CINEMATOGRAPHER Canadian
Canadian Society of Cinematographers
Geoff Boyle fbks Leads the CSC 3D Workshop 01
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Facing Ali
DOP Ian Kerr csc
Inside Disaster
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$4 April 2010 www.csc.ca
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DOP Tony Wannamaker csc Shooters Honours the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit
CINEMATOGRAPHER Canadian
A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers
The Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC) was founded in 1957 by a group of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa cameramen. Since then over 800 cinematographers and persons in associated occupations have joined the organization. The purpose of the CSC is to promote the art and craft of cinematography in Canada. And to provide tangible recognition of the common bonds that link film and video professionals, from the aspiring student and camera assistant to the news veteran and senior director of photography.
FEATURES – volume 2, No. 1 APRIL 2010
James O’Regan’s Shooters by Don Angus
We facilitate the dissemination and exchange of technical information and endeavor to advance the knowledge and status of our members within the industry. As an organization dedicated to furthering technical assistance, we maintain contact with non-partisan groups in our industry but have no political or union affiliation.
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Facing Ali: An Up-Close-and-Personal Documentary about Those Who Fought “The Greatest”By Ian Kerr csc
Inside Disaster: The Haitian Earthquake of 2010 Columns & Departments
2 From the President
5 2010 CSC Awards Nominees
6 The CSC 3D Workshop
21 Camera Classified
22 CSC Members
24 Production Notes / Calendar
Cover: Geoff Boyle FBKS Photo by Joan Hutton csc
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By Tony Wannamaker csc
Canadian Cinematographer April 2010 Vol. 2, No. 1 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF George Willis csc, sasc EDITOR EMERITUS Donald Angus EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
From The PRESIDENT
Susan Saranchuk admin@csc.ca EDITOR Wyndham Wise mfa editor@csc.ca ART DIRECTION Berkeley Stat House COPY EDITOR Paul Townend PROOFREADER Karen Longland WEBSITE CONSULTANT Nikos Evdemon csc www.csc.ca ADVERTISING SALES
B
y the time you read this, the 2010 CSC Awards Gala will have taken place in Toronto and a full report will be published along with photos of all the winners and presenters in the next issue of Canadian Cinematographer. As Don Angus reports in this issue, a brand new CSC Award made its debut this year. The Focus Award acknowledges the work of an individual or group in producing an exceptional film that is recommended by the Awards jury. The inaugural award went to James O’Regan for his efforts to preserve the memory of the heroic members of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit (CFPU) who filmed the contribution of the Canadian armed forces in the Second World War. The story of the founding of the CFPU is told in the 49-minute documentary entitled Shooters, which O’Regan wrote, produced and directed.
Donald Angus donangus@sympatico.ca CSC OFFICE / MEMBERSHIP 131–3007 Kingston Road Toronto, Canada M1M 1P1 Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996 Email: admin@csc.ca CSC Subscription Dept.
In this issue Lance Carlson gives us a full account of the CSC’s first and highly successful 3D workshop that took place in Toronto in February and was led by the noted British DOP Geoff Boyle FBKS (Dark Country 3D). The three-day workshop was full to capacity with attendees from right across Canada and as far away as Hong Kong and Malaysia. The workshop was held at Sheridan College’s new Digital Media Research and Training Centre, located in the Toronto Pinewood Studios.
PO Box 181 283 Danforth Avenue Toronto, Canada M4K 1N2 Email: editor@csc.ca Canadian Cinematographer makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes; however, it cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. The opinions expressed within the magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily of the publisher. Upon publication, Canadian Cinematographer acquires Canadian Serial Rights; copyright reverts to the writer after publication. Canadian Cinematographer is printed by Winnipeg Sun Commercial Print and is published 10 times a year. One-year subscriptions are available in Canada for $35.00 for individuals and $70.00 for institutions, including GST. In U.S. rates are $35.00 and $70.00 for institutions in U.S. funds. International subscriptions are $50.00 for individuals and $100.00 for institutions. Payment by money order in Canadian funds.
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2 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
Also in this issue, Ian Kerr csc recounts the filming of Pete McCormack’s Facing Ali, a feature-length documentary about the boxers who went toe-to-toe and glove-to-glove with Muhammed “I am the greatest” Ali, considered by many to be the best heavyweight boxer of all time – certainly the most famous. The documentary was chosen as the most popular film at the 2009 Vancouver International Film Festival and was short-listed for an Oscar nomination. Inside Disaster, DOP Tony Wannamaker csc, is the tragic story of the recent, devastating earthquake in Haiti that was filmed by a Canadian crew for the International Federation of the Red Cross and FACT (First Assessment and Co-ordination Team). In conclusion, we would like to acknowledge the passing of our good friend Alice Ferrier. The wife of Glen Ferrier, founder and long-time president of Panavision Canada, she died on January 5 after a brief and courageous battle with cancer. She was an accomplished production coordinator who was a founding member and the inaugural president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts, Local 411. She was 72 and will be missed by the CSC membership.
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2010 CSC AWARDS GALA NOMINATIONS
THE ROY TASH AWARD FOR SPOT NEWS CINEMATOGRAPHY Jim Lenton, Car Fire, CHBC News Kelowna; Christophe Terrade & Albert Groulx, Police Brutality Demonstrations, CTV News. THE STAN CLINTON AWARD FOR NEWS ESSAY CINEMATOGRAPHY Kirk Neff, A Single Rose, 16:9 The Bigger Picture, Global; Peter Szperling, De Jong Guitars, CTV Ottawa; Kelly Wolfert, Good Morning America Weekend Window: “Jasper,” ABC. CAMERA ASSISTANT AWARD OF MERIT Sean Harding; Larry Portmann. CORPORATE/EDUCATIONAL CINEMATOGRAPHY Sarorn Sim, The Jaipur Foot Story; Kelly Wolfert, Tourism B.C. Summer 2009 Promo. STUDENT CINEMATOGRAPHY, Sponsored by Panavision Canada Sarah Blevins, Doppelganger,York University; Tyson Burger, Our Future Is Bright,York; Stu Marks, The Golden Pin,York; Scott McIntyre, Solace, Sheridan College; Bradley Stuckel, The Graveyard Shift, SAIT Polytechnic. LIFESTYLE/REALITY CINEMATOGRAPHY Peter Rowe csc, Angry Planet: “Hurricane Triple Threat”; Tony Wannamaker csc, Re-Vamped; Richard Wilmot, Holmes in New Orleans: “Going Home.” DOCUDRAMA CINEMATOGRAPHY, Sponsored by Sim Video Productions Jeremy Benning csc, Manson; Dylan Macleod csc, Nureyev; Michael Savoie csc, Hangman’s Graveyard. ROBERT BROOKS AWARD FOR DOCUMENTARY CINEMATOGRAPHY Damir Chytil csc, The Antarctic Challenge: A Global Warning; Matthew R. Phillips csc, A Cruel Wind Blows; John Minh Tran, Waterlife. MUSIC VIDEO Jeremy Benning csc, Jean Grant “You’ll Go Far”; Christophe Collette, Monogrenade “Ce Soir”; Brendan Stacey csc, Julian Plenti “Game for Days.” DRAMATIC SHORT CINEMATOGRAPHY Gregory Bennett, Re-Wire; Nicolas Bolduc csc, Next Floor. FRITZ SPIESS AWARD FOR COMMERCIAL CINEMATOGRAPHY Nicolas Bolduc csc, Air Canada “Hong Kong”; Gamal El-Boushi, No More War; Christopher Sargent, RBC “Flame.” TV DRAMA CINEMATOGRAPHY David Greene csc, Turn the Beat Around; Rene Ohashi csc, asc, Jesse Stone:Thin Ice; Attila Szalay csc, hsc, Iron Road. TV SERIES CINEMATOGRAPHY, Sponsored by Technicolor Toronto David Greene csc, Lost Girl “Episode 7”; Pierre Jodoin csc, The Phantom “Night One”; Davaid Moxness csc, Fringe “Earthling”; Ousama Rawi csc, bsc, The Tudors “Episode 303”; Glen Winter csc, Smallville “Savior.” THEATRICAL FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY, Sponsored by Deluxe Bernard Couture csc, Cadavres; David Greene csc, Defendor; Trent Opaloch, District 9. SPECIAL HONOUREES AT 2010 CSC AWARDS Bill Hilson Award: Evertz Microsystems, “for outstanding service contributing to the development of the motion picture industry in Canada.” President’s Award: David J. Woods, “for outstanding service to the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.” Kodak New Century Award: Vic Sarin csc, “for outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography.” Focus Award: James O’Regan for Shooters. The CSC Focus Award acknowledges the work of an individual or group in producing an exceptional film that is recommended by the jury. CSC Combat Camera Award: Canadian Army Film & Photo Unit. The CSC Combat Camera Award is a special, once-only presentation in honour and remembrance of the courageous cameramen of the Second World War. Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010 •
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3d WORKSHOP
The CSC WORKSHOP By Lance Carlson
doing well by it. So it was a bit of a geeks paradise, to strive for competence in this new field of dreams and avoid the minefields as we embark into the new 3D paradigm shift. The workshop was held at Sheridan’s new Digital Media Research and Training Centre at Pinewood Toronto Studios, with an added space next door provided by Pinewood Studios. Ernie Kestler, the CSC’s education chair, and Dylan MacLeod csc offered brief introductions. DOP Geoff Boyle FBKS, the featured presenter, jumped right in and set the tone for the workshop by stating his own preference for 3D as a new tool to enhance dramatic storytelling and that he wasn’t here to tell anyone “how to do it” but to join in an exploration and try things, even if they aren’t supposed to work, and hopefully arrive at interesting and enlightening results.
