Canadian Society of Cinematographers Magazine January 2011

CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS

$4 Januar y 2011 www.csc.ca

An Exclusive Interview with

David Moxness csc, DOP on the Miniseries The Kennedys

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3D Is Here to Stay • The Shining • Peter Rowe csc

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.

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.

CORPORATE SPONSORS All Axis Remote Camera Systems Applied Electronics Arri Canada Ltd. Canon Canada Inc. CinequipWhite Inc. Clairmont Camera Cooke Optics Ltd. Creative Post Inc. D.J. Woods Productions Inc. Deluxe Toronto FUJIFILM Canada Inc. Image Media Farms Inc Kingsway Motion Picture Ltd. Kino Flo Kodak Canada Inc. Lee Filters Mole-Richardson Osram Sylvania Ltd./LtĂŠe PS Production Services Panasonic Canada Panavision Canada Rosco Canada Sim Video Sony of Canada Ltd. Technicolor 3D Camera Company Videoscope Ltd. William F. White International Inc. ZGC Inc. ZTV

FEATURES – VOLUME 2, NO. 8 JANUARY 2011

Love It or Hate It, This Time 3D Is Here to Stay

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By Wyndham Wise

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An Exclusive Interview with David Moxness csc, DOP on the Miniseries The Kennedys By Betty Palik, special to Canadian Cinematographer

A Master of All Trades: Writer-Director-ProducerCinematographer Peter Rowe CSC By Wyndham Wise

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COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 2 From the President 5 Cinematographers in Revue 6 In the News 9 In Memoriam: Edie Carlson 23 Camera Classified 24 Productions Notes / Calendar Cover: From the left, Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, Greg Kinnear as John, Barry Pepper as Bobby and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Sr. in The Kennedys.

Photo collage courtesy of Muse Entertainment.

Canadian Cinematographer January 2011 Vol. 2, No. 8 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF George Willis csc, sasc EDITOR EMERITUS Donald Angus

FROM THE PRESIDENT Joan Hutton csc

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Saranchuk admin@csc.ca EDITOR Wyndham Wise mfa editor@csc.ca ART DIRECTION Berkeley Stat House

I

t is with sadness and a bittersweet tinge that I sit at my computer to write my first column of 2011. Sad because I just learned that my friend and mentor Doug Dales has lost his battle with cancer and has passed away. The founder of PS Production Services, Doug was an innovator and leader in our industry. His passion, benevolence and drive were legendary. Canadian Cinematographer will publish a tribute to Doug in its February issue.

PROOFREADER Karen Longland WEBSITE CONSULTANT Nikos Evdemon csc www.csc.ca ADVERTISING SALES Guido Kondruss gkondruss@rogers.com

Bitter because after 31 years Precision Camera has closed its doors after caving into economic pressures. Precision was a stalwart beacon of conscientiousness and enterprise that represented the best our film and television community has to offer. In good times and in bad, Precision Camera was always a good friend to cinematographers, willing to go that extra mile to help a production or solve a problem. A long-time supporter and sponsor of CSC, the loss of Precision hurts us all and is a sad reminder of the precarious and unforgiving nature of our industry. Precision Camera, you will be missed.

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. 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.

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Sweet because 2010 was a good year for the CSC and 2011 is brimming with promise.

The CSC’s Great Cinematography in Revue series at the historic Revue Cinema in Toronto has exceeded all our expectations. The screenings, followed by a Q&A via Skype with each film’s cinematographer or operator, have been very well attended.

In this issue, read about our screening of Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic The Shining and the conversation with Garrett Brown, who operated the film’s revolutionary Steadicam. There will be more CSC sponsored screenings and Q&As in 2011. Watch for the announcements on our website, but here’s a sneak peek on what to expect – Se7en with DOP Darius Khondji.

For this year’s 2011 Awards Gala, the CSC is opening two new competitive categories, short-length and feature-length animation cinematography, to reflect the growing advancements in digital filmmaking. Our Awards competition is open to everyone and is the only one in Canada strictly dedicated to cinematography. The submission deadline for entries is the 24th of this month, so there’s still time for submissions as many categories as one wishes. The Gala will take place on April 2 at the Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre in Toronto.

In February 2010 the CSC held its first 3D workshop, which featured 3D expert Geoff Boyle FBKS. It was a sold out affair that was conducted at the Digital Media Research and Training Centre at Pinewood Toronto Studios with attendees from across Canada, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Watch for more outstanding learning experiences from the CSC throughout 2011.

To all our readers, have a happy New Year and good shooting!

Always and Forever “From the first moment I walked through Clairmont Camera’s doors nearly 25 years ago, I was struck by the friendliness and respect the staff extended to me and especially from Terry and Denny.

The whole crew goes above and beyond the call of duty. On my first anamorphic show, we had extensively tested our lens package. But when the dailies came back they looked odd; something was wrong. The lab assured us that everything was right on their end. Denny immediately flew up and proceeded to go through the entire chain –from film stock, to the camera, lenses, to processing where he discovered that a lens in the optical printer was slightly out of alignment. We switched printers and everything looked crisp. I think that without Clairmont’s assistance I would not have been able to break through the stonewall thrown up by the lab. Thanks for saving my job Denny!

Another thing I really like about Clairmont Camera is their ability to take a DP’s crazy idea and turn it into reality. For me, it was being able to create an identical image to two strands of different negative —one B&W and one color—and dissolving back and forth between the two. I made a drawing of the rig and showed it to Denny, and then Clairmont built it for me!

Over the years I’ve used a huge variety of Clairmont’s equipment. One of my favorites is their Blurtar lens set; when you shoot wide open they make the best soft focus, blurry effects.

Naturally, I’ll vouch for their gear always being topnotch. It’s always properly serviced, updated, and works as well —if not better— than the day it was manufactured. I’ll gladly recommend Clairmont always and forever.”

Thomas Burstyn, CSC

www.clairmont.com

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T

he second screening in the Great Cinematography in Revue series, presented in conjunction with by the CSC, was Stanley Krubrick’s classic horror film, 1980’s The Shining. A 35-mm well-worn print of the film was screened November 28 at the Revue Cinema, followed by a Q&A via Skype with the legendary Garrett Brown, inventor of the Steadicam and one of the key film technicians on The Shining.

Curating and hosting the screenings was Alan Bacchus, Torontobased writer, filmmaker and film industry professional. He is a film contributor for Exclaim!, the creator of Daily Film Dose. com and the business affairs specialist for Astral’s The Harold Greenberg Fund. He also programs Canadian Cinema in Revue, also at the Revue Cinema in west end Toronto. The afterscreening Q&A was conducted by Arthur Cooper csc.

The Shining carries with it a lot of baggage. On it’s initial release it received mixed reviews. Some critics regarded it as slumming on the part of the director of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Stephen King, whose book the film is based on, was so unhappy with the liberties Kubrick took with his story, he produced his own ‘proper’ version for television some 17 years later. Over the years, however, the original has grown in stature, and it now ranks in the Top Ten horror films of all time. The Shining has become the object of great and learned discussions as to its depth of meaning. Undoubtedly, it is one of the best descents into madness ever committed to celluloid, matching the intensity of Taxi Driver. And just like Robert Niro’s “Are you talkin’ to me?,” it has one of those genuine iconic cinematic moments – Jack Nicholson’s “Heeere’s Johnny!…,” as he goes totally off the deep end in the film’s climax. It also happens to have one of cinema’s all-time spectacular dolly shots using a Stedicam rig, when the camera follows little Danny as he speeds his tricycle through the hallways of the Outlook Hotel and comes face to face with the dead girls.

Garrett Brown spoke about this famous shot, and others, such as Sly Stallone’s triumphal ascent of the museum stairs in Rocky, another iconic cinematic moment made possible by the Steadicam. It turns out there is a direct link between Stallone’s run up the stairs and the dolly shots in The Shining. When Brown was inventing the Steadicam, he was living in Philadelphia. As part of his first test reel, he had his then girlfriend, now wife, run up the museum stairs to demonstrate what the rig could do. This

demo reel made it into the hands of Stanley Krubrick, among others, who immediately sent Brown a telegram, saying in effect, that his invention would now make The Shining possible. Would Brown join his production team?

So for a year, Brown and the production team were confined to the Outlook Hotel, which Kubrick had recreated on a soundstage in England. With only a break to work on Rocky II, Brown laboured under the meticulous, demanding genius that was Krubrick, sometimes re-shooting takes 70 to 80 times. The final scenes in the maze after a snowfall were shot for months in “that astounding vile” location. It was a major fire hazard, as temperatures soared past 100 degrees Fahrenheit indoors. For Brown to follow Danny as he walks backwards in the snow to fool his pursuing axe-wielding father, he had to wear special attachments strapped to his feet to fit the shoe size of the child and then walk backwards as well.

