Canadian Cinematographer Magazine October 2020

CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS

$4 October 2020 www.csc.ca

Neil Cervin csc Gerald Packer csc Ronald Richard Brendan Uegama csc

Craig Wrobleski csc: In the Tall Grass Michael Wylam: Where Darkness Lies

A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers

FEATURES – VOLUME 12, NO. 5 OCTOBER 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 nonpartisan groups in our industry but have no political or union affiliation.

Men for All Seasons: Van Helsing Bows Out

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer

Courtesy of The Labryinth 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.

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Letting in the Light: Michael Wylam Shoots Where Darkness Lies

By Fanen Chiahemen

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Courtesy of Netflix

AC Lighting 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 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

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Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

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.

Craig Wrobleski csc Creates Immersive Horror with The ALEXA LF on Netflix’s In the Tall Grass By Tanya Lyon

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 2 4 6 8 10 12 38 40

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

Cover Van Helsing

Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

Canadian Cinematographer October 2020 Vol. 12, No. 5 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 Zoe Dirse csc Jeremy Benning csc Rion Gonzales Joan Hutton csc Kristin Fieldhouse Guy Godfree csc Caudine Sauvé csc George Willis csc, sasc CSC EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT George Willis csc, sasc PAST PRESIDENT, ADVISOR Joan Hutton csc VICE PRESIDENTS Bruno Philip csc MEMBERSHIP CHAIRS Arthur Cooper csc Zoe Dirse csc EDUCATION CHAIRS George Willis csc, sasc Martin Wojtunik AWARDS CHAIR Arthur Cooper csc ONLINE CONTENT COMMITTEE Jeremy Benning csc – Co-Chair Christina Ienna – Co-Chair Carolyn Wong – Co-Chair DIVERSITY COMMITTEE Kristin Fieldhouse - Co-Chair Nyssa Glück - Co-Chair Rion Gonzales - Co-Chair Samy Inayeh csc - Co-Chair MENTORSHIP COMMITTEE Nyssa Glück – Co-Chair Iris Ng – 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.

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc

L

ast February, as the pandemic roared its way around the world and across Canada, our industry shut down. Most of our members were sent home to self-isolate and wait it out. Time stood still for many. But not for a coterie of CSC members who tapped into their altruistic inner selves by volunteering their time and skills to the CSC. The last six months have been an unprecedented prolific time for our Society.

The long-awaited new CSC website has arrived, and it is now the go-to place for Society information and events. It also boasts a splendid online store where everyone can load up with useful CSC swag and where CSC clothing will soon be offered for sale. Two big hits this summer have been CSC Live and a series of podcasts about cinematography delivered by cinematographers themselves. Both endeavours are infinitely fascinating and can be accessed through the CSC website. Also found on our new website is a special and unique survey asking members to self-identify so that the CSC can better respond to queries from producers looking to hire cinematographers from minority communities. All this is coordinated through the newly formed Online Content Committee, which harnesses the synergy created between this magazine, the website, and the wildly popular CSC Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages. Look for more amazing work and ideas from this group in the coming months.

Over the summer, the CSC also formalized its first Diversity Committee to increase and better reflect in our membership and organization the rich multi-culturalism in our country. The committee will be centering on advocacy, outreach, education and helping formulate mentorship guidelines.

As for this magazine, we’ve come full circle. Fifteen years ago, in response to a membership consensus, we moved away from a newsletter format revolving around the CSC, to focus more on cinematographers, their productions and the industry at large in an effort to appeal to a wider audience. CSC News, as it was known back then, was reimaged as Canadian Cinematographer. I’m pleased and enthused to announce that we can now have the best of both worlds. Starting this November, the magazine will be sporting a new ongoing feature called What’s Up at the CSC to keep readers abreast of projects and initiatives undertaken by CSC committees. It's guaranteed to be informative and always interesting.

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FROM THE PRESIDENT George A. Willis csc, sasc

L

ast month with the COVID-19 curve flattening, our industry was greenlighted, and productions began timidly springing back to life across the country, albeit with the new reality of distancing, work pods, masks, set sanitizing and onsite testing. This is a good thing going back to work on sets loaded with safety precautions to keep people healthy.

However, there is a pre-pandemic safety concern that never seems to be remedied, and to a large extent has fallen on deaf ears.

During these trying times, everyone has been forced to stay home in self-isolation to varying degrees. While this is mostly perceived with dread, the positive aspect of this situation is it has allowed for far more family time, and who can argue with that? But as we return to work, there is one overriding and important issue that needs addressing and for which everyone needs to take responsibility. We need to seriously dig deep and ask ourselves whether we wish to return to the punishing hours that productions demand. Our industry really does need to rethink its position regarding working conditions, which for so long has been mostly ignored.

Many of us have been engaged in a freelance capacity in the film industry for our entire careers and we cannot deny the horrible toll that this has had on family life, not to mention industry worker wellbeing. We all know what is at stake.

In 2006, the late Haskell Wexler asc began to take on the issue of working conditions 4 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

through his documentary Who Needs Sleep?

The message of the film was simple, direct, and is as relevant today as it was back then – sleep deprivation and long work hours are a deadly combination. Unfortunately, little has changed regarding the working hours, and it would also seem that little has been learned from the many unnecessary deaths that have been attributed to this issue.

It would be an extremely positive move for our industry to embark on a study addressing the seriousness of brutal working hours and maybe, just maybe, an argument can be made for the value that we now attach to spending as much time with the family unit as possible. We have never had to deal with anything even remotely close to the situation that we are now experiencing with the pandemic. Everyone, including our families, truly does understand that times are changing and so should the hours that we have been expected to endure in silence.

It is high time that our industry takes a long hard look at this issue because the status quo is no longer good enough in a situation that needs significant and meaningful updates for so many reasons. As we get back to work, let us not forget the negative issues associated with the inhumane and punishing hours, but let us also continue to explore the positive results that will be gained through constructive dialogue and a civilized solution. It is literally a matter of life and death.

