EFA MASTER CLASS with Anthony Dod Mantle January 2005
INDEX Introduction by Marion Döring The tutor: Anthony Dod Mantle The participants: Helmut Pirnat Shai Levy Mart Taniel Till Brinkmann Organisation & Crew DVD CONTENTS EFA Master Class 2005 (documentation) Kleine Giganten (short film) Interview with Anthony Dod Mantle Samples Post-production Samples Camera
IMPRINT Editor: Pascal Edelmann Graphic Design/Production: Andrés Castoldi Photographs: Andreas Böhmig Executive Producer of the EFA Master Class: Hoferichter & Jacobs European Film Academy e.V., Kurfürstendamm 225, 10719 Berlin, Germany * www.europeanfilmacademy.org MUSIC Sergei Prokofiev: ROMEO AND JULIET, excerpt from "Dance of the Knights" Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony © BMG Music
DEVELOPING A PERSONAL VISUAL DICTIONARY EFA MASTER CLASS with Anthony Dod Mantle
Marion Dรถring, Director European Film Academy It has always been one essential part of the activities of the European Film Academy (EFA) to allow filmmakers to learn from one another and to exchange ideas. Over the years, EFA has organised various Master Classes focusing on many aspects from visual effects to the relationship between actors and directors. These Master Classes are generally, but not exclusively, addressed to younger filmmakers and the tutors are always highly acknowledged in their field of work, experienced and willing to pass on some of their knowledge. When we decided to finally organise our first Master Class for cinematographers it was our expressed wish to win Anthony Dod Mantle as the tutor for this workshop. Not only has his work re-shaped the way we look at film, he is also someone who has absolutely no reservations about sharing his knowhow and experience and, as you will see from the participants' statements, he is an ideal teacher who left the participants brimming with new enthusiasm and ideas. On behalf of the European Film Academy I would like to use this opportunity to say: Thank you, Anthony!
AN EFA MASTER CLASS FOR CINEMATOGRAPHERS
THE TUTOR:
ANTHONY DOD MANTLE
(DoP)
Anthony Dod Mantle was born in 1955 and grew up in Oxford, England. He is half-Scottish, and came to Denmark for the first time in 1979. He qualified as a photographer in 1983 and took up permanant residence in Denmark in 1985, where he enrolled at the National Film School the same year. His first feature behind the camera was the German film THE TERRORISTS (1992) by Philip Grรถning. He has repeatedly worked with Danny Boyle and Lars von Trier and is one of today's most renowned European cinematographers, winner of various awards including the European Film Award for European Cinematographer 2003 for DOGVILLE and 28 DAYS LATER.
FILMOGRAPHY (excerpt) MANDERLAY by Lars von Trier, 2005 DEAR WENDY by Thomas Vinterberg, 2005 MILLIONS by Danny Boyle, 2004 DOGVILLE by Lars von Trier, 2003 IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE by Thomas Vinterberg, 2003 28 DAYS LATER by Danny Boyle, 2002 STRUMPET by Danny Boyle, 2001 VACUUMING COMPLETELY NUDE IN PARADISE by Danny Boyle, 2001 JULIEN DONKEY-BOY, 1999 MIFUNES SIDSTE SANG (Mifune's Last Song) by Anders Thomas Jensen, 1999 FESTEN (The Celebration) by Thomas Vinterberg, 1998 NONNEBØRN (Agnus Dei) by Cæcilia Holbek Trier, 1997 DE STØRSTE HELTE (The Biggest Heroes) by Thomas Vinterberg, 1996 OPERATION COBRA by Lasse Spang Olsen, 1995 MENNESKEDYRET (The Beast Within) by Carsten Rudolf, 1995 DIE TERRORISTEN! (The Terrorists!) by Philip Gröning, 1992
T H E PA RT I C I PA N T S Nina Blazin, Slovenia Vladimir Bouchler, Belgium Till Brinkmann, Germany Henning Br端mmer, Germany Lol Crawley, UK Stefan Grandinetti, Germany Astrid Heubrandtner, Austria Odd Hynnekleiv, Norway Joachim Jung, Germany /USA Audrius Kemezys, Lithuania Bahman Kormi, Germany Shai Levy, Germany /Israel Heiko Merten, Germany Martina Nagel, UK Helmut Pirnat, Austria Wojciech Szepel, Poland Mart Taniel, Estonia Goran Volarevic, Slovakia
Helmut Pirnat, Austria: I am 55 years old and have been a DOP since the late 70s. I have shot about 70 features (including TV) and a lot of commercials. I think the aim of this Master Class was to bring together people of different cultural origins so they would find out what they have in common (the international language of film) and what differences there are due to their cultural origins. Anthony was a great tutor who helped us a lot with his personal and very open-minded explanations. We soon found out that we are all confronted with almost the same professional and artistic problems, although we were at very different stages in our careers. The practical shooting experiences were very useful. We cameramen are always very practical and this shooting
helped us a lot to give the theoretical teachings a practical basis. I learned a lot, every day and every hour - sometimes technical things, most of the time something about our visual vocabulary and always about being a member of the international film community. DOPs have a lot of responsibility towards their crew and to the product - it is important to be aware of that. And Anthony and the other participants demonstrated in a great manner how important this issue is for our daily professional life. A Master Class for only cinematographers is very unusual and fantastic! It was the first time in my life that I had the feeling of being in a group where everybody understands the professional situation of the others. Because nobody knows the needs and problems of a cinematographer better than another cinematographer. When I talked to fellow Austrian cinematographers about this everybody said that this kind of event would be their dream, too. That brought me to build up more contacts and exchange between cinematographers in Austria because it seems that the one great lack in our daily work is that we are always working alone. It is important to get into contact with colleagues to share and solve problems. I think EFA should go on with projects like this. We all want to meet again (perhaps once a year), so this was the beginning of something. I think it would be very useful to keep working in this direction of sharing experiences and to keep on working on our European film language.
