Canadian Cinematographer Magazine September 2020

CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS

$4 September 2020 www.csc.ca

Scandal Tobie Marier Robitaille csc Brings Drama to

Karim Hussain csc: Please Speak Continuously In Memoriam: Barry Lank csc & Roger Moride csc

A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers

FEATURES – VOLUME 12, NO. 4 SEPTEMBER 2020 Fostering cinematography in Canada since 1957. The Canadian Society of Cinematographers was founded by a group of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa cameramen.

Since then over 800 cinematographers and persons in associated occupations have joined the organization.

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.

Courtesy: SLYKID & SKYKID

The CSC provides tangible recognition of the common bonds that link film and digital professionals, from the aspiring student and camera assistant to the news veteran and senior director of photography.

Scandal: Tobie Marier-Robitaille

csc

20

Brings Drama to Les nôtres

By Fanen Chiahemen

Courtesy: Film Forge Productions

The CSC is a not-for-profit organization run by volunteer board members of the society.

Thank you to our sponsors for their continued support.

CORPORATE SPONSORS AC Lighting All Axis Systems Inc. Arri Canada Cinetx Inc. Company 3 Cooke Americas Frame Discreet Fujifilm, North America Corporation Fujifilm, Optical Devices Division Fusion Cine Grande Camera Henry’s HD Source Inspired Image Keslow Camera Kino Flo Mole-Richardson MOSS LED Nikon Canada Panasonic Canada Panavision Canada Quasar Science Red Digital Cinema REDLABdigital Rosco Canada Rotolight Sigma SIM SIMMOD LENS Sony of Canada The Source Shop Technicolor Urban Post Production Vistek Walter Klassen FX William F. White International Zeiss

Visual Experiments: Karim Hussain

csc

32

on Please Speak Continuously

By Fanen Chiahemen

In Memoriam: Roger Moride

csc

& Barry Lank

12/30

csc By Guido Kondruss

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 2 4 6 10 14 16 42 44

From the Editor-In-Chief From the President In the News CSC Award Winners On Set CSC Member Spotlight – Amy Belling csc Tech Column Production Notes/Calendar/Classifieds

Cover Actress Émilie Bierre as Magalie in the film Les nôtres

Credit: Courtesy SLYKID & SKYKID

Canadian Cinematographer September 2020 Vol. 12, No. 4 EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc EDITOR EMERITUS Donald Angus EXECUTIVE OFFICER Susan Saranchuk, susans@csc.ca EDITOR Fanen Chiahemen, editor@csc.ca COPY EDITOR Patty Guyader PHOTO EDITOR Janek Lowe ART DIRECTION Berkeley Stat House WEBSITE www.csc.ca ADVERTISING SALES Guido Kondruss, gkondruss@rogers.com CSC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Serge Desrosiers csc Zoe Dirse csc Jeremy Benning csc Carlos Esteves csc Joan Hutton csc Kristin Fieldhouse Guy Godfree csc George Willis csc, sasc CSC EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT George Willis csc, sasc PAST PRESIDENT, ADVISOR Joan Hutton csc VICE PRESIDENTS Carlos Esteves csc Bruno Philip csc MEMBERSHIP CHAIRS Arthur Cooper csc Zoe Dirse csc EDUCATION CHAIRS Carlos Esteves csc George Willis csc, sasc AWARDS CHAIR Arthur Cooper csc DIGITAL PORTALS Carolyn Wong (Content Manager) ONLINE CONTENT COMMITTEE Jeremy Benning csc – Co-Chair Carolyn Wong – Co-Chair DIVERSITY COMMITTEE Joan Hutton csc – Co-Chair Kristin Fieldhouse – Co-Chair RELATIONSHIPS Gaston Bernier OFFICE / MEMBERSHIP / SUBSCRIPTIONS 131–3085 Kingston Road Toronto, Canada M1M 1P1 Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996 Email: admin@csc.ca, 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 131–3085 Kingston Road Toronto M1M 1P1 THE CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION.

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc

A

fter much deliberation and agonizing thought, it was decided that prudence was the best course of action. For the first time ever, there will be no print version of Canadian Cinematographer. This month

and for the next few months the magazine will be published online only. As with the rest of our industry and indeed the world at large, the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely destructive and, in many cases, devastating. The CSC has certainly not been immune to the pandemic’s havoc, which has shut down many of the Society’s customary revenue sources and slowed what is left to a trickle. Cash flow is now an immediate concern. Forgoing a paper edition of Canadian Cinematographer slashes our monthly production expenditures by more than 50 per cent through substantial printing and mailing costs savings. Still, it’s lamentable suspending the print version of our magazine, even if only temporarily.

I for one love the tactile intimacy of a glossy print magazine, which is simply not present with modern digital publishing. I know my rhapsodizing over print is old school, but it’s so wonderfully old school. Apparently, I’m not the only one who thinks this way. A survey last spring found that the CSC membership was overwhelmingly in favour of retaining our printed magazine by a margin of 3 to 1. The mandate for a print publication is clear, but when it will be reintroduced is a bit more diffuse. This decision will be made on a month-to-month basis and much will depend on how tightly COVID-19 continues to grasp our industry and society. For Canada at this time, the COVID curve is trending downwards, which is a good thing. In August, productions began ramping up nationwide, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver, with strict distancing and other safety protocols firmly in place to ensure that crews and actors do not become infected. Given that the spread of COVID-19 remains suppressed and that our film and television industry continues to open and flourish, January 2021 is being eyed for the resumption of publishing the print version of Canadian Cinematographer. Our fingers are crossed, and until then we’ll continue to watch our pennies. Meanwhile, everyone please be vigilant, wear a mask, wash your hands frequently, keep your distance, and stay healthy.

FROM THE PRESIDENT George A. Willis csc, sasc

T

his is the time when we should be able to invoke the powers of the crystal ball, whether or not we believe in that legendary mysterious item that we hope might offer answers to mysteries. Alternatively, we can just put a finger up in the air and see which way the wind blows. Not exactly a great method of acquiring reliable information. I don’t mean to make light of the global pandemic that is holding us all in its relentless grip, but it seems that we have moved beyond the initial shock of a situation that unraveled so rapidly that it was difficult to deal with the volume of information being delivered to us on a daily basis.

Just after the two-month period when this all officially started, we began to hope for somewhat of an escalation of good news, which would herald the next (positive) phase of this predicament that we all share, some more so than others. But the fact of the matter is that while we hope for good news, we are made aware of exactly the opposite. There is still a long way to go before we can move on with our normal lives, and therein lies a prediction that we will never go back to anything that resembles “normal.”

This is particularly true in the case of the film industry because of a plethora of circumstances that cannot be equated with any notion of normalcy. More and more reports and studies are being put forward that offer various solutions as to how we are to deal with emerging from our short period of unintended hibernation.

