AmericanCinematographer201201

JANUARY 2012

$5.95Canada $6.95

®

®

Litepanels

A Vitec

Group brand

info@litepanels.com •

www.litepanels.com

J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 V O L . 9 3 N O . 1

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

On Our Cover: Computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) unearths

sinister secrets in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, shot by Jeff Cronenweth, ASC.

(Photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, courtesy of Columbia Pictures.)

FEATURES

DEPARTMENTS

32 Cold Case

Jeff Cronenweth, ASC and David Fincher investigate a

compelling mystery for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

48 Animal Instincts

Janusz Kaminski saddles up with Steven Spielberg on

the World War I drama War Horse

62 Lord of War

Barry Ackroyd, BSC provides stalwart support for

Coriolanus director and star Ralph Fiennes

74 Go with the Flow

AC’s technical editor outlines the challenges posed

by digital workflows

8 Editor’s Note

10 President’s Desk

12 Short Takes: String Theory

20 Production Slate: The Descendants • ASC Awards Preview • HPA Awards

88 New Products & Services

98 International Marketplace

99 Classified Ads

100 Ad Index

102 Clubhouse News

104 ASC Close-Up: Rodrigo Prieto

48

62

— VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES —

DVD Playback: Le Beau Serge/Les Cousins • The Island of Lost Souls • Little Big Man

J a n u a r y 2 0 1 2 V o l . 9 3 , N o . 1

The International Journal ofMotion Imaging

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com

————————————————————————————————————

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter

————————————————————————————————————

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello

SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst

4

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,

John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring,

Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer,

John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,

Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson

————————————————————————————————————

ART DEPARTMENT

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore

————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce

323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell

323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.net

CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno

323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: diella@ascmag.com

————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez

SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

————————————————————————————————————

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost

ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras

ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark

————————————————————————————————————

American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 92nd year of publication, is published

monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,

(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.

Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international

Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood

office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made to

Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com.

Copyright 2012 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA

and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.

————————————————————————————————————

“ A SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF HOW TO TURN A BELOVED WORK

OF CLASSIC LITERATURE INTO A MOVIE.

The wild and misty moors, thanks to the painterly eye of the cinematographer,

Adriano Goldman, look beautiful, and Dario Marianelli’s music

strikes all the right chords. Mia Wasikowska is a perfect Jane

for this film and this moment.”

- A.O. SCOTT,

“ SHOT BY ADRIANO GOLDMAN

WITH VIRTUOSITY. TRANSFIXING.

His technique is painterly in its evocation of 19th-century English artists.

Beyond that, it’s distinguished by an abundance of tonal variety:

interiors that seem to smell of weathered furniture; softly modeled

closeups that cast Jane as a country madonna.”

- JOE MORGENSTERN,

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

IN ALL CATEGORIES, INCLUDING:

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

ADRIANO GOLDMAN

For up-to-the-minute screening information and more on this

extraordinary fi lm, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.com

American Society of Cine ma tog ra phers

The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but

an educational, cultural and pro fes sion al

or ga ni za tion. Membership is by invitation

to those who are actively en gaged as

di rec tors of photography and have

dem on strated out stand ing ability. ASC

membership has be come one of the highest

honors that can be bestowed upon a

pro fes sional cin e ma tog ra pher — a mark

of prestige and excellence.

Come visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalog

We are the largest retailer specializing in Magliner customized products and accessories for the Film and Television Industry in the world

OFFICERS - 2011/2012

Michael Goi

President

Richard Crudo

Vice President

Owen Roizman

Vice President

John C. Flinn III

Vice President

Victor J. Kemper

Treasurer

Frederic Goodich

Secretary

Stephen Lighthill

Sergeant At Arms

MEMBERS OF THE

BOARD

John Bailey

Stephen H. Burum

Richard Crudo

George Spiro Dibie

Richard Edlund

Fred Elmes

Michael Goi

Victor J. Kemper

Francis Kenny

Isidore Mankofsky

Robert Primes

Owen Roizman

Kees Van Oostrum

Haskell Wexler

Vilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATES

Michael D. O’Shea

Rodney Taylor

Ron Garcia

Sol Negrin

Kenneth Zunder

6

MUSEUM CURATOR

Steve Gainer

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

HOYTE VAN HOYTEMA, F.S.F., N.S.C.

THRILLING AND MOVING FROM THE FIRST FRAME TO THE INSPIRED CLOSING MONTAGE.

The greys and browns that dominate the film – thanks to the sterling work from Director of Photography Hoyte Van

Hoytema – perfectly capture 1970s Britain. The attention to detail is really quite extraordinary. Grade: A.

TINKER TAIL0R S0LDIER SPY

For up-to-the-minute screening information and more on

this extraordinary film, go to: www.FocusAwards2011.com

—OLIVER LYTTELTON, INDIEWIRE

Editor’s Note

Hollywood remakes of successful European films may vary

in quality, but The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is more

intriguing than most. Director David Fincher has already

proven his affinity for crime dramas with Seven, The Game

and Zodiac, and his previous collaborations with Jeff

Cronenweth, ASC produced the equally compelling

dramas Fight Club and The Social Network.

On Dragon Tattoo, Cronenweth was a late replacement

for the project’s original cinematographer, and he

quickly found himself confronting extreme weather while

shooting on location in Sweden. “Overall, the weather in

Northern Europe made for the biggest challenge,”

Cronenweth tells Jay Holben (“Cold Case,” page 32).

“We experienced severe winter storms as well as a very hot summer in Sweden. The cold was

the hardest, though.”

Janusz Kaminski and Steven Spielberg also faced challenges on the World War I drama

War Horse,which features battle sequences staged on an abandoned airfield in Surrey,

England. Further complicating the filmmakers’ mission was the fact that the movie’s hero is

a horse. As Kaminski tells Patricia Thomson (“Animal Instincts,” page 48), a big part of his

job was to convey the animal’s feelings and make him seem larger than life. “Truly, when you

look at a horse, there are no emotions in its eyes,” he observes. “We were glorifying Joey a

little through lighting and composition. We were always trying to place the light so that his

coat would reflect it, and so it would create glints in his eyes.”