Shai Levy, Germany/Israel: I finished my film studies at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School, Jerusalem, in 1999 and since then I have worked as a freelance cameraman. In 2001 I moved to Berlin and since then I shot mostly documentaries and short features. In August 2004 I shot my first full length feature FLIEGENDE RATTEN, directed by David Jazay, which is now in post-production. Listening to Anthony Dod Mantle talk about his experiences, his technical as well his artistic approach, was the highlight of the Master Class to me. Meeting with the other participants was also surprisingly good, I found very different people and almost each and every one of them had something valuable to contribute. All and all, it showed that we all share very similar thoughts and problems as we all struggle to find the optimal path between versatility on one hand and personal style on the other. It helped me to define what being a cinematographer means on a very personal level, how to build a career while staying true to your own special way of doing the job - "delivering the good" without selling your soul, if you will. I always wanted to meet Anthony Dod Mantle, so when I learned about this Master Class, I thought my dream was about to come true. To me, he represents one of the most valuable streams of the last decades in cinema. He played an essential role in whatever became of Dogma 95 and his contribution to the evolvement of film language is significant. His approach to working with digital formats is actually THE answer to the debate about the film to digital crossover. He's probably the one voice that is really worth listening to in that respect. And after actually listening to him, I can only confirm that my expectations were right.
Mart Taniel, Estonia: I finished filmschool last year and I'm working as a cinematographer in a film company in Estonia, shooting short films, commercials, documentaries. During the EFA Master Class we saw a lot of films, had some really nice and inspiring discussions and went through some practical exercises - shooting for two days in an old, spooky swimmingpool in Berlin. Finally we ended up with editing and grading the material and a final screening of our stuff at Kopp Film: Lots of great minds in the need for sharing ideas. The best thing for me was to see how these cinematographers from all over Europe suddenly opened up and really started to have an open discussion about their work and aesthetical qualities. That is something that rarely happens, I think one can gain a lot from that - very much thanks to Anthony, of course. In the Master Class, I found inspiration. I think the whole thing kind of crawled into my mind and planted something there and we'll see what's gonna grow out of it. It's important not to fall into technical details (as many cameramen do) but to have an overview of the mentality and general possibilities of creating moving images for a story, to use your own unique perspective. There was nothing formal or artificial about this Master Class, so I really liked the way it happened. I would always do it again knowing it would never be an exact reprise.
Till Brinkmann, Germany: At the beginning of the course I was very curious and nervous. During the six days we 18 cinematographers stayed together, I became more and more enthusiastic. From the beginning on, there was a playful, open and relaxed atmosphere which lasted over the whole course. Although we were all at different levels in our work and career, I had the impression that we could all profit from each other. There really was a very generous and giving atmosphere among us. The technical aspect of the course was very interesting for me. I had never had the opportunity to compare 35mm/DV/DH literaly at the same time and use these formats not only in a test, but in an actual shooting situation. By working with the material I understood more about the differences and particular nature of each format. Especially cutting the material, trying to mix these different formats, turned out to be great fun. Some things worked , others didn`t. The intersting thing about this little film though wasn`t the actual result, but rather the process of shooting on location, the analysing, cutting and colour correcting of the material at Kopp Film. Besides these obvious interesting technical aspects, the most astonishing aspect was, no doubt, Anthony Dod Mantle himself! The opportunity of listening to his lectures and stories made me personally feel deeply inspired. Learning something about his personal approach towards a new project and about his standards helped me to define my own. By listening to him, watching the films he made and observing him at work, I learned something which is not easy to put into words. I think I became a little more courageous myself. Anthony Dod Mantle really is a very invigorating person. I wish I could meet him more often!
Organisation Peter Effenberg (Hoferichter & Jacobs) Bettina Schwarz (European Film Academy) Crew Ralph Brosche (Line Producer) Mario Striehn (First AD) Torsten Oser (Production Manager) Documentation Andreas Bรถhmig (photo) Rick Minnich (film) Partners: MEDIA Plus Programme of the EU Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg With the support of dffb cine plus ARRI Kopp Film Studio Babelsberg KODAK Geyer
Founded in 1988, the European Film Academy currently unites 1,600 European film professionals with the common aim of promoting Europe's film culture. The European Film Academy is mainly financed by the German National Lottery, the Federal Commissioner for Cultural and Media Affairs, as well as by the MEDIA Plus Programme of the EU, the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, and partners and sponsors related to EFA's activities throughout Europe. EUROPEAN FILM ACADEMY Kurf端rstendamm 225, 10719 Berlin / Germany. www.europeanfilmacademy.org