In The News George Willis csc, sasc Elected Board Member of IMAGO

clients. Allocations of approximately $13.3 million The CSC congratulates President George Willis (CMF) and $4 million (Telefilm) provided support George Willis csc, sasc on being elected this to underrepresented communities in the industry. summer to serve as a member on the board Quebec Announces $51 Million To of IMAGO. Reopen Film and TV Production Sector Federal Government Announces $27 Million in Aid for Phase 2 of COVID-19 Relief

Minister of Canadian Heritage Steven Guilbeault announced in July that an additional $27.8 million in funding has been designated for Canada’s audiovisual sector as part of Phase 2 of the COVID-19 Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Sport Organizations. Administered by Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund, the Phase 2 funding will provide financial assistance to additional companies and organizations that were not eligible for Phase 1 of the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund, which saw $88.8 million in support delivered by CMF and $27 million for Telefilm

The Quebec government in July announced a $51 million funding program to help restart film and television production in the province. The program will facilitate the development of financial arrangements for filming and will thus allow all phases of production to resume, including pre-production, post and dubbing. The financial aid will be divided into two categories, one to help offset increased costs due to safety and prevention measures required to combat COVID-19, and the other to reimburse producers forced to halt productions but don’t have insurance. According to media reports, the aid package, which will be distributed by SODEC, is the first insurance-related solution by a provincial government.

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ACCEPTANCES / AWARDS / NOMINATIONS David Bercovici-Artieda, associate member (cinematographer) The College Admissions Scandal (TV Movie), nominated: LEO Award for Best Cinematography Television Movie, 2020

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Anthony Sarracco, associate member (cinematographer) TENDENZA (documentary), winner: Best Cinematography, New York International Film Awards, 2020

As part of a continuing series, Canadian Cinematographer will be recognizing two 2020 CSC Award winners per issue.

THEATRICAL FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY Sponsored by Deluxe

David Franco The Song of Names

8 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

NON-THEATRICAL FEATURE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Arthur Cooper csc Claws of the Red Dragon

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

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CSC Member Spotlight

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

Braveheart, Blade Runner, Shine a Light, Gangs of New York, The Last Emperor, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Works of art: by far, the Dutch masters in the Louvre.

How did you get started in the business?

After completing my second year of cinematography at Humber, I took a PA job for the summer at Scollard Productions, and voilà, I was in the business. A year later, I took the CSC Camera Assistant Course. Trained with Hans at William F. White, and Helmut at Panavision. DP’ed my first feature in 1991, Vita da cane.

Who have been your mentors or teachers?

on a Milwaukee beer commercial for Vilmos Zsigmond, rain delayed us in the afternoon, and we sat in a coffeeshop in Niagara Falls talking film for three hours.

Then the next day at dailies after we watched my footage, he stood up, shook my hand and thanked me for matching his cinematography perfectly; we became friends. Working at Schultz Productions. Being asked to submit my work and receiving full CSC accreditation in 1992. Being so fortunate to be around so many talented cinematographers, directors and travel the world.

My teachers at Humber – George Falada, Ludwik Dietrick. My mentors – Fritz Spiess csc, Gerd Kurtz, Derek Vanlint csc, Brian Mindel, Vilmos Zsigmond asc, hsc, Alex Thompson bsc.

What is one of your most memorable moments on set?

What cinematographers inspire you?

What do you like best about what you do?

Vittorio Storaro asc, aic; Janusz Kaminski asc; Daniel Mindel asc, bsc, sasc; Michael Ballhaus asc; Kazuo Miyagawa, Matthew Libatique asc; Dion Beebe acs, asc; Frederick Elmes asc; Darius Khondji asc afc, and all of my mentors.

Interpreting a story, creating the director’s vision and evoking the emotional arc with light. Doing what I love, the art of being creative. Travelling the world, meeting and working with so many creative people. The integration of music and light in film.

Name some of your professional highlights.

What do you like least about what you do?

While I was shooting aerials and other footage 10 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

Meeting my wife, the love of my life.

The time away from my family.

CSC at

2020

CSC congratulates the following members whose films were selected for the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival.

TIFF DOCS Chris Romeike csc, Inconvenient Indian (dir. Michelle Latimer) Joshua Allen csc & Ian Kerr csc, The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (co-dirs. Jennifer Abbott & Joel Bakan) Courtesy of John Holosko csc.

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

Great Macchina da caffè espresso machines. The adoption and integration of DMXed controlled lights allowing you to create any lighting your creativity can dream up. Digital camera’s sensitivity and exposure latitude allow you to recreate exactly what you desire. More pleasing aspect ratios. So many new and creative camera rigs to achieve shots we used to only dream of. Drones.

How can others follow your work?

My website, John Holosko.com/ca. My most recent feature Nursery Rhyme of a Madman is available on Vimeo.

CONTEMPORARY WORLD CINEMA Tobie Marier-Robitaille csc, Night of the Kings (dir. Philippe Lacôte) MIDNIGHT MADNESS Adam Crosby, Violation (co-dirs. Madeleine Sims-Fewer & Dusty Mancinelli) SPECIAL EVENTS Maya Bankovic csc, Akilla’s Escape (dir. Charles Officer) Matthew J. Lloyd csc, asc, The Water Man (dir. David Oyelow) SHORT CUTS Peter Hadfield, Benjamin, Benny, Ben (dir. Paul Shkordoff) Cole Graham, Rules for Werewolves (dir. Jeremy Schaulin-Rioux) John Ker, Succor (dir. Hannah Cheesman)

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

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On Set

Associate member Michael Jari Davidson meters a set up on a motion control commercial in Toronto with COVID measures in place.

Pieter Stathis csc shooting daytime exteriors for the long-running Hallmark mystery series Aurora Teagarden.

Courtesy of Kevin Speckmaier

Credit: Jonny Micay

Cinematographer Mat Barkley associate member shooting Ontario Equestrian PSA “For The Herd.”

Camera Operator Kelly Mason associate member and dolly grip Jackson Wolfe shooting Supergirl on location in Vancouver.

Credit: Kegan Sant

Photo courtesy of Kelly Mason

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Associate Member Christina Ienna working on a Big Pig Co production in Sudbury, ON. Credit: Mark Delottinville

Sandrine Daoust (2nd AC/data wrangler B cam), Eric Morin (1st AC A cam), DP Serge Desrosiers csc (as Clown Patof), Jean-Sebastien Desrosiers (B cam operator), Patrick Biron (1st AC B cam), and Jennifer Pitoscia (2nd AC A cam) on the set of the feature film The Wolf and The Lion.