As astute individuals, we rely on reason and the practical evaluations that will hopefully result in a flattening of the curve. But as the saying goes, “there’s many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip,” and we must prepare ourselves for other unknown factors and eventualities that threaten to destabilize our emotional wellbeing. This is a critical time as we try to navigate a path that is full of surprise twists and turns in a journey that none of us had any intention of embarking upon. As another saying so aptly goes, it’s a jungle out there.

The obvious question that I believe is on most people’s minds is what to do, how to do it and when to do it. I refer of course to the hope that we are slowly going back to work. If we indulge in a little retrospective and look back at the manner in which we did our work in the past, there is every indication that there is going to be a major re-think and it will have to address issues that no one ever had any reason to take into account, until now.

That is the simple reality of what we need to address as we move forward.

Don’t get me wrong – this is not being negative, it is the necessity of being absolutely aware of the new realities that we are now beginning to face and unfortunately, will have to continue to face in the foreseeable future. How exactly they will be addressed is not yet fully known because we are at a point where the only answers are based on little more than guesswork, hypothesis and conjecture, and that is hardly a comfort factor. Until we are at a point where certain criteria are effectively dealt with, all we can do is to remain positive, exercise patience and continue to work together to find solutions. We have only just started to open up, and so it is reasonable to say that time will tell.

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In The News

CSC Members among Canadian Screen Awards Winners

Courtesy of Maya Bankovic csc

Courtesy Northwood Anne Trois Inc.

The CSC congratulates the following members for their 2020 Canadian Screen Awards wins: Achievement in Cinematography: Norm Li csc (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) Best Photography, Drama: Catherine Lutes csc (Anne with an E – “A Hope of Meeting You in Another World”) Best Photography, Documentary or Factual: Maya Bankovic csc (In the Making – “Rebecca Belmore”) Best Photography, Comedy: Robert Scarborough (Baroness von Sketch Show – “Humanity is in an Awkward Stage”)

Catherine Lutes csc

Credit: Eric Moran

Credit: Katrin Braggadottir

Maya Bankovic csc

Norm Li csc

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Robert Scarborough csc

Site Plan

98,000 sf of studio space

In The News

LAKE SHORE BLVD

IMAGO Elects Kees van Oostrum a s c as New President

Stage 4 Jumbo Stage 36,000 sf

Stage 1 7,400 sf

OFFICE

IMAGO announced in early June that Kees van Oostrum ASC NSC SBC AIC is to become the federation’s new president.

Born in the Netherlands and living partly in Los Angeles and Brussels, van Oostrum has, in addition to being active both as a cinematographer and educator, been the president of the American Society of Cinematographers from 2016 to 2020. During van Kees van Oostrum asc at Oostrum’s leadership, the EnergaCAMERIMAGE 2019 ASC intensified international collaboration and joined IMAGO facilitating international initiatives, at Camerimage and other locations. The outcome of van Oostrum’s international work resulted in the ASC becoming a full member of IMAGO. Van Oostrum intends to further develop IMAGO’s educational activities, both for cinematographers and cinematography students.

Stage 3 13,700 sf

Stage 2

Stage 5 13,500 sf

11,300 sf

Stage 6 16,100 sf

OFFICE

Credit: Maria Kowalska

Studio City Toronto Breaks Ground on Three New Sound Stages In mid-June, Studio City Toronto broke ground on 70,000 square feet of new sound stages, scheduled to be open for work by February next year. The sound stages nearly double Studio City’s space to 150,000 square feet across six sound stages, production offices, wardrobe suites, set decoration and props storage, and stage support areas. The expansion project includes a 36,000 square foot updated version of the Jumbo Stage, previously Toronto’s largest sound stage before being decommissioned in 2019.

William F. White Launches New Toronto-based Studio Property William F. White International in early July launched Century Studio, the company’s third studio location in Toronto, and ninth property in Canada. Century Studio is located in Mississauga, along with Edwards Blvd. Studios and Cantay Studios. The new studio features 81,500 square feet split between shooting space boasting a 32’ clear height, offices, costume and wardrobe, and extra support area. Additional offices, mill and paint are also available minutes away at Millcreek Support.

Deluxe Toronto Takes the Name Company 3 Deluxe announced over the summer that it will be taking on the name of its sister company, Company 3.

The two companies are now wholly separate entities, and Deluxe's mastering and distribution offerings are under different ownership.

Credit: photo by fotografowie.com

Courtesy of Studio City

OFFICE

Stephen Lighthill Elected as ASC President

Stephen Lighthill ASC was recently elected the President of the American Society of Cinematographers. Amy Vincent became first Vice-PresiStephen Lighthill asc dent, while Bill Bennett and John Simmons were voted in as second and third Vice-Presidents.

This is Lighthill’s second term as ASC president, previously serving in 2012-2013. Most recently, he held the position of the vice president of the organization. His narrative credits include such television dramas as Vietnam War Story, Earth 2, Nash Bridges, She Spies, as well as the films Gimme Shelter and Berkeley in the Sixties, which was nominated for an Academy Award.

Morais Russell Has New Position with Sony Canada Sony Canada’s professional group recently restructured, which resulted in Morais Russell’s role changing to Business Development Manager for Pro Camera & Consumer Imaging products. As part of the Sony Canada Digital Imaging Team, Russell will be working closely with the industry partners to develop and strengthen the Sony relationship.

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Introducing the New CSC Website

T

he CSC is proud to unveil its new website, which was launched this summer. Groundwork for the website was initiated by associate members Michael Jari Davidson and Martin Wojtunik under the CSC President’s Committee, and the site has been developed over many months by the CSC Online Content Committee – headed by co-chairs Jeremy Benning csc, associate member Christina Ienna and associate member Carolyn Wong – in conjunction with the web developer Lee Travaglini at Good Lookin Kids Inc. Some of the highlights of the new website include: w a new online store for digital subscriptions and merchandise

w an expanded historical section and photo archives w an enhanced awards section w a streamlined membership directory w a refined media section for podcasts and videos w an improved news and events section The site uses a modern adaptive design optimized for all devices, including phones, tablets and laptops. The online store is also set up for the purchase and renewal of memberships and to pay for workshops. In addition, the home page is integrated with the CSC Instagram feed, which is hosted by members. The digital version of Canadian Cinematographer magazine will be offered on the platform ISSUU to allow for a highly interactive experience.