Barry Ackroyd, BSC lends a Shakespearean dimension to war with Coriolanus, which

placed its director and star, Ralph Fiennes, squarely in the line of fire. “I like to have the confidence

of the director, and I knew that with Ralph directing and acting in the film, he had to

be able to trust that I’d give him what he wanted,” Ackroyd tells Iain Stasukevich (“Lord of

War,” page 62).

For those of you trying to keep pace with evolving digital workflows, AC technical

editor Christopher Probst surveys some of the current systems and solutions (“Go with the

Flow,” page 74). “In today’s industry, which finds digital-imaging tools introduced and

supplanted with head-spinning frequency, workflows are evolving in new ways and at breakneck

speeds,” Probst notes. “Each step on this path is slippery enough to cause stumbles,

either through human error or through the loss of information as image data is transferred

and/or translated…. For cinematographers, trying to stay abreast of current technologies

requires a much broader understanding of workflows than ever before.”

Stephen Pizzello

Executive Editor

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

8

© 2011 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

President’s Desk

As another year kicks off, the challenges facing those who desire to pursue a career in filmmaking

seem greater than ever. Technology continues to shift and evolve, the economy has

made even low-budget movies a risk for investors, and websites that facilitate the illegal viewing

or downloading of films and television shows are making it difficult to get more daring

projects financed. When studios or producers cannot earn a profit from the work they create,

budgets get smaller, and the kinds of projects that are approved get “safer.”

Lifting copyrighted material became popular when sampling exploded on the music scene

and was legitimized as a form of artistic expression. That opened the door to lifting images as

well, and subsequently entire movies. Such piracy has so infiltrated the mentality of the public

that the suggestion that it’s wrong is met with dismissive sneers. If it’s out there, it’s mine. Why

should I have to pay for it?

How does this affect cinematography? In many ways. Most of the pirate sites do not

display images in anything remotely like optimum conditions. The images might have been

“ripped” onto someone’s laptop from a DVD that was created by someone crouching in a

movie theater with a small digital camera. The images might be highly compressed suggestions

of what they actually were. They may have been reproduced through excessive copying

and duping until they no longer reflect the creators’ intent in any form.

When someone experiences a visual work of art for the first time, they will never again be

able to relive that emotional moment of discovery. It is gone forever. Yes, they may have

“seen” the movie, but they have not experienced it to its fullest, the way its creators intended.

Digital piracy is a huge international operation. It’s not just some guy in his garage with a DVD burner. In some countries,

major producers and stars provide pirates with digital masters of their films, because the financial kickbacks they receive are more

than they would earn from conventional means. This leads to a lack of concern about preservation. Why should a producer pay to

properly store materials when there is no chance of monetizing the product in the future because unauthorized copies are flooding

the market? Many thousands of movies could be lost forever.

Please don’t support torrent sites that show pirated material, and please don’t buy cheap bootlegged DVDs of current movies.

And I ask you to talk to your friends who do. Let them know that, beyond the momentary satisfaction of seeing something “first”

or for free, they are effectively altering the kinds of movies that will be made in the future; they are helping to ruin the im mersive

cinematic experience for many others; and the movies that they love might not be available to them in the future in versions th at

are better than adequate.

The history of cinema is a legacy of an audience emotionally bonding with the work of a group of artists, of creating memories

that mold our perception of the world. The considerable negative impact digital piracy has on the profitability of the ind ustry is

matched by its negative impact on our love of the movies. Remember how you felt when you saw Frodo sail away at the end of

The Lord of The Rings: Return Of The King, or the swell of emotion you felt at the climax of The King’s Speech, or the thrill of watching

Bruce Willis get the bad guys in Die Hard? Then do your part to make sure that future audiences can also experience those cinematic

highs.

Michael Goi, ASC

President

Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.

10 January 2012 American Cinematographer

C O N S I D E R . . .

“THE CINEMATOGRAPHY FROM EDUARDO SERRA IS ONCE AGAIN

RICHLY OMINOUS AND BEAUTIFULLY BLEAK.”

CHRISTY LEMIRE,

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

EDUARDO SERRA, A.S.C., A.F.C.

WWW.WARNERBROS2011.COM

Harry Potter Publishing Rights © J.K.R.

Short Takes

I

A shock trooper shatters a girl’s fragile reality at 1,000 fps in String Theory. The short earned cinematographer Steve Romano the

grand prize at the International Cinematographers Guild’s 2011 Emerging Cinematographer Awards.

Through a Glass Brightly

By Iain Stasukevich

Steve Romano’s cinematography jobs have taken him to

many far-flung locales, but for String Theory, the grand-prize winner

at the International Cinematographers Guild’s 2011 Emerging Cinematographer

Awards, he and director Zach Gold never left Gold’s

studio in Brooklyn in their quest to capture the big ideas surrounding

a girl (Evelina Mambetova) who experiences rifts in her reality.

String Theory is the latest in a series of fashion-focused shorts

by Gold, and it uses A.F. Vandervorst’s 2010 collection as its springboard.

According to Romano, Gold and producer/stylist David

Dumas, who also served as art director, wanted a film that was beautiful

and haunting, with serene moments interrupted by jarring

images.

“My job as a director of photography is to act according to

the vision of the directors, including the art director,” Romano

observes. “You’re enhancing what they created, and you have to

make them feel welcome in the process.”

Romano, who also works as a Phantom camera technician,

supplied the production with a Phantom HD Gold camera, Leica

prime lenses (re-housed by Van Diemen Broadcast) and most of the

small lighting package, including a couple of 2x2 Kino Flos, a 10K

Fresnel, a 5K Fresnel and a handful of 2K scoops.