Credit: Emmanuel Guinet

Cinematographer and A camera operator David BercoviciArtieda associate member with longtime friend, collaborator and camera operator Christina Kasperczyk on the set of The College Admissions Scandal.

DP Maya Bankovic csc talking to director Charles Officer on the set of the feature film Akilla's Escape.

Credit: Amanda Matlovich

Credit: Sergei Bachlakov

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

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Men for All Seasons

Bows Out

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer

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On the set of Van Helsing, Season 5.

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

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Credit: Mayo Hirc

“The crew is coping well with the COVID-19 protocols.

Keeping safe distance when we can, always wearing face masks and lots of handwashing. We all know that it is in our best interest to shoot safely.” Neil Cervin csc

F

up on the mythology of vampires and Van Helsing by re-watching some of the classics, such as Nosferatu and Dracula by Francis Ford Coppola,” Uegama explains. “I spent many hours gathering references and narrowed down hundreds of images for a look book that I presented to everyone. We tested a lot of things, such as blood, vampire makeup, and lighting them with firelight and sidelight. Since it was a post-apocalyptic world and there was no power in the cities in our storyline, shooting night scenes in

Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

irst appearing in New Teen Titans #21 (1982), Vanessa Van Helsing has graduated from comic books to carrying on the family tradition of eradicating vampires on the small screen in an American-Canadian co-production that is airing its fifth and final season on Syfy. Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) created Van Helsing and was subsequently replaced in Season Four by Jonathan Walker (Wu Assassins). Also changing over

Kelly Overton as Vanessa Van Helsing in Van Helsing, Season 1.

the course of the series have been the cinematographers, with Brendan Uegama csc (Child’s Play) being responsible for Seasons One and Two, associate member Ronald Richard (Dangerous Lies) shooting Season Three, Gerald Packer csc (Schitt’s Creek) lensing Season Four, and Neil Cervin csc (Arrow) taking charge of Season Five.

“For the pilot, my research started with freshening 16 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

the city could not be accomplished at true night due to the thousands of city lights we would need to paint out. Day for night became our solution.”

Four weeks were spent in prep with director Michael Nankin (Stargirl), while principal photography for the pilot lasted 21 days. “Michael and I decided to allow scenes to play out and not get into ‘traditional coverage’ if we could avoid it,” Uegama

Credit: Daniel Power

states. “We talked about the characters’ emotional arc and if something was important to really highlight it, we would talk about how to do so.”

The aspect ratio was 1.78:1, while footage was captured 5K and often with three cameras. Seasons One and Two were captured on RED DRAGON cameras with Ultra Prime lenses, according to Uegama. Production was based in Vancouver. “Our studio was the old Canada Post building located right downtown,” the DP says. “Production designer James Hazell [Siren] built most of our sets for the first half of the season there. Story-wise, the characters were living in an abandoned hospital in downtown Seattle. At the end of Episode 107, they need to escape the hospital, and we spend the remaining episodes of the season on the road.”

A constant from the beginning of Van Helsing has been lead actress Kelly Overton, who was pregnant while shooting the second season. “Kelly is a rock star,” Uegama remarks. “She would come in and do her work day after day. Our typical approach was to shoot out her dialogue or any shots we would see her face, then let her go, and clean up the scenes with her double. On a visual side, we had to try and be as conscious as possible at hiding her belly. Wardrobe helped the best they could by dressing her in black with a partial cloak that would help hide from side angles.”

Blood, gore and violence are natural extensions of the subject matter. “We wanted to make sure the blood read on screen, but we wanted to keep it darker when used on vampires and redder when it came from humans,” Uegama says. “We also decided in prep that we wouldn’t use squibs for any gunshots. We knew right away that would always be done with visual effects. But when it came to blood on an actor or on the ground, we used a lot of it! As

(L-R) Camera operator Glen Dickson, Brendan Uegama csc, and director Kaare Andrews.

for the gore and violence, the network wanted it to be gory.”

Using the visual language established by Uegama as a guide, Richard took over for Season Three. “I knew Brendan from shooting second unit on Riverdale and talked to him about the process for Van Helsing,” Richard recalls. “Neil LaBute loves doing things that he hasn’t done before, which opened a giant sandbox for me as a DP. I told him what I liked and would do differently. I wanted to have long takes and lots of camera movement accelerating the story forward. I do a lot of gimbal on a pipe where you treat it like a Technocrane that can go anywhere except vertically. We would elaborate and create these long shots. Neil liked that approach. We were in a doctor’s office set and I remember looking through an orange needle tray with the camera to see what that would look like. Neil loved it and said, ‘Let’s make a filter out of that piece of plastic.’ He wanted it burned in.”

Six days of principal photography were devoted to each episode. “There was no alternating DP, so a lot of it was based on instinct because you would only get to prep ahead so far,” Richard says. “Your gaffer and key grip would come back, and the production

“We wanted to make sure the blood read on screen, but we wanted to keep it darker when used on vampires and redder when it came from humans.”

Brendan Uegama csc

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Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

Aleks Paunovic as Julius in Van Helsing, Season 2

designer would show you a couple of photos. You would have to come up with a plan for what you’re going to do in three days when you go and shoot there without ever seeing the location.”

Shooting blocks were determined by locations rather than episodic order. “The show was literally 90 per cent location shooting, and they would augment by putting in or changing a wall. It was hard because you’re limited by where the windows are, and you can’t pop in a ceiling. The production designer [Grant Pearse] made sure that I had options,” Richard offers.

A big change in Season Three was the emergence of Daywalkers, which meant that the series was no longer confined to nighttime settings. “It opened the door for us to embrace sunlight,” Richard eplains.

“Shooting outdoors was faster as I didn’t have to set up a bunch of stuff. You position things according to the sun; that was the hardest part with some directors as the sun would be in the wrong spot for the blocking that they had in mind.”

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The footage was captured with the ALEXA Mini camera and ARRI Master Primes lenses. “I wanted to shoot with a lower light and shallow depth of field, so I upgraded to the Master Primes,” he explains. “It has the same look as the Ultra Primes, but you can shoot a lot faster. We used wide lenses for 80 per cent of the show.” Problems were solved by creative solutions. “It stimulates you in a way that is enjoyable. Van Helsing embraced the risk because the potential reward was greater than playing the safe way.”