Please visit the new website at: csc.ca Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

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THEATRICAL FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Deluxe David Franco The Song of Names NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Sim Arthur Cooper csc Claws of the Red Dragon DRAMATIC SERIES CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Technicolor David Greene csc, asc Impulse “The Moroi” DRAMATIC SHORT CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by REDLAB Matt Bendo A Dog Cried Wolf FRITZ SPIESS AWARD FOR COMMERCIAL CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Whites Camera Goh Iromoto Spirit of York “The Spirit” BRANDED CONTENT CINEMATOGRAPHY Goh Iromoto Sapporo “East Meets West Series - Indigo X Denim” CHILDREN’S / YOUTH PROGRAMMING CINEMATOGRAPHY Brett Van Dyke csc Northern Rescue “D-U-A-L-I-T-Y” COMEDY SERIES CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Vanguarde Artists D. Gregor Hagey csc Wayne “Thought We Was Friends” ROBERT BROOKS AWARD FOR DOCUMENTARY LONG FORMAT CINEMATOGRAPHY Geoffroy Beauchemin Odyssée sous les glaces / Under Thin Ice

63rd Annual Award winners announcement on the CSC YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqiCZNMWKCM

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DOCUMENTARY SHORT FORMAT CINEMATOGRAPHY Martin Buzora The Story of Pema MUSIC VIDEO CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Grande Camera Norm Li csc “And, We Disappear” performed by Alaskan Tapes STUDENT CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Panavision Canada Jordan Batchelor Anemone, Sheridan College SPECIAL HONOREES FOR 2020 THE MASTERS AWARD Jean-Claude Labrecque csc (posthumously) For outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography.

THE BILL HILSON AWARD Walter Klassen For outstanding service contributing to the development of the motion picture industry in Canada.

THE PRESIDENT’S AWARD Carolyn Wong For outstanding service to the Canadian Society of Cinematographers.

THE CAMERA ASSISTANT AWARD OF MERIT Joseph Micomonaco For excellence and outstanding professionalism in the performance of the AC duties and responsibilities.

Canadian Cinematographer - November 2010 •

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Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

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In Memoriam

Roger Moride csc (1922-2020)

R

By Guido Kondruss oger Moride csc was a modern renaissance man who had a bent for philosophy mixed with the soul of an artist, a combination that permeated his work as a cinematographer.

Moride embodied a classical lighting style and could sculpt a shot to perfection. He also possessed an intuitive eye for framing, much in the same way great painters had an instinct for composition.

With his masterful touch through graduated filters, Moride could subtly add highlights to accent the visual look of a film or change its atmosphere completely.

Moride was born near the town of Quimper in the Brittany region of France.

Not far from the United Kingdom, the area was a favourite destination for British tourists, and for a young boy with an inquisitive mind, it provided a fertile training ground for Moride to learn basic English. It was a secondary language skill that would take on much importance shaping his life in the future.

As the dark clouds of the Second World War spread over Europe and engulfed France, Moride, as a young adult found himself in a tenuous situation in occupied Brittany. Nazi forces were rounding young French males for forced labour in Germany. Moride decided to escape to Paris, where he felt he could hide more readily among a couple of million people instead of a few thousand in the countryside. While in Paris, Moride was unsure about his future path and was contemplating studying philosophy, but at the urging of a friend he applied instead and was admitted in 1943 to the École Technique de Cinématographie et de Photographie. After graduating, it was crystal clear to Moride that cinematography was his calling and he spent two more years honing his craft at the prestigious Institut des hautes études cinématographiques.

12 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

Moride entered the French film industry as a camera assistant working on several features including the now classic comedy Jour de fête by legendary filmmaker Jacques Tati. By the late 1940s Moride was a cinematographer shooting documentaries throughout Europe, the Caribbean and South America. It was during a shoot in the Amazon jungle that Moride crossed paths with another Frenchman whom he seemed to recognize. It was philosopher and novelist Albert Camus.

There was an instant connection between the two kindred spirits. Moride and Camus spent the afternoon and into the evening philosophizing about life and the world at large. Camus went on to win the 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature.

While filming a documentary on the Sami people of Lapland in northern Finland, Moride received word of a job offer from the National Film Board of Canada.

They were in the market for a cinematographer who could speak both French and English. Moride arrived in Montreal in 1954 for a two-year stay, but he met a Canadian woman and that changed everything. The couple married, and Canada became Moride’s permanent home.

At the time, the NFB offered Moride a staff position and more documentary work, but he had different ideas. Moride wanted to pursue other film formats, such as drama, to indulge his passion for lighting, and he also wished to work in both English and Quebec cinema. His stellar technical and artistic abilities soon established Moride as a top tier cinematographer. Moride’s highly respected career spanned more than 40 years. He was the director of photography on 91 film and television productions, working with notable producers and directors such as Paul Saltzman, Gilles Carle, Arthur Lamothe, and brothers Pierre and André Lamy. Moride was also the eye behind the camara for 120 commercials.

Moride was a lifelong member and supporter of the CSC. In 1960, he was the first Quebec cinematographer to apply to the society for membership and was accredited as a full csc upon acceptance. In 1994, Moride was honoured by the CSC as that year’s recipient of the Masters Award for “outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography.”

Moride csc died quietly in his sleep at age 97.

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Credit: Isabelle Chamberland

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Not On Set ON SET SPECIAL COVID EDITION

Paul Mitchnick csc renovates his office.

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Daniel Villeneuve csc building a larger shelter for the snow thrower.

Credit: Claire Beaudette

Credit: Michaelin McDermott

Christopher Ball csc replacing the rotting shingles with metal.

Amy Belling csc on Third Beach, Vancouver

Canadian Cinematographer - June 2020 •

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Credit: Tamara Jones

CSC Member Spotlight

Amy Belling csc What films or other works of art have made the biggest impression on you?

International, independent and art house films, possibly because I grew up with multiple languages being spoken at home with a German father and Finnish mother, but mostly because I began travelling and exploring other cultures and perspectives at age five. I love psychological thrillers, dark comedies, magic realism, period pieces, and French and Italian films from the ‘50s – ‘70s. I gravitate towards films with cohesive choices

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between cinematography, production design and costume design that create unique and specific worlds, with incredible choreography, blocking and precise framing.

duced a TV show that aired in Ontario and BC, and created mostly experimental shorts. My first paid job was as a producer’s assistant on a live-to-air show for the Knowledge Network when I was 16.

How did you get started in the business?

Who have been your mentors or teachers?

My dad gave me a video camera when I was a teenager, as photography runs in my family. My grandfather and great grandfather both had their Masters in photography. We had a TV studio at my high school, so I wrote, directed and pro-

My high school film and theatre teacher, Ms. T! (aka Dawne Tomlinson) who taught us to reach for the stars. Alyson Drysdale from the film production programme at UBC. Bob Primes asc, Mark Woods, Bill Dill asc and Stephen

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Lighthill asc, amongst others, when I completed my Masters in Cinematography at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.

Richard Walden mentored and encouraged me to move from indie to joining the union. Charlie Lieberman asc mentored me through my first 35 mm VFX experiences: green screen, forced perspective and comped in miniatures.

What cinematographers inspire you?