The girl is introduced in a dusty, windowless room lit by

dozens of warm practical lamps. She kneels, motionless, on a

pedestal, covered in what looks like a fine layer of silt; a soft toplight

(a diffused 1K) separates her from the background. In the next shot,

she comes to life and shakes off the silt, which cascades off her skin

in slow motion.

The filmmakers shot Mambetova’s movements at 1,000 fps,

recording to 512 GB CineMags. “We had to match the light for the

rest of the scene, but with something like 5 times more light,” says

Romano. “We made sure the light was coming from the same

angles as in the previous shot, but we concentrated the light on her

instead of the whole set.”

To boost the light level for the slow-motion shot, a Mole 10K

gelled with 1 ⁄2 CTO, Opal and 216 was positioned above the actress.

“There are no super-wide high-speed shots in the film,”

notes Romano, who used tighter compositions to hide the limited

amount of light available at advanced frame rates. “Having a really

good gaffer helps. Christian Ern was our gaffer and lighting director,

Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Steve Romano.


Top: String Theory begins in a dusty room where a girl (Evelina Mambetova) sits motionless

and covered in a layer of silt. Middle: Awaking, the girl shakes off the silt; the action was captured at

1,000 fps. Bottom: The girl explores her strange surroundings.

and he is quite knowledgeable, so I didn’t

have to be entirely specific about the lighting

needs for each shot.”

As the girl starts to explore her

surroundings, she is lit primarily with the

practicals. For fill and accents, Romano used

the 2x2 Kino heads behind sheets of 1⁄2

CTO, Opal and 250 diffusion. For a shot

showing the girl using an airbrush to drench

an orchid in a coat of red paint, and another

showing her contemplating a table covered

in knickknacks, the Kinos served as close,

soft keylights.

Romano used a variety of different

frame rates throughout the film. “I try to err

on the side of giving people more frames

[than needed],” he says. “You can always

go to 24 fps in post, and you can ramp your

shots in post. However, you get a slightly

different 24-fps look when you originate in

high speed because you’re using a narrower

shutter angle — about 1 ⁄2,000 of a second.

You get a sharper image and choppier playback.”

In another scene, the girl is bathed in

a light that matches the blood-red color of

the orchid, and off-camera fans blow her

hair and garments in billowing ripples.

Initially, Romano shot the scene at 1,000 fps

with red gels on four overhead 2K scoops,

but he soon noticed a problem with image

softness. “We couldn’t get good focus on

our subject,” he says. “Light moves very

slowly at the red end of the spectrum.”

He finished shooting the scene with

the red gel, then removed the gels and

reshot the scene with diffused, uncolored

tungsten light. “Because the whole shot

was red, we could add the color [in post],

and that way the shots could be in focus,”

he explains. “I was on another job recently

where we came across the same issue, but

red wasn’t the only color of light in the

frame. If you have a mix of light, you can’t

really cheat it.”

In another corner of the girl’s reality,

she finds a wood box with geometric

shapes cut into its side. Peering into a seam,

she sees that the inside of the box is lined

with mirrors, reflecting to infinity on all

sides, and contains a small swarm of butterflies.

To capture the girl’s point of view, the

filmmakers constructed a scaled-up box in

which only the bottom and one of the four


F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O N

“IN THE MUTED, ARTFULLY MURKY IMAGES OF

CINEMATOGRAPHER TOM STERN, HOOVER IS TRULY

A MAN IN THE SHADOWS.”

RICHARD CORLISS,

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

TOM STERN, A.F.C., A.S.C.


Top, left and right:

Shooting at 1,000

fps while fans

billowed

Mambetova’s

clothing and hair,

Romano gelled his

lights red before

deciding to do a

second take

without the gels

and apply the

color in post.

Bottom: String

Theory is the latest

fashion-focused

film from director

Zach Gold, this one

inspired by A.F.

Vandervorst’s 2010

collection.

sides were actual mirrors. The top and the

other three sides were panes of two-way

glass. Romano pointed his camera through

one of the two-way mirrors and lit the box

through the other two-way mirrors with a

5K Fresnel.

Romano shot the box at a T1.6, but

it was still difficult to get enough light. "The

Phantom HD Gold is rated at 250 ASA,

which I estimate to be less, and each pane

of two-way glass blocked as much as 1½

stops of light from both the lens and the

lamps," he says. "Further complicating

matters, hot lamps can have an adverse

effect on butterflies, so I didn’t shoot above

30 fps. On the tighter shots, we removed

the top glass, moved the light in a bit closer

and were able to shoot at 200 fps.

“If we’d shot it on the [Phantom]

Flex, we would have had 2½ more stops of

light sensitivity,” he reflects. “I could also

get a lot more light [without heat] from

some of the newer LED lights we have

today.

“Doing a lot of bug photography,

I’ve learned there are things you can do to

get bugs to move, but heat will make them

stop,” he continues. “We had to turn the

lights off, cool them down and keep the top

of the box off for a while. Once the butterflies

get over it, you put the top back on,

crank the lights up and shoot. No butterflies

were harmed in the making of this picture,


by the way.”

In one of the film’s most stylized

sequences, Mambetova stands in a Plexiglas

tank that covers her torso, and it’s full of

butterflies. Shooting against a white background,

Romano toplit the actress with a

heavily diffused 10K Fresnel and aimed two

Nine-light Maxi-Brutes at the background.

Once the butterflies were in the tank, the

filmmakers sat back and waited for something

to happen.

“Bugs, puppies and little kids are

arduous to photograph because there’s no

way you can corral them,” says the cinematographer.

“The beauty of the Phantom

is its circular buffer. When you shoot

anything above 450 fps at 1920x1080 on

the Phantom HD Gold, as long as the

camera is on, you’re always recording into

its internal circular memory buffer. If you use

what’s called a ‘post-trigger,’ you can hit the

record button after the action is done, and

you’ve got the shot. At 1,000 fps, you get

4.4 seconds of data [in the internal

memory], approximately 2.7 minutes of

footage.”