“Neil LaBute loves doing things that he hasn’t done before, which opened a giant sandbox for me as a DP. I told him what I liked and would do differently.”

Ronald Richard

Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

Top: Van Helsing, Season 3.

Middle: Julie Lynn Mortensen as Lily Van Helsing in Season 3.

Bottom: (L-R) Ronald Richard with director, Jason Priestley on the set of Van Helsing, Season 3.

Credit: Courtesy Ronald Richard

Replacing Richard for Season Four was Packer, who got to work with new showrunner Jonathan Walker.

“Jonathan wanted to change things up a lot. It was a whole new crew; he and [executive producer] Michael Frislev wanted more camera movement and more fights handheld,” Packer recalls. “Just more immediate frenetic stuff. We followed lighting and certain things, like the last episode of Season Three was a cliffhanger where they are fighting in a mausoleum, and Episode 401 picks up in the middle of that fight.”

A significant story decision was made with the focus shifting towards the children of Vanessa Van Helsing hunting vampires, he adds.

“There is a lot of license for what you can do once you start changing the story. However, you don’t want to change everything when you have three seasons of fans.”

Lighting is essential in retaining a consistent look going from director to director. “A lot of directors are going to have their own ideas about how they want to cover a scene,” Packer observes. “You have a time limit, so you try to do it as economically as possible.” There was a balance shift in favour of studio shooting with the production being based in Surrey, B.C. “I used an ALEXA Mini and had a set of Leica Summilux lenses. We used a Ronin on a crane, dolly and handheld or on a SlingShot rig,” he says. “When using the Ronin, you have to rebalance it every time you put a new lens on. But you can pop Simmilux lenses off in moments without adjusting. The camera was always moving. I wanted to get some nice staccato images. We tried to get a

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Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

Jonathan Scarfe as Axel Miller in Season 4.

lot of coverage for the action and worked with two cameras all of the time, plus a third for fights. I had a 29 mm right in there to get a closeup and moved the camera with the actors as they fought.”

Fights are trademark of Van Helsing, with stunt visualization put together by the stunt department.

“With stunts and fights you have to get the right angle so that the punches look like they’re actual punches not Batman and Robin stuff,” Packer notes.

“What was great about the stunt guys is that they really understood where a punch did and didn’t work and knew where the camera should be.”

Various methods were deployed to distinguish between the past, present and future. “For the past, I desaturated the colours, had more contrast and a different blue than was in the room. It was treated again in post. The director wanted to do the flashback episode in one take, so the 42-minute show is a series of seven one-ers. It added a whole level of tension. It makes you feel that you’re in the room with these girls getting chased by zombies.”

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Reflecting on Season Four, Packer adds, “The biggest challenge was getting the work done and the right amount of footage during the day. You had to keep moving forward.”

After lensing episodes for Seasons Two, Three and Four, Cervin – who this summer won a Leo Award for Best Cinematography Dramatic Series for the Season Four episode “Miles and Miles” – was in the midst of shooting the fifth and final season when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the production. “I shot Episodes 501, 502 and 503 in Slovakia before they closed that country down, and I got

“With stunts and fights you have to get the right angle so that the punches look like that they’re actual punches not Batman and Robin stuff.”

Gerald Packer csc

Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures Credit: David Power

Top: Keeya King as Violet Van Helsing in Season 4.

Middle: (L-R) Aleks Paunovic as Julius and Rowland Pidlubny as Scab in Season 4.

Bottom: Gerald Packer csc (right) and a camera assistant on the set of Van Helsing, Season 4.

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“It’s a vampire show so there were going to be a lot of night shoots. I went for a camera that would give me 6K, which was the RED MONSTRO with a Helium sensor that actually does 8K and looks good in low light.”

Neil Cervin csc

Tricia Helfer as Dracula in Van Helsing, Season 5.

involved with the Kamloops, B.C., shoot where we did episodes 505 and 506. Afterwards I got asked to do the rest of the show.”

Often shots were combined, and the resolution went from 4K to 6K if a frame was going to be extracted later in postproduction. “There was one scene that we were doing in Kamloops last year where the sun was going in and out of clouds, so I had an 18K in line with the sun,” Cervin recalls.

“It was the only way to keep it going and stay on schedule.”

The camera package was altered for the principal photography in Slovakia as the scenes take place during the Middle Ages. “Most of it was going to be shot with candles and moonlight,” Cervin explains.

“It’s a vampire show so there were going to be a lot of night shoots. I went for a camera that would give me 6K, which was the RED MONSTRO with a Helium sensor that actually does 8K and looks good in low light. I used Vantage lenses that are T1, which is amazing because normally lenses are T1.4. I got 22 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

those for the big castle exteriors. When we were doing stuff in the castles I was going for wide lenses, 12 mm, 14 mm and 17 mm. These castles were the most amazing locations that I’ve ever been in my life.” Lighting needed to be augmented. “There are these fantastic lights made by Astera called Titan and Helios,” he says. “The Titan is a 4-foot tube and the Helios is a 2-foot tube; they throw out a bit of light, come with some light controls, you can put eight of the four-footers in one big soft light rig, which a guy can pick up with one hand, and both of them have internal batteries that can last for ages.

The Astera tubes were nicer than actual candlelight flicker and are easy to rig.”

Following the COVID-19 film production lockdown, the remaining episodes were set to be captured with a revamped camera system. “We are getting lovely images from the Sony FX9, but it’s not as production friendly as the VENICE,” Cervin states. “It does 6K but samples down to 4K. We’re shooting Super 35 all the way through.” The camera

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Credit: Courtesy Nomadic Pictures

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Credit: Mayo Hirc

(L-R) Director Jonathan Scarfe and Neil Cervin csc on the set of Van Helsing, Season 5.

change will not be visually jarring as the rest of the season occurs in the future. “We’re also going to be using a Z CAM. It’s made in China and has 15 stops of latitude. It’s basically a 3-inch cube with a hole for a PL lens mount. We’re going to use that on a Ronin. It’s such a tiny camera that it can go anywhere; that’s 6K and is connected to a wireless.”