For the shot following the tricycle through the hallways of the Outlook “every vehicle was considered, even skateboards,” according to Brown. They tried a conventional dolly and settled on a modified wheelchair, with Brown on his knees in the seat and the camera fixed one inch above the ground. His assistant was behind him, and it was pushed by “a small, round man,” of Cockney descent, who, after a while, finished each run with a string of profanities. The kid was moving at a high speed, and “he was tireless. He must have been moving at 40 to 45 miles per hour.” He laughs. Probably not, but Kubrick made him do the shot over and over again. He wanted Danny to be dead centre within the camera crosshairs. And Brown’s Herculean effort paid off. It is undoubtedly one of the most celebrated continuous dolly shots in cinema history. Brown described it as “just fabulous… but the corners were scary as hell.”

The affable Brown has now retired from active shooting.

His last film was in 2004. He described his experiences working on The Shining as being difficult but “a lot of fun.” Brown’s impressive Steadicam work can be seen in over 70 motion pictures, including such classics as Bound for Glory, the first use of the Steadicam in a movie, Fame, Stripes, Reds, Tootsie, Hannah and Her Sisters and Casino. He has also invented the SkyCam (for football games), DiveCam (following Olympic divers) and MobyCam (underwater camera following Olympic swimmers).

Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

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CINEMATOGRAPHERS IN REVUE

The Shining By Wyndham Wise

IN THE NEWS

John Banovich csc Goes Virtual

when CanWest’s television assets entered restructuring under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act, unable to overcome a crushing debt load.

CanWest began life in 1974 when Manitoba lawyer and former leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party, Israel “Izzy” Asper, bought a failing television station, KCND, in Pembina, N.D., just across the U.S. border and moved all the equipment to Winnipeg in 1974. A couple of years later, Asper bought out another failing enterprise, the Toronto-based Global television network, which then became the core of his expanding media empire. The company soon spread beyond Canada with holdings in New Zealand and Australia.

John Banovich csc

The last time we heard from John Banovich csc was from Naxos in the Greek Islands (see the September 2009 issue of Canadian Cinematographer). He reports that he is now teaching innovative virtual film courses for students at the Centre for Arts and Technology (CAT) in Vancouver. He held his first virtual workshop in the spring and now he is teaching 13-week-long virtual courses in advance directing and advanced digital cinematography from his studio in White Rock.

John talks into the camera, while the students at CAT see three screens – one has notes; one will be a still from something he shot; and the third is on him. He uses Panasonic AG-AF100 and AG-HPX170 digital camcorders. “The school has developed proprietary software which runs on the latest version of Windows, allowing for real time full frame HD at 30 fps to be transmitted and received simultaneously,” he says. Recently, he took his students on a viral fieldtrip to the offices of Sim Video in Vancouver. Next in the works is a fieldtrip to a television set so he can show them how the real world of television operates.

CanWest Global Rebrands as Shaw Media CanWest Global is now under the complete control of Shaw Communications Inc., with the Western Canada cable giant closing the $2-billion in late October, just days after its regulatory approval from the CRTC. CanWest, once the country’s largest media company, is no more. All directors and officers resigned and its court-appointed monitor, FTI Consulting, wound down the former media giant’s outstanding matters.

The very profitable holdings of CanWest, which include the Global TV network and 21 specialty channels, in future will be known as Shaw Media. Paul Robertson, a former Corus Entertainment executive, is now chief of Shaw Media. It’s the final culmination of a process that started just over a year ago,

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In 2000, Asper and his son Leonard expanded by buying a half interest in Conrad Black’s flagship newspaper the National Post, and taking over the rest of the Black empire – 13 major daily newspapers and 136 smaller ones – in a $3.5-billion deal. A year later, the Aspers bought up the remaining 50 per cent of the National Post. In 2007, CanWest purchased Alliance Atlantis, with its numerous specialty channels. However, these purchases led to its massive debt and the company filed for bankruptcy in 2009.

Hot Docs Hot Docs is accepting submissions for the 12th annual Hot Docs Forum – the pitching event formerly known as the Toronto Documentary Forum. The deadline for submissions is January 21, 2011. The Forum, which runs May 4 and 5, is a two-day event that allows filmmakers to pitch their ideas and unfinished films to a panel of international broadcasters and financiers.

Documentaries should fall into one of the following categories: broadcast or feature-length projects; series; interactive docs; or 3D documentaries. Observer accreditation for the Forum opens January 14. More details are available on the Hot Docs site.

The 18th installment of the Hot Docs festival runs April 28 to May 8, 2011.

Take 2: The REEL Challenge Contest The Canadian Film Centre has announced a new edition of The REEL Challenge Contest. It is an opportunity for artists to speak out on the importance of protecting creative works. This year’s contest is a chance to make a short film or PSA about why copyright is important for creators who make a living from their work, and how the illegal copying and mass distribution of movies on the Internet ultimately hurts the creative industries and you.

Eligible submissions should be under 90 seconds in length. The contest runs until March 25, 2011.

Three prizes will be awarded: first $10,000, second $3,000 and third $2,000. All categories and genres of new short film will be accepted, including drama, comedy, animation, horror, sci-fi, documentary and experimental videos. Prizes will be awarded to the contestants whose submissions best promote creators’ rights and address the importance of content protection from a creator’s perspective, and are considered the most compelling, provocative

Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

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Lubna Azabalin in Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies

and innovative in content and delivery. Full contest guidelines are available at www.thereelchallenge.ca The REEL Challenge Contest is an initiative of the Canadian Film Centre, supported by the Copyright Collective of Canada. Contest is open to all legal residents of Canada (excluding residents of Quebec).

Incendies and Genius Within Have a Shot at the Oscars Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies, the winner of the best Canadian feature at the 2010 TIFF, has made it to the short list for Oscar consideration in the best foreign-language category. It has been the policy of the American Academy to shortlist this category and now also the documentary category prior to the official 2010 Oscar announcement in the New Year. And this year, for the first time since Brigitte Berman won for Artie Shaw: Time Is All You’ve Got in 1997, we have a Canadian feature documentary in the running, Michèle Hozer and Peter Raymont’s Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould. We won’t know if either film makes it to the final five until the official announcement at the end of January.

David Moxness csc works on the Fringe Now in its third season, production continues in Vancouver until April on the hit American series Fringe, which has been described as a hybrid of The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone and Dark Angel. Produced by the same team behind Alias, the series two-hour pilot was shot in Toronto, and moved to Vancouver for its second season. With it came its veteran American DOP, Tom Yatsko (CSI: Miami, Brothers & Sisters), who alternated episodes with David Moxness csc. In-between seasons two and three, ‘Moxy’ shot the miniseries The Kennedys in Toronto for Muse Entertainment (see page 12). Fringe appears on CTV in Canada and the Fox Network in the U.S.

Kim Derko csc Wings It Wingin’ It is a Canadian tween comedy now in its second

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season. The series is shot by CSC veteran DOP Kim Derko and is produced by Temple Street Productions in association with the Family Channel. Recently it was sold to CBBC in the U.K., one of the most-loved channels for children. The comedy series follows teenage odd couple, Porter (Demetrius Joyette, The Latest Buzz) an angel-in-training and Carl (Dylan Everett, Booky’s Crush), a disaster-prone young teen. Porter’s earthly task is to make Carl into the most popular kid in school.

The CFC/NFB Documentary Program Applications to the CFC/NFB Documentary program were up 50 per cent in 2010, as more than 70 filmmakers apply for the four spots. The program is designed to help directors develop documentaries that will advance their artistic approach as well as the documentary genre itself, while exhibiting the potential to achieve commercial and critical success.

This immersive experience combines intensive think-tank style modules at the CFC with project-specific support and is expanded to encompass emerging forms of documentary expression, including creative mid-length documentaries and interactive works. The program is led by Jerry McIntosh, a director and executive producer for CBC Television. Oscar-nominated documentary director Larry Weinstein serves as senior creative counselor for the program and Gerry Flahive is the NFB senior producer.

The participants are Barry Greenwald with Four Funerals and a Filmmaker, a creative documentary about how individuals, families and society say goodbye when they lose those they love and care for; Charles Officer with Nehanda, which explores the remarkable story of Nehanda Isoke Abiodun, an American political activist and fugitive from justice, currently living in Cuba; Su Rynard with Songbirds SOS – over half of the world’s songbirds have disappeared; and Jody Shapiro with Mars, a 3D exploration pushing the limits of human endurance, psychological isolation and cinematic expression of life on the Red Planet.

IN MEMORIAM Edie Carlson 3D Television Production Gear Now Available

3D Workshop at Videoscope 3D Beam-Splitter Pro Rig

By Don Angus

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he CSC sadly acknowledges the death of Toronto writer and actor Edie Carlson, wife of long-time CSC member Lance Carlson, on October 31, 2010, after a long battle with cancer.

She was 66.

Edith Emily Carlson (née Shaw) epitomized the spouses of CSC members over the last 50 years whose many and various talents and accomplishments were not necessarily achieved in the field of cinematography but were reflected elsewhere. She was often seen at the CSC Awards Gala with Lance, a former vice-president, whose tireless work in camera and lighting courses earned him the 2000 Fuji Award for service to the Society. Few in the CSC knew of her own considerable gifts in literature and theatre.

