includes full stereoscopic functionality and an advanced toolset, will be used for 3D projects in the summer by the facility’s renowned colourists, including Aidan Farrell.

Company 3’s.

DI colorist and company founder, Stefan Sonnenfeld, has brought his colour grading prowess to a number of the season’s major motion pictures, including Nightmare On Elm Street, Get Him To The Greek, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Meet the New Wave –––Stuart Biddlecombe Cinematographer

Green folk.

Filmography (so far): Ironclad (2nd Unit) (2010), The Kid (2nd Unit) (2010), Soulboy (2nd Unit) (2010), Beyond The Pole (2009), Mad Sad & Bad (2009) and Dubplate Drama (2009) BCine40.indd 18

When did you discover you wanted to be a cinematographer? It must have been in the late ‘80s when I was around 10 years old. My brothers and I were lucky enough to have access to our dad’s Betamax camcorder and his ancient Super 8 camera. We used to make the opening of Star Wars using cardboard cutouts for planets, fishing line to make our toys fly and table lamps to illuminate our scenes. I remember quite vividly thinking that it would be great to do this for a living. Where did you train? I graduated from the National Film & Television School in 2003. It was a great place to learn the foundations of cinematography. One of the beauties of our profession, however, is that we are constantly learning, constantly adapting our styles and techniques to meet the demands of scripts. What are you favourite films? My favourites frequently change. Currently they include Roger Deakins’ The Assassination Of Jesse James and his equally striking No Country For Old Men. However, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining and 2001 – A Space Odyssey shot by John Alcott and Geoffrey Unsworth respectively are always very near the top of the list. Purely for their beautiful and iconic imagery, they are movies I regularly return to for inspiration and encouragement. What’s the best advice you were ever given, and from whom? “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly” and “It’s not rocket science” from Brian Tufano BSC. Who are your DP/industry heroes? Brian Tufano BSC for his never-ending generosity in sharing his knowledge and understanding of the craft. Roger Deakins BSC ASC for his consistently inspiring work, and Seamus McGarvey BSC for his ever-adapting style. Have you won any awards? Best Cinematography, Kodak Commercial Competition. What’s you proudest moment? Whilst shooting 2nd unit on Ironclad, being told by the main unit DP, David Eggby ACS, that our rushes looked like a Rembrandt. Tell us about your best moment on set? On the set of Ironclad, we were shooting a fairly complicated stunt sequence involving a character being shot in the back whilst she was running across the castle set. We had mortars and multiple air cannons going off, both cameras were handheld on a Western Dolly. Whilst not being particularly challenging for me, I just couldn’t wipe the smile from my face.

And your worst moment on set? The worst moment on any set for me is at the end of the day, the light is dropping and we have still have the reverse to shoot. Tell us your most hilarious faux pas? Not really a faux pas but hilarious for all but me, in front of the cast and crew, walking head first into a patio window. Away from work, what are your greatest passions? My partner Marte, my family and my allotment. All of which take the brunt of my long and unsociable hours. What one piece of kit could you not live without? My Sekonic L608c light meter of course, but almost as indispensable, my Mark V viewfinder and my gaffers glass. What’s weirdest place you’ve ever shot in? I was shooting a documentary in Zimbabwe, without the appropriate permits, and we stumbled by accident into Robert Mugabe’s birthday party. Needless to say we didn’t hang around long. What’s the hardest shot/thing you’ve had to light/frame? By far the hardest scene I have ever shot was a in a hall of mirrors. It was virtually impossible to place anything, anywhere without it being seen, couple it with a Steadicam and we very nearly had a disaster. Tell us your hidden talent? I grow my own veg. In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would you love to have shot? 2001 – A Space Odyssey. What are your current top albums? My parents had a penchant for folk music and much to my embarrassment it has rubbed a little on to me. Roddy Woomble’s album My Secret Is My Silence and Mumford and Sons’ Sigh No More are my guilty pleasures. What’s the best thing about being a DP? Working with a director and a small army of talented, creative individuals, all collaborating together, striving to make perfect visuals for a great script. The travelling is quite nice too. What’s the worst thing about being a DP? Being away from my family and my own bed. Which three adjectives best describe you and your approach to cinematography? Honest. Cinematic. Open. If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing now? A gardener perhaps, or more probable, a photojournalist. What are your aspirations for the future? Working on projects that will challenge, inspire and engage.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Camera Creative –––Wally Pfister ASC Inception Inception 01: Leonardo DiCaprio stars in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ sci-fi action film Inception.

Encore performance.

Nolan cast Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role, and had long discussions with the actor, whom he credits with contributing important ideas for using his character’s feelings as a way to pull audiences deeper into the story on an emotional level. The star-studded cast includes Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph GordonLevitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Tom Hardy and Michael Caine. Describing it as an ambitious endeavour is a considerable understatement. Scenes were filmed in Japan, Morocco, France, Canada, the United States and England. They range from strolls down city streets to a breathtaking ride on skis down a snow covered slope and surrealistic journeys inside of dreams. “We can do amazing things on a set pretending to be in Morocco,” Emma Thomas says, “but the energy feels different when we are shooting at real locations. There is something almost indescribable.” Dream sequences were filmed on sets at Cardington Studio, including the former zeppelin hangar where scenes for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were produced. Gaffer Cory Geryak and first assistant Bob Hall, who are longtime collaborators, travelled to all locations with Pfister.

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Christopher Nolan, Wally Pfister, ASC and producer Emma Thomas have collaborated on the creation of another breathtaking motion picture. Inception follows in the wake of Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. The Warner Bros. film revolves around Dom Cobb, a criminal mastermind who has invented a way to invade people’s dreams and steal their most precious secrets, writes Bob Fisher.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Format and kit

Nolan and Pfister discussed producing Inception in the 65mm IMAX format they used while filming The Dark Knight, however they agreed that would have been impractical, because of the many “runaround” handheld shots envisioned. The visual grammar they created was produced with a blend of shots in 65mm and 35mm anamorphic formats augmented with VistaVision aerial images. They also used a Photosonics camera to record ultra-slow motion images for dream scenes. The camera package provided by Panavision included 35mm Panaflex MXL and ARRI 235 bodies, with a complete set of anamorphic lenses, Panaflex 65 mm Studio and Spinning Mirror bodies, and a full range of lenses. Pfister had Kodak Vision 3 500T 5219 negative on his palette for night and interior scenes, and Vision 3 250D 5207 and Vision 2 50D 5201 for daylight exteriors. He and Nolan generally covered scenes with a single camera. The exception to that rule were action sequences where two or more cameras provided coverage from different perspectives. Pfister is a former news cameraman who generally does his own handheld shots. He made certain the cast knew he had their interests at heart. “Wally and I really started to hit it off when we started talking about music,” Gordon-Levitt says. “He’s a great guitarist. He brought me to a blues bar in England where he played the guitar and I backed him up on drums. You can see his musicianship in his camera work. His use of a handheld camera was almost like having another character in scenes. … You can feel the movement link with his timing and rhythm.” Other scenes were filmed with cameras on a Steadicam and a Technocrane. Shots filmed in 65mm format ranged from crowd scenes on city streets to an intimate sequence where a character is visiting his dying father. The higher resolution images are like a magnet that draws the audience into the emotions of that sequence. Aerial scenes were filmed in VistaVision format, which Paramount Pictures used to produce The Rose Tattoo and other motion pictures during the 1950s. Images are recorded on 35mm film that is eight rather than four perforations long, and the film runs horizontally through the camera. Pfister explains that the higher resolution images “jump off the screen, and give added clarity to shots with intricate details.” They filmed slow-motion sequences with a Photosonics camera, frequently at 1,000 or more frames per second. The camera was initially used during the 1960s and ‘70s as a tool for photo instrumentation applications, ranging from studying the dynamics of how machines work to documenting launchings of NASA space vehicles.

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Inside dreams

Nolan says that the idea for a story about what happens inside of dreams has been percolating in his fertile imagination since he was 16 years old. “I read a script for Inception sometime after we made Insomnia (2002),” Thomas recalls. “Chris had only written 80 pages. Either the timing wasn’t right or Chris didn’t feel that he had gotten the story to the place he wanted. We went on to other projects. After we finished The Dark Knight (2008), Chris and I were talking about what should come next. He pulled the 80 pages out of the drawer, and said, I think it will work.” Nolan gave Pfister the script for Inception to read in February, 2009. “I was blown away,” Pfister recalls. “It had a lot of emotion packed into it. In our first discussion, I asked Chris how he wanted audiences to see dreams on the screen. He said that he wanted them to feel real with an enhanced sense of time. Chris said that a 10-minute dream can feel like it’s a day long while you are experiencing it. The slow-motion imagery helps to create an existential feeling.” Pfister visited locations that scouts found in the various cities. They ranged from a helipad on a rooftop in Tokyo to city streets in Paris and Morocco and the ski slope in Canada. After visiting the latter location, Pfister recruited cinematographer Chris Patterson who has specialised in shooting skiing films for 18 years. “Chris has mastered the art of shooting handheld shots while skiing,” he says. Dream sequences filmed in Los Angeles include one at a vertical lift bridge which links the harbour to an island. While the bridge is rising to allow a ship to sail under it, a van crashes through a barrier and falls off the edge of the bridge into the ocean. The shot of the car falling off the edge of the bridge into the ocean was filmed in slow motion. The production team spent about two months shooting scenes in London, mainly on sets at Cardington Studio and in a former zeppelin hangar.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Physical effects

“(Special effects supervisor) Chris Corbould played a crucial role in the design of sets used for physical effects shots,” Pfister says. “One set was an elevator shaft where an explosion is followed by a ball of fire coming up from the bottom in slow motion.” Another set is a nightclub where Cobb is telling Fischer (played by Murphy) that they are inside a dream where he controls what happens. As Cobb stands up, the light coming through a window shifts from a warm sunset to a cool, dark cloudy look while the nightclub begins to tilt at a 30-degree angle. Pfister explains that it is a non-verbal way of telling the audience they are witnessing a dream. “We used a 20K with double CTS filters outside a window on the set to create an orange sunset look,” Pfister says. “We used diffusion to darken the light as the set tilted and glasses and plates began sliding off the bar and tables.” He makes it sound simple, but his collaboration with the gaffer and effects team is a subtle way of telling the audience they are witnessing Cobb spying on a dream. A fight scene was staged in a 160-foot long hallway set which rotated 360 degrees, while Arthur, portrayed by Gordon-Levitt, is attacked by several people. “A classic shot in 2001 inspired this scene,” Pfister says. Arthur and his attackers seem to be walking on the walls and ceiling. It was a physical effect shot. Gordon-Levitt and the stunt men playing his attackers were suspended by wires and the camera was on a Technocrane which rotated with the set. “We had a few small LED lights built into the floor and ceiling,” Pfister says. “We had to keep them cool, so the actor or stunt men wouldn’t be burned if they accidentally stepped on or touched one.” Another shot was made in a second rotating hallway set where the camera was on a track that was hidden by the carpet on the floor. The camera dollied in tune with the action while the set was rotating. Pfister lauds stunt coordinator Tom Struthers, Corbould and the visual effects team led by Paul Franklin at Double Negative in London for helping to make the physical effect shots transparent. It was a global endeavor in every way. Imagica in Tokyo, LPC in Paris, and Technicolor in London and Los Angeles handled front-end lab work, including film dailies. Nolan and Pfister share a belief that watching dailies projected on film with the cast and crew is an important part of the creative process. Pfister timed Inception with David Orr, a longtime collaborator at Technicolor. The film is being released in both traditional 35 mm film and IMAX formats. The conversion to IMAX was done at DKP 70MM Inc., an IMAX facility in Santa Monica, California.

