Canadian Society of Cinematographers
$4 October 2012 www.csc.ca
Down the Road Again in an Off World with Good Samaritan
François Dagenais csc
V02 #05
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Key Grip Vincent Phillips • In Memoriam Dariusz Kuc psc
Advanced Car Lighting Workshop
By Professionals, For Professionals
Canadian Society of Cinematographers November 3 - November 4, 2012 Toronto, Canada Cost: $700.00 for CSC members
This two-day advanced car lighting workshop includes demonstrations by full CSC members that are actively engaged shooting high end Commercials, Features, TV Movies and Episodic Television.
$875.00 for non-members Continental Breakfast, snacks and lunch will be provided
These DOPs will be sharing their vast knowledge of lighting as well as on-set experience to enable the participants to successfully produce world class images. On the first day they will be teaching various methods of lighting a full-size car in the studio. On the second day each group of participants will be expected to light a scale model car under the supervision of a full CSC member. CSC will provide cameras to record the lighting set-ups. A gaffer and an electrician will be on hand to assist with the set-ups. Participants are encouraged to bring a light meter for the practical exercises. Instructors: T.B.A. (closer to the date)
Clam Light Photo courtsey of Dwight Crane
Location and equipment courtesy of
For an application and detailed itinerary please visit the CSC website: www.csc.ca telephone 416-266-0591
To foster and promote the art of cinematography
A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers
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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The Golden Gate By George A. Willis csc, sasc
Photo Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg
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 4, No. 5 October 2012
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Down the Road Again in an Off World with Good Samaritan François Dagenais csc By Fanen Chiahemen
Photo Credit: Cate Cameron
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.
Behind the Scenes with Key Grip Vincent Phillips
16
By Fanen Chiahemen
Columns & Departments
2 From the President
3 In the News
4 New CSC Members
6 In Memoriam: Dariusz Kuc
psc
19 Tech Column
21 Camera Classified
24 Productions Notes / Calendar Cover: Stills from The Samaritan.
Credit: Alex Dukay
Canadian Cinematographer October 2012 Vol. 4, No.5 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc EDITOR EMERITUS Donald Angus EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Susan Saranchuk admin@csc.ca EDITOR
From The PRESIDENT Joan Hutton csc
Fanen Chiahemen editor@csc.ca COPY EDITOR Karen Longland Editorial Intern Kayla-Jane Barrie ART DIRECTION
M
y love affair with the Toronto International Film Festival began from the moment the first film flickered through the projector gates in 1976. I was a student at the time, and TIFF was then called The Festival of Festivals because it collected the best films from festivals around the world.
Berkeley Stat House WEBSITE CONSULTANT Michael Jari Davidson www.csc.ca ADVERTISING SALES Guido Kondruss gkondruss@rogers.com CSC OFFICE / MEMBERSHIP 131–3007 Kingston Road
It was much more of a folksy event in the ‘70s, but it was every bit as exciting and wondrous as it is today. With my festival book in hand, I’d be running from morning till after midnight attending one movie after another. If the theatre was filled, you just checked the schedule and ran off to the next one. You could still do that back then. I even managed to squeeze in the odd industry session as well. Ultimately, the festival was an incredibly rewarding experience that ran the gamut from mind-expanding to simply being loads of fun.
Toronto, Canada M1M 1P1 Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996 Email: admin@csc.ca CSC Subscription Dept. 131–3007 Kingston Road Toronto, Canada M1M 1P1 Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996 Email: subscription@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 $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.
ISSN 1918-8781 Canadian Mail Product Sales Agreement No. 40013776 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses 131–3007 Kingston Road Toronto M1M 1P1
2 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
While the moniker Festival of Festivals may have been grandiose for a new film fest, it did foreshadow the importance of TIFF and the position it holds in the world of cinema. What started as a local phenomenon grew quickly to North American significance, then to an international tour de force, attracting the best in cinematic delights from around the world. I’ve read that TIFF is only second to Cannes. I would venture to say that they are now on the same level, spoken together in the same breath. TIFF like the Golden Globe Awards has become a harbinger of what to expect at the Academy Awards. TIFF has the eyes of the world watching! For anyone, being the director of photography on a film chosen for TIFF is a feat in itself. I am pleased to report that 17 CSC members were the DOPs on 18 films shown at this year’s festival. Luc Montpellier csc and his film Inescapable was one of the festival’s Gala presentations. The CSC is very proud of all of its members who had films in TIFF and congratulates them on their accomplishment. A full list of CSC members in TIFF can be found in this magazine issue. To all our members, if you have garnered an accolade, have a film in a festival,
or are simply working on an extraordinary project, we want to know about it, so we can tell everyone about it. Please, no modesty, let us know! To everyone, good shooting!
629 Eastern Avenue Re-opens as Film Studio
In The News
Member News
As of August, 629 Eastern Avenue was re-opened as a film studio after past President Bob Hall fought tirelessly to stop the facility from turning into big box retail. Ken Ferguson is back running the facility, and workers are now grooming the facilities. Production offices were being furnished and wired for communications by September 1.
John Walker csc in a Zodiak off the coast of Illulissat, Greenland
John Walker csc this summer began production on his latest documentary Arctic Defenders, a film about the radical ‘60s generation Inuit who had a dream, the creation of Nunavut, the key to Canadian sovereignty in the north. The film crew joined Oo Aqpik, a modern Inuk woman, and director Walker on the ship Clipper Adventurer in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, where they undertook a 10-day journey across the Baffin Straight to a number of ports including Clyde River, Pond Inlet, completing the journey in Resolute Bay.
Kodak has developed a colour film designed for asset protection. The new KODAK Color Asset Protection Film 2332 is optimized for content owners who originate or finish their productions on digital formats and want to protect their valuable media for the future. The stock offers dye stability when stored in recommended environments. KODAK Color Asset Protection Film 2332 is designed for exposure on digital film recorders and processed in standard ECP-2D chemistry.
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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Image courtesy of Kodak.