John Alcott BSC, Gordon Willis ASC; Vittorio Storaro ASC, AIC; Emmanuel Lubezki ASC, AMC; Rodrigo Prieto asc, amc; Roger Deakins ASC, BSC; Hoyte van Hoytema ASC, FSF, NSC; Darius Khondji ASC, AFC; Christopher Doyle HKSC; Ellen Kuras ASC; Bruno Delbonnel ASC, AFC; Ed Lachman ASC; Janusz Kaminski ASC; Reed Morano ASC; Robbie Ryan BSC, ISC; André Turpin, Charlotte Bruus Christensen, Christian Berger AAC; Sturla Brandth Grøvlen DFF; Sam Levy, Matthew Libatique ASC; and my contemporaries I studied with, Catherine Lutes csc (at UBC) and Polly Morgan bsc, asc (at AFI), to name a few.

Name some of your professional highlights.

Documentary highlights: Travelling to Haiti in 2007 to shoot; creating the imagery with Jay Cardinal Villeneuve to render Lena Wandering Spirit’s story of imprisonment at the Holy Angels Residential school in Holy Angels, and shooting the underwater sequence in Christina Willings’ Beauty. Narrative highlights: Collaborating with the wildly talented Mina Shum on Hip Hop Mom. Shooting Kris Elgstrand’s Songs She Wrote About People She Knows on S16 mm in 2014 when hardly anyone was still shooting on film, and having such a small budget that we could only afford two takes of everything, and our lead actress was singing live on set while I was operating handheld; it was magical. Working with the incomparable filmmaker Peter Fonda in Sonoma while living in gorgeous wine country making You Can’t Say No.

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What is one of your most memorable moments on set?

The first time I shot on 35 mm I danced beside the camera right before we rolled the first take on Jamie Travis’ The Saddest Boy in the World (2006). As well, my mom played a suburban mother in that film, so lighting her felt extra special, as was watching the film with her on 35 mm at TIFF that year.

What do you like best about what you do?

Storytelling through images by using colour, lighting, framing, blocking, camera movement, filters and lens choices all to render the psychology of the characters and their experiences through the story. The art and craft meeting the technical and scientific; especially brainstorming how to do effects practically in camera instead of in post. I love doing tests in pre-production! And creative collaboration!

What do you like least about what you do?

The artistic compromises you must make when battling time and money.

What do you think has been the greatest invention (related to your craft)?

Everything going wireless, as there is so much freedom when the camera is not hard wired. Because I love using colour and gels so much, LED lighting now being gel programmable is pretty amazing!

How can others follow your work?

www.amybelling.com @amybelling

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Canadian Cinematographer - June 2020 •

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Scandal Tobie Marier Robitaille csc Brings Drama to

By Fanen Chiahemen

Q

uebec director Jeanne Leblanc’s second feature film Les nôtres is a suspenseful drama of a close-knit community rocked by a scandal. Set in the fictional town of SainteAdeline, the French language film revolves around Magalie (Emilie Bierre), a 13-year-old girl who is still grieving her recently deceased father when she becomes pregnant. Although pressured by her desperate widowed mother, social workers and mentors – including the town’s mayor – Magalie refuses to reveal the identity of her baby’s father, eventually making a decision that could threaten the very foundation of the quiet town.

The film was shot over 28 days in Montreal and its suburbs during the summer of 2019, with Tobie Marier Robitaille csc as DP, heading a small camera crew of two electrics and three grips. Cinepool provided the lighting package, Sasquatch Gripping supplied the grip gear, and the camera and lenses were rented at MTL Grandé.

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The principal locations were Magalie’s family home and the home of the mayor, with the two houses facing each other.

“There are a lot of scenes where you have characters looking at each other through windows, having a POV from one room of one house to the other house, and it became a character in the film,” Marier Robitaille notes.

He and Leblanc apÉmilie Bierre as Magalie from the proached every scene film Les nôtres.

Credit: Babas Levrai

Credit: Babas Levrai

Left: Crew (left to right) Martin Renaud, Éric Bensoussan, Geneviève Dubé.Tobie Marier Robitaille csc (centre top) and Émilie Bierre (centre bottom) on the set of Les nôtres.

Below: Director of Photography Tobie Marier Robitaille csc on the set of Les nôtres.

“Not a single movement in this film is just a movement, it’s always mise-enscène-driven; there’s always a meaning in every single movement.”

Courtesy SLYKID & SKYKID

with the Steadicam. The camera is almost always moving, and I think it’s one of the things I’m most proud of – not a single movement in this film is just a movement, it’s always mise-enscène-driven; there’s always a meaning in every single movement.

“That was our way to tell the audience, ‘Look at that,’ or, ‘This is where you’ve got to look; this information is important; this feeling the character feels is what we want you to look at,’” the DP says. “The type of camera movements we succeeded in achieving in Les nôtres is because I had the opportunity to be working with great partners. Yes, it starts with a lot of preparation ( Jeanne and I met every morning outside of set for a short daily planning in addition to the almost five months we spent “soft-preping” the film), but on the day you have to rely on your crew, and key grip Martin Renaud and first AC Eric Bensoussan were essentials.”

Using ALEXA-SXT Open Gate full sensor allowed Marier Robitaille to manipulate the depth of field. “Depth of field was one of our tools, as it is always, but for this film we decided it would be interesting to play with the depth of field to create some sort of tension on Magalie, to really use shallow depth of field to isolate her in the frame for some precise moments, in opposition to others where we decided we wanted to see everything and use a greater stop,” he says. “At that time, the ARRI 65 was the only large-sensor camera available and it was not an option for our budget. So we chose to shoot Open Gate and use the whole sensor and play

with the same inquiry, he says. “What is the POV of the scene?

Who is looking at whom? Every scene should be motivated with those questions. The frames, the movements, everything was made so we could tell the audience, ‘This is what you are going to get in this scene.’”

Robitaille’s camerawork was key to helping create suspense in the psychological drama. “I guess we were seeking to build intention in the frames and in the rhythm,” he says. “There’s not a single handheld shot in the film; I operated on dollies to keep a maximum of precision except for one location when we went

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

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with what it gives. We picked the Arri Master Primes spherical, but as we were going for a 2:39 final ratio, we could use wide lenses that were starting to get in the vignetting zone in Open Gate and leave the top and bottom corner aberrations out of the frame. And for some specific moments that Jeanne called ‘pivots,’ we used slow zooms to create tension and rhythm. We used the 21-27-35-50-65 and 100 mm Master Primes and Zeiss Compact zooms 28-80 mm and 70-200 mm.”

Much of the lighting in Les nôtres came with the sets themselves, he says. “Something we knew from the very beginning of the prep is we wanted to create what we called a frame within a frame, so we were looking for houses with nice perspectives with walls that we could use to block parts of the image, so there are a lot of scenes in this film where we put a character in a small part of the frame and the rest of it is just a black wall, and it creates a point of tension in the frame,” the DP explains. “And starting from there, we approached it with a natural light; I would say not a documentary light, but natural light in the sense that it’s a story that needs to feel true, and we felt we needed to stay close to reality to make it look real because if you start going with the super great stylistics, there’s a chance you’re going to lose some of your viewers.