Life on set has been impacted by the pandemic. “The crew is coping well with the COVID-19 protocols. Keeping safe distance when we can, always wearing face masks and lots of handwashing. We all know that it is in our best interest to shoot safely,” he says.

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

23

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Letting in the Light: MICHAEL WYLAM Shoots

WHERE DARKNESS LIES

D

By Fanen Chiahemen

irector Chino Saavedra’s short film Where Darkness Lies is a psychological fantasy drama in which the protagonist, Jamie ( Jesse Moss), is forced to contend with his troubled past, while taunted by a supernatural force in a log cabin. Shot at Virtue Studio Ranch in Mission, B.C., with Sim Digital providing the camera package and William F. White and Gearbase Camera Rentals providing lighting and grip packages, the film earned associate member Michael Wylam a 2020 CSC Award nomination for Dramatic Short Cinematography, a 2019 Australian Cinematographers Society Gold Award, as well as

24 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

a Leo Award nomination for Best Cinematography in a Short Drama earlier this year. Wylam tells Canadian Cinematographer about bringing the film to life.

Canadian Cinematographer: What kind of visual style did the script and the director call for?

Michael Wylam: The tone of the script required a lowkey look, grounded in reality but where the imagery blurred the line with fantasy. I knew instinctively that I wanted there to be contrasts to help show the conflict in Jamie. The interplay of light and dark, colour contrast and camera movement would all be

in conflict to show the deteriorating state of Jamie’s mind. I also wanted to play with subjective and objective perspectives, hugging the eye line, giving a sense of power to characters as needed and holding shots wherever possible for tension. The darkness was a great canvas to start on, and Chino was very generous in giving me the freedom and trust to punctuate this film with a visual grammar that would help drive the narrative.

the audience to feel like they were searching for details with him. I paired Arri Master Primes with the ALEXA SXT at 3.2K, shooting at T2 1/3. This meant the audience could see the texture of the cabin enough, but it still very much gave us control of what to reveal and when with fast focus fall-off.

I felt the sharpness of the Master Primes would allow the audience to feel as if they were hunting for details with Jamie. I knew I was mainly going to be on wider lenses for this project as we had chosen the CC: What influenced your choice of camera and lenses? location partly for the space it gave us, and some of the closeups needed the intimacy and immediacy of MW: The audience had to be on a journey with the a wider lens. I wanted to throw those wide lenses in protagonist, and as he is searching for clues, I wanted juxtaposition with key moments of claustrophobia Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

25

Credit: Courtesy The Labryinth Productions.

Jesse Moss in Where Darkness Lies.

where I went longer and compressed the background, suffocating Jesse visually. I did use a digital diffusion filter on our female lead to create a little glamour to her introduction. The cabin was so large, and so much of the journey of the film was with Jamie that playing with negative space I knew would speak volumes visually. Shooting 2.35 spherical gave us the sense of isolation needed for story.

bounce as required, and much of our lighting came from overhead, which was made possible by drilling fixtures into beams high above the set. I also requested a small clearing be made along the outside of the cabin near the main window as I wanted to play with an idea for the climax of the film where Jamie reluctantly shoots his mentor, Sam. The magnitude of his actions I felt warranted a level of detachment visually, and having seen much of the film from CC: Can you talk about transforming the horse Jamie’s perspective, and always within stable into a set that you could light and shoot? the cabin location, shooting the climax of this scene outside the cabin looking MW: The horse stable had character and through the window gave a sense of dedepth to pull actors away from walls, personalization for Jamie. and space for the dolly to not be encumbered. I loved the texture and dark CC: How did you approach the lighting setup in browns of the log cabin, knowing they the cabin? would suck up light and removing the need for negative fill on the deck, thus MW: There was a mixture of day and saving time and freeing up space for our night scenes shooting through short actors. For the floorboards, I requested a winter days, so I made the decision eardarker, matte option that wouldn’t sheen ly to tent out the doors and windows so and bounce our lights everywhere so I we could shoot night interior scenes at could control my ratios. I felt it was im- any time of day, and day interior scenes portant to create layers within the cabin, in the mornings knowing that all the which would help me with introducing windows of the cabin were west facwashes of light with different qualities ing. This helped maintain my lighting to articulate an omnipresence within ratio and – knowing the crew was minithe dark space. Even the direction of the mal – speed of setups was important. floorboards I felt created a textural qual- Key grip Chris Rogers was able to preity, knowing where our frames were like- rig this the day prior to shooting and ly to be. The wooden pillars would also his wealth of experience was essential allow for a dynamic energy at certain to the smooth running of the set as was points informed by parallax movement the efficiency and speed of gaffer Corey moving through the space with our dol- MacGregor on the day. The day scenes ly moves. There were numerous gaps in needed to have very separate looks. the walls, which I had asked to be filled The opening scene required a heavy so the sun’s path wouldn’t interfere with and almost sickly amber heaviness to the shooting day. The cabin also had it, as if the heaviness of Jamie’s actions stairs and an upper level, which served weighed on him as we reveal the room as a gantry running along all four sides. on a dolly. In the end scene, scorching This meant we could easily rig lights light surrounds the cabin from all dihigh in the ceiling and hang silks and rections, coming from gaps in the walls, 26 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

Credit: Larry Wright

Actor Jesse Moss and DP Michael Wylam on the set of Where Darkness Lies.

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020 •

27

Credit: Larry Wright Credit: The Labryinth Productions

(L-R) Jesse Moss, Philip Granger, Michael Wylam and Chino Saavedra.

Jesse Moss and Philip Granger.

through windows and the door that set itself ajar.

These scenes used an Arri M90 through the window placed at a distance that would give just the right fall-off. Through the smaller windows, M40s, M18s, a 1.8K par and 800w Jokers were employed to recreate shafts of light.

I had asked the art department to build a gobo made of leftover wood from the cabin. This was placed on 28 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

the second level with our 800w Jokers so when we followed Jamie on the dolly as he approaches the door, the shafts would dance a little on top of frame and gave some life to the light. For the night interior scenes, the gantry overhead allowed rigging into the beams, so I was able to pepper light with small sources here and there using covered wagons, LED battens and small tungsten units. I could also hang

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#

Credit: Courtesy The Labryinth Productions.

Philip Granger as Sam.