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Her daughters, Lea and Lindsay, knew. “Fiercely imaginative, thoughtful and intelligent, she began her career as an actor and later went on to become a writer,” Lindsay wrote for the funeral program. “She wrote the novel The Lapsit Chronicles and several plays, one of which was produced at the Kawartha Summer Theatre in Lindsay, Ont. Her book was awarded best speculative fiction by the Independent Publisher’s Association, and the play was selected to mark the opening of the newly renovated theatre. Lea is a motion picture costume designer who has been nominated for three Gemini Awards. Edie also leaves her grandchildren, Charles Laszlo and Estelle Lucie.

“When we first met,” Lance recalls, “Edie was acting and did local theatre for a number of years – she was in several productions with John Candy and Gilda Radner – and had a few small parts on television. She was featured in a Kodak Christmas commercial shot by Fritz Spiess csc in the mid-1970s.

But she was a bit shy and didn’t like promoting herself, so gave up acting. She then wrote several children’s musical plays and two full-length musicals, one of which, Homebodies, was produced by Dianne Nyland for the Kawartha Summer Theatre to standing-room-only audiences – and not a dry eye in the house at the end of each performance.”

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Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

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Love It or Hate It This Time

Is Here to Stay

By Wyndham Wise

S

ometimes all it takes is one film to point the way to the future of cinema. Throughout the 115 years since the Lumière brothers first screened their films for the public that fateful night in December 1895, there have been a handful of such films.

In 1896 it was the Lumière’s L’Arrivée d’un train en gare de la Ciotat; in 1915 it was D.W. Griffith’s A Birth of a Nation, which virtually invented the language of cinema; in 1927 it was Warner Bros.’ The Jazz Singer, which introduced audiences to “the talkies”; in 1935 it was Rouben Mamoulian’s Becky Sharp, the first to use the three-strip Technicolor process; in 1941 it was Orson Welles’s Citizen Kane, which brought us deep-focus cinematography and created a new cinematic language; in 1977 it was George Lucas’s Star Wars, ushering in the modern era of computerized special effects and blockbuster filmmaking; and in 2009 it was James Cameron’s Avatar, which brought us the most sophisticated 3D feature made to date.

When it comes to 3D filmmaking, Avatar changed everything.

Although the major Hollywood studios had been preparing for the advent of 3D since 2005, and other 3D films were released earlier in 2009, such as Monsters vs. Aliens – the first to be directly produced in a stereoscopic 3D format instead of being converted into 3D after completion – no one was quite prepared for the overwhelming response to Avatar, which generated $2.8 billion worldwide.

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It’s perhaps fitting that Cameron comes from Canada, born as he was in Kapuskasing, Ontario. An inventor as well as a triple threat producer-director-writer, he helped develop the Cameron-Pace 3D camera rig used on Avatar. The NFB’s Norman McLaren was experimenting with 3D technology as early as 1950. Colin Low and Tony Ianzelo shot Transitions for Vancouver Expo 86, the first film made in IMAX 3D, and another former NFBer, Roman Kroitor, created SANDDE, the first hand-drawn stereoscopic animation system. Given our history of technical innovation, it is not surprising then that Canada is at the leading edge of 3D production and post-production.

“3D is absolutely the future of cinema, and this has been born out at the box office,” Bill White, president and CEO of the 3D Camera Company, told Canadian Cinematographer in a recent interview. “In the very near future, every single movie and every television show will be captured in 3D, and Canada has taken a real lead in this cutting-edge technology.” Nick Iannelli, vice president of customer service at Deluxe Toronto, backs up White’s claims. “The two billion return on Avatar opened everyone’s eyes and proved the public is willing to pay a premium to see 3D.” Iannelli predicts the time will soon come when 3D will be available without the annoying glasses, thus making it practical for television viewing and the gaming industry. “The technology is already available,” he says.

Deluxe has upgraded its Toronto facilities to accommodate

CSC members are on the front line of this revolution. Glen MacPherson csc, asc was the DOP on Resident Evil: Afterlife (see the September 2010 issue of Canadian Cinematographer), which used the same innovative Pace Fusion 3D system that was used on Avatar. Associate member Brian Gedge was the DOP on Saw 3D, which used the SI-3D digital camera system provided by the 3D Camera Company. For Gedge, who served as operator and 2nd unit DOP on the Saw films two through six, Saw 3D was his first experience shooting in 3D. “There are restrictions on where you can place the camera,” he told Canadian Cinematographer.

“3D is most effective when the object or person being shot is 30-to-60 feet from the camera. It works well with wide angles, but Saw was mostly handheld, which presented its own set of challenges.”

For the shoot, the 3D Camera Company used Freestyle rigs adapted for handheld shooting provided by P+S Technik of Germany. “We used the first two rigs off the line,” says White.

“They are the smallest Freestyle rigs on the market today, full of ultra prime sensors that can be used handheld or with a Steadicam.” Bill Reeve csc, one of the founding partners in the 3D Camera Company, was the stereographer on Saw, and his job, according to Gedge, “was to make sure what was being shot represented “what the eye will see.”

The advent of digital photography has made capturing and viewing 3D images simpler and more cost-effective than in previous generations. Bill White, in an interview with the Toronto Star, emphasized the importance of digital technology and its link to the recent explosion of 3D production. “With digital you can project left and right eye images through a single digital projector and lens. It’s not only easier to display, but it’s much more immersive.”

Photo courtesy of 3D Camera Company.

the surge in 3D production, and now 2D and 3D post can be done in the same theatre; 2D requires the traditional matte white screen, while 3D requires a silver screen. Deluxe has been training its staff for 3D since September 2009, and in 2010 it did the post for Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, Saw 3D and IMAX’s Hubble 3D. According to Peter Armstrong, Deluxe Toronto’s DI manager, “Once you create a 3D version of a film [known in business as the ‘hero version’], a 2D version can easily be made,” so it’s simple economics to shoot in 3D, especially since digital technology has made doing so much less complicated and cinemas are installing digital 3D projectors at a furious pace.

3D is now “12 to 15 per cent” of Deluxe’s business according to Iannelli, and he is not assuming it to be a passing fad like it was when Hollywood studios experimented with 3D films back in the 1950s. Today, “Deluxe is taking 3D very seriously,” he says.

P+S Technik Freestyle rig used on Saw 3D.

the leap from movie screens to laptops, televisions, gaming consoles and cellphones. Ali Kazimi, a filmmaker and professor of film studies at York, who is a member of FLIC, says a lot of work lies ahead. “We really don’t know at this stage what are the true possibilities of 3D, but it’s a huge business opportunity for Toronto. The city is becoming the hub of 3D activity.”

Bill White says 3D business has been good in 2010 and he expects it to get even better in 2011. The 3D Camera Company has been active with Stephen Low’s production company, which made Ultimate Wave Tahiti 3D, now showing at Toronto’s CN Tower, and partnered with the Parsad Group, India’s largest equipment supply company, providing rigs for The Haunted, the first major horror film shot in India in 3D. 3D still has its detractors. The influential film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert, wrote recently: “3D is a waste of a perfectly good dimension. Hollywood’s current crazy stampede toward it is suicidal. It adds nothing essential to the movie going experience. It’s driven largely to sell expensive projection equipment and add a $5 to $7.50 surcharge on already expensive movie tickets.”

But if the projected industry figures are accurate, no less than 100 3D movies are scheduled for release over the next two years. Love it or hate it, this time 3D is here to stay.

Recently the 3D Camera Company partnered with Cinespace Film Studios and York University in a venture called 3D FLIC – Film Innovation Consortium. It received $1.4 million from the Ontario Media Development Corporation for stereoscopic film research. The two-year project combines the talents of visual scientists at York with filmmakers and suppliers to develop lessons learned in the lab to cultivate local production capacity and filmmaking expertise as 3D gets ready to make Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

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An Exclusive Interview with

David Moxness csc

DOP on the Miniseries The Kennedys

By Betty Palik, special to Canadian Cinematographer

T

he Kennedys is an eight-hour miniseries chronicling the lives of the famous Kennedy family and the tragedies they suffered. The filming took place in Toronto and the series will air on History in the U.S. and the History Network in Canada, March 2011. It stars Greg Kinnear as John Kennedy, Barry Pepper as Bobby Kennedy, Katie Holmes as Jackie Kennedy, Kristin Booth as Bobby’s wife, Ethel, and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy Sr., among others. Jon Cassar directed The Kennedys for Muse Entertainment, and the DOP was David ‘Moxy’ Moxness csc. His A-camera operator was Michael Carella.

Betty Palik conducted the following on-set interview with the DOP exclusively for Canadian Cinematographer.

BP What attracted you to the script?

DM The mood of the series is realistic because the story and the characters are so strong. It’s a real character piece. Overly stylized work would have taken away from the heart and soul of the story.

