British Cinematographer - Issue 68 by Open Box Media & Communications

BRITISH

Uniting Cinematographers Around the World

www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 68 -- March 2015

CREDITS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 68 / march 2015

B RITISH

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Uni t ing C ine m at o gr a p he r s A r o und t he W or l d

“It’s a beautiful format, probably the best yet to make things look good... Shooting on film makes me the happiest” Edu Grau

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH t. +44 (0) 1753 650101

Contributors 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). David A Ellis worked in the BBC’s film department. He since has written articles for many publications including Image Technology, Cinema Technology and Film International. He is the author of Conversations With Cinematographers and is working on a second volume. David Wood is a journalist specialising in film and TV technology and production. Currently the technology editor at Televisual Magazine, he also writes for World Screen and is a former deputy editor and new media editor of Broadcast magazine. 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 file-based formats and their methods of production. Kevin Hilton is a freelance journalist who writes about technology and personalities in film and broadcasting. He regularly contributes film reviews and interviews to a variety of publications in the UK and abroad. Valentina I. Valentini focuses on the art and craft of cinematography, and all that it includes, as a freelance writer based in Los Angeles. She contributes to ICG Magazine, Camera Angles, HDVideoPro, and is the West Coast Correspondent to IndieFilm3D.com and DigitalCinemaReport.com.

British Cinematographer is part of LAWS Publishing. Laws Publishing Ltd, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 | f. +44 (0) 1753 650111 The publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in British Cinematographer are not representative of Laws Publishing Ltd but the responsibility of the individual contributors.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

The Colour Of Money T

he pound in the pocket is actually worth £12.49. According to a recent report, Government support for the UK’s screen industries, in the form of creative sector tax reliefs, is playing a major part in stimulating business growth, returning more than £6 billion a year for the UK economy and creating lots of jobs. You can see this success reflected on the cinema screen, and in the pages of this edition, in the form of Cinderella, Disney’s new live-action retelling of its eponymously-titled animated classic. With cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos BSC, the production used UK studio facilities, locations, cast, crew and post houses to the maximum. The result is a confident, colourful, charming and uplifting production, revealing British movie-making talent in its pomp. There’s even going to be a free exhibition in central London showing-off the fabulous handmade costumes during the Easter holidays. All-in-all, Cinderella should have remarkably long legs at the immediate box office and via future sell-through opportunities too. You could also see this success in incarnate form at the 2015 BSC Show, held at Pinewood Studios, where the Richard Attenborough Stage was full to the brim with exhibitors and visitors, a significant number of whom were aspiring film-industry students. The sense of exhilaration, and perhaps pride, at being at a world-renowned studio complex, where the latest Star Wars movies are housed, was palpable. Statistics for 2014, published by the BFI, have revealed a surge in film production in the UK – up from £1.325 billion in 2011 to a total spend of £1.471 billion. Along with Star Wars, movies starting production in the UK in the last year include Mission: Impossible 5, Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, Pan, Suffragette, 45 Years, Dad’s Army, Kill Your Friends and Shaun The Sheep. And Spectre, the latest 007 James Bond episode, is on the way. On a human level, the good news is that film production is a major employer generating 39,800 direct jobs, with more employees being directly employed rather than being self-employed. These are radically different times to those of recent yore. It’s not that long ago that, at a stroke, countless productions were axed overnight when the then Chancellor, in a relatively film-unfriendly administration, sought to eradicate tax loopholes – thereby casting a black shadow over the movie production business here. With a general election looming, and the outcome uncertain, one can only hope, that successful figures speak for themselves – among Whitehall accountants and ultimately to the Treasury – and that whoever ends up running the country will want to continue this success.

RON PRINCE Editor | British Cinematographer Magazine

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 03

CONTENTS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 68 / march 2015

President’s Perspective

Barry Ackroyd BSC disputes the cinematographer’s “below-the-line” status

Production/Post & Techno News

The latest news concerning DPs, plus Studios Round-Up

Who’s Shooting Who?:

Your definitive guide to which DPs are shooting who and where

Post-It Notes

Philippe Ros AFC takes a look at the issues surrounding the texture and sharpness of digital images

Live & Let DI

Discover who’s been dialling-in the most recent DI grades

37 F-Stop

Review the 2015 BSC Expo at Pinewood Studios, featuring the latest filmmaking kit

Spotlight

A look at the well-known lighting kit developer Licht Technik

Robot Overlords

MEET THE NEW WAVE

Clapperboard

Darran Bragg… has green fingers!

Ace camera operator… Mike Proudfoot ACO Associate BSC

Letter From America

Former ASC president, Stephen Lighthill ASC, brings a Hollywood perspective on issues including diversity, professionalism and iPhones!

Innovator

Codex’s managing director Marc Dando gives an insight into the company that’s becoming a major force in digital motion picture workflows

ON THE JOB

Ellen Kuras ASC on A Little Chaos Danny Cohen BSC on X+Y

IMAGO News

Nigel Walters BSC reports IMAGO’s recent and forthcoming events around Europe

Camera Creative

Haris Zambarloukos discusses his artistic approach to the lighting and camera movement on Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella

Close-Ups

Danny Cohen BSC on X+Y, Edu Grau on Suite Française, Stijn Van Der Veken SBC ASC on The Sum Of Histories

GBCT News

The chairman’s statement on diplomas, and other news from The Guild, including a look at some extraordinary footage of the Sun

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 05

PRESIDENTS PERSPECTIVE / BARRY ACKROYD BSC / BSC PRESIDENT

Crossing the line British Society

of Cinematographers Board of Governors 2015 PRESIDENT: Barry Ackroyd BSC IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: John de Borman BSC VICE PRESIDENTS: Sean Bobbitt BSC Nigel Walters BSC Haris Zambarloukos BSC GOVERNORS: Oliver Curtis BSC John Daly BSC Joe Dunton MBE BSC (non DoP) Mike Eley BSC Gavin Finney BSC Sue Gibson BSC David Higgs BSC Nic Knowland BSC Phil Meheux BSC Nic Morris BSC Dick Pope BSC Chris Seager BSC Derek Suter BSC Robin Vidgeon BSC CO-OPTED ASSOCIATE MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE: Chris Plevin SECRETARY/Treasurer: Frances Russell

I think I can say it here. I’m in good company. And we all know this to be true. Clearly, cinematographers have “the best job in the world.”

here I’ve said it. Though I fear it’s already out. In fact it’s not such a secret at all. In fact others feel the same way too. Besides cinematographers, there are production designers, costume/wardrobe and make-up, editors – all those who are lucky enough to make films – they also each have “the best job in the world”. So let’s admit it, we’re in good company. A very fortunate place. A place of self-esteem, job satisfaction and, sometimes, the recognition by others that what we do is good. Yet despite all this, it seems by some twist of fate that cinematographers have been dealt a bad hand, put in a dark place. We’re “below-the-line”. It’s not often spoken about, in polite company. In fact, I first heard of it some years ago, when I asked my agent a simple question. “If the production say they have no money upfront, then why not ask for something at the back end? A residual payment?” The answer came back, “Because you’re ‘below-the-line’.” So where did this idea come from? Why is there a line? Who made this decision? As I’m always trying to tell people, cinematography is the first art of cinema. We didn’t create moving images to create divisions. I believe cinematographers are sharing people. We like to pass on our skills and knowledge free-of-charge. We are the originators of cinema. We help to turn an art into an industry; one that thrives on collaboration and cooperation and, for me, it should never be about drawing lines. Recently we came to the end of the awards season – the BIFAs, BAFTAs, Globes, ASCs and Oscars. The Crufts of the industry, showing, parading, promoting and pushing a few films to millions around the world. Displays of opulence, often with mongrel creatures or indie films taking the blue ribbon, but by pushing a few, and thereby perhaps hiding, the best from sight. So here’s my question. Why is it that the profits from a film never reach down to reward the crew? As cinematographers know what it’s like to spend 60-hours-plus a week, passionately working at the “best job in the world”. We enjoy the process of creating, sharing our skills and taking risks. We love producing unique images

– images that literally illuminate the screen and help to illuminate people’s visions of the world. Don’t they know that it’s teamwork that brings this about? When we are struggling to shoot a film, we are all in it together. Long days, tough conditions and, at the end of it all, great work and great films are made. Films that fill seats, sell DVDs and sell downloads. So some films don’t make profits. Some films struggle to get recognised, especially when distribution is so tightly controlled. But an equal distribution of the success of a film could come about. IMAGO is working toward this end, and Screen Craft continues to collect blank tape levy from screenings of work shown in some European countries. In my mind we don’t deserve to have rules imposed on us, to separate crew from production. There’s no need to draw this imaginary line. Actors and directors get a cut. Composers are automatically counted-in the “above-the-line” category, as do assistant directors, writers and, of course, producers. I’m not saying they don’t deserve to share profits, and I guess they enjoy their work too. So tell me what is the difference in our contribution? Someone tell me please. No matter when or how this rule came about, let’s remember rules can be broken. Let’s recall that great wacky, boxoffice-busting British film The Full Monty. They famously shared the profit with the entire crew. Who, as I hear from those who benefited from it, were able to buy large tracts of land in foreign climes, sent their many children off to the best schools, and still had a bit left over to buy a large 4x4 SUV. Yet they haven’t been spoilt like some lucky lottery winner. They still work in our industry. The cash didn’t make them lazy or soft and unwilling to put in a day’s work. No, we all have the best job in the world. So please, producers, don’t abuse it. Don’t be greedy. Love film and filmmaking like we the “below-the-line” people do. Remember we’re in this together. Long live filmmaking. Barry Ackroyd BSC President British Society of Cinematographers

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 07

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Lubezki makes historic second triple scoop during awards season

Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki AMC ASC won the 2015 Best Cinematography Awards at the Oscar, BAFTA and American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) awards ceremonies for his work on director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance).

his success follows Lubezki’s 2014 achievement, when he was awarded the same trio of prestigious accolades for his work on Alfonso Cuaron’s groundbreaking production of Gravity. Lubezki is the first cinematographer ever to have made this triple sweep of Oscar, BAFTA and ASC Awards two years in a row. British interest at this year’s key awards included cinematographers Dick Pope BSC and Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC. Pope was nominated for his work on the artist biopic Mr Turner, directed by Mike Leigh, picking up the golden trio of Oscar, BAFTA and ASC nods, whilst Deakins received Oscar and ASC nominations for Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie. At this year’s ASC Awards, Phil Méheux BSC’s long career in moviemaking was recognized with ASC International Award, presented by ARRI’s Dana Ross. Méheux’s work spans four decades, encompassing films such as The Long Good Friday, The Fourth Protocol, Goldeneye, The Mask Of Zorro, Entrapment, Bicentennial Man, Around The World In 80 Days, The Legend Of Zorro, Edge Of Darkness, Winners... Phil Méheux and the 007 James Bond BSC, pictured feature Casino Royale. on set, was given the ASC International award

Winners... team Tiffen (l-r) Michael Fecik, Steven Tiffen and Jeff Cohen were awarded a prestigious Sci-Tech commendation

Winners... Chivo clutches his Oscar for Birdman

Tiffen team wins Academy Award Leica cine lenses recognised Steven Tiffen, Jeff Cohen and Michael Fecik, of The Tiffen by the Academy Company, were honoured with the Scientific and Technical

Academy Award of Commendation during the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards presentation on February 7. The Tiffen trio were recognised for their efforts in developing dye-based filters that reduce infrared contamination when neutral density filters are used with digital cameras. Tiffen neutral density filters reduce the amount of light passing through a camera’s lens without changing the colour of the scene. Designed with brightly lit conditions in mind, these filters help prevent over-exposure during tricky shots. They also allow for proper exposure at a wider lens opening, reducing the depth-of-field to highlight a key subject while keeping the foreground and/ or background out of focus. “The Tiffen Company identified the problem and rapidly engineered a series of absorptive filters that ameliorated infrared artifacts with lenses of all focal lengths,” the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said in its official press release. “These widely adopted filters allow cinematographers to work as they have done with film-based technology.” Steve Tiffen said: “We stand committed to continuing to support this industry that we love, and we find it so wonderfully pleasing that in this world of digital technology, Tiffen optical filters are recognised as a staple for professional imagemakers across the globe.” In further news, Tiffen is now shipping Steadicam Solo, its camera stabiliser for DSLRs and camcorders. The Solo can be used handheld, as Steve Tiffen and Terry Carey CEO a monopod, or Europe at the with a Steadicam Scientific Oscar Award ceremony arm and vest.

The development team at CW Sonderoptic GmbH was honoured with the Scientific and Engineering Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for the Leica Summilux-C (Cine) lenses. The Academy plaque was presented to Iain Neil (optical design) and André de Winter (mechanical design). The development of the Leica Summilux-C lenses fulfills a long-standing dream of numerous camera operators and creative cinematographers around the globe: namely, the transfer of the image qualities of Leica photography to the medium of motion pictures. Leica Summilux-C lenses are designed and constructed by CW Sonderoptic GmbH in Wetzlar, Germany, an affiliate of Leica Camera AG. The long-standing partnership between the two companies enables intensive Winners... the Leica lads exchange of pictured with their trophies at the Sci-Tech Awards experience, technical expertise and manufacturing methods that guarantee the imaging performance and characteristics for which Leica lenses are renowned. Leica lenses have been used in the shoots of numerous major feature film productions over the last three years, including Birdman, The Theory Of Everything, X-Men: Days Of Future Past and Gone Girl. Cinematographer Michael Seresin BSC, who used Leica lenses on Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, said, “The Leica Summilux-C lenses are the most rigorous and true lenses I have worked with. In the world of digital cinematography they retain a unique cinematic and emotional quality, similar to the Leica photography lenses I use, which is essential for me and the films I work on.” British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 09

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Pounds, shillings & sense... with incoming movies such as Star Wars, plus home-grown fare including Downton Abbey and Shaun The Sheep, the UK film and TV industry is aiding the economy and creating jobs

UK screen content generates over £6 billion for UK Economy

overnment support for the UK’s screen industries, in the form of creative sector tax reliefs, is playing a major part in stimulating business growth and a return of more than £6 billion a year for the UK economy, according to a recent independent report. “The Economic Contribution Of The UK’s Film, High-end TV, Video Games & Animation Programme Sectors”, produced by analysts Shaun The Sheep Olsberg/SPI and Nordicity, commissioned by the BFI, Pinewood Group plc, the British Film Commission, UK Interactive Entertainment (UKIE) and PACT, shows that UK film has seen significant growth in activity since the introduction of the 2007 Film Tax Relief (FTR). This is ensuring that the UK film industry is continuing to maximise its position in a highly-competitive international environment, creating more successful British films and bey employment, and stimulating further Downton Ab private investment in world-class infrastructure. The high-end TV sector has also shown rapid growth since the introduction of the tax relief for home-grown and international productions made in the UK. The Animation TV tax relief supported over £50 million of production expenditure in its first 12 months of operation. For the first time ever, the report, which is updated every two years and offers the most detailed analysis of the contribution that film makes to the UK economy, has been expanded to cover high-end television production, video games and TV animation programmes. These newly supported sectors in the UK utilise many of the same creative and technical skills as features, and as part of the report provide a fuller picture than ever before of four of the UK’s key creative industries. Tax reliefs have been introduced for each of the sectors, reflecting the UK’s high-level abilities and opportunities for growth. Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The UK’s film, TV and video games industries are amongst our nation’s biggest success stories. When you look at Star Wars: 10 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Episode VII being filmed at Pinewood, the global popularity of Downton Abbey and the phenomenal success of Rocksteady’s Batman Arkham video game series, it’s clear the sector is only getting stronger. This report highlights how they’re each a powerful driver of growth and the incredible impact our creative industries are having on our economy. “We’re determined to cement the UK’s position as the best place in the world to create and shoot film, TV, animation and video games. The tax reliefs we’ve put in place are a key part of our long term economic plan, and it’s fantastic to see the huge boost they’ve delivered to this highly creative and dynamic sector.” The report underlines the importance of the Film Tax Relief (FTR) in enabling the UK to maintain its competitiveness as the leading production destination of choice for international filmmakers, as well as supporting home-grown British films. It illustrates the benefits of the FTR which costs HM Treasury approximately £164 million a year and supports an annual average production spend on film in the UK of £1.136 billion. In simple terms, each pound of the FTR over the period 2007 to 2014 has generated £12.49 in additional gross value. Without the FTR, it is estimated the spend on film production in the UK would be £550 million lower annually. The UK film sector continues to be a strong source of private capital investments, with more than £425 million invested by just two companies alone in their infrastructure since 2007. The pace of investment has increased in recent years with Pinewood, Warner Bros. Peter Taylor (r) Studios Leavesden, and is pictured at the event with Industrial Light & Magic Gary Spratling amongst those making Associate BSC ACO significant investments, (l), who was but it has also extended nominated for UK-wide with Belfast his work on Maleficent. (Titanic Studios), Bristol (Bottle Yard Studios)

and Cardiff (BBC/Pinewood) all benefitting from studio investments. The distribution of films also generates significant economic activity with companies generating over £1.2 billion in turnover in this part of the sector. Just recently, the BFI published statistics for 2014 which saw a massive surge in film production in the UK, generating a total spend of £1.471 billion, an increase on the previous production peak in the UK of £1.325 billion in 2011. Films which started production in the UK in last year included Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Mission: Impossible 5, Alice In Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, Pan, Suffragette, 45 Years, Dad’s Army, Kill Your Friends and Shaun The Sheep. Film is a major employer generating 39,800 direct jobs contributing £1.4 billion to UK GDP in 2013, with a growing percentage of employees being directly employed rather than working self-employed. Film production providing employment UK-wide although London and the South-East, accounts for 69% of jobs.

Creative Skillset launches media archive traineeships

Archive film footage has the power to inform, inspire and fire the imagination, bringing history alive, and the UK has a treasure trove of classic film and TV collections. Creative Skillset is seeking applicants for ten paid media archive traineeships, based around the UK, to help in preserving this heritage. Trainees will spend up to 24 weeks learning the key skills of media archiving, such as film handling, media asset management, intellectual property rights, digital marketing, and the role of heritage and archives in the film industry. Applications need to be submitted by March 23.

Correction

Our apologies to Peter Taylor Associate BSC ACO, who was mis-credited in photos appearing in Edition 67 of British Cinematographer Magazine. It was, of course, Peter Taylor who won the ACO/BSC/GBCT Operators Award for his exemplary work on Gravity, at 2014 BSC Operators Night on Friday 28th November, and not Peter Robertson Associate BSC ACO.

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

ARRI announces compact Alexa Mini camera

RRI has announced the Alexa Mini, an additional camera in its Alexa range. The Alexa Mini combines a compact and lightweight form factor with the same image quality that has made the Alexa system popular amongst cinematographers. Designed for specialised shot-making, the Alexa Mini is complements a full Alexa shooting kit, allowing crews to keep image capture within a single system and eliminate the complications of working with third-party camera systems. The Alexa Mini incorporates a number of new design solutions, including integrated and environmentally-sealed electronics, a lightweight carbon housing and a solid titanium PL mount, that connects directly with the new internal sensor mount, to ensure a stable flange focal distance, even when using large lenses. The Alexa Mini can be operated in a number of ways: by wireless remote control, as a normal camera with the ARRI MVF-1 multi viewfinder attached, or with an onboard monitor and controlled via the user button interface on the camera body. The symmetrical design permits filming in any orientation, including upside-down and in portrait mode, whilst multiple accessory points enable highly creative mounting possibilities. In addition, the Alexa Mini’s interchangeable lens mount can be replaced with any of those designed for the ARRI Amira, allowing the use of B4 video and EF mount stills lenses. Equipped with a 4:3 sensor, automatic desqueeze mode for anamorphic productions and frame rates of 0.75-200 fps, the Alexa Mini records ProRes or uncompressed ARRIRAW, either in-camera to CFast 2.0 cards, or to a specially-designed external recorder,

developed by Codex, that can record image streams from up to four Alexa Minis simultaneously. This is an interesting option for multicamera setups such as 360° plate shots. Images from the Alexa Mini will perfectly match those from all other Alexa cameras, making the final grade easier and quicker. In further news, ARRI has enlarged its LED L-Series with the new L10 fresnel, the company’s brightest and largest L-Series lamphead to date. The 10-inch fresnel lens and powerful output allow for more distant fixture placement and the wrapping of light around objects in a natural, pleasing way. At more than twice the brightness of the L7, the L10 is also one of the brightest LED fresnels on the market. The ARRI Alexa’s 3.2K ProRes upgrade has gone live with the release of Software Update Packet (SUP) 11.0, which adds the previously announced recording format aimed at UltraHD productions as well as a new, higher-quality debayering algorithm. Designed to generate a ProRes image that can be easily up-sampled to UHD resolution (3840×2160, or 3.8K), the 16×9 3.2K format (3164×1778) uses the largest area of the Alexa sensor that can be covered by the majority of Super 35 PL-mount lenses. ProRes 3.2K can be recorded in any flavour of ProRes at frame rates up to 30fps. The upgrade is available to Alexa XT cameras and Alexa Classic units, with the optional XR Module paid upgrade.

IATSE Local 600 & 479 support Sarah Jones online campaign

ATSE Local 600 (International Cinematographers Guild) and Local 479 (Studio Mechanics) have joined forces with several grassroots film/TV production social media sites for a memorial campaign honouring camera assistant Sarah Jones, who died on February 20, 2014 in a fatal train accident on location in Georgia, USA. The “Spirit Of Sarah” campaign calls for production crews worldwide to take a moment of silence for Sarah before making the first production shot of the day, now known as “the Jonesy.” They will post their photos and videos and remembrances on social media sites dedicated to promoting safety. In addition to the Facebook pages run by Local 600 and Local 479, the effort includes We Are Sarah Jones, Pledge to Sarah, and PSA: Production Safety Awareness. These sites all support the common goal of “Never Forget, Never Again” by promoting crew safety inspired by Sarah Jones. When Sarah Jones, a member of Local 600, was killed and several other crew-members injured, there was a tremendous outpouring of support from crew members worldwide, which is reflected on the Facebook page, Slates For Sarah, now with more than 70,000 likes. The effort also resulted in Sarah Jones’ name being included in the ‘In Memoriam’ segment of the 2014 Oscar telecast. “Spirit Of Sarah” is intended to remind the entire production community of the safety policies and resources in place supporting their right to working on a safe set. Local 600 recently launched SOS: Safety On Set, an initiative to communicate established safety practices and training programmes via all of its member communications including their website, internal publications, and an app which has already seen 1,700 downloads.

12 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Small... the new Alexa Mini plus new Codex recorder connected to four of the tiny cameras

Cinelease appoints Steve Smith as new MD

Lighting giant Cinelease has announced the appointment of Steve Smith as its new managing director in the UK. Smith brings 30 years of industry experience to the business, having formerly been the group MD of AFM Lighting and, more recently, worldwide MD of Panalux. Steven M Ortiz, Cinelease global VP, commented “We are delighted to welcome someone of Steve’s calibre and proven track record to Cinelease. His appointment is a sign of our commitment to being the leading lighting company in the UK.” Smith commented “I have been very impressed with the Cinelease team and their business ethos. It was crucial for me to join a business that shares my passion for truly focusing on the needs of each and every production. Cinelease customers will see our commitment to the UK market is long-term – through our continued investment in cuttingedge technology, personalised service, ongoing training and employment of the very best people.”