12x12 unbleached muslin overhead bringing in soft brushstrokes of warm tungsten light here and there, and introduce some of the moonlight effect into the scene. I did extensive testing for the moonlight look that would suit the tone of the script. We settled on Calcolour 15 and mixed it occasionally with Cyan 15, creating a desaturated moonlight look. A coffin box rigged overhead utilizing two S2 Litemat 4s created a theatrical look for younger Jamie and Sam, played by Phil Granger. My intention was that on a very subconscious level it would look like a play that present-day Jamie was watching.

CC: How did practicals come into play?

MW: There was a key moment of realization in Jamie that he was about to relive an emotionally poignant memory, and I wanted the lamp shade to be red to subtly undulate that moment as a foreboding visual cue. We were able to augment that practical with an RGB 4’ Quasar and further took that unit out of a fairly primary colour with a brown gel to match the rusty red of the lampshade. Corey fitted the practicals with 100w tungsten bulbs which were dimmed down to about 50 per cent which gave 30 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

us the warmth needed to contrast the moonlight look of the night scenes. I knew we were able to isolate and play with the subtleties of warmth of the practicals further in the grade with colorist Sam Gilling.

CC: What challenges did you run into?

MW: The cabin required a lot of light to execute the look we were after and we used a large generator as there was no accessible power at the location. Unfortunately, early on in the shoot we experienced issues with the generator where the practicals appeared to be pulsing slowly. The idea of the light being reactive and having a consciousness was crucial to developing a presence to the cabin, so this happy accident actually was in keeping with the pulsating creepiness of the entity controlling the cabin. When we replaced the generator the next day, embracing that look was a no-brainer and we recreated it in key moments with inline dimmers.

Staying open to those happy accidents is always a challenge with the velocity of the day but I’m really happy with embracing it and how it helped create the cabin as another character.

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I wanted to maximise the fact that it was a city-based show and get the most out of the landscape. The premise of the story includes an unknown sniper who could be watching from anywhere, so for a cinematographer it had great visual scope with vast night time cityscapes and selective points of view. With lots of night and low light scenes I chose to shoot full frame to make the most of the Cooke T2 S7/i lenses capturing a true, big cinematic look with bokeh influence.

I love the characteristics that are consistent across all the Cooke lenses. You get great colour rendition and unique, interesting focus characteristics – sharp but not harsh, and with the right focus drop off in full frame the images can be controlled to look painterly and create a fluidity of character with great depth.

I also like the physicality and mechanics of the lenses; you always get the same sort of focus roll, smooth, consistent movement throughout the range – my focus puller loves them! Professionally I find them to be an absolute asset.”

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Canadian Cinematographer - November 2010 •

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Craig Wrobleski csc Creates Immersive Horror With The ALEXA LF

IN THE TALL

By Tanya Lyon

Credit: Courtesy Netflix

A

fter making a splash with the superhero series The Umbrella Academy, DP Craig Wrobleski csc returns to Netflix with In the Tall Grass. Based on the Stephen King and Joe Hill novella of the same name, In the Tall Grass is a supernatural horror directed by Vincenzo Natali. The film follows siblings Becky and Cal DeMuth as they investigate the cries of a lost boy in a field of tall grass.

What follows is an immersive horror film, vivid with detail.

ARRI caught up with Wrobleski to discuss everything from balancing the natural and supernatural, to his love of texture when capturing images.

Harrison Gilbertson and Will Buie Jr. (top).

32 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

on Netflix’s

GRASS

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

33

(L-R) Patrick Wilson, Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira and Avery Whitted.

Did you have any visual inspiration or a specific style you were going for in capturing In the Tall Grass?

Well, the critical thing was that it had to be immersive. The audience had to feel that they were in the grass with the characters. We did discuss The Thin Red Line, a Terrence Malick film where the soldiers were fighting on a tropical island, dealing with visibility issues with the grass and not able to see the enemy, but we didn’t really have any specific visual references. Vincenzo, the director, had a Japanese anime artist do a lot of pre-viz work, so I would say that the look of the film is fairly unique in the sense that we didn’t specifically reference any other films.

The whole look drew from this notion that it either had to be natural or supernatural. If we ended up in the middle ground where it’s stylized naturalism, it’s not going to work when we get supernatural and things get really crazy. So, that was the overriding mantra for me. It was just about feeling very natural and very real.

34 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

The film definitely had an immersive feeling. You got a sense of being surrounded by that tall grass. So how did you go about achieving that?

That immersive quality was a big part of why I was pushing to shoot on a larger sensor. When I was approached, I was shooting The Umbrella Academy, which was shot on the ALEXA 65. The ALEXA 65 is unbeatable as a capture medium because it is so incredibly immersive and incredibly detailed. It picks out every single nuance of the image and has so much to offer. But the reality of taking the [ALEXA] 65 into the field was overwhelming for this production.

I had previous experience with the ALEXA LF, and I thought it was a perfect fit. It offered that immersive quality and a larger sensor, which allowed us to shoot wide lenses but not “feel” the lenses as much. If we went in there with a conventionalsized [Super 35] sensor and shot with really wide lenses, you’d feel the lens and the grass bending on

Credit: Christos Kalohoridis

Credit: Courtesy Netflix

Craig Wrobleski csc on the set of In The Tall Grass.

the edge of the frame. It would take some of that realism away. You’d start to feel you were in a supernatural world because it would have that fisheye look. The [ALEXA] LF was perfect for flattening the frame but still giving it that beautiful, wide perspective that made us feel like we were right in there with the characters.

there were layers, and it was never just faces cut out against a mask of green. If we had a conventional sensor, we would’ve run the risk of everything feeling flat and one dimensional.

Is that immersive feeling something that you feel large format film cameras provide versus their Super 35 counterpart?

I don’t want to give away the exact ratio of what’s real and what isn’t, but we did spend an enormous amount of time in real grass. The majority of the film is real grass. We shot exteriors in a field in Stratford, Ontario. We did move into a stage for the interior work. That was only because the reality of shooting night exteriors in a field in summer, would’ve made it even more uncomfortable for the actors and crew.

Regardless of that, it is a truly challenging environment to work in. The grass is serrated, so it’s like a knife. So, when you walk in it, it will cut you.