I was trying to shoot the emotion of every scene. There were a lot of dramatic scenes with great dialogue and the subject matter was wonderful. The emotion of each scene certainly complemented that, so we chose a naturalistic approach, although I kept the grandeur. They were a very opulent family, so there was lots of brass, chandeliers, crystal and big wooden environments of the era. We were trying to shoot in a very classic way and draw those environments into the shoot.

BP When you say naturalistic, what does that involve? What kind of lighting effects?

DM It’s a fascinating piece. The Kennedys are such an iconic American family and an amazing part of U.S. history. There have been other projects on the Kennedys before, but what I really liked about this script was that it went into the early history of their father Joe Sr. It was his back story that I wasn’t aware of. I think a lot of people in our generation know of Bobby, Jack and Teddy – the assassinations and everything – but not about their early history. I was really attracted to that backbone of the story we were telling.

DM A naturalist or realistic lighting plot for me is to treat each environment, as it would be found naturally. The houses they were in, the offices – this means treating the scene as your eyes would see it, as if you were to walk in at any given point during the night or day. It helps to think about the environment as another character.

BP Was there a mood you were trying to evoke?

DM The core story takes place between November 1960 and June 1968 [from Jack’s election as President to Bobby’s assassination in

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BP You used different lighting for the 1920s and 1930s flashbacks.

What overall dramatic effects were you trying to achieve?

Photo by Peter Stranks for Muse Entertainment

Los Angeles]. We have a lot of flashbacks setting up the backstory and our characters – various scenes playing into the present-day story. So for our 1960s core story, I went very neutral. Neutral skin tones, saturating the reds a little bit. The 1960s were vibrant that way; red was coming into play in automobiles, for example.

Thus I went with a neutral palette, but increasing the saturation a little bit. I approached the flashbacks in the 1930s and 1940s with warmer tones and used a little antique suede on the cameras.

The overall effect was warmer lights through the windows, edges and backlights. I also went for slightly more yellowy gold colour versus the red tone, which I think looks great.

We chose early on not to select an effect to indicate the flashbacks, because it happens quite often. I think it would have taken away from the presence of the story and the scenes. You’ll know exactly what is happening as soon as the dialog kicks in. That was my approach overall to the colour palatte of the show. We enhanced that a little bit, with some de-saturation for some of the flashbacks.

BP What about the even earlier flashbacks, like when Joe Sr. went to Harvard?

From the left, Jordan Samuel, head make-up, director Jon Cassar, DOP David Moxness csc and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy Sr.

DM We had some flashbacks that went to Joe as a young boy, in the early 1900s. On this palatte I went to the yellow gold and slightly de-saturating the overall tone; however, it was less vibrant in terms of colour and a bit dusty, if you were to give it a name.

That was our earliest look in the picture. I had some nice tone contrast without really laying over something heavy that would take away from the script.

BP How many cameras did you use?

DM Not so much in terms of specific stylized lighting; again, I wanted that to be very natural as it would have been on the day.

DM We carried two cameras, an A and B camera. We shot two cameras quite often, as it allowed us to get complimentary coverage. When we incorporated two cameras, the performers didn’t have to do as many takes. I have a bit of a theory about shooting two cameras, especially with this project. You get a completely different emotion through the camera when different angles are captured at the same time, versus setting up each specifically for a camera angle. There were times when a set or location or the lighting for the performers wasn’t desirable for two cameras, but for the most part we used two cameras.

BP Did you use any filters to affect all this?

BP How did your camera move?

DM I used very little colour filtration on the camera overall, with the exception of the exteriors for the earlier flashbacks. I used antique suede just to shift the overall image slightly and at the same time mixing some colour with the lights, using incandescent fixtures in conjunction, to give warmer backlight and edges.

DM For the camera movement, we used mostly the dolly. We used very little handheld. A few sequences we used handheld because we felt it achieved the right emotion and complemented the scene. We had a Steadicam with our camera package full time.

One of our guys was an excellent steadicam operator. It allowed us to do long shots down corridors and down staircases if needed, but for the most part it was very fluid camera movement.

BP With the two assassinations, did you use any special lighting?

BP Were there any special effects used?

DM Not really. We used some flashbulb effects to suggest offcamera photographers. Photographers followed the Kennedys everywhere they went during the election campaigns and elsewhere, but other than some ‘flashbulb effects,’ I didn’t use any real specific lighting techniques or effects.

BP What kind of camera and lenses did you use?

DM We used the Sony F35 HD. It’s a high-end, high-quality digital camera and the lenses were by Panavision. It was a basic camera package – all 35-mm lenses and captured with the Sony F35.

BP Were there any scenes that were a challenge to shoot?

DM The challenge for me, besides capturing the emotion of each scene and complementing the dialogue with the performers, was in trying to incorporate the sets and locations as much as I could. They were just beautiful sets and fantastic locations, almost like another character. They really put us in the world of the American royal family in many ways. At the same time, I was conscious of cutting my backgrounds in terms of light levels, so the characters popped off the screen. Maybe the biggest challenge was the Oval Office, because it’s a round white room and to separate our characters there was a bit of a challenge.

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BP Were there any features in the Oval Office that you concentrated on with your lighting or camera?

DM We had a lot of reference photos that photographers had taken over the years. We tried to recreate some of those images, not to a tee, but just in terms of the master shot. There were a number of situations in which we were trying to recreate a very iconic image. The Oval Office really stands out because that’s where we had the most classic photos from the big magazines, Time and Life. There were also some great photos of the Kennedy’s home in Hyannisport. We worked very hard to try and create matching angles and images there. I think it puts the audience right into the story.

BP Has there been one cinematographer that was the greatest influence on you?

DM There has been so many. Certainly Rene Ohashi has been a friend and mentor of mine for years. His approach to things is beautiful and emotional. Fred Murphy is another cameraman I really like. He is eclectic and never gets pigeonholed. It’s hard sometimes not to be pigeonholed. For me, this is a true artist,

one who can really do what is required for the particular piece for which they’ve been hired. I try to stay open and explore new things. I’m never against taking on new challenges, so I look forward to working with cameramen who are able to do that.

BP Filmmaking has changed a lot just in the past four years. How has that affected you?

DM Filmmaking has changed a lot with the digital revolution, and that has come with its fair share of challenges because it’s learning new film stock in a way. I say it’s unfair to directly compare film with digital capture, as they are two different media. If you paint on plywood as opposed to another medium, it could be the same picture but you’d get a completely different impact or feeling. I think that’s the same in our world.

Aesthetics aside, film is archival and digital is not really archival because it constantly changes as the technology evolves. Film is totally archival. Hundreds of years later, and you can transfer it to any medium at any point. The biggest frustration for me, and I find it more and more, is that there are fewer discussions about what the capture form will be, film or digital, or what cameras will be used. If I were shooting with film, there would be certain film stocks that wouldn’t be on my radar for the same reason; they have their own characteristics and that’s why there’s more than one film stock available. I think this has been a major challenge for many cinematographers over the years, less discussion on the right device to portray what you are shooting. For me, it’s important to support the story and the piece. It makes a big difference.

BP Was there discussion to shoot The Kennedys on 35 mm and transferring to digital?

Photo by Peter Stranks for Muse Entertainment

DM Yes, we had early discussions as to which format we would use. I think film was the first choice for a lot of people; however, it didn’t win out for various reasons. We’ve filmed digitally, so it was just a matter of finding the best camera that worked for us.

In pre-production, we did some camera testing. We tested two cameras, the Sony F35, which we ended up shooting with, and the Red. The tests were really to see which camera was going to give us the right look and feel for our picture, and we chose the Sony. I felt the colour rendition and the pallet direction we were taking worked well with the Sony. Because Rocco Matteo, the production designer, and Christopher Hargadon, the costume designer, had a lot of discussions as to what the palatte would be, the decision on the camera had to complement their work. I felt the Sony was also a little softer in shadows and the highlights.

The Red has a sharpened edge, where for this story I wanted a softer curve, so the shadows and highlights rolled off.

BP Which actors made a special impression on you?

Left to right: DOP David Moxness csc with director Jon Cassar on the set of The Kennedys, shot in Toronto.

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DM All the actors on the Kennedys were fantastic; every single one of them. It was a real treat working with such an amazing and dedicated cast. It was phenomenal to see the life they brought to these characters. Certainly Tom Wilkinson was amazing to work with; the emotion in his eyes and how he captured and portrayed Joe Sr. was a delight to watch.

A Master of All Trades

Writer

Director

Producer

Cinematographer

Peter Rowe csc

By Wyndham Wise

T

he multi - talented Peter Rowe csc has been in the business of making films and television in Canada since the mid-1960s when he was a student at McMaster University. He worked on the films of Allan King and with legendary cinematographer Richard Leiterman csc. As a director, he helmed films such as Neon Palace, Horse Latitudes, Lost! and Treasure Island. He directed and wrote for the CBC series For the Record and countless others, including African Skies, E.N.G., The Adventures of the Black Stallion, My Life As a Dog and Ready or Not. His documentaries include Joshua Slocum: New World Columbus, Samuel Cunard: Bridging the Atlantic and Popcorn with Maple Syrup: Film in Canada from Ed to Zed. His most recent series, Angry Planet, which he co-produced, wrote, directed and shot, has just wrapped after three seasons and now he is planning another called Alien Invaders!