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How the legacy began...

Christopher Nolan was a Super 8mm film aficionado and enthusiastic movie fan during his youth. He studied English literature during his student years at University College in London. That’s where he met Emma Thomas, his future wife and filmmaking partner. “Studying English literature got me thinking about the narrative freedom that authors have enjoyed for centuries,” Nolan says. “It seemed to me that filmmakers should enjoy those freedoms as well. Emma and I were members of the university film society. We showed 35mm feature films during the school year and used the money earned from ticket sales to produce 16mm films during the summers.” Following was their first feature-length film. Nolan wrote the script, directed and shot the B&W drama. Thomas was one of the producers. Their film played at festivals, including Slamdance in Utah. Maybe it was destiny calling. Nolan saw The Hi-Line at the nearby Sundance Festival. “It was a beautifully executed film that clearly had a limited budget,” Nolan says. “I had to meet the guy who shot it.” The guy was Wally Pfister, ASC who was also in the dawn of his career. The rest of this story is history that is still in the making. “It’s an incredible relationship which has evolved over the years,” Thomas says. “I love watching them work together. There is sort of magic on set. There is no hesitancy or miscommunications. I’m not saying they don’t discuss options. They spend a lot of time discussing the script and what is right for the movie. Wally has a great sense of story. Working on films with the two of them is a dream for me, because apart from the fact that they create magic together, they are super-fast, and there is no drama between them, because of the mutual respect they have for each other.”

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Close Up –––Erik Wilson Submarine

Cinema fans enjoy the obvious and not so obvious connections between films. The links between two greatly anticipated productions – coming-of-age comedy Submarine and the gritty tale of redemption Tyrannosaur – are more intriguing than could be hoped. Each, respectively, is the feature directing debut of high profile actors Richard Ayoade and Paddy Considine and, tying the knot tighter, Considine appears in Submarine, which introduced him to man who ended up shooting both movies, DP Erik Wilson. The cinematographer himself cites producer Diarmid Scrimshaw as a key factor, as he produced the Artic Monkeys’ Live At The Apollo concert film and Cornerstone video, both directed by Ayoade and involving Wilson, as well as Considine’s Tyrannosaur. But there is no connection between the films in their subject matter and certainly none in how they were shot and the visual styles. Submarine was adapted by Ayoade from the novel by poet Joe Dunthorne. It stars Considine and Sally Hawkins, with Craig Roberts as Oliver Tate, a 15-year old with two major aims – to lose his virginity and stop his parents splitting up. This sounds a quintessentially suburban English suburban scenario but Ayoade, who is best known as the super geek Moss in The IT Crowd, and Wilson took inspiration for the look from elsewhere. “Richard had very clear ideas about many aspects of the visuals for the film,” comments Wilson. “We watched a lot of films for reference, most of them coming from 1970s French cinema.” These included the character studies of Francois Truffaut and Eric Rohmer’s comedies of manners. Another influence was the cinematography of Nestor Almendros, who photographed several Truffaut films, including The Man Who Loved Women (1977), and Pauline At The Beach (1983) for Rohmer, as well as Terrence Malick’s Days Of Heaven (1978). From this Ayoade and Wilson decided to light as little of Submarine as possible, an intention which he says does have echoes of the Dogme school of Danish filmmaking. On the face of it this makes sense, as Wilson is Scandinavian (he explains that his surname comes from a stray Scotsman who went to Norway in the 1850s), but he does not see much Nordic influence on his work. The spur for Wilson in choosing filmmaking as a career came from a friend sending him a pamphlet for the London International Film School. “When I got there I realised that it was what I wanted to do,” he says. His own style, Wilson says, is not naturalistic or Dogme. “The only similarity with Dogme on Submarine was not using conventional movie lighting and relying on natural light,” Wilson explains. “I like when something has been added to, beautified or heightened, although not in the Michael Bay over the top way.” As much as possible of Submarine was shot using natural light and where there had to be lighting, as in the school scenes, either existing fluorescents were replaced or switched off or other bulbs brought in. The heightened, beautified look comes from diverse visual styles and different types of cameras and recording media. An Arriflex Lite, hired from Take 2 Films and running Kodak Expression 500 stock with a “nice old Canon lens”, was used for the main 35mm shoot, but mixed in with this is Super 8, Video8 and VHS-C.

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More controversial was an ARRI IIC, the old, small 35mm camera favoured by Stanley Kubrick, who used one on all his films from A Clockwork Orange (1971) onwards. “We found one somewhere,” says Wilson, “and no one wanted us to use it but Richard said ‘We have to use this.’ So we always had it with us on a tripod and used it for scenic shots, which we did at the weekends. It jumps a bit and is very noisy but the pictures are wonderful and a lot of what we shot on it is in the film.” Tyrannosaur is different to Submarine in all respects. Shot digitally using the Red One and a Canon 5D still camera in video mode, the film, starring Peter Mullan, Olivia Colman and Eddie Marsan, tells the story of a relationship between a self-destructive man and a abused women, although Wilson says the tone and design, by Simon Rogers, is redolent of a Western. Paddy Considine has had a long working relationship with director Shane Meadows and as he wrote as well as directed Tyrannosaur, Wilson was expecting something along similar “hard core social drama, improvised” lines to Meadows’ work. “But it’s not like that at all,” he says, “although it is set on a council estate and some of it is not nice. There’s one handheld sequence but apart from that everything is extraordinarily simple - a lot of it is two people talking to each other. Paddy knew what he wanted to do, some of it was shot in one take and everything was right.” The Red One, in the new 4.5k widescreen setting, was selected to fit the budget but Wilson says because it is not suited to shooting night exteriors something else had to be used as well. “We did some tests on the 5D at Framestore, showing footage on the big screen,” he comments, “and it looked like really good HD. It doesn’t look in any way amateurish and what was shot on it is integrated with the Red footage so no one will notice.” Lens were the Cooke Optics Panchro, but this time Wilson says there was more emphasis on lighting. The main lamps were 4ks but he also specified a 2.5k HMI Octodome for a big, soft effect. “It was the one thing I knew I needed,” he explains, “and I used it on probably every shot. It’s my new love!” Clearly Erik Wilson enjoys experimenting with technology and his next project gives him another opportunity to do that, even though it is slightly unlikely material: a new adaptation of the Just William stories for the BBC. This version will be shot on the new Sony SRW-9000 HDCAM SR camcorder, which will be a fresh experience for Wilson: “You shoot a flat image and then do everything in the grade afterwards, so I will have to capture as much as I can.” While he is pleased that Just William is something his daughter will be able to watch, there is no word on whether Violet Elizabeth Bott’s lisp, censored from the 1994 BBC production, will feature in all its horror this time.

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Close Up –––Philippe Ros Océans

Capturing marine life across 54 countries in three and a half years with the aim “to be in phase with the animals, a dolphin among dolphins”, Océans is an ecological drama/documentary. The film boasts incredible shots topside by Luc Drion SBC, Christophe Pottier, Laurent Charbonnier and underwater by cinematographers Didier Noirot, René Heuzey, David Reichert and Yasushi Okumura. For the film’s digital imaging director, Philippe Ros AFC, sourcing and customising the right cameras and pulling all the footage together from each DP to create a workflow for such an epic production were the main tasks. While this article focuses on his challenges only, Ros is at pains to explain that his role was one of many, and he adds that some of the DPs involved in the production risked their lives to capture astonishing aerial and underwater shots never before captured on camera. Ros’s past work has included customising 35mm cinemascope motorbike cameras for the Tour De France, and it was his ability to find the right tools and workflow for a production that brought him to the attention of two French directors Jacques Perrin and Jacques Cluzard back in 2003. “They talked about dealing with an underwater world and an Imax release… so I knew very early on that I would need to start with the exhibition requirements and work backwards,” says Ros. Ros was given a total of nine months to prepare for the project, before shooting started back in 2005. According to Ros, the directors were a little surprised when he told them that the most important person on their project was going to be the colourist. “They felt it was a bit like swimming against the tide,” Ros recalls, “but I knew that if the post production was sorted out it would save time later,” he says, adding that the film’s executive producer, Olli Barbé of Galatée Films played a key role in supporting Ros’s vision, driving the project “into the digital world”. Ros’s main concern was that he knew that all of the underwater footage would have to be shot digitally and a big challenge was going to be how this would look blown up on an IMAX print. Another challenge would be finding a way to seamlessly match up digital footage with 35mm. A direct line of communication between the underwater cameramen and the colourist therefore, would need to be set up early on in the production. With these factors in mind Ros assessed his camera options. The directors were keen to use film, and 35mm is used in all above sea shots and slow motion sequences, but Ros had to persuade them that for underwater sequences digital cameras would be a better choice. “While they could see the time benefits for shooting digital they didn’t like the common ‘video’ look,” he explains. According to Ros, compromises had to be made considering three elements: size, weight and quality. “We chose Sony’s HDW-F900 because it was able to give the underwater filming team 48 minutes of uninterrupted filming time (as opposed to six minutes at a time on film in 3-perf). “The camera and u/w housing also weighed under the maximum weight we’d set ourselves of 40kgs and the 900/3 version allowed us to create our own user gamma curves.” Ros adds that he knew the ability to create gamma curves, introduced by Sony in 2004 just before the film went into pre-production, would be the solution to matching up the 35mm by allowing him to increase the dynamic range of the video footage and suppress the video look - a process known as solarisation.