Caution... the tragedy of Sarah Jones’ death has generated far greater awareness about safety on set

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Matthews... new Vator stand and apple boxes are the solid foundations for many a production

Well-remembered... the late Roy Isaia, founder of MSE, shares a happy moment with present owner Ed Philips

MSE introduces Vator series at NAB 2015, but mourns founder’s passing

atthews Studio Equipment will introduce the new Vator III series of heavy-duty lighting stands at NAB 2015. “We began making Vators over 35 years ago,” said Robert Kulesh, the company’s VP of sales and marketing. “We often visit productions around the world and we see many of the original, silver-coloured Vators still in service. The black Vator II stands were updates of the original Vators and were introduced about 15 years ago and now, with the new, grey-coloured Vator III being introduced we have continued to improve upon an already excellent product line. Each generation has been improved based upon comments, evaluations and recommendation MSE has received from the people in the field. This new third generation of HD cranking stands will be available in six different models that range form a single-riser LoBoy, through the Crank and Super Cranks up to the new Mega Vator, which offers a 15-foot height and 200lb capacity. One of MSE’s other well-known products, the Apple Box, a staple on production sets, was used by Texas-based stills photographer David Arellano on a shoot involving model R’Bonney Nola, in various Yoga poses. “I wanted to take a Matthews... new Vator creative approach to the stand traditional Yoga pose,” says Arellano. “I thought the idea of elevating the yoga pose from the floor, and placing the subject on top of a solid platform would invoke the feeling of strength, stability and dependability. I use Matthews’ C-stands a lot. So, I took a look at the Apple Box – and knew they would be a safe, strong and sturdy support to balance her weight. As she goes through various poses, her expression appears effortless while simultaneously displaying incredible strength which compliments the stability and sturdiness qualities of the Matthews Apple Box!” In less happy news, the MSE team recently mourned the loss of founder Roy Isaia, who was well-respected around the industry worldwide. “One of the reasons Matthews became so well-known was Roy’s enthusiasm,” said the company’s present owner Ed Phillips. “He didn’t wait for customers to come to him – he went to the far corners, literally, to introduce his products. Orders came pouring in.” 14 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

2015 BSC Show proves a success for LCA

Lights Camera Action (LCA) says it was delighted with the response it received from visitors to the 2015 BSC Show, who took the time to look at the many new products on its stand. The powerful Cinetile, with a colour range from 2700k up to 6500k, could be seen lighting up the LCA stand from afar. Using The Light Management Processor (TLMP), the light quality, colour temperature and brightness are consistent throughout the shooting day. Dimmable from 0-100% with no colour shift and flicker free up to 1,000Hz/fps, the Cinetile can be used with high-speed cameras. The new Cineo Matchbox was on show alongside the full range of lights from Cineo Lighting that utilise Remote Phosphor Technology. The Matchbox is 3in x 5 x 1, and outputs high-quality light at a variety of accurate colour temperatures. A wide range of input power lets the user run Matchbox on any input voltage from 6-30VDC, as well as AC with the included adapter. The Matchbox includes an on-board 0-100% flicker-free dimmer that works in conjunction with upstream DMX or remote dimmers. Anodised aluminum construction makes Matchbox extremely rugged and durable. Accessories include a variety of on-board battery clips, barn doors and carrying cases. Continuing with latest in LED lighting, LCA showed the new Astra 1x1 Bi-Color panel, which builds on the legacy of the original 1x1 fixture. This daylight-to-tungsten tunable colour model was years in the making, with every design element of this next generation panel being meticulously crafted. Following the Litepanels tradition of a one square-foot form factor, the Astra series has a high CRI, surface mount LEDs and are paired with custom designed TIR optics. Tightly binned LEDs and fine-tuned optics provide the Astra 1x1 with high colour reproduction and a light output that is up to four times brighter than traditional LED panels. This higher intensity results in a longer throw and illuminates a wider area, allowing the panel to compete with strong exterior light sources or illuminate a large area effectively with just a single fixture.

LCA... LiteMat and Cinetile fixtures illuminated the recent BSC Show

Visitors to the show made good use of the LiteGear demonstration unit allowing them to play with the different levels of lighting offered by the LiteRibbon. In addition to this, the new LiteMat pulled the crowds with its light output, flexibility and impressive ultra-light weight. Mains or battery powered, the LiteMat, with its K-Mount receiver, can be mounted on a stand or, using the velcro on the product, can be stuck on walls, doors and ceilings. Available in daylight, tungsten or hybrid, the LiteMat comes in four sizes (1x2, 2x2, 1x4 and 4x2), is fully-dimmable and is available with three different diffusers. DOP Choice continues to keep up with the advent of new LED lighting and has developed a SnapBag for the Cineo Maverick, HS and LS and SnapGrid for the Maverick and HS.

AJA Releases new Firmware for Cion production camera

AJA Video Systems has released v1.1 firmware for the Cion 4K/UltraHD and 2K/HD production camera. The camera started shipping just over two months ago, and this software update increases the Exposure Index (EI) values to EI 320, EI 500, EI 800 and EI 1000, as well as offering improved highlight handling capabilities. The v1.1 firmware is field-upgradeable, and is easily uploaded to the Cion camera via the built-in web UI with a standard web-browser.

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Consumables... new guide will help productions become more energy efficient

Guide to lowenergy lighting now available

he BBC has updated its 2011 Low Energy Lighting Guide – sponsored by the Carbon Trust and in partnership with Arup – to help TV productions cut carbon emissions and save on energy bills. The comprehensive guide is being made available to all industry professionals and is intended to assist lighting directors, studio managers and production teams in creating low-energy lighting designs, improve working practices in television productions, and to ultimately help reduce energy consumption and carbon footprints. The new guide also details the performance characteristics, such as lux levels and colour rendition, of popular low energy equipment. Tungsten incandescent lighting has dominated the broadcasting world for more than 50 years. However, solid state lighting, mainly from Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), is leading a new revolution in television production lighting. Last year, the BBC carried out a quantitative energy analysis on its production lighting over a representative set of TV studios. This analysis indicated that there is a potential to save between 30% and 50% of production energy lighting costs, as well as reducing CO2 emissions. The findings of this work were approved by the Carbon Trust, and the results of tests carried out by the BBC Sustainability Team and Arup, on the performance of the latest low energy lighting technology in operation in a studio environment, are recorded in the new guide. Solid-state lighting can now match - and in some cases exceed - the performance of tungsten with increased light output, better efficiency, good dimmability, high colour rendition and longer lamplife. At the BBC, lighting directors and programme teams are now using 100% low energy lights, mainly fluorescent, on the set of the hospital drama Casualty. BBC studios in London and Salford are also using the

new LED fresnels for local regional news programmes, sports programmes, the News Channel and on the set of BBC Breakfast. BBC One’s Silent Witness is reportedly saving around 30%.

Kodak finalises motion picture film agreements with Hollywood studios

Kodak has finalised film supply agreements with all six major Hollywood studios. As part of these agreements, Kodak will continue to provide motion picture film to 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Co., Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc., NBC Universal Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp. and Sony Pictures for their movie and television productions. Kodak has been engaged in broad discussions with prominent filmmakers, studios, independent artists, production companies, and film processors to enable film to remain a fundamental medium. Last July, the studios

made known their intent to play a key role in leading this industry-wide effort. Prior to the agreements being finalised, several highly-acclaimed films were produced on film, including the Oscar-nominees Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Interstellar, Foxcatcher, Into The Woods, Leviathan, Inherent Vice and The Judge. Additionally, some of the most-anticipated films of 2015 are being shot on Kodak film, such as Star Wars: Episode VII –The Force Awakens, Mission: Impossible 5, Batman v. Superman – Dawn of Justice, Jurassic World, Ant-Man, Cinderella, Entourage and Trainwreck. The agreements make it possible for Kodak to continue to manufacture motion picture film whilst also pursuing new opportunities to leverage film production technologies in growth applications, such as touchscreens for smartphones and tablet computers. This also positions the company to remain the premier supplier of camera negative, intermediate stock for post production, and archival and print film.

Devine uses Genesis on Morning Is Broken

New wave... Craig Dean Devine lensed Morning Is Broken with a sensitive brush

16 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

It’s always a delight to hear about the achievements of up-and-coming cinematographers who have featured in the New Wave section of British Cinematographer Magazine. Craig Dean Devine, who lensed the short film Interview, nominated for a BAFTA this year, contacted us with details of Morning Is Broken, directed by Simon Anderson, with producers James Northcote and Elisabeth Hopper, which gets its UK premier at the BFI:Flare festival on the 21st of March. Speaking about his work on Morning is Broken, Devine said, “I originally tested and shot with Panavision’s Genesis camera on the BAFTA-nominated short film Three Brothers (dir. Aleem Khan), on the advice of Tony Samuels at Panavision and DP Stewart Harris. They were both very passionate about the look of the camera. I fell for its grainy, rich and contrasty images. We felt that other digital options were too sharp and clean for the story we wanted to tell. When it came to prepping for Morning Is Broken, it was my instinct to use the Genesis again. Morning Is Broken is a coming-of-age story about a young man who is struggling to deal with the uncertainty of his sexuality. We had the challenge of telling a very sensitive story, so we wanted an image that was much softer. The Genesis, coupled with the haze of K35 lenses, gave the image a texture, sense of age and warmth, that we feel complimented the story perfectly.”

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

The Panavision/ Panalux stand at Micro Salon

Entrance to Le Femis film school Paris site of AFC Micro Salon

(l-r) Ralph Young (Lee Filters), John Buckley (Movietech), Richard Mckitty (Lee Filters) and Geoff Chappell (Cooke Optics)

Darius Khonji AFC and Vittorio Stararo AIC meet on the ARRI /CODEX stand

Andry reflects on successful 2015 AFC Micro Salon

he French cinematographic community has always displayed a keen interest in both the technological and artistic aspects of cinema, especially with many renowned French equipment manufacturers and cinematographers having a successful history in exporting their technologies and talents across the worldwide stage, writes Richard Andry AFC. With this heritage, and in a spirit of conviviality, the 2015 AFC Micro-Salon, organised annually by the French Cinematographer’s Association (AFC), took place at the FEMIS national film school on February 6-7, in Montmartre, Paris. For it’s 15th anniversary, the focus was, once again, on the show being a meeting point for local and international visitors, manufacturers, as well as members of the AFC. We all enjoyed two intense days, filled with remarkable energy and harmony – an achievement that is all the more pleasing and satisfying, as the AFC is not a

Gaffney hired by Codex for business development

Industry veteran, Brian Gaffney, has joined Codex as VP of business development. Gaffney has many years of digital production experience, and is well-known in production and postproduction circles around the motion picture and broadcast industries. He will be based at Codex’s LA office and will head up business development efforts across the US, the Americas and Australia/New Zealand. Gaffney has joined Codex from Technicolor, where he was product manager for Technicolor’s Advanced Production Technology Group in development of cloud-based workflows. He joined Technicolor in 2006 when his company, Creative Bridge, a provider of on-set digital lab services, was acquired, with Gaffney becoming the VP of Technicolor’s On-Location Services. With Technicolor/Creative Bridge, he worked on over 100 projects using the DP Lights on-set colour correction system, including Iron Man 3, where he worked alongside cinematographer John Toll ASC. 18 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

“classic” event organiser. We strive to keep things on a very human scale, and we rely very much on the enthusiasm and goodwill of many volunteers. Admittedly, the magic potion does not vary from one year to another: the same venue, fortuitous encounters, accidental discoveries, high-quality presentations, friendly exchanges, and the willingness to share, listen and learn in equal measures. But with each edition of the show, interest in the AFC Micro Salon, from professionals in Europe and worldwide, continues to grow. This year, for example, delegates from China accepted the invitation extended by Paris Images Cinema. We are aware that we cannot enlarge the walls of FEMIS with a magic wand, but we want to stay in this place for obvious reasons. We have done our best to welcome 53 associate members participating at the show, a further seven guest exhibitors, as well as and our friends at the AFSI (Association Of Movie Sound

Marc Dando, MD of Codex, said, “Brian has deep roots in VFX and on-location services. This combination, plus with his recent experience in cloud-based services, makes him ideal for this new position at Codex.” “I think we are at a pivotal point for the production and post production industries,” added Gaffney, “I’ve watched Codex develop into an industry leader and have even been a customer of theirs. There are so many places where they add value and I’m excited to be a part of the expanding business.”

Rosco introduces SoftDrops backdrop system

Rosco has launched SoftDrops, a new fabric backdrop system printed on woven cotton, offered in front-lit, backlit, or day/night versions. SoftDrops can be produced in seamless sizes as large as 40ft (h) x 170ft (w) (12m x 51.8m), allowing filmmakers to shoot from any angle or position and avoid visible seams. The ultra-matte finish is semi-translucent and requires less light than vinyl to illuminate the backdrop.

Technicians), who animated a special “sound space”. Again, the highlight of this 15th AFC Micro Salon was the “carte blanche”, offered yearly to a foreign cinematographic society, that this year was accepted by the Association of Italian Cinematographers. There was a high-level presentation, majestically orchestrated by three leading members of the contemporary Italian cinematography – AIC President Daniel Nannuzzi, with the 45-minute premiere of the “Italian Cinematographers’ Style” documentary (with music composed by Francesco Cara), followed by Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC and Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC who presented the wonderful book, “L’Arte Della Cinematografia.” Grazie cari amici! We thank the 2,400-plus visitors who came to meet their friends and acquaintances and, above all, to discover the know-how that the leading representatives of the cinema and audiovisual industries laid on for the show. We look forward to seeing you again next year.

Rosco... showing how SoftDrops were used on the production of Stonewall

“This latest addition to Rosco’s Backdrop systems range is easy to light, easy to hang, and easy to transport, and SoftDrops will appeal to a variety of departments within a production” commented Phil Greenstreet, SoftDrop development team leader for Rosco Digital Imaging. SoftDrops have been used in such television and motion picture productions as Stonewall, where a Montreal sound stage was transformed into New York City in the 1960s. Vincent Liberali, art director on Stonewall, said, “SoftDrops are amazing, really beautiful and realistic”, whilst key rigging grip, Daniel Robidoux, commented “I’ve never installed a backdrop so easily.”

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

Tribute to Rune Ericson – mastermind of Super 16mm and 3-perf Rune Ericson FSF, the mastermind who championed the development of Super 16mm and 3-perf cinematography, passed away on February 6th, age 90, whilst on holiday in Thailand. Speaking about the loss of the legendary cinematographer and inventor, Lars Pettersson FSF said, “Rune’s contributions, to both Swedish cinema and the international film industry itself, span over more than half a century, encompass over 60 feature films, including numerous cherished audience favourites, as well as the launch of the Super 16 format, the championing of the 3-perf 35mm format, being the CEO of a film lab, the Scandinavian representative of Panavision, Aaton and Cooke among others, and indeed receiving an Academy Award for his achievements — they are beyond words.”

Symphony Of The Earth appeal to

cinematographers

Save the planet... cinematographer Jim Frazier ACS has an ambitious plan

Renowned Australian wildlife cinematographer Jim Frazier ACS has launched a funding and footage appeal for a global project called “Symphony Of The Earth”. His aim is to bring about a change in attitudes towards the world’s environmental crisis. Frazier, who has won several international awards for his work, and filmed numerous documentaries with Sir David Attenborough, is the inventor of the Frazier lens, which allows both foreground and background to be in focus.

Godfather... the perseverance of Rune Ericson gave the world S16mm

“For many years now I have been deeply concerned about the serious environmental state of planet Earth,” he said. “My real-life field experience has given me a unique insight into wildlife and the environment, allowing me to form a truly balanced world view of the current situation. I have long-realised that mankind’s current activities are seriously unsustainable. The environmental carnage that is happening on our Earth today verges on insanity. As Sir David Attenborough says, “Humans are an endangered species”. Frazier, who has been developing his project over the past ten years, says he needs $83m US dollars to produce a series of documentaries and a two-hour feature film that will bring the sounds of the wild to audiences around the world and feature musicians and singers from all genres. He is also calling for wildlife footage for the project. All the films will come out in 16 languages. Frazier says that if he obtains the necessary funding, the films could be ready in two year’s time. He has a potential partner in Malaysia: an “environmentallyfriendly” investment group that is looking at his project. The Symphony Of The Earth project is set up as a non-profit organisation, with all proceeds being used to help solve global environmental problems and fund global environmental education. Visit www.symphonyoftheearth.com.

Colorfront shows dial-in HFR frame blending

Colorfront demonstrated new features for High Frame Rate (HFR) Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV) production and post production at HPA’s recent 2015 Tech Retreat in Palm Springs.

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New book on lighting for film

Whilst there are some great books with interviews of big time cinematographers out there, there are few books immediately applicable to what emerging cinematographers face on limited budget shoots. “Lighting For Cinematography: A Practical Guide To The Art And Craft Of Lighting For The Moving Image”, is the first volume in the new Bloomsbury Press CineTech Guides to the Film Crafts. Written by veteran gaffer and cinematographer David Landau, the book helps the reader create lighting that supports the emotional moment of the scene, contributes to the atmosphere of the story and can augment an artistic style. Chapters cover such things as lighting for movement, working with windows, night lighting, lighting the three plains of action and non-fiction lighting. Every chapter includes stills, lighting diagrams and key advice from professionals in the field, as well as lighting exercises for the reader to put into practice. This how-to book addresses how filmmakers on a limited budget and time schedule can achieve professional looking images similar to what they see on the big screen. The book also has a website that includes a recent lighting news section featuring short articles on the latest lighting instruments and methods. The website can be found at www.lightingforcinematography.com. David Landau teaches lighting and cinematography at Fairleigh Dickinson University, USA, and travels around the US giving lighting seminars. A five-time Telly Award winner for lighting and cinematography, he continues to work in the lighting industry, shooting indie features and corporate videos, designing lights for theatre and working as one of the gaffers on the TV series Project Runway.

Cineo Lighting announces new CTO

Cineo Lighting, manufacturer of remote phosphor technology lighting systems for film, television and photography, has hired Chuck Edwards as its new as chief technical officer. Edwards comes to Cineo with over 30 years of experience in development of advanced digital imaging, displays and lighting technologies with over 50 patents and patents pending. He most recently held the role of VP and general manager of lighting components at Intematix.

olorfront debuted Interactive HFR FrameBlending – a creative capability giving realtime control over the motion blur of objects in an HFR sequence. Colorfront showed Interactive HFR Frame-Blending using Alexa ARRIRAW footage, shot at 120FPS with an open shutter, being deBayered in 4K on-the-fly. Using a simple dial-in slider interface, this new capability allows users – both on-set and in post production – to incrementally adjust shutter angles on HFR footage between 72º and 360º, and to perform realtime frame blending. Along with providing control over motion blur, this new capability also delivers the ability to retime shots and create speed ramps – with the results being seen immediately, playing back in realtime. Colorfront Interactive HFR Frame-Blending supports a wide range of digital cameras that can shoot 120FPS HFR RAW/ProRes footage, including ARRI Alexa, RED Epic, Canon C500, Sony F55/F65, Panasonic VariCam 35 and AJA Cion. It is available in Colorfront On-Set Dailies and OSD Transkoder 2015, Colorfront’s automated, standalone system for high-quality digital file conversion.

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Starting out... Alec Mills pictured as an eager young clapper/loader on Vengeance Is Mine (1949)

Review of Alec Mills BSC book Shooting 007

ike Fox GBCT ACO BSC (Assoc) recently reviewed “Shooting 007 And Other Celluloid Adventures”, by Alec Mills BSC, published by The History Press. If I had a pound in my pocket for every autobiography by a prominent producer, director, writer, actor or cameraman I have ever read, I reckon I could afford to book into a swish bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel for the Oscars, from where I could watch it all going on at first hand. Sadly, offered the same reward for every example of the latter books that offered a mix of unalloyed honesty — integrity, humour, loyalty, humility, tact, generosity, and selfdeprecation — I think I could just about afford a blowout lunch (for one) at Nando’s in the Balls Pond Road. Far from claiming any of these priestly merits, Alec Mills BSC — and I know him — in his book, “Shooting 007”, simply writes just the way he talks, and that rare mix of qualities shines through on almost every page. Mills’ engrossing, highly-entertaining and richlyillustrated story is un-put-down-able, mainly because it encapsulates a time when the post-war British film industry was precisely that: a time when we were making some two-hundred productions a year. It was also a time when, formally unionised, our clearly defined working practices on the camera crew produced perhaps the world’s finest training-ground. Union-graded into fourman crews, each man learnt the next role up empirically from those above him, before he considered himself ready for ‘up-grading’ — and some of the world’s most talented cinematographers of their time actively mentored that system from on-high. Out of that zeitgeist emerged a plethora of highly talented focus-pullers, operators and cameramen, among whom Mills could be labelled, almost by default, the poster boy of what heights a British-trained

22 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

filmmaker could achieve. His track record, starting a long and distinguished career from junior tea-boy to retirement as a major director of photography some fifty years later and then, as an afterthought, directing a couple of pictures, endorses that. To his credit Mills writes very little detail about the complicated technicalities of his work. There is a stack of workaday books about that — usually featuring a DP’s struggle in searching for and successfully finding ‘a look’ for every given film. But what Mills does write about is something quite rare in such books: the ups and downs of life in the lower ranks. This, particularly, as a camera operator, and the very challenges of satisfactorily filling (and surviving) the highly-precarious position in the middle of a creative triumvirate with the director and director of photography. As all operators know, sometimes this can feel like being little more than the filling in a highly-competitive sandwich. Surely, Mills relates many anecdotes about some of the greatest names in films, and notes some relationships that worked exceedingly well, and one or two that didn’t. And he sportingly credits by name his outstanding crews who supported him many times over the years. He even describes bravely one day, when he was young, accidentally writing off a day’s work. It is no surprise, given his history and knowing just how much creative input an operator contributes to a major film, that Mills, on becoming a DP, always refused to work without an operator at a time when some nascent producers mistakenly began to believe that a camera operator was some kind of expensive icing on the photographic cake. In evidence to the contrary regarding their creative input, just note the following: in his career, Mills worked on no less than 93 movies. He was no flashin-the-pan. A further note from his filmography reveals just how many distinguished cameramen and directors used his talents again and again and again. DPs: Harry Waxman (10 films); Paul Beeson (9); Michael Reed (8); Alan Hume (7); Ernie Day (4); Jack Cardiff (4); and Henri Decae (2). Directors: John Glen (8); Lewis Gilbert (4); Peter Hunt (4); Richard Marquand (2); and Ousama Rawi (2). And the list includes no less than seven James Bond movies — the last two as the DP. 007... Alec Mills the cinematographer, The next time you hear a snapped at Ouarzazate decidedly uninformed ‘producer’ Airport (Morocco) on ask: “Do we really need a camera The Living Daylights (1986). Image courtesy of operator?” you might recommend to Danjaq/United Artists. him Alec Mills’ Shooting 007.”

Process-paid film package from Frame24

Frame24 has teamed up with the UK labs, i-Dailies and Cinelab, to offer a Europe-wide, 16mm, processed-paid film package on Kodak Vision3 motion picture negative. The process-paid service costs £175 and includes 400ft of Kodak Vision 16mm stock, negative developing, ultrasonic clean and prep for TK, best light transfer to industry standard HD edit formats, plus transfer to FTP site, disk or hard drive. Extras to the package, such as a 2K scan, are also available at negotiated rates and the deal is also offered on a 100ft of 16mm at £55.00 a roll.

Angénieux lenses used for Wolf Totem 3D production

In 1967, a young Beijing student, Chen Zhen, is sent to live among the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia. Caught between the advance of civilisation from the south and the nomads’ traditional enemies – the marauding wolves – to the north, humans animals, residents and invaders alike, struggle to find their true place in the world. Adapted from Jiang Rong’s best-seller in China, Wolf Totem was shot in 3D by Jean-Marie Dreujou AFC, who talked about his experience with Angénieux lenses during the shooting. “Wolf Totem is my second Chinese movie experience: I shot in 2001 Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress. Wolf Totem is my fourth movie with Jean-Jacques Annaud. We had 450 people in the production team, nine of Stereo... Jean-Marie Dreujou lines up a whom were 3D rig fitted with the French. The Optimo DP 3D pack image team

STUDIO ROUND-UP: s promoted WBSL... ha an to Emily Stillm ote further prom ’s the studio virtues

Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden: Emily Stillman

has been promoted to VP of studio sales and operations at WBSL. Stillman began her career in TV drama and feature production, and from 2003 onwards she served as a production manager for an array of films before becoming CEO of the Production Guild. She joined WBSL as sales and marketing director in July 2012. WBSL opened in June 2012 following a £100m investment by Warner Bros. to redevelop the site. Dan Dark, senior VP and MD at WBSL, commented: “Emily joined with a wealth of experience and has played a key part in the studios’ success, ensuring our stages have remained busy since we opened. As we continue to expand, with three new sound stages and 20,000sq/ft of office space launching this year, Emily will be responsible for growing our client base and maintaining our reputation for exceptional service.”

Elstree Studios: is one of the most popular studios for audience shows and, since the closure of BBC TV Centre, is the main rival to ITV Studios for high-end TV shows. Productions last year involved the highly successful BBC show Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Juice, Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Pointless, 2 Tribes and The Chase. This year Emma Willis returned to host Celebrity Big Brother causing mass excitement, alongside Rylan Clarks Big Brother’s Bit On The Side. Recent film productions have included Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Jack The Giant Slayer, Under The Skin, The World’s End, World War Z and Paddington, which was produced by David Heyman of Harry Potter franchise fame. A multi-million pound development of Elstree Studios to provide new media facilities for the film and Elstree... gave television industry has taken a major step. Four acres a happy home to Paddington of land at the Studios have been levelled to allow the construction of new media production facilities. The Bottle Yard Studios: hosted a special episode of hit BBC TV crime drama Sherlock, which shot both on-site and on locations across Bristol and Bath. Hartswood Films, the award-winning independent production company behind the popular detective drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, set up their production base for the one-off episode. Other productions to based at The Bottle Yard Studios in recent months include BBC Two drama Wolf Hall, Disney/ABC Studios’ musical comedy fairytale Galavant, BBC One drama Poldark and ITV drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. Meanwhile a unique on-site ‘green transport’ partnership with Studio Cars means that productions based at Bottle Yard will be able to quickly and easily hire an environmentally-friendly chauffeur service to transport cast and production staff, using low emission executive vehicles. Studio Cars is also expanding its fleet to include top-of-the-range electric cars, which will be charged at charging points on-site at the studios, providing completely emission-free transport. Twickenham: has housed a number of productions in recent weeks. These include,

Bottle Yard... proved a safe haven on Poldark

was made up of 27 technicians on-camera, 17 on grip, 19 for electricity, and just one translator. Only my Chinese gaffer spoke English. Thanks to the language of cinema being universal, and to the technician’s skills, we always managed to understand each other. Denis Scozzesi, my head rigger accompanied me. I shot with five cameras, three 2D cameras and two 3D cameras. I used a Screenplane for the 3D cameras, on which I set either 16-42mm 3D packs or 30-80mm 3D packs. On the 2D cameras, I mainly used Angénieux zooms – the 15-40mm, 28-76mm, 24-290mm and 28-340mm. We shot about a quarter in native 3D and the rest in 2D. The movie will then be entirely “spacialised” to go out on cinema screens in 3D. I enjoyed using the new 28-340mm on Wolf Totem with the Angenieux 2x extender, they are both very well manufactured.