Credit: Alex Salter
Kodak Introduces New Asset Protection Film
Clockwise from top left: Karan Dhillon, associate member Cinematographer/Film and Video Editor Alejandro Loera Y Chavez, affiliate member Producer/Writer Evan Prosofsky, associate member Cinematographer Michael Baier, associate member Assistant Cameraman Janek Lowe, affiliate member Camera Operator Daniel Abboud, associate member Camera and Steadicam Operator Christine Buijs, affiliate member Cinematographer/Camera Operator Scott McClellan, associate member Cinematographer/Camera Operator Not shown‌ Ethan Ta, Ka Leung Tony Lau, Sam Perrin, Devon Chytil, Ivan Popov, Shaun Goldsmith, James Sainthill.
New CSC Members 4 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
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Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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Credit: Marcin Dlawichowski
In Memoriam Dariusz Kuc psc 1956-2012 Written by Nigel Walters bsc for IMAGO
O
n July 29, 2012, the Polish Society of Cinematographers said farewell to its president and valued friend Dariusz Kuc. Kuc was born on August 27, 1956. He graduated from the cinematography department of the Polish National Film School in 1983. Two years later he shot his first feature, The Confession of a Child of the Century, directed by Marek Nowicki. He then filmed with Krzysztof Kieslowski on The Decalogue VII. He collaborated with Andrzej Wajda on The Crowned-Eagle Ring and with Krzysztof Zanussi on Revisited. He was well-known for his frequent collaboration with such Polish directors as Andrzej Baranski, Piotr Szulkin and Waldemar Krzystek. He filmed many television films for the Polish National Television, as well as directing and shooting commercials. As president of the Polish Society of Cinematographers, he was an initiator of a new era in the Society, real-
6 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
ising how much was needed of an educational nature in the profession of cinematography. He organised seminars on the quality of cinema projection and also for film critics and journalists at Camerimage 2011. All accomplished with great success. Thanks to his initiative, the Polish Society re-established a close relationship with IMAGO and continues to make friends and contacts with many other national societies around the world. Polish delegates in recent years have represented their countrymen with great distinction at international conferences. “We have lost not only a talented artist, respected professional, activist, but also a man with a kind, generous nature. Despite his serious illness, was able to support others with his knowledge, experience and friendly advice. He was a great colleague. He leaves his wife and was also a wonderful father of two sons, Bartek and Hubert,” said the Board of the PSC.
2 1 0 2 t TIFF
a C S C
bers who m e m g in he follow t s e t creened s la u s t a lm r fi g n e o s CSC c s on the r e h p estival a F r g m o il t F a l m a e n ternatio were cin n I o t n o r o 2T at the 201
Gala Presentations Luc Montpellier csc, Inescapable (dir. Ruba Nadda) Masters Nick De Pencier csc, End of Time (dir. Peter Mettler) Special presentations Yves Bélanger csc, Laurence Anyways (dir. Xavier Dolan) Nicolas Bolduc csc, Rebelle (dir. Kim Nguyen) Karim Hussain, Antiviral (dir. Brandon Cronenberg) Philippe Lavalette csc, Inch’Allah (dir. Anaïs Barbeau-Lavalette) Brendan Steacy csc, Still (dir. Michael McGowan) TIFF Docs Derek Rogers csc, The Secret Disco Revolution (dir. Jamie Kastner) Contemporary World Cinema Arthur Cooper csc, Home Again (dir. Sudz Sutherland) Brendan Steacy csc, The Lesser Blessed (dir. Anita Doron) Short Cuts Joshua Allen, The Tape (dir. Matt Austin Sadowski) Maya Bankovic, Broken Heart Syndrome (dir. Dusty Mancinelli) Jeremy Benning csc, Lost in Motion (dir. Ben Shirinian) Stephen Chung, Model (dir. Dylan Reibling) Daniel Grant, Barefoot (dir. Danis Goulet) Scott McClellan, How to be Deadly (dir. Nik Sexton) Sean Valentini csc, The Pool Date (dir. Patrick Sisam) Vanguard Ray Dumas csc, I Declare War (dirs. Jason Lapeyre, Robert Wilson)
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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THE GOLDEN GATE By George A. Willis csc, sasc
allowed for the visuals captured on film to be “married” with the titles and supers so that the resulting image combination was rock-steady. But more on this later.
Cinematographer Chris Gyoury
I
have wanted to write this article for some time now but never knew just where to begin. Until now, that is, for a recent telephone call and the delivery of a package seems to indicate that this is the appropriate time to put pen to paper. This story, although primarily technical, is in part of a personal nature in that it concerns a very good friend and colleague, recently deceased. The story begins in Johannesburg, South Africa, and takes place during the mid-1980s. As some readers might be aware, South Africa has the second oldest film industry in the world, however, it was not until 1977 that television made its debut. Up until that time, the cinema was the only place to screen advertising commercials, with many being projected in the 1:1.85 and widescreen (anamorphic) format and many up to two minutes in length. Film processing was done at Irene Film Laboratories in nearby Pretoria and all titles, supers and such were handled through the lab using optical processes such as the Oxberry Rostrum Camera and Optical Printer. These two machines
8 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
As soon as television advertising began in 1977, the film and television industry exploded as many film production companies began to direct their attention to the now familiar 4 x 3 format. I don’t really know whether it was the actual TV set that was referred to as the “box” or indeed the aforementioned format that resembled that shape. I was accustomed to shooting for cinema in the widescreen format, which afforded opportunities for wonderful visual composition, so the 4 x 3 format really did seem to me to resemble a box. However, it was not long before it became the default format, although we were sometimes pleased to see that at least the 1: 1.85 format was used. I never felt that it took the place of 2.35 :1, but it was better than 4 x 3 in my personal opinion. Quite often the production called for image capture in both the 4 x 3 (regular TV) framing as well as 1:1.85 (widescreen), and this presented some issues with regard to a compromise in composition. However, I digress for this is not so much about formats, framing and composition as it is about what happened technically within the frame. To be more specific, it is what happened within the frames that required supers and/or titles. Transferring the film to tape required the use of a telecine machine, and this is where the story starts to take shape. When film was exposed inside the camera, register pins would hold the film securely in the camera’s gate as the exposure took place. At postproduction stage the negative was laced onto the telecine machine and the process of transferring would begin, but unlike the camera, the gate on the telecine machine did not have any register pins and was held in place by pressure. Towards the end of the transfer session, supers would be combined with the transferred image, and this is where the problem reared its head. It was rather disconcerting to find that once the super had been combined with the image, the super would appear to be unsteady within the frame and would tend to wobble over the image on which it was superimposed. Because of this, the decision was often made to end the spot with a freeze frame rather than allowing the supers to run over the action as was the original (creative) intention. This was indeed a problem and cause for much concern. Enter my longtime friend and colleague, the late Chris Gyoury,
Although basic in its concept, the invention was one of both mechanical and electronic complexity. Due to space restriction, I will give a very brief description and function of this device, but for those interested in the detailed examination and explanation of this ingenious solution to an extremely frustrating situation we faced, you will find a very eloquently written article by Chris Gyoury in the January 1985 (Vol. 66, No.1) issue of American Cinematographer. A copy of this issue is available at the CSC Clubhouse. In this lengthy article, one can find all the answers from initial concept and design to detailed operation of the equipment.