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“With Olivier Garcia from HDSystems and Christian Mourier, Sony engineer and creator of the Hypergammas, we designed a gamma curve trying to imitate film stock after scanning making it easier to match. With digital, an image’s highlights are clipped, there’s not much detail so we designed a curve to soften the highlights,” he explains, adding that this approach gives the colourist much more flexibility in post. Underwater camera operators were given housed cameras with a choice of gammas and settings, which were linked to visibility and how deep they were shooting. As Ros points out: “Blue sea at 10-25m might be very different from blue sea at 0-10m.” The DPs were also asked to check back at the hotel each section of footage they worked on - detailing their choice of settings and reasons for taking them. These were then added to the camera’s memory – with a total of 25 different choices recorded overall. Ros called these choices “digital stocks”. These online shooting reports were sent to the postproduction and editing rooms allowing Ros and the colourists to scope, note and, where possible, correct any potential problems during the production stage. In addition to devising the workflow, Ros also worked as a DP for the underwater night shoots where his main challenge was to simulate a realistic nighttime set to track crabs and very small sea creatures in and among a natural coral reef off New Caledonia. “It was impossible to film all the close up sequences on location because it would have been impossible to follow some little animals. The solution to have a lighting continuity between natural reef and tanks, was to use a floating culcoloris – a frame with holes in it designed to create a ‘moonlight effect’ from lamps that were positioned remotely,” he explains. Establishing shots were taken in New Caledonia and then these scenes were later recreated for medium and close up shots in an Australian tank where a coral reef has been created 20 years ago and a 25cm deep tank created in the Australian studio of marine biologist and cinematographer Richard Fitzpatrick. Two moving aluminium culcoloris were placed between the tank and the lamps to recreate the same lighting effect (devised by gaffer Paul Johnstone) while a cooling system was also used to cool the water temperature, which, thanks to the lighting, often reached 50 degrees. Inside the tank, in and among the coral, creatures were tracked and followed using a special crane developed by Louma Systems. The crane has a telescopic arm with a digital F23 camera and an underwater Innovision Prob lens attached to it, with the lens immersed in the water. Once again, Ros assured that the gamma curve in the camera was adapted to the lighting and the set. According to Ros, some of the animals caught on camera were only 2cm tall, and can be seen swimming at great speed in and out of the rocks. Ros also managed to capture, in all its glorious detail, a crab being wiped out by a shrimp-like creature called a Manta Squille. Even smaller creatures were caught on camera thanks to a system called Microscope developed in conjunction with Hervé Theys, an engineer at Hdsystems. The system consists of a Sony F23 camera attached to one channel of a Zeiss stereo microscope placed on a set of cranks, which is able to shoot move around a table and zoom in and track tiny microscopic organisms of just 50 microns in length. “I was able to catch footage of a Lobster egg as well as the eye of a young lobster and Olivier Garcia from HDSystem designed gamma curves to save all the highlights,” says Ros. The Microscope also allowed Ros to light a single drop of water for an end sequence, which forms an important part of the film’s narrative device. Ros spent many hours after the shoot with the grading’s art supervisor, Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC, on the 17 weeks of grading that Océans required. Ros was able to pass on his knowledge of every shot and decision taken thanks to the detailed online shooting reports he had compiled with the help of his underwater crew. After the grade Ros also attended a five-day session of with colourist Laurent Desbrueres at post production house CMC-Digimage Cinema. The main challenge was to match up the grain of film materials with the HD footage, harmonise the noise level of digital materials, and defocus and refocus shots to match up the sharpness of the video material with the 35mm footage. Ros is proud to add that of the 960 shots chosen by the directors and editor, only four proved to be a poor match. He says: “Océans’ production set up gave us more freedom to work with the colour grading. When the audience watches the film, never for a second will they wonder about the origin of its footage.”

02/07/2010 12:43

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Close Up –––James Friend Ghost

Principal photography on Ghost (working title), the feature film debut from writer/director Craig Viveiros (Vengeance) completed recently in London. The film stars an awardwinning cast led by John Lynch (Sliding Doors, Mo), Martin Compston (Red Road, Sweet Sixteen), David Schofield (Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator), Craig Parkinson (Four Lions, Control) and Art Malik (The Wolfman, True Lies), who also has an executive producer role. A Motion Picture House and London Film & Media production, Ghost is produced by Rupert Bryan (Baseline). It tells a story of survival inside a British prison. Jack (Lynch) has kept his head down and almost done his time. But his family life on the outside is falling apart; he lost his son in an accident a year ago, and now his wife is leaving him. The only thing that keeps him from going under is the arrival of a new young prisoner, Paul (Compston). With the help of his cellmate Ahmed (Malik), Jack tries to protect Paul from the sadistic attention of violent wing-king Clay (Parkinson). But as they learn more of each other’s lives on the outside, it becomes clear that Paul may have a closer connection to Jack than he could ever imagine. The film was shot by 24-year old cinematographer James Friend, whose burgeoning list of credits include Expose, Martin Kemp’s directorial feature film debut, and Just For The Record, a music industry mockumentary starring Ric Mayall, Danny Dyer and Steven Berkoff, directed by Steve Lawson. Friend graduated as an electrical engineer before working under the tuition of renowned cinematographer Paul Wheeler BSC GBCT FKBS. He gained experience working on short films and television, and is currently in pre-production on Big Cats!, his tenth feature film, which will shoot at Pinewood Studios. Friend’s long-term collaborator Viveiros, also equally young at 23, initially developed the idea for a short film that he had written and the pair were going to shoot it during 2009. (Viveiros began his film career in the camera department working his way up through the ranks, and at 19 directed his first short film Stereostep for C4, followed by Back to Back, which received wide critical praise.) However, Viveiros and Friend both felt that they couldn’t do the story the justice that it deserved in under 20 minutes. So when a feature film project they were both attached to in January 2010 was pushed back, they saw a window of opportunity and moved forward on their passion project. “Ghost was a story we were both really keen on telling,” says Friend. “Set entirely in a prison, it seemed to be a fascinating and foreign environment to create, with so many possibilities to use the surroundings to help carry the story, as well as one of the most intriguing places to photograph.” Viveiros locked himself away in the countryside, and turned the script around at an alarming rate – less than a week. “We had already approached film producer Rupert Bryan (The Hike) and Art Malik (Vengeance), with whom we had both recently collaborated, and asked them if they would support us,” says Friend. “I will never forget when the four of us sat together in a room for the first time late one night, with the script that was less than a week old, and it became very apparent that this film was going to get made - and soon.” Because of the nature of the story, the film is set almost entirely in a prison, and therefore has only one principle location. Shooting took place on a sound stage in Merton Studios, where the production designer Danny Rogers amended the prison set to the director and cinematographer’s specifications. The production also shot for a week on location and a day on U-stage at Pinewood.

Close Ups were written and researched by Ron Prince, Kevin Hilton and Ann Marie Corvin

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When asked about creative inspirations and references, Friend remarks, “My main personal inspiration was the breathtaking work of both Rob Hardy and David Higgs BSC’s on the Red Riding trilogy. But Craig and I didn’t really look at any prison movies for inspiration. Many others have been done so well, and we were conscious that we really wanted to try something new. The closest reference was a documentary about prison made by prisoners, using a DV camera and shot in entirely available light. We wanted this film to look as natural as possible. The most challenging aspect of photography was Craig asking me to ‘light the space to look as if it was not lit’. He also handed me a distressed Polaroid that he had taken on a night train pulling into Victoria station. We took the rest from the pages of the script and our instincts. “In the pre-light, I was dreaming of my 18mm symmetrical wide of the wing with the perspective of all the practical fluorescents above each cell door. But Craig wouldn’t let me. He said, ‘Your wide is on a 75mm, handheld back here panning across the wing with people crossing the foreground, and our lead character framed on the extreme hard right’ It worked beautifully.” To maintain tension throughout the piece, less than a dozen shots in the entire film were shot on sticks, crane or dolly, the vast majority being handheld on long lenses. “We wanted an uneasy, unsettling feel that would passively distress the audience,” he explains. “Even in the more light-hearted scenes we didn’t want the audience to forget were they were. It is a challenge to actively destroy the natural beauty of a scene. With Gaffer Sol Saihati, I designed a lighting plan almost entirely lit from above. We wanted to be extremely selective about which scenes we would be able to see the character’s eyes and, when appropriate sometimes shot in complete darkness.” In terms of cameras, lenses and aspect ratio, he says his preferred format would have been Super 16mm, but the format decision was mainly financially motivated. “Our chosen format was the Red One 4k camera with a 240:1 aspect ratio. It is a system that Craig and I are familiar with and allowed us to get very close to the images that we were shooting by creating a ‘look’ in camera. My lenses of choice were the Cooke S4’s. I use them almost religiously. They handle subtle softness on skin tones beautifully and still allow me to sharply render the images.” As a cinematographer it is rare to witness the conception of a project and see it all the way to the end. Friend says the most rewarding aspect of this film is that he was able to do so with so many great filmmakers. “I feel it is by far the most collaborative experience of my career so far.” Friend is full of praise for the team around him, and key service providers. “I simply could not have achieved the visuals on the film without a brilliant crew. A-camera operator Danny Bishop took on the immensely physical task of five weeks handheld, with scenes moving through the entire wing being common. His energy and passion were unrivaled on set. Our gaffer, Sol, designed a system almost entirely controlled from a lighting desk, giving me a massive amount of flexibility. Also, without the endless support from John Buckley and Dave Palmer at MovieTech, and Mark Greaves at Panalux, we simply would not have been able to achieve the levels of visuals on this picture that we have ended up with.”

02/07/2010 12:43

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Close Up –––Natasha Braier The Milk Of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada) If you were lucky enough to catch La Teta Asustada/The Milk Of Sorrow at the cinema recently, then the textural, painterly quality of the imagery will be something that will live on in the mind, as much as the extraordinary story. The film, Oscar-nominated as the best foreign language film this year, and winner of the Berlinale’s Golden Bear in 2009, also garnered its cinematographer, Natasha Braier, the prestigious Golden Camera 300 Award at the Manaki Brother’s Festival of Cinematography – a gong she collected from Billy Williams OBE BSC. The surreal drama, written and helmed by up-andcoming Peruvian director Claudia Llosa, is suffused with visual symbolism and metaphors, and deals with the subjects of rape, war, gender equality, fear and humanity. It stars Peruvian actress Magaly Solier as Fausta, a young woman with a strange illness transmitted through her mother’s breast milk, the result of a terrible violation when pregnant with Fausta during the civil war. Although the war has ended, Fausta still suffers from “the milk of sorrow”, and her life is dominated by the illness of fear, which has robbed her of her soul. The film opens with her mother’s sudden death, which forces Fausta to confront her fears and the secret hidden inside her – she has inserted a potato into her vagina to serve as a protective shield to repel intruders. The unfolding story is a re-awakening, a journey from fear to freedom, as Fausta takes a housemaid’s job for Mrs Aida, a wealthy concert pianist, to earn the money to pay for her mother’s burial. “I like personal stories and issues with which I can empathise. They wake my interest, and make me explore different cultures and ways of seeing life,” says Braier. “The script was highly visual. Claudia likes poetic images, symbolism, to create a special universe. The Milk of Sorrow is a metaphor for the breakdown and regeneration of Peru. I spent a lot of time talking with Claudia before even starting the prep of the film. We went through the whole script and she tried to explain to me why each scene was there, and the meaning of each image she had described. Once we reached the essence of each scene, we would then start thinking about how to convey those concepts or feelings with images via the camera.” One item that required little or no thinking about, but persuasive powers amongst the producers, was the format. “We decided immediately to shoot 35mm,” she says. “Film will always be my favourite choice, especially on a movie like this. “We were going to be shooting a lot of exteriors, and as Peru is so close the equator the sun is high throughout the day. We printed the sunpath during the recce, and had never seen anything like that before. I knew that shooting in those high-contrast conditions would be tough even on film, but on HD it would have proven too difficult to stop the highlights exploding, and maintain details in dark shadow areas. Also, everything in Peru has so much texture – the landscapes, houses, walls, even the faces of the people – and film can capture that much better than HD.” Braier selected Kodak Vision2 200 T for exteriors and 500T for interiors. Although she could have selected to shoot cinemascope, Braier considered the format too epic, and went for 1.85:1. “It’s more of an imtimate story, with the focus on the main character most of the time, and we thought 1.85:1 was the best to portray that,” she says. Braier describes the look of the film as “lyrical realism”, and the existing colour palette in Peru as “extremely intense”. From very early on in prep, she worked in collaboration with the production design and wardrobe team.