BBC mystery comedy series Inside Number 9, directed by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith and BBC comedy series Josh, directed by David Schneider. The studios’ TW1 sound team also recently hired Will Miller, as sound assistant, who has just graduated from the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts with a degree in Sound Technology. Twickenham as has also opened a brand new reception area.

I appreciate the lens’ very homogeneous optical quality. I shot the 2D with Alexas, and in 3D using RED. I recorded in RAW. Olivier Garcia was the DIT, and he set-up a digital laboratory on site and fixed any issues. I often had a camera on a crane and two others on a dolly or slider, with the zoom lenses. We could quickly choose and adapt the focal length, especially when we had to catch the looks of our wolves. The difficulty came from the fact the movie takes place over several seasons. In Mongolia, going from one to the other is visible daily. The yellow quickly turns from brown to green (between winter and spring) and from green to brown (between Angénieux... Jean-Marie Dreujou AFC and with an Optimo 28-340mm and 2x summer and fall). extender on Wolf Totem. Image copyright The second difficulty of China Film Co. Ltd/Repérages. was in following

the evolution of a small wolf (one of the characters in the movie), from its birth in April, until the beginning of autumn. We created a complex work plan in order to mitigate these two constraints. Andrew Simpson has raised 16 wolves, whose four youngest were filmed for the main role. We started to shoot in the summer of August 2012, with a very small team, in very isolated spots in Mongolia, which could not fit the whole team. Then, we shot a complicated winter stage: wolves attacking horses in the night and a blizzard. It was terrible, but men and equipment stood up to the challenge! When the little wolves were born in April, the shooting went continued. Two more cuts were been necessary, in order to let them grow up and also to respect the season’s evolution. I used very few prime lenses. Generally speaking, as we had the 15-40mm and 28-76mm lenses, I almost don’t use them anymore. But yet, although Optimo lightweight lenses are not used in China as much as they are in Europe or the US, my Chinese team have seen that these lenses are of high quality. I found the set photographer would systematically borrow the 28-76mm as soon as it was not on a camera.” British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 23

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP

Contemplative... Chas Bain on-location shooting The Last Kingdom

erlin Associates: cinematographer Susie Lavelle Elle Fanning. André Chemetoff is was in Bath recently, shooting the yuletide shooting Les Malheurs De Sophie 2015 special of the BBC’s Sherlock. Whilst it for Christophe Honoré. Arnau was Benedict Cumberbatch that the sizeable Valls Colmer AEC is shooting Kike crowds were hoping to catch a glimpse of, for British Maillo’s Toro in Spain. Lol Crawley Cinematographer Magazine only Susie would do. Taking BSC is in the middle of shooting a few minutes Brady Corbet’s The Childhood Of A from her hectic Leader, starring Robert Pattinson. schedule, Susie Ruben Impens lit Belgica for Felix said she shot Van Groeningen. Eric Gautier AFC is the episode in shooting the The Last Days Of Rabbin, an around the a feature directed by Amos Gitai. Bath and Bristol Chayse Irvin is on Godless, directed conurbations, using by Ralitza Petrova. Benjamin Kračun dual ARRI Alexas is shooting The Tunnel: Debris for Sky in ProRes, with old Atlantic, starring Clemency Posey. glass from Cooke Michael McDonough ASC has started on Virtuoso, a new on the front to HBO show directed by Alan Ball. Gökhan Tiryaki is on give some texture. the Christopher Hampton-scripted feature Ali And Nino, Oh what a gal... cinematographer Can’t wait until directed by Asif Kapadia. Fabian Wagner BSC is lighting Susie Lavelle in Bath during Christmas. the pilot for Jenna Ban’s new show for ABC, Flesh And production of the BBC’s Sherlock Christmas special Screen Talent Blood. Sebastian Winterø lit a short film for the Alexander Agency: Adam McQueen label. Kasper Tuxen, Jake Scott, Rob Hardy, Biddle shot some party political corporates in Nigeria. Jakob Ihre, Sebastian Blenkov, Manel Ruiz, Steve Annis, Adam Sliwinski is shooting the feature Signed, Sealed, and Tom Townend are all shooting commercials. Delivered II for Muse Entertainment. Bart Sienkiewicz Casarotto: Sean Bobbitt BSC has begun shooting recently lit the series Kuwait Through Our Eyes, music The Queen Of Katwe with director Mira Nair, in Uganda and videos for Shivum Sharma and E of E, a Ballantines brand Johannesburg. PJ Dillon is on Penny Dreadful II with director film in Japan, plus sci-fi short The Existence Of Liberty Brian Kirk. Matt Gray is prepping Midwinter Of The Spirit for White. James Westbrook did a promo for Milley Go ITV with director Richard Clarke. Jean-Francois Hensgens Lightly with director Ross Lindgren. is lighting Blind Point with Dominik Moll. Catherine Derry lit a commercial Tim Palmer BSC is working on Shetland for Thomson Holidays with Buddy III for the BBC with director Thaddeus Films, and Loic Evenou lensed O’Sullivan. Lukas Strebel has wrapped on a video for the band Elyose via Wallander: The White Lioness. Wojciech Crazy Shot. Szepel is working with director Michael Lux Artists: Stuart Bentley Engler on Apocalypse Slough for Working lensed This Is England ’90 for Shane Title and Sky Atlantic. Meadows. Nicholas Bolduc CSC Independent: Balazs Bolygo is is working on Kim Nguyen’s Two shooting NBC’s 13-part thriller Odyssey Lovers And A Bear starring Dane in Morocco. Simon Dennis shot the Dehaan. Natasha Braier ADF is opening block of ITV’s new series Jekyll photographing Nicholas Winding And Hyde. Eric Kress is on The Lion Woman Sherlock... the city Refn’s The Neon Demon, starring in Scandinavia, with director Vibeke 24 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

streets in Bath get easily converted thanks to a filmfriendly council.

Idsoe. Ryszard Lenczewski was at Oscars with his feature Ida, which won best foreign film. John Mathieson BSC is prepping Warner Bros Knights Of The Round Table with director Guy Ritchie. Ben Smithard BSC is shooting Richard Eyre’s adaptation of the stage play The Dresser. Mark Waters is prepping his block on ITV’s Jekyll And Hyde, with director Robert Quinn. Chas Bain was in Budapest shooting Nick Murphy’s The Last Kingdom with Carnival Films for BBC2. Henry Braham BSC is on FX’s series The Bastard Executioner for director Paris Barclay. Darran Bragg is shooting all eight episodes on Anomalia in Switzerland with director Pierre Monnard. Ben Davis BSC shot a Virgin Money spot with Rattling Stick’s Andy McLeod and has graded Avengers: Age Of Ultron. Benoit Delhomme AFC is shooting Free State Of Jones for director Gary Ross, starring Matthew McConaughey. Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC is on Oliver Stone’s feature about Edward Above us only sky... Adam Sliwinski (r) checks the rooftop light reading on Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Up up and away... James Layton ACO (A-camera/Steadicam) taking a GF16 ride on crane on The Devil’s Harvest (photo by Alex Bender)

Watch the birdie please... DP Bart Sienkiewicz has been busy on a wide variety of productions

Parky... Mark Milsome (B-camera) waiting for a muddy line up on The Devil’s Harvest (photo by James Layton)

Snowden, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shailene Woodley. Sam Goldie was in South Africa on a Tropicana spot with Paris-based Moonwalk Films and director Tim Brown, before embarking on a project with Steam Media’s Charlie Stebbings. Eduard Grau is shooting Weirdo for director Joel Edgerton, starring Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman. Daniel Landin BSC lit an Etihad project with Thomas Thomas directors Anthony & Valerie in Abu Dhabi and Prague. He was in LA for the ASC Awards having been nominated for Under The Skin. Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC is in the US shooting Gavin O’Connor’s The Accountant, starring Ben Affleck. Mark Patten shot second unit and digital content for Ridley Scott’s The Martian in Budapest. George Richmond is shooting Eddie The Eagle for director Dexter Fletcher, starring Hugh Jackman and Taron Egerton. Chris Ross BSC is on Detour for director Chris Smith. Ashley Rowe BSC is prepping Stephen Poliakoff’s Close To The Enemy for the BBC. Martin Ruhe shot for Honda with RSA director Johnny Hardstaff. Daniel Trapp shot with Jackie Oudney for Herta in South Africa and in Rio, India and London with Tantrum’s Amanda Blue for Unilever. David Ungaro lit for Finish on location in Uruguay with Riff Raff Films’ directors Megaforce. Ed Wild BSC is on London Has Fallen for director Babak Najafi, starring Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman and Aaron Eckhart. Princestone: Stephan Pehrsson lit the new series of Inside No 9 for the BBC, with Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, and is prepping NBC drama Apocalypse Slough, for director Saul Metzstein starring Rob Lowe, Megan Mullally and Jenna Fischer. This story of the impending destruction of the earth is shooting in the UK, Malta and South Africa. Meanwhile, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell will screen on BBC1 soon. Gary Clarke is back from Toronto and the US where he shot the drama series Gangland Undercover for Cineflix. More recently Gary worked on 7/7 – The Hour That Shook Britain about survivors of the London bombings. Gerry Vasbenter did tests for the film Worm a fast, dramatic and accessible sci-fi thriller, directed by Keir Burrows at The Cast Iron Picture Co. Simon Walton recently shot a block of BBC’s Casualty on Alexa with director Dave Beauchamp, short film Ashes using the Amira camera, with national youth theatre director Luke McMaster, plus the Strax intro for Doctor Who at 2K for cinema release. Of the agency’s camera & Steadicam

operators… Peter Robertson Assoc BSC ACO is shooting Now You See Me: The Second Act, directed by John M. Chu, starring Lizzy Caplan, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Daniel Radcliffe and Michael Caine, with Peter Deming the DP. Peter is also stepping up to DP on the second unit, shooting stunt sequences. Sean Savage Assoc BSC ACO is shooting Penny Dreadful in Dublin for DP PJ Dillon and director Brian Kirk. Mark Milsome ACO has been operating and was second unit DP on Safe House for Eleventh Hour Films, with DP Jan Jonaeus and director Marc Evans, starring Christopher Eccleston. He also shot pick-ups for Russian revolution epic Devils Harvest with Doug Milsome ASC BSC the DP. Simon Baker ACO is A-camera operator and Steadicam on The Dresser, taken from the Ronald Harwood play, starring Ian McKellen and Anthony Hopkins. The director is Richard Eyre. Thomas English is riding the wave of this year’s crop of commercials including VW Passat, Beats Headphones and Mulberry. James Layton ACO has been shooting Devils Harvest. Wizzo FEATURES: Jan Richter-Friis FSF has wrapped on the TV series Powers with directors Mikael Salomon, David Petraraca, Bill Eagles, Tim Hunter and

Aaron Lipstadt. Richard Stoddard is shooting Dr Who, directed by Daniel O’Hara and will shoot a further block with director Ed Bazalgette. Maja Zamojda has wrapped on the comedy pilot Silent, for director Gordon Anderson, through Eleven Film. David Rom has wrapped on block three of the eight part sci-fi drama Humans, with director Lewis Arnold through Kudos. He was also lead DP on E4’s Banana directed by Lewis Arnold. Jamie Cairney is shooting C4 comedy pilot The Cloud, directed by writer/ director Graham Linehan, and goes straight on to BBC comedy series The Kennedys directed by Chris Gernon. Dan Stafford-Clark shot main unit pick-ups for the feature Remainder, directed by Omer Fast, written by Tom McCarthy. Sam Care is grading the thriller feature Couple In A Hole, shot on location in France, directed by Tom Geens. Eben Bolter lit five out of a series of six microplays for The Guardian and Royal Court Theatre, available to view on the theatre’s website. Mattias Nyberg has wrapped block two/series two of BBC4’s acclaimed Welsh drama Hinterland for director Kieran Evans. Congrats to Mattias as his feature Superbob, directed by Jon Drever, won Best Film at the Loco Film festival in January. Hubert Taczanowski High roller... Thomas English on the Segway for a VW Passat shoot

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 25

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP

Production stills... DP Gary Clarke recently shot Gangland Undercover, a new six-part drama on the History Channel

has wrapped on the Kudos-produced drama series River with directors Richard Laxton, Tim Fywell and Jessica Hobbs. His feature, Spooks: The Greater Good, releases in May. Gary Shaw has wrapped on the feature Life At These Speeds, directed by Leif Tilden with Sam Rockwell as exec producer. Baz Irvine shot main unit pick-up days on River. Duncan Telford is grading mockumentary series Hoff The Record for Dave Channel, starring David Hasselfhoff and Craig Roberts, directed by Natalie Bailey. Peter Hannan BSC ACS has graded Absolutely Anything, directed by Terry Jones, starring Simon Pegg and featuring the voice of the late Robin Williams. As lead DP Dale McCready has wrapped on BBC drama series Tatau, shot on location in NZ and Raratonga, with director Wayne Yip. Congrats to lead cinematographer of Cucumber, Jake Polonsky, who shot block one and three with directors David Evans and Euros Lynn. Dale McCready shot block two with Alice Troughton. Huge congrats to Erik Wilson as Paddington was exceptionally well-received. Paddington was also nominated for two BAFTAs as was the doco-feature 20,000 Days On Earth, which Erik shot with directors Iain Pollard and Jane Forsyth. Sara Putt Associates: Andrei Austin did dailies for Spotless, and has worked on several commercials. Danny Bishop worked on the 2015 Christmas special of Sherlock. The point is this... Steve Chivers (l) on a Mazda commercial in the desert near The Joshua Tree, California

26 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Joined by Jon Beacham who has been busy with dailies as operator. Vince McGahon is finishing-up on Penny Dreadful, and is soon to join Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children as Steadicam and B-camera operator for 20th Centuary Fox. Si Bell has graded Undercover, which he recently shot. Nick Dance is shooting Band Call and producing it with photographer Rankin. Fabrizio Sciarra was in Morocco working as Steadicam operator on The Bible sequel, A.D.. Rodrigo Gutierrez has completed dailies for Now You See Me II. Julian Morson operated on Pride And Prejudice And Zombies, and is now operating for Hoyte Van Hoytema on 007 Spectre. Giulio Biccari is lighting the new series of Crossing Lines for Tandem Prods. David Marsh is lighting the third series of My Mad Fat Diary for Tiger Aspect. Simon Hawken is in Cape Town shooting a couple of commercials. Paul Lang was DP for a number of interviews in London and Manchester for the forthcoming feature-doc about The Beatles, directed by Ron Howard, and is about to start a feature-doc about Sir Stanley Matthews. Jan Jonaeus is working on a feature back home in Sweden, and Al Rae is prepping for Warner Brothers Jungle Book. Peter Wignall is currently storyboarding Eddie The Eagle. James Leigh operated on block three and four on Spotless, and is now operating on Holby City. Si Wagen has returned from Washington, where he was shooting Gold Rush for RAW. Peter Edwards shot a pilot for Noho Film & TV, in association with ITV Studios, called The Windsors, and is grading the period feature An Honourable Rebel, which he shot last year with director Mike Fraser. Rick Woollard and Ed Moore have both been busy with commercials. Ed Clarke recently joined Sara Putt Associates, and is currently shooting Holby City. Des Whelan is preparing to join Tim Burton’s next feature Miss

Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children as A-camera operator, with DP Bruno Delbonnel AFC ASC. United Agents: Barry Ackroyd BSC is in New Orleans, prepping The Big Short, for Plan B Entertainment and Paramount, with director Adam McKay. John de Borman BSC’s Coalition, a single drama for Cuba Pictures, directed by Alex Holmes and written by James Graham, will air at the time of the general election. Alwin Kuchler BSC is prepping Danny Boyle’s film biopic of Steve Jobs. John Lee shot a commercial in Mexico for Camaleon Films. Gavin Struthers and David Luther are both working in Cape Town on alternate episodes of the Starz pirate series Black Sails. Nic Morris BSC is grading Funfair, a new BBC series directed by Ben Palmer. Tony Slater Ling BSC is in the US on The Dirt Road To Lafayette, with director Kenny Glenaan. Paul Sarossy ASC BSC CSC is in Broad shoulders... Gerry Vasbenter with director Keir Burrows

Got my eye on you... DP Hubert Taczanowski on the set of Kudos drama River with leading actor and star Stellan Skarsgard (photo by Nick Briggs)

Stand and deliver... DP Gerry Vasbenter (wearing the Steadicam harness) on an Aframe ad, with director Alex Anesty at the monitor, whilst Aframe CEO David Peto, wearing the whistle, watches on

Canada shooting a new series of Reign. Chloë Thomson is in Morocco shooting Damascus Cover for director Dan Berk. The work of Alan Almond BSC can be seen in the BBC’s Life In Squares, directed by Simon Kaijser. Danny Cohen BSC has begun principal photography for Tom Hooper on The Danish Girl. Martin Fuhrer BSC is prepping An Inspector Calls, directed by Aisling Walsh, for the BBC. David Higgs BSC has graded Ed Hall’s Partners In Crime, starring David Walliams. Ian Moss is shooting The Frankenstein Chronicles, directed by Ben Ross for ITV/ Netflix. Tony Miller BSC is grading Spotless for Canal Plus/Tandem/NBC and Kieran McGuigan BSC is grading Strike Back for Leftbank. Laurie Rose is concluding on the BBC thriller series London Spy and Simon Tindall has just completed on the Chapman Brothers’ The Marriage Of Reason And Squalour, for Sky. James Friend BSC is on the new series of Silent Witness. Zac Nicholson lit series two of the BBC’s The Hollow Crown for director Dominic Cook and Neal St Productions/Carnival. He’ll shortly begin Capital for Euros Lyn and Kudos/BBC1. David Raedeker is mid-way through block one of Downton Abbey’s final series for Carnival Pictures and director Minkie Spiro. Neus Olle’s Swedish feature The Circle, for director Levan Akin, premiered in Berlin. Niels Reedtz Johansen is shooting Danish drama Follow The Money, directed by Søren Kragh Jacobsen and the producers of Borgen. Ed Rutherford is grading BFI feature The Ones Below for director David Farr. Ben Wheeler is prepping Cradle To The Grave for BBC2 and director Sandy Johnson. Anna Valdez Hanks is reading projects and shooting pick-ups for The Syndicate. Magni Águstsson, Philipp Blaubach, Daniel Bronks, Simon

And near the pitch... DP Paul Lang with the camera

Subs-bench... DP Paul Lang is filming the feature about Sir Stanley Matthews

Chaudoir, Brendan Galvin, Stephen Keith-Roach, Tim is lighting the computer game Stagefright. Xavier Amoros, Maurice-Jones BSC, Alex Melman, Tat Radcliffe, Simon Marc Gomez del Moral, Flemming Jetmar, Dave Miller, Richards and Haris Zambarloukos BSC have all been busy Ed Lindsley, Stephen Murphy, Paul Lilley, Ciro Candia, shooting commercials. Andrea Chiozzotto, Carl Burke, Gabi Norland, Lynda McKinney Macartney Management: Stuart Hall, Vanessa Whyte and Martin Roach are working on Biddlecombe is shooting BBC One series Casualty. Ben commercials, corporates and music promos. Butler, Denis Crossan BSC, Sebastian Milaszewski, Arthur My Management: are over the moon that two Mulhern, John Pardue, Alessandra films, shot by its talented cinematographers, won in Scherillo, Katie Swain, Clive the World Cinema Dramatic section of the 2015 Tickner BSC and Robin Sundance Festival. Umrika, directed by Prashant Whenary have all been Nair and starting Life Of Pi’s Suraj Sharma and shooting commercials. Grand Budapest Hotel’s Tony Revolori, shot Seamus Deasy lit by Petra Korner on Super 16mm film, won My Name Is Emily, a the World Dramatic Audience Award. Slow feature directed by Simon Fitzmaurice for Hurricane Films, Dublin. Gavin Finney BSC is prepping Unforgotten for Mainstream Watching the detective... Pictures, with Andy A-camera/Steadicam Danny Wilson directing. Jean Bishop with key grip Tony Philippe Gossart is Fabian in a couple of moody shots on the set of Sherlock prepping Drama Republic’s Dr Foster, a fiveparter for BBC1, with director Tom Vaughan. Sam McCurdy BSC is shooting Crossing Lines III, in Prague. Andy McDonnell is on BBC drama New Tricks for Headline Pictures. Polly Morgan is prepping the BBC drama From Darkness, with director Dominic Leclerc. Chris Seager BSC shot Andy Goddard’s feature thriller The Blunderer on location in Cincinnati. Mike Spragg lit series five of Strike Back on location in Budapest and Thailand, and Felix Wiedemann is prepping the feature Away, with director David Blair in Blackpool, starring Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. Dinedor Mangement: Sara Deane lit the feature Genesis. Bashart Malik operated for Adam Lincoln on Golden Years. Gareth Hughes shot the short Motherland and Nic Lawson lit Half A Cuppa Tea. Rasmus Arridlt DFF shot the third series of Danish TV drama Rita, and is prepping Tiger Aspect’s Cuffs. Craig Feather shot Boy Meets Girl, also for Tiger Aspect. Dave Miller

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 27

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP Winners... at Sundance the lead cast and crew of Umrika collect the World Dramatic Audience Award for Umrika – directed by Prashant Nair, at the mic, and starting Life of Pi’s Suraj Sharma and Grand Budapest Hotel’s Tony Revolori, shot by DP Petra Korner on Super 16mm film

Now hear this... DP Aaron Reid has been shooting spots for Beats By Dre

Highlights... Tomas Tomasson gets assistance from the make-up lady in controlling various glints and gleams on a commercial

Bedside manner... Roger Bonnici carefully lines up the camera on a Fuel Broadband ad

West, directed by John Maclean and shot by Robbie Ryan BSC, won the Grand Jury Prize. The story set in the wild American Frontier (but shot in New Zeland) stars Kodi SmitMcPhee as a wet-behind-the-ears Scottish boy who sets off in search of the woman he loves. Michael Fassbender plays Silas, a mysterious traveller who helps him on his quest. Breathtakingly shot, darkly comedic and slightly sad, Slow West is one to watch. Simon Archer BSC is shooting sci-fi drama Humans with director China Moo Young for Kudos. Tomas Tomasson has been shooting commercials for Icelandic Bank, directed by Guðmundur Þór Karlsson, and shot on RED Dragon. Sy Turnbull was in Turkey and Moscow shooting for ID Magazine for Nike with director Kathryn Ferguson at My Accomplice. Simon Rowles did commercials for Kleenex through The Outfit, some slowmo shots for TV show Science Of Stupid and is now on a docu-series starring Idris Elba, through Shine North. Will Humphris is shooting m fro t sho Slurp... a a film in er, Aft g rnin Mo The Mumbai directed by Amelia Hashemi, with DP entitled y cka Ma ul Pa 3 Storeys, with

Taking the long view... Ekkehart Pollack has been shooting all manner of ads recently

28 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

director Arjun Mukargee. David Lanzenberg was in Mexico City for a Verizon wireless commercial, and in Los Angeles with directors Declan Whitebloom and Mikon Van Gastel. Jallo Faber FSF is working with his good mate Hoyte Van Hoytema, shooting second unit on Spectre. They last worked together on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Richard Stewart and director Colin Tilley collaborated on David Guetta ft Emile Sande music video and lit a commercial for Japanese drand Uniglo. Paul Mackay has been shooting NTL Rally and Britain’s Got Talent for ITV. He has also graded a short film called The Morning After directed by Amelia Hashemi, shot on Nikon D800 ProRes with an Atomos Ninja 2 Recorder. Steve Chivers has been shooting down in Cape Town with Joe Roman on Garnier, and working with Dom and Nic on a charity campaign for The Blue Cross. He has also shot a Mazda commercial in the desert near The Joshua Tree in California. Aaron Reid has been continuing shooting spots for Beats By Dre, a music video for artist Hunter Hayes, and a fashion job for Wonderland featuring Jamie Foxx’s daughter Corinne Bishop. Dominic Bartels has been shooting ads with Cheerful Scout and a brand film with The Edge Picture Co. Ekkehart Pollack has been shooting spots for Chrysler in LA with Contrast Eye production, director Matthias Berndt. He has also been

shooting back-to-back in Cape Town for electrical retailer Euromics (director Warwick) and with director Alex Feil for Hagebau. Roger Bonnici’s latest ad for Fuel Broadband has aired, and he has also been grading the film The Power with director Paul Hills. Tim Spence has been busy with spots for Vanish and Lexus with The Mill, and has also filmed second unitfor Etihad Airlines with Thomas Thomas. Nicolaj Bruel has been shooting with director Rocky Morton in Columbia for McCafe spots. Olivier Cariou shoot for Compare The Market in LA, Saturday Night Takeaway with ITV, Cadbury’s with Brian Baderman and Toyota Verso with Belen Gayan. Vincent Warin was in Bangkok for Pond’s with director Martin Amaldo. Pedro Castro lit a commercial for Dish TV in Mexico with Mexican comedy celebrity Eugenio Derbez, and was in Texas to shoot and direct a campaign for Dish TV for the general market in the US. John Perez, Anders Flatland FNF, Dennis Madden, Andy Horner, Mel Griffith, Jo Willems SBC, Gerry Floyd, Tuomo Virtanen, Lester De Havilland, and Marcelo Durst have all been busy shooting commercials and music videos. Last, but by no means least… DP Robert Shacklady made a cracking start to 2015 with a new Obsession series airing in the USA on Discovery ID, plus funky spots for Boohoo, BMW and Ford.