“With gaffer Hugo Ferland-Dionne we chose to go with one 18K as a unique big source, so his small crew wouldn’t be overwhelmed by too many sources outside shooting through windows. We played with it like the sun,” Marier Robitaille states.

22 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

Images courtesy SLYKID & SKYKID

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Marianne Farley as Isabelle.

Above: Judith Baribeau (centre) as Chantal.

Right: Tobie Marier Robitaille csc on the set of Les nôtres.

Credit: Martin Renaud

“Then we went for small HMI and LED lights and a lot of negative fill. Sometimes to make it look natural, you un-light it; you shut everything down and then you put some negative fill.”

One of the aspects of the script that Marier Robitaille particularly liked was the number of scenes taking place at dusk. “You would be surprised how many scenes in screenplays are written at dusk and then transferred during prep to day or night scenes because of budget or logistics,” he says. “So we had these long sequences at dusk and I really fought for them because I thought it gave the film Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

25

(L-R) Paul Doucet and Judith Baribeau.

some sort of intensity and mood. To create the dusk, my feeling was to use this bluish cast that you get at that time of day, but I had to create contrast with warm electric light.

I played with the colour temperature. We would shoot at dusk whenever possible, but we had to cheat so many times in locations, and it was a real lighting challenge for Hugo and I to keep the continuity until the end. I was around 8,000 degrees kelvin outside, and then inside I went with warm colours. And then in grading you cheat it.”

He used practical lights a lot, collaborating with production designer Eric Barbeau. “He always had a few choices for me. We knew we wanted deep and vivid colours. Jeanne was clear about that; she didn’t want a dull film,” Marier Robitaille states. “One thing I like is to have the set walls painted in dark colours, not white, so when you do night

26 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

“We decided it would be interesting to play with the depth of field to create some sort of tension on Magalie, to really use shallow depth of field to isolate her in the frame for some precise moments.”

Images Courtesy SLYKID & SKYKID

Marianne Farley as Isabelle.

Canadian Cinematographer - November 2010 •

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scenes it’s interesting because when you light the set and the light doesn’t go everywhere, the skin pops. When the skin tone is the brightest point on the night scene, I think you win because now you can do whatever you want, either light them up or bring them to the shadows, but you have control over it and you’re not fighting against the set. So in order to do that, we used deep and dark colours, and also for the practical lights I asked them to have different options on the shades.”

Spending up to several months in prep getting to know Leblanc was invaluable for the low-budget production, he says. “I realized that for myself there is no such thing as a DP style,” Marier Robitaille muses. “I really want to be able to go as close as I can to the director’s vision, and that was the main part of the collaboration. It was to really feel what she wanted, what she needed. It was clear that every shot had to be planned.

Jeanne had a career as a first AD; she knows how a set works so much more than many directors I know, and she knew where the traps were. So it was a really nice relationship, and she was always listening to her collaborators. This is the kind of relationship you want as a DP.”

28 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

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In Memoriam

Barry Lank csc (1946-2020)

R

By Guido Kondruss or Barry Lank csc it was all about the story. Even as a youth growing up in Winnipeg, Lank loved to hear stories, and better yet, he loved telling them. It seemed natural that this young boy hungering for knowledge about the world that swirled around him would eventually gravitate to filmmaking.

However, a formal education beckoned first with Lank earning Master’s degree in sociology and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Manitoba. It was only then that he followed his passion, moving to England to attend the London Film School. After graduating in 1973, Lank returned to Winnipeg where he began his career as a freelancer in the film and television industry. As Lank’s reputation as a remarkable filmmaker grew, so did his aspiration. By 1983, Lank founded Lank/Beach Productions through which he defined himself as one of Canada’s most respected documentary directors and cinematographers.

Lank broached many subjects with his filmmaking, but much of his work focused around social justice themes. Trying to make sense of a world which at times made no sense drew Lank to some of the worst strife-torn regions around the globe, such Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Russia and East Timor. For his highly acclaimed film Mission to Kosovo: The Canadian Police Experience (2000) that examined the deadly conflict between ethnic Serbs and ethnic Albanians, Lank was embedded with RCMP forensic examiners for weeks on end as they conducted harrowing raids and when they collected evidence at disturbing massacre sites. Lank also had the rare opportunity to be on the front lines with two Canadian female police officers in East Timor for his award-winning docu-

30 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

mentary Women on Patrol (2004) as the breakaway region struggled to maintain its independence from Indonesia. He followed the Canadian officers as they assisted the mostly female police of East Timor. Because many of the crimes in the fledgling country were committed against women, the female population of East Timor did not trust officials unless they too were women.

During his career Lank also directed and shot dozens of domestic documentaries such as the powerful Sabrina’s Law, which detailed the struggle by activists in Ontario to pass the first legislation in the world to protect children with deadly allergies. Lank was particularly proud and honoured to be chosen to work on Steven Spielberg’s project Survivors of the Shoah, for which he documented the stories of Winnipeg’s Holocaust survivors.

Lank was also very prolific in producing high quality corporate and advertising videos. Through the years, he shot and directed nearly 600 television commercials and promos, an astoundingly accomplishment in itself.

When Lank fell ill with stage four kidney cancer, he reached deep inside himself to

bring his quiet confidence, his formidable strength of character and tenacious spirit to the foreground to prevent the disease that invaded his body from ruling his life.

Lank never skipped a beat. He continued doing what he did best, making movies for another eight years. It was during this final stage of his life while undergoing difficult cancer treatments, that Lank travelled throughout North America directing Almost Almost Famous (2018) a feature length documentary that follows the tour of three top tribute artists.

Lank received many tributes during his life for his artistry, including being nominated twice for the CSC’s Robert Brooks Award for Documentary Cinematography, two Gold Medals at the Houston International Film Festival, a World Medal at the New York Festival, two Silver Medals at the US International Film and Video Festival in Chicago, and a Cleo Award of Excellence, to name just a few.

Lank became an associate member of the CSC in 1993. He was accredited his “csc” initials as a full member of the Society in 1999.

Barry Lank csc passed away June12, 2020, at age 74.

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PLEASE SPEAK CONTINUOUSLY 32 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

D

irector Brandon Cronenberg’s short film Please Speak Continuously and Describe Your Experiences as They Come to You is a psychedelic thriller wherein a psychiatric patient with a brain implant relives her dreams to disturbing effect. The 10-minute film came about through the development of Cronenberg’s second feature film Possessor, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, according to director of photography Karim Hussain csc, who shot both projects, as well as Cronenberg’s first feature Antiviral.

Actress Deragh Campbell from a scene in Please Speak Continuously.

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

33

Courtesy: Film Forge Productions

By Fanen Chiahemen

Credit: Logan Cerson

(L-R) Deragh Campbell with director Brandon Cronenberg and cinematographer Karim Hussain csc.