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“In terms of art direction we inspired ourselves with the existing colours of the real locations – pastel yellows, lilacs and shades of grey in the shantytown – so it’s very much based on the reality of what was there. Sometimes we undertook a process of elimination and would remove or keep what it worked for us, or add our own stuff to that palette. We dressed Fausta mainly in earthy tones to accentuate her connection with the earth. When she was in Mrs Aida’s house we used the same colour palette for her and for the house sets, to make her almost invisible. The idea was that Fausta was a kind of ghost in the house. We also played with the idea of representation, mirroring and the double. Most of the time when we see Fausta interacting with her employer we see her through mirrors or reflections.” Interestingly, Braier says they carefully eliminated red from the palette in most scenes until the appearance of Noe, the gardener, under whose tutelage Fausta begins to bloom – the most marked example being the flower Fausta carries in her mouth as she waits for him to arrive. Along with the colour palatte, framing and camera movement played a major role in helping the story to unfold. “At the beginning of the film Fausta appears veiled, unbalanced or broken in the frame,” explains Braier, who prefers to operate on films, “but as her journey into freedom develops she starts finding her place in the frame. The fragmented framings of Bresson, Jane Champion and Lynne Ramsay were strong references, as well as the stylised realism of Lucrecia Martel. In terms of movement we were very inspired by Hungarian director Bela Tarr.” Braier designed-in a lot of movement in the film, “but it’s often almost imperceptible. Either the camera moves very slowly, such as the move into Fausta’s mother’s death scene at the start of the film, or it moves with the character, keeping the character in the same proportion in the frame and just changing the background, such as the scene when Noe carries her through the market to the hospital, which was infact a Steadicam shot.” The nascent nature of Peru’s film industry meant that whilst there were some 35mm cameras available, there were no silent ones except for a BL4. With Steadicam work on the agenda, Braier requested a MovieCam SL, which was provided by ServiceVision in Barcelona. The lighting package, which included 18Ks, smaller HMIs, Kinoflos, Chinese lanters and some practicals, was sourced from Lima. “I’m very much in love with Cooke S4 lenses as they give a lovely softness to the images, and would have loved to have used them on this production,” she muses. “But during the month we recce’d in Peru I discovered the air has a sort of hazy mist created by the mountains and the ocean, called a ‘calima’, which lasts throughout the year. I thought the Cooke’s might prove to be a bit too soft in these conditions, so I selected Ultra Primes.” But when the film went into production, Braier discovered there was no haze. However, a rather stressful situation with the local film lab turned into a happy accident, helping to reduce the crispness of the primes and add to the textural, tonal quality of the imagery. “My intention was to push one stop, but because they didn’t have the means to measure this exactly, I inadvertently ended up pushing one and a half to two stops. At the end I ended up with a bit of a more extreme version of what I was aiming for, but am very pleased with the results nonetheless.”

02/07/2010 12:43

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

On the Job –––Roger Pratt BSC The Karate Kid

Kung Fu fighting.

The Karate Kid, known as The Kung Fu Kid in China and Best Kid in Japan and South Korea, is the 2010 martial arts remake of the 1984 film of the same name. Helmed by Norwegian director Harald Zwart, produced by actor Will Smith and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, the remake stars their 12-yearold son, Jaden, and martial arts legend Jackie Chan. The film was produced for Columbia Pictures through Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, in association with China Film Group and Jerry Weintraub Productions. Principal photography, under Roger Pratt BSC’s auspices, took place in old and new studios in Beijing, and on location in the Wudang Mountains, between June and October 2009. The new The Karate Kid keeps much to the same formula as the original, but with an oriental setting instead of California. Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to China with his mother Sherry (Taraji Henson), when the car manufacturing plant in which she works is relocated to Beijing. Although Dre misses Detroit his mother tells him that China is home. He begins to like China when he falls for his classmate Mei Ying (Wenwen Han), but the romance is nipped in the bud by Cheng (Zhenwei Wang) the class bully who puts Dre to the ground with ease using his Kung Fu training. However, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) the maintenance man, secretly a Kung Fu master, teaches Dre and, armed with this new skill, he eventually faces down Cheng in a Kung Fu tournament. Pratt’s involvement in the film came through the Norwegian director Zwart (One Night At McCool’s, Pink Panther 2), whom Pratt has known for a decade working on commercials – one of the most memorable, Pratt recalls, a Lurpak butter ad for which he had to transform a snowbound, winter, Norwegian landscape, into to a French summer idyll using snow-ploughs and lashings of hot water. Pratt’s feature credits include The End Of The Affair, for which he was Oscar-nominated, and Chocolat, for which he earned a BAFTA nomination. He also lit Terry Gilliam’s seminal Brazil, Twelve Monkeys, Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy, and Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets for Chris Columbus, and Harry Potter And The Goblet of Fire, for Mike Newell.

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Trailblazing cinematographer Roger Pratt BSC spent five months last year filming Columbia Pictures’ remake of the classic ‘80s The Karate Kid, and spoke to Ron Prince about his favourable experiences with the resourceful local crew.

“Harald was aware of my motion picture work, such as Chocolat, and when he landed The Karate Kid wanted a friendly face on board, with experience of shooting big pictures,” comments Pratt. “The mantra with Harald was ‘up close-and-personal ‘so we shot a great deal of Steadicam.” For reference, Pratt says he watched the original trio of films. “They were shot in original Technicolor, 12ASA film, and the things they were able to do then were not subtle. It was hard for DPs just to get good exposure I think, especially on an action-packed film like this, and they would always have had a Technicolor technician looking over their shoulder on set too. We have much more flexibility and subtlety now with cameras, lenses, lights and filmstocks. For example, in the denouement scenes at the Kung Fu tournament, we had lights blasting from all sides and above, multi-camera set-ups, a Rock & Roll lighting rig that had been left over from the Olympics.” Of course, when your shooting in uncharted country it pays for have a good wingman, which Pratt discovered in the guise of unit production manager Dany Wolf. “Dany was pivotal in making it all work. He speaks fluent Mandarin. He’s a grafter, and very persuasive. His job was to find and get permission for all the sets. Not easy for places like Tianenmen Square! In the end the Chinese always came up with the goods.” Pratt also found an excellent resource in Fiona Qi, the best boy. “She is fluent in English, very technical, cinematography oriented, and very nice with it too. Absolutely indispensable.”

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

Early on in the prep stages, Pratt needed a top gaffer from the UK, Tom Finch (brother of Chuck Finch), “who did a superb job. During what proved to be a really long shoot, we kept each other sane and on track.” Pratt praises the handheld work of Hong Kong camera operator Man-Ching Ng, and Jai Yip Siu Ching, who wielded an Alien Revolution rig during the many fight sequences, “a brilliant steadicam operator, very sensitive, and I would use him again.” Pratt went to Beijing for a week during May 2009, to look at the possibilities for shooting there. “Dany wanted me to scout around at facilities, kit houses and studios. I have to say I was impressed – it had all of the basics for a big picture, but not much specialist lighting equipment at the time. They had all the latest HMI lights, but still in their crates! During my time there, when expertise or equipment was required, their first turn was to Hong Kong, where they have been making feature films for world market for a long time.” Amongst the surprises on the studio front was Beijing Film Studios, around an hour’s drive out of Beijing, offering nine stages, one being the size-equivalent of Shepperton’s mighty H Stage, an outlet of ARRI lighting and camera equipment, and a backlot with local environments and lakes. “It was brand new and beautifully done,” says Pratt. “The stages have earth floors, so you could build a set on top of that to suit your needs.” Closer to the city, where the main production offices were sited, was an older, smaller and somewhat run down studio, but adjacent to this was a quartet of traditional village dwellings facing onto a communal quadrangle courtyard – Mr Han’s home where he teaches Dre the art of Kung Fu. Illustrating Chinese determination to help, Pratt recalls how Zwart came up with the idea of filming shadow play at night of a typical lesson, supposedly lit by a car headlight, playing on the walls of one of the buildings in the courtyard. Pratt knew he would need an open brute to create the hard-edged shadows. “The request immediately caused quite a bit of consternation, as the Chinese have got rid of their old equipment, and all they have are HMIs,” he says. “But low and behold Tom and Fiona found one in Hong Kong. We fired it up, and the shadows were so beautiful and sharp that Harald got inspired and wrote some extra scenes.” More helpfulness came during a five-day jaunt to film in the Wudang Mountains, two hours flight south of Beijing, in the northwestern part of Hubei Province known for the many Taoist monasteries and its association as a centre for martial arts.

“It’s very different to Beijing, with beautiful countryside, spectacular scenery, and 2,000ft to the top,” says Pratt. “Logistically, it seemed it might be a difficult place to film in, but if we asked for a 5Kw generator, some of the crew would run up with it. Nothing seemed to be a problem getting kit from bottom of mountain to top. It was hard to perch beside a temple on a sheer face, with cranes to look inside, but we managed it.” One concern at an early stage was the weather, as a significant amount of the production was due to shoot outside. “I will never forget sitting in pre-production one morning, and all of my preconceptions that shooting in China the weather would be lovely everyday, suddenly vanished as a storm came rumbling in. At 11am in the morning it was almost as black as midnight, and it absolutely poured with rain until 4pm in the afternoon. I knew we’d have to find a way of maintaining the continuity of lighting on the main exterior/interior set during production,” he recalls. Pratt devised what he terms a 60 x 60 x 60 Tobleronerig, reinforced to carry the HMI and tungston lighting, which meant that should the daylight prove inclement, the production could carry on regardless, and could also be used for nightime sequences. Concious that the sun moves one degree every four minutes, he also found himself deploying a huge silk, suspended over Mr Han’s courtyard by a massive crane, which could provide various strengths of cover as required, but also able to give reasonably consistent soft fill-light. As to the framing of the production, Pratt says it was a very quick discussion. “We didn’t want to shoot Anamorphic, as those big lenses would have slowed us down. Harald likes to work fast and light, but wanted the elongated frame, so we went with 2.35:1, shooting 3-perf, which also saved us a bit on the stock, although there was an unforeseen drawback when it came to seeing the rushes.” Pratt selected ARRI LT cameras fitted with Cooke S4 lenses, using Primes for the many handheld or Steadicam fighting sequences, and Cooke’s 40-200mm zoom for the rest of the film. Film stocks included Kodak daylight and tungsten stocks, about which he says, “with everything being one step further away than normal, we had to be a little bit more careful when ordering.” Processing was handled at the Kodak-owned Cinelabs Beijing. Although the director and producers watched rushes on their iPhones, Pratt was afforded the luxury of viewing some projected rushes, albeit in slightly compromised circumstances. No local cinema could screen the 3-perf rushes, but a large dubbing suite about an hour out of the capital was found. Despite the projector over-filling the screen, as it had the wrong lens for 3-perf, Pratt says he was able to get some idea of how the rushes were working out. Overall, the experience was so good that Pratt says he would not be surprised to find other major productions finding a base in China. “Beijing is a massive city, with an impressive modern infrastructure – beautifully-designed roads and flyovers, a foreign friendly underground system where the announcements are made in English as well as Mandarin, an Olympic gift, plenty of foreign shops and very nice hotels. Ten years ago, it would have been very different, but modern China is more westernised and, in terms of the film industry, very welcoming. The Chinese want to get on the world stage more in every walk of life. We were a big production, and despite a few hiccups along the way, they were hugely accommodating and handled it really well.”