Credit: George A. Willis csc, SASC
a highly respected director and cinematographer who, along with his producer Sarah Burmeister, owned and operated a TV production company, Burmeister and Gyoury in Johannesburg. Chris was not only a director and cinematographer he was also an inventor whose engineering background had its roots in the aircraft industry. He could approach any given situation or technical challenge and eventually come up with an answer. He was determined to solve the wobbling problem and sure enough, he did.
The Golden Gate
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Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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In the same manner in which film was transported and held in registration inside the camera, similar mechanical principles were employed to affect a steady and securely held frame in the telecine machine. “The Golden Gate” was a stand-alone piece of equipment that was positioned in the Rank Cintel Telecine in place of the machine’s standard gate, which was removed. Space was extremely limited, and careful design and choice of mechanism was paramount to achieving the required and envisioned results. Once the gate was in place, the film was laced over the sprockets and held firmly in place by the register pins during exposure, one frame at a time. The film was then advanced by one of the gate’s motors while another moved the stripper plate up and down. These two basic mechanical movements were related and were therefore governed by a microprocessor specifically designed and purpose-built. The rate of film advance was slow; approximately one frame every two seconds as opposed to the real-time viewing ability when the standard gate was installed. This in essence is what The Golden Gate is all about; a simple idea. But as with countless simple ideas, there is a complexity that goes far beyond the basics of theory and logic. The Golden Gate is a culmination of all of these. There will be many who will read this and possibly wonder what all the hoopla is about, but at a time when we were faced with a real problem, to which there did not seem to be a solution, along came a filmmaker with a simple solution. But the invention was of such a groundbreaking nature that in 1988-1989 Chris was awarded a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development. A simple idea, a great honour! After leaving South Africa, Chris, Sarah and I have maintained contact. I came to Canada, and Sarah and Chris (and his family) settled in Atlanta, Georgia. During one of our recent calls, Sarah asked me whether I would like an item of equipment that Chris had kept on his desk. In the recent past, Sarah had sent me a few of Chris’ lenses as mementos. I said that I would be pleased to accept another item. Shortly afterward, I received notification of a package that had been sent from Sarah. At the post office, I opened the package to find the original prototype of The Golden Gate, which Chris used to keep on his desk as a paperweight. Although Chris was not a member of the CSC, I would like to offer this prototype to the Society to become part of the “museum collection” and to entrust it to its care. So many great inventions have, due to circumstance, become paperweights and doorstops and hence forgotten. I feel fortunate, and honoured, to have been given this historic piece of equipment, and rather than keep it in a box at home, I would like to share it with other cinematographers and filmmakers.
In memory of Chris Gyoury, October 3, 1938 – June 2, 2009.
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Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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Down the Road Again in an Off World with Good Samaritan
François Dagenais csc
I
By Fanen Chiahemen
n the past year, Montreal-based cinematographer François Dagenais csc has seen three of his feature films – the fruits of several years and many thousand miles of labour – released in theatres at home and abroad.
Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg
There is The Samaritan, the tale of a former grifter trying to rebuild his life after 20 years in prison. It’s a thriller that plays out in Toronto’s seedy underworld and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Kirby and Tom Wilkinson.
12 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
Credit: Alex Dukay
Left: Pete (Doug McGrath), Betty-Jo (Kathleen Robertson), Betty (Jayne Eastwood) and Selina (Cayle Chernin) in Donald Shebib’s Down the Road Again. Above: Actor Luke Kirby (right) confers with director David Weaver on the set of The Samaritan.
In Off World, which Dagenais shot in late 2008, a Canadian adoptee goes in search of his birthmother in the Philippines. The location for that film was the slums of Manila. Finally, Down the Road Again, Donald Shebib’s sequel to his 1970 classic Goin’ Down the Road, catches up with retired postie Pete McGraw as he sets off on another cross-country road trip after the death of his friend. Although the story travels from Vancouver to Cape Breton, most of the film was shot around Toronto in just 18 days. Being Canadian projects, all three films were meaningful to Dagenais, but he also wanted to make them because of their other common thread. “I’m attracted to auteur projects,” the cinematographer says. “On all those films the writer is also the director. I find it very rewarding when you work on a film where there’s a clear passion, the director has been thinking about this for a while, and there’s something at stake. There are very clear ideas about the script and visuals. My job is just to push what’s already there.” The films could hardly have been shot more differently, but for Dagenais all three experiences brought to light a new direction for cinematography. Writer-director David Weaver conceptualized The Samaritan – which was co-written by Elan Mastai – in the neo-noir style.
“The main thing for David was to remain within the tradition and really try to play on the mood, and of course the light has to be sometimes very dark,” Dagenais explains. “In The Samaritan you have two worlds – one of the protagonists lives in a very flashy world and has a lot of money. But Sam Jackson’s character has just come out of jail and lives in a halfway house. So we tried to change the lighting for each world. One was more soft, and one was more with hard light. One had more colour, the other had less colour.” Shooting this way called for on-the-fly innovation, particularly in the grittier scenes. Dagenais recalls a scene set in the halfway house of Jackson’s character. “We shot in an apartment that we had to make look like a halfway house. We had very little space to light, and we wanted the lighting to be extremely dramatic with people’s faces going in and out of shadow in a very clear way,” he says. “I was struggling with how to throw the lights in this very small space. And my key grip came up with a solution that was so simple: mirrors. We threw really hard light into mirrors that were just out of frame, and the light the mirror sent back was extremely sharp. And that’s a very simple trick.” Frequently Dagenais found he could shoot with available light because he was using the ARRI ALEXA, which at the time had just been released.
Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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For example, Dagenais says, “In the club scenes, we pre-lit the club, but we ended up turning off most of the lights I had brought out. The light of the club did 75 per cent of the work.” Dagenais also employed Kino Flo’s aptly named BarFly for the first time, which he found was ideal for bar scenes. “They’re very small and powerful for their size, very directional, but still they remain slightly soft. And for the look we wanted in the bar – neonoir with direct light – they were perfect. They could be hidden from the camera, easy to hang, and they gave us the great directional light that was needed,” he says.
Credit: Alex Dukay
Dagenais’ approach to shooting the dark interior scenes of The Samaritan contrasted with the way he needed to capture the wide open spaces of the Canadian outdoors in Down the Road Again. “This movie is more about the story and the characters. So your role is more discreet,” Dagenais explains. “You still have to find the right framing, and the right background, and the right lighting for the faces and all that, but your work is more in subtleties. You don’t have big lighting like in The Samaritan.” The filmmakers were careful not to try to match the look of the first film. For one thing, because the characters had aged, the energy was very different, and that was reflected in the camera movement.
Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg
“There wasn’t the on-the-go feeling of the first one, which was more handheld and cinema verité style. This one had more dollies and cameras on tripods. They were not going crazy crossing cars on Yonge Street,” Dagenais says, adding that he used a lot of natural light, and softer light for the older actors to make them more luminous. Manipulating natural light in the Philippines, where he travelled to shoot Off World, took some getting used to, however. “Just the fact that it was shot in Asia made it very different. The natural light is already different. It doesn’t feel like North America,” he muses. “It’s hard to describe.” Ultimately, some of the settings, coupled with cultural factors, created opportunities for unique lighting: “Fluorescents are in weird places on the street; near the garbage dumps they use fire to cook at night, so you can have scenes with a few fires all around, and there are different coloured lights at night,” he says.
Credit: Caitlin Cronenberg
Although the waste dump is the primary setting for the film, Dagenais says “it was important to feel the place was humane and had dignity. It had a real sense of poetry.” That’s what set the lighting of Off World apart from a film like The Samaritan.
Top: François Dagenais csc on the set of The Samaritan. Middle: Director Donald Shebib and Kathleen Robertson on the set of Down the Road Again. Bottom: Director Donald Shebib and Dagenais on the set of Down the Road Again. Right: Still from Off World.
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“The Samaritan is rooted in the script and the dialogue and story twists. And the cinematography plays on those elements, as opposed to Off World, which is more of a visual journey or trying to capture poetry,” he says. “The emphasis was on poetry. It relies less on dialogue and more on visual poetry and on observation of the characters. It’s very rare that you do that, it’s a rare privilege, and that was the challenge – how to do that well.”
Dagenais found that 35 mm film was the perfect tool for capturing that poetry. But even more important was finding just the right images to capture. “We tried to find poetry in the choice of locations within the garbage dump,” he explains. “Like there’s a place where they dry plastic. They wash big sheets of all kinds of plastic that they find, and they recycle it and then they dry it. We put the actor there, and the plastic is blowing in the wind in slow motion, and that becomes almost an image that you see in a theatre play or in an art installation. You would almost think that was art directed as opposed to we just found the beauty in what was around us. “Also, the director was great at finding the right costumes that would play to the poetry, the same with the production design. For example, in one scene, almost everything is red, all the garbage that you see has red touches, and it gave the place almost a fairy tale element to it, but you’re still in a very harsh place where people die really young and there are all kinds of diseases. We weren’t trying to avoid showing it, but there was this line between showing it as a documentary and enhancing the visuals and trying to find poetry and beauty in unexpected places.” And he still relied on standard equipment to support the visuals, such as remote heads. “Bringing the remote head to the garbage dump was an adventure; it took a few hours to find the right way in, and then loading and reloading it,” he recalls.
“Also, with the LED lights becoming more powerful, at some point maybe we’ll stop needing generators and those kinds of things. It’s interesting with the cameras and the LEDs where things could go.”
In one scene there’s a party in the social housing units next to the waste site. “We put lights in everybody’s apartments and on different floors and in the central courtyard where the party was,” Dagenais says. “And that was fully lit by my crew. But other things were done extremely simply. Just put the camera, no light, just shoot. The crew was excellent. We had extremely modern equipment.”
As an illustration, Dagenais recalls one particular night scene in The Samaritan that was filmed in a car: “I just had a small LED below the dashboard at a very low level and it looked extremely natural, those small little brick LED lights – I just had that inside the car and all the rest was natural light, and you can see the actors’ faces, and it almost felt lit from the car’s dashboard lights. It was amazing. You can see the city well and the actors well, and nothing looks lit. It’s something we’ve tried to achieve for the last 15 years and then when you see it, it’s very rewarding.”
One such piece of equipment was Kino Flo’s powerful but soft VistaBeam. Because of the power the VistaBeam emits and the fact that it can be plugged into a wall, it was ideal for use in places where there was no access to a generator, or to light small spaces. This is where Dagenais sees the potential for evolution in cinematography. “I think it’s just the beginning of these types of lights,” he says. “We’re an industry that revolves around having big generators and big cables in order to have your big light. And 10 to 15 years ago, almost everywhere you went you had to light. In the future, I think what’s going to happen is you’ll have to think more about, ‘Does this location work with the light that’s there?’” Indeed, Kino Flo boasts that its VistaBeam “will change the way our industry lights film and television studios.” But Dagenais doesn’t foresee a radical change. “I think we’ll still use lighting,” he says. “But I think the work and the way we approach the work is going to evolve a lot in the next 10 or 15 years in terms of the approach to lighting and available light. There may be more going to scout at night with a still camera and trying to see locations that just provide you with great visuals.