The girl’s reality is literally shattered

— at 1,000 fps — when shock troopers in

riot gear crash through her reflection in a

mirror. To give the shot a harsh look,

Romano used thinner diffusion on the 10K

and 5K.

“We were fighting the light in that

scene,” he recalls. “It wasn’t a front-surface

mirror, so I was getting two reflections from

my light sources: one from the glass and

one from the mirrored surface behind the

glass. It took a bit of finesse to get it right —

a combination of the mirror angle, diffusion

and precise cutting of the light.”

String Theory’s trippy images

presented Romano with some creative

opportunities he hadn’t encountered

before. “When David Dumas first described

this film to me, I have to admit I really didn’t

understand it,” he says. “While we were

shooting, I started to see what he and Zach

were going for, and now I’m really

impressed with every part of it.” ●

Top and middle: Romano depended on the Phantom HD Gold camera’s internal memory buffer to

capture stylized sequences with live butterflies. Bottom: The cinematographer finds his light.



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

CHRIS MENGES


Production Slate

From left: Matt King (Clooney) and his daughters, Scottie (Amara Miller) and Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) walk the beach with A lexandra’s

boyfriend, Sid (Nick Krause), as Matt searches for his wife’s lover in The Descendants.

I

Trouble in Paradise

By David Heuring


The Descendants, Alexander Payne’s latest collaboration

with Phedon Papamichael, ASC, is a family-centered drama

infused with the chaotic relationships and dark humor that

moviegoers have come to expect from the director who also

made Sideways, About Schmidt (AC Jan. ’03) and Election.

The story takes place in Hawaii, where a successful lawyer,

Matt King (George Clooney), must reconnect with his daughters,

Alexandra (Shaine Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller), after his

wife suffers an accident and falls into a coma. When Alexandra

reveals that his wife was cheating on him, King sets out to track

down her lover. His journey, which coincides with his need to

make a decision about a family estate on Kauai of which he is

the sole trustee, leads him to face some hard truths about love

and family.

Papamichael recently spoke with AC about his creative

partnership with Payne, which began with Sideways and continued

to evolve on The Descendants.

American Cinematographer: Tell us why your

collaboration with Alexander Payne works.

Phedon Papamichael, ASC: We have a great collaboration,

despite the fact that we aren’t always on the same page

aesthetically. My main thing is that I really want to serve the

director. Some cinematographers really want to put their own

imprint on a project to some degree. I certainly express my opinions,

but I very much enjoy helping a director get what he

wants. I’m not always determined to convince the director that

there is a different way of going about it; I get satisfaction from

finding out what somebody likes and giving that to them. It’s

important to me that I don’t turn it into my thing. I want to get

to the bottom of what makes a director tick.

How do you discover that?

Papamichael: Preproduction is the most important thing

in that regard. I start by discovering what kind of movies the

director likes. That gives me some insight into how he likes to

tell stories. Alexander and I don’t shotlist or storyboard. We

The Descendants photos by Merie Weismiller Wallace, SMPSP, courtesy of Fox Searchlight.

Top left: The crew films the long walk-and-talk

on the beach. Top right and bottom: Matt and his

daughters view their family property on Kauai.

spend a lot of time cooking pasta, drinking

wine and watching movies!

How did you arrive at a visual

style for The Descendants?

Papamichael: We saw a unique

opportunity to show Honolulu as it is

rarely, if ever, shown in cinema: not

glamorized or idealized. It’s a modern

American city with traffic jams and

skyscrapers, and a few miles away,

there’s an almost absurdly bizarre and

beautiful tropical paradise. There’s an

extreme contrast in wealth and poverty.

Go up the coast 30 miles, and you’ll see

native people living in tent cities. We

didn’t want to be too obvious about it,

but these contrasts are some of the

themes we wanted to represent visually.

The look of the movie is pretty

straightforward. It’s all about the performances

and the intimacy of the characters,

and the photography was designed

in part to be unobtrusive. Alexander has

a very particular visual style that reflects

his point of view. I suggested that we

go widescreen because I thought it was

very important to feel the power of the

land, and to make the power of nature

very present visually. The landscapes are

juxtaposed with tight, claustrophobic

interiors.

So you shot Super 35mm?

Papamichael: We shot 3-perf

Super 35mm with the Panaflex Platinum

and Primo prime and 4:1 and 11:1 zoom

lenses.I used a ½ [Tiffen] Black Pro-Mist

on the lens throughout to take a little of

the sharpness off. Alexander likes the

image to have a bit of texture; he always

wants it to look a little like an older film.

We used Kodak Vision3 [500T] 5219 for

night scenes and [200T] 5213 for day

interiors and day exteriors.I used polarizers

and definitely went for the lushness,

the color and saturation of the land.

Our second-unit cinematographer,

Radan Popovic, traveled around collecting

a huge amount of images — graphic

shots of buildings, traffic, people on the

streets and at the beach, and landscapes

in Kauai — and quite a few of them

ended up in the film.

Did you go with natural light

on all the exteriors?

Papamichael: Yes. I almost never

light electrically on exteriors, and it was

challenging on this film because the light

and the weather change so rapidly in

Hawaii. It would very often go from dark

skies to rain to full sun within minutes.

That affected the interiors as well. There

were a lot of fluctuations that presented

challenges for me, and also for our DI

colorist at Modern VideoFilm, Joe Finley,

and the dailies timer at FotoKem, Kay

Sievert. Alexander had never done a DI

before, and it was fun to show him the

capabilities.

What was your approach to

interiors?

Papamichael: Inside I stuck to my

usual approach: all big sources, very


Top left: As two

cousins (Michael

Ontkean, left, and

Beau Bridges) look

on, Matt prepares to

decide the future of

the family estate.

Top right, clockwise

from left: B-camera

1st AC Richard Brock,

A-camera operator

Scott Sakamoto,

director Alexander

Payne and

cinematographer

Phedon Papamichael,

ASC line up a shot.