Columbia Pictures all-new The Karate Kid was lensed in China by Roger Pratt BSC. It stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Centre: Roger Pratt DP on the set of The Karate Kid in Beijing.

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02/07/2010 12:43

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

F-Stop Hollywood –––The latest news from the West Coast

Cine Gear 2010.

“I like my Canon 5D, but I’m making $200 million movies. I think the audience should see it the best it can be,” Pfister said, receiving thunderous applause. “Motion picture imaging is still strong on film and we have to keep it that way.” Inception was lensed on multiple formats, including 65mm. Pfister emphasised that it is also important to “keep large format alive.” Asked about stereo 3D, Pfister admitted that he is not a fan of the format (while emphasising that this is a personal opinion, not the opinion of a studio nor other individuals). Again, the cinematographer received enthusiastic applause. “I like storytelling. I find it a little bit distracting,” he offered, saying it “creates a false depth to me.” Pfister added that he also finds the picture to be dark when viewing 3D.

The director of photography also paid tribute to Billy Fraker BSC ASC, who passed away earlier that week. Pfister noted that Fraker had introduced him to the ASC, and described the legendary cinematographer as “sharp as a tack and funny as hell.” The audience responded with lengthy and heartfelt applause. During the Los Angeles-based event, ARRI’s outgoing president and CEO Volker Bahnemann received the Cine Gear Expo Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by ASC past president Victor Kemper. “What a legacy,” Kemper enthused as he reflected on Bahnemann’s career. Accepting the award, the ARRI leader said: “This award is precious because it comes from the community.” Awards were presented to Rosco Laboratories in recognition of its 100-year anniversary; and Thales Angenieux for its 75th year. Cine Gear also congratulated Matthews Studio Equipment and Anton Bauer, both of which had 40th anniversaries in 2010. The exhibition once again lined the streets of the Paramount Pictures studio backlot, as well as filling two stages for indoor stands. During the event, the UK Pavilion celebrated the BSC’s 60th anniversary by running an anniversary clip reel. Photos of members and signatures of the original members were on display. Not surprisingly, ARRI attracted a crowd that was anxious to see the new Alexa camera, while many workflow-related tool makers emphasised support for the new camera. Also Canon 5D and 7D cameras, as well as related workflows, were a notable topic of discussion. Kodak presented a look at its newest VISION3 film: a medium-speed, tungsten-balanced colour negative camera film, and a colour intermediate film developed to work with digital postproduction technologies. With this, Kodak reiterated its commitment to film and cinematographers. According to Kodak: VISION3 5213/7213 is a 200-speed tungsten-balanced film, designed for extended latitude, enabling cinematographers to record more details in highlights, and deliver finer grain for natural-looking images in dark areas. The emulsion is developed for both controlled interiors and highcontrast exteriors. VISION3 colour digital intermediate film 5254/2254 is designed for use with film recorders – both laser recorders and CRT recorders. Kodak said this new film is designed to enhance the speed and efficiency of DI postproduction while rendering sharper images. Fuiifilm showcased its latest Eterna Vivid2 500 tungsten motion picture colour negative film and Eterna Vivid 160. Both offer Fujifilm’s Super Nanostructured ∑ Grain Technology, Coupler Technology and DIR-Coupler Technology.

Wally Pfister ASC was a hit at the 2010 Cine Gear Expo with a session during which he urged filmmakers not to compromise quality, offered his case for film, and discussed his work on Chris Nolan’s upcoming Inception. Meanwhile, ARRI’s Alexa was arguably the most discussed technology in the exhibition area, writes our gall in L.A. Carolyn Giardina. BCine40.indd 28

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Lenses

Highlights of the Band Pro stand included a collection of lenses, including the wide and short Ruby 14-24mm T2.8 zoom from Focus Optics. This new lens works on all 35mm PL mounted cameras, including the Sony F35, ARRi, Red, and Canon 7D, and on the Canon 5D with an adapter. Weighing just 3 lbs. and measuring 138mm long, the Ruby has a front diameter of 110mm and will accept a 102mm screw-in filter. Band Pro also featured the Leica Summilux-C line of PL mount primes, designed for film or digital capture. The lenses are offered in focus lengths of 18mm, 21mm, 25mm, 35mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, and 100mm. Product delivery is scheduled for the fourth quarter. Additional focal lengths will become available in a second phase. Schneider Cine-Xenar primes lenses were also featured at Cine Gear. Initially, the set includes 25mm T2.2, 35mm T2.1, 50mm T2.0, 75mm T2.0, 95mm T2.0. They are available in PL and EF mounts, and covers 5K on the Red and Super 35mm image areas. A 18mm lens will be introduced toward the end of the year. Schneider also showed a clip-on filter holder that may be used to mount square or rectangular filters on DSLR cameras. Cooke Optic’s chairman Les Zellan revealed that Fujinon would incorporate Cooke’s /i Technology in its lenses, on the heels of the recent news that Thales Angenieux would support the technology. “We now have other lens manufacturers on board,” Zellan said. /i Technology enables film and digital cameras to automatically record key lens and camera data for every film frame shot and provide it to postproduction teams digitally. With workflow a big show topic, it is no surprise that portable recording systems caught attention at Cine Gear. Among the latest featured products: CineDeck showed its new portable DDR with a built-in monitor and video assist for on-set playback; and Codex demoed its new onboard recorder. The Codex onboard and portable systems are part of the kit planned for use during production of Martin Scorcese’s first 3D movie, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which will be shot in the UK by DP Robert Richardson ASC.

Lighting

Litepanels was on hand with its Sola series of daylightbalanced Fresnels, which offer beam control of 70° to 10°, and according to the company, is capable of drawing an estimated 90% less power than conventional tungsten lights. Litepanels reported that the Solas are available in three models. The Sola6, Sola12 and SolaENG. PRG and Gekko showed a new OHM Light, a fully colour-tuneable LED space light, that allows the user to dial in the colour temperature. The use of multiple lights at different settings can be used to create a sense of depth, the company suggested. The low-power light is designed to accommodate existing space-light accessories. Mole-Richardson’s display featured MoleLED, the company’s first LED Tungsten and daylight fixture; a prototype 12,000 Watt Fresnel, and its Type 6861 24,000 watt DayLite HMI Fresnel. AirStar featured its latest products, including its cubeshaped Diamond, and newly-developed eco-friendly power generator. Of the latter, CEO Benoit Beylier predicted: “In the long term, it will replace regular generators.” K5600 showed a prototype of its Big Eye, an 18K fresnel, slated for September availability. It also featured a new focal spot for the Joker-Bug. Matthews president Ed Phillips chatted about the company anniversary and new products. “Companies that don’t change become stale. I think part of Matthews Studio Equipments’ success is staying ahead,” he said. Phillips highlighted Matthews’ Skyscraper 21 ft. lighting stand, saying: “while LED has become acceptable and widely used, may people are also building 24K HMI lighting fixtures, and directors of photography want to get that light as high as they can.” He also showcased its small, reverse folding lighting stand, which goes to 9 feet; and the Microgrip grip system.

Derek Suter BSC and Martin Hammond enjoy the hospitality of Ken Fisher on board his boat used for the BSC/ASC Sunday lunch during Cinegear! Alan Lowne with Ken Fisher (Litepanels) and Nigel Waters BSC at the BSC/ASC boat event in Marina del Rey during Cinegear. Ed Phillips CEO Matthews with Alan Lowne and Robert Kulesh Matthews sales director celebrating Matthews 40th anny at the show! Winner: ARRI’s Volker Bahnemann receives Cine Gear Expo Lifetime Achievement Award from Victor Kemper ASC. Refurbished: the new interior of the ASC’s revamped Clubhouse. David Higgs BSC and Joe Dunton BSC on board boat during Cinegear Sunday event. Richard Crudo vice president ASC with Alan Lowne at the lunch on board the boat Private Dancer during BSC/ASC event.

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Derek Suter BSC and Nigel Walters BSC (IMAGO president)at the newly renovated ASC clubhouse. Nigel Walters BSC (imago president ) Alan Lowne and Martin Hammond (hon friend of BSC) at the stand at Cinegear show. Inside the BSC clubroom at Cinegear is l to r nigel walters BSC David Higgs BSC WITH Toby Sali (litepanels). Refurbished: the exterior of the ASC’s revamped Clubhouse. Richard Crudo, ASC, L.A. Councilman Tom LeBonge, Owen Roizman, ASC, Michael Goi, ASC, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler, Daryn Okada, ASC. (photo by Matt Turve). George Spiro Dibie, ASC, Leron Gubler, Tom LeBonge, Owen Roizman, ASC, Michael Goi, ASC. (photo by Matt Turve).

Historic ASC clubhouse reopens

Dancing with steadicam

Tiffen’s booth attracted crowds to see the Tango, a new Steadicam accessory designed to provide floor to ceiling boom range, with the ability to sweep in a similar manner to a jib. It accommodates cameras up to 6 lbs, and at Cine Gear, it was demoed with the new Steadicam Zephyr. “To a greater extent than Steadicam, this is dance,” said Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown of Tango. “This represents a 35-year dream. I wanted the lens to be free to go from floor to ceiling. It was impossible to do gracefully until smaller cameras came along.” Additional product news includes: Mo-Sys featured its Motion Logger, a tool for recording camera moves on the Mo-Sys tracking network; and the 3D Inserter, a real-time compositor of CG and live action, designed for previs and data logging of camera moves. Pictorvision showed the Canon 7D on Pictorvision’s Wescam gyro-stabilized camera platform. A turnkey system is available for rental. Service Vision meanwhile highlighted its Scorpio Focus, a device to sync two lenses for stereo cinematography.