You can see it in the actors. In some of the early takes, you can see that the actors are visibly annoyed [by the grass.] You can see them walking

Definitely. I always want my photography to support the story and I don’t want to feel like we are inflicting ourselves onto the story. Sometimes when you get into wide lenses, you start to feel the lens.

The larger sensor captures all of the details, the nuances and the way the focus falls off is so beautiful.

You can get these beautiful layers of texture in the grass.

That’s what the larger sensor helped with so that

Can you talk about how much CG was involved?

Canadian Cinematographer - September 2020 •

35

Credit: Courtesy Netflix

In the Tall Grass was Wrobleski’s second work filmed on HDR for Netflix

through, and they are slapping the grass out of the way because it was so irritating. It really supported what we were doing. Working in that environment really made the film what it is because we were living what we were shooting.

What was your experience in filming HDR? On Tall Grass, the script requirements and the realities of the setting told us we would be dealing with bright, sunlit day exteriors and dark, “moonlit” night exteriors – all in the tall grass environment.

Those situations can create quite a challenge for the HDR process, especially where the expanded dynamic range could make already bright highlights overwhelmingly so and could potentially reduce detail in the blacks where you wish to retain texture.

Our amazing DIT, Gautam Pinto, is well-versed [in] the HDR process and was ever vigilant about protecting our digital negative by ensuring we always retained detail in both the highlights and the 36 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

shadows so that we would have complete control throughout the process to modulate the levels and guide the audiences’ eye in the right direction.

With Joanne Rourke in the grading suite at Deluxe Toronto, the balanced negative we maintained on set gave us complete control to create the look we desired. We had both HDR and non-HDR monitors side by side and were able to compare the two images to ensure that we would be happy with the results in both versions.

As an aside, one interesting visual side-effect of the brighter highlights in HDR is that eye lights on actors require additional attention. Multiple highlights reflected in the eyes or eye lights that are too bright in night work can become unnatural and somewhat distracting in HDR. We were very careful to ensure that, whenever possible, the eye lights were round in shape as a large square or rectangular reflection of a light source could look very artificial, especially on extreme close work.

Reprinted with permission from ARRI.

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Tech Column

Cinematography on the Go Rolls on Technology Advancements

W

hen I started as a reporter-photographer at a big-city daily newspaper, CBC shooters were humping 16 mm film cameras and rushing back to soup. Then came CITYTV’s ironically named Portapaks. Then Betacams and the VHS version. Power? Sure, there were the leather bandoleers of Anton Bauer battery packs for the big light atop the camera.

Since then, technology continues to evolve – and get smaller, a boon for cinematographers on the go.

Emmy winner and Toronto DP Mike Grippo csc went into what we called Electronic News Gathering (ENG) shortly after I arrived on the media scene. Our paths crossed many times, covering not just Toronto stories but international events such as elections in Haiti, the American invasion of Panama and the Arrow Air crash in Newfoundland.

Back then, we measured stories by how many network satellite trucks showed up. Today, not so much. When we connected, Grippo was in the Maritimes setting up a live segment for ABC’s Good Morning America. There was, however, no satellite truck out back.

“We use LiveU, bonded cellular,” he says of the satellite truck in a backpack, essentially six cell phones harnessed to stream a signal from source in real time. Gear too has changed. The Sony F55 sells for a fraction of the price of a Betacam and is much more mobile, and a day’s worth of footage fits in a pocket-sized SD card. What took a Transit van now needs just a minivan with three Pelican Cases, packed with a 17-120 Canon cinema zoom and six Canon primes, along with lights, stands, reflectors and other accessories.

While there are other battery makers out there, Grippo is loyal to Bauer because when his charger literally blew up in smoke on a European assignment, the Belgian agent drove overnight to Rotterdam with a replacement. “One Anton Bauer will 38 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

run that camera for an hour and a half,” he says, noting that’s where the advances have made a difference because there’s no tape transport mechanism sucking up power, while lighting has been dramatically transformed. “The Iwata Genius Pro light gets powered from a USB charge, has a magnetic filter, is dimmable and colour tunable. With three I can do three-point lighting.”

The cell phone-sized LEDs are prefect for field work, he says, and with six Bauers he can run three lights, the camera and a nine-inch Odyssey Monitor. Since he also shoots The Nature of Things and is often out in the bush, on a glacier or in the North, 9,000 feet up Canmore for a ROM dig, having compact reliable gear is mission critical. Solar is on the radar next.

On the features side, DP and associate member Daniel Everitt-Lock has been shrinking his footprint consistently over the last eight or nine years as well. “It was more of an issue when I first started at it, but since then everything has become much more compact,” he says.

The ultimate test was last summer working on a feature, American Dreamer, which involved travelling to the U.K., Montreal, Kelowna and then a road trip in an eight-person RV down the California coastal highway and over to Yosemite. “It was super compact,” he says of the film, which is a coming-ofage road movie with two British guys who decide they want to come to America to find brides and get green cards. “We had to fit in what we could plus the crew and cast, so there were 11 of us.”

For the southward portion, which included stashing a 2,000-watt generator onboard, they rented a car to supplement the RV, which also served as a set for part of the shooting.

Montreal and London weren’t problematic in terms of gear, but Kelowna and the road portion meant making decisions about packing and flying

Courtesy Mike Grippo csc

with what they couldn’t live without and then making do. They packed four Astera Pixel Tubes, which are battery powered, along with some Aputure C120d and 300d, 10 Vlock batteries of different brands. “We had planned to use the RV for power, but it had issues, so we had to get a generator,” he says. “It was a bit crowded. We ended up some of us sleeping in the car as well.”

Most of the scenes were shot in daylight, augmented by lights as required in the RV – which of course added to the “insanely hot desert heat” – but

also with reflectors they made on set, dropping into stores to pick up poly boards. The film was shot on REDs with Leica Summicron-R vintage lenses, and all handheld on account of the confines of space.

“Given the time and budget we had, there’s no way we could have done this 10 years ago,” he says.