Peter Rowe has twice been nominated by the DGC for outstanding achievement in documentary, for Joshua Slocum and Samuel Cunard, and he received a Gemini Award nomination for directing E.N.G. and a Genie Award nomination for his script on Lost! In 2010 he received the CSC Lifestyle/Reality Cinematography Award for his work on Angry Planet. He took time out from his busy schedule to speak to Canadian Cinematographer from his home in Mississauga in November.

WW When and where were you born?

PR Winnipeg, 1947.

WW At an early age, were you interested in photography, or did that come in high school?

PR The first camera I received was a Kodak Hawkeye Brownie. I began taking still photographs, and I remember the first photo essay I did was on the first Credit River kayaking race. A group of European immigrants had organized this race down the Credit River, and I took photographs of that. A couple of years later I got my first film camera, which was a Keystone 8-mm, and the first film I tried to make was an essay about Yonge Street at night – black and white with no sound. At the same time I became interested in live theatre. I did some acting as a kid at the old Eaton Auditorium at College and Yonge and I attended Burnhamthorpe Collegiate in Etobicoke [a suburb of Toronto].

My geography teacher was Elwy Yost, who later became the host of TVO’s long-running Saturday Night at the Movies. He directed the school’s theatre program, and I became involved with the stage crew.

Later, during my summers, I worked in professional theatre as a lighting guy and assistant stage manager. The first was the Village Playhouse in Toronto, which was located in the Gerrard Street village; the second summer I went down to the States to work in the oldest summer stock theatre in North America in Skowhegan, Maine, where I was working with old Hollywood and television actors such as Cesar Romero and John Forsythe; and the third summer I worked with the Straw Hat Players in Port Carling, Ontario. After graduating from high school, I was accepted at McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ontario.

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Photo courtesy of Peter Rowe Productions

Angry Planet: “I certainly enjoy it when filmmaking takes me to new parts of the world and I get to meet new people and see new places.” Peter Rowe csc in Neko Habour, Antarctica.

WW What year was that?

PR My first year at McMaster was1965. When I got there, I left theatre behind and began writing for the campus newspaper as a reporter and film critic. Instead of going to classes, I would spend my time in the movie houses in Hamilton watching all the latest films from Europe – Fellini, Godard and Antonioni – and from Hollywood, Mike Nichols and Arthur Penn, people like that. From that experience, I met a group of people who wanted to make films, and we became interested in what was happening in New York with the Andy Warhol crowd and Jonas Mekas. We invited Warhol up to Hamilton with what he called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, which was essentially the group that later formed the Velet Underground – Nico, Lou Reed and John Cage. I was delegated to get them across the border, and for some not very surprising reasons this proved to be a great hassle.

I remember one night driving to every border crossing between Buffalo and Queenston. Eventually I got them across, and they performed. Inspired by all this, we created the McMaster Film Board in 1966.

Out of my McMaster experience, I was able to make my first film, Buffalo Airport Visions, which was inspired by my efforts bringing Andy Warhol’s people across the border. The film caught the imagination of certain people, and I was able to parlay it into a position at the CBC the next summer. That was my first paying job in the business; I was an assistant projectionist

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down at 22 Front Street. In those days, all the CBC editors and cameramen and the like worked out of the Front Street offices.

I rapidly realized, however, working for the CBC, it would take me forever to move up to projectionist. So I moved on, and using Buffalo Airport Visions as my calling card, I met Allan King.

He had set up Allan King Associates in Toronto, and he still had offices in London, England.

I began to work in the Toronto office as an assistant cameraman to Richard Leiterman, and an assistant editor on films like A Married Couple and Come on Children. I worked briefly out of the London office and assisted on a film about the 1970 rock festival on the Isle of Wight, which was Jimi Hendrix’s last performance before he died. I also assisted Leiterman on the 1969 Toronto rock and roll revival film for D.A. Pennebaker, which became known as Sweet Toronto. It was the first performance by John Lennon apart from the Beatles. He was there with the Plastic Ono Band, featuring Eric Clapton, Yoko and Klaus Voormann. What a great concert that was!

While working with Allan, I got involved with the Canadian Film Development Corporation [CFDC, now Telefilm Canada], which had just come into being. There I met a young lawyer, Chalmers Adams, and I managed to secure funding for my first feature. It was the first monies to be handed out by the CFDC. Don Shebib also received funding for Goin’ down the Road.

Don and I shared a camera. Richard shot Don’s film and a

Right Hook: A Tall Tail is about the world of fly-fishing. Rowe won half-an-ounce of gold nuggets at the Dawson Film Festival for the short.

cameraman named Jim Lewis shot mine, which was called Neon Palace. At the same time David Cronenberg was shooting his first mini-feature, Stereo, and we shared the same Movieola for editing. Because I had more money then him in those days, I got to use it in the daytime and he used it at night. I spent the next year putting the rest of the money together and found distribution with a company called Film Canada. It played about three weeks in Toronto and at a few festivals, and it won an Etrog at the Canadian Film Awards. (Now, of course, it’s known as the Genie). For years the film played a midnight screening at the old Roxy Theatre on the Danforth, then it ran on CityTV, SuperChannel and the like.

WW I see you directed something for the CBC called Horse Latitudes. How did that film come about? Did you shoot that one?

PR That was about five years later. I got very interested in films set on the ocean with maritime themes. Horse Latitudes was based on a true story about an around-the-world sailing race out of England and one of the contestants who realized he couldn’t make it, so he faked his positions while sailing around in circles in the South Atlantic. He actually drove himself crazy and committed suicide by jumping overboard. The boat kept sailing for a couple of months until it was finally discovered. It was a story about madness, fakery and the ocean, and I managed to get Gordon Pinsent to play the lead and Richard Leiterman

to shoot it. It played on CBC and won a couple of awards for Gordon and myself.

WW Was that your first film shot on the water?

PR Yes, and I went on to make a number of others. Also I became interested in shooting documentaries about remote islands around the world. I made a film about Haiti, and a few years later I took an Arri BL to the islands of Micronesia in the South Pacific – Ponape, Saipan and Truk Lagoon. I got involved with Lorne Greene with that film, and he did the narration. It was called Micronesia: The Winds of Change. Through my relationship with Greene I began to shoot underwater footage for his series The New Wilderness.

WW I would like you to talk about the films you made for the CBC series For the Record.

PR Final Edition, which I directed, was about the death of newspapers. It won the award for best television show at the Banff TV Festival. Then I directed another that I got Deepa Mehta [Editor’s note: the future Oscar-nominated director of Water and many other films] to star in. It was shot and set in Vancouver.

It was about racism and called Reasonable Force. The third one I worked on, this time as second-unit director and co-writer, with Peter Pearson, who directed, was called The Tar Sands. That one was quite the cause célèbre because Peter Lougheed, the premier of Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

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Popcorn with Maple Syrup: Film in Canada from Eh to Zed, a lighthearted look at the history of Canadian cinema made with Richard Leiterman csc.

Alberta, sued the CBC and won his case, so it was not shown for some time. But it eventually was. It was about the controversial awarding of the contact to Syncrude to develop the Albertan tar sands at Fort McMurray. The last one I directed for For the Record was Takeover, about the takeover of an Albertan oil and cattle company, starring John Ireland, the Oscar-winning Hollywood actor born in Vancouver, and Michael Hogan. That was spun off into a miniseries called Vanderberg with Michael, his wife Susan Hogan, Jan Rubes and Jennifer Dale. I directed the first three episodes.

WW You also worked on a series called Tales of the Klondike.

PR We had Orson Welles narrating it, and I directed the pilot episode, which was called The One Thousand Dozen, based on a short story by Jack London about a fellow who took a thousand dozen eggs from Seattle to Dawson to try and make his fortune during the gold rush. I have returned several times since then to film in the Yukon. I love it up there.

After that, I really had a passion for getting a feature going, and I bought the rights to a book called Lost! It was the story of an extremely radical Christian character who wanted to do

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missionary work in Costa Rica, and he chose to sail down there from Vancouver on a home-built trimaran with the help of his brother and his brother’s wife. Shortly after leaving Vancouver, the trimaran flipped upside down, and drifted across the ocean, almost to Hawaii. It was really a film about obsessive religion.

The three were on this boat and the Christian character threw most of what they had to survive overboard. He saw his predicament as a test from God. It was a pretty wild story, and I wrote it and got some interest from the CBC for development.

But during the early to mid-1980s there was a real downturn in the industry. The tax-shelter financing had collapsed and the Broadcast Fund was not yet in place, so I took off for a couple of years to become a charter boat skipper in The Bahamas.

However, I stayed in touch with the CBC and eventually the CFDC, now Telefilm Canada, launched the Broadcast Fund for television productions and I was back in business. I got Don Wilder as my cameraman, put the deal together with the CBC, and assembled a great cast – Kenneth Welsh as the religious character, Michael Hogan as his brother and Helen Shaver.