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Just before Cine Gear opened, hundreds in the cinematography community attended a ceremony at the ASC headquarters in Hollywood, to officially reopen its historic clubhouse. ASC purchased the building, which had previously been the home of silent movie star Conway Tearle, in 1936. The first meeting was held there on February 28, 1937. “It is great to have this link to Hollywood history,” said Hollywood Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Leron Gubler during the ceremony. “The renovation project began four years ago with the goal of preserving the heritage of the original clubhouse, while adding 1,500 square feet of space to accommodate larger groups,” related five-time Oscar nominee Owen Roizman, ASC, who chaired the committee that guided and managed the clubhouse renovation project. “I am grateful to the many members and supporters of the ASC who helped to make this dream come true.” Roizman thanked many participants, including: Brian Spruill, a member of the building committee and a former Kodak exec; ASC president Michael Goi; ASC past presidents Daryn Okada, Richard Crudo, and Victor Kemper; Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; five-time Oscarnominated set decorator Cheryl Carasik; architect Mary Pickhardt; and ASC’s Patty Armacost. “Our clubhouse has been a second home for the world’s most talented cinematographers for nearly 75 years,” said Michael Goi, president of the ASC. “We are committed to perpetuating the spirit of artistry that resides within the walls of the ASC clubhouse, and enhancing our capacity for educational outreach programs for the next generation of filmmakers from around the world.” The building also holds pieces of film history, including a Kinetoscope projector that was designed by the Edison Company during the 1890s, early motion picture cameras, lenses, and many photographs. Billy Fraker BSC ASC was fondly remembered during the opening ceremony. And behind the bar of the renovated building, sits a black and white portrait of the cinematographer. “This bar is Billy’s Bar,” ASC president Goi related, adding that a sign bearing that name would be made for the room.

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All Time Greats –––Freddie Francis

Freddie Francis. The late Frederick (Freddie) William Francis was born in Islington, North London in March 1917. After leaving school he went to a technical college to study engineering. Whilst there he wrote an essay on film and was given the chance to visit the Gaumont British studios in Shepherd’s Bush, West London. This inspired him to try and get into to the film business, in which he went on to win two Academy Awards for cinematography, and a cult status as a director. He saw an advertisement placed by stills photographer Louis Prothero. He got the job, remaining with Prothero for around six months, during which time he did some work at Ealing studios on Stanley Lupino pictures. Francis went on to get a job at British International Pictures (BIP) Elstree as a clapper loader. His first film as a clapper boy was The Marriage of Corbal (1936), photographed by Otto Kantureck. Later in 1936 he met Oswald Morris, who became a great friend. Morris said: “ I was working at Pinewood studios on a quota quikie, and in those days a cameraman would ask for a ten foot test at the end of a 1,000ft reel. This was torn off before the film was sent to the laboratory and processed at the studio. Freddie was there doing these tests, and I can remember him coming on to the floor with a print to show the cinematographer. That is where I first met him.” During WW2 Francis was in the Army Kinema Service (AKS) shooting training films. He was first based at Aldershot and then at Wembley studios. Francis said: “ I went into the AKS and that is when I really started. I started operating and became a DP, which was great. It took a war to do it, but one got a lot of training.” After the war he became a camera operator. His first film was The Macomber Affair (1947). For this he went to Africa with Oswald Borradaile and John Wilcox. Later he teamed up with Oswald Morris. Morris took him on as his operator on his first film as DP, Golden Salamander (1950). Describing Francis, Morris said: “He was a wonderful operator, very experienced. On Moulin Rouge (1952) we were expected to do all sorts of strange things with the camera. Freddie was throwing the very heavy threestrip Technicolor camera around very well and it was a great help to me because I was occupied lighting it. Our characters worked wonderfully well. Our interests were the same, we loved ribbing each other and there was great banter between us. Freddie was great.”

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Morris and Francis worked together on several pictures, the collaboration ending with Moby Dick (1956). Francis was DP on the second unit. Francis’s first offering as a main unit DP was A Hill In Korea (1956), shot in Portugal. A young Michael Caine was technical advisor. Other notable films include Room At the Top (1959) and The Innocents (1960), both directed by Jack Clayton, who became a good friend of his. The Innocents was one of Francis’s favourite films. It was shot in B&W and in cinemascope. Clayton didn’t want it in scope but had to relent. Francis created an effect that at times gave a non-scope look that worked very well. He said it was the best film he had ever photographed. Asked if he usually worked with the same crew, he said: “I got the same crew if I could. I made the point of trying to get the same operator and chief electrician, which was the most important thing. If you could get those two you were home and dry.” In 1961 he made his debut as a director on Two And Two Make Six. He went on to direct a number of horror films for Hammer at Bray studios and Amicus at Shepperton. He also directed two for the short-lived company Tyburn. These were The Ghoul (1975) and Legend Of The Werewolf (1975). His first was Paranoiac for Hammer (1963). Asked about the Hammer films, he said: “They usually took around six weeks to shoot, working from eight until six, five days a week. There was very little overtime. Hammer didn’t want to spend any extra money if they could avoid it. It was only on the rare occasion we went past six.” In a filmed interview Francis said, “The Hammer organisation, for a certain period was a great success, but it was set up on business lines rather than artistic lines. If any of us could get any artistic points in we would, but the overall operation was a business, financial situation.” His widow Pamela Francis was asked if he loved directing as much as cinematography. “I think he loved directing, I think it wasn’t as successful as cinematography, but it was a question of breaks. Normally he had very good reviews for the pictures that he directed, but he was pigeonholed in the horror genre.” Francis never regarded himself as technical. Pam Francis and Gordon Hayman said he had a good eye for cinematography and directing. Francis said: “I read the script and see how it should be shot in my mind. I then go on to reproduce it on the screen.” Francis returned to cinematography. His comeback film was The Elephant Man (1980), directed by David Lynch. One of Francis’s favourite operators’ was Gordon Hayman. Hayman said: “I had just finished a film with Mike Hodges directing and Karel Reisze had been in touch with Hodges looking for operators. I had an interview with Reisze for the film The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981). A couple of days later I got a call from Freddie, who was to be the DP. He said, ‘We have never met, I don’t know you – we have some extra shooting to do on The Elephant Man, which will take three days, are you interested?’ I accepted and that was the start of a long collaboration.

“Freddie had a great sense of humour, he said, ‘I’d like you to do these three days because we may hate the sight of each other.’ I enjoyed working with him very much.” Francis returned to directing for The Doctor AndTthe Devils (1985), The Dark Tower (1987) and Tales From The Crypt (1996). On The Dark Tower he was credited as Ken Barnett. Pam Francis said: “Freddie took his name off the film because he was let down by bad special effects and other things. The name Ken Barnett was put on the film by the producer.” He returned permanently to cinematography following Tales From The Crypt. Francis won a number of awards, including Oscars for Sons And Lovers (1960) and Glory (1990). Hayman operated on Glory but wasn’t credited due to a mistake. In his Oscar speech Francis praised Hayman, calling him, “My wonderful operator Gordon Hayman.” Francis did quite a bit of television work including The Saint and Man In A Suitcase. When asked about working in TV he replied, “It’s no good asking me about my TV career because I have forgotten what I did in TV. I’ve probably forgotten not because I’m getting to the age where I forget everything, but I wasn’t very interested in them anyway, I found it very dull.” However, Pam Francis said he enjoyed working on the Black Beauty series. Francis loved making films and shot his last film The Straight Story in 1989 at the age of eighty-two. He was asked by his biographer Tony Dalton, “What is the best advice you could give a cinematographer today?” Francis replied, “Don’t do it unless you love it, otherwise it’s a terrible job.” Francis died on 17 March 2007. There is a bench that is dedicated to him in the Rhododendron walk at Pinewood studios. Article written by David A. Ellis.

Pictured with American director Bob Mulligan on Clara’s Heart (1988). Double Oscar-winner Freddie Francis captured at work. Freddie assisting Lord Snowden with a large lens. Sharing a joke with director John Huston. Eyeing up a shot on a chilly day. Freddie pictured again with American director Bob Mulligan.

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IMAGO –––Nigel Walters BSC President of IMAGO

Viennese whirl. The EU XXL, Forum for European Film, held in May in Vienna marked an historical opportunity for the voice of the cinematographer to be heard by Brussels MEPs, who attended the final day of the four-day conference together with Dr Agnes Cser of the European Economic & Social Committee. The debates were dedicated especially to the profession of the cinematographer, but present were representatives of other crafts societies, such as the directors, represented by FERA, and the scriptwriters, authors and artists. The aim was to identify common needs and enhance solidarity and understanding among all professions involved in filmmaking. Included in the many issues discussed were the problems facing self-employed workers and their vulnerability to abuse without adequate legal protection. The resolution, which can be read in full on the IMAGO. ORG website, calls for the same minimum protection standards for all workers, whether or not self-employed. The Scandinavian model was often quoted, and France had the description “paradise” regarding the social benefits to which its workers are entitled. Tony Costa AIP gave a moving account of the plight of Portuguese film workers under their existing legislation, drawing attention to the fact that the “self-employed” are not allowed any representation. Harmonisation of the position of the cinematographer in Europe, particularly in relation to their rights as (co)-author of aspects of their work, was an important issue under discussion. The forum recommended adopting ISAN as a European standard of identification and tracking of the audiovisual works and maintaining a record of the authors involved in each production, such as the cinematographer and set designer. This would enable easier payments by collecting societies in future to all “authors”. On Working Conditions it was felt that the guidelines suggested in the IMAGO Model Contract would help to identify solutions to the problems faced by many workers in the audiovisual field. Despite the unfortunate absence of a Euro-mei on the crucial final day of the forum, it was decided to ask this European umbrella federation to call upon their member unions, in cases not yet applicable, to represent freelancers and the so-called self-employed within the individual organisations. Organised around the EU XXL were masterclasses given by Christian Berger AAC and Sophie Maintigneux, and screenings of their films, plus Am Abgrund filmed by Walter Schindler AAC.

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A mini micro-salon was hosted by Sony, Fuji and Wunderwerk, an Austrian Company showing the premier of their revolutionary motion control unit. The special guest speaker was Marion Doring, director of the EFA. In the presence of guests from the Austrian cultural world, with many distinguished Austrian cinematographers from the AAC, including their president, Astrid Heubrandtner. A special EU XXL Film Award for 2010 was given to Kurt Brazda AAC, who had been a chief architect behind the founding of the Austrian society in bringing order and respect to the working lives of film workers. IMAGO is again grateful for the advice and dedication of our legal advisor, Dr Cristina Busch, who assisted Alexander Scheuer from the Institute of European Media Law and Harald Karl from the EUXXL legal department in the challenging task of drawing up and presenting the resolution to the Members of the European Parliament.

Richard Andry AFC, Alexander Scheuer EU Media Lawyer, Idan Or ACT, Andreas Fischer-Hanssen DFF, Ger Poppelaars FERA, in search of The Third Man!