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 - October 2020 •

39

Production Notes & Calendar ANOTHER LIFE II (series)

DP Ryan McMaster csc

to November 23

Langley

BIG SKY, THE I (series)

C Cam Operator Ian Kerr csc

to January 13, 2021

Pitt Meadows

BURDEN OF TRUTH IV (series)

DP Jonathan Cliff csc

to November 20

Winnipeg

CHANGE OF PACE (feature)

DP Amy Belling csc

to October 2

Penticton

CHAPELWAITE AKA JERUSALEM’S LOT (miniseries)

DP David Greene csc, asc B Camera Operator Christopher Ball csc (alternating episodes)

to December 18

Halifax Ottawa

CHRISTMAS SET UP, THE (MOW)

DP Russ Goozee csc

to October 8

CORONER III (series)

DP Samy Inayeh csc (alternating episodes) B Camera 1st Assistant Kyryll Sobolev

to January 18, 2021

DAY OF THE DEAD I (series)

DP Chris Kempinski

to December 4

Burnaby

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW VI (series)

DP David Geddes csc, asc

to May 10, 2021

Burnaby

FEUDAL (series)

Camera Operator Forbes MacDonald Jr B Camera Operator Jeffery Wheaton

to October 29

Hubbards

DEBRIS (series)

DP Michael Wale csc & Tony Mirza (alternating episodes)

to March 10, 2021

Burnaby

HEARTLAND XIV (series)

DP Jarrett Craig

to December 21

Calgary

HOME BEFORE DARK II (series)

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

to December 18

Richmond

Toronto

KIM’S CONVENIENCE V (series)

DP James Klopko csc

to November 20

KUNG FU I (series)

DP Neil Cervin csc

to April 2, 2021

LADY DICKS (series)

DP Kristin Fieldhouse B Camera Operator Robert J. Barnett

to December 15

Etobicoke

LAKEWOOD (feature)

Camera Operator/Steadicam Yoann Malnati

to October 7

North Bay

LOCKE & KEY II (series)

DP Dylan Macleod csc (alternating episodes)

to March 31

Toronto

MAID (series)

DP Block 2 & 4 Guy Godfree csc & Block 3 Vincent De Paula csc

to May 30, 2021

Victoria

MURDOCH MYSTERIES XIV (series)

DP Yuri Yakibuw csc 1st Assistant Kevin Michael Leblanc

to November 10

Toronto

MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY I (series)

DP François Dagenais csc

to January 30, 2021

North Vancouver

NIGHTBOOKS (feature)

DP Robert McLachlan csc, asc

to December 17

Toronto

to October 10

NURSES II (series)

DP Thom Best csc 1st Assistant Ciaran Copelin

PEARL IN THE MIST (MOW)

DP/Operator David Bercovici-Artieda

PRIVATE EYES V (series)

DP Eric Cayla csc B Camera Operator Brad Hruboska

to December 14

Scarborough

REPUBLIC OF SARAH, THE (series)

DP Elie Smolkin csc Camera Operator Alfonso Maiorana

to April 1, 2021

Montreal

RIVERDALE V (series)

DP Block 1 Ronald Richard & Block 2 Brendan Uegama csc

to April 30, 2021

Langley

SEX/LIFE (series)

DP David Makin csc & Mike McMurray csc (alternating episodes)

to November 26

Mississauga

Mississauga Victoria

SORT OF (series)

DP Stephen Reizes csc

to December 9

Toronto

SPIN (TV movie)

DP Jeremy Benning csc B Camera 1st Assistant Brent J. Craig

to November 20

Brampton

SUPER PUPS I (series)

DP/Operator Mark Irwin csc, asc

to October 2

Saanichton

SUPERGIRL VI (series)

DP Michael Storey csc (alternating episodes)

to May 28, 2021

Langley

SUPERMAN & LOIS (series)

DP Stephen Maier & Gordon Verheul csc (alternating episodes)

to June 4, 2021

Vancouver

SURREALTOR (series)

Camera Operator Perry Hoffmann

to December 9

St. John’s

TALLBOYZ II (series)

DP Lainie Knox

to October 27

Toronto

TITANS III (series)

DP Boris Mosjovski csc & Fraser Brown csc (alternating episodes)

to November 1

Toronto

TURNER & HOOCH I (series)

Camera Operator Jim Van Dijk

to April 19, 2021

Burnaby

UNTITLED HOME ALONE (feature)

2nd Unit C Operator Alfonso Maiorana

to November 5

Montreal

VICAP (AKA CLARICE) (series)

DP Glen Keenan csc (Oct. 16) DP Marc Laliberte & Brendan Steacy csc (alternating episodes) Camera Operator Peter Sweeney

to April 7, 2021

Toronto

csc

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS VIII (series)

1st Ciaran Copelin

to March 31, 2021

Toronto

WHEN CALLS THE HEART VIII (series)

DP Michael Balfry csc

to November 17

Burnaby

WORKIN’ MOMS V (series)

DP Ben Lichty Camera Operator Andreas Evdemon

to November 19

Toronto

Y (series)

DP Catherine Lutes csc

to July 5, 2021

Mississauga

ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST II (series)

B Cam Op/2nd Unit DP Christopher Oben

to March 25, 2021

Richmond

CALENDAR OCTOBER 1-2, Cinegear Expo Atlanta, cinegearexpo. com/atlanta-expo 15-22, AFI FEST 2019, Hollywood, afi. com/afifest 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

Classifieds EQUIPMENT FOR SALE Sachtler Video 20P Head (7x7) with carbon fibre standard legs (thick) 100mm ball base, pan handle, interior spreader, rubber feet and hard case. $5000 Michael Ellis 416-729-6988 michaelellis70@gmail.com COLORTRAN Nook light with bard doors and bulb. Includes long power cable and Quartzcolor 2K switch. $75. LOWEL Blender with AC power adapter, battery adapter for Canon E6 batteries, 1 protective screen, 3 diffusion screens. Very Good condition. $250. CHIMERA Triolet with 3 bulb adaptors, Chimera 9890 ring, glass diffusion dome and small Chimera pancake lantern (type 1864). $475. CHIMERA Extra Small Video Pro Plus with 3 screens (type 8115, 16"x22"). New condition. $200. CHIMERA Small Video Pro Plus Strip bank. (type 8155, 9"x 36").

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.

Contact info@johnker.com.

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 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. $23,000.00 cad 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.

@canadiancinematographer @csc_CDN

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40 • Canadian Cinematographer - October 2020

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