We filmed it mostly in Ontario with an upside down boat in a wave tank. We also filmed in Vancouver and The Bahamas.

Lost! received theatrical distribution through Simcom, Peter

Simpson’s company, and played on the CBC. When it did, it had an audience of over three million over three runs, a number you would never be able to get today due to the splintering of the audience with cable and the like.

I developed a relationship with Peter Simpson, and he hired me a few years later to do the water effects on a film he was producing called Salt Water Moose, which was being shot on the East Coast with Timothy Dalton and Lolita Davidovich. I came in to do all the marine effects for the climatic sequences of a storm at sea.

After that I moved to Los Angeles for four years and directed two features down there, one was called Personal Exemptions with Nanette Fabray, and the other was Take Two with Frank Stallone, the brother of Sly. Eventually I came back to Toronto because there was a lot of new activity in television production, and I directed episodes of one of the best of that time, E.N.G. It had a great ensemble cast, including Art Hindle and Sara Botsford, and great scripts. I directed eight of those, and I directed episodes of various children’s series such as Ready or Not, The Adventures of the Black Stallion, Katts and Dog, Lassie and others.

Then I got the opportunity to go to South Africa to shoot a series called African Skies. We went to Johannesburg and shot that one for two seasons. It was a Canadian-American-German coproduction starring Catherine Bach (the original Daisy Duke from the Dukes of Hazzard) and Robert Mitchum. After that, I moved on to make some films in Montreal, including a television movie for Cinar, PBS and NHK called The Best Bad Thing.

WW You also directed a feature version of Treasure Island in 1997 with Jack Palance as Long John Silver. Where was that one filmed?

PR It was shot on the Isle of Man over one summer. We didn’t have a huge amount of money, but enough to hire Palance and we had Patrick Bergin as Billy Bones and a young Kevin Zegers as Jim Hawkins. We had a French-Canadian crew, and Marc Charlebois was the DOP, who did a great job on it.

WW How was it working with a Hollywood legend such as Palance?

PR Ex-Hollywood tough guy, ex-boxer, and a very mercurial person – one day he was your best friend, the next he was pretty tough to work with. I can’t tell you all the stories, it would take too long; a very moody guy, but when it came down to it, he performed. He was 83 at the time and it was one of his last films.

He had to perform much of the time with a wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder on a rocking pirate ship on the Irish Sea. And he pulled it off. I had a lot of respect for him. It was great to work with him and this 13-year-old kid, Kevin Zegers, who has gone on to have a great career. It was great fun to go off and play pirate for the summer.

WW In the early part of this decade you made a series of documentaries that were based on stories set on the ocean: Song of the Sea Otter, Joshua Slocum: New World Columbus, Samuel Cunard: Bridging the Atlantic and Right Hook: A Tall Tail. Can you tell me a little about these films?

PR I had become known as the guy who could shoot on water and I’ve always believed that the paranoia about shooting on the water is somewhat unwarranted. If you know the ocean and you know what you are doing, you can make it work, and if you’re a land lubber – not comfortable on water – then it’s probably not going to turn out too well. The first one, Song of the Sea Otter, was about the relationship between the sea otters and the First Nations people of the West Coast. I shot that one off Vancouver Island for Canadian Geographic and the Discovery Channel. That was followed by another documentary, Sharks of the Great White North, and then I moved on to two biographies for the History Channel and Alliance. The first one being about the first man to sail solo around the world, Joshua Slocum, who came from Nova Scotia. And the second one was about another Nova Scotian, Samuel Cunard, who began trans-Atlantic steamship travel and founded the Cunard Line.

We filmed on the Queen Elizabeth II, around Nova Scotia, and in Liverpool, England. And then I shot a comic short for the National Film Board and Bravo! called Right Hook: A Tall Tail set in the world of fly fishing. I won a half-an-ounce of gold nuggets from the Dawson Film Festival for that one, and the audience award at the Sydney Film Festival.

I began teaching film production at Sheridan College, in Oakville, Ontario, and once again worked with Richard Leiterman, who was also teaching at Sheridan at the same time.

We made a documentary together, Popcorn with Maple Syrup: Film in Canada from Eh to Zed, which is a light-hearted feature documentary about Canadian film history. That was made for the CBC. Richard unfortunately died a year later. Then I went on to write, produce and direct a documentary on the Falun Gong movement in China.

WW How did you become interested in the Falun Gong?

PR When I was shooting those films in Vancouver, I would drive down Granville Street and see protesters outside the Chinese Consulate. Every time I passed, there would be a peaceful group of Falun Gong protesters. I became curious about this group and met several of them in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa. I thought it was an outrageous story of modern-day persecution of this totally benign self-help group by the Chinese government, which saw them as a threat to the state and the role of the Communist Party in Chinese society. I was able to obtain smuggled footage out of China, but it would have been impossible for me to go there and shoot. I did manage to record some remarkable stories, including the claim that Chinese officials were harvesting organs of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. They were executed and their body parts removed for transplant, mostly for sale to rich Party members.

Beyond the Wall: The Persecution of the Falun Gong was set for broadcast on the CBC, when, five hours before the broadcast, I received a phone call from the head of documentaries and was told the CBC was not going to show the film. They told me something had come up in Pakistan, and they were re-running a documentary on Pakistan instead. I found this a little suspect, so I enlisted the help of some journalists I knew in town.

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PR I got interested in making a film about a storm chaser named George Kourounis and took it to the Outdoor Life Network.

They came back and asked for a six-part series. So I rewrote it as a series, and then they asked for 13. We filmed all over the world for a year, and it went over well. I ended up shooting 39 half-hours over three seasons. We went into deep caves in Kenya and Mexico, chased tornadoes across the American Midwest, sailed around Cape Horn, got to Antarctica and crossed Baffin Island in mid-winter by dogsled. I did all the cinematography myself and shot it in HD. George did the video diary and point-of-view stuff, and I produced and directed all 39 episodes. We have quite a collection of filmic adventures from around the world, and it was one of the most enjoyable shooting experiences I have ever had. That has now run its course, and I’m developing a new series to be called Alien Invaders! It’s about invasive animal species around the world, such as the Asian carp heading towards the Great Lakes, the killer bees in Texas, which migrated up from Brazil, and pythons in the Florida Everglades. I’m currently in the process of casting the hosts of the show and I’ll be shooting the pilot this winter. Right now I’m planning to shoot in 3D, using the new Panasonic 3D camera. It’s not confirmed just yet, but that’s the plan.

WW Looking back over your long career, what is your most satisfying project?

Peter Worthington, of the Toronto Sun, found out that the CBC had received a call from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa and demanded the film not be shown. This caused all sorts of controversy as the story hit the papers, and I was receiving phone calls from journalists around the world.

The CBC was being inundated as well, and they agreed to show the film if I would agree to certain cuts. I decided it was better to show it then it not be shown at all, so I agreed. Then they wanted even more cuts. I wouldn’t do that, but they went ahead anyway and it was finally shown. By then the whole incident had received plenty of publicity, and in a hilarious aside, Harry Shearer, who voices newsman Kent Brockman on The Simpsons and has his own radio show down in Los Angeles, caught wind of the story and reported on it. So, Kent Brockman reported the story – does it get any better than that?

WW Can we talk about your most recent project, the series Angry Planet, which you wrote about for Canadian Cinematographer in the December 2009 issue?

PR I certainly enjoy it when filmmaking takes me to new parts of the world and I get to meet new people and see new places.

Certainly Angry Planet was that type of project, and so was African Skies and Treasure Island. Those two series and that one feature have been the highlights so far. And I’ll tell you another thing I did that was a ball. Four years ago, Cineflix hired me to play Hunter Thompson for its series Final 24; it was a riot getting back on the other side of the camera.

A lot of filmmakers from my generation will tell you that they are nostalgic about shooting on film for movie theatres, but I don’t share that nostalgia. I embrace the new technology and think that all the new types of media open up opportunities for filmmakers.

WW When did you become a member of the CSC? PR Actually, quite recently. For years I’ve been known more as a director rather than a cinematographer, so it was only three years ago that I joined as a full member. I love being a member.

It’s a great organization and I was very honoured to receive a CSC Award last year and take great pride in being a member of the CSC.

Selected Filmography: Buffalo Airport Visions 1968 (d/ph); Neon Palace 1971 (co-p/d/sc/co-ed, TV); The Tar Sands 1976 (co-sc, TV); Final Edition 1981 (d, TV); Reasonable Force 1983 (d, TV); Lost! 1986 (p/d/sc); Personal Exemptions 1987 (d); Take Two 1988 (d); E.N.G. 1991 (d, series); African Skies 1992–94 (d/sc, series); The Best Bad Thing 1997 (d, TV); Treasure Island 1999 (d/sc); Pit Pony 1999 (d, series); Song of a Sea Otter 2000 (d, TV); Joshua Slocum: New World Columbus 2000 (d/sc, TV); Samuel Cunard: Bridging the Atlantic 2002 (d/sc, TV); Right Hook: A Tall Tail 2004 (p/d/sc/ed); Popcorn with Maple Syrup: Film in Canada from Eh to Zed 2004 (p/d/sc, TV); Beyond the Wall: The Persecution of the Falun Gong 2007 (p/d/sc, TV); Angry Planet 2007–10 (co-p/d/ph, series).