President’s Keynote

You may be surprised that someone from the United Kingdom is president of a European organisation called IMAGO, a worldwide federation which represents creative artists, namely cinematographers. It was Voltaire who, fortunately, must have forgotten to sign up for his authors’ rights when he described the English as “a nation of shopkeepers”. The Welsh of which I am one, Irish and Scottish unfortunately were tarred by the same brush when collectively described as “Philistines” by the poet, Mathew Arnold. We may not be the ideal European member state, but I can assure you that we have no dislike of artists or even authors. What is so special about this strange bunch of creators described as “cinematographers”? Are we really artists thirsting to feed our minds and spirits with creativity, or a bunch of egocentric maniacs on a self-inflated glory trip? We hope you will discover a positive answer to that conundrum at this forum!

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Since becoming president of our 38 societies, I have been astonished at the level of ignorance at the understanding of the craft of the cinematographer, an ignorance not confined to shopkeepers! Two years ago, attempting to set up a Barclays Bank account with the paltry sum of money in IMAGO’s pockets I was kept waiting several weeks while bank employees attempted to find out what cinematographers did for a living. There was, it seemed, a possibility that IMAGO may represent an organisation pedalling weapons of mass destruction, or supporting international terrorists laundering money out to the United Kingdom. However I would also be pleasantly surprised if a majority of you present have a realistic appreciation of the true artistic contribution of a cinematographer to the craft of filmmaking. Today we stand before you as artists, responsible for creating mood in images with light and form. The cinematographer shares much in common with our fellow creatives, the musicians, poets, writers, and all those involved in storytelling. Artists who are driven by a desire to hand down to the next generation more than a barren, empty inheritance. In Europe there fortunately exists a culture which is as exciting, diverse and rich as the life of the cinematographer. The inspiring individuality of our various cultures can be witnessed on any cinema or television screen. The moving picture is recognised as the great art form of the twentieth century. It was the privilege and fortune of the early cinematographers that they were able to capture the images which recorded history. Each year in Macedonia, IMAGO supports a film festival which celebrates the pioneering Manaki Brothers who captured life in the Balkans at the beginning of the twentieth century. We are all richer for their historical images which, thanks to film negative, we still can view over one hundred years later. These early documentary cinematographers who went out to capture life themselves became the first directors and editors as they returned to the cutting rooms to edit their own material. The composer later arranged music to the pictures, at first to be played on a piano in front of the screen and from 1927 by the addition of optical sound to the film. The new art form of film was fuelled by the vision and enthusiasm of entrepreneurs who established their nickelodeons and studios throughout Europe.

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It is impossible to conceive of a Europe without recognising the cultural diversity of its cinema. The creation of the moving image was a landmark in history. No purpose is to be served by discussing the relative importance of the writer, the composer of the music, the director, the cinematographer, the editor, or the set designer. Filmmaking is a team business. Today we should also be aware of new crafts emerging such as the pictorial computer artist, the virtual cinematographers whose imagination co-created Avatar. A new artistic revolution is under way, driven by digital technology. The film director can be likened to the conductor of an orchestra, who harmonises all the various musicians around him and, in doing so, creates magic in music. Similarly whether using a camera or computer the relationship between the director and cinematographer is crucial to the artistic integrity of filmmaking. Our craft exists, in collaboration with the director, to visually interpret the script using experience and imagination to create passion in imagery. Our Federation was founded in 1992 by the societies of Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. IMAGO’s “raison d’être” was to improve standards of cinematography and to promote in Europe the concept of co-Authors Rights. IMAGO is also working to achieve acceptable European standards of working conditions. The cinematographer is the key creative on any location after the director. If we can improve his working conditions it follows that everyone will benefit. The old political order was crumbling in 1992, and crumbling also was the paternalistic system of the studios in both the capitalist and old communist world. It was a system which had protected film workers on both sides of the Iron Curtain, whether in Cinecitta in Rome or Barrandov in Prague, or even the BBC Ealing Studios which, together with Mosfilm in Moscow, were then the largest employers of cinematographers in the world. Today in many European countries the new order which replaced the studio system has sadly deteriorated from order, into disorder. In this jungle the vulnerable selfemployed, freelance and more often under-employed workers, are open to exploitation. The studio system, despite its faults was a valuable benchmark for good practices in working conditions and creativity. It encouraged artistic, imaginative and stable

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employment. When this system disappeared there arose the era in which we now find ourselves. An era which in much of Europe has seen the rise of freelance film workers, leading insecure lives – not exactly fertile ground for the creativity demanded of them. Academies, the posh name for film schools, by training too many students are flooding the industry with young men and women all desperate to practice their craft at any price. This surfeit of artists not only puts pressure on working conditions, but also conveniently for producers depresses salaries by increasing the supply of workers over demand. That there is exploitation of film workers in Europe is beyond question! Although not throughout Europe, as the Scandinavians have an exemplary record which IMAGO and the EU should be looking to as a model for future progress. The purpose of this EU XXL Film Forum is to attempt to find a consensus of opinion which, with the help of Brussels, may ultimately lead to a decent working environment. All enlightened producers share this wish. Under analysis here will be the working conditions of the cinematographer, and the important issue of author rights for the cinematographer. It will also seek possible ways in which the EU can help to assist the cinematographer, through IMAGO and its societies, find funding to meet the challenges posed by new technology. Despite the huge amounts of money spent on developing alternatives, 35mm film still remains the benchmark for high definition transmission. IMAGO needs financial support from the EU to fund a programme of education for cinematographers to meet the challenges which have arisen by new technology, such as 3D. It was in the declaration of 1999 in Torun, Poland that IMAGO appealed first to national and administrative bodies to include cinematographers among the authors of films and other audio-visual works. Furthermore cinematographers claimed recognition of their moral rights as authors and their share of income, increasingly relevant in this digital age, from works which include their creative contributions. In 2002 the distinguished American cinematographer Conrad Hall, issued a statement in Lodz, Poland, which reverberated around the film world. It said simply, “As cinematographers, our responsibility is to the visual image of the film as well as to the well being of our crew. We strive to explore the language of cinematography and the art of storytelling. The expanding practice of working extreme hours compromises both the quality of our work and the health and safety of others.” Our much respected colleague from Austria, Kurt Brazda wrote that, “at the beginning of the 21st century, human beings and their social rights are in a very low ranking, where economic needs and profit become the centre of interest.” By 2005 working conditions in some countries had deteriorated to such an extent that an International Assembly of cinematographers, again meeting at Camerimage in Poland, appealed to all relevant groups and professional organisations internationally to cease exploitative practices and restore acceptable working conditions. IMAGO’s response has been to create a “Model Contract”. Like all artists there are no frontiers for cinematographers and the finished contract is an attempt to harmonise and regulate, to an international standard, the relationship between the cinematographer and the producer. IMAGO will be presenting proposal as an attempt to establish a fair balance between both sides. The present model contract is concerned mainly with the matter of authorship. Its ultimate value will depend on the success of IMAGO’s case for the cinematographer to be regarded as co-author of the cinematographic or audiovisual work. Encouragingly it has already been adapted for use as a standard contract in Bulgaria. Because of differing national practices in areas such as employment status and the absence often of a collective agreement embracing the differing social systems it has been difficult to recommend acceptable international proposals on working conditions. The IMAGO Model Contract incorporates a checklist of working standard terms and conditions which should be included in the document finally signed between the cinematographer and the producer. As well as working conditions this includes holiday pay, legal insurance taxes and provisions relating to transport, travel, expense allowances, accommodation, overtime work, infringement of rest periods and sick pay. However, in a civilised society a cinematographer should have some financial guarantee of payment when he has completed his work. Just as banks are being instructed to put money in reserve in case of a future

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banking meltdown, it should not be beyond the European Union to take steps to put similar guarantees in place for the creative people who are often at the bottom of the chain for remuneration. In the United Kingdom, infamous for opting out of anything European, ironically one of the few real advances in protecting workers has been the eleven-hour break between turns of duty which came directly about as a result of an EU directive. Last November in Seville we published a document entitled “The Guiding Principles Of IMAGO’s Campaign For Cinematographers’ Author’s Rights.” Part of our strategy has to be the greater understanding of the creative role of the cinematographer as co-author his work. IMAGO’s aims for the future, which we shall be presenting to this forum, are for all cinematographers to be recognised as co-authors, irrespective of whether they created their artistic and camera work while being employed. IMAGO believes that all cinematographers should have full, exclusive rights which entitle them to control the exploitation of their work, to participate in the income of all the modes of exploitation of their work and to receive fair remuneration from the collecting societies. IMAGO calls upon the EU to reform the collecting societies leading to a harmonious and equitable distribution of rewards. The skill of the cinematographer has helped to shape the culture of European film for over one hundred years. Today film workers lives vary between manic overwork and long periods of unemployment. Conditions vary from country to country. Producers, directors and cinematographers are all represented at this forum, and it is to be hoped that we can find a consensus in finding ways forward to help solve our common problems. The way films are funded in Europe affects all our livelihoods. The present financing leaves much to be desired. A moratorium on the tax incentives for inward investment in filmmaking into Europe is required. The present, haphazard arrangement encourages centres of creativity to move from one part of Europe to another in the search for cheap labour. Eventually a talented workforce emerges in one country only for those film workers suddenly to lose employment when new tax incentives encourage films to be moved to yet another country. The cycle in the disruption to the lives of creative people begins over again. These short-term tax incentives are no way to create a talented workforce. They benefit only short-term profit at the expense of creativity and endanger the future well being of our diverse cultural strength. In conclusion, I should like to express my appreciation to Mercedes Escherer, her team and the Austrian organisations which are hosting this EU XXL. IMAGO has no paid employees, we are all cinematographers working to improve standards of excellence in the art of filmmaking, and we are grateful to be given this historic opportunity to be present our case. We are proud of the contribution to high standards that cinematographers throughout many decades have brought to the great European tradition of filmmaking. As creative co-authors we long to restore the respect and pride in which our profession was once held. It is IMAGO’s intention to strengthen our profession and give hope to the talented men and women about to embark on the creative, artistic life of the cinematographer. Nigel Walters BSC IMAGO President

Andreas Fischer-Hanssen DFF, one of Imago’s delegates representing eight societies, on a rainy day in Vienna.

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GBCT –––Tim Potter Chairman of the GBCT 3D stereo shooting.