“

W

e were in development and preproduction on Possessor for years and years, and we really wanted to innovate and try some new visual experiments in that feature film, and because the financing of that film took forever, easily over five years, we decided we wanted to do a short film to try out some of the experiments and visual ideas that we had for the movie,” Hussain says. “So basically Please Speak is a sort of weird camera test with a narrative for a lot of the tricks that we ended up doing in Possessor. So the movie came together organically just based on the necessity to test some of the stuff and also a desire to tell this story. On the short there is zero CGI in the entire thing. Every single effect was done in camera.”

One of the effects he refers to as the “projection vortex,” explaining, that “with this concept, you live feed images from the video camera into a projector, and the subject you’re filming is actually standing in front of the screen, so effectively you’re filming the subject and projecting the subject’s image onto the screen at the same time, which creates a vortex effect as if you had two mirrors on opposing sides of a room. And then you bring in the ARRI ALEXA camera, for example, and you film portions of the screen where things are multiplied. But if you

34 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

“We always like to intercut close details with the wide world to add an odd sort of crazy perspective on it.

That’s just a part of our filmic language. And we don’t like to do anything halfway – if you’re going to go close, go really close. Because when you go really close, an amazingly beautiful canvas opens up that you never would have expected before or never could have imagined.” flash a light, there’s a delay that takes place that can create some really interesting sort of trippy hypnotic effects, then if you want to make things even crazier, you add a second projector projecting on top of that image and a second camera live feeding into the second projector to create two different lens sizes going into a projection vortex.

“Some of the practical colour effects and different colour flares are also done live,” Hussain continues. “There is zero specialty colour grading on them, other than normal postproduction colour. Basically we took a lighting gel, crumpled it up and taped it over a lens with a bit of a loop on it, then we shone a flashlight through a separate coloured gel into this crumpled up gel, looped over the lens, so basically a different colour of light would hit the creases that had been placed into the gel, creating odd flares and shapes.”

His main gear included the ARRI ALEXA CLASSIC, Canon K35 primes, an Angenieux 25-250 Vintage Zoom, and a 90 mm Macro Kilar. “Because the short for the most part was self-financed, we had to go back and get a good old-fashioned ARRI ALEXA CLASSIC. The first iteration of the camera is what we could afford, so that was fun to go back to some of the older ARRI ALEXA techniques,” the DP says. “And Canon K35s

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O L I G H T. C O M / T I TA N

(L-R) Actor Ian Goff with Deragh Campbell in a scene from Please Speak Continuously.

Images courtesy: Film Forge Productions

Deragh Campbell in a scene from Please Speak Continuously.

are wonderful lenses from the late ‘70s that have this incredible bokeh and also feel very soft out of the gate. Brandon doesn’t like to use diffusion, so to get a more filmic look, you have to get it in the glass itself, and Canon K35s give you that automatic roll-of.”

For zoom shots they used Hussain’s own 1970 original Angenieux 25-250 Vintage Zoom. “And that’s a wonderful one,” he says. “That one has a very soft contrast and intercuts extremely well with the Canon K35, even though you’re limited to shoot at 2K on an ARRI ALEXA unless you use an expander, because the rear element is too small for larger sensors. But we shot the whole movie on the ALEXA at 2K ProRes 4:4:4:4, which we found actually gives a very similar look to a 35 mm film soft patina, which is very interesting. I think it works well, and particularly when blown up to 4K, it doesn’t look like all these harsh video, ultra HD images you see these days; it really feels more organic, and it was important for us to find a way to get that

done without diffusion. “ The macro lens was used to create striking compositions. “In most of our recent work, even in Antiviral, there is the macro world intercut with the wide shots, so we did extensive use of the macro lens. The 90 mm Macro Kilar lens, which I own personally, is from the 1960s and is extremely difficult to operate and almost has a natural diffusion inside of it,” Hussain says. “So since we’re obsessed with detail, we always like to intercut close details with the wide world to add an odd sort of crazy perspective on it. And that’s just a part of our filmic language – what’s the truth behind the truth? You’ll immediately see what are the secrets hidden behind the wide shots. And we don’t like to do anything halfway – if you’re going to go close, go really close.

Because when you go really close, an amazingly beautiful canvas opens up that you never would have expected before or never could have imagined.”

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

37

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“Brandon is like a family member. When we met we had the same sense of humour and we clicked right away, and since then we’ve been great friends. There’s no better thing for me personally than just working with close friends and trying to invent cool things.”

Please Speak was shot at Toronto’s iconic Victorian-era Darling Mansion, with production designer Alicia K. Harris embellishing the existing décor. The lighting package for the shoot, was “tiny,” Hussain says, “because we didn’t have a lot of money and also because it was a very hot environment. When you see people looking sweaty and uncomfortable in Please Speak it’s because they were. It probably ended up being close to between 40 to 45 degrees inside that house and the humidity was huge, and we couldn’t put on any air conditioners because then sound would be bad, so we had to be really careful to not have very hot lights in there. So it was mostly small LEDs, Light Mats, some Celeb 200s, and we had a 1.2 HMI outside of one window and that was the brightest light we had.”

Post was completed at Technicolor, with Jim Fleming providing colour grading. “Technicolor thankfully helped us out a lot on that, and we were able to use our usual workflow,” Hussain says. “It was graded on a big screen like a proper cinema film and everything, and ultimately that helped us out for the movie premiere, which ironically ended up being at the Cannes Film Festival in Critics’ Week. Our short movie we did to try out things ended up premiering at Cannes, which is a pretty exciting thing.”

The experience was only sweetened by his ongoing working relationship with Cronenberg. “Brandon is like a family member,” Hussain says. “Immediately when we met we had the same sense of humour and we clicked right away, and since then we’ve been great friends. There’s no better thing for me personally than just working with close friends and trying to invent cool things. And Brandon, being the director, is the arbitrator of all ideas and the one who filters everything and who makes all of the final decisions. He’s a really brilliant guy; he is one of the most brilliant directors I’ve ever worked with.”

Despite the grimness of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hussain says he doesn’t see the demand for genre movies going away any time soon. “I think genre’s always popular, and even during the lockdown you would think people would have a very idealized version of making movies,” he observes. “Like after World War II, after people have collectively suffered trauma, you would think that film would go in that direction, but I’m actually seeing quite the opposite. These films are still surviving; movies that take risks are doing very well.”

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Denny R E M E M B E R I N G

CLAIRMONT (1935-2020): A Community Reflects

Denny Clairmont, founder of Clairmont Camera Film & Digital (now Keslow Camera), died in May at the age of 84 (see In Memoriam, June 2020). The CSC community shares reflections and memories of a man who to many was friend, a mentor, even an icon.

“Denny and I went back a long way.

He was always wonderfully helpful and supportive. A gentle creative giant to the business. RIP, Denny.”