Although he feels the work will require fewer big units and be more about finding the right places, he says the technology will never replace the experience of a cinematographer. “The problem with technology is that people say, ‘Oh, anybody now can be a cinematographer,’ but that’s wrong. I think your job just evolves. The same way when we went from film to digital, the cinematographer was as needed as ever, and that will remain always.” With these three films, Dagenais is also optimistic about the ability to show versatility. “What happens in this industry is you get extremely typecast,” he says. “For example, you may only get called for romantic comedies. All of us typecast and judge in this industry, and we want to put people in a box. And I like the fact that these different opportunities have allowed me to not necessarily be put in a box.” Dagenais’ next project is doing second unit on the upcoming television series Transporter. “I’m going to do action scenes in a high-end international co-production TV series,” he says. “Again, very different.”
Canadian Cinematographer - June 2012 •
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Photo by Cate Cameron
BEHIND THE SCENES
Vincent Phillips
Key Grip By Fanen Chiahemen 16 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
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s a key grip, Vancouver-based Vincent Phillips is the chief rigging technician on a set. This means he is in charge of ancillary equipment – including tripods, dollies, cranes, booms, grip stands, and scaffolding – and everything associated with the camera movement. Reporting to the director of photography, Phillips oversees the shaping of light after the lighting department sets it up, any mechanical set-up (such as a lighting grid over a set) and the movement of the camera – whether it needs to remain stationary, float or fly.
He also had to get numerous secondary shots. “Between the camera department and myself, we were hiding these cameras and getting these bonus shots which might only appear for 10 or 15 frames in the final movie, but they add to the production value. These were almost our gravy shots,” Phillips explains. As a general rule, grips also need to work with gaffers to create the appropriate lighting set-ups as prescribed by the DOP.
He also oversees a crew of grips – who may specialize in operating dollies, cranes, or booms – as well as the scrims, and the reflectors that diffuse the lights, tasks that were particularly challenging on his latest project, the feature film Marine Home Front. The third installment of the WWE’s The Marine franchise, Left: Key grip Vincent Phillips on the set of Marine Home Front. the action film was shot on an Marine Home Front was shot on a run-down ferry. old ferry moored on the Fraser River in British Columbia. “That was kind of fun,” Phillips recalls, despite the fact that “With something more dramatic you’re looking for more polshooting on a ferry meant dealing with issues like changing ished lighting. So from our perspective we’ll shape the light a weather and rising water. little bit more,” says Phillips, who first worked with Stannett eight years ago on a dramatic music industry-themed film. “For “We were shooting inside the ferry looking out windows, so we an action film it was all about getting the shot.” had to scrim down the windows to decrease the intensity of the light and match the light level on the inside. So that was the big- But like on most shoots, safety is also the purview of the key gest concern that we had,” he says. “We would shoot one direc- grip and was particularly important on the set of Marine Home tion and it would be cloudy, then we’d shoot another direction Front. and the sun would be out. I attached the scrim to magnets – the ferry was made of steel – then we could quickly add or take away “There was a lot of gunfire, so we had Plexiglas and riot shields the scrim over a window. [DOP] Ron [Stannett csc] loved this.” to protect the crew,” Phillips says. “We had to move that around very quickly, and it was all organic. A lot of the time it The multiple action sequences and gun fights also occupied was, ‘Okay, the actor’s going to run over there, and he’s going much of Phillips’ time. “We had lots of gun fights on the boat, to shoot at that guy over this way. That guy’s going to fire back and lots of hand-to-hand combat fights. I was constantly com- at us, so there’s going to be gunfire, make sure the crew’s proing up with little rigs to hide a camera,” he says. tected. And we’re going to shoot now, so here we go!’ There’s a lot of off-the-hip orchestration for an action movie.” Marine Home Front was shot primarily with two EPIC RED cameras, but there were also four Go-Pro cameras, as well as a Phillips explains that grips are sometimes called the safety net on Canon 5D and a 7D, on hand for action sequences. Working set for more than one reason: “When you have all these departwith Stannett, Phillips had to come up with places to hide the ments that are on set, the lighting department, the grip departsmaller cameras on a tight timeframe. ment, special effects, all the little bits that slide through the cracks
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Photo by Ron Stannett csc
Needless to say, a good working relationship with a DOP is paramount. When starting a new project, one of Phillips’ priorities is, “Finding out what the DP is looking for and offering up suggestions that would work both within the timeline and budget,” he says.
Photo by Cate Cameron
DOP Ron Stannett csc and Vincent Phillips discuss strategy on the set of Marine Home Front.
usually end up with the grips taking care of it. Whether it’s some sort of art department gadget that has to slide a table in and out in the shot, we come up with something. It’s those kinds of things that help move the production along, get the production value.” Hence, the ability to think on your feet is perhaps one of the most important qualities of a grip. “We are more or less purely reactionary,” Phillips explains. “We can plan, but then it can all go sideways, for example, the river floods and we can’t get to the boat and we have to think how to get there and help production to get there. You can plan so much, but then when it all falls apart you have to be able to think and come up with something that will get the shot and get your day.” Creativity is also indispensable in a key grip, Phillips says. “Say a light is illuminating a principal actor, and you want it to only illuminate that certain area where the actor is, you start setting flags which take the light away from other objects, and you only want it to hit from the shoulders up so that the light is only illuminating head up and takes the rest of the light away from his or her body. You get very creative that way from a lighting perspective. “For camera movement also,” he continues. “Finding the timing, when to move a dolly or crane so that it will enhance the look of the shot. Or so that you don’t see the move. You have to hide the move in an actor movement, or a car movement or something along those lines.” The key grip position, like almost any position on a film set, is susceptible to the changes that technological advancements
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bring, and Phillips, who has been a key grip for 20 years, has had to do his fair share of adapting. “We’ve seen a lot more Steadicam coming into full-time use in the last 20 years. We don’t use the dolly shots as much,” he says. “Telescopic cranes we’ve also been using more and more of on the bigger features. It’s almost a part of your main arsenal of camera movements now. And we’ve been doing green screen almost everywhere now.” The move to digital has also taken some adapting to for Phillips. “One of the biggest changes going into HD is the camera sees a lot more than it used to with film. Now when you’re working on dramatic stuff you have to do a subtle shaping of a light, either adding a net or maybe a piece of diffusion. The cameras are more sensitive now and they’re seeing almost everything. So we have to be a little bit more precise with our work. It’s a different style. Does it make it more challenging? It’s one of those things where after you know how to use it and manipulate it and shape it, it’s just as easy. The challenging part would be learning what your limits are.” One thing that has remained the same is how much a solid grip department can contribute to a smooth-flowing set. “You will always need a grip department to do camera movement, camera support, mount cameras on the sides of trucks, help support camera gear,” Phillips says. “There’s always that element of the jack-of-all trades like the grip department to be there to support the production whether it be camera, lighting or even the craft service table that needs some help levelling their table and securing their tent so it doesn’t blow away in the wind.”