MEET THE NEW WAVE / Darran Bragg / CINEMATOGRAPHER On-set... lensing Tomorrow in Battersea Park, with director Martha Pinson [l] and Stephanie Leonidas [r] who plays Katie.

Shooting... a commercial for La Redoute in Zurich, directed by Pierre Monnard featuring Martina Weber.

Read-through... on-the set of Tomorrow with director Martha Pinson.

Lamp lighter Filmography (so far): Invisible Eyes (2009), Recycling Lily (2013), Tomorrow (releasing 2015) and Anomalia (TV, inproduction 2015)

When did you discover you wanted to be a cinematographer? I shot a two-minute short as part of a Film Studies A-Level and really enjoyed the creative experience. Some time after, in my late twenties, I was on a round-the-world trip and working as a kitchen porter in Melbourne. Towards the end of my shift one night I had an epiphany, decided to cut my trip short and come home to apply for a media production foundation course that I had heard about before I left. When I got back the course was full, but after some pleading they let me in. Where did you train? Following my foundation course at Bath College, I studied cinematography on the BA Film course at The Arts Institute in Bournemouth. Then I worked as a camera prep technician at Ice Film in North London for five years. What are you favourite films, and why? Billy Liar (1963, dir. John Schlesinger, DP Denys Coop) – the central character’s frustrations with provincial life are vivid and relatable. Magnolia (1999, dir. Paul Thomas Anderson, DP Robert Elswit) – an utterly engaging ensemble masterpiece. American Beauty (1999, dir. Sam Mendes, DP Conrad Hall) – poetic and humorous, it completely encapsulates the essence of suburbia, a subject that fascinates me.

Who are your DP/ industry heroes? Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC for his elegant visual storytelling. Robbie Ryan BSC for his bold, beautiful and intimate camera. Adam Arkapaw for his mesmerising work on Top Of The Lake and True Detective. Daniel Landin BSC and Tom Townend for their inspirational work in commercials and music videos.

Have you won any awards or received any nominations? My graduation film Swapped won a Kodak Award for Best Cinematography and I’ve lensed several award-winning commercials. What’s you proudest moment? Getting accepted into Bournemouth was thrilling, as was being asked to shoot my first feature and joining the host of excellent DPs at Independent Talent. What’s the worst knock-back/ rejection you ever had? After leaving Ice Film I had a reasonably smooth transition into being a DP. But in 2011, I had a really tough year. One particular project proved a big mistake. Work was so scarce I had to take on oddjobs to pay the bills and, for a while things, looked pretty bleak. Then at the start of 2012 came a turning point. I launched a new website, joined Independent and got confirmed on my second feature, Recycling Lily. Out and about... on Anomalia – (l-r) gaffer Werner Wiese, actors Natacha Régnier and Iannis Jaccoud, Darran and focus puller Leandro Monti.

What was the biggest challenge on your latest production? This latest production, Anomalia, is my biggest challenge in itself as it’s my first TV drama. We have 12 weeks to shoot eight episodes, with a complex and demanding schedule. The director, Pierre Monnard, and myself have high ambitions for the look and feel of it and So far things are kind of going to plan.

Silver Linings Playbook (2012, dir. David O. Russell, DP Masanobu Takayanagi) – excellent script and direction, with kinetic performances.

Away from work, what are your greatest passions? Skiing, flat whites, restaurants, reading, gardening and the radio.

What’s the best advice you were ever given, and from whom? An excellent German gaffer called Werner Wiese once told me to set your lamps one at a time – like a farmer eats his dumplings.

What one piece of kit could you not live without? Nowadays around 90% of my work is originated on the ARRI Alexa, so I have to mention that. Otherwise, a shout out to the 40mm lens, the 4’ Slider and Artemis.

What’s weirdest place you’ve ever shot in? I shot a music video in Gugulethu township in South Africa, which was a massively chaotic, yet hugely enjoyable experience. We’d planned to finish the day at a local bar, but when we arrived from the previous location we discovered there had been a riot in the afternoon and the place was closed down. Eventually we managed to restage the final performance on a rooftop terrace overlooking Clifton Beach, much to the relief of the label and our service production. What’s the hardest shot/thing you’ve had to light/frame? In the beginning almost every shot seemed hard, especially the lighting. But as I began to understand the craft a little more things slowly became easier and the results better. Now when I read a daunting line in a script or director’s treatment, and wonder how I can achieve what they want, I’m more confident that I probably won’t have a nervous breakdown on the set. Tell us your hidden talent/party trick? I once grew a prize-winning Dahlia. In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would you love to have shot? We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011), directed by Lynne Ramsay and lit by Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC, is visually stunning, whilst strongly serving the story. What are your current top albums? I don’t really listen to albums in their entirety anymore, but I’m very much into 6Music, especially the shows of Marc Riley, Gideon Coe, Gilles Peterson and Tom Robinson. Can you tell us your greatest extravagance? I think I’m acquiring a taxi-to-the-airport habit. What’s the best thing about being a DP? It’s a wonderful privilege to be a DP and get handed the creative opportunity to unite and define the work of so many other people. What’s the worst thing about being a DP? On long productions I get completely disconnected from my entire life outside of the film, so I’m constantly looking for a better way to manage that. Give us three adjectives that best describe you and your approach to cinematography? Emotive. Collaborative. Eclectic. British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 29

LETTER FROM AMERICA / Stephen Lighthill ASC

Hollywood connections Former ASC president, Stephen Lighthill ASC, makes observations on diversity and unity, and is glad that owning an iPhone 6 entitles one to remain a cinematographer.

t is a pleasure to write this column for your publication: after all, as full-time educators, we are without portfolio. It is awards season, so water cooler conversation is spirited as the odds are argued. We have noticed the annual passing of the trophies has, as usual, called forth the annual breast-beating about diversity in our industry. Watching the Grammy Awards, we wonder what the shouting is all about, as musicians are a very diverse group of artists. However, all the other shows – let’s just call them shows, as calling them ceremonies elevates them to a status they might not deserve – are giving out awards to mostly male and Caucasian folks. As I write this with the Kodak “In Film” posters over my shoulder, I can count about ten women out of the 175 images in the poster. At the Clubhouse for the annual ASC Awards nominees dinner, sponsored by Kodak, there was one female nominee – Anette Haellmigk for Game Of Thrones, “The Children” (HBO). So, in the world of cinematography, we are not exempt from criticism. Our own prediction is that in the near future, this will change, as more and more women become cinematographers. At the American Film Institute Conservatory, were I lead the cinematography discipline, at least six female cinematography fellows have graduated, out of classes of 28, every year since we began here in 2004. This year’s class of 27 has 11 female fellows. So, we have graduated about 70 women from all over the world in the last decade. We expect the trend to continue and accelerate. We have noted, of course, the chatter on CML and elsewhere about women in production sometimes devolves into worries about physical suitability for the work. We figure if women can be cops and firemen, they

most likely can handle the job of cinematography (and, after all, we often feel like a cop or fireman on set anyway). Women do have built-in the advantage of nurturing instinct. It’s all a quite complex picture: most of us want to raise children and make happy homes, but the insecurity of a motion picture production career works against stability. At the ASC awards, at least half the honorees and category winners made the annual public apology for being away from home and hearth so often. It seems not much can be done about the travel built into most cinematography assignments. Here in Los Angeles, there is much speculation about the subsidies for motion picture production that California will initiate soon. The hope of many is that

Back in Los Angeles, we feel a kind of calmness settling in regarding cameras and their attendant workflow these days. The hysteria of the early RED ONE days is past. The transition over to digital is an accepted reality. Motion Picture film is still with us and its role as a prestigious niche player is settling in with many nominees this season sporting Lab and Kodak credits. And it is reassuring that Kodak is reporting an uptick in sales. There is little calmness over the reality that LA now has one film lab. Even the socialists among us recognise the efficiency that competition can encourage. The calmer acceptance of digital cameras is partly due, I suppose, to the ARRI Alexa, now out in the world for half a decade, which is a calming influence with its simplicity and ruggedness. We guess the biggest sign of immerging rationality to production is the decision by the Hollywood Post Alliance to change its name to the Hollywood Professional Alliance. In their words: “We believe that Professional is more inclusive and more accurately encompasses the creative talent, content holders, global infrastructure of services, as well as new and emerging platforms and processes that stretch from idea to display,” said HPA president Leon Silverman. “The time has come to acknowledge the evolution of ‘post,’ and to focus on the professional community creating and executing the vision from a broad base of expertise.” In our words, production and post are so intertwined now, it makes sense, and Leon Silverman is a great person to lead and unify with a comprehensive overview – not solely from his years leading Laser Pacific, a great lab-post house, but also from his leadership on the ASC Tech Committee and the Academy’s tech efforts – and we can no longer see the post tail as wagging the production dog. We must know just as much as our post supervisors. But, if that is all calming to you, it does worry us a bit, that: “On February 25, ABC will air an episode of Modern Family called Connection Lost that addresses how parents attempt to communicate with their disinterested children via technology. The production marks a first in that it was shot almost exclusively on mobile devices, including Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2.” It was inevitable, we suppose. We do have the iPhone 6, so are still calling ourselves “cinematographer”, thank you.

“(An episode of modern family) was shot almost exclusively on mobile devices.”Stephen Lighthill ASC

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feature production will return to LA and return the crown of most-features-made-anywhere to Los Angeles. We doubt very much this will happen: producers get used to the financial bed they have made for themselves – literally – in New Orleans or New York City or Vancouver. We are certainly not the first to let you know there is now a Pinewood Studios in Atlanta – some English gentleman is surely rolling over in his grave at the notion – well, actually the new Pinewood is located in the suburb of Fayetteville, Georgia. Far from the sophisticated urban centre in more ways than one. A word to the wise: if you find yourself in production at our new southern states “Pinewood” studio, kindly remember when at the Crafts Service table, that one is most careful with the word “cracker.” You can Google around for the colloquial meaning.

CAMERA CREATIVE / Haris Zambarloukos BSC / Cinderella

Timeless tale The $90m production of Cinderella is Disney’s 2015 live-action remake of its own classic 1950 animated cartoon. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, from a screenplay written by Chris Weitz, is was produced by David Barron, Simon Kinberg and Allison Shearmur for Walt Disney Pictures, and was lensed by cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos BSC.

he story is inspired by the original Charles Perrault fairy tale of Cinderella, and borrows many elements from Walt Disney’s original animated musical film of the same name. It is understood that the box office success of Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, the second-highest grossing film of 2010, earning over $1 billion at the box office worldwide, inspired Walt Disney Pictures to develop a live-action adaptation of Cinderella. But the new production is not the revisionist fare that many other modern reworked fairy tales have served up. Classic, timeless and authentic are the by-words for this production.

Shot on 35mm celluloid, the film stars Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine (The Wicked Stepmother) with Lily James in the title role as Ella (“Cinderella”), Richard Madden as Prince Charming, Sophie McShera as Drizella, Holliday Grainger as Anastasia and Helena Bonham Carter as The Fairy Godmother. Principal photography began on September 23, 2013, with production occupying several stages at Pinewood Studios, including the mighty 007 Stage which housed the ballroom, kitchen and attic sets, and encompassed shoots at treasured English locations such as Blenheim Palace, Windsor Castle, the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich and Black Park.

Ron Prince caught up with Zambarloukos over Skype, and a cup of tea, to discover more about his work on bringing the movie to the big screen. Is this new movie a revisionist reworking of Cinderella? HZ: No quite the opposite. This new version is a classic retelling of the Cinderella story. Within that, it was a very serious proposition. Shooting Disney’s live action Cinderella came with a great responsibility that we took very seriously, especially as this property has remained as a much-loved animated movie for over 60 years. When I had my first meeting with Ken and David, we all knew the tale, but the challenge was how best to tell it.

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CAMERA CREATIVE / Haris Zambarloukos BSC / Cinderella

Staging... Haris checks the light reading as director Kenneth Branagh considers the way the choreographed action will unfold

What was the attraction for you? HZ: From my own childhood, I recollect that the Disney stories, and Cinderella in particular, are inspiring. Often they are tales about the triumphs of the underdog in the face of terrible adversities, and how, with perseverance and kindness, success can come out of wretchedness and despair. In this sense, it’s not simply a children’s film, and the more-universal appeal was an attraction to me. Also, Walt Disney was a genius, and I loved the art of the animation in his films too. This new production was Disney’s first venture into taking one of its all-time classic animations into live action. But it wasn’t an experiment. We had one shot at it and, obviously, there won’t be a sequel.

Collection in London. The Fragonards are colourful and playful, and I could see how they could open-up new cinematographic opportunities. The “The Swing” in particular, is slightly naughty and flirtatious, and there’s a direct reference to it in the movie. For the darker, more wretched moments in the movie, we again avoided the typical references, and looked at the works of the French Baroque painter Georges De La Tour. They are unusual, dark, but with bold lighting and strong compositions. I’ve loved his work since being a student at Central St Martin’s and “Joseph The Carpenter” is a masterpiece. Whilst these painterly references gave us two strong starting points to counterpoint the joy and drudgery within the story, we also wanted a way to treat the seemingly benign but evil step-mother – for her to appear more like a film noir femme fatale. So I suggested that we also consider the portraiture work of Joseph Walker, cinematographer on many of Frank Capra’s best-loved movies, inventor of the zoom lens, and a forerunner of the Hollywood glamour look, and also the large format portrait photography of George Hurrell, upon whom Walker had great influence.

So how did you go about the task of bringing a live-action version to the big screen? HZ: Whilst Cinderella is a wonderful fairy tale, it’s also a fantastic moral story of how a young orphan girl never once loses her kindness or courage, and in that sense it’s

Haris Zambarloukos BSC

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very Dickensian. So we stepped back, considered our options, and set ourselves the task of making it in an oldfashioned kind of way. Naturally, Disney’s standards are high, so David and Ken set their standards even higher in what they wanted to create. At that first meeting we were all petrified, in the way that good filmmakers galvanise together, and don’t take anything for granted. For Ken, performance is the most important thing, and he’s a master at getting great performances from the actors. Also, we have worked together on several films now, and I have come to understand that the staging of the movie is another important aspect of Ken’s directorial work. We had great, established actors in key roles – such as Cate, Stellan and Helena – but the story pivots around two 23-year olds – Lily and Richard – and Ken worked closely with them. Whilst Lily is a very beautiful, Ken wanted to reveal in this production, that beauty also comes from the inside. So rather than seeing a delightful, angelic face from the start, we see a gradual transformation – through costume, make-up and hair, and lighting – throughout the movie, as Cinderella’s fortunes change. By the time I was attached to Cinderella, Ken had already started work with production designer Dante Ferretti and costume designer Sandy Powell, who are absolutely amazing. The authenticity was such that there was not one single hired costume – they were all made especially for the movie. We shot on large stages with wonderful props and painted scenics. I knew that planting a camera there to capture it all came with a great responsibility, and that the thinking behind the cinematography would need to come from a particular place. What research did you do, and how did you find the looks for the movie? HZ: We looked initially at David Lean’s B&W classics, such as Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), both shot by the amazing Guy Greene. They’re timeless, the cinematography is stunning, and they set very high bar to reach in they way they evoke emotions. However, B&W movies are not the perfect visual references to show to studio executives wanting to make a big budget production in colour. So we also talked about certain painters that Ken and Dante had in mind. The usual references for candle-lit period dramas are Flemish painters, such as Rembrandt and Vermeer. But these have been done many times over, and were not playful enough for Disney. That was the trick. For the more joyful moments in the movie, they asked me to consider the paintings of Fragonard, an often-overlooked artist. Fortunately, the UK has many of his works at The Wallace

Tell us your reasoning for shooting celluloid and your kit choices? HZ: There was absolutely no way we were going to shoot digital, for the simple reason that I think it dates very quickly in terms of look. We would have loved to have shot in 65mm, in keeping with the classical thinking behind the movie, but that would have been both impractical and prohibitively expensive, as the only lab capable of processing 65mm is in LA. However, we shot tests on 65mm to help us hone-in on the techniques that would give us that sort of result on 35mm. The outcome was that I selected low ASA 35mm Tungsten filmstock – Kodak Vision 3 50ASA for day exteriors, plus Vision 3 200ASA for the day and night exteriors and interiors – and chose Millennium XL2 cameras and Panavision Primo Anamorphics. I also had a small set of C-series Anamorphics for the Steadicam scenes in the ballroom, and for when we wanted something slightly softer – for a particular mood, or a close-up on a face. The effect of combining all of these beautiful ingredients is that when you shoot at T4 or T5.6, the images fall off in a classic way. There’s no need to degrade the picture either, or try to hide anything in the image with diffusion, as you do with digital. You can light a little lower, with more sidelight, and there’s no need for excessive

“It’s more of a real, 21st century take, made in a classic style, of which I am very proud”Haris ZambarloukoS BSC fill to bring out a cheekbone or look into deep-set eyes. On close-ups you really can’t see the difference between 65mm and 35mm, and you get to that Jospeh Walkerlevel of portraiture. The technique spoke for itself. During production, we had to wait for the film to come back from the lab, and project the results to know it was right. It was a classic, old-school approach. What was your strategy for moving the camera? HZ: Again, we decided to be classical, to stay back, observe the staging, let the master shots evolve into mid-shots or end up as close-ups. We wanted to let the shots breathe, and for the moments to develop. But we didn’t go to crazy levels on doing long takes. Although we used Steadicam for the ballroom scenes, operated by Alf Tramontin, we used 30ft and 50ft Technocranes a lot, and even a 100ft Technocrane, which is a very big beast, for one of the end shots. Roger Pearce was the A-camera operator, with Luke

Lighting plan... Softboxes, suspended from electric hoists, and old Tungsten fixtures were essential

Redgrave was on B-camera, and they made a great team together. Malcolm Hughes was key grip. There are not that many close-ups in the movie, although Roger came up with a great suggestion to have Cinderella, the Prince and the camera on a revolving platform, to film their upper body movements, which worked very well. Another scene, which shows how Ken brings the staging of action and drama together really well, is when Cinderella and The Prince first meet on horseback. This involved the choreography of two cranes to match the choreography of the horses, which had to be in time with the actors’ dialogue – all of it on a sunny day outdoors. It was hard, old-fashioned, classic staging, but the payoff is an absolutely wonderful scene. How did you go about lighting the movie? HZ: Again, in keeping with our classic movie-making thought processes, I asked my long time gaffer, Julian White, to look into sourcing old lamps. With the help of the lighting team at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, he got a range of old Big Eye fresnels, that have a large lens but a very small lamp inside, and which look fantastic. Warners also shipped us other oldschool tools such Zaps, plus Decasources and Decapods from Mole Richardson. I also secured the talents of Chris Craig as our dimmer operator. He has huge experience of working in theatre and the music touring world, with bands like U2.

He knows how to programme massive lighting set-ups that give you flexibility. With Chris’ help I was able to evolve a lighting technique that I used on Thor and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, of using giant Tungsten softboxes, connected to dimmers, suspended on electric winches above the sets on the 007 Stage, which were set-up by Julian and our rigging gaffer Dan Lowe. This meant that I could easily control the intensity, quality and direction of the light. And because of the electric hoists this could be done without disturbing the crew or the actors during rehearsals on the different sets there. We could have full-on lighting around the perimeter of the set, or create candle-style flickers with dimming patterns on the smaller sources. David Balfour, our amazing prop master, sourced magnificent chandeliers from a company in Prague, and around 8,000 plastic candles with wicks, filled with paraffin, that looked like wax candles, but burnt safely without dripping for 8 hours – and these helped enormously in bringing visual splendour to the ballroom scenes. What about the dailies and the final DI? HZ: This was a family affair. I brought together a close-knit group of people who worked together to ensure colour consistency across the film and HD dailies and into the DI. The processing was done by iDailies, and the film dailies were supervised by Clive Noakes, who was at Deluxe at the time. Although not many cinematographers do film dailies any more, it’s a routine that I still insist on, and we projected short clips everyday with the crew in Theatre 7 at Pinewood. To make sure the film dailies matched the HD dailies, that Ken and the production team watched, I worked in pre-production with the team at Company 3 – colourist Trevor Brown, chief technology director Laurent Treherne, and DI colourist Rob Pizzey. They created and applied a series of LUTs that would preserve the look of the film after it had been variously scanned. This meant that everyone – the editors, VFX team, Ken – all had the same consistent images – with no surprises along the way – right from the dailies to the final DI. The final look is very pleasing, rich and saturated, deep and dark. Kodak on steroids. What do you think of the final result? HZ: I come from a dark background in independent filmmaking, but any reservations I might have before about taking on this project have been forever crushed. What we achieved was not done by accident. It’s the result of a lot of dedicated collaborative work and meticulous execution. It’s not a stereotypical reimagining, neither is it a twist on the tale. It’s more of a real, 21st century take, made in a classic style, of which I am very proud. British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 33

POST-IT NOTES / Philippe Ros AFC

Sharp

eyes

The texture of the digital image, through the control of sharpness, is a real artistic issue, says Philippe Ros AFC.

he texture of the digital image is relatively virgin territory, and sharpness plays an important part in it. Choosing the texture and the sharpness are definitively artistic decisions but, in most of the images delivered by the camera, these decisions are essentially created and managed by engineers with talent. But these choices don’t necessarily match the filmic drama, nor the filmmaker’s or cinematographer’s expectations. Historically, in film, the texture of the image has mostly been tackled during the shoot by lighting, make-up, glass filtering, glued stockings on the back of the lenses, and by the level of grain linked to film stocks, exposure and lab processes. We can easily feel that the film texture is linked to the chaotic pattern of the film grain as opposed to the still, clinical pattern of the digital image. But is it that simple? The digital era offers many opportunities, but presents also several paradoxes and limitations that I will try to outline.

Cinematographers frequently now use Sony F55, RED Epic, Canon C500 and Black Magic cameras at 4K, with the Panasonic Varicam 35 camera next on the block. And during post production we downscale the footage from these cameras to 2K. Whilst all of these cameras deliver 4K resolution, the question is do they offer the same sharpness?

Specifications of 4K cameras

It is difficult to find our bearings in the world of 4K cameras, particularly because of the confusion between photosites and pixels. Pixels appear only during sub-sampling and recording. There are no pixels on the sensor, only photosites. The different sizes of the sensors and the size of photosites adds complexity, and the table below gives a general idea. (Fig 1) Fig 1.

Main concerns – 2K and 4K processes

The issue surrounding texture and sharpness, follow several shoots, and a lot of tests, that I did at 4K with Sony F65 and F55, Canon C500 and 1Dc cameras, as well as several workshops I conducted, including one with cinematographers on 4K and Ultra HD in South Korea. During last year’s Camerimage Festival, I was also involved in a seminar organised by Tiffen with Steven Poster ASC. The debate focussed on how to soften the 4K digital image. 4K is not often used in Europe, but I came to the conclusion that the qualities and the defects we see in 4K are very often the exacerbation of what you start to feel in 2K. And, even if we are not working for a final 4K release, we are increasingly using 4K cameras for a 2K final release. Hence the value of fully-understanding the peculiarities of 4K.