Geoff Boyle FBKS
T
he much-anticipated first-of-its-kind CSC 3D Workshop, held in Toronto from February 5 to 8, began with a full complement of attendees from Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Hong Kong and Malaysia, as well as support personnel and a huge assortment of gear. Anyone on the planning committee who was concerned about selling out the spaces need not have worried, as in the end there was a waiting list to get in. 3D is, after all, the new HD with everyone trying to jump on the bandwagon and get to the front of the leading-edge pack. Arranging the equipment for the workshop was a logistical and managerial challenge, not for the lack of cooperation but for the fact that 3D production has already invaded the workplace and much of the local gear was out on paying jobs. Those who are attempting to establish Toronto as a prime location, for 3D production seem to have correctly anticipated a trend and are
6 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
Boyle, who is well known for his good-natured hyperbole, described himself as an unapologetic heretic and launched into his first presentation by expressing his own preferences while welcoming other views. It was quickly apparent that other views would be well represented with the attendance of instructor Paul Taylor, stereographer (Rescue 3D, Kylie Minogue 3D concert video), observers Phil Streather, 3D producer and consultant, and Jonathan Barker (executive producer, Bugs! 3D), all well versed in the development of either large-format or high-profile 3D feature films. Boyle was not afraid to express his views but also lived up to his reputation (by those who know him) as a bit of a teddy bear and by the end of the workshop his fan club and friend base had grown to include everyone in attendance. Technical issues aside, there were actually several producers (some contributing, some questioning and absorbing) present, attempting to get their heads around how to best use and present stories in 3D. One of Boyle’s pet peeves is to appeal to stereographers and cinematographers to make nice and try their best to avoid creating separate camps. This sounds perfectly reasonable, but there are stories, including his own experience on the 3D feature Dark Country, where this became an issue and affected the outcome of the project. An example of large-format rules that he felt could be broken involved movement and dust (as in a car speeding by). He made and proved his case on Dark Country, which was screened at the AMC Theatres, Yonge and Dundas Street East using Real D digital projection.
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3D is the new HD with everyone trying to jump on the bandwagon and get to the front of the leading-edge pack. Clearly one of the challenges for cinematographers is to first and foremost become knowledgeable and then to exert themselves as the DOP/department head. Problems can arise when an experienced stereographer with a high profile or Imax experience is brought in to advise and may consider himself not only expert in 3D but a competent DOP in his own right. The other main challenge for DOPs is to become sufficiently knowledgeable in the new technology to establish a dialog with and further help educate producers and directors. Currently there are few directors and producers with sufficient experience to be able to make knowledgeable decisions even with technical input, not to mention the implications of esthetics and delivery. What Boyle was saying repeatedly is that in drama you should be able to engage the audience in a 3D environment, not continually hit them over the head with 3D moments because you can. Another of Boyle’s mantras is to not make things more complicated than they are. There are technical challenges, but ACs and DOPs are smart people and dealing with focus, aperture and focal lengths is standard procedure and they can adapt to dealing with interocular and convergence settings as well. But of course, they are dealing with not one but two camera/lens systems that have to be perfectly matched and aligned, not to mention the rather sizable rigs that add to logistical challenges. While some of his comments on working with stereographers may appear a bit confrontational, all he was saying is let’s use some common sense. He has no argument with large-format stereography, but feels that it’s a different medium. The one thing he feels they don’t understand is the need for speed in dramatic production, a reality that drama shooters know all too well. Hence the importance of shooting tests to determine an approach and stick with that for production to roll out smoothly and efficiently. His advice to directors is that it’s better to choose a good DOP and ask him/her to learn 3D than a mediocre DOP who knows a lot about 3D. Since this is an era when almost everyone is still learning, such a statement should offend no one. So-called 3D moments are achieved by adjusting convergence points and interocular distances, which impact the effect and
8 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
result in positive and negative parallax, as in whether the subject in question is in front of or behind the screen. Fortunately these effects can be observed in tests (and on monitors), so it’s clear that DOPs and ACs need to shoot tests in pre-production to demonstrate the effects to the director and to enable them to explore the priorities of the film and arrive at the best way to get there. As Boyle indicated, the objectives of the workshop was not to show people how to do it but to do and see and judge the result of trying things that may be wrong (and experience what the audience sees) so that we gained a better understanding of how to approach a given project. A small efficiency (if it can be called that), which may help simplify things for the director and crew, is the fact that 3D (drama) does not require as many shots nor as many varieties of lenses. Coincident with this is the phenomena that 3D lends well to larger DOF rather than the convention of shallow focus and out-of-focus backgrounds. As a matter of fact, this actually detracts from 3D viewing and can be confirmed by the fact that the biggest film in the world (Avatar), by the biggest filmmaker (James Cameron) was shot on modified F900s and so the implications are huge. Film cameras don’t work particularly well for this and even the 35-mm sized chips as in Red, D-21, F-35, Genesis et al may be less than ideal. Talk about a paradigm shift. Little wonder Boyle refers to traditional 3D technicians as dinosaurs (in a loving way of course) as some insist in retaining established equipment/practices. Add to this that he recommend that DOPs light for an environment rather than shot by shot and our paradigm is quickly becoming a bit of a cinematic Gordian Knot. Oh yes, zoom lenses (an invention of the devil), fuggedaboudit; use only if you insist on making your life hell. Since there are slight variances in most (some say all) prime lenses, there are more than enough problems in matching them. On day one, a large prep area enabled ACs to build two rigs each with Reds while the general presentations were going on and by the afternoon they were up and running. There was a large screen 3D monitor on which to watch the shots (with glasses of course) as they were captured. As indicated, there was no plan to try to
make every shot perfect because this would in fact not prove much. The two rigs were the Tango from 3D Camera Company and the Element Technica Quasar from David J. Woods, as well as the smaller ET Neutron rig brought by Boyle and adapted for Steadicam (with two SI-2K cameras). In subsequent days the camera rigs were mounted on a crane with remote head.