Tech Column ALEXA Studio: Tradition Integrated with New Technology By Sarah Moffat
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or those of you familiar with the line of ARRI digital cameras, should you come from a film background working with the various ARRIFLEX bodies, you’ll be very excited to try out their new flagship camera, the ALEXA Studio. The Studio is a direct response to cinematographers’ desires for that perfect combination between traditional elements and new technology. The Studio has integrated all of the amazing functions of the established ALEXA, along with a 4:3 sensor, anamorphic desqueeze, as well as a mechanical mirror shutter and an optical viewfinder. Yes, you are once again able to see straight through the actual taking lens and ground glass yet work in a digital format. Sébastien Laffoux, Sales Manager for Camera and Digital Systems at ARRI Canada Ltd, had an ALEXA Studio in the office for a brief visit earlier this year, and what a treat it was. The optical viewfinder, OVF, is equipped with ARRIGLOW and all! So great to see again having come from a film background myself. It was
so special to look at a real ground glass again after so many years of looking at EVFs and their varied abilities of reproducing the recorded image. The mirror shutter is the same as the one used in the ARRICAMs, and again, such a pleasure to see it here in digital! With the excitement out of the way, we powered the whole thing up. (Yes, you can see through the OVF while power is off!) The reputation of the ALEXA for picture quality speaks for itself on works such as Breakaway, shot by Steve Danyluk csc. And the Studio only gets better with its mirror shutter. The mirror shutter interacts with the sensor in exactly the same way as it would with a film gate. In fact, on the Studio there are two new buttons: the “view” button parks the mirror shutter over the sensor to reflect the image into the OVF; push “gate”, and the shutter clears the path to expose the sensor and allow for images to stream through all monitoring outputs. Press both “view” and “gate” buttons at once, and the shutter will rotate at the selected frame rate, even when not recording, thus feeding a live image to the OVF and HD monitoring outputs. Now, that doesn’t affect the picture but Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
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this eliminates any kind of rolling shutter artifacts. Unlike the electronic shutter, which scans the sensor from top to bottom, the mirror shutter sweeps across the sensor right to left like in the ARRIFLEX 235, 435, 535 and ARRICAMs. I spoke with Jérôme Sabourin csc in Montreal, who has shot over 350 days with ALEXA cameras and has used the new Studio as well. He says, “The mirror shutter makes movement and motion on camera look so much like 35 mm. It is amazing, and I love the feel it gives back to digital.” We talked about the challenge of the mirror shutter only going to 60 fps, versus the electronic shutter going up to 120 fps and agree that it is an electronic challenge, not a mechanical one. He adds, “The sensor is not able to capture and reset at that speed. The photosites must fire when exposed,
read out when covered, and reset for the next exposure, thus 120 times per second is too fast.” The variable frame rates are: 0.75 fps up to 120 fps in 16:9, electronic shutter only. Mirror shutter in 16:9 is 0.75 fps to 60 fps. In 4:3 full sensor mode mirror or electronic shutter it is 48 fps. This aside, Jérôme expressed great love for the look of the mirror shutter in the Studio. An interesting feature of the ALEXA Studio is the motorized internal ND filter. Conventional NDs placed in front of the lens may cause a shift in colour and far-red contamination. Inside of the Studio is a motorized filter mechanism which provides an optical flat as well as an ND 1.3 (4.3 stops loss). I asked Sébastien why this choice, and he explained, “We wanted to address the use of the camera outside in bright, high contrast situations, while preserving colour fidelity.” The filter is custom-made by ARRI in order to achieve the same physical thickness between the clear glass and the ND filter, while applying the adequate infrared protection for both settings. The key benefit of ND filtration behind the mirror shutter is that it keeps the optical viewfinder clear and bright for the comfort of the camera operator.
Now let’s talk anamorphic. The 4:3 sensor of the ALEXA Studio can record in ARRIRAW a 2.39 Scope image squeezed 2582x2160, in 2K ProRes mode squeezed 1836x1536 and in HD ProRes mode squeezed 1291x1080, while offering anamorphic de-squeeze for live monitoring in HD letter box 1920x803. You can also magnify in camera the de-squeezed HD image for a closer look at the wide aspect ratio. I have to say, it was really VANCOUVER CALGARY TORONTO HALIFAX 604-527-7262 403-246-7267 416-444-7000 902-404-3630 CSC_Ad_Outlines.pdf 1 12-01-06 10:23 AM exciting to see that happen right before my eyes. It truly offers a 604-527-7262 403-246-7267 416-444-7000 902-404-3630 visceral relationship in camera with the anamorphic image you are creating and operating on. Jérôme has recently lensed the French-Canadian film Angle Mort with the D-21 in anamorphic, and he had this to say: “The ALEXA has an advantage over all the other anamorphic systems on the market because what you see on set truly represents the final feel of the movie. It’s the same in the editing room. Everything is absolutely correct and it already looks beautiful, which is always good for the DOP. I love that because I can see right away what I’m doing and the ‘wow’ effect Canada Client: Panavision _____________________________________________________ Docket:PAN-COR-1634-08R1 ________________ on set makes a huge difference.”
VANCOUVER
CALGARY
TORONTO
HALIFAX
CSC News Media: _____________________________________________________ Placement: ____________
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W x 2.125" H N/A Trim Size:5.25" ______________________ Safety: ____________________ Bleed: N/A ________________
The ALEXA D-21 is the predecessor to the Studio and was not able to record true anamorphic in camera, but now all that has changed. The Studio is the next answer.