20 • Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011

Thomas M. Harting csc Pauline R. Heaton csc Brian Hebb csc David Herrington csc Karl Herrmann csc Kenneth A. Hewlett csc Robert Holmes csc John Holosko csc George Hosek csc Colin Hoult csc Donald Hunter csc Mark Irwin csc, asc James Jeffrey csc Pierre Jodoin csc Martin Julian csc Norayr Kasper csc Glen Keenan csc Ian Kerr csc Jan E. Kiesser csc, asc Alar Kivilo csc, asc Douglas Koch csc Charles D. Konowal csc Ken Krawczyk csc Alwyn J. Kumst csc Jean-Claude Labrecque csc Serge Ladouceur csc George Lajtai csc Marc Laliberté Else csc Barry Lank csc Philippe Lavalette csc Allan Leader csc John Lesavage csc Henry Less csc Pierre Letarte csc Antonin Lhotsky csc Philip Linzey csc J.P. Locherer csc Larry Lynn csc Dylan Macleod csc Bernie MacNeil csc Glen MacPherson csc, asc Shawn Maher csc David A. Makin csc Adam Marsden csc Donald M. McCuaig csc, asc Robert B. McLachlan csc, asc Ryan McMaster csc Michael McMurray csc Stephen F. McNutt csc, asc Simon Mestel csc Alastair Meux csc Gregory D. Middleton csc C. Kim Miles csc Gordon Miller csc Robin S. Miller csc Paul Mitchnick csc Luc Montpellier csc Rhett Morita csc David Moxness csc Douglas Munro csc Kent Nason csc Mitchell T. Ness csc Robert C. New csc Stefan Nitoslawski csc

Danny Nowak csc Rene Ohashi csc, asc Harald K. Ortenburger csc Gerald Packer csc Barry Parrell csc Brian Pearson csc David Perrault csc Barry F. Peterson 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 Brenton Spencer 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 Kelly John Wolfert csc Bill C.P. Wong csc Kevin C.W. Wong csc Bruce Worrall csc Craig Wrobleski csc Yuri Yakubiw csc Ellie Yonova csc

CSC MEMBERS

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 Neil Cervin csc Henry Chan csc Marc Charlebois csc Rodney Charters csc, asc Damir I. Chytil csc Jericca Cleland 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 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 Gamal El-Boushi csc, asc 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 Michael Grippo csc Manfred Guthe csc D. Gregor Hagey csc

CSC ASSOCIATE MEMBERS Joshua Allen Don Armstrong Vince Arvidson John W. Bailey Douglas Baird Kenneth Walter Balys Maya Bankovic David Battistella Gregory Bennett Guy 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 César 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 Andreas Evdemon Jay Ferguson Andrew Forbes Richard Fox Joshua Fraiman Kevin A. Fraser Brian Gedge Rion Gonzales Dave Gordon Vladimir Gosaric Daniel Grant Jeffrey Hanley David M.J. Hodge

Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011 •

21

CSC MEMBERS

John Hodgson James D. Holloway Suave Hupa George Hupka David Johns Jorma Kantola Ali Kazimi Ernie Kestler Shannon Kohli Douglas John Kropla Charles Lavack Jim Laverdiere Robin Lawless soc Byung-Ho Lee Philip Letourneau James Lewis John V. Lindsay Matthew J. Lloyd Dave Luxton Robert Macdonald Mario Anthony Madau Jeff Maher Alfonso Maiorana Roy Marques Kelly Mason Andris D. Matiss Paul McCool Patrick McLaughlin Gabriel Medina Tony Meerakker Tony Merzetti Bentley Miller Paul Mockler Sarah Moffat Robin Lee Morgan Helmfried Muller Brian Charles Murphy Keith Murphy Christopher M. Oben Eric Oh Alexandre M. Oktan Ted Parkes Deborah Parks Pavel “Pasha” Patriki Rick Perotto Allan Piil Scott Plante

VANCOUVER CALGARY VANCOUVER CALGARY 604-527-7262 403-246-7267 604-527-7262

403-246-7267

Ryan A. Randall Cathy Robertson Peter Rosenfeld Don Roussel Steve Sanguedolce Christopher Sargent Andrew W. Scholotiuk Ian Scott Neil Scott Neil Seale Wayne Sheldon Simon Shohet Sarorn Ron Sim Barry E. Springgay Paul Steinberg Rob Stewart Marc Stone Michael Strange Joseph G. Sunday phd Peter Sweeney Aaron Szimanski Peter Szperling André Paul Therrien George (Sandy) Thomson John Thronberg Ian Toews John Walsh Lloyd Walton Glenn C. Warner Douglas H. Watson Roger Williams Richard Wilmot Peter Wayne Wiltshire Carolyn Wong Dave Woodside Peter Wunstorf asc Xiao Chen Yu Steven Zajaczkiwsky CSC AFFILIATE MEMBERS Donald G. Angus Derek Archibald Robin Bain Iain Alexander Baird Peter Battistone Russell Bell

Jacques F. Bernier Tyson Burger Gordon A. Burkell Joseph Calabrese Arnold Caylakyan Bernard Chartouni Johnny Yan Chen Brent J. Craig Brad Creasser Colin Davis Dominika Dittwald Tony Edgar Zachary Finkelstein Randy French Richard Gira James D. Hardie Stephen Hargreaves Bruce William Harper John Richard Hergel BA CD Adam Christopher Hickman Perry Hoffmann Brad Hruboska Marcel D. Janisse Michael Jasen Rick Kearney Matthew Casey Kennedy 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 Muñoz Kar Wai Ng Peter Osborne Andrew Oxley Gino Papineau Graeme Parcher Kalpesh Patel Greg Petrigo Craig Pew Douglas B. Pruss Lem Ristsoo Susan Saranchuk Chirayouth Jim Saysana James Scott Alexey Sikorsky Brad Smith Kyryll Sobolev Michael Soos Gillian Stokvis-Hauer Steve Thorpe Steven Tsushima Paula Tymchuk Anton van Rooyen

TORONTO HALIFAX TORONTO HALIFAX 416-444-7000 902-404-3630 416-444-7000

22 • Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011

902-404-3630

Trevor J. Wiens Irene Sweeney Willis Ridvan Yavuz CSC 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 David A. De Volpi csc Kelly Duncan csc, dgc Glen Ferrier John C. Foster csc Leonard Gilday csc John Goldi csc Kenneth W. Gregg csc John B. Griffin csc Edward Higginson csc Brian Holmes csc Brian Hosking Joan Hutton csc Douglas Kiefer csc Rudolf Kovanic csc Les Krizsan csc Naohiko Kurita csc Harry Lake csc Peter C. Luxford csc Duncan MacFarlane csc Harry Makin csc Douglas A. McKay csc Donald James McMillan csc Jim Mercer csc Roger Moride csc George Morita csc Wilhelm E. Nassau Ron Orieux csc Dean Peterson csc Roland K. Pirker Norman Quick csc Roger Racine csc Robert G. Saad csc Josef Seckeresh csc Michael S. Smith John Stoneman csc Kirk Tougas Y. Robert Tymstra Walter Wasik csc Ron Wegoda csc James A. Wright Keith Young CSC HONOURARY MEMBERS Roberta Bondar Vi Crone Graeme Ferguson Wilson Markle

indicates demo reel online, www.csc.ca

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. Contact: Alan J. Crimi, Panavision Canada Corp. at 416-258-7239, shipping, receiving and client services at 416-444-7000 or 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 at 604-730-0860, 416-698-4482 or peter@peterbenison.com.

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Portable Gel Bin great for studio or location use, holds 24 Rosco or Lee colour correction, diffusion, reflective, scrim, etc., rolls outer dimensions measure 17.5x24x 63 inches, not including wheels and sturdy wooden construction, painted black, bottom and back wheels, side handles hinged front & top, locks for added safety, handy reference chart, $300 obo; Darkroom Safety Lights popular Model D type, accepts 10x12 inches safelight filters (possibly included, depending which kind you’re looking for), takes 7½-, 15- or 25-watt bulb, excellent condition, $50 each. Contact: Andrew at dp@andrewwatt.com.

Panasonic AJ-HDX900 Camera package: One DOP owner, for sale or rent, regular Panasonic service. Includes viewfinder, microphone, portabrace and raincover, $13,900 obo. Canon 16eX7.7 HD lens, mint, $8,000. Canon HJ11x4.7Birse HD WA lens, regular Canon service, $15,000. Panasonic 8.5-inch HD monitor with portabrace, $3,000. Sony LMD 9050 9-inch HD field monitor with portabrace, $1,500. Panasonic 17-inch LCD monitor with portabrace and screen protector, $1,200. Sachtler video 18 with carbon legs and soft case, $5,000. Petroff 4x5 mattebox three stages, top and side flaps, tons of adapter rings, 4x4, 4x5.65, 4x6 filter trays, $1,500. Sennheiser evolution 100 wireless mic kit with wireless lav and wireless handheld mics and receiver, mint, $750.