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An attractive living room set, designed and created by Brian Verhoog and his crew, offered an appropriate studio-drama feel to the proceedings with two performers at the disposal of the crews to walk the walk, but not the talk as that would have actually been counterproductive here. The event was stage managed masterfully by production manager Sarah Moffat and her team of PAs who even maintained a ‘green practice’ approach with well-organized refuse collection and recyclable plates, cutlery etc. to mention only a few.
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Day four, when all the camera and rigs had been wrapped out of the studio, screening sessions were scheduled at Creative Post in two sessions, one for ACs and one for DOPs. This session was hosted by Creative Post president Ken McNeil, Jim Hardie and editor Andrew Exworth. Data from the tests was processed and cleaned up sufficiently to enable a review of the good, the bad and the ugly, and to see first hand some of the eye-brain/mind-bends that viewers can experience and served as intended to make a better prepared group of 3D image-capture artists.
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That evening Dark Country, the 3D film noir thriller shot by Geoff Boyle in New Mexico released last year, was screened at one of the new AMC theatres on Dundas Square. Boyle conducted a Q&A session and explained among other things the challenges and restrictions in dealing with the fact that car interior green screen work was shot on Reds, while the night exteriors were shot on SI-2K. He felt that the look of the film would have been better served if he were able to stick with the SIs. The evening was capped by a short walk to the historic Library Lounge above the Imperial Pub on Dundas Street East where new and old friends mingled, networked, planned and toasted their roles in the new 3D era. The CSC would like to thank the following for making the 3D workshop possible: Instructors & Presenters: Geoff Boyle FBKS, Chris Chung, Brian Gedge, Marcel Janisse, Sebastien Laffoux, Ken McNeil, Jeff Packer, Demetri Portelli, Brent Robinson, James Stewart and Paul Taylor. Crew & Support: Mark Bone, Jason Campbell, Luke Gallo, Ben Gervais, Morning Glory, Jim Hardie, John Helliker, Joan Hutton csc, Matt Kennedy, Sydney Kondruss, Ian McLaren, Bob McAdam, Jack Mosor, Steve Purvis, Michael Rintoul, Alex Sikorsky, Brian Verhoog, Jason Vieira, Brian White and Kennedy Zielke. Supporting Companies: 3D Camera Company, AMC Theatres, Creative Post, David J. Woods, Element Technica, Pinewood Toronto Studios, Precision Camera, PS Production Services, Sim Video, Sheridan College, Sony Canada, Sony Pictures, Tango, Videoscope and William F. White. And last but not least, the CSC 3D Committee: Jeremy Benning csc, Ray Dumas csc, Ernie Kestler, Dylan Macleod csc, Sarah Moffat, D. Gregor Hagey csc and CSC executive director Susan Saranchuk.
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Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010 •
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The Inaugural CSC Focus Award Goes to James O’Regan, Writer, Producer and Director of
Shooters By Don Angus
The Focus Award was followed by the CSC Combat Camera Award, a special presentation in honour and remembrance of the courageous cameramen of the Second World War. The Combat Camera Award was accepted by Charles (Chuck) Ross of Edmonton, one of the last six surviving members of the CFPU 1941-1946. He was escorted by two current members of Canadian Forces Combat Camera based in Gatineau, Que., Sergeant Bruno Turcotte and Warrant Officer Carole Morissette. A copy of the award will be displayed at the Defence Public Affairs Learning Centre in Gatineau. Ross got to take the original plaque home, on behalf of all his comrades in the CFPU. He was a driver for the CFPU in early 1940, and picked up some good tips on photography from his passengers, especially George Cooper of Ottawa, who had an extra camera, which he taught Ross how to use. Many of the other drivers were trained this way. Ross was stationed in France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, and in Czechoslovakia. He was also on hand to capture footage of Kurt Meyer, a German Officer accused of murdering Canadian soldiers during the war. Meyer was the first war criminal sentenced to death by a Canadian court.
Sgt. Robert Sleigh of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit.
A
new CSC award made its debut at the CSC Awards gala on March 27. The Focus Award acknowledges the work of an individual or group in producing an exceptional film that is recommended by the awards jury. The award is tangible recognition of James O’Regan’s efforts to preserve the visual reality of those intrepid cameramen of the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit, who captured the heroic contribution of Canadian soldiers in the Second World War. Their story is told in the 49-minute documentary Shooters, which O’Regan wrote, produced and directed.
10 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2009
After the war, Ross continued in photography. He worked for the Alberta Film and Photo Unit and was instrumental in the support of provincial film producers to establish the Alberta Film Industry Association. He is the recipient of several awards; the 1975 Distinguished Service Award, the Queens Silver Jubilee Award, the Alberta Feature Film Award, the Information Film Production Award, and a Canadian Film Award in 1 973 for Best Sports Film. Shooters tells a remarkable, compelling story that we’ve only seen or heard before in various bits and pieces. The documentary is the full, start-to-finish story of the amazing Second World War adventures and world-beating accomplishments of the CFPU. The unit, established in 1941 with only four members, grew to 59 cameramen by the time it was disbanded in 1946. Unit members were the first in scooping the world on the major events
Members of the original Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit pose for the camera during the Second World War.
in Europe: the invasion of Sicily; the D-Day invasion; the liberation of Paris; the Elbe River linkup of the Allied armies; the first feature documentary shot while under fire; and the only footage shot of action leading to a Victoria Cross. O’Regan, also the film’s narrator, has dedicated the work to his late father, Brian O’Regan (1924-1999), a dispatch rider and Jeep driver for the unit who went ashore with his motorcycle at Normandy in 1944. Shooters features intriguing interviews (shot in March of 2001) with four men who helped capture the war on film: Charles (Bud) Roos, the first Allied cameraman ashore on D-Day; Al Calder, who parachuted over the Rhine; Lew Weekes, who shot the liberation of Paris; and Michael Spencer, the unit’s first editor and one of the original four members, who later helped found the Canadian Film Development Corp. (Telefilm Canada). Calder and Weekes, who have since died, both talked about their intensive camera training at Pinewood Studios in London and the admonition they received to “always use a tripod,” despite the daunting weight of the old metal and wooden contraptions. Weekes said the Canadians persevered because “the tripod stuff took preference” over hand-held footage back in London.
The interviews are interspersed with archival CFPU footage, much of it displaying dramatically the line-of-fire risks these courageous cameramen, armed with their Eyemos, took. They often were allowed to get ahead of advancing Canadian troops, and one film unit actually “liberated” Dieppe in France, driving in first mere hours after the Germans had retreated. Brian O’Regan was a member of that unit. Earlier, at Normandy, he had found a film can on the beach marked “Grant No. 1,” and the contents turned out to be the iconic footage by Bill Grant of Canadians landing at Bernieres-sur-mer, the first images of D-Day the world saw. Later, Brian was the subject of a world scoop photo at the Elbe River linkup between the U.S. and Soviet armies. Shooters recounts that several cameramen died in action and many more were wounded in various campaigns. One was filming from a reconnaissance plane when he was shot by a German fighter. The camera keeps running as it falls to the floor of the cockpit. The documentary also reveals that CFPU production from 194146 totalled 75,000 still photos and 1.5 million feet of motion picture film. Shooters may be ordered at www.customflix.com/206927.
Canadian Cinematographer - April 2009 •
11
H H H H H H H H H H H
Facing Ali
An Up-Close-and-Personal Documentary about Those Who Fought “The Greatest” H H H H H H H H H By Ian Kerr csc H H H H H H H H H 12 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
M
oments ago this man was smiling and joking with me. Now he’s a monster. Larry Holmes snaps out his famous left jab – the same scarred, meaty fist that defeated Muhammad Ali in 1980. I grip the camera tighter, flinching when he grazes my hand. It’s embarrassing, but my first thought when approached to shoot the feature documentary Facing Ali was: “Really? Muhammad Ali? Again?” I had seen Ali (2001) the dramatic feature starring Will Smith and the stunning documentary When We Were Kings (1996). Wasn’t Ali’s story well told? Was it just going over old ground? I was lucky enough to be sitting in Derik Murray’s office in Vancouver, so I kept quiet, nodded at what I hoped were the right times, and at the end of the meeting had the job as DOP.