B&W 7, 2010 Colour: ________________________ Publ. Date: 2010 _________________ Prod. Date: Jan ____________ M
Tel: 416-423-9825
Fax: 416-423-7629
E-mail: dmaguire@maguiremarketing.com
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CM
MY
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Canada Client: Panavision _____________________________________________________ Docket:PAN-COR-1634-08R1 ________________
With ____________ all the ALEXA CSC News Media: _____________________________________________________ Placement:
record and output formats available in wireless lens control system, curved out shoulder B&W 7,pad, 2010handheld mounts, and more, this camera system Colour: ________________________ Publ. Date: 2010 _________________ Prod. Date: Jan ____________ truly is superior. Add in the mirror shutter, OVF, and anamorphic Tel: 416-423-9825 Fax: 416-423-7629 E-mail: dmaguire@maguiremarketing.com options, and the bar has been raised. I personally look forward to employing this camera for an anamorphic project soon, as well as seeing the work of others with the ALEXA Studio. the Studio, the ARRI W x 2.125" H N/A Trim Size:5.25" ______________________ Safety: ____________________ Bleed: N/A ________________
To get more familiar with the ALEXA Studio, contact the teams at ARRI and at your preferred rental house. Sarah Moffat’s camera experience includes motion picture and still photography. She has worked in narrative, documentary / factual and live broadcast.
20 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
Edmonton Film Cooperative wants your unused Arri 35 mm camera Do you have film cameras languishing on a shelf? Give it a new life, give it to a film coop and we will give you a healthy tax credit. Have a 35BL, a 235, a 435 gathering dust because everyone is Red cam nuts? Have other great camera accessories? Let us know, Let’s make a deal. contact Andy @ rentals@ fava.ca and work a great deal 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. Wanted: 35mm and 16mm prints. I have recently acquired a 35mm projector and would like to have a print library on hand. If you have or know of any film prints gathering dust and in need of a caring home, contact Christopher at 902 644 3604 or cbifilms@eastlink.ca 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 604-229-0861, 604-229-0861or peter@peterbenison.com. Liberty Village Office Space Approximately 1,250 sq ft of fully furnished, turn-key office space in prime Liberty Village location available to established television or new media production company in shared office setting. Features include glassed boardroom, 2 closed door offices, internet access, alarm system and shared kitchen. Please reply by email to john@hlp.tv or call John at 647.891.4027 Equipment for Sale JVC GY-DV300 Broadcast Quality camcorder. 4x3 or 9x16 switchable 750 horizontal lines with several extra batteries and carrying case. Plus and external Shure VP88 stereo microphone with Rycote bracket and wind screen with high wind cover and extra mic cables. Asking $ 1200.00. Contact Robert Bocking csc 416 636-9587 or rvbocking@rogers.com for more information. Equipment for sale!! All equipment in excellent shape!! Panasonic AJHDX900P High Definition Camera, Panasonic Stereo Microphone, Canon Zoom Lens 8x160 (J20a x 8B4 IRS), Dionic 90 Anton Bauer Batteries & charger, Anton Bauer mini fill light 12 V, Marshall 7” HD-SDI LCD Monitor & accessories, 2 x Porta Brace camera bags, Sony Digital Betacam (DVW700) and accessories, Sachtler fluid head VIDEO 20 III & Sachtler tripod legs fibre & fibre case. Call 613-255-3200, Total $ 25,000.- Item for sale: Meerkat Jib Arm, made by FILMAIR INTERNATIONAL. This is a mini jib for full compliment 35mm camera, lens and mattebox combination. It is a fixed length jib, very easy and fast set-up. Can be used on any dolly or tripod. Jib arm is in very good condition. Comes with four weights and case. Full specs are on website: http://www.filmairinternational.com/camera_mounts.asp#MEERKATJIB Price $ 2,400. Contact: Milan Podsedly csc milan.podsedly@gmail.com cell: 416 409-5758 Super 16 Bolex H 16 conversion, Switar 10mm, Macro Switar 26mm, Macro Switar 75mm. Pistol grip, filter holders, Nikon to C mount adapter. $2900.00 Call Antonin 647 999 7172 PL mount prime lens set (Sony) 35mm, 50mm 85mm all T2.0. Mint condition. Used briefly for one shoot $5200.00 John Banovich, csc 604-726-5646 JohnBanovich@gmail.com OWN A PIECE OF CINEMA HISTORY: selling a vintage Bell & Howell 2709 camera with mags. THE film camera of the 1920s and ‘30s; assorted other goodies. Contact: dkoch198@hotmail.com.