R.I.P. FT2, Vivat Craft Academy. I am writing this on the day that FT2 is holding its final Board Meeting and shutting its doors forever. Born out of the Camera, Stills & Script Supervisors Committee of ACTT’s lobbying for a formal on-the-job placement style training scheme, funded by a levy from feature film production, it started life as ‘Jobfit’ 25 years ago. It became FT2 when the broadcasters joined the funding effort. For this last quarter of a century FT2 has provided the best training for film and television technicians. It was never a film school for tomorrow’s leaders, it was the place where new entrants were taught their craft by doing it alongside the crème of British technical talent. It had a very high success rate in terms of producing technicians who would go on to successful careers throughout the various disciplines of our industry. The scheme gave the trainees two years experience, first across the whole industry and then majoring on their chosen field of expertise. They were placed with a wide variety of talents on a wide variety of productions. The knowledge they gained was only surpassed by the impressive lists of contacts they built up. No other form of training has come close to the results of this direct, hands-on approach. When, a few years ago, the portion of the funding that came from EU sources dried up the scheme became a one year course concentrating solely on the trainees’ major field. This provided a streamlined, concentrated training without losing the core value of the on-the-job element that is so crucial. As is inevitable in our straitened times, the funding has dried up. When the levy on the industry became statutory it lost the direct connection to the training that it was intended to fund. Coupling this with the halving of monies coming from the government (due mostly to the 2012 Olympics) it was costly, Rolls Royce schemes like FT2 that felt the axe first. This has left the industry with only one placement training scheme in the camera department, the one run by the GBCT. This helps twelve talented young technicians to get plum placements around the industry, and is not funded by any government money. When business picks up it will be looking for another batch of trainees. As an industry we should not have to rely on the voluntary efforts of bodies like the GBCT. At present, SkillSet is in the process of setting up the SkillSet Craft and Technical Academy. We only have an outline view of what shape this will take, as each of the bodies competing to run it has put in differing plans. Whoever eventually gets the task will be best advised to look to onthe-job placements as the route to success in new entrant training. It is the only method that has any credibility with the workforce who will be the trainees’ future employers. FT2 was the best scheme when it was running. We should not lose the best aspects of it when we create future training schemes. Tim Potter

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As most theatrical released films are ultimately now transferred to DVD or Blu Ray, and the interest given to 3D films and now TV presentations, it is worth looking a little closer at what makes good 3D, and what to avoid as a technician when shooting. It is perhaps the biggest shift in production that cinema has undergone in recent years. It is true to say that 3D has had a varied past, with varied degrees of success. Now with technology enabling a greater flexibility in production and post production through to presentation, it is important to understand how it works and what to potentially avoid making the experience for the viewer as satisfying as possible. We see the world with two eyes and because each eye is in a slightly laterally offset, each eye sees a slightly different view of whatever we are looking at. Each eye sees a different image, yet we don’t actually normally perceive two separate images. In a process called stereopsis, our brain combines the view from each eye into a single picture producing a perception of depth. Our past experiences and familiarity of objects enables us to quickly work out the relative size of things we see, and thus filter and make sense of the information we are receiving. Perspective is also an important factor, with objects normally getting smaller the further they are away, and parallel lines converging as they go into the distance. With conventional cinema the perception of depth is produced by careful lighting, use of camera position, foreground detail, lens choice, focus point and movement in the scene. Occlusion is where a foreground object blocks the view of another, meaning it is normally in front of the second object. Clearly, for 3D cinema production to be successful the images the brain receives via the eyes needs to be similar in appearance to reality, so the brain can fill in the missing information. It is, after all, only two x 2D images the brain is processing, both with the same distance to the screen. When looking at an object that is close to us, our eyes do two things. The eyes actually converge inwards, and at the same time they focus on that object by altering the eye muscles to accommodate the object.

3D camera rigs.

Clearly from what I have said above, it is simply not sufficient to put two cameras side by side and start merrily shooting away! Ideally the cameras need to be a similar distance apart that human eyes are apart, which is about 2.5 inches or about 62mm. This is the “interocular distance”. If a camera is set up with 2.5 inches as an interocular distance are said to be configured to be orthostereoscopic. The angle of convergence is another important parameter that is vital to get correct. To make a stronger 3D effect the camera lenses can be converged, making closer objects to appear to actually be in front of the screen and objects further away will be on the screen or behind it. In addition to this, there is the added complication that most professional cameras are actually wider than 2.5 inches to their optical centre of the lens, so two cameras side by side would have an interocular distance far wider than 2.5inches. Indeed, as the distance needs to be measured from the optical centre of each lens a system needs to be made to produce an interocular at the required distance. This is normally achieved with the cameras being set vertically perpendicular to each other and shooting through a semi silvered optical flat set at 45degrees.

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Another complication comes in the form of variable lens quality. No two lenses are identical, no matter how accurately they are precision manufactured. When the focus or focal length is altered on a zoom lens it can “breathe” to different levels depending on the lens. Two lenses from the same manufacturer can also have a slightly different colour and other inherent characteristics that need to be known beforehand. It can also zoom with a non linear manner, so unless something is done to counter this it appears to be something strange going on to the viewer, although they may not know exactly what. These anomalies all have to be carefully checked, recorded, calibrated and calculated to change if a change of focus or lens focal length is called for. This would normally not be an issue for conventional shooting, as there is only one point of reference. Clearly, for this to be happening on a live shoot can be tricky to fully achieve, and if the illusion of depth is challenged in any way by the viewer, the illusion can be lost. This is where an understanding of the challenges is required by anyone using the 3-D rigs, and the camera technician can be the most important person on the set if the shoot is to be fully realised without costly problems that manifest themselves only in post production. A simple factor such as dust on one lens can cause the viewer to see it in one eye and not the other. The camera operator with the grip too needs to be someone who fully understands the potential issues and pitfalls, and will alter the framing of the shot accordingly if anomalies appear. Mostly it is one lens seeing something drastically different to the second lens, such as a backlight source being revealed, for example. In all a camera crew needs to be employed who knows their theory, and who know the equipment thoroughly before they start shooting. Where better to go for crew than ask the GBCT for experienced crews?

Return of the killer B’s.

I am sure that we all probably agree that new cameras and advancing technical specifications is generally a good thing, and the advances made in cameras in recent years has been nothing less than spectacular and brisk. Love it or hate the idea, the various Red cameras and others have revolutionised the thinking of independent film makers with a vision they can now get a high quality movie made, and even potentially eventually get their efforts shown in cinemas. The less expensive cameras such as Red can now potentially be bought for a relatively modest sum instead of being hired, and assuming a set of good lenses are utilised for the production, and the DP does a good job it should be technically fine. The film can then be post produced on a laptop with a software package that now can cost a few hundred pounds. The key here is striving for high quality, and assuming the script is excellent and innovative, the actors, art department, cinematography, sound, VFX, wardrobe, make-up, editing and post production and all other departments on the film all do their best work, it has the potential to be made. There have been some interesting films made this way on very small budgets, and have actually been a financial success. To have a diverse structure to the making of films is all well and good, and if creativity is to shine through this is all to be encouraged, as we all had to start somewhere. To have an alternative method of entry to the business of making films apart from the film school route is something to look at. The making of a film is a collaborative effort, however, and it always will depend on skilled people producing their best work, and training is paramount to this working for the future. Also a factor to consider is each person involved is effectively a shareholder, so when there are profits to be made it goes to all, and not just the producers and director. Inevitably if a film is a huge success, the director will be called upon to make a larger budget movie, leaving the rest of the crew to dust themselves off and start again. The previous movie business model has predominantly been based on large budgets, corporate management and decisions based on a committee. There are clearly exceptions to this rule, such as films made by Ken Loach and Mike Leigh, as two excellent British examples. Unlike virtually all their contemporaries, they have never succumbed to the call of Hollywood, and they make films that are real and gritty that reflect British life. It’s hard to imagine this British realism translating to the Hollywood machine, so distribution can be potentially hard to come by. It is one challenge to overcome in making a film, quite another to get it shown to any great amount of audiences. Box office success is all important with films now regularly costing more than $100 million to produce.

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In the midst of all this, there are older classic British cinemas that are struggling to survive, and are trying to compete against the multiplex chains, that are primarily driven by “bums on seats” and high turnover, much like a supermarket chain. Yes the quality of projection and sound systems is generally good, yet they are tied to a distribution system that is predominantly based around Hollywood financed films. An independent by definition finds it hard to be seen in this treadmill, and as such the large expensive extravaganza films such as Avatar and the like will ultimately prevail. Avatar took us to a world that was beyond our knowledge and imagination, and that’s what made it such a huge hit with the viewing cinema goers. It could have been the most expensive flop in cinema history if not crafted as well as it was, however, and sometimes it is a fine line between success and failure. Old cinemas still have to struggle to survive, although they are actually much better appreciated these days by a more sophisticated audience. Most have needed to change their business model and wisely positioned themselves in the carrot cake and cappuccino world of art house audiences. Investment is beginning to filter back into these establishments now, however, and in June 2010 the 100 year old historic Phoenix cinema in East Finchley is to close for refurbishment. £1million has been allocated for the careful restoration work to refurbish its Edwardian features, and the later art deco details hidden inside. There will be a gala of films and events to celebrate its reopening at the end of the summer.

The B’s.

One factor that has recently emerged in this crazy mixture of technology and paradigm shift is a culture of a raise in the status of the B movie, and there is even a Bad Film Club that has emerged that regularly show truly terrible films as an alternative entertainment, with a hilarity value rather than for their artistic and commercial value. One film that has appeared at the top of many of the “the best worst film you’ll see in 2010” lists is Birdemic, a film made by James Nguyen, a 42-year-old Vietnamese refugee for a budget of about $10,000. The film was shot over a period of 4 years at weekends utilising his salary from his day job as a software salesman in Silicon Valley. When the film was rejected for an official screening slot at Sundance, James Nguyen then spent eight days driving up and down the festival’s nearby streets in a van covered with fake birds, frozen blood and Birdemic posters, and with loudspeakers blaring out the sounds of eagle attacks and human screams. This tactic certainly caught the attention of festival organizers, filmgoers and also the local police who were none too amused. However, Severin Films executives also reportedly saw a screening, and after taking a look at the film and the hype surrounding it, they immediately locked down the worldwide rights for the film for the next twenty years. They have since spent considerably more on the publicity than the film cost to actually make! Paranormal Activity is another low budget movie that will most likely be remembered that on a $15,000 budget raked in over a $100million at the USA domestic box office. Most B movies tend to represent a particular genre, with the Western being a very good example of a Golden Age B movie. Later on the low-budget science-fiction and horror films became more popular in the 1950s. B movies have provided opportunities both for those coming up in the profession. Celebrated filmmakers such as Anthony Mann (El Cid) and Jonathan Demme (The Silence of the Lambs) learned their craft in B movies. John Wayne and Jack Nicholson also became established through working on B movies, and the Bs have also provided work for former A movie actors, such as Vincent Price and Karen Black. Some actors, such as Béla Lugosi (Dracula - 1931) and Pam Grier (in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown), worked in B movies for most of their careers. So, with a successful film released in Birdemic, and a sequel on the way, a word of warning. As the film is so spectacularly (laughably) bad, there is a possibility that younger audiences get used to laughing at B-movies, think that all old movies are funny. Then again, who is laughing now? I am sure James Nguyen is! Maybe any movie can be entertaining, however bad.. Only in America can something so bad can be so successful. Maybe the UK needs to take a lesson. John Keedwell GBCT

Guild of British Camera Technicians, Board Members.

Jamie Harcourt, Tim Potter (Chairman), Jem Morton, John Keedwell, Steve Brooke Smith, Keith Mead, Louise Ben-Nathan, Shirley Schumacher, Trevor Coop, David Worley, Darren Miller, Sarah Hayward, Mary Kyte (Honorary Treasurer)

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British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 040

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