HHH Prep The next meeting I had with Murray, and I walked into the middle of an intense discussion. A Very Excited Man was crouched in his chair, fists up, describing a fight. Suddenly, he hurled his hand into the air declaring the end of another Ali battle. He spat out dates, names, cities – statistics tumbling over each other. He was about 40, good looking and seemly a bit unhinged. I was nervous. Another producer? An über-researcher? Ali’s man? “Meet Pete McCormack, our director,” said Murray. It was McCormack’s intense passion for this film, his need to keep up the pressure, pushing it forward – I can still see him containing it in his hands like a ball of plasma – that inspired us. He corrected the boxers on their own stories. He knew the dates, times and stats better than they remembered their own lives. He really loved these guys and wanted the film to respect and honour what they had experienced. Sitting in the desk across from McCormanck was Murray, formerly a star stills photographer and commercial director and now a producer with a number of blue-chip sports documentaries behind him. Facing Ali was his new feature and, together with executive producer Paul Gertz, he had pulled together the team and financing and most impressively, the backing of Ali himself. Murray is also fluent in DOP-speak, and I love a producer who can articulate why he hates hair-lights. He knows what he likes and it could be boiled down to this: “Thin depth of field, a subject in a pool of soft light, moody backgrounds.” With this directive, I launched out of that first production meeting in search of a lightweight camera and lighting package that would shoot 10 interviews over the eight months in three countries. The first requirement was a cine-style camera. These men were warriors and survivors. By isolating the focus to thin slices of their faces, we could show the stories behind the scars that boxing and life had left on them. This look is difficult to achieve with standard 2/3-inch chip documentary cameras. It’s a high-end “film-look” better suited to a larger film gate or chip size. The interviews were expected to last at least two hours each, and ideally we would be shooting with multiple cameras. Film was
out due to the budget. We were looking for a big chip. The Red camera was waiting in the wings and Murray had already shown a strong interest in the camera. I had been tracking its development and managed to get my hands on a new camera body with the help of DOP/owner Vince Arvidson. It wasn’t the camera of today – firmware build 17 hadn’t even been released – and audio recording was a novelty when we started testing.
HHH The Contender The Red punched well against the lightweight 2/3-inch sensor cameras and held it’s own against a Sony F23 but I wanted to compare against a heavyweight – the premium full-sensor cine camera of 2008. When I attempted to arrange a match against the champ, the rental house denied us the opportunity with a vague dismissal of the Red as not being worthy of a comparative test. This was a strange, unprecedented situation for me. Tests in prep are how cinematographers improve their craft and advise production. Was our camera a bum or a contender? Was Don King involved? While disappointing and unusual, this situation essentially answered our questions about the comparison and we moved forward with our challenger the Red. Under a low ceiling and between bottled-lined walls in the basement of the Astoria Hotel is a gritty boxing club. Here we set up the Red and the first shots of Facing Ali as part of complete systems test. More than a camera test, this was a dry run for our shoot and a test of our lighting, sound, camera and on-set work flow in the same environment we would encounter during the rest of the film. Following the shoot, post-supervisor Todd Giroux and Vancouver’s Digital Film Central pushed the footage through a custom designed post pipeline. When we saw the results projected in 2K, we were sold. After some deep thought and somewhat of a gamble on Murray’s part, the Red became our camera, or rather cameras. With the reduced cost of the rental we could take three camera bodies instead of the single heavyweight camera.
HHH The Camera I’ve described the Red in colourful terms on occasion, but my best analogy is that it is like working with a supermodel. She arrives on set and is gorgeous; everything looks beautiful in her presence. Producers, DOPs and directors are charmed. Sure, she needs some time to come out of the trailer (60 seconds to turn the camera on), but everything looks so good you work around her quirks. Then one day she goes on a bender. She doesn’t show up. You find her huddled in a corner, kicking, screaming and foaming at the mouth. You’re shocked. Once you’ve seen it a few times you calm down and work through things with her and everything is okay. It usually involves a cold restart and a call to Red support. Admittedly, the analogy falls apart, but even with her quirks and growing pains, the Red gave us a beautiful look we could not have achieved on this documentary budget. It’s also fun to feel
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like you’re on the edge a bit. Occasionally scary (three cameras collapsed simultaneously in Texas), but we never lost a shot. Red and Vancouver’s Inspired Cinema strongly supported us throughout the shoot, and the reassuring noises coming from James Tocher and Curtis Staples at Digital Film Central allowed me to sleep well on the road. One man who didn’t sleep well was our lone assistant cameraman and digital intermediary technician, Aaron Haelser. Between managing the gear, downloading and verifying the drive and AC-ing, he had less shut-eye than anyone. Haelser has been seduced by the dark side and often got sucked into the television-series world for months, but he was my first call after landing the job and I was lucky that he accepted. He’s 20-something, as nice as they come, drives a cooler car than I, and also operated the A-camera during the interviews. He’s also a fanatical drummer and McCormack wanted to adopt him. During camera prep, a shipment of brand-spanking new S4 lenses arrived directly from the Cooke Factory via Fed Ex into the slightly nervous hands of Haelser. They even smelled new. We shot the interviews primarily with the 85 mm, 100 mm and 135 mm, and occasionally a 16 mm or 25 mm on the C-camera mounted on a sandbag or clamped into a lollipop. Almost everything in the show was eye-focused at T2. Our “lightweight” package worked out to 21 cases of gear including a survival light and grip kit, portable jib arm, computers, backups, nine lenses and all the comforts of a studio shoot but without the studio crew. Haelser proved not only to be a great AC but also a solid freight manger and (other than the Line Producer Marcelle Pavan) the only one who could manage TomTom, the GPS. Line Producers don’t often get mentioned in DP reports but most don’t travel the world charming grumpy boxers and tired crew while managing to stickhandle foreign customs and immigration, book bodies and locations from the drivers seat of a rental car and still maintain a beatific composure. Pavan was our big sister on the road, and I’m sure her master’s degree in psychology came in handy.
HHH The Shoot Following our prep and a test shoot at a boxing club in Vancouver, our crew of five hopped a plane for the U.K. Landing in London with a thump and impressive carbon footprint, we set off to the London Country Club for our first interviewee – Sir Henry Cooper, British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion in 1970. We began each interview setup by framing a frontal shot with the A-camera. The B-camera would be positioned to capture a profile shot and was mounted on a jib arm atop a wheeled spreader to allow for subtle movement and the ability to quietly reframe during questions. The B-camera’s lens was either a 100 mm or 135 mm and the shot could be described as a “screamer”– very tight. Knowing that the A-camera always had the meat of the inter-
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view freed B-camera to make gravy. I floated about looking for the little moments that I loved to catch – the sideways glance from Joe Frazier or the slow exhale from George Chuvalo. This is the real benefit of the second camera. Liberated from the fear of missing a crucial line, the B-camera can go looking for gold and it gave McCormack and Jesse Miller (the film’s editor) another layer to work with in the cut. To see this footage used in the film is a joy for me. Listening and feeling the speakers’ cadence and rhythm is crucial or you screw up the shot. But when I nailed the timing, framing and focus (about two-inch thick), I wanted to break out into song in the middle of the interview. Another benefit to working with the long lenses and thin depth of field was that the inevitable dull, compromised background on B-camera could be dressed up with sliced cardboard, spare furniture or even light stands. Out of focus with a bit of sidelight, these items became a soft, impressionistic canvas behind the boxer.