VIDEO & AUDIO GEAR FOR SALE: (2) HVX-200 Panasonic P2 Camcorders $1,500 each; (1) DSR-1500 Sony DVCAM recorder, $1,500; (1) Sony DSR-1 DVCAM dockable recorder $1,000; (3) Sony PVV-3 Betacam recorders $500 each; (3) Mitsubishi XL25U video projectors $500 each; (1) Mackie 1604VLZ audio mixer $500; (1) Glidecam PRO2000 camera stabilizer $200; (1) Glidecam DVPRO RIG camera stabilizer $300; (1) Yamaha P2075 amplifier 75W stereo/150W mono $500; (3) HVR-Z1U Sony HDV camcorders $1,000 each; (1) Sony DSR-300 DVCAM camcorder $1,500; (1) For-A VPS-400D 8 input SDI switcher $2,700; (2) Sony WRT822/WRR861 wireless transmitter/receiver – no mic - $750 each; (2) Sony BRC-300 remote control P/T/Z cameras $1,990 each. Call Ted Mitchener at ZTV Broadcast Services 905-290-4430 or email ted@ztvbroadcast.com. 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, $250 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. Beta SP DXC-D30WSP/PVV3P, PAL, 262 hours drum time, $ 1,000; Sony Beta SP DXC-D30WS/PVV3, NTSC, 251 hours drum time,$1,000; Sony BetaCam SX DNW-7, NTSC, 257 hours drum time, $1,000; and IKEGAMI DV-CAM HL-DV7AW, NTSC, mint condition, as new, 61 hours drum time, $1,500. 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 & 644 hours drum time, $1,500; Satchler 575 HMI, open-face, mint condition with spare bulb, $1,500 & case. The lot for $4,000. Contact: Francois Bisson atblitzvideo@mac.com. 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 BC1WD 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 $12,000. 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. 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. Services Need your reel updated? Looking for an editor? I am a CSC associate member who is also an editor with my own FCP suite. I am willing to trade my edit suite time in exchange for rental of your gear, or shooting advice, or both. Please send email to miurabucho@gmail.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 - October 2012 •
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CSC FULL MEMBERS Johnny Abi Fares csc 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 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 Nicholas de Pencier csc Kamal Derkaoui csc Kim Derko csc Serge Desrosiers 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, acs Michael Ellis csc Carlos 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 D. Gregor Hagey csc Thomas M. Harting csc
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22 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
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CSC MEMBERS
Jason Alexander George Yorgos Giannelis Rion Gonzales Jose Luis Gonzalez Dave Gordon Daniel Grant Jeffrey Hanley Jean B. Héguy Josh Henderson Adam Christopher Hickman Robert Hill Rory Hinds David M.J. Hodge John Hodgson James D. Holloway Suave Hupa George Hupka Karim Hussain David Johns Denise Jones Ali Kazimi Ernie Kestler Ryan Knight Shannon Kohli Douglas John Kropla Charles Lavack Robin Lawless soc Byung-Ho Lee Philip Letourneau James Lewis John V. Lindsay Justin Lovell Robert Macdonald Mario Anthony Madau Jeff Maher Alfonso Maiorana Yoann Malnati Roy Marques Kelly Mason Andris D. Matiss Robert Mattigetz Scott McClellan Paul McCool Patrick McLaughlin Gabriel Medina Tony Meerakker Tony Merzetti Bentley Miller Paul Mockler Sarah Moffat Helmfried Muller Brian Charles Murphy Keith Murphy Christopher M. Oben Eric Oh Ted Parkes Deborah Parks Rick Perotto Allan Piil Josh Power Evan Prosofsky Ryan A. Randall Michael Rita-Procter Cathy Robertson
CSC LIFE MEMBERS Robert Bocking csc Raymond A. Brounstein csc David Carr csc Barry Casson 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 Manfred Guthe csc Edward Higginson csc Brian Holmes csc Brian Hosking Joan Hutton csc Douglas Kiefer csc Rudolf Kovanic csc Les Krizsan csc Naohiko Kurita csc Jean-Claude Labrecque csc Harry Lake csc Larry Lynn 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 Randal G. Platt csc Andreas Poulsson csc Norman Quick csc Roger Racine csc Robert G. Saad csc Josef Seckeresh csc Michael S. Smith John Stoneman csc Kirk Tougas Y. Robert Tymstra Lloyd Walton Walter Wasik csc Ron Wegoda csc James A. Wright Keith Young CSC HONOURARY MEMBERS Roberta Bondar Vi Crone Graeme Ferguson Wilson Markle Philippe Ros afc
indicates demo reel online, www.csc.ca Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012 •
23
PRODUCTIONS & CALENDAR
Production Notes Beauty and the Beast (series); DOP D. Gregor Hagey csc; OP Sean Jensen; to December 20, Toronto Bomb Girls II (series); DOP Eric Cayla csc; OP Andris Matiss; to December 10, Toronto Covert Affairs III (series); DOP Colin Hoult csc & Jamie Barber; OP Michael Carella; to October 31, Toronto Cracked (series); DOP Norayr Kasper csc; OP Dino Laurenza; to December 4, Etobicoke Defiance (series); DOP Thomas Burstyn csc, frsa, nzcs; OP Jim Van Dijk; to November 9, Toronto Hemlock Grove (series); Fernando Arguelles; OP Kevin Jewison; to December 14, Toronto Mortal Instruments: The City of Bones (series); DOP Geir Andreassen; OP Robert Stecko; to November 6, Toronto Red II (feature); DOP Enrique Chediak; to October 12, Montreal Red Widow (series); DOP David Wagreich; OP Trig Singer; to November 15, Vancouver Republic of Doyle IV (series); DOP Malcolm Cross; OP Tony Guerin; to December 14, St. John’s Rouge (series); DOP Keiran McGuigan BSC; OP David Crone; to November 30, Vancouver Suits II (series); DOP John Aronson; OP Michael Soos; to October 19, Toronto Warehouse 13 IV (series); DOP Mike McMurray csc & David Herrington csc; OP David Towers; to November 6, Toronto White House Down (feature); DOP Anna Foerster; OP Francois Daignault; to November 28, Montreal
Calendar of Events October
November
10-14, Planet in Focus: International Environmental Film & Video Festival, Toronto, planetinfocus.org
1-4, Vancouver Asian Film Festival, vaff.org
10-21, Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal, nouveaucinema.ca
6-11, Reel Asian International Film Festival, Toronto, reelasian.com
12-20, Antimatter: Underground Film Festival, Victoria, B.C., antimatter.ws 16-20, St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, St. John’s, NL, womensfilmfestival.com 17-21, imagineNATIVE Film Festival, Toronto, imaginenative.org 18-26, Toronto After Dark Film Festival, torontoafterdark.com
3-4, CSC Advanced Car Lighting Workshop, Toronto, csc.ca
8-11, Silver Wave Film Festival, Fredericton, swfilmfest.com 7-18, Rencontres internationales du documentaire du Montréal, ridm.qc.ca 17-25, CSC Digital Assistants Course, Toronto, csc.ca 21-25, Winnipeg Aboriginal Film Festival, aboriginalfilmfest.org
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24 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2012
CUT. SHAPE. FOCUS. TUNE. ARRI introduces the first LED-based lights to truly match the versatility and homogeneity of conventional tungsten Fresnels: a new generation of focusable, tuneable lights that offers complete control, combining breakthrough performance with incredible efficiency.
www.arri.com/l-series
Taking steady to the next level Steadicam revolutionized the world of film and video. The new generation of Steadicam camera stabilizer devices has been redesigned to unleash endless possibilities – engineered to absorb jerks, bumps, and shakes like never before. Check out the new stable of Steadicams on display at Vistek.
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