Transvideo multi-channel video transmitter, $1,150 – Sold. Single chanal 30 video transmitter, $200. Camos portable wireless “director’s monitor” with v-lock plate, $300 – Sold. Lilliput wireless monitor with v-lock plate, $150. Contact: Dave Woodside at 416.553.3356 or davidwoodside@rogers.com.

Briese 77 Light, full kit, including Tungsten and HMI flicker-free setup, two Eggcrates and Manfrotto Mega-Boom. Excellent condition, $ 22,000. Contact: HYPERLINK “mailto:pierredp1@gmail.com” pierredp1@gmail.com Sony Beta SP DXC-D30WSP/PVV3P, PAL, 262hours drum time, $ 2,500; Sony Beta SP DXC-D30WS/PVV3, NTSC, 251hours drum time, $2,500; Sony BetaCam SX DNW-7, NTSC, 257hours drum time, $5,000; and IKEGAMI DV-CAM HL-DV7AW, NTSC, mint condition, as new, 61hours drum time, $7,000. All cameras with porta-brace covers. All owned by me and serviced by Sony Hong Kong. Sony Beta SP/SX player/recorders, DNW-A25P X2, PAL & NTSC, 500 & 644hours drum time, $6,000; Satchler 575 HMI, open-face, mint condition with spare bulb, $2,500 & case. The lot for $20,000. Contact: François Bisson at blitzvideo@mac.com.

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 at 514-637-5077 or erikgo@videotron.ca.

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 sale: Densitometer McBeth Td903 for calculation of film density, $300. Split reel (16 and 35 mm) various sizes, Moviola Rewinds, 35-mm film synchroniser, Scan-0-scope converter lens system, Scope lens to “squeeze” and “unsqueeze” anamorphic, $3,500. Tilt Plate for heavy cameras, $800. And more. Contact: Erik at 514-637-5077 or erikgo@videotron.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, six Cadnica NP-1 batteries, Sony BC-1WD battery charger, Porta-Brace fitted cover with rain jacket (like new) and Sony factory hard shipping case and manuals. Lens and camera professionally maintained by 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 at 403-995-4202 Aaton XTR Super 16 package 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 $17,500. Nikon 50–300-mm F4-5 E.D. lens with support, $1,000.

Kinoptik 9–8-mm 35-mm format lens c/with sunshade. 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, $200. Noiseless rain cover for the external camera microphone, $30. Onboard Monitor rain cover, camera assistants can see the focus during the shot. No more hassles in the rain, $60. 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. Contact: Lori Longstaff at 416-452-9247 or 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 tax. Contact: Michael Ellis at 416-233-6378.

Betacam SP Camera package including BVP550 Betacam SP camera with BVV5 recorder, complete with Fuijinon 15x8 broadcast zoom lens, “Red Eye” wide-angle 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. Contact: Christian at 416-459-4895.

Fujinon XA17X7.6 BERM-M48 HD Lens in new condition, bought and mounted but never used. As new in box (camera is sold), $7,900. Panasonic Digital AV mixer WJ-MX50 (missing a few knobs from the lower right corner on the audio mixer), $400. JVC TN-9U 9-inich colour monitor, $60. Photos available for everything.

Contact: johnbanovich@gamail.com or 604-726-5646.

FOR SALE 28-Foot Black Camera Trailer with new brakes and tires, 20-foot awning, dark room, viewing lounge, two countertops with lots of storage space, heating and air conditioned, side windows and three access doors. Contact: jwestenbrink@ rogers.com Digital audio natural sound effects library for sale, recorded in various countries. All recorded on VHS digital with analog audio search on audio channel 1 and time code on audio channel 2. Completely catalogued by time code and includes Sony PCM decoder. $3,500.00 OBO. Contact: rvbocking@rogers.com.

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 - January 2011 •

23

CAMERA CLASSIFIEDS

EQUIPMENT WANTED

PRODUCTIONS & CALENDAR

Production Notes Chaos (series); DOP Attila Szalay csc, hsc; to April 29, 2011, Vancouver Fringe III (series); DOP David Moxness csc & Tom Yatsko (alternating episodes); OP Chris Tammaro; to April 1, 2011, Vancouver Haunting Hour (series); DOP Michael Balfry csc; OP Dale Jehraus; to January 21, 2011, Burnaby, BC Hellcats (series); DOP Luc Montpellier csc; OP Kevin Hall; to March 17, 2011, Vancouver Human Target II (series); DOP Robert McLachlan csc, asc; OP Junichi Hosoi; to January 14, 2011, North Vancouver King (series); DOP Luc Montpellier csc; to February 15, 2011, Toronto Rookie Blue II (series); DOP David Perrault csc, OP Frank Polyak; to January 24, 2011, Toronto Smallville X (series); DOP Glen Winter csc & Michael Wale csc (alternating episodes); OP John Davidson; to March 22, 2011, Burnaby, BC Supernatural VI (series); DOP Serge Ladouceur csc; OP Brad Creasser; to March 31, 2011, Burnaby, BC 30 vies (télé-roman); DOP Jérôme Sabourin csc; to April 1, 2011, Montreal XIII (series): DOP David Greene csc; OP Colin Hoult csc; to February 20, 2011, Toronto

Calendar of Events JANUARY

20–30, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, sundance.org 24, CSC Awards entry deadline, csc.ca FEBRUARY

1, CSC Annual General Meeting, Toronto, Technicolor 4–13, Victoria Film Festival, Victoria BC, victoriafilmfestival.com 4–13, CSC Camera Assistant course, Toronto, csc.ca 11–19, Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, Vancouver, vimff.org MARCH

2–6, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Kingston ON, kingcanfilmfest.com 25–Apr. 3, Cinéfranco, Toronto, cinefranco.com 31–Apr. 9, Images Festival of Independent Film & Video, Toronto, imagesfestival.com APRIL

Subscribe to Canadian Cinematographer online www.csc.ca One-year subscriptions are available in Canada for $40.00 for individuals and $80.00 for institutions, including HST. In U.S. rates are $45.00 and $90.00 for institutions in U.S. funds. International subscriptions are $50.00 for individuals and $100.00 for institutions.

Subscribe online at www.csc.ca.

24 • Canadian Cinematographer - January 2011

2, CSC Awards, Westin Harbour Castle Conference Centre, Toronto, csc.ca 28– May 8, Hot Docs, Toronto, hotdocs.ca MAY

4–5, Hot Docs Forum, Toronto 14–15, CSC Lighting Workshop, Toronto, csc.ca

ALREADY T HE CAMERA OF CHOICE ALEXA is now in use on a vast range of 3D and 2D feature films,

To name only a few...

T V shows, commercials, documentaries and music videos.

ANO NYMO US – 2D feature

All over the world, filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese

H UG O C ABRET – 3D feature

and Roland Emmerich have quickly taken advantage of the

TH E TH REE MUSKETEERS – 3D feature

camera’s exceptional image quality and streamlined workflows

D ISNEY PRO M – 2D feature

to bring their creative visions to life. With a modular design and

RED BULL AIR RAC E – 2D feature

convenient update methods, the future-proof ALEXA enables

ARMANI PERFUME – commercial

cinematic storytelling like no other camera system before.

MERC ED ES BENZ – commercial ...much more to come

www.arridigital.com

ONFILM RENE OHASHI, CSC, ASC

“During my childhood, I loved to draw and paint. My drawings were realistic in expression.

That’s how I looked at the world. Shooting film for news magazine shows and documentaries sharpened my instincts for thinking on my feet and making quick decisions. It’s a different experience shooting dramatic films because I have to consider the script, the emotions to be evoked, and my interactions with the director and everyone else. The execution of this art form can be very complex, and yet the message can be eloquently simple. It’s a collaborative process of discovery. One of the things I love about this industry is that I can work on a children’s film one year, shoot a dramatic detective series the next, and then move on to something entirely different again. It is important to me that film is maintained as an archival medium. If I put my heart and soul into a project, I like to know it will be there for future audiences and not disappear from the face of the earth.”

Rene Ohashi, CSC, ASC has earned 11 Gemini Awards plus two nominations, 10 CSC Awards and 10 nominations, as well as an ASC Award along with two nominations. His credits include Anne of Green Gables, The Arrow, The Crossing, They, Highwaymen, Saint Ralph, Kidnapped (five episodes), and Jesse Stone: Sea Change.

[All these programs were shot on Kodak Motion Picture Film.]

For an extended interview with Rene Ohashi, visit www.kodak.com/go/onfilm.

To order Kodak motion picture film, call (800) 621 - FILM (3456). www.kodak.ca © Kodak Canada Inc., 2011.

Photography: © 2011 Douglas Kirkland