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Regarding the sharpness of a 4K image, what is common between one image shot with an F65 or with a RED Epic Dragon, and one shot with a F55 or with a C500? The first two cameras have almost double, or more, photosites than the others. The F65 has 19m photosites on the sensor, whereas the F55 has 9.5m, but they both deliver 4K resolution. Even with the same resolution we realise that we can match large shots made with an F65 with a close shot made with an F55. But the contrary is far less obvious – we cannot readily match close shots made with an F65, to large shots made with the F55. It’s always possible to upscale the resolution of a camera in post production. That’s why, in the table, I retained the Alexa, because even before the arrival of the XT and the Open Gate, movies shot with Alexa at a 2.8K resolution have been ‘‘blown-up’’ for a 4K digital process, for example Skyfall. In every camera there are sharpness enhancement tools. Strictly speaking the setting of this function doesn’t belong to the

deBayer process, which mathematically generates an RGB file, rather it follows it, and proceeds through various methods including the enhancement of contrast. The control of this setting is becoming more and more within our reach – ARRI was the first to launch this control in the ARRIRAW convertor (ARC). A lot of cameras are using up-scaling processes to reach 4K resolution and the sharpness control to enhance, often artifically, the details. From these two interventions we can feel too much sharpness in some 4K cameras.

Strategies to lower sharpness

A lot of cinematographers appreciate the sharpness of a Sony F55 or a Canon C500 when it comes to wildlife films or advertising for cars. But others, when it comes to a feature film with actors (for TV or cinema release), use glass or digital filtering, and/or older lenses to lower the sharpness. Regarding his work on Mr Turner, Dick Pope BSC said ‘‘The film looks neither film nor digital,’’ thanks inter alia to a very clever choice of old lenses. The underlying debate is in fact on the perception of the resolution and of the sharpness – a lot of cinematographers prefer to focus on colour-depth than on the number of pixels. Colour versus resolution, but also colour versus sharpness. It’s a frequent dilemma that we meet in all countries. But it’s not only the number of pixels which determine the impression of sharpness. A scene shot with an F65 and Leica Summilux-C lenses at T1.4 may appear smooth but sharp, whereas another sequence shot at T2.8 may look too sharp, and require glass or digital filtering. Choosing to use a 2K down-scaling setting in a 4K camera during a shoot is not so simple. In the RED Epic this setting leads to a zoom-in on the sensor, with the consequence of extending the focal lengths and losing the short ones – a 35mm will become a 45mm. Some cinematographers prefer to keep the 4K resolution of an F55 by using glass filtering or digital filtering. Changing the OLPF in front of the sensor is an under-developed way for practicable reasons. It is during camera tests that we get a good opportunity to assess the sharpness. Have a look at the diagram below (Fig 2) to remind yourself of the parameters on-set which can govern the feeling of the sharpness. Fig 2.

Digital filtering has been only used on actress’s right cheek (left on the image)

Choosing glass filtering with digital cameras becomes more complex on-set. We must be sure that the onboard deBayer process in the camera is reliable. The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) specification of the camera is of paramount importance. But with a 4K camera – even for a 2K release – choosing a filter becomes very difficult with an HD monitor, not to mention the electronic viewfinder.

A 4K monitor can be a solution – an expensive one – for a first selection, but the only way to judge the quality remains projection on a large screen. The subtleties of the gradations cannot be distinguished without a simulation of the 4K or 2K workflow. The diagram (Fig 3) indicates the place of the sharpness settings in the workflows using codecs or RAW materials. These workflows give us additional options to setup the sharpness, as we sometimes have sharpness controls after the deBayer process. In several grading software packages there is a deBayer process, including sharpness adjustment, but they don’t all respect the structure of the image that the camera manufacturer has designed. Fig 3.

ARRI’s policy which certifies the deBayer processes from third party stems (with the ‘Certified For ARRIRAW Processing’ label) seems clever and efficient. This empowers a manufacturer, who is assumed to know the camera specifications, to delegate responsibility for other companies without endorsing medium-quality processes. Through peculiarities of the sensor and the processing of the signal we can distinguish differences of texture between the various camera manufacturers. It is difficult, and very subjective, to quantify the texture, because the whole process depends on the choice of lenses, on the glass and/or the digital filtering, especially on an artistic project. In the diverse strategies to control sharpness, post production enables the addition of film grain to put back some of the ‘‘chaos’’, and specifically allows the use of digital filtering during or after grading. Digital filtering provides the advantage and/or the limitation of not having bias during shooting (which can be hazardous as the working time in the grading suite can grow exponentially). Time and costs of digital filtering remain an obstacle for numerous indie and medium budget movies.

Other strategies

Many cinematographers and colourists regret having to ‘‘fight against the machine’’. This brings us quite naturally to this conclusion: before embarking on the mission to mitigate sharpness through glass or digital filtering, it would be wise to emulate the settings of sharpness upstream, similar to the ones provided by the ARC from ARRI, Canon RAW Viewer or RED Rocket during the Fig 4. deBayer process in post, or have the ability to adjust the detail level parameters when codec-recording after the onboard deBayer in the camera. Unfortunately, all of the companies mentioned above offer only one single setting currently. The diagram (Fig 4) shows the places that we have on the camera and in a workflow to control sharpness. The Sony F55 currently allows us to access these parameters in-camera when recording internal XAVC, even in custom mode with Log curves. For the moment it does not have a large range for adjustments, but it’s an interesting step. The next agenda of the Technical Committe of IMAGO will develop the request to all camera manufacturers to open and/or to broaden the sharpness controls through different means: - Allow access to ‘‘Detail Level’’ parameters when we are shooting with codecs provided by the onboard deBayer of the camera (e.g. XAVC or ProRes), even when using Log curves. - Allow access to several parameters of sharpness after deBayer processes in post when shooting RAW. These parameters already exist on some

cameras and software in post, but there is not a broad consensus to provide all the parameters to deal with sharpness. As cinematographer Kommer Kleijn SBC, said, ‘‘We have been playing for years with, at minimum, three settings of sharpness after deBayer on Photoshop. But why there is often only a single one to control the sharpness for the movie world?’’

Conclusion

It seems that we are just starting to tackle the real areas of interest of the digital workflow. Managing texture relies on controlling the sharpness. But there’s not only sharpness in the texture, and Jean-Pierre Beauviala led the way with the moving sensor on the Delta camera. We can add grain in the image, we can tolerate a certain level of noise-to-signal in the image, but we can also regret the chaotic moving structure of the filmstock. But have we really dug into the possibilities of changing digital texture? I’ve been working for years with colourists, digital artists and camera engineers around the settings of the Detail Levels of HD cameras. We found the way to soften the image and we were encouraged by all the possibilities to change the structure of the image in all parts of the contrast curve, highlights, medium and lowlight areas. Playing with the ‘‘coring’’ (which reduces noise by smoothing image pixels) and several other parameters, that I will not bore you with here, helped me to understand that the clinical look we often face is also an ideological point-of-view and most of the time it’s just

a setting to be changed. The sharpness settings after the deBayer processes are appearing slowly in several cameras and post softwares. The texture, the structure, of the pixel are part of an artistic approach to be done obviously upstream of the shoot. We no longer need to attempt to imitate filmstocks. The challenge now is how best to handle the digital image with the real point-of-view being on our perceptions. It’s under-explored territory, and more research and development is to be welcomed. Photos extracted from ‘‘Wen’s day’’ filter tests - Film directed by Oscar Lalo - Courtesy of Paramis Film Sony F55 Raw 4K - 2K release - Cooke S4/i lenses - Tiffen Filters - Cinematographer: Philippe Ros AFC Special thanks, for their help and precious expertise, go to : Kommer Kleijn SBC, Rolf Coulanges BVK, Laurent Desbrueres, senior colourist (Digimage Cinema), Carey Duffy (Tiffen Filters), Geoffrey Chappell (Cooke Optics), and Andrew & Benjamin Steele (Emit France). British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 35

F-STOP / BSC SHOW REPORT 2015 / by Kevin Hilton and John Keedwell GBCT

SHOW STOPPERS

The 2015 BSC Expo returned to the Richard Attenborough stage at Pinewood Studios during January for two days of cameras, lenses, hardware and industry gossip.

ARRI... the new Alexa 65 was a big attraction

he show had grown since its last visit to Buckinghamshire in 2013, with more exhibitors and an appreciably higher number of visitors. While attending companies want people on their stands, the increased activity surprised some people, including Panavision director Hugh Whittaker, who observed, “I can’t believe how busy it is.” Panavision and Panalux shared a lavish stand that had been done up like a mini film set to show off the companies’ cameras, hardware and lights to their best advantage. This included a Kasbah-style seat with red-black striped drapes that provided as much comfort for visitors – especially as it was next to the bar – as contrast and texture for a nearby camera to capture. Five different formats were on display: Phantom 4K, Alexa XT, Sony F55 and RED Dragon. Film made itself felt through the presence of the Millennium Falcon, one of the two custom-built cameras for shooting Star Wars: Episode VII later in the year. Featuring anamorphic lenses this will be used with Kodak 5219 stock on the latest entry in the saga. On the lenses front Panavision gave a showing to its new Primo 70s, launched at Camerimage and designed for large sensor digital cameras, and the new T-Series, which should be available as a full set by the end of the year. Hardware came in the form of the impressive Panatracker, a stabilised electric vehicle that was shown supporting a 15-feet Technocrane. The Panavision and Panalux exhibits merged somewhat, with the latter company’s new ‘Blanket Light’ beaming down on to its sister division’s area. The new fixture is a series of LEDs fitted into a flexible material ‘housing’,

which allows it to be hung and angled for a variety of different environments and set-ups. It is described as lightweight, with low power consumption and consequently doesn’t generate high temperatures. The only doubt about the Blanket Light is its name; Panalux was encouraging people at the show to come up with a new moniker, but it’s likely that the original label will stick. Now featuring among Panalux’s rental stock is a variety of luminaires from Barger-Lite, which was exhibiting in its own right and proved a popular attraction. One of several smaller, specialist US companies attending BSC expo this year, Barger-Lite was showing its entire line, including the 6-Lite V2 with a Chimera front screen for producing soft light and a new reflector and tray design. Ed Barger commented that people visiting his stand had been impressed by the amount of light it put out. Alongside this were the 4 and 6-Litestrips, both featuring Chimeras; the first for producing a “slice of light” from a strip-like enclosure, the second intended primarily as a backlight. Tucked away to one side of the Lights Camera Action stand was K5600’s varied exhibit of its main products. These included the Alpha 9K, which was introduced in response to the growing move away from big 18K lights. K5600 sees 9kW luminaires providing enough illumination for HD sensors at the higher end of the scale, with 4Ks replacing 12K fixtures. The 9K Alpha can also be adapted to be an open-faced unit by removing the Fresnel. The company also showed a prototype soft light and the Octaplus Chimeras. On the power side the company showed an Alpha Joker 200W inverter, which allows the lamp to be run from a 140W source battery for 35 minutes. New Anton/Bauer batteries and mounts featured on the Vitec Group stand, as did the Litepanels Astra, a new version of its original 1x1 LED panel that produces four times more output. A lighting debutant was not a product but a rental operation. Exploiting its home ground advantage was Pinewood MBS Lighting Services, whose managing director, Darren Smith, said that the 2015 BSC Expo was “the perfect environment to meet our clients face-to-face and, from our perspective, it was the best year yet for the show”. The company is a partnership between Pinewood Shepperton and the American MBS Media Campus facilities group and now exclusively provides light and grip

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 37

F-STOP / BSC SHOW REPORT 2015 / by Kevin Hilton and John Keedwell GBCT Newcomers to the show... the MBS / Pinewood stand

The Richard Attenborough stage at Pinewood was the venue of the BSC SHOW

Robin Vidgeon BSC talks shop with Chris Seager BSC

(l to r) Tony Spratling BSC, Gaffer Andy Long and Dick Pope BSC

equipment at both sites. Smith said the fledgling venture had “hit the ground running” and already handled a cross-section of work for TV, commercials, features and drama production. Judging by the scrum round the Pinewood circular deskcum-booth there was a great deal of interest in what Lighting Services was doing, although the drinks and interesting nuts and snacks might have played a part in pulling people in. Of course, the UK has seen major interest and investment from other major names in lighting of late. Cinelease, which launched at last year’s BSC Show, enjoyed a busy show this time around, reporting a healthy number of visitors at its stand. This was in part due to one of the big stories to break in the run up to the show – the appointment of lighting veteran Steve Smith as Cinelease’s new managing director, who was on the stand for both days and kept occupied with a constant flow of wellwishers who piled-in to see him. Smith said, “I am thrilled to be back in the thick of things and really appreciate the number of friends and colleagues who took the time to stop by. The BSC Show was a complete success and I was very impressed with the organisation and huge attendance.” Cinelease exhibited a number of new products, including Velvet and Rosco LEDs, and shared a few of its plans and ideas for the months and years ahead. ARRI Rental UK’s big introduction for lighting was the bi-colour version of the Versatile 600x600 LED panel. The original single colour version has been available for two years, but now users are able to cross-fade between daylight and tungsten, explained Rick Miller of ARRI Rental’s

John Mathieson BSC

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R&D department who worked on the new fixture. It offers a light output of 1500 Lux at one metre, with a CCT output variable from 3200k (tungsten) to 5500k (daylight). Another important parameter, Miller observed, was the Television Lighting Consistency Index, with the new Versatile rating at 97 for daylight and 95 on the tungsten setting. As impressive as the Versatile is, it was upstaged by the ARRI Alexa 65 on the other side of the Rental booth. This pulled in a great number of visitors who were able to get their hands on the digital 65mm replacement. ARRI is only offering the camera for hire right now and at the time of the show there were just five in the world, although global technical marketing executive Neil Fanthom said five more were set to join these the following week with March the target for a portfolio of 30 cameras. He added that some productions had been using the 65 but could not discuss them for contractual reasons. Among the uses of the new camera has been with a Hydroflex underwater housing and, according to Fanthom, in 400 hours of shooting not a minute of downtime was lost. “We only had to clean the sensor,” he said. The Alexa 65 is regarded as “aspirational”, especially with the amount of data produced, neatly handled by the Codex Vault. Along with the workflow, Fanthom commented that a major consideration were the lenses to partner the camera; ARRI has selected the Hasselblad HC series, which were originally designed for high-end stills photography. These, he explains, are able to get all the necessary image data on to the sensor: “If we put on a 35mm Master Prime it would

cover only about one third of the chip.” A 50-110 zoom is available, while 25-year old refurbished ARRIFLEX/Zeiss 756s are also seen as suitable for the 65. Footage shot on the camera was screened in the John Barry Theatre (the old Theatre 7) on the Friday afternoon of the show. On the other side of the stage ARRI CT sales was showing cameras, lenses and accessories. The Alexa XD was displayed with latest software, which director of group business development Milan Krsljanin said was designed to keep it “on the bleeding edge of technology”. The Alexa was shown with a new matte box, which has snap fittings that allow quick changeovers of accessories, with a PV2 mount for anamorphic or spherical lenses. The other camera on the stand was the Amira documentary system, which has an upgraded viewfinder with a new optical and version 1.1 software delivering onboard UHD capability. More enhanced technology came with the ARRI Electronic Control System, which has new wireless features that allow the director of photography and the focus puller to manipulate different parameters at the same time. The system gives control over all three axes – focus, iris and zoom – but these can be assigned to different controllers or each channel can be run independently. Also on show was a wireless network communications systems, which can run on an iPad system and is due for release soon. Codex focussed attendees attentions on its all-in-one Codex Action Cam, digital cinema camera and recording package. The camera head is really very small indeed, allowing

Panel... the Epic vs. Indie panellists (l-r) Billy Williams OBE BSC, Sean Bobbitt BSC, moderator Ron Prince, Barry Ackroyd BSC and Haris Zambarloukos BSC. Photo by Nigel Walters BSC.

John Mathieson BSC looks through the lense

BSC preside Barry Ackroyd nt BSC

it to be deployed in all manner of tight corners. A number of DPs have already used the system for commercials and movies, in the UK, Europe and US, and Codex is working with partners that will see multiple Action Cams being used on range of 3D stereo and wider-view rigs. Codex was also showing its Vault recording/workflow systems and there was considerable interest in the 4K recorder that Codex is nearing completion for Panasonic’s VariCam 35. Speaking of which, Panasonic’s Varicam 35, with a Super 35, 4K MOS image sensor, is primarily aimed at commercials, high-end episodic production as well as live 4K events and natural history. The camera features a newly-developed OLED electronic viewfinder (EVF) with optical zoom functionality. Technically the camera utilises a new Panasonic Super 35mm MOS sensor for 4096 x 2160 (17:9) 4K image capture and can handle formats including

4K, UHD 2K and also HD. The new sensor has 14+ stops of latitude, and will faithfully capture high-contrast, wide dynamic range images. This sensor combines with the AVC-ULTRA codecs for 4K to enable very manageable and practical 4K production file sizes. Among the camera features are realtime, high frame rate, variable speed 4K recording up to 120fps, parallel simultaneous 4K/ UHD, reference 2K/HD and proxy recordings for in-camera on-set colour grading and monitoring / editing ease. The camera encodes proxy files in parallel with 4K and 2K production formats, enabling fast, efficient offline editing. It also includes Apple ProRes 4444 and ProRes 422 HQ support for HD recording. The ability to produce 4K outputs for broadcast was the main push on RED Camera’s stand. This feature allows both a live UHD stream of up to 60fps and an HD signal to

“the ARRI alexa 65, currently one of five in the world, pulled in a great number of visitors.” Audience... John Daly BSC (l) and Cooke’s Les Zellan (r) listen intently during the Epic vs. Indie panel discussion. Photo by Nigel Walters BSC.

be fed from the same camera simultaneously. Also on show was a 6K master archive function that enables higher resolution versions to be released in the future. There were camera upgrades from Sony in the shape of version 5.0 firmware for the F55 and the F65 featuring ACES (Academy Colour Encoding System) monitoring. The upgraded program for the F55 also applies to the F5, which now has an optional 4K option, and adds Apple ProRes and Avid DNxHD encoders and support for the optional ENG and documentary CBK-55BK shoulder mount. A prototype of the ACES monitor will offer live colour grading. Running in what was possibly the smallest ever demonstration area was a display of dynamic range technology on a BVM-X300 4k OLED, intended as an example of future possibilities. This was pin sharp and impressive, without the overly real but flat qualities of early HD. Among the offerings on a well-stocked Canon booth were the new XF-205 compact camcorder, the Cinema EOS range and 4K lenses. In recent months Movietech has supplied Sony F65s for Ex Machina and was showing the camera with outputs in 8K, 4K and 16-bit linear. Also on display was the Phantom 4K Flex, plus a range of anamorphic lenses, including rebuilt old Kowa models. A new camera is always exciting to many people and the newest arrival was in the form of the new 4K/UltraHD and 2K/HD AJA Cion production camera. This reminded quite a lot of the 16mm Aaton XTR in many ways, with the use of wood on the top handle and on the third-party carved handgrip on the camera at the show. Also the size is

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 39

F-STOP / BSC SHOW REPORT 2015 / by Kevin Hilton and John Keedwell GBCT

Panatracker... stabilised electric vehicle supporting a 15-feet Technocrane

From Australia?... BSC president Barry Ackroyd BSC can’t believe how far David Lewis ACS has come especially for the show. Photo by Nigel Walters BSC.

P+S Technik... has focussed its efforts on lens rehousing of late. Photo by John Keedwell GBCT.

Panavision... Millennium Falcon, one of the two custom-built cameras for shooting Star Wars: Episode VII

very similar and is clearly going more towards the 16mm documentary and handheld style of filmmaking, even though it has a 4K sensor onboard. With the soft shoulder pad it is a very comfortable camera to handhold, very lightweight and ergonomic, and extremely well laid-out in terms of outputs and inputs. There is a huge amount of third-party accessories available to configure how the individual owner likes. The Cion comes with an industry-standard PL lens mount, but can also accept Canon EF/FD, Nikon F/G Mount, ARRI bayonet and B4 ENG mounts for great flexibility. The sensor is an APS - C sized CMOS 4K sensor with an electronic global shutter – eliminating the “rolling shutter” effect on some other sensors. The sensor has 12 stops of dynamic range, and the Cion is able to record direct to edit-ready Apple ProRes 4444 at up to 4K 30fps, ProRes 422 at up to 4K 60fps, or output AJA Raw at up to 4K 120fps. It can record at 4096 x 2160 as well as ultra HD (3860 x 2160), 2K (2048x1080) and also HD (1920 x 1080). 2K and HD are hardware-scaled from the full 4K sensor, resulting in beautiful over sampled images which retain the focal length of the lens at any resolution. Cooke Optics came with its full range of lenses, notably the Anamorphic/i series, which now features 25mm and 135mm models, plus the miniS4/i and 5/i ranges, each which has been expanded with the addition of 21mm and S4/i lenses. Many companies used the BSC Expo as more of a social and hospitality opportunity, rather than a straight product/services promotion. Among them was Tiffen, which had a champagne bar but also showed the Steadicam M1 system in conjunction with the Fawcett Exovest skeletal support. Designed by Steadicam operator Chris Fawcett, this puts more weight on the pelvis rather than, as with previous systems, the back. The intention is to give more freedom of movement to the shoulders, producing greater fluidity of camera movement. More high-tech support, this time for the focus puller, came from Preston Cinema Systems, another US

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specialist company finding a receptive audience at the BSC expo. The Light Ranger 2 was developed to enable precise focus pulling on digital cameras with high quality optics that are shooting wide open. The patent applied for device measures 16 horizontal detection zones and can work either as an auto-focus system or in manual mode as an aide for the focus puller. Howard Preston commented that the aim wasn’t to take detract from the skill of focus pulling but offer “another tool that enhances the ability of the focus puller to work”. Focus pulling was also a priority for Transvideo, which demonstrated the Starlite HD 5-inch HD OLED monitor. Described as approximately the size of a smartphone, with a weight of 190 grams (0.4 pounds), this is designed to sit on cameras and can double as a viewfinder. Working with ARRI and Cooke lenses information systems, the Starlite HD runs with a touch screen but without menus and offers a high-resolution waveform monitor, vectorscope and a histogram of luminance, with an embedded recorder for saving dailies in H.264 on SD cards. Unusually P+ S Technik were not demonstrating their normal Skater mini-camera dollies at the show, but mainly demonstrating their range of lens mount adapters and vintage lens rehousing service, where they take the optics from an older lens and transform it into a lens to be used for film and TV production. Lenses such as stills lenses, Canon, Zeiss and many others can be rehoused. The P+S Technik rehousing makes older lenses available again to use on a state of the art movie set. For example an older set of Cooke Panchro Series II / III lenses can be converted to be used by modern day cameras. This rehousing concept fits nicely to the modern smaller cameras and accessories in the market. With this new housing the lens receives two opposed scales, so focus and iris setting can be read from both sides of the camera, marked with whole stop markings. Metric or imperial marker rings can be chosen and both rings, iris and focus, are equipped with standard 0.8 gears so they are compatible with standard gear wheels for follow focus and lens control systems. Camera Revolution has been around in the film and TV industry for about 20 years now and provides rugged and reliable camera mounts. It showed quite a bit of new interesting kit. The remote control car designed around the Libra Mini caught most attention. This is a small and incredibly manoeuvrable remote control car that is Cooke lenses tough and strong enough on display to carry a Libra Mini, RED

Epic and prime lens at speeds up to 35mph on smooth road, with incredible acceleration and providing a true stabilised remote camera picture. This was developed for a particular shot in the Avengers film and has since been used on several films since then Also the Libra Mini is similar to the Libra, with three axis stabilisation, but it is a smaller and lighter package designed to be used in tough applications where small cameras can be used such as the RED Epic or Dragon, Sony F55 or similar. One of the most interesting devices was the quick release mechanism. This is an inverted Libra head designed to hold up to 600kg on an electromagnet based mechanism with a switch to release the camera. This enables the crane or head to go near to the ground and then the camera released for the operator to carry it from the crane seamlessly, obtaining a shot that is apparently impossible. The camera is actually held in place by the short field electro magnet and when the power is released the camera is released. Clearly there is a big red button to make sure this is not switched inadvertently! Post-production came ever closer to the shooting process through Technicolor. The facilities company gave live demonstrations of its DP Lights 2 on-set grading management system. Among the features of this upgrade are an iPad interface that gives greater freedom of access to the settings for the DP, DIT, director and grader. The look of any feature or drama can be greatly enhanced by the use of accessories and this is true of both filters and technical fabrics. LEE Filters was concentrating on its lighting range but was not ignoring filtering for cameras, including GoPros and the crossover between filmmaking and photography. Among the exhibits were filters for cool light LEDs. The Rag Place presented the visitor with hours of fun flipping through the almost countless samples of cloths and backdrops. These included blue and green screen materials, featuring the Knockout brand that is claimed to completely eliminate backlight, and diffusion fabrics, with charcoal vintage and neutral grey being especially popular in the business. Rosco Softdrops caught the eye. The backdrops are able to be illuminated from the front and also crucially from behind. With careful blacking out it can appear to be a night scene with lights emanating from windows and streetlights. Closer inspection showed the new SoftDrops are printed on woven cotton compared to the vinyl previously used. The advantages of this are several. The material is semi-translucent and requires less light than vinyl to illuminate the backdrop. Secondly it is much lighter and much more compact to transport. This latest addition to Rosco’s Backdrop Systems range is totally revolutionary. They are easy to light, easy to hang, and easy to transport. The backgrounds are offered in front-lit, back-lit, or Day/Night Backdrop technologies, and SoftDrops can be produced in seamless sizes as large as 40’h x 170’ w (12m H x 22.86m W). This large seamless size allows filmmakers to shoot from any angle or position, and avoiding visible seams. This makes

Jeff Allen (Panavision UK) chats with Ralph Young (Lee Filters)

Preston... Light Ranger 2 should help focus pullers

Louma... a lovely Louma crane heralded the entrance to the seminar room at the show. Photo by John Keedwell GBCT.

it possible to bring any location background onto a sound stage around the globe.On a much smaller scale is the new Neo, from UK manufacturer Rotolight, an on-camera lighting system with accurate electronic colour temperature display (CCT) to enable fast, tuneable colour on-location. The lamp is battery powered from AA batteries and provides a very flexible soft light source that is able to be placed in very inaccessible positions without the need for cabling. It is a powerful and compact unit and can be used where an extra kick or small fill light is required. The Neo lamp features Bi-Colour LED lighting technology delivering a powerful 1077 lux at 3 feet (This is twice the power of competing LED on-camera lights). The Neo predecessor is the RL48, and this is still available with a wide variety of pre-cut creative colour modification gels.

