British Cinematographer issue 51 - Imago

British Cinematographer
Covering International Cinematography
www.britishcinematographer.co.uk
Issue 051 ––– May 2012
Credits
–––British Cinematographer
Magazine: Issue 51
Contents.
05
President’s Perspective.
John de Borman BSC.
07
Production /
Post & Techno News.
All the latest worldwide
cinematography news.
15
Cannes 2012.
Check out the titles
in contention for the
Palme d’Or.
18
Close-ups.
Sean Bobbitt BSC on
Hysteria, A Place Beyond
The Pines and Byzantium,
Caleb Deschanel ASC on
Abraham Lincoln: Vampire
Hunter, and Greig Fraser
ACS on Snow White And
The Huntsman.
25
Production Focus.
An indepth look around
the UK’s newest studio
complex at Warner Bros.
Studios, Leavesden.
29
IMAGO News.
Nigel Walters BSC, president
of IMAGO, rounds up the
highly-effective work of
IMAGO and its supporters.
32
Camera Creative.
How Bruno Delbonnel AFC
ASC delivered the look for
Tim Buron’s gothic horror
comedy Dark Shadows.
Cover Image:
A shot from Prometheus, directed by
Sir Ridley Scott, with cinematography
by Dariusz Wolski. Images courtesy
of 20 Century Fox.
34
Live & Let DI.
Whose been dialling-in
the most recent DI grades
and more...
36
On the Job.
We delve into Prometheus
Ridley Scott’s latest big
screen adventure courtesy
of Dariusz Wolski ASC.
38
Who’s Shooting What?
Discover which DPs are
shooting what and where.
41
Grains vs Pixels.
Nic Morris BSC gets to grips
with the Sony F65 in the
Lake District.
43
Meet the New Wave.
James Martin… can really
twist when pulling focus!
45
F-Stop Hollywood.
All the news from this year’s
NAB Show in Las Vegas.
47
Letter from America.
Steven Poster ASC warns
that, as more and more
people get involved in
visual image creation, the
more the camera team
needs to unify.
48
GBCT News.
The chairman’s statement
& news from the Guild.
51
Classifieds/Subscription.
Subscribe to todays
leading publication
covering international
cinematography.
“In the next year or two the whole 4K
world is going to mature dramatically
and it’s going to be mainstream.”
Nic Morris BSC
The Abyss
There’s a race to the bottom going on. Any visitor to
NAB in Las Vegas this year, with an interest in filmmaking
kit, can’t have helped but notice the rush towards 4K. It
was everywhere – in cameras, workflow tools, post gear.
The images from the new generation of 4K cameras
look incredible – in both senses of the word. They are
amazingly colourful and with breath-taking detail, but
these images appear so close to what we see with the
human eye as to perhaps make them not look quite
right for moviemaking purposes, just yet.
Within the whole 4K whoopla, is the move towards
higher frame rates. Many manufacturers have crossed
the 48fps barrier, and are now heading towards 60 and
72fps. Incredible again, but this time only in the sense
that it’s amazing how technology has been optimised
to handle the massive amounts of data that comes with
shooting 4K above and beyond 24fps.
However, at the same time as the industry reaches
ever-new heights, there’s a sprint to the bottom of the
market. Cameras, workflow tools and post gear are all
getting cheaper, considerably cheaper. Have a look
at our NAB report and our news pages. In terms of the
content and talent equation, we all know that whilst
you can equip yourself more cost-effectively than ever
with equipment that will produce the highest quality
pictures, it still takes people with talent to make those
pictures compelling.
The race to the bottom of the market, let’s
call it commoditisation, is having dramatic effects.
Manufactures are variously disrupting the market with
newer, faster, better and cheaper products, or milking
the last few drops of profits out of their former cash
cows by slashing prices like crazy. At one level this
commoditisation is great, as it gives greater access
to more people. But on another level it’s incredibly
disruptive, especially to people and companies working
in a marketplace that is already being disturbed by
other forces – such as the proliferation of all things digital.
As costs come down, larger companies in the post
production world are constantly having to shift and
adapt their services, which can also mean laying off
staff. Smaller, boutique companies are either struggling
to compete, going under or getting gobbled up by the
larger enterprises. The nett effect is that the freelance
market is growing and, as one manufacturer put it, these
free agents are having to cross-pollinate – to learn new
skills to keep themselves viable in the workplace. Editors,
graders, VFX artists are all having to learn associated
skills, and learn about a host of newer, better, faster and
cheaper kit that might crop up on their next job.
As an example from the production world, there’s
the tale of a DIT who turned up in his SUV to purchase
an on-set workflow system for digital productions. Inside
the vehicle was around £100,000 worth of kit comprising
a high-end digital camera, a selection of lenses,
computers and software. When asked about the sort of
jobs he was working on, the DIT replied that he had yet
to find his first job. He’d recently quit his job as a clapper
loader, raided is bank account and decided to get into
the DIT world, as that is where the market is heading.
Reskilling. Simple as that. With such momentous changes
occurring, you may find yourself looking into the abyss.
If you have the wherewithal to adapt, not just financial,
then you just might find yourself looking at the stars.
Your Editor, Ron Prince
03
British Cinematographer
Issue 051
British Cinematographer
Covering International
Cinematography.
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The publishers wish to emphasise
that the opinions expressed in
British Cinematographer are not
representative of Laws Publishing
Ltd but the responsibility of the
individual contributors.
Contributors.
Ron Prince –––
has many years
experience working in
the film, TV, CGI and
visual effects industries.
He is the editor of British
Cinematographer
magazine and runs the
international marketing
and communications
company Prince PR,
www.princepr.com.
Bob Fisher –––
has authored 3,000
magazine articles about
cinematographers and
filmmakers during the
past 35 plus years. He has
also moderated many
panel discussions for both
the American Society
of Cinematographers
and the International
Cinematographers Guild.
Carolyn Giardina –––
is a freelance journalist
based in the US. She
previously served as the
technology reporter at
Hollywood Reporter, the
editor of Film & Video, and
as senior editor of postproduction
at SHOOT. Her
work has also appeared
in IBC Daily News, Digital
Cinema, Post and Below
The Line.
Kevin Hilton –––
is a freelance journalist
who writes about
technology and
personalities in film and
broadcasting, and
contributes film reviews
and interviews to a variety
of publications in the UK
and abroad.
Michael Burns –––
is a journalist and
author covering the
film, broadcast, design
and interactive sectors.
His work over the last
16 years can be found
in magazines such as
Broadcast and Televisual,
Macuser and MovieScope
and online at www.
firedbydesign.com
John Keedwell –––
the GBCT News Editor,
is a documentary and
commercials cameraman
who has worked on many
productions around the
world. He crosses over
in both film and tape
productions and has great
knowledge of the new
formats and their methods
of production.