Henry Chan, csc “Denny was a real asset to our Canadian film industry. He always encouraged young filmmakers supplying equipment no matter what your budget was. A true gentleman.”

Bob Crone csc “Denny’s door was always open to support even with whatever crazy

40 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

underwater idea we conceived with the studios. Once when we were filming the feature Andrea in the California ocean area and we were prepping at Clairmont, an earthquake struck.

Since the hotels were full, Denny graciously offered his home. This was not the first time or the last he offered a roof over our crew’s heads or a pool to prep a project in! A great man and he will be very missed by many!”

Pauline Heaton csc “As a young whipper, wannabe camera assistant that just moved to L.A., I was put onto Denny by Jean Turner,

editor at the ASC. He had recently started his camera company and welcomed me to Los Angeles. He introduced me to his staff and gave me names to contact for work. That started a friendship that lasted 35 years. When I moved to Vancouver, Denny would always call in advance of his arrival, and we would plan a dinner, oftentimes at my house, with an assortment of interesting and distinguished DPs. He always had time to share his incredible knowledge and sincere friendship with everyone. He was an industry leader yet had no pretensions about it.”

Karl Herrmann csc

Credit: John Narvali

“Denny was the best of the best.

He embodied the concept of service tied to innovation. He had no qualms about taking a camera apart and modifying it so that it worked better, differently but definitely better. He was the older brother we all needed, the wild Valley boy who used to race hot rods back in the day and now souped up lenses and specialty mounts for our next films. He will be missed but never forgotten. Like the bright yellow cases that bore the Clairmont name, he will always stand out.”

Mark Irwin csc, asc “Denny was a man in his element, and his element was camera gear and cinematographers and other camera folks, assistants, technicians. He just loved the process of finding the right tool for the job. He was dedicated to that and he would let nothing get in the way of making sure his clients were well equipped; he often fabricated something on the spot to get the job done right.

He was a wonderful asset to the camera community, a beautiful man. May he rest in peace.”

Larry Lynn csc “Denny always made time to explain the various film gear. It was always a surprise to find the customised equipment in stock. The CSC/ Clairmont events were impressive.”

Roy Marques, associate member “Denny was always inclusive in his support of aspiring cinematographers. I worked for him and Terry at Clairmont Camera for five years where I witnessed Denny’s generosity toward anyone who expressed interest in the craft, including me, the low-ranking receptionist. Any time he was in the Toronto office and there was a demo in the shop

or any opportunity to learn, Denny always made sure I came over to listen in. His unquestioning belief in my aspirations went a long way in allowing me to believe in them myself. I’ll always be grateful to him for that. Thank you, Denny.”

Iris Ng csc “One of the kindest and most genuine people I have ever known.

I met Denny in 1989 when we rented gear for the series Booker.

That started a 31-year friendship and collaboration. I always enjoyed our time together over the years. Denny was a real gentleman who loved this business and the people that work in it. He treated young film students with the same courtesy and respect as Oscarwinning cinematographers. He will be greatly missed by all of us who were fortunate enough to call him a friend. Rest in peace, Denny.”

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“One of my first big studio pictures with Castle Rock and feeling totally overwhelmed with the scale and complexity of being a director of photography, I had to choose the camera supplier that would provide the equipment, but more importantly, the technical and creative support to fulfill a director’s vision. The film was Alaska, filmed in the vast rugged country of B.C. and Alaska. Although based out of Vancouver, Denny took a personal interest in the project as he was a regular presence in his North Vancouver establishment.

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Credit: Chris White

Scenes of Post-COVID Sets Are A Shot in The Dark

(L-R). Gary Stockport and Thomas Yardley rig a techno dolly for a commercial test shoot at the Vancouver facility of William F. White International.

A

s productions got underway again this summer and crews headed back to set, the question on everyone’s lips was simple – what will it look like? This much was clear: there will be less of some things and more of others, everything will take longer and cost more.

Fewer bodies on sets, more exteriors, more remote consultations, no massive crowd scenes of extras, more CGI and VFX if the budget can handle it, more split screens and, maybe, just maybe, more Canadian talent both in front of the camera and behind to avoid the issues of quarantine. One-day shoots become three-day because it takes longer to prelight and set up with fewer crew, staggered call times, medical check-in with temperature taking longer, more postproduction tweaking. It all adds up to a

42 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

budget nightmare.

Get ready for more chroma keys, shooting segments on different days to reduce contact, even casting the same family as a bubble rather than individual actors to play members. “We’re in the process of getting people in from the U.S. and going through quarantine,” Brightlight’s VP of Production Arielle Boisvert says, as their Disney show The Mighty Ducks moved forward. “We’re doing everything to make sure everyone is safe with face masks and treating every set as a closed set.”

Crane cams were on deck as they mapped out new blocking and lighting.

Scripts were being revised to adjust interiors for exteriors, two shots for singles, closeups for three-quarters. Rotating schedules, deciding who is on set and who waits outside until called, both crew

and talent. Gone is the craft table buffet.

The big stuff is sometimes obvious, the small stuff not so much. “Normally we’d be close with a lot of handheld. A lot of what we do is shot in arenas with crowds, but we can’t do that,” she says. “So we’re going to crane cams.”

There are also production logistics. “The crew park off site and we shuttle them in, but now we have to get more shuttles and drivers and it takes longer so pre-call has to be extended too,” she says. Budgets are amended, insurance waivers drawn up and signed, and postproduction will have to be configured, but she’s confident they’ll get through it. “If nothing else, the industry is full of creative people who are flexible and able to meet challenges.”

Back in Ontario, DP Brett Van Dyke csc says he’s been fortunate to work after Best Intentions screeched to a halt

but concedes it’s been a huge adjustment. “I shot a Campbell’s soup commercial which looks like a Masterclass,” he says. “So I set up two ALEXAs, one a wide, the other three-quarters, and the agency was on Zoom. I needed my focus puller so the director had to be outside.”

The set was created and lit and approved remotely, then torn down and set up again when shooting day arrived with the talent. Crew waited outside until they needed to move something and there was hand sanitizer and PPE for everyone. “I spend half an hour wiping down my cases before they go out and when they come back,” Van Dyke says, noting that for the next job in August he’d already signed all the insurance waivers ahead of time. It’s time to think outside the box, he says. “We shot a PSA using an iPhone 11 app. The cast downloaded it and I could control their camera, frame up, then click into the app, check the settings and shoot.” Desperate times, desperate measures.

Likewise, associate member Martin Wojtunik feels blessed to be working in the midst of the devastation. The attitude of the producer has an impact, he says, with some more generous in how they interpret the rules, maintaining distance and PPE but being more creative in how they keep cast and crew in 10-person pods scattered around set. “Typically a commercial might take a day, but now you’re looking at three days or more,” he says, because there are fewer people on set and everything has to be wiped down and people rotate in and out.