Bottom: Papamichael

checks the exposure.

natural-looking. I like to make sure the

audience is never really aware of the

source. I don’t want the image to look

stylized or ‘lit.’ I use all the window

sources, and the motivation is always

correct — you’ll never see me do two

people opposite each other, both backlit.

We were dealing with a lot of

contrast on this movie, especially in the

interiors that opened out to views of the

sea. There was a huge range of exposure.

We used the full 16 stops of the 5213!

Our goal was to try to bring the levels up

inside without it looking lit, and to try to

control the exteriors with big guns —

18Ks that were either bounced or

pushed through big 12-bys. We used

Half Grid, Full Grid and, if we bounced,

bleached muslin or Ultrabounce. We also

made extensive use of Daylight Blue

bounces. I started using them on 3:10 to

Yuma [AC Oct. ’07] and found that they

look very natural. It’s a little closer to the

look of blue skies, and it feels like a

natural bounce off the water. For closeups

outside, we often handheld 4-by-8s

or 4-by-4s and had people walking with

white or Daylight Blue bounce.

What kind of set does Payne

maintain?

Papamichael: Alexander creates

an intimate atmosphere. It’s very important

to him that everyone feels the filmmaking

process is not a machine, and

that we are not making a product. He

literally knows the name of every driver

and every security guard on the first day.

We didn’t have hordes of hair-andmakeup

people, and last touches were

forbidden. We were just making this

small film in a very genuine way. There

was no video village and no video assist.

On the set, we had the operator, the

assistant, the boom operator, the actors

and Alexander. His style is very economical.

There was usually a brief conversation

about how we were going to cover

the scene, and then we usually did three

to seven takes. Everyone was open to

reacting to what the actors did and

taking advantage of the moment. We

crafted it piece by piece. It’s the kind of

filmmaking I really like to do.

You’ve got another intimate

drama in theaters now, too,

Clooney’s Ides of March.

Papamichael: On big-budget

studio projects, you can get some satisfaction

from pulling off this gigantic

enterprise, but on a movie like The

Descendants, you feel like you’ve told a

piece of the story every day. I like being

able to bounce back and forth between

large and small projects, but movies like

The Descendants and Ides of March are a

little closer to my heart.

TECHNICAL SPECS

2.40:1

3-perf Super 35mm

Panaflex Platinum

Panavision Primo

Kodak Vision3 500T 5219, 200T 5213

Digital Intermediate

➣


Clockwise from top-left: ASC Lifetime

Achievement Award recipient Dante Spinotti,

ASC, AIC; Presidents Award recipient Francis

Kenny, ASC; ASC associate Fred Godfrey, recipient

of the Bud Stone Award of Distinction; and

Career Achievement in Television Award recipient

William Wages, ASC.

I

ASC to Honor Spinotti,

Wages, Kenny, Godfrey

The ASC will recognize three of its

members and one associate member

with honorary awards at the 26th

Annual ASC Awards for Outstanding

Achievement in Cinematography, which

will take place Feb. 12 in the Grand Ballroom

at Hollywood & Highland in Los

Angeles.

Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC, will

receive the Lifetime Achievement Award;

William Wages, ASC, will receive the

Career Achievement in Television Award;

Francis Kenny, ASC, will receive the Presidents

Award; and ASC associate Fred

Godfrey will receive the Bud Stone

Award of Distinction, an honor that is

new this year.

Spinotti began his cinematography

career working in the television

industry in his native Italy. His first U.S.

feature was Michael Mann’s Manhunter

(1986), and his numerous stateside credits

include The Last of the Mohicans(AC

Dec. ’92), Beaches, Heat (AC Jan. ’96),

L.A. Confidential (AC Oct. ’97), Wonder

Boys, The Insider (AC June ’00), Family

Man, Red Dragon (AC Oct. ’02) and the

recent release Tower Heist.

Spinotti earned ASC Award nominations

for The Last of the Mohicans,

L.A. Confidential and The Insider, and he

also earned Oscar nominations for the

latter two pictures.

Wages counts more than 50 television

projects, commercials and documentaries

among his credits. He has won

ASC Awards twice, for Riders of the

Purple Sage (AC May ’97) and Buffalo

Soldiers (AC May ’98), and earned six

more nominations from the Society for

Gore Vidal’s Lincoln (AC April ’89); Caroline?

(AC May ’91); Voices Within: The

Lives of Truddi Chase, Part 2 (AC May

’91); I’ll Fly Away (pilot, AC May ’92);

The Moving of Sophia Myles (AC May

’01);and Miss Lettie and Me.

Wages has also earned two Emmy

nominations, for Buffalo Soldiers and

Into the West (AC June ’05). His recent

credits include the series Burn Notice,

episodes of Big Love and the pilot for

Saving Grace. He is also renowned in

cinematography circles for the tools he

has devised on sets over the years,

including Wag Bags and Wag Flags.

Kenny began his career volunteering

on documentary crews. His feature

credits include Heathers, Scary Movie,

New Jack City, She’s All That and Class

Act, and he is currently shooting the FX

series Justified (AC March ’11).He has

been the chairman of the ASC Membership

Committee for 10 years, and he is

currently serving his second term on the

Society’s Board of Governors.

Godfrey is the first recipient of the

ASC Bud Stone Award of Distinction,

named for the late Burton “Bud” Stone,

who was president of Deluxe Laboratories

in Hollywood from 1976-1994 and

served as chairman of the ASC Awards

Committee for 17 years. Godfrey’s

career in the industry began in a Hollywood

warehouse that stored Kodak

motion-picture film, and it wasn’t long

before he became a customer-service

representative at Kodak’s local office. He

served as a liaison between the company

and cinematographers until he retired in

1986.

ASC honorees and all ASC Award

nominees in competitive categories

(Feature Release, TV Series and Telefilm/Pilot)

will be invited to meet the

public at the ASC Open House Feb. 11 at

the Clubhouse, 1782 N. Orange Dr., Los

Angeles. Admission is free.

For more information on the ASC

Awards and the Open House, visit

www.theasc.com or call 323-969-4333.