HHH The Lighting The face lighting for the show was a Medium Chimera attached to a Barger Baglight with CTB (the Red has a native “daylight” sensor) and no fill. This was the same for almost every interview. The Chimera was set very close to the subject and gave a beautiful wrap and fall-off. Even moving the lamp two or three feet further away negated this effect and the lamp’s position was very specific. We took five minutes to light the face, but then we spent hours set decorating and lighting the backgrounds. McCormack would often glare in mock exasperation as Murray and I gazed into the monitor contemplating the position of a minute puff in the deep background. A fear of mine throughout the project was that the number of talking heads would be difficult to keep visually interesting. During the shoot, we created a gallery of frame grabs from each interview and referred to them as we selected and setup each new interview location. By alternating the eye line and creating a unique background for each boxer, we hoped to give each interview a “look” that would help the audience keep the stories and characters in order. I used a light warm, cool or magenta gel on the key light so that I could push the parts or all of the backgrounds cool, warm or green respectively in colour correction. This, along with Murray’s art direction, helped to set a unique visual signature for each boxer. Suddenly, in walks Sir Henry Cooper and we’re on. And he’s great. We reset to shoot a quick B-roll sequence after the interview. In classic documentary fashion, Cooper drops some of his best lines on us while we shoot the bits. Thank God for quick-witted sound guys. We got the line about his grandmother brawling in the streets of London. And then we’re off.
HHH Travel Guided by the TomTom across the U.K. to Liverpool, we meet Ernie Shavers. I had no idea who this massive, shy man was but
HHH George Chuvalo HHH
HHH George Foreman HHH
HHH Joe Frazier HHH
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Facing Ali: Ron Lyle punching Ian Kerr csc. Images courtesy of the filmmakers.
when I later watched the tapes of his fights I couldn’t believe the punishment he inflicted during his career. (Ali credited Shavers as the hardest puncher he had ever faced.) “I wasn’t a boxer, but I was a good puncher,” he said with a huge grin. Shavers was generous with his time, and we filmed several sequences with him around Liverpool before ending in the community gym where he helped coach. We were soon on the plane back home, but not for long, as we had a date with Ron Lyle in Denver. Lyle was a killer. Literally. He learned to fight in prison while serving seven-and-a-half years for second-degree murder. Meeting him was a bit like meeting Lou Gossett Jr. He was a guy who still made a mustache look dangerous and downright murderous in the 1970s. I hope he never reads the line about his mustache. He was polite and happy to see us until the interview started. Fittingly, he was positioned in the middle of a boxing ring. Suddenly belligerent and arrogant, the years dropped away. He would often answer a question with a question or just a glare – probing McCormack for weak spots. There were a few tense moments when we all thought he might throw a punch. It was magic on camera, and Lyle later became one of the keystones of the documentary. The pattern became familiar. Fly into a city the day before the interview, rapidly scout for a location with the assistance of an online locations library or Google Earth, lock down the location, and send a list of additional lighting and grip that evening to the local crew. On shoot day we’d arrive at the location several hours early, pre-light and art direct until the last minute, and then roll hours of interview with our boxer. Following the interview we’d jump in the ring with the boxer, and they’d shadow box into the lens while McCormack would tease out old memories from famous fights. It was a great mix of rough, hand-held, run-andgun and carefully setup interviews. We had a lot of fun.
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Larry Holmes’s interview was hilarious and although many of his raunchier stories never made it into the film, his honesty and hospitality was impressive. We did find a limit however. Following the interview, Holmes hopped into his luxury sedan with a couple friends and invited us to join him for a drink at a nearby Holiday Inn. Struggling to keep up with him, we screamed into the parking lot, jumped out, camera rolling, only to be stopped at the door by his burly companions. “No cameras. Have a drink….” Behind his bodyguard the huge former world heavyweight champion was on a tiny dance floor surrounded by 40-year-old white women. All of them line dancing to country music. And we weren’t allowed to film it. We went on to interview Joe Frazier, who choked up with emotion talking about Ali, Ernie Terrell, who sang for us, and George Chuvalo, who broke our hearts with the story of loosing three members of his family. Our last interview was with George Foreman at his church’s gym in Austin Texas where we hung a massive Texan flag behind him. Forman was the shortest interview but every word was gold. He was a master, performing in front of the camera. I went out and bought one of his grills afterwards. It’s tough to walk away from a project after shooting it. So often the results are disappointing when one sees the final cut. McCormack disappeared for months into editing with Miller and came out with magic. Colorist Andrea Chelebak put on a final finish after the Digital Film Group added the archive footage and then conformed and output the film to a print. The film has been well received – it was named Best Documentary at the 2009 Vancouver Film Festival and was short listed for an Academy Award for best documentary. It seems there was room for at least one more film about the great Muhammed Ali, and I’m very happy to be part of the team that brought it to the screen.
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Canadian Cinematographer is a glossy magazine devoted to the art and the craft of cinematography. It is published 10 times a year by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers (CSC), a nonprofit organization established in 1957. Canadian Cinematographer covers the full spectrum of cinematography - film, television, HD and digital-production techniques. Each issue contains feature articles, interviews, industry news and latest equipment updates.
The Haitian Earthquake of 2010
I
t was a little after 6:00 p.m. on January 12 when my mother came running into our Belleville kitchen to tell us that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake had just hit Haiti. My wife took a concerned look at me as she ran into the bedroom to filter more information. I slowly poked at my spaghetti dinner, knowing my world was about to change. “It happened near the capital,” Rhonda said with a knowing look. I’d been to Port-au-Prince 15 years earlier and knew it was an overcrowded capital city of two million. It was very poor and very desperate. I knew right then and there I would be leaving for Haiti. Within two hours, I had driven to my office in Toronto and finalized my preparation to go. I had been waiting since September of 2009 to fly to a natural disaster site that would initiate the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) to mobilize its FACT team (First Assessment and Co-ordination Team). Little did I know that this would turn out to be the biggest volunteer mobilization of the Red Cross in a single country in its entire history. I was hired early in the production to DOP this unique documentary, directed and co-produced by Nadine Pequeneza and executive produced by Andrea Nemtin and Ian Dunbar of PTV, to be initially broadcast on TVO. The three-hour documentary is entitled Inside Disaster. We had unprecedented permission to embed ourselves with the IFRC and stay close to the Canadian Red Cross. We planned to follow this organization and chronicle how it operates in some of the most difficult and horrendous situations. There were six of us who travelled to Haiti. The A-team was myself, Pequeneza, sound technician Paul Adlaf and web producer Nico Jolliett, and we were the first team to travel to Haiti. The B-team was DOP Stephan Randstrom and sound technician Simon Paine, who were the second to follow. I had my bags packed and camera equipment documented and at the ready to go for four months. I argued at our early meetings to use the Sony XD-700 camera with the 24p card. I had shot a CBC Nature of Things documentary in northern B.C. a few years ago chronicling great forest fires. The older XD 530 was the perfect choice in an environment of airborne contaminates. The 2/3-inch chip 700 XD camera (Mpeg 422) with the 24p card and 1080p resolution and the ability to quickly thumbnail a scene was the perfect choice for documenting a disaster. I had no idea of how right I was until I was in Haiti.