He also found himself assembling the camera, setting it up and testing it, rather than bringing in a person, leaving the focus puller to also deal with media, further reducing the head count. “No agents or clients on set, either, everything with Zoom,” he says. “Plus a live link for redundancy.”

Cameras were placed on jibs, so he could operate from the back end and maintain distance while using more long lenses as well. With a newborn at home, Wojtunik says he went above and beyond the guidelines. If and when a vaccine appears, there’s going to be pressure to return to normal quickly, like SARS and 9/11, there’s going to be a lasting legacy, he adds, and that may mean the end of the buffet craft table, ubiquitous hand sanitizer, limits on numbers on set.

The tradition of a camera crew with four or five people clustered in a tight circle may need a rethink, according to Wojtunik, and the concept of hard caps on 10-hour days may also stick around, even though sometimes it’s easier just to pay the overtime and wrap than come back again.

There has been a compromise of vision because of this, but people have to be more creative about the restrictions. “One job, I was director and DP because that eliminated a body, and we cast a toy commercial with one family,” he says. “Instead of hiring the perfect dad and the perfect daughter, we had to go through hundreds to cast an entire family which ostensibly counted as one unit.”

Ian Harvey is a journalist who has been writing about digital disruption for 20 years. He welcomes feedback and eagerly solicits subject matter ideas at ian@pitbullmedia.ca

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

43

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Production Notes & Calendar ANOTHER LIFE II (series)

DP Ryan McMaster csc

CHANGE OF PACE (feature)

DP Amy Belling csc

to October 2

Penticton

CHAPELWAITE AKA JERUSALEM’S LOT (miniseries)

DP David Greene csc, asc (alternating episodes)

to December 18

Halifax

DAY OF THE DEAD I (series)

DP Chris Kempinski

FEUDAL (series)

Camera Operator Forbes MacDonald Jr B Camera Operator Jeffery Wheaton

HOME BEFORE DARK II (series)

DP C. Kim Miles csc & Bruce Worrall csc (alternating episodes) B Cam Operator Langley Nathan McTague

LADY DICKS (series)

DP Kristin Fieldhouse B Camera Operator Robert J. Barnett

to December 15

Etobicoke

MURDOCH MYSTERIES XIV (series)

DP Yuri Yakibuw csc 1st Assistant Kevin Michael Leblanc

to November 10

Toronto

NURSES II (series)

DP Thom Best csc 1st Assistant Ciaran Copelin

to October 8

Mississauga

PEARL IN THE MIST (MOW)

DP/Operator David Bercovici-Artieda

Victoria

SEX/LIFE (series)

DP David Makin csc & Mike McMurray csc

Mississauga

TITANS III (series)

DP Boris Mosjovski & Fraser Brown csc (alternating episodes)

to November 1

VAN HELSING V (series)

DP Neil Cervin csc

to September 4

VICAP (pilot)

DP Glen Keenan csc

WHEN CALLS THE HEART VIII (series)

DP Michael Balfry csc

to November 17

WYNONNA EARP IV (series)

DP Gavin Smith csc

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Good condition. $250. epkcine@gmail.com 416.587-4848 ALEXA ITEMS FOR SALE Arri Alura T2.9. 18-80mm (PL Mount, Feet) CAD$20,000 OBO Arri Eyepiece Leveler (EL-3) Brand New CAD$400 OBO Arri Viewfinder Cable Medium KC151S Brand New CAD$350 OBO Please email Ian Toews csc at: ian@291filmcompany.ca Canon CN-E Prime Lenses. 24mm T1.5, 35mm T1.5, 50mm T1.5. In excellent condition. EF mount, covers S35 and full frame. Asking $3400 each.

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35 4x5.6 Schneider filters: ND’s, color correction, diffusion, grads 2 138mm Tiffen Tobacco, Sunset grad 2 138mm Schneider Tru Pola, 85 Pola 2 138mm Schneider CU diopter #1, Cu Diopter • includes case and pouches for every filter.

• Excellent condition • 4x5.6 and 138mm. clears included Today’s value in U.S. dollars $13,705 U.S. Selling price $9,500 CDN CONTACT: Bert Tougas H: 514-634-2374 C: 514-913-2376 I have 15 - 3x3 Tiffen filters for sale - fogs, Promists Grads, 812's etc. all with cases. $185.00 - contact Barry Casson csc - 250-721-2113 or e-mail bcasson@speakfilm.com

csc

CALENDAR SEPTEMBER 10-19, Toronto International Film Festival, tiff.net 10-17, ICFF Manaki Brother, Bitola, Macedonia, manaki.com.mk OCTOBER 1-2, Cinegear Expo Atlanta, cinegearexpo. com/atlanta-expo 15-22, AFI FEST 2019, Hollywood, afi.com/ afifest @canadiancinematographer @csc_CDN

Vancouver Mississauga Burnaby

29-31, Broadcast India Show, Mumbai, India, broadcastindiashow.com/home NOVEMBER 3-8, American Film Market Fest, Santa Monica, americanfilmmarket.com 4-22, New Orleans Film Festival, neworleansfilmsociety.org 14-21, Camerimage International Film Festival, Torun, Poland, camerimage.pl/en ´

Canadian Cinematographer welcomes feedback, comments and questions about the magazine and its contents. Please send your letters to editor@csc.ca.

Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

44 • Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020

TIFFEN ULTRA STEADICAM , HD Ultrabrite color monitor ,HDMI Decimator 2,Iso-elastic arm, 4-24 volt batteries, 1-Pag battery charger 24v,1-Lentequip battery charger 12/24v,Klassen vest and carrying bag, 1 Preston F1+Z transmitter 1 Preston MDR-1 receiver,1 Preston control, 2 motors, 2 batteries, charger, numerous Hill motor mount brackets rossette brackets and rods, 1 long dovetail plate,1 short dovetail plate, 1 docking bracket,1 fgs wheel chair/dolly adaptor,rain cover, too many cables, hard cases and accessories to list.This rig was well maintained looks new,all it needs is a few upgrades. $3,5000.00 can 416 817 3938 or acadian@rogers.com Rick Kearney Preston FIZ 2 kit - $5,000 2 x Arri MB-20 studio matte box - $8,000 Arri LMB-15 Clip-on matte box - $1,200 Power-Pod Classic - $5,000 Please contact Michael Balfry csc @: michaelbalfry@gmail. com for a complete list of items.

Looking for a set of old, no longer used, standard legs with Mitchell base. Or any type of disused heavy camera support.

This is to be used to mount a Mitchell BNCR camera in order to place it on display. Anyone with access to such a tripod or with information about one, please contact me: rawi@earthlink.net 416-691-6865 CAMERA CLASSIFIED IS A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR CSC MEMBERS. For all others, there is a one-time $25 (plus GST) insertion fee.

If you have items you would like to buy, sell or rent, please email your information to editor@csc.ca.

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What is it they say about hindsight?

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