The Rotolight Anova also has some new relations in the form of the Bi-Colour V2, Anova Solo 5600K and the Solo 3200K. The names are self-explanatory. The BiColour seems to be the way the market is now moving, and this new unit delivers the equivalent of 3500W of tungsten bulb equivalent using 96% less power than a standard tungsten bulb, it is now up to 350% brighter. With a CRI of >95 and skin tone >98 the Anova is available in ultrawide 110째 beam angle for beautiful soft lighting, or 50째 standard beam angle for a bigger punch. All are DMX controlled and have inbuilt Wi-Fi allowing wireless remote control of brightness and colour temperature. The large skylight and also the Bag-o-Light from Licht Technik are well-known features at previous BSC

shows. The new developments at the show included the Motoryoke for moving lights on a truss. The pan and tilt axes are controlled by two DMX-channels (16-bit). The yoke can control a focus and a barn door unit. A colour changer and/or dimmer-shutter or MagVader can be also mounted, using 3 to 12 DMX-channels as required (this depends on the accessories used and set-up). The mechanical dimmer shutter Dark Vader is an easy to use, high precision dimmer for daylight HMI lamps. The exact control provides a jerking free fading. The programming possibilities are indicated in plain text in a LCD display. Another feature is a real time drive. High-resolution sensors provide exact, synchronous moves with a couple of devices. Because of the special blades, the dimmer is absolutely lightproof when closed.

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SPOTLIGHT / Licht Technik

Bright sparks

In 1982 two German gaffers, Bernhard Grill and Uwe Hagenbach, met on the set of a small feature film. The two hit it off and began a partnership which, thirty years later, is still going strong in the shape of Munich-based lighting company Licht Technik, writes David Wood.

Heavy lifting... the BigBee motor yoke carrying a large ARRI fixture at the 2015 BSC Show

Overhead illuminations... Licht Technik’s SkyLight and Bag-O-Light are favourites on many a car ad

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t first Licht Technik was a rental company, supplying kit and lighting knowhow to productions across Europe. But, as Grill underlines, the duo’s ambition was always to design and supply their own lighting solutions. It’s a goal which Licht Technik has certainly achieved, establishing itself as a developer of specialist lighting accessories – from motorised yokes, colour changers and dimmer shutters, to its own unique lighting designs, such as the SkyLight and the Bag-O-Light – supplied mostly through a network of rental partners including Panalux in the UK. As Grill points out, whilst film cameras have developed rapidly over the last decade, particularly in the field of digital cinematography, the pace of change in lighting has been more gradual. “Lighting itself hasn’t changed that much,” he says. “What has changed is the range of kit. “Twenty years ago we had 2.5k HMIs. Then it was 4k, 6k then 12k lights and now in the US 24k daylight Fresnels – lights have certainly got more powerful.” But, whatever the technology, whether Tungsten, HMI, LED or fluorescents, the basic dynamics of the industry haven’t changed much either. The focus for many companies is on developing kit which generates more, better-quality light, creating less heat and using less energy in the process. Licht Technik is no different, but if it has a USP it is its close relationship with film and commercials production. The rental side of the business supplies and supports hundreds of shoots every year, allowing the company to spot opportunities for new lighting products. “This puts you in the perfect place to see problems on-set regarding lighting and think-up solutions,” says Hagenbach. To which Grill adds: “To survive against the big lighting companies such as ARRI – you have to develop niche products – the kind of lighting kit which they are not set up to cater for.” Filling creative niches with innovative lighting kit has become Licht Technik’s stock-in-trade, making the company a firm favourite amongst gaffers, directors of photography and lighting designers worldwide. Hagenbach adds: “Our philosophy is to develop specialist tools to produce nice effects which are quick and easy to set-up and operate on location. This is why a lot of gaffers and DPs like them and use them.” Licht Technik’s most famous products are the BagO-Light – an inflatable light diffuser – and SkyLight, a rectangular overhead lighting rig which has become a bit hit on car commercials. The Bag-O-Light is a revolutionary light diffuser based around a PAR headlight which shines into an

Smiley people... (l-r) company founders Bernhard Grill and Uwe Hagenbach are still workin’ it!

inflatable tube, producing a soft shadow free source which be used as a fill light on commercials and film sets. “It was our first big innovation,” recalls Hagenbach. “It took a lot of evolution just to get it to inflate without being too noisy.” The SkyLight is a rig of overhead DMX-dimmable KinoFlo tube lights diffused through a rectangular screen. The overhead light source reproduces the natural light from the sky on the car body which car producers are looking for. Grill, whose filmography spans Timothy Dalton’s 007 James Bond films to Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, Brian De Palma’s Passion, 2002 horror Resident Evil and the 1998 version of Les Miserables, as well as countless car commercials, recalls that the breakthrough moment for the company came from an unexpected direction. ARRI Rental asked Licht Technik to custom-build 80 colour changers for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics opening ceremony. Somehow – neither Grill nor Hagenbach are quite sure how – Max Keller, chief lighting designer at the Kammerspiele Theatre in Munich, got hold of one of the ARRI colour changers, was impressed by the design and discovered the Licht Technik logo on the base. He contacted Grill and Hagenbach to discuss a colour changer tailored to the needs of opera and theatre. After a three-hour meeting Grill and Hagenbach had the blueprint for the MagMax, the world’s first cartridge colour changer, which would become something of a standard in theatre and operatic production. It also underlined the importance of having your logo on your kit, plus a contact number if anything goes wrong. Says Hagenbach, “We are still very focussed on close cooperation with the customers and users. That’s why we still ship products with an emergency telephone number displayed at the user interface. We are offering the customer a friendly ear for their needs, questions and problems.” Licht Technik is still doing today what it first set out to do when it set up back in 1983 – evolving useful products in close collaboration with the end users, from motorised barn doors to click-and-move control systems for lighting rigs and DMX controlled precision dimmer shutters for jerk free fading. Its latest product is the world’s first ‘one size fits all’ motorized yoke – The BigBee. Grill and Hagenbach still clearly have the same enthusiasm for lighting that they brought to the market 30 years ago, with Hagenbach describing their recent work for director Steven Spielberg on a shoot in Berlin last November, where a ARRI T12 Tungsten light needed a fast motorised yoke with motion control. Says Hagenbach: “He wanted a specialised yoke that could do a controlled, 180-degree turn in 2.5 seconds. So we built it for him.”

on the job / Ellen Kuras ASC / A Little Chaos

Constant gardener

Ever since Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004), cinematographer Ellen Kuras ASC and actress Kate Winslet have remained close. So when a period drama starring Winslet came across Kuras’ desk – never mind the fact that it was Alan Rickman’s first time directing since The Winter Guest in 1997 – it was only natural for the two women to come together again and create beautiful art.

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Little Chaos, which premiered at Toronto Film Fest last year and releases this April in the UK, is about the fictional Sabine De Barra (Winslet), a female landscape-gardener – a profession dominated by men – who is awarded the esteemed assignment to construct the gardens at Versailles under the guidance of real-life character Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts), a job that lands her at centre court of King Louis XIV (played by Rickman). “I was entranced with this script,” says Kuras. “I loved how Le Notre was a real person in history who actually thrived in Louis XIV’s 17th century France, yet Sabine is an imagined character who perhaps embodies the feminine side of him. To me, she manifests the wild, the untamed, and the emotional aspects of ourselves that exists in nature - male or female. She is nature personified. For me, one of A Little Chaos’ central themes is man versus nature as re-interpreted and reenvisioned by a woman who is Sabine.” Rickman, a prolific actor since the 1980s, now again in the director’s chair, had specific ideas that he relayed to Kuras about how he wanted the story to feel and the sensibilities of the film. At their first meeting, which happened in a stroke of luck when both Kuras and Rickman were in New York (Kuras had only been sent the script that afternoon) she brought along Sally Mann’s “Immediate Family” photographic tome, which inspired her in how the spirit of Sabine’s child, could be created visually throughout the story. “Alan responded to the textural and emotional living in those images much in the same way as I had, so we got on the same page really early on,” Kuras says. “He’s such a visionary; he has a certain way of seeing and inhabiting the world that is very unique. He has a dual perspective of being both an actor and being a director, and also of being a true visual artist who can draw expressively and appreciate the feeling that comes from the look of a photograph, not to mention his incredibly engaging sense of humanity and humour.” Given the low budget of the film, it would have been impossible to try and emulate the grandeur of locations like The Louvre or Versailles. In order to effectively have Rickman’s visuals come to life, and be communicated to key crew back at the locations in the UK, he travelled with Winslet, Kuras, production designer James Merifield (Austenland) and the producers outside of Paris to Versailles for a personal tour. “We wanted to feel what the light felt like coming in through windows,” Kuras describes, “the scale of it all, how the rooms were set up, how the King’s bed was so high. French court society was very particular in the way life was divided. Being there, we could stand in the exact place where the King would have

been sleeping with half the court standing there watching him. How wonderful it was to be there to feel these strange juxtapositions of court life, informing our perceptions of what court life was really like.” Only the interior of Sabine’s house and the exterior of her garden were built and shot on a stage at Ealing Studios. Otherwise, they shot mostly at practical locations – palaces and manors outside of London – Blenheim Palace, Waddesdon Manor, Henry the VIII’s Hampton Court Palace. Because it’s a story that takes place in the 17th century and both Rickman and Kuras come from a film background, they wanted to impart that feeling inherent in celluloid. “I feel that film has the quality of being more ‘round’ and having more depth than digital,” says Kuras, who often shoots on and enjoys the ARRI Alexa. “I could achieve a more emotional sensibility with film, but as a technician working at a time when film is transitioning, it was not an easy choice to go with film. The technical lab support is no longer consistent and the choice of film stock is vastly limited compared to even three years ago. Both Technicolor and Deluxe closed their labs several weeks before filming began, so I had to deal with inconsistent processing of the negative at an inferior lab, yet we decided to continue to take the extra steps to shoot film because we wanted to capture its unique textual feeling.”

Giving it some welly... Ellen Kuras ASC goes rustic on-location, whilst Alan Rickman (above) has his light reading checked

“Normally,” adds Kuras, “a lot of diffusion might be put in front of the lens for a 17th century drama. Conventional filtration seemed counterpoint to what Alan had expressed in the desire to keep the film relevant and have a contemporary story in a 17th century setting. Meaning that he not interested in making some rarified period film with little relevance for today. He wanted to temper the look so that audiences would listen to what was being said and acted. I took that to heart.” Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 was the workhorse for night exteriors and interiors, as it was the only high-speed stock available. The Vision3 250D 5207 was used for the

interiors of palaces, since it’s greater sensitivity allowed fewer lights for shooting inside the palace locations, which was quite restrictive due to original antiques, tapestries and textiles still in place. These organic materials are very sensitive to heat and light, so most locations had minders with very sensitive light meters to count every single lumen in a given room. The slower-speed 5213 stock gave the day exteriors and interiors a richness of colour and depth. For dailies and post-production, Kuras was limited in her choices of post. Although with longtime relationships at Technicolor, Deluxe and Company 3, she was at Lip Sync for the grade and other post-production, due to an equity deal that was in place in London before Kuras came on the project. Rickman was present for the grade, supervising the last week when Kuras had to return to the US for another project. “Our UK crew was fantastic in every department,” Kuras says, reminiscing on their time together in these ornate yet challenging locations. “In the camera crew, lead first assistant and focus puller Ian Struthers,

and second assistant Ryan King were by my side every second of the way. Gaffer Johnny Colley and his best boy Darren Harvey streamed light in palaces and managed a tricky schedule with the birth of Colley’s first baby the day before principal photography began. Key grip David Maund kept the camera and crew literally smoothly moving above ground through knee-deep mud, and Stuart Howell brought his lovely eye to framing the B-camera as well as the second unit photography. Kuras laughs when she gets the question again about being a female cinematographer, because it has become a rhetorical question for her. “I don’t dwell in the gender discussion,” she muses because she’s convinced that women actually have a little-advertised advantage in the world of cinema, the purveyor of feeling. “Women are said to be more emotional than men, who might tend to be more analytical,” she says. “So instead of being defensive about the tendency to the emotional, I’ve realised that I can tap into this feeling and the ability to interpret the emotional into a technical, visual medium – which is supposed to convey emotion –and use it to advantage. I would rather focus on the work itself rather than on the gender of who is behind the camera. For me, it’s all about the meaning of the story, and how meaning is expressed through the photography.”

“We wanted to feel what the light felt like coming in through windows, the scale of it all.”Ellen Kuras British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 45

CLOSE-UP / Danny Cohen BSC / X+Y

Line-up... director Morgan Matthews (l) stands beside DP Danny Cohen BSC

eal life stories have long been the inspiration for films. The decision facing filmmakers is how to present the story, particularly if the subject is still alive. The biopic is an established form, as is the semi-documentary approach, but directors and their collaborators are now looking at other approaches less by form. Cinematographer Danny Cohen BSC has worked on more traditional presentations, such as The King’s Speech (2010), but his recent forays into this field have seen variations on the theme. A run of three such films for Cohen began with X+Y, the feature debut of documentarian Morgan Matthews. Shot in 2013, and due for general release during March this year, after screenings at a number of festivals, including Tallinn where it won best film, it is based on Matthews’ 2007 documentary Beautiful Young Minds. This followed a group of young people competing in the International Mathematical Olympiad in China. X+Y follows a similar narrative, but focuses on one character, teenage Nathan, played by Asa Butterfield, and adds a more dramatic background. “What was really interesting was that the script was based on the documentary, so in a way we were seeing the film before we made it, which was something I’d never done before,” Cohen says. “Some characters have been combined into one, but we’re still dealing with a story based on real lives. The King’s Speech was a true story, but nothing we shot already existed.” Cohen calls Matthews “a clever director”, highlighting his decision not to film in a documentary style. “He didn’t want to repeat himself, so he threw away the documentary element and worked out the most interesting way of telling the story,” Cohen comments. “On documentaries you don’t have a second chance to get something, but with a film you can play with it more, although there are different time pressures.” Sheffield was used for the urban UK sequences, with some scenes in Cambridge. Shooting was in HD on 46 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

That’s life

RED Epic, a choice Cohen says was partly dictated by both the budget and having to work in “tight spots with quite a bit of handheld”. He adds that the RED also made a change from the ARRI Alexa, on which he has shot many commercials: “The Epic doesn’t look like the Alexa so I was trying something a bit different.” Two Epics were used for parts of the film, primarily those featuring Edward Baker-Close as the young Nathan. “We had to be quite light on our toes working with the younger Nathan character,” he says. “Asa has done a ton of films. The younger actor is less experienced so we wanted to be flexible and catch whatever happened during his scenes. We also used a little [Canon EOS] C500 footage, mainly for when the actors were being interviewed in character. It worked out quite well.” Cohen operated the A-camera, with Richard Bevan on B. Despite the “tiny” budget and some resistance from the producers, the makers of X+Y still managed to secure three weeks in Taiwan, which replaced China for political reasons. To keep costs down Cohen took only his focus puller, Steven Gardner, from the UK and employed local crew for the positions of operator, grip, electrician and an additional first camera assistant. “One of the things the operator had was a Segway, and we attached a Steadicam to that,” says Cohen. “The beauty of that meant we didn’t have to lay running tracks, which was a benefit because we were working in 100 degree temperatures - it was incredibly humid.” Cohen shot using Primo Prime lenses, partly, he says, for practical reasons because the Epics were hired

from Panavision “But they looked good as well,” he adds. “They’re not quite as sharp as Master Primes, but they have a nice filmic look in combination with the RED.” Some in-camera effects were used to convey the sensory experiences of Nathan, who is not only autistic but also suffers from synaesthesia, in which stimulation of one sense causes a reaction in another, such as a shape being linked to a specific colour or a smell to an image. “We were able to show some of that,” explains Cohen, “using different frame shades and moving focus a bit. It was a less traditional way of getting into the head of the character.” The Epic-Primo combination reappeared on Cohen’s next two features after X+Y: Icon (AKA The Programme) and London Road, both of which also have roots in reallife. Directed by Stephen Frears, Icon tells the story of Irish sports journalist David Walsh, the only cycling writer prepared to say he believed Lance Armstrong used banned substances to secure his seven consecutive Tour de France wins. While the film is a drama, with Chris O’Dowd as Walsh and Ben Foster Armstrong, it uses Alex Gibney’s documentary The Armstrong Lie as a reference point, recreating some scenes in that, such as press conferences and on-road confrontations. “It’s a phenomenal film,” Cohen says of Icon. “There’s a lot of cycling in it, of course, so we used a couple of tiny cameras on the bikes rather than big, standard cameras on a tracking car.” An even more distressing true story is told in London Road, a big screen adaptation of the National Theatre musical play looking at the impact that a series of murders of prostitutes during 2006-8, in an area of Ipswich, had on the local community. Directed by Rufus Norris, who also helmed the stage production, London Road features dialogue and songs based on interviews with residents of the eponymous street, surviving prostitutes and members of the media who covered the story. Cohen says he used the Epic and Primos in a different way to the other two films, lighting scenes “quite severely” to match the enormity of the subject: “It has a stylised stage look, with lots of greys, but is also naturalistic. We pushed things to the extreme because of the story.” Since then Cohen has completed Room, based on Emma Donoghue’s novel, which itself was inspired by the story of the young boy imprisoned, along with his mother/ sister and other siblings, by Josef Fritzl, in a concrete cellar in Amstetten in Austria. And now he has embarked on The Danish Girl, a Tom Hooper film about the first man to have a sex change. All of which could be carving Danny Cohen his own little niche as a cinematographer.

CLOSE-UP / Edu Grau / Suite Française

Over fifty years after the death of acclaimed-novelist Irène Némirovsky, in a concentration camp, her daughter found the courage to read her journals. She discovered an incredible story.

et in 1940’s France, and based on Némirovsky’s best-selling book, Suite Française follows beautiful Lucile Angellier who awaits news from her husband, a prisoner-of-war, whilst leading a stifling existence with her domineering mother-in-law. When Parisian refugees pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers’ homes, Lucile’s life is turned upside down. She tries to ignore Bruno, the handsome and refined German officer, who has been posted to live in the Angellier household. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and traps them in the tragedy of war. Adapted for the screen by Saul Dibb and Matt Charman, with Dibb directing, the $20m production of Suite Française stars Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas, Matthias Schoenaerts, Sam Riley, Ruth Wilson, Lambert Wilson and Margot Robbie. It is backed by France’s TF1 Droits Audiovisuels, Entertainment One, The Weinstein Company and BBC Films. Qwerty Films’ Michael Kuhn and Andrea Cornwell served as producers, with Harvey Weinstein executive producing alongside BBC Films’ Christine Langan. Principal photography, on 35mm celluloid, commenced on 24 June 2013 under the auspices of Spanish cinematographer Edu Grau, and lasted until late August. The cast and crew spent eight weeks shooting on location outside Brussels, plus eight days in the village of Marville, in the Meuse department of northern France. “It’s one of those movies that you think you might have seen before, but as it develops it becomes something else. It’s moving and pretty special,” says Grau. “We see how the town and the people evolve and change under the Nazi occupation, with a sexually-charged romance at the centre of the story.” He continues: “I was drawn to Suite Française for a number of reasons. My main interest is always the story and how it’s told. This is a touching WWII tale and we had to find a way to do it that had not been done before. Also, Saul is a fine director at the start of his career. He may not have directed box-office hit movies so far, but they have all

48 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

OMG.... director Saul Dibb with Edu Grau in a moment of desperation, with 1st AD Alex Oakley

“as the Nazis arrive, it becomes a living camera, which I operated handheld.”EDU GRAU been good, such as The Duchess. I was also fascinated that Michelle Williams was playing the lead role – she is one of one of my favourite actresses – and, along with Kristin and Margot, they are amazing on-camera.” Grau says he was asked from the outset not to read the original novel, the director preferring him to focus solely on the script. “I can understand this approach, and it was exactly the same situation with A Single Man (dir. Tom Ford),” he says. “The language of film and the language of literature are different. Often the images from a novel do not translate into images on the screen. It also helps to keep your thinking fresh and unadulterated.” Inspirational, talking-point references for Suite Française included a wide range of movies containing scenes either with bold cinematography or heightened senses of tragic love, such as Schindler’s List, Rust And Bone, Into The Wild, Hunger, Biutiful, Fish Tank, The Prophet, Atonement and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Relating his early conversations with Dibb about his vision for the movie, Grau reveals, “Saul wanted it to look and feel real – as if we were there too. Whilst it’s a bourgeois story, set in the countryside, he did not want it to be slick, with tracking shots on the dolly. It needed a certain roughness, for the camera to be in-there. He wanted to come back more to the style of his movie Bullet Boy and his documentary days, to move the camera with freedom and vibrancy – for the images to look natural and not over-lit. So we plotted that the movie should open with a more stable look, with the camera on tripod, but as the Nazis arrive, it becomes a living camera, which I operated handheld.” On the subject of adopting a handheld style, Grau says, “I love handheld, but it has to have intention and meaning for it to be successful. You have to find the story, capture the emotions of the actors. Whilst I looked for the beauty of each scene, in a graceful manner, the shots in Suite Française are more canny, and don’t develop as much as they did in, say, Buried. They are more of the moment, and were created with the cut in mind. Chris Dickens is an amazing editor, and we had a good collaboration on this movie, listening to one another’s ideas and needs to coordinate the visual narrative.” As for the choice of shooting of film versus digital, Grau says, “I have not really believed in the look of any period movie shot on digital so far, especially exterior day scenes. As we would be shooting outdoors, in the middle of summer, with Michelle, Margot and Kristin, I just didn’t want to go down digital route. Looking back I’m perfectly happy with my choice.” As for lighting Grau says it was important that that the lighting was natural, not fake, nor in the faces of the actors. “The light did not need to follow them, and I wanted the images to fall-off into darkness with contrast. Obviously, I had to make the actresses look good, so I did have make it a bit more sweet for them sometimes. But that said, Michelle is an easy person to light, with an amazing face and amazing skin. I got along well with her too. It’s always much easier for the cinematographer when you have mutual cooperation and understanding with the talent.”

Grau selected ARRICam LT cameras, fitted with Ultra Speed Zeiss glass, shooting 1:2.35 aspect ratio for its compositional versatility of characters and landscapes, and to lend an epic feeling. Panavision Brussels supplied the camera equipment. Local crew included Steadicam/B-camera operator Jan Rubens, gaffer Wim Temmerman, who provided the lights, camera assistant Pau Reig and Didier Frateur, who also did a lot of second camera operating. Grau’s friend, Neus Ollé, with whom he went to film school, at the NFTS and ESCAC, also came along to operate for a few days. Grau shot using 250 and 500 ASA Fuji filmstocks. “Obviously, at that time the fate of celluloid was in a precarious state, but the lab in Brussels, Studio L’Equipe was rock solid and we had no problems whatsoever,” he says. “I watched film rushes for the first week of production, just to check that we were going along the

correct path, but after that we had DVD dailies. I have to say that I love the sound of the camera and the smell of the neg when shooting 35mm, and the way it makes the crew focus more on what’s happening. It’s a beautiful format, probably the best yet to make things look good because of the great depth of colour, the way it handles the highlights and subtly captures texture and contrast. Shooting on film makes me the happiest, but let’s see how long we can make it last.” The final DI was conducted by Rob Pizzey at Goldcrest in London, in which Grau says the focus was mainly on fine-tuning the look. “We didn’t want to do anything flashy: we just focussed on enhancing the mood of the images we shot, the natural beauty of the scenes and the sense of being there. Less is more. I am very pleased with the result, and hope it’s a movie that people will be moved by.”