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By Tony Wannamaker csc
I took my initial allotment of 30 doubled-sided XD discs (PFD50), which allowed me to bang for 95 minutes at the highest resolution. Not knowing what infrastructure I would have to deal with, I took the following camera equipment: 12 charged batteries; four chargers; gel cell; car battery charger; one new Honda generator (no fuel); one Cartoni tripod with carbon fibre legs; soft case and hard case for transport; rain cover; two lenses (4.5 wide and 7.8 long); polarizer filter; matt box; easy rig; lens-cleaning cloth, papers, liquid and brush; and software and cables to output and screen rushes on Pequeneza’s laptop. We figured we’d needed to prepare for the worst for a duration of three days, maybe five days if it was really bad. We didn’t know we would be in survival mode and shooting the documentary for 15 days. In addition to the detailed preparation and multiple purposed use of our equipment, we had to prepare ourselves for the camping trip of a lifetime. We carried the requisite camping supplies and then some. We left with our mosquito nets, leatherman tools, small diesel cook stove, flashlights, bedrolls, toilet paper, first aid kits, personal hypodermic needles and a lifetime of inoculations and MRE (meals ready to eat) rations to cover the first week. The MREs saved our hides, but I’m tired of eating them cold. My wife had picked them up at a local military supply store in Kingston, Ontario. Upon my return, friends inquired why was it that we needed food and bottled water when we were embedded with the Red Cross. The deal was that we needed to be able to look after ourselves and not become a liability for the Red Cross as they planned to save tens of thousands of Haitian lives. Furthermore, the numbers of delegates arriving with no provisions quickly overwhelmed the Red Cross. This statement might shed some light as to the difficulty operating in Haiti in the first days, post-earthquake. By January 18, when we had to move to the new base camp at an abandoned warehouse and set up in the open aired square, there were two portable toilets shared by 200 people. Haiti, as most people are aware, is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Prior to the earthquake, the infrastructure of Port-au-Prince was spotty at best. I was there 15 years ago shooting a cultural documentary at the time when President Clinton was visiting President Aristide. Back then, I saw how
poor its citizens were and knew how violent the place could be. It was a desperate place with good people who needed a break. Haiti, the first independent black state in the Western Hemisphere, has been persecuted from the day it declared independence from the France in 1804. Haitians have had to live under the kleptocracy governments of Papa Doc Duvalier and his son Baby Doc for 29 years and then try and deal with the foreign meddling during Aristide’s administration. Add to this background, a 7.0 magnitude quake in the city centre was incomprehensible to me. We landed in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, in the evening and planned to depart overland by bus at 4:00 a.m. It was a 10-hour ride to reach Port-au-Prince. When we arrived at the Dominican/Haitian border, I thought I had arrived on set at a George Lucas Star Wars taping. It was madness! In one spot on an arid plain stood a 20-metre fence and gate that controlled who gets in and who gets out. Haitians were pleading for passage. Some fellas would run past the armed guards into the Dominican with a 50-50 chance of being shot. We rolled on in all of this confusion. It would be the tenor of the shoot. I knew from my many years of shooting documentaries that it was important to move quickly into the most effective positions to record these fleeting moments of the human condition. I needed to move precisely and quickly and then to dial down the noise and select movements that would provide compelling documentation. My audio partner and I clicked. We would become a great team, and it was evident from day one. We were the right guys and the perfect team to bang this chaos into a film. By the January 14, we were set-up briefly at the Canadian Red Cross in Peitonville before moving near the seaport to the dusty and ridiculously hot environment of the abandoned warehouse. On the 14th we visited our first triage centre. Coming into Portau-Prince, we witnessed the first scattered convoys of bloated bodies somewhat covered in the back of pickups leaving the city. We learned quickly to put on charcoal masks, and I always had a scarf ready to cover my nose. At the triage centre, which was ostensibly a heavy-equipment depot, badly wounded Haitians, victims of building collapses and falling debris, were brought for medical help. At this point, early in the rescue and relief efforts, there were sparse-to-no medical supplies for the injured. One overwhelmed doctor assessed the wounded and enlisted volunteers to care for them. As the days progressed post-earthquake, we experienced many horrors and much hope. We witnessed the aftermath execution style of Haitian police shooting looters. Looters lay in the streets, some with their hands tied behind their backs and shot in the head. Others, whether they are looters or casualties of the quake, lay in the street burning; some lay there burning as protest; some lay there burning as notice; some lay there burning as protection from disease. In the 17 days I spent in Haiti, I only experienced two days that I didn’t see a corpse. Sadly, Adlaf and I learned too well the smell of decay and could lead you to a corpse faster than a Toronto canine unit. In all this pain, agony and fleeting hope, we documented the
Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010 •
sas e rH a t ef oIin d ssta se a H e H h t r a r t f o e of sid ste Ha rth oIfn2s sa eH art e of sid ste Ha rth of
19
of 20 e D is a e 1 h 0 TisIhE n sisdtte eriD e a a i a t stH a it ia e E a r e T k h a u e q Hrrath h t a k e i t i a 0 E 1 a 200 rto f 2u 1 0 h ofq e of 20a1k 0
? ? ? i t i a Haster Th s 4 aitiaE adri1e2 hiH quak T e D h t r eraa T h E i e tu id e D i atIn th w o 0 n k I 1 id d e 0 I tl it L k n 2 a f s i i o d t q te i r e T a h D E s i to i t u D o n r s tu ld e u a o w d thisa s i qu s t e r e I k T n s h id e D h T ri e te n lu r o v n t s e e I g ig t b 0 e s th 1 e b iaa 0aD it a E E s te r T a h i e t i a d e R a H s e i th f o H n a 1q0 o ti a hD iz i ilak bn t oI e mu i a k E u a q r e h t h untry coa T q gleu i s a sin in a s s e o r H Ce 0 a it k 1 ia E 0 a 2 f E T o ia0ah 1 0 y. ak I n e toru isq h a e r r th ti n e s it in o e f k 2 a 0 u e 1 D E is 0 a a e I n s i d u0aT e 0 1skh D e i e s o f 2 a 0 1 0 I n t e r 1ti0aHE T a h s id e e D is a a i t i a quaskte e r TEhae – Tony Wannamarker csc
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FACT team and aggregate infusion of Red Cross delegates from around the world build, as a regiment of soldiers became a division of men and women. We documented the hardships the relief workers endured to get food and supplies to people in need. We witnessed the life saving efforts of the international community. I documented the dying of many people when I first arrived. That changed to amputations – the saving of the person to the saving of limbs. One young girl, we documented in surgery, will have the use of both of her legs. The risk the Red Cross delegates took in the form of disease and personal harm; the security measures they endured to operate were chronicled. I shot this film from an up-close-and-personal account rather than on a long lens and from across the street. Paul, Nadine and I went into the story. We talked to the injured and we talked to the caregivers. We documented the rescue of people from collapsed buildings, the relief of water, food and shelter and we plan to return in a timely fashion and record the final phase of a Red Cross commitment, the reconstruction. How long will it take to fix Haiti? Who knows. I read all the trade magazines today to get another perspective on the situation, to get more objectivity. I still don’t know. But I will say that Haitians will need the world’s support for a long time and they will need a stable government for a long time. My hope is that when the great Kino eye of the world turns to another disaster, people won’t forget the reconstruction of Haiti. They need help and the pain won’t go away as fast as the media.
Equipment Wanted Used Leica Geo System Disto Laser Measurement Devices Attention crew technicians interested in selling used Leica Disto Laser Measurement devices for cash to upgrade to newer models, please contact Alan J. Crimi, Panavision Canada Corp., cell 416-577-3058; shipping, receiving and client services 416-4447000; email: alan.crimi@panavision.com; www.panavision.com. Short-Term Accommodation for Rent Visiting Vancouver for a shoot? One-bedroom condo in Kitsilano on English Bay with secure underground parking. $350 per week. Contact: Peter Benison, 604-730-0860, 416-698-4482 or peter@peterbenison.com. Equipment for Sale Sony Beta SP DXC-D30WSP/PVV3P, PAL, 262hrs drum time, $ 2,500; Sony Beta SP DXC-D30WS/PVV3, NTSC, 251hrs drum time, $2,500; Sony BetaCam SX DNW-7, NTSC, 257hrs drum time, $5,000; and IKEGAMI DV-CAM HL-DV7-AW, NTSC, mint condition, as new, 61hrs drum time, $7,000. All cameras w/portabrace covers. All owned by me and serviced by Sony Hong Kong. Sony Beta SP/ SX player/recorders, DNW-A25P X2, PAL & NTSC, 500 & 644hrs drum time, $ 6,000; Satchler 575 HMI, open-face, mint condition w/spare bulb, $ 2,500 & case. The lot for $20,000. Contact François Bisson, blitzvideo@mac.com.