➣

Spinotti photo by Frank Connor. Kenny photo by Owen Roizman, ASC. Godfrey photo by Douglas Kirkland. Wages photo courtesy of Wages.



BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

EMMANUEL LUBEZKI ASC, AMC

Lisa Kennedy,

“Cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki relies on hand-held camerawork.

It gets at the intimacy within a family, a household. But it is also remarkably fluid,

capturing the flow of existence – this family’s, our universe’s.”

RELEASED BY TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX. COPYRIGHT © 2011 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX.

foxsearchlight.com/fyc

I

HPA Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Cyril Drabinsky (left) celebrates with

HPA President Leon Silverman.

HPA Celebrates Post Industry,

Individuals

By Jon D. Witmer

The stars of Hollywood’s post

community gathered Nov. 10 at the Skirball

Cultural Center for the sixth annual Hollywood

Post Alliance Awards, which celebrate

outstanding talent and achievement across

a number of post disciplines. The judges

included ASC President Michael Goi; Society

members Frederic Goodich, Daryn Okada

and Robert Primes; and associate members

Lou Levinson, Leon Silverman (president of

the HPA) and Garrett Smith.

One of the evening’s themes was the

ever-changing post landscape. “You could

say there have been some pretty turbulent

and challenging times in postproduction

these days, and there’s no doubt that there

are changes and challenges ahead,” mused

Silverman, the general manager of digital

studio for Walt Disney Studios, who served

as host of the ceremony. “But it is this

community that has always led through

change.

“Our industry demands a fleetness of

mind and spirit that allows us to survive and

sometimes even thrive in times of radical

change,” Silverman continued. “We have

truly gone from the cutting block to the

clouds, and I’m looking forward to where

we go next together.”

Journalist and HPA Awards Committee

Chair Carolyn Giardina joined Okada

onstage to present the HPA Judges Awards,

which recognize creativity and innovation in

post. One award was presented to Testronic

Laboratories for the File-Based QC Lab, and

the other was presented to ASC associate

Steven J. Scott of EFilm for the digital-intermediate

environment employed on Terrence

Malick’s The Tree of Life (AC Aug. ’11).

Accepting the award, Scott noted, “I

remember the first time I sat in a theater and

was even aware of cinematography. It was

at the Fox Village in Westwood, and the

movie was Days of Heaven. I was dazzled.

To think that someday I would have a part in

helping that director realize his artistic vision

onscreen is still hard for me to grasp, but I’m

very, very grateful.

“Most of all, thanks to the cinematographer,

[Emmanuel] ‘Chivo’ Lubezki

[ASC, AMC], for caring so much about his

work and the work of everyone around

him,” Scott continued. “He lifts us all with

his unyielding quest for beauty, authenticity

and truth in the images he [shoots].”

The NAB Show sponsored the Engineering

Excellence Award, which, Silverman

explained, “is a celebration of the increasing

role of technology and its impact on the

creative process.” Awards in this category

were presented to four companies: Dolby

Laboratories won one for the Dolby PRM-

4200 Professional Reference Monitor,

which is capable of displaying the full

dynamic range, contrast ratio and color

gamut of film stocks and professional digital

cameras; Sony Professional Solutions of

America won for its Organic Light-Emitting

Diode technology for reference monitors;

IBM won for the Linear Tape File System,

which provides a simple and cost-efficient

method for managing large-scale data

archives; and Lightcraft Technology earned

an award for Previzion, the company’s realtime

on-set compositing system.

Goi presented the awards for

Outstanding Color Grading with producer

Todd London. “Today more than ever,” said

Goi, “the collaboration and cooperation

between preproduction, production and

postproduction is vital in our industry. In

fact, cinematographers are spending so

much time in postproduction you would

almost think we were getting paid for that

time.”

The awards for color grading were

presented to Steven J. Scott of EFilm, for

The Help; Tim Vincent of LaserPacific, for

Mad Men, “Blowing Smoke”; and Siggy

Ferstl of Company 3, for Nissan, “Zero.”

Ferstl was also nominated for ESPN, “Arthur

Ashe Award for Courage.”

“My biggest thanks … must go to

Stephen Goldblatt [ASC, BSC],” said Scott.

“His raw footage was my greatest inspiration.

His cinematic accomplishments are

obvious enough on the screen, but I’m

particularly grateful for the man behind the

camera.”

Also nominated for Outstanding

Color Grading were ASC associate Stefan

Sonnenfeld of Company 3, for Transformers:

Dark of the Moon , Sucker Punch and

Jameson, “Fire”; ASC associate Dave Cole

of LaserPacific, for Tron: Legacy; Natasha

Leonnet of EFilm, for Love and Other Drugs;

Kevin O’Connor of Deluxe Media Services,

for Too Big to Fail; Tom Sartori of FotoKem,

for Breaking Bad, “Box Cutter”; Aidan

Farrell of The Farm Group for Carnival Film

& Television, for Downton Abbey, “Series 1

Episode 1”; Sean Coleman of Company 3,

for Nike, “Chosen”; Tom Poole of

Company 3 NY, for Jack Daniels, “As American

As”; Chris Ryan of Nice Shoes, for

HPA Awards photos by Ryan Miller, courtesy of Capture Imaging.


“‘MONEYBALL’ RENEWS YOUR BELIEF IN

THE POWER OF MOVIES. ”

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL JOE MORGENSTERN

“IMBUED WITH EVOCATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY

BY CINEMATOGRAPHER WALLY PFISTER.”

SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS RANDY MYERS

BEST PICTURE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY WALLY PFISTER, ASC


CHANGE YOUR GAME

ASC President Michael Goi (left) and producer Todd

London (right) congratulate ASC associate Steven J.

Scott on his award for Outstanding Color Grading.

American Express, “Curtain”; and Tim

Masick of Company 3 NY, for Converse,

“The Procession.”