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 49

CLOSE-UP / Stijn Van der Veken ASC SBC / The Sum Of Histories

Points of view

What would you do if you discovered that you could alter the past? That’s the premise of Caviar Film’s €2million sci-fi thriller, The Sum Of Histories, the first feature for director Lukas Bossuyt.

50 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

n the movie, Viktor, a young and brilliant professor, discovers a way to send e-mail messages back in time. This means he can prevent the car crash that paralysed his wife more than 20 years before. However, Viktor soon learns that changing the past is not without risk, and the future does not turn out as expected. “Theoretically time travel is possible, although in practicality we know that it isn’t,” says the movie’s cinematographer/operator Stijn Van der Veken SBC ASC. “It was this notion, the dilemma of the characters and the twists in the story that intrigued me and attracted me to the project. Within this I had the interesting creative challenge of creating different looks, points of view, that would set the action in alternative periods of time.” The action takes place around the university campus in the Belgian town of Leuven. Established in 1452, the

university has many elegant and imposing buildings dating back to 16th and 17th centuries. It was Van der Veken’s task to conjure-up imagery that would use this backdrop for both the present day as well as 20 years into the future. Van der Veken, who lit the 2013 Oscar-nominated short Death Of A Shadow, has an accomplished eye when it comes to creating stylish looks. He has major period and modern drama series, including The Emperor Of Taste (2008), Quiz Me Quick (2012) and In Flanders Fields (2014) under his belt, along with many commercials for blue chip brands such as Lotus, Volkswagen, Mobistar Telecom, Emirates Steel and First Gulf Bank, along with many shorts. Connections matter too, and Van der Veken’s name was put forward to Caviar for The Sum Of Histories by producer Frank Van Passel, with whom the cinematographer had worked on The Emperor of Taste. “They liked my previous work, enthusiasm for the project – especially my creative approach to a really gripping action scene – as well as my willingness to support Lukas through his first movie project,” says Van der Veken. “Belgium is a small country and, because of the small market, the movies tend to be low-budget. So my challenge was how to give this intelligent, thoughtprovoking script a big cinematic feel?” He continues, “There is little celluloid infrastructure left in Belgium now. So, as I was already familiar with, and liked very much, the ARRI ALEXA XT and the Codex/ ARRIRAW workflow, from my commercials and shorts work, I opted for that. I wanted to use shadow details and knew that ARRIRAW would provide full dynamic range and good contrast, whilst the Codex workflow was a reliable plug-and-play system.” As it was Bossuyt’s debut in features, Van der Veken says a lot rested on his ability, “to listen carefully to Lukas’ instructions, and to translate these ideas, through my experience, into the pictures he wanted. Essentially, the future had to look powerful and brittle, whilst the present is warm and more secure. I did not want to do this in grading. Rather I wanted to achieve as much as possible on-set, incamera – using the art direction, production design, lighting, lenses and subtle LUTs – to create these different styles.” Optically, Van Der Veken decided to use a set of 1950’s spherical Cooke S3 Panchro lenses, rehoused by True Lens service in the UK, with a 1:2.39 aspect ratio for the present-day scenes. To frame the future, he went with the powerful look delivered by full Anamorphic ARRI Zeiss glass, shooting 4x3 for a 1:2.39 result. In pre-production he collaborated with his long-time DI colour grader, Peter Bernaers, at Flow in Antwerp, to design appropriate LUTs that would be non-destructively applied to selected takes on-set. This ensured the look was being defined during

Action man... Stijn Van Der Veken donned the Codex Action Cam to shoot the stunt sequence himself

production, whist also giving confidence to the producers. Van der Veken pays tribute to his 1stAC/focus puller Didier Frateur in managing what he calls “the voodoo of the old lenses,” and his DIT Boris De Vischer, “for giving me the confidence that what we shot on-set, was what we’d get in the DI grade. As this was a low-budget production, we did not have the luxury of on set-colouring tools, and there was no room for error. Boris used Codex, and its Virtual File System, to clone the ARRIRAW, transcode dailies for editorial, and create LTO archive copies. Every now and then he would bring me graded dailies, using the LUTs, which I viewed as MP4s on an iPad, so that I could doublecheck the looks were what I wanted. “I have to say that those guys at Codex rock and roll. The Codex technology with the ARRI cameras, and the ARRIRAW capability, is a marriage made in heaven. It’s just so reliable. I will never shoot a digital movie in the future without having that combination with me on-set.” But Codex’s involvement in The Sum Of Histories didn’t stop there. Van der Veken’s other key challenge was to bring a fresh perspective to a thrilling nighttime stunt sequence, in which a trio of the protagonists hang a large protest banner on the side of a tall building. Enter the diminutive Codex Action Cam – point, shoot and post package. “Codex Action Cam came as a gift to me on the production,” says Van der Veken. “I tested it against other small cameras, but no other camera came close – in terms of image quality, size of the camera head and the workflow.” Assisted by Frateur, the Codex Action Cam head was mounted on a helmet, skydiver style, rated at 400ASA, a fitted with a C-Mount Kowa 5.5mm lens. The Camera Control Recorder, plus a Teradek wireless video transmitter,

were neatly packaged inside a small backpack. Boldly donning the Action Cam kit, Van der Veken shot part of the stunt sequence himself, variously lensing the protagonist and antagonist points-of-view, whilst being suspended 30m above the ground. “It was pretty scary stuff,” he recalls. “Also, this was one of the most expensive days on the movie and we just had to get it right first time. Although the Action Cam and recorder package was in prototype at the time, it worked perfectly. The technical support from Codex was excellent too.” Back on terra firma, the RAW camera footage was transferred to a Mac laptop and converted to 10-bit DPX using the Codex Virtual File System. “The 12-bit RAW pictures were perfect for the look of the nighttime photography, and for invisible wire removal in post. Also,

the Action Cam pictures intercut really well in context with the ARRIRAW of the overall movie.” Van der Veken notes: “When you are a cinematographer, you must have confidence in the tools you use, and for those tools to let you get on with your job undistracted. That’s the way Codex think, and how they have arrived at their on-set products, and it’s the same with Action Cam too. I am really pleased with the final result on The Sum Of Histories.” The Sum Of Histories is scheduled for release in autumn 2015, to coincide with start of the academic year at Leuven University, where it’s bound to be popular. Close-ups were researched and written by Ron Prince, Kevin Hilton and Valentina Valentini.

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 51

LIVE & LET DI / WHO’S DIALLING-IN THE DI GRADES

Company 3: senior colourist Greg Fisher worked with

director Marc Silver to complete the graded look on the extraordinary doc Three And A Half Minutes which, after debuting in Sundance has been picked up by HBO. The documentary reveals the lives of two complete strangers who had an altercation over the volume of a in-car stereo system, resulting in a fatal shooting. This exceptional piece of storytelling picked up the Special Jury Award for Social Impact at Sundance. Paul Ensby, who recently joined the team as senior colourist, collaborated with DP Florian Hoffmeister on the DI grade of art-heist-romp Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow Paul Bettany and Ewan McGregor. Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur and lensed by Salvatore Totino, also came to CO3, with global colourist Stefan Sonnenfeld and Fisher combining their visions and skills to get the first preview ready. The appetite for drama from Scandinavia shows no sign of abating as CO3’s work on Dryads signals. Working with cinematographer Marius Matzon Gulbrandsen, Fisher completed the grade on this feature, which tells the story of Hilde who is living a regular, if dull, life until she falls us under the influence of the lead singer of The Dryads. CO3’s 35mm rushes team has been delivering dailies to a variety of shows including the next Mission Impossible movie.

Cheat: has had an explosive start to 2015, finishing a European Whiskas commercial directed by Mark Albiston of Mark & Louis, produced by German company Big Fish. The commercial is inspired by classic superhero films, such as the original Batman, and sees a young cat prowl the streets and fighting crime in the ‘city’ of a young boy’s bedroom. Cheat’s negative film emulation LUTs were used with bold effect. Director Bjoern Reuhman and DP Justin Brown returned to Cheat grader Toby Tomkins for the director’s grade of Gordon’s Gin ‘Meet The Boar’ commercial, which Cheat... put the finishing also got the cinematic touches on Ellie treatment and used Goulding, as well as ads for the film negative Gordon’s Gin emulations. Georgia and Whiskas Hudson and Agile Films also went back to Cheat for the grade and finishing of Ellie Goulding’s new single and Fifty Shades Of Grey song ‘Love Me Like You Do’, going for a bold, saturated look throughout, to match the bold cinematography by Will Bex, and some great choreography that aims to take one’s breath away. Cheat is now putting the finishing touches on Charles Barker’s debut sci-fi feature The Call Up, produced by Stigma Films and Red & Black films, and will continue its research into the archival of motion picture film negative stocks. Tomkins is aiming to demonstrate ACES colour workflows at Camerimage 2015. 52 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Company 3... pulled out the stops for the grade of Mortdecai, starring Johnny Depp

Molinare: senior grader Gareth Spensley was responsible for the grades on Robot Overlords and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Starring Ben Kingsley, Gillian Anderson and Callan McAuliffe, Robot Overlords tells the story of a group of survivors, confined to their houses, following the invasion of Earth by robots from a distant galaxy. They must wear electronic implants and observe a strict curfew, risking incineration if they venture outside. One night, a group of kids manage to temporarily disable their implants and sneak out, but chaos ensures. The BFI/Pinewood Studios/ Tempo Productions/Northern Ireland Screen/British Film Company production was directed by Jon Wright, and shot by DP Fraser Taggart. “The director and DP wanted to make a very British, teen action-adventure film, a genre which is normally dominated by Hollywood imports,” said Spensley. “To emphasise the protagonists’ journey we used selective saturation boosts to create specific colour tones for each location and

John Claude

Alex Gascoigne

set-piece in the film. I think the result gives a strikingly varied look that I hope constantly engages the target teen audience. The DI process involved sky replacements, paint-outs and beauty fixes all done in Baselight. We also took on the unique task of ‘robotising’ one of the film’s real live characters, ‘The Mediator’, to give him a cyborg look. This involved freezing facial parts other than the mouth, extensive skin airbrushing and creating a staccato movement to the actor’s actions – all designed to give a more synthetic look. Doing all this in Baselight allowed the director to constantly revise and refine the look of this character throughout the DI process.” For The Second Best Second Best Marigold Hotel Exotic Marigold Hotel, directed by John Madden, with Ben Smithard BSC the cinematographer, Spensley worked on delivering a bold and vibrant grade that would immerse audiences in the world they loved in the first film. “We used varying levels of saturation, changing across the colour channels, to track the narrative beats. We gave the film

Technicolor, London: John Claude and Alex Gascoigne are the newest additions to the company’s London creative DI team. With 20 years of experience in the industry, John Claude has worked with acclaimed British directors, across film and TV drama. His feature credits include Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul, Kenneth Branagh’s The Magic Flute and Mike Leigh’s Another Year and An Education. His latest broadcast work can be seen in Luther and Him And Her. Gascoigne’s ten-year career has seen him lend his talent to drama and documentary, feature and broadcast projects. These include Bear Grylls’ Wild Weekends, The Proxy, Storyville, Dispatches and The Detectorists. He has also offered his colour grading skills to feature projects, such as the adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s The Colour Of Magic, horror film Dread, animation Planet 51 and romcom Tamara Drewe. The pair will be join supervising visual colourist Peter Doyle (Paddington, Big Eyes, The Theory Of Everything) and senior colourist Dan Coles (Grantchester, Cilla, Veep). In addition to local Soho talent, Technicolor also offers access to its pool of international talent, such as Jean Clement Soret, Steve Scott, Mike Hatzer and Skip Kimball.

Molinare... did the recent colour work on Second Best Marigold Hotel, Banished and Robot Overlords (pictured)

WorleyWorks... the team has just taken a second Mistika system

WorleyWorks, New York: has added a Mistika

Precision Colour Grading Panel from SGO to furnish its expanding grading department and deliver one-stop color and finishing services. The kit was provided via SGO’s North American reseller partner AArmadillo. Founded seven years ago by Greg and Minah Worley, WorleyWorks has a reputation for attracting highend commercials and feature work. The company provides bespoke services in 2D, HFR, stereo 3D, and 4K post, including DI colour grading and compositing, high-speed lighting, for clients including Paramount, Universal and Viacom, and creative directors such as Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and Ang Lee. The company created one of the country’s first High Frame RateStereo 3D-2K 60p workflows.

a rich contrast to compliment this look and often had to use a combination of keys to selectively restore highlight and lowlight details,” said Spensely. “As always, with predominately exterior location shot movies the grading challenges are variable weather. The opening sequence in San Diego, which was shot in an overcast Spain, needed the addition of lens flares and glows on the landscape in the grade, to compliment the VFX sky replacements. A silver car was roto’d by our DI team so we could add warmth to the landscape and then return the car to a neutral colour to remove the telltale signs of a warm grade. Another challenge was the mist that could descend on the Indian locations and defuse the sunlight. Ben shot light dapple plates, which we used as grading layers to add the effect of sunshine glints through trees onto dull walls in the background of shot.” Meanwhile, Molinare grader Andrew Daniel worked on Banished, the 7x60-min BBC historical drama, inspired by events from the eighteenth century when Britain established the first penal colony in Australia. It was written by Jimmy McGovern, directed by Dan Percival and Jeffrey Walker, with cinematography by Martin McGrath and Steve Lawes. Banished “I worked closely with the directors and DPs to ensure that we found a suitably epic look. We wanted high contrast with no black loss and vibrant colours that also felt real and lived-in,” said Daniel. “Bright but worn. Generally the feel of the series is very warm, given its setting, but, of course, we were keen to keep separation in there rather than just having a wash of colour. The fact that all interiors were shot in the UK and all exteriors were shot in Australia was an interesting challenge, but I think we created a seamless transition in the series.”

Onsight: has added to its creative

team by hiring senior colourist Max Horton, formerly with Technicolor, London. Horton has recently collaborated with Onsight on AC/ DC: Rock Or Bust, for Serpent Productions, and the upcoming Elaine Paige I’m Still Here 50th Anniversary Concert Live from Royal Albert Hall, for Nineteen Fifteen. Horton’s credits include Effie Gray, Gravity, Black Mirror, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Shaun Of The Dead and Pride

And Prejudice. He will work alongside the facility’s other senior colourist Andy Lee, who has graded many projects including the BAFTA Awardwinning David Attenborough’s Natural History Museum Alive and Flying Monsters 3D. Horton’s appointment follows Onsight’s major investment in a new post facility near St Martins Lane. The “state-of-the-art” facilities feature a true, 4K cinema viewing experience and focus on creative and technical efficiencies for clients.

ARRI Mitte, Berlin: Wim Wenders’ production company, Neue Road Movies, entrusted online artist Christian Tröger at ARRI Mitte to complete the post production of Every Thing Will Be Fine, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival. It is based on a script by Bjørn Olaf Johannessen, which portrays a traumatised writer’s lifechanging struggle to make sense of what happened after accidentally running over and killing a child. It was produced by Gian-Piero Ringel, with DP Benoît Debie and director of stereography Joséphine Derobe. Tröger used Mistika to perform the online, conform, depth-grading, finishing and subtitling tasks. Neue Road Movies and ARRI Mitte have a solid relationship, dating back to 2008, when they worked together on high-profile movies such as Palermo Shooting, Pina and all six episodes of Cathedrals Of Culture. Pinewood Digital: recently provided end-to-end picture services on Kill Your Friends and Take Down. The facility provided on-set look-creation, editorial dailies and data management to Kill Your Friends, with DIT James Metcalfe. Pinewood Post then undertook post work including VFX pulls, conform, grade and final mastering. The film was shot by Gustav Danielsson and the final grade completed by Adam Inglis. For Take Down, shot by Denis Crossan BSC, Pinewood Digital’s Adam McHattie provided DIT, near-set digital lab and archiving services. Pinewood Post facilitated VFX pulls, conform and the final grade, with colourist Trevor Brown. Onsight... has lured the grading talents of Max Horton

Technicolor-PostWorks, New York: has acquired The Room, the high-

performance finishing studio that has been hosted on its premises for the last three years. Under the agreement, The Room’s staff, equipment and 4K workflow will be integrated into Technicolor-PostWorks’ facility at 110 Leroy Street. Ben Murray, founder of The Room, will assume a new role as VP of creative services for Technicolor-PostWorks. The objective of the move is to leverage the creative talent, workflow and technology that have made

ARRI Mitte... did the business on Everything Will be Fine. Photo features James Franco and director Wim Wenders.

The Room the finishing facility of choice for independent filmmakers and other content creators. Recent projects at The Room include St. Vincent, Her, The Giver, True Detective, Marco Polo, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown and Years Of Living Dangerously.

Marshland: posted entirely using SGO’s Mistika,

suspense-thriller Marshland (La Isla Mínima) is Spain’s filmof-the-year, having been nominated for 17 Goya Awards and winning ten of them. Best special effects nominee, for his role as colorist and digital effects supervisor, Juan Ventura Pecellín remarked, “Mistika’s impressive capabilities helped us to achieve a 100% realistic look, which was nothing less than spectacular.” Mistika played an integral part throughout the whole filmmaking process of Marshland from pre-production, image-testing, LUTs inspection, ISO and densities, through to complete post. Mistika’s technology enabled the team to work at resolutions of 4K, up to 7K of complex aerial scenes for pre-visualisation and colour grading, coupled with intense car chase sequences that involved intricate light elements.

Marshland... got a fully-monty DI treatment via Mistika

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 53

CLAPPERBOARD / Mike Proudfoot ACO, Associate BSC / by David A. Ellis Aquanauts... Mike Proudfoot navigates his way to the next shot on Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), with key grip Tony Turner doing the paddling

Instinctive eyes

Camera operator Mike Proudfoot continues to enjoy a successful career, working on top television series and Hollywood movies, acquiring many friends and admirers along the way, including Peter Hannan BSC and Roger Pratt BSC, the latter of whom described him quite simply as “brilliant”. 54 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

roudfoot was born in London in 1945. He often went to the cinema as a youngster, but a career in the moviemaking business never entered his head. After leaving school he trained as a car mechanic with Porsche. He said joining the film industry came about by accident. His friend’s wife worked at the Rank Organisation’s shorts and documentaries department and told him they needed a mechanic to look after their camera cars. “After looking after their cars for around a year, one of the documentary assistants left and I was offered the job of documentary assistant,” he said. “In the next two years I went all over the world working on Rank’s Look At Life and recruiting films. As a documentary assistant I did a bit of everything.” Following the closure of the department Proudfoot went to work on the last series of The Avengers as a loader, which he says was a different ball game to running around the world as a documentary assistant. The Avengers series was shot at Elstree Studios, which is today handle mainly television shows as well as housing features. He went on to focus pulling; shooting a number of commercials, before being employed by Euston Films to work on The Sweeney.

Proudfoot was with the production as a focus puller from day one. He said, “It was fantastic to work on, and it was gritty and ground-breaking. It appeared very real and, apart from the very fast driving, Dennis Waterman and John Thaw did their own stunts. After a while I was promoted to camera operator. The series was shot on 16mm and each episode took around ten days to shoot.” Did he find it easy or difficult to get into operating? “I found it quite easy, especially in those circumstances because we all knew each other very well. I’d been on the series from day one so we were all like a family.” Asked where the series was shot he said, “It was shot in the old St Paul’s school in Hammersmith. We used that as production offices and the big hall at the back was built as the interior of New Scotland Yard. All the rest was shot on location and in real pubs. We only used one camera to shoot it, so there was a lot of repeating scenes for different camera angles. It was good old fashioned filmmaking.” Proudfoot went on to operate on Scum (1979), then The Long Good Friday (1980) for DP Phil Méheux BSC. How long did it take to shoot those two movies?

Hanging out... pictured with Sir Alan Parker and DP Michael Seresin BSC on The Life Of David Gale (2003)

“Scum and The Long Good Friday were wonderful films, and they both only took six weeks to shoot. At first it proved difficult to get The Long Good Friday released. But after film presenter Barry Norman featured clips on his show it was released by Handmade Films, a company involving former Beatle George Harrison.” Asked if he considered becoming a DP he said, “No, I didn’t. I love operating because it’s really hands on. I’ve seen so many DPs getting bored with what they are doing. I am passionate about operating. I have worked on second units as a DP and operator but I am a nuts and bolts man. I love to be up there with the actors and I have been very lucky working with good actors and directors.” Asked if he had any favourite movies he had lensed he replied, “Scum and The Long Good Friday are two of my favourites. There was Belman And True (1987), which I loved. Others include Batman (1989) with DP Roger Pratt BSC and A World Apart (1988) with DP Chris Menges BSC ASC. I have also enjoyed my TV work.” Other films he has operated on include Absolute Beginners (1986), Air America (1990), Beyond The Sea (2004) Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows – Parts 1 & 2, My One

“I have worked on second units as a DP and operator but I am a nuts and bolts man.”Mike PROUDFOOT And Only (2009) and The Life Of David Gale (2003), directed by Alan Parker. Sir Alan said, “Mike is the epitome of the best of British film technicians. A great operator with an instinctive eye, flawless technique and a charming bedside manner; he’s a director’s delight.” Proudfoot said if he could only list five films on his CV they would be The Long Good Friday, Wings Of The Dove (1997), Batman, Damage (1992) and Defiance (2008). The

Team effort... Mike on the craneend photographed with the crew on Blood Diamond (2006)

Everything stops for tea... Mike enjoys a quick cuppa on Blood Diamond (2006)

Genuflex... Mike gets into the thick of the camera set-up on The Life of David Gale (2003), as Kate Winslet watches. Photo by David Appleby.

Trusted... Mike gets ready to shoot an interior apartment scene on Unfaithful (2002)

reason he gave for choosing them was he liked working with the directors. He added, “I like working with old fashioned directors. I call Edward Zwick an old fashioned director. I did Blood Diamond (2006) and Defiance with him. He was a real hands-on director. He didn’t want the finder, didn’t want to get involved with the set-up, he would just tell me what he expected to see. We would then go off and make it better than he thought it was going to be. When we were shooting Damage, the director Louis Malle asked if he could come and sit by me. He would watch me on a monitor do the rehearsal then he would come and sit by the camera with me and watch the artistes. Today, you find people working from tents. I am not happy about that. When we were doing Harry Potter there were a number of people in a tent that was a long way behind me. I believe in personal contact.” Does he prefer studio or location? “ I prefer location. I love the Far East. I did Air America in Thailand. I think my love of it comes from working in places like Hong Kong and Singapore as a twenty year old.” Proudfoot has worked on several pictures with DP Peter Hannan BSC. He recently worked with him on Absolutely Anything (2015) and Dough (2014). Hannan said, “Mike and I go back to the mid sixties. His skill and dexterity behind the camera together with an ability to visually interpret the story means he is a joy to film editors. Add to this his pleasant wit, integrity and personality. Mike makes the players feel at ease and is admired and highly respected by all the various departments. I’m glad to be included amongst his friends.” What does he think of digital and is he sorry to see film disappear? “I am sorry to see film eventually go. I still like the noise in my right ear from a film camera. There is no noise from a digital camera and in the finder there is no shutter moving. When I used digital for the first time it was a bit scary because you’re not sure if it’s working. I understand that anyone wishing to use film cameras now can hire them very cheaply.” Proudfoot’s son Miles has followed in his father’s footsteps and is also a camera operator, recently operating on Downton Abbey. Away from the film set Proudfoot Snr enjoys trout fishing and tinkering with his Classic car. He says he has enjoyed his career describing it as both a ball and a hobby. And he hopes to carry on shooting for many more years yet.

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 55

INNOVATOR / MARC DANDO / CODEX

Marc Dando

With a long and impressive list of production credits, offices in London, LA and Wellington, representatives and partners in far-flung places, and lots of new recording and workflow products rolling-out, Codex has become a force to be reckoned with in today’s digital motion picture production business. Managing director, Marc Dando, reveals more about the company’s current and future plans. London... the company’s five-storey HQ is in the heart of Soho

Please tell us about your background and journey through the business? MD: I’m an engineer by training, like my father, who was a managing director of Frazer Nash Engineering, where he ran a division that made robotics. I started as a design engineer and spent the first few years of my working life developing automation systems for the manufacture of printed circuit boards. I had always loved movies though, and when I saw James Cameron’s The Abyss I realised that I could combine the two, and have a career focused around something that I really loved. I moved to

Special features... Codex has been deployed on indies like Ida, multi-award winning motion pictures such as Birdman and Gravity, plus forthcoming releases including In The Heart Of The Sea and Terminator: Genisys.

