LINE of SIGHT

by r oman s okal s pecial to canadian cinematographe r

As far as A camera operators go, it’s easy to see why Harald Ortenburger is considered a legend. A small sampling of his feature credits includes A Christmas Story, Moonstruck, Titanic and Open Range . He has worked alongside the likes of Haskell Wexler asc, Vilmos Zsigmond asc, hsc, László Kovács asc, William A. Fraker asc, Dante Spinotti asc, aic, Conrad Hall asc and David Watkin bsc, to name a few.

“When you get to work with these artists, they’re already familiar with your work; you’re no longer in the position of auditioning or sending in a resume,” Ortenburger says. “There’s a huge level of trust established before you walk in the door, and you know your career is on the right path.

Besides being artists, they were great teachers, and maybe not in the way one might think. From them and others, I learned that the job is really about problem solving. And problem solving is really the number one job of each and every person on a set. Because that’s what movie making really is, a series of problems that need to be solved on a daily basis, and to stay calm and reassuring while doing this.”

Although there have been many ground-breaking advancements technology-wise throughout the history of cinema, the role of the camera operator has stayed the same, according to Ortenburger, who began his career in operating in 1979. “It was definitely a steep learning curve,” when he started out, he reveals. “For instance, I came in thinking, ‘If I just master the gear head, I’ll be an operator.’ But I quickly discovered that it’s almost the last thing to worry about. It’s everything surrounding it: setting up shots and sometimes entire scenes, designing moves to accomplish the impossible, and looking at the frame and realizing your job is to interface with every single department including the production and set designers, obviously the DP, the director, the boom operator, and of course the actors. Basically, you’re more or less a group of strangers suddenly thrown together, and an almost instant bond needs to be formed. These are the quickest relationships you’ll ever form in your life.

“What was different when I started out was that crew members were not celebrities, and most people didn’t go to film school. It was just a job,” Ortenburger says. “In Munich, where I’m from, I was a technician who built Arriflex movie cameras. I was given the opportunity to continue that career in North America and jumped at the chance. Obviously, that profession had me interacting with the camera world at large so I was able to easily segue into becoming an AC on commercials and from there get a job as A camera operator on a feature called Nothing Personal .”

The star of Nothing Personal was actor Donald Sutherland, “who clearly knew I was starting out,” Ortenburger recalls. “He was kind, encouraging and helped me along. It was also incredibly fortunate that the DP was Arthur Ibbetson BSC. He basically laid the groundwork for whatever knowledge I possess today. It was a crash course for sure. When we finished the movie he said to me, ‘Now you’re an operator; it’s like having done 10 pictures in one.’ And that was the best thing I ever heard of course. And since that experience, I learned that the dynamic on every set is different. You need to come in with an open mind and pay attention. Don’t let your ego get in the way. Your job is to accommodate the picture.”

Nevertheless, camera operators are not unaffected by developments in filmmaking technology, and they have to stay abreast of it all, from the cameras themselves that have changed so drastically to remote heads, drones and CGI. “Operators today have to constantly educate themselves and develop awareness of all the new options,” Ortenburger states.

“When I started out, everything had to be done on camera and it was the responsibility of the operator to deal with a lot of issues that CGI would take care of today. Prior to video assist, which didn’t arrive until I was 10 years into my career, I was the only one who saw what was actually being captured on the camera. The director, DP and sometimes even the actors, would all look at you and ask, ‘How was it?’ So sometimes the operator is the one who’s determining if another take is needed, which needless to say is a tricky place to be especially if the actor was happy with their take. Also, for me at the time, there was an immense amount of pressure viewing dailies.

“Now, with HD monitors on set, there is a lot less potential for nasty surprises,” he says. “I would have sleepless nights worrying about some shots; I would befriend the lab timer and sometimes call him nervously at 6 a.m. to get the first word on the previous day’s rushes. Always good to be prepared or even better, get good news. I don’t know if it made us better, double and triple checking everything, but it was the protocol that had to be followed at that time. You couldn’t take any shortcuts because one slip turns into panicked insomnia.”

With the ever-building alterations of equipment, Ortenburger notes that “the responsibility of the operator has segued into the tech aspects. They have to be much more into it. All the material that’s available, like drones, for example, the operator needs to know everything that’s possibly available to the production. I’ve seen what ops in my time had to do that doesn’t seem to apply anymore. There’s too much CGI in the pictures. When I started out, everything you see had to be done in camera, and the responsibility laid on the operator to deal with everything. Today if there’s a cable in the shot you can take it out with an Apple computer or whatever.”

Some of the advancements have streamlined the process even as the physical demands of being an operator may not have changed. “That’s something you have to bring at the beginning. But when it comes to say, setting up a dolly shot, in those days you needed to know – as there wasn’t any Steadicam then – where you set the track. And keeping it out of the shot. Believe me, it’s not easy. If you see it, then you set it up the wrong way,” he says.

Camera operating, and the path to a career in it, remains the same even though major changes have altered the production landscape. The solid fundamentals required of the craft are provided succinctly by Ortenburger: “Tip number one, fake it till you make it. Listen, don’t talk. Make friends on the set,” he says. “First and foremost, believe in yourself, but equally important from my point of view is to save your money. And what I mean by that is try to put yourself in a position where you can make decisions based on what’s good for your career longevity, not just what’s good for your bank account. And those choices can be related to a lot of different things. Size doesn’t always necessarily matter. You never really know what leads to what, but at the very least find something that really turns you on about a project if you can. It sounds simple and it doesn’t always work out the way you thought, but believe me, there’s something to it.”

The quality, reputation and stature of the on-camera talent often affects the camera operator’s experiences and can align or perhaps dictate their career path. Ortenburger has worked with notable actors like Jack Nicholson, Kirk Douglas, Kevin Costner, Robert Duvall, Marlon Brando, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon just to name a handful. “When it comes to relationships with actors, trust must be established as soon as possible,” Ortenburger says. “You don’t need to be friends, just let the talent know you have their back. I was lucky enough to work on several pictures with the same actors as a result.”

For example, Ortenburger worked with Oscar winner Cher on several features and videos. The camera operator says one of his favourite projects to work on was Witches of Eastwick . The film had the biggest budget of any film he had ever worked on, and early on Ortenburger was sure every day that he would be fired. “[Director] George Miller was a genius, Vilmos Zsigmond was the DP, and the cast was absolutely stellar and at the top of their game,” Ortenburger states. “It was quite intimidating initially, but I gained confidence, and, in the end, I believe my operating was at the highest level and I was very proud when Time magazine referred to the camerawork as ‘camerabatics.’”

Cher and Ortenburger would work together again when both landed Moonstruck , a film that Ortenburger cites as his personal favourite. “Norman Jewison, Canada’s greatest director, and his producer Patrick Palmer brought me in to work with DP David Watkin bsc , who had just received the Oscar for Out of Africa, ” Ortenburger recalls. “It gave me the opportunity to work with Cher again. It was David’s style of working that made these people think I was the right choice. David was only interested in lighting, and I was very comfortable working the English system, as well as the American system. In the former, the operator designs and sets up shots more directly with the director. We were obviously the perfect fit as he became an important mentor and friend. We did five pictures together including Gloria and Critical Care , both directed by the brilliant Sidney Lumet. There was nothing better than working with Sidney. If I had done nothing else, having two Sidney Lumet pictures on my resume would have been enough. It was a really important time for me because I fully understood why I was hired. You have to be at the top of your game and in a position to recognize that. But there are other great operators out there as well, some better than me, and knowing that keeps you level and hungry to keep getting better. It keeps you grounded.”