Outstanding Editing awards, sponsored

by Avid Technology, were presented

to Angus Wall, ACE and Kirk Baxter, ACE,

for The Social Network; John Wilson, ACE

of Carnival Film & Television, for Downton

Abbey, “Series 1 Episode 1”; and Chris

Franklin of Big Sky Editorial, for American

Express, “Curtain.”

Outstanding Sound awards were

presented to John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and

Rick Kline of Warner Bros. Post Production

Services and Per Hallberg and Karen Baker

Landers of Soundelux, for Green Lantern;

Brad North, Joe DeAngelis, Luis Galdames

and Jackie Oster of Universal Studios Sound,

for House, “Bombshells”; and David Brolin

of Universal Studios Sound and Bill Neil of

Buddha Jones Trailers, for Dream House,

“Trailer #1.”

Outstanding Compositing awards

were presented to Jeff Sutherland, Jason

Billington, Chris Balog and Ben O’Brien of

Industrial Light & Magic, for Transformers:

Dark of the Moon ; Paul Graff, Brian Sales,

Merysa Nichols and Jesse Siglow of Crazy

Horse Effects, Inc., for Boardwalk Empire,

“Boardwalk Empire”; and Dan Glass,

Gabby Gourrier, Chris Bankoff and Jeff

Willette of Method Studios, for Jameson,

“Fire.”

The show culminated in the presentation

of the Lifetime Achievement Award

to ASC associate Cyril Drabinsky, president

and CEO of Deluxe Entertainment Services

Group, Inc. Drabinsky’s career in the industry

began at Cineplex Odeon Corp., where

he served as senior vice president of distribution

and affairs. In 1987, he became president

of the Cineplex Odeon-owned Film

House laboratories in Toronto, which was

purchased by the Rank Organization in

1990, the same year Rank bought Deluxe

Laboratories from 20th Century Fox.

Drabinsky transitioned into operations for

Deluxe, and in 1995 he was named president

of Deluxe Laboratories North America.

In 2001, Drabinsky was named president of

Deluxe Laboratories Worldwide. In 2006,

MacAndrews & Forbes acquired Deluxe,

and Drabinsky was appointed to his current

position.

Silverman kicked off the presentation

of the Lifetime Achievement Award,

noting Drabinsky’s ties to the late Burton

“Bud” Stone, a former president of Deluxe.

“Following in the hard-to-fill shoes of one

of my own heroes, and one of those truly

larger-than-life industry legends, the incomparable

Bud Stone, Cyril took the reins at

Deluxe and not only made the role his own,

but [also] set our entire industry on its path

to the future,” said Silverman. “Over the

course of his career, Cyril has earned the

respect and admiration of his peers,

competitors, clients and employees.”

The sentiment was echoed by Tom

Sherak, president of the Academy of

Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and Ted

Gagliano, president of feature postproduction

at 20th Century Fox. “In a business

where it’s an Olympic sport to talk dirt

about people, I could not find an unclean

word spoken about Cyril,” said Gagliano.

Addressing Drabinsky directly,

Gagliano continued, “I honestly can say I

could not do my job without you. And this

room is filled with people from every studio

and every film company who feel the same

way. You’re too young to get a lifetime

achievement award, so let’s just call this a

pit stop and let’s recommit ourselves to

another 20 years together in what is still the

best damn business in the world.”

Ronald Perelman, chairman and CEO

of MacAndrews & Forbes, offered a few

prerecorded remarks before Barry Schwartz,

MacAndrews & Forbes’ executive vice chairman

and chief administrative officer,

stepped to the microphone. “I have seen

[Drabinsky’s] vision and his determination

transform Deluxe from its role [as a] film

processor to a postproduction juggernaut,”

said Schwartz. “Cyril has also surrounded

himself with a team that reflects their

leader: confident, inspired and loyal to each

other and the industry they serve so well.”

“One of Cyril’s many, many, many

qualities is his ability to be so incredibly

humble about his achievements,” added

Warren Stein, COO of Deluxe Entertainment

Services Group. “In all the year’s I’ve known

Cyril, I’ve never heard him start a sentence

with the words ‘I did this’ or ‘I did that’ or

‘Look what I’ve done.’ It’s always ‘we.’”

“He understands the pressure that

he puts on us, but he also understands that

we are human beings,” enthused ASC associate

Beverly Wood, executive vice president

of technical services and client relations for

Deluxe’s EFilm. “A boss like Cyril sets an

example for an entire organization.”

“Lifetime achievement,” marveled

Drabinsky when he stepped to the stage.

“That’s something that can give you pause,

in part because you feel like you’re just

getting started, and in part because it makes

you look back on how everything’s changed

— and keeps changing. That’s what I love

about this business: it changes every day.

You never sit still; you manage your risk and

keep moving forward.

“There are times I wonder what Bud

Stone would say if he’d seen our transformation,”

Drabinsky continued. “If not for

Bud, I wouldn’t be standing here…. He

taught me the Hollywood film industry, and

nobody understood it like him, because he

knew what it comes down to is communicating

with the customer on a personal

level.

“The industry is in constant change,

and nothing changes faster than technology,”

he said. “At the end of the day, we try

to remember that these are just tools. The

job every day is to make our clients’ vision

connect. I feel incredibly fortunate to be part

of this fascinating business.” ●


★ ★ ★ ★ for your

CONSIDERATION

“A sharp and scintillating lens

on Washington run amok.”

Karen Durbin / ELLE

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Phedon Papamichael, ASC

Cold Case

David Fincher reteams with

Jeff Cronenweth, ASC to remake

the Swedish hit

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

By Jay Holben

•|•

David Fincher has tackled some twisted tales over the

course of his career, notably Seven (AC Oct. ’95), Fight

Club (AC Nov. ’97) and Zodiac (AC April ’06), but his

latest picture, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, could be

his most complicated narrative yet. Adapted from the first

book in Swedish author Stieg Larsson’s wildly popular trilogy,

the film follows Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a renowned

investigative journalist who accepts an unusual job offer after

his journalism career is derailed by accusations of libel.