56 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

California, asked anybody I could about animation, learned whatever I could, and got a job in 3D animation with CubiComp and then Vertigo 3D. I went from there to Softimage before joining Discreet Logic. I was fortunate enough to be at Discreet at a really exciting time, but I wanted to be able to design products. I joined a small company in the UK, 5D Solutions, and went on to build a compositing system called Cyborg as well as a colour corrector called Colossus, which is now Autodesk’s Lustre. In the early 2000s, realising that digital cameras and recording were about to take off, we saw an opportunity to use some of this technology and developed one of the first recorders for the Thomson Viper camera. That’s when the concept of Codex was born. Codex puts a lot of emphasis on product design. Why is that important, and how do you achieve this? MD: Yes, most people agree that Codex products look good – but that’s secondary to the function. Our products are designed to be rugged, reliable and easy-to-use, often in challenging production

conditions. We have our own UK-based, in-house product design team, consisting of world-class industrial designers and mechanical engineers. Because I’m passionate about design, I’m involved in the design of all of our products. I talk regularly to customers around the world – cinematographers, DITs, rental houses, etc. – and we often work closely with them on specific projects, to make sure that what we make meets their needs. What are DITs/DPs/post houses/VFX telling you about what they want from camera workflow development? MD: I think most would agree that an efficient workflow is absolutely critical for any digital camera. Some cameras haven’t been as successful as they should have been because they lacked a decent workflow. At Codex we’ve focused on providing reliable pipelines for digital cameras and have worked closely with the camera manufacturers to achieve this – such as ARRI, Canon and Panasonic. In fact, with the data requirements of the latest generation of cameras, such as the ARRI Alexa 65, an efficient pipeline is even more important. Cinematographers understand this. Bob Richardson ASC told me that the Codex Vault Lab 65 is vital for the Alexa 65 workflow. So, it’s really about secure, efficient pipelines that can handle the amount of data that’s generated by today’s and tomorrow’s digital cameras. For the Alexa 65 camera, for example, the RAW files are 31MB per frame. You need a really solid pipeline to handle that – to quickly clone the original files, generate dailies, and archive. That’s what Codex provides.

Terminator: Genisys

Birdman

Ida

Action Cam... a very small, neat and tidy all-in-one shooting and recording package

“Action Cam is small enough to fit into the tightest space, but produces very high-quality images.”MARC DANDO Why did Codex get into cameras with the Codex Action Cam? And what’s coming next? MD: We talk to cinematographers and camera people all the time and we saw a lot of mixing-and-matching of cameras, including the use of small cameras for particular set-ups. Customers wanted us to support these cameras with products like Codex Vault. Unfortunately, when we dove deeper, we found that the footage would often be thrown away because the quality didn’t hold up when cutin with other cameras. This made us realise that there was a need for a very small, but high-quality camera. Action Cam is small enough to fit into the tightest space, but produces very high-quality images. This image quality means that we have leading DPs like Claudio Miranda, Stijn Van Der Veken, Martin Ruhe and Linus Sandgren using it today on their high-end commercials and features. They are cutting the Action Cam footage in with cameras like the ARRI Alexa and are very satisfied with the results. We’ve been really happy with the adoption. As for what comes next, as usual we’re talking to our customers to see what their needs are. What are your views on the switch from analogue to digital technologies for filmmaking? MD: I am passionate about the process of filmmaking, whether it’s analogue or digital. The best digital cameras today produce stunning images, but I’ve always hoped that digital capture would be able to match the image quality of 65mm film. That’s why I was so excited to be involved with the Alexa 65 project with ARRI. The images look stunning and we were able to design a straightforward, efficient workflow to deal with the larger file size. But generally, I don’t like to compare film and digital. I see digital cameras as being like new film stocks – they are simply new tools for cinematographers to create amazing pictures.

How much more development is there to come in the digital world, before everyone is satisfied? MD: On the recording and workflow side, there’s a lot to be done. Modern filmmaking requires a solid technology background, particularly when you’re shooting with digital cameras. When you are capturing multiple terabytes per day you need to plan – producers need to know their digital negative is safe and editorial still expects to get their dailies on time. This transition point provides an opportunity to streamline a whole production – a chance for pre-production, production, post production and VFX to work more closely together than ever before. Metadata is a word that’s thrown around a lot, but metadata often gets lost on the journey from the camera to the post house or VFX facility. Money and time can be saved if metadata gets to the people who need it – for example, if the person compositing a shot has the lens information. We’re even developing a lens database as part of Codex Backbone to facilitate this. I should probably explain what Codex Backbone is – it’s an integrated, end-to-end production management tool that will get the right data and metadata to the people who need it. We envision a production getting a Codex Production Server – which is the front-end hub for Backbone – as soon as they set up the production office, at the same time as they get the photocopier. Then they can connect to Backbone and start using it to collaborate and share information from pre-production, into production and then into post production. Backbone can work offline or online, with various cloud-based servers, but always in a secure environment. Projects can then be tracked using a simple interface, called Codex Dashboard, to access production information via a web browser, smart phone or tablet. One of the biggest issues at the moment is colour consistency – from the camera through to post and beyond. That’s why we are supporting the Academy’s ACES initiative, as we think a straightforward colour pipeline is a critical part of streamlining the filmmaking process. Before ACES 1.0 was released, we were already involved in some motion picture projects that used ACES, working closely with our customers and users to make it possible to use an ACES workflow.

studios and other producers I hear a continuing need for simplification, standardisation and security. We’ll continue to listen and develop products like Codex Vault Platform and Codex Backbone to address these needs. What is your view of the cinema experience of the future? MD: Distributors have got to figure out a better experience for the audience, to get people out of their living rooms, off their mobile devices and into the cinema. If they want people to keep going to see movies in the cinema, they’ve got to take the cinema experience to the next level. It’s already happened with audio – the Dolby Atmos sound system is a big step. In terms of the picture, maybe it’s high frame rates, but more likely it’s high dynamic range. The Dolby Cinema initiative is certainly interesting, with its combination of image and sound technologies. And then there’s HDR for the home – Dolby, Technicolor and the BBC all have initiatives there. It’s clear that most people immediately appreciate HDR images, whereas 4K in the home is a harder sell. Really, we need to look at the broader question of what’s the entertainment experience of the future and realise that it’s about repurposing content for a lot of different viewing environments – game consoles, virtual reality, mobile devices, traditional cinema, the home, theme parks and so on. What does Codex need to do to continue to be successful? MD: More of the same. Along with our London HQ, our US office in Hollywood is nearby to the studios and our customers. We’re very happy with the close relationships we have with cinematographers and camera manufacturers, as well as our customers and users around the world. We’re excited about all the new products we are rolling out. We will keep listening, and keep an open dialogue going with them, about their difficulties and needs, whilst also keeping our eyes on where general trends and technology are going. Collaboration... Codex has worked closely with ARRI on the recording/ workflow systems for its big and small cameras – like the Alexa 65 and Alexa Mini, shipping later this year.

How will camera and workflow technology develop in the next decade? MD: I think we’ll probably continue to see a proliferation of different cameras – the latest range of ARRI Alexas are a great example of that. But, we already have several cameras from different manufacturers that produce great pictures in the hands of talented people. That’s still the key – it’s about the people using the tools more than the tools themselves. As for workflows, when I talk to the British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 57

IMAGO NEWS / NIGEL WALTERS BSC / PRESIDENT OF IMAGO

Masterclass... Dick Pope BSC shares his knowledge on a Turneresque set at GoKinema

Dedication: thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what you need! T

he fifth GoKinema festival, after it was inaugurated by Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC in 2011, again successfully negotiated the pitfalls of underfunding in Swedenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second city, Gothenburg. What the two-day event has lacked in financial support, it has more than made up by the enthusiasm Nigel Walters BSC for all aspects of film production, shown by the army of unpaid volunteers. Without their dedication this event would not take place. It has every right to be described as unique. It is still in the process of developing and improving a system of educating visitors into the mysteries of filmmaking through a pioneering concept called Open Set. Its open, hands-on,

front-seat approach gives the opportunity to appreciate the complexities of team filmmaking. The audience is seated in the set, not just as observers, but as participants in a visual and audio overview of the making of scenes as they unfold. Questions can be asked and answered during shooting by a moderator using headsets. A short script is chosen from a screenplay competition and is shot, edited and screened by two teams of directors and cinematographers. This year the South African cinematographer Dewald Aukema SASC collaborated with the Swedish director Ninja Thyberg. RED Europe supplied his camera of choice. A popular figure based now in the UK, Dewald Aukema includes in his previous films the Oscar-nominated Mandela (1996) and The Cry Of Reason (1988). His constructive suggestions, particularly regarding post production, were later appreciated and will be used to build an even better experience in 2016.

Cecilia Torquato, originating from Brazil, directed the identical script the following day with Dick Pope BSC shooting on an ARRI Alexa. Dick also conducted a packed masterclass on a set which must have been familiar to him after shooting Mr Turner, for which he received Oscar, BAFTA and ASC nominations. A step forward for the GoKinema festival was the first active participation by the Swedish Society of Cinematographers, the FSF. Apart from a booth, the FSF organised a fascinating seminar with members of the crew from a recent Swedish film Gentlemen. Optimistically the collaboration between Baltic Societies, as illustrated in the recent Helsinki Conference, will mark a turning point in the fortunes of GoKinema at the Gothenburg Studios. Paul Blomgren and his team certainly deserve more support for this potential Scandinavian focus for cinematographers and the advancement of our craft.

GoKinema... showing the revolutionary open-set concept with the audience

On the spot... director Ninja Thyberg and Dewald Aukema SASC interviewed on-set Getting to grips... Anders Johanson from Mediateknik with Hakan Holmberg president of the FSF

Convivial... Swedish cinematographers at the FSF booth with an iconic image from Swedish cinema as a backdrop

58 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Strong resolutions in Austria

Open mike... Astrid Heubrandtner AAC and Kurt Brazda AAC at the Austrian society’s working conditions conference

The Austrian Association of Cinematographers, AAC, held a Working Conditions Conference ahead of the IMAGO Brussels Conference on March 21/22. Amongst the resolutions passed was that legislation be passed to allow self-employed and freelance membership of professional associations and trades unions. The conference called upon trades unions to give clear transparency in their terms of representation of the self-employed. It also called for a compulsory minimum salary; a mandatory, enforceable model contract; access to unemployment benefit, health and pension provisions for selfemployed freelancers equal to those enjoyed by salaried staff. It further recommended legislation for public funding only be granted to producers and companies who respect social legislation and employ people on a remuneration commensurate with their education and experience. All broadcasting and VOD streaming companies must be stopped from imposing contracts, which are clearly immoral and lead to the violation of existing laws. Finally the conference called for the introduction of an EU authority to strictly monitor working rights and the strength to enforce legislation.

Cinematography In Progress

IMAGO established an Education Committee at the 2014 Delphi Annual Congress (IAGA). The first Cinematography In Progress conference occurred in Brussels last November. It was a joint venture between the Belgian Cinematographers (SBC), the Institut des Arts de Diffusion (IAD) and IMAGO.

he main focus for the sixty educators, attending many books exist, recommended reads are the IMAGO from twelve countries, was to examine how publication Making Pictures and the recently published professionals have adapted to the challenge Art Of Cinematography by Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC. of the digital revolution and the subsequent The conference, organised by Mark de Backer collapse of the use of celluloid. One heartening SBC, was regarded by the delegates as inspiring. It conclusion for cinematographers was the agreement that reinforced convictions that they are on the correct the example of using film tools is still the best method of course to mould the cinematographers of the future. teaching our craft; the basics were easier to understand; The only question delegates found difficulty in the discipline of film indispensable. Despite the closure answering was what happens in the future to the of many laboratories, schools were original image? Who retains the hard disk compressed continuing to use film cameras and somewhere on a forgotten shelf? A techniques. Students were better able satisfactory answer will have to appreciate principles of lighting and to wait until the second image exposure. The use of a light conference of Cinematography meter improves the understanding In Progress! The sponsors of this of light intensity, its direction and inaugural event were Cinematek, control of contrast. Connections, Avolon, K5600, Many delegates expressed Eye-Lite and Dejonghe Film concern that the cinematographer Postproduction. was becoming removed from control of the image in post production. It was imperative for students to learn all the steps Reco Art Of C mmended re of the workflow from capture a in Vittorio ematography d... b Storaro to their essential role in the AIC AS y C final grade. Although direct involvement in the process of digital effects is not required, the cinematographer should retain the right for the final colour correction. The value of DSLRs in teaching was recognised as a tool to understand the basics of photography. The essential of retaining the professional crew composition must be taught if standards are to be respected. The use of the second assistant was recommended. The educational value of the absence in digital technology of the collective experience in viewing rushes was deeply regretted. The value of the history of cinematography and art Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC in being integrated in classes was stressed. Although not

Tribute to Rune Ericson FSF

It was fitting that the Swedish cinematographer Rune Ericson lived to see the finest results of his historic contribution to modern filmmaking, the invention of the Super 16mm format. The life of this Academy Award-winner, a giant amongst inventive cinematographers, has been chronicled in an article he wrote in John Fauer’s magazine Film & Digital Times. There is a link to it on the IMAGO.org web site. Anyone interested in the development of film since the 1970’s should read it. Rune’s early years of struggle to adapt the NPR to Super 16mm, with the assistance of Jean-Pierre Beauviala, were not to be in vain. Apart from his own technical Academy Award he must have been pleased to live to witness the format’s greatest triumphs – the Oscar success of Black Swan, The Hurt Locker and The Wrestler amongst others. His format has been used on over 500 feature films shot around the world. IMAGO salutes this gentle, creative man with gratitude. He has left a legacy he could scarcely have dreamt possible. Our sympathy goes to his family, the FSF, Swedish Society of Cinematographers and the host of his close friends.

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 59

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by Tim Potter

URGENT: GET QUALIFIED O

ver the years I have told you about the diplomas (from the University Of The Arts, London) that we now operate for Camera Assistants (L2 for clapper/loaders, and L3 for focus pullers). Diplomas for script supervisors (L4), DITs (L3) and camera operators (L4) are in the wings. The aim was to get to a point where all the technicians in our department are qualified, or signed up for assessment. Progress started well, with excellent subsidies to cover the fees. In the first two years about 60 to 70% of the technicians who do the bulk of the work in feature films, TV dramas and commercials had been assessed and qualifications issued. Funding took a little two-year hiatus, when the Olympics snaffled up a big whack of the arts funding in Britain. Last summer we were able to re-establish subsidies and rekindle the scheme. We are, of course, having to play catch-up, due to these two years with low activity, and this involves rebuilding the

60 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

momentum we had at the beginning of the scheme. We are now back to full speed with Amersham & Wycombe College administering the assessment process. We have had indications that production companies, especially in TV dramas, are looking for an independent and transparent way to assess the abilities of technicians they have not used before. The diplomas are an ideal way to fulfill this need. This will involve moving on to the second phase of the diploma scheme, where it becomes the norm for technicians to be qualified or registered for assessment. More and more the producers are being asked to give feedback to the broadcasters on the equality of their engagement policies and how effective those policies are. Soon we may see this becoming a compliance criterion in independent production contracts. In which case we need to be ready with a qualified work force that will comply with what could become the hiring environment of our business.

To fit in with this possible new world you will need to have one of the diplomas or be signed up for assessment. If you have not already gone through the scheme you should sign up sooner rather than later. I make no apologies for repeating this message, because the time is running out for the laissez-faire, ‘who you know’ approach to finding work. Enrollment is open now at Amersham & Wycombe College’s website (For further information, please contact: Sara Megan 01494 585304 (E) (camera@amersham.ac.uk) or if you would like to apply online, go to: http://www.amersham.ac.uk/courses/camera/ and choose the option “apply online”). It cannot be emphasised more strongly how important it is to be part of the diploma scheme. Tim Potter Chair | GBCT | www.gbct.org

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by John Keedwell Get trained... technically challenging movies like Birdman need experienced camera crews

Don’t stand still

o yet another awards season is over. Some left the BAFTA and Oscar ceremonies disappointed of course, whilst the winners will be able to use the winning of a prestigious award to enhance their careers going forward. This year was an extremely diverse one in terms of cinematography and also storyline, with all five contenders having different styles and feel to the cinematography, perhaps more than any in recent years. Perhaps the most technically challenging for the camera crew was Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), due to the extended Steadicam shots throughout the whole film. The skills of the Steadicam operator, and all of the technical crew, were pivotal in the success of the whole film. The shot from interior to exterior at night through the streets and then back through the lobby and into the dimly-lit theatre and onto the brightly-lit stage made it a Steadicam operator’s and DP’s film, and it was a worthy winner. Of course, all of the other contenders were exceptional in their unique style and method of telling a story. The Grand Budapest Hotel had an altogether different feel of course, along with Mr. Turner, beautifully lit by Dick Pope BSC. All of the other films were fine contenders in their own right. Looking at all the different movies nominated goes to show how many new ideas are still possible in the world of storymaking, and also how much a collaborative effort it is with directors, DPs, camera operators and technicians, along with the huge talent in front of the cameras, to make each film a unique experience for the cinema going viewer.

Technical skill and innovation is crucial going forward, and this requires training for technical staff along with real-world experience of hands-on training on set. Constant updating of skills and technical knowledge do not come easy, and often cost money to facilitate, with the freelancer often bearing the costs of their own training. Echoing Tim Potter’s words, applying to join the GBCT will enable you to access some of the finest training in its class, and some of the upcoming courses include optics and lenses for camera assistants, Steadicam training and training for trainers. Many other additional courses are

Time & motion study

During the recent stage discussions at the BSC Show one of the more shocking statements I heard was the director of photography was often picked for their speed of operation in recording a predetermined amount of material each day. If the production deemed there wasn’t enough material produced each day it would potentially be career inhibiting for the DP. I am sure this is not news to any you, if you work in this side of the business, yet I think this came as a bit of a shock to a large proportion of the audience who were apparently current students of film and TV. At one point the audience was asked who were currently working as camera crew, and nobody I saw put their hand up because the audience were predominantly students. Whilst there is a necessity for speed of working to get the production finished within budget, it seemed to me the production was actually potentially being short-changed if there wasn’t enough time allowed. Yes, of course, if there are endless amounts of time the productivity will expand to fit the allotted time, yet some productions could suffer due to certain shots being compromised in some way. The UK has not gone the way of the USA in accounting for six minutes at a time, or 1/10 of an hour increments. This is all the more reason to have experienced crews who can think ahead for the production. Hopefully this is being embedded into the students at the BSC Show and, if they aren’t frightened away from business at the thought of this, it will hopefully prepare them for the realities of budgets and scheduling in their future careers. Some people’s perception outside of the business is that making films is a lot of standing around, eating bacon butties, in various exotic locations around the world. Whilst occasionally this is true, the vast majority of this business involves hard work and long hours away from home, and the glittery award ceremonies don’t really show that. Hopefully the students were able to take this away with them, and they understand how resilient you need to be in this business. On the other side of the coin, there is no other business to beat this one. I just wish we all had a little bit more time allotted to fiddle with lights and cameras!

“Perhaps the most technically challenging for the camera crew was Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), due to the extended Steadicam shots throughout the whole film.” John Keedwell, GBCT run throughout the year to keep up the level of skills and awareness of new technology we all need to keep updating on a regular basis. The GBCT has a strict entry procedure, and candidates are not automatically accepted, yet acceptance to membership means you are amongst the very best technicians in the world, and you will have access to a great network of dedicated and passionate people. Take a look and see if the GBCT fits with you. www.gbct.org Staying still is not an option in today’s rapidly changing world, and if you stay still you go backwards and ultimately fail. Of course it is a business-overhead cost and needs to be factored-in to running a business as a freelancer. Also, the time taken off from working to train is clearly never paid when you are freelance. If you are not factoring that into your overheads then I suggest you do from now on.

British Cinematographer | March 2015 | 61

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / by John Keedwell The Sun is god... an image from the last five years of Sun watching

Here comes the Sun

hilst researching certain elements for this column, I happened across an article and it caught my eye. Further investigation led me to the video link on YouTube you see at the end. It is a time-lapse of our Sun taken continually over five years. In other words it is a time-lapse of the chief source of illumination and heat for our planet and also illumination for filmmaking of course! I wanted to share it with you as it shows both the fantastic images capable with the technology available now, and also shows us the source of our illumination we often take for granted. I hope you like it as much as I did. Here is some of the story of how the pictures were produced. February 11, 2015 marks five years in space for NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which provides incredibly detailed images of the whole Sun 24 hours a day. Capturing an image more than once per second, SDO has provided an unprecedentedly clear picture of how massive explosions on the sun grow and erupt ever since its launch on Feb. 11, 2010. The imagery is also captivating, allowing one to watch the constant ballet of solar material through the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona. In honour of SDO’s fifth anniversary, NASA has released a video showcasing highlights from the last five years of sun watching. Watch the movie to see giant clouds of solar material hurled out into space, the dance of giant loops hovering in the corona, and huge sunspots growing and shrinking on the Sun’s surface. The imagery is an example of the kind of data that SDO provides to scientists. By watching the Sun in different wavelengths – and therefore different temperatures – scientists can watch how material courses through the corona, which holds clues to what causes eruptions on the Sun, what heats the Sun’s atmosphere up to 1,000 times hotter than its surface, and why the Sun’s magnetic fields are constantly on the move. Five years into its mission, SDO continues to send back tantalising imagery to incite scientists’ curiosity. For example, in late 2014, SDO captured imagery of the largest sunspots seen since 1995, as well as a torrent of intense solar flares. Solar flares are bursts of light, energy and X-rays. They can occur by themselves or can be accompanied by what’s called a ‘coronal mass ejection’, or CME, in which a giant cloud of solar material erupts off the Sun, achieves escape velocity and heads off into space. In this case, the sun produced only flares and no CMEs, which, while not unheard of, is somewhat unusual for flares of that size. Scientists are looking at that data now to see if they can determine what circumstances might have led to flares eruptions alone. Goddard built, operates and manages the SDO spacecraft for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington DC. SDO is the first mission of NASA’s Living With A Star Program. The programme’s goal is to develop the scientific understanding necessary to address those aspects of the Sun-Earth system that directly affect our lives and society. This amazing video can be seen at: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/goto?11742

62 | British Cinematographer | March 2015

Special Ks

material onto, I’m sure 4K in the home is here to stay, if you have the budget. Yet the professional world we live in is happily shooting on the ARRI Alexa at 1920 x 1080 or indeed on 35mm film, and getting stunning results on the large screen in cinemas. There are of course also many productions using the higher-resolution RED cameras, and there is now the Blackmagic 4K as well. The ARRI Alexa 65 is now a potential for creating stunningly detailed visuals in the near future, so potentially the skills level of a film crew needs to be at top performance throughout. If people are rushing out to buy 4K televisions – as they seem to be – there is a real need for exceedingly high production standards. Cinematography, camera operating, focus pulling, and also production values in terms of wardrobe and make-up and all of the other skilled areas of making a picture. It seems the 4K revolution has taken hold in homes around the world, and there is a need for extremely high-quality material for the consumer to watch. This has to be good news for our business, as shoddy standards will not be tolerated, so the finest quality needs to be upheld at every stage of the production, and there needs to be time dedicated to creating the very best visuals at every stage of the production. Make sure the finest talent are used on your production and you won’t go far wrong.

Following on from the previous edition of British Cinematographer Magazine, in which I discussed 4K cinema at home, it seems the idea of 4K television for home use is gathering momentum. Walking past my local Sony dealership, and through John Lewis at the weekend, I noticed the whole wall is now covered with 4K-specification televisions, starting around about £1,000 and going up to several thousand. What struck me was the scale of how many models are now available and the price point, making it very affordable and attractive to a great many more people. Clearly early adopters may be disappointed, yet that’s how technology rumbles on. What also struck me was how the way the monitors are specified goes back to the old days of CRT monitors. The picture is still defined as a diagonal size, so an 85 inch screen is actually roughly 77” x 61”. This is still a huge screen of course, weighing in 77 kg and with a price tag to match of about £20,000. However the price of this particular huge model is not that different to a 20-inch HD professional monitor about 15 years ago. How technology moves ahead. Another thing that struck me was how HD was always defined as 1080 lines, which of course is a measure of the vertical resolution. On a 4K television the size is now being defined as the horizontal resolution, and not the vertical. This course makes it seem bigger and much better to the home consumer, and is an extremely useful marketing tool. I guess there will already be a booming business in installing these massive screens in homes, if only to have somebody physically carry it in to the room for the fortunate new owner. This can only mean good news for our business, and the 4K cinema in the home will ensure people want the highest quality pictures on a larger screen – assuming you have the space and the budget to buy such a Skills... with 4K TVs, massive screen real estate. plus high-rez lumps like the Alexa 65, there is a real need for Now that the addition of external exceedingly-high production standards hard drives has been introduced to record

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