factory technicians. Usage hours are: A – 1,918 hours; B – 1,489 hours; C – 4,286 hours. $10,000.00 obo. Contact: Craig Wrobleski csc, 403-995-4202 Aaton XTR Super 16 pkg: including body, video relay optics, extension eyepiece, three magazines, Cooke 10.5-mm–60-mm S-16 zoom lens, Zeiss 9.5 prime lens, 4x4 matte box, 4x4 filters (85,85N6, polarizer, ND6, clear), follow focus and cases $22,000; Nikon 50–300 -mm F4-5 E.D. lens w/support, $1,000; Kinoptik 9–8-mm 35-mm format lens c/w sunshade $1,400. Contact stringercam@shaw.ca or mike@imagegearinc.com New Video Camera Rain Covers. Custom rain covers for sale. New design that fits and protects most Sony PMW EX3, Canon XHHDV, Panasonic VX200 cameras with the viewfinder extending toward the rear of the camera. Price: $200.00. Noiseless rain cover for the external camera microphone. Price: $30.00. Onboard Monitor rain cover, camera assistants can see the focus during the shot. No more hassles in the rain! $60.00. Custom Red One camera covers available upon request. Also can sew various types of heavy-duty material. Repairs and zipper replacement on equipment and ditty bags. Lori Longstaff: 416-452-9247; llong@rogers.com. NEW PRICE – DVW700WS Digital Betacam with viewfinder and two widescreen zoom lenses. Canon J1 5x8 B4WRS SX12 and Fujinon 5.5-47. Very low hours on new heads. $8,000, plus taxes. Contact: Michael Ellis: 416-2336378.
Panasonic P2 HPX-3700 Varican HD camera & Panasonic HDX 900 DVC camera with Fuijinon HD long-wide lenses. Full support gear. Panasonic 17-inch monitor, O’Connor tripod, sound equipment. Triangle Jib 30 feet with hot head. Porta-Jib, doorway dolly & track, full lighting and grip package. Contact: Michel Bisson csc at 416-346-3912; michelbisson@me.com.
Betacam SP Camera package. BVP550 Betacam SP camera with BVV5 recorder, complete with Fuijinon 15x8 broadcast zoom lens, “Red Eye” wideangle adapter, 6 IDX Li-Ion batteries, IDX quick charger with AC adapter, flight case, soft carry case, Sony monitor and 10 fresh Beta SP tapes ($140 value). $2,500. Call Christian: 416-459-4895.
Oxberry Computer Controlled Animation Stand. This stand is in excellent working condition. Our animation studio is closing, and we are in the process of selling our equipment. The stand is computer controlled by the famous Kuyper Control software driving stepper motors connected to different axis of the stand. Here is a list of what is driven: camera zoom in and out; table – north-south axis, east-west axis; rotation, 2 pegs (top and bottom); camera – focus, take-up drive for mag and shutter. The camera comes with interchangeable gates and can be use for16 mm, super 16 or 35 mm. This kit comes also with 400ft –16-mm mag, 400ft – 35-mm mag, 1,000ft – 35-mm mag and 400ft bi-pack mag. The sidelights are 650 watts Red Heads with polarised filters. The lights are suspended on Manfrotto Pole Cats. The table’s backlight is connected to a rheostat with a solar electric current regulator. This is a great stand for any independent filmmaker or small effect animation company. Sorry we cannot ship this item. It has to be picked up. Item is located close to Montreal. Price: $ 4,800.00. Contact: Erik, Tel: 514-637-5077, Email: erikgo@videotron.ca.
Panasonic HPX500 (Canadian model with Canadian warranty) with the latest up dates. Low hours. Perfect condition. 2/3 CCD 1080/720 HD camera with 4 P2 card slots. Comes with Anton mount, all factory accessories (most have never been opened) & original box. Only camera body and EVF for sale – not lens, base plate or batteries. Photos available. 604-726-5646; JohnBanovich@gmail.com. Betacam SP D30 camera, PVV3 Recorder Back, Fujinon 16X, 9-144 zoom lens, six batteries, charger, power supply and case, Sony PVM 80Q 7 1/2inch monitor and case. $3,500. Contact: Joan Hutton: 416-693-9776. For Sale
16 – 35 mm Film Equipment for sale: Our animation studio is closing, and we are in the process of selling our equipment, here is a short list of items we have for sales: Densitometer McBeth Td903 for calculation of film density $300, Split reel (16 and 35 mm ) various sizes, Moviola Rewinds, 35mm Film synchroniser, Scan-0-scope converter lens system - Scope lens to “squeeze” and “unsqueeze” anamorphic $3500, Tilt Plate for heavy cameras $800, and more. Contact: Erik for complete listing, Tel: 514-637-5077, Email: erikgo@videotron.ca.
The Essential Guide to Canadian Film by Wyndham Wise . First published in 2001, this second edition of The Essential Guide to Canadian Film is now 1,500 entries, completely revised and updated, including 650 biographical notes with filmographies and 850 film reviews, with credits, of award-winning Canadian films. Also included are a complete list of winners at the Canadian Film Awards, Genies, Oscars, TIFF and Cannes, and a detailed chronology of Canadian film and television history. The Essential Guide to Canadian Film is an individually numbered, unique publication of encyclopedic proportions ; a handsome reference text for film and television professionals, students and fans of Canadian film. Hardcover, 374 pages. $80.00 plus shipping via Canada Post Express. To order, email editor@csc.ca.
Sony BVW-400a Betacam SP Camcorder Camera used by professional cinematographer (one owner), never rented out. Comes complete with Fujinon A15x8BEVM-28 lens, Petroff matte box with 4x4 and 4x5.6 filter holders, remote zoom and focus control for lens, 6 Cadnica NP-1 batteries, Sony BC-1WD battery charger, Porta-Brace fitted cover w/ rain jacket (like new) and Sony factory hard shipping case and manuals. Lens and camera professionally maintained by
Camera Classified is a free service provided for CSC members. For all others, there is a one-time $25 (plus GST) insertion fee. Your ad will appear here and on the CSC’s website, www.csc.ca. If you have items you would like to buy, sell or rent, please email your information to editor@ csc.ca.
Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010 •
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CSC FULL MEMBERS Jim Aquila csc John Badcock csc Michael Balfry csc Christopher Ball csc John Banovich csc John Stanley Bartley csc, asc Stan Barua csc Yves Bélanger csc Peter Benison csc Jeremy Benning csc John Berrie csc Michel Bisson csc Michael Boland csc Nicolas Bolduc csc Thomas Burstyn csc, frsa, nzcs Barry Casson csc Eric Cayla csc Henry Chan csc Marc Charlebois csc Rodney Charters csc, asc Damir I. Chytil csc Arthur E. Cooper csc Walter Corbett csc Steve Cosens csc Bernard Couture csc Richard P. Crudo csc, asc Dean Cundey csc, asc François Dagenais csc Steve Danyluk csc David A. De Volpi csc Kamal Derkaoui csc Kim Derko csc Serge Desrosiers csc Ricardo Diaz csc Jean-Yves Dion csc Zoe Dirse csc Mark Dobrescu csc Wes Doyle csc John Drake csc Guy Dufaux csc Ray Dumas csc Albert Dunk csc, asc Philip Earnshaw csc Michael Ellis csc Carlos A. Esteves csc Nikos Evdemon csc David Frazee csc Marc Gadoury csc Antonio Galloro csc James Gardner csc, sasc David A Geddes csc Ivan Gekoff csc Laszlo George csc, hsc Pierre Gill csc Russ Goozee csc Steve Gordon csc Barry R. Gravelle csc David Greene csc John B. Griffin csc Michael Grippo csc Manfred Guthe csc D. Gregor Hagey csc Thomas M. Harting csc Peter Hartmann csc
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22 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
Harald K. Ortenburger csc Gerald Packer csc Barry Parrell csc Brian Pearson csc David Perrault csc Bruno Philip csc Matthew R. Phillips csc André Pienaar csc, sasc Zbigniew (Ed) Pietrzkiewicz csc Ronald Plante csc Randal G. Platt csc Milan Podsedly csc Hang Sang Poon csc Andreas Poulsson csc Don Purser csc Ousama Rawi csc, bsc William Walker Reeve csc Stephen Reizes csc Derek Rogers csc Peter Rowe csc Brad Rushing csc Branimir Ruzic csc Jérôme Sabourin csc Victor Sarin csc Paul Sarossy csc, bsc Michael Patrick Savoie csc Ian Seabrook csc Gavin Smith csc Christopher Soos csc Michael Spicer csc John Spooner csc Ronald Edward Stannett csc Pieter Stathis csc Brendan Steacy csc Barry Ewart Stone csc Michael Storey csc Michael Sweeney csc Adam Swica csc Attila Szalay csc, hsc Jason Tan csc John P. Tarver csc Paul Tolton csc Bert Tougas csc Chris Triffo csc Sean Valentini csc Brett Van Dyke csc Roger Vernon csc Frank Vilaca csc Daniel Villeneuve csc Daniel Vincelette csc Michael Wale csc John Walker csc James Wallace csc Tony Wannamaker csc Peter Warren csc Andrew Watt csc Jim Westenbrink csc Tony Westman csc Kit Whitmore csc, soc Brian Whittred csc Ron Williams csc George A. Willis csc, sasc Glen Winter csc Peter Woeste csc Bill C.P. Wong csc
Kevin C.W. Wong csc Bruce Worrall csc Craig Wrobleski csc Yuri Yakubiw csc Ellie Yonova csc CSC ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Joshua Allen Don Armstrong John W. Bailey Douglas Baird Kenneth Walter Balys David Battistella Gregory Bennett Jonathan Benny Jonathan Bensimon André Bériault Roy Biafore Christian Bielz Thomas Billingsley Stan Bioksic Francois M. Bisson Christophe Bonniere Martin Brown Scott Brown Richard Burman Lance Carlson Jon Castell Mark Caswell Maurice Chabot Cèsar Charlone Stephen Chung David Collard René Jean Collins Jarrett B. Craig Rod Crombie James Crowe Micha Dahan Michael Jari Davidson Nicholas de Pencier Randy Dreager Gamal El-Boushi Andreas Evdemon Jay Ferguson Andrew Forbes Richard Fox Joshua Fraiman Kevin A. Fraser Thomas Gatenby Brian Gedge Rion Gonzales Vladimir Gosaric Daniel Grant Jeffrey Hanley David M.J. Hodge John Hodgson Cliff Hokanson James D. Holloway Suave Hupa George Hupka David Johns Jorma Kantola Ernie Kestler Shannon Kohli
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Glenn C. Warner Douglas H. Watson Roger Williams Richard Wilmot Peter Wayne Wiltshire Kelly John Wolfert Carolyn Wong Dave Woodside Peter Wunstorf asc Steven Zajaczkiwsky CSC Affiliate MEMBERS Donald G. Angus Derek Archibald Robin Bain Iain Alexander Baird Peter Battistone Russell Bell Jacques F. Bernier Mark A. Biggin Adam Braverman Gordon A. Burkell Joseph Calabrese Arnold Caylakyan Bernard Chartouni Johnny Yan Chen Brent J. Craig Maggie Craig Brad Creasser Ana Cunha Colin Davis Dominika Dittwald Micah L. Edelstein Tony Edgar Zachary Finkelstein Randy French Richard Gira Aizick Grimman James D. Hardie Stephen Hargreaves Bruce William Harper John Richard Hergel BA CD Perry Hoffmann Brad Hruboska Marcel D. Janisse Michael Jasen Rick Kearney Matthew Casey Kennedy
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Guido Kondruss Boris Kurtzman Ryan Lalonde Charles Lenhoff Tony Lippa John Lipsz Lori P. Longstaff Robert H. Lynn Megan MacDonald Jill MacLauchlan Parks Yoann Malnati Justin McIntosh Ian McLaren Andrew Medicky Alejandro Muòoz Kar Wai Ng Peter Osborne Andrew Oxley Gino Papineau Graeme Parcher Kalpesh Patel Greg Petrigo Douglas B. Pruss Elise Queneau Lem Ristsoo Susan Saranchuk Chirayouth Jim Saysana James Scott Alexey Sikorsky Brad Smith Kyryll Sobolev Michael Soos Gillian Stokvis-Hauer Steven Tsushima Paula Tymchuk Anton van Rooyen Trevor J. Wiens Irene Sweeney Willis Ridvan Yavuz CSC FULL LIFE MEMBERS Herbert Alpert csc, asc Robert Bocking csc Raymond A. Brounstein csc David Carr csc Marc Champion csc Christopher Chapman csc, cfe Robert C. Crone csc, cfc, dg
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CSC HONOURARY MEMBERS Roberta Bondar Vi Crone Graeme Ferguson Wilson Markle
indicates demo reel online, www.csc.ca
HALIFAX
902-404-3630
Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010 •
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Production Notes Connor Undercover (feature); Yuri Yakubiw csc; OP J.P. Locherer csc; to April 19, Mississauga, ON Degrassi: The Next Generation X (series); DOP Alwyn Kumst csc; OP Brad Vos; To November 4, Toronto Flashpoint III (series); DOP Stephen Reizes csc; OP Tony Guerin; to May 28, Toronto Gerry Boulet (feature); DOP Yves Bélanger csc; to May 15, Montreal John A: The Rivals (television movie): DOP Michael Storey csc; to May 9, Toronto The Kennedys (miniseries); DOP David Moxness csc; to September 24, Toronto Lance et compte: Le Film (feature); DOP Bernard Couture csc; to April 30, Montreal Lost Girl (series); DOP David Greene csc; OP Gilles Cobeil; to June 25, Toronto Shattered (series); DOP David Frazee csc; OP Mark Chow; to April 23, Vancouver She’s the Mayor (series); DOP Arthur Cooper csc; OP Rod Crombie; to May 31, Toronto Smallville IX (series); DOP Glen Winter csc (odd); Barry Donlevy (even); OP Brian Whittred csc (odd); Neil Seale (even); to April 13, Burnaby, BC Tout la vérité (series); DOP Marc Charlebois csc; to June 9, Montreal Upside Down (feature); DOP Pierre Gill csc; to June 1, Montreal
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Warehouse 13 II (series); DOP Mike McMurray csc; OP David Towers; to August 5, Toronto
Calendar of Events April 1–10, Images Festival of Independent Film & Video, Toronto, imagesfestival.com 7–11, Reel World Film Festival, Toronto, reelworld.ca 29– May 9, Hot Docs, Toronto, hotdocs.ca May 5–6, Toronto Documentary Forum, hotdocs.ca
24 • Canadian Cinematographer - April 2010
The Kodak Totem Award Designed to emulate the artistic combination of the art and science of cinematography, the Kodak Totem Award is presented annually to each of the Genie nominees in the ‘Achievement 'Achievement in in Cinematography’ Cinematography' category. This award symbolizes the ongoing dedication and commitment to excellence that the nominees bring to their craft. Kodak is a proud sponsor of the Genie Awards.
Congratulations to the 30th annual Genie Award nominees for Achievement in Cinematography. Jonathan Freeman
Ronald Plante csc
Allen Smith
Steve Cosens csc
Pierre Gill csc
Fifty Dead Men Walking
Grande ourse: La clé des possibles The Master Key
Les doigts croche Sticky Fingers
NURSE.FIGHTER. BOY
Polytechnique