Wealthy industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer)

asks Blomkvist to solve a 40-year-old cold case, the disappearance

of Vanger’s niece, Harriet, and in return Vanger will

not only pay handsomely, but also help disprove the libel accusations

against Blomkvist. During his investigation, which

reveals a number of sordid family secrets, Blomkvist teams

with young, eccentric hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney

Mara), whose eye-catching tattoo gives the story its title.

Larsson’s trilogy — The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The

Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s

Nest — was brought to the silver screen by Swedish filmmakers

in 2009, and when Fincher began prepping his version of

Dragon Tattoo, he was keen to retain its native elements by

shooting extensively in Sweden and using a Swedish crew. “It

was an aesthetic choice,” says Fincher. “We wanted it to look

and feel like a Swedish film, and I think it does. We were

already getting flak for doing a Hollywood version of the story,

so we made a commitment to doing as much of the movie as

possible in Sweden, with a Swedish crew.”

That crew initially included a Swedish cinematographer,

but after a few weeks of shooting, Fincher decided to

make a change. He called Jeff Cronenweth, ASC, one of his

longtime collaborators, and asked him to take over.

Cronenweth recalls, “I got a call at 6 in the morning, and it was

Bob Wagner, David’s assistant director, asking how I was

doing. I said, ‘I’m fine, Bob, but it’s 6 a.m., so this obviously

isn’t a social call. What’s up?’ He said David and the cine-


Unit photography by Baldur Bragason, Patricia Castellanos and Merrick Morton, SMPSP. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Columbia Pictures.

matographer weren’t seeing eye-to-eye,

and he asked if I was available to take

over.

“I gave it a lot of thought because

it was a tough situation,” continues the

cinematographer. “One doesn’t want to

replace someone else. It’s always unfortunate.

I hadn’t been involved in the

prep, and I was worried about communication

with the crew, thinking they

might resent me because I was replacing

one of their own. But David and I go

way back, we’ve worked together many

times, and, luckily, we had discussed the

movie before he embarked on it.

Ultimately, the decision was not that

hard, and it was really smooth sailing.

The crew welcomed me with open

arms.”

“It’s a difficult thing to walk onto

someone else’s film, and Jeff didn’t agree

to it overnight,” says Fincher. “In retrospect,

I would have done it a different

way and not been so committed to the

idea of an entirely Swedish production;

I would have started with Jeff from the

beginning. I was really lucky he was able

to bail us out and that we got a chance

to work together again.”

The production was using the Pix

system, an online project-management

platform that facilitates instant access to

reports, script changes and dailies, and

with it Cronenweth was able to view all

of the footage that had been shot before

Opposite page: After agreeing to help a journalist investigate a decades-old disappearance,

computer hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) is drawn into a much deeper mystery.

This page, top: The journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), meets with retired business executive

Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer). Bottom: Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth, ASC surveys a

snowy setting on location.

[AC July ’92] with my dad [Jordan

he arrived in Europe. He met with the

had worked with him back on Alien 3 Cronenweth was with the

key production team in Zurich on a

Saturday morning, and by the following

Tuesday he was shooting in Stockholm.

He recalls, “I had just come off a

commercial in Miami, and suddenly I

was out on the water in Stockholm,

trying desperately to stay warm! It was

quite a shock to the system. Fortunately,

[A-camera operator] David Worley was

there, and he was a very familiar face. I

Cronenweth, ASC].

“We had a British grip and

camera crew and a Swedish electrical

department, and we all got on fantastically,”

he adds. “The first week was

really just day-to-day, shooting based on

what had already been decided and

rescouting at night, but by the time we

got to the second week, I was up and

running.”

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 33

◗ Cold Case

The emotionally remote Lisbeth is isolated in the frame until she teams up with Blomkvist.

production for more than 150 days of its

approximately 160-day shoot, and

because of script changes, he ended up

reshooting several of the sequences that

had been filmed during the first week.

The ambitious production

involved locations in Sweden,

Switzerland, Norway and England and

stage work in Los Angeles. (Some

minor process work was shot onstage in

Stockholm.) “We started in Stockholm,

and then we spent two weeks in Zurich

before the Christmas break, and then I

went back to Los Angeles and started

prelighting stages,” recalls Cronenweth.

“After our holiday break, we shot for

about three months onstage in L.A.

During that time, David and I planned

the next phase of the shoot, and I got

the same prep time as everyone else

before heading off to England for three

and a half weeks, and then back to

Sweden.

“Overall, the weather in Northern

Europe made for the biggest challenge,”

he adds. “We experienced severe winter

storms as well as a very hot summer in

Sweden. The cold was the hardest,

though.”

Fincher had used digital capture

on his previous three features, Zodiac

(shot by Harris Savides, ASC), The

Curious Case of Benjamin Button (shot by

Claudio Miranda, ASC; AC Jan. ’09)

and The Social Network (shot by

Cronenweth; AC Oct. ’10), and he

decided to do the same on Dragon

Tattoo, selecting Red Ones upgraded

with the Mysterium-X sensor. Red’s

new Epic was just becoming available,

but using it as the main camera posed

too many problems when the shoot

began, according to Cronenweth.

“At first we had a hard time

getting cards for the Epic,” he recalls.

“In addition, at that time, all Epic

footage had to be sent directly to Red

for transcoding before it could be sent to


editorial, and we just weren’t comfortable

with that. But John Schwartzman

[ASC] was working with the Epic on

The Amazing Spider-Man and helping

to pave the way. By the time they

wrapped, RedRocket could handle the

Epic footage, and Spider-Man had

made a huge number of cards available,

so we shot the last 20 percent of Dragon

Tattoo with the Epic.

“We made sure not to switch

cameras within a sequence,” he continues.

“Although the Epic has a lot more

resolution and slightly different color

range than the One, the color is close

enough that we were confident all our

footage would match.”

Indeed, at press time the digital

grade was underway at Light Iron with

colorist Ian Vertovec ( The Social

Network), and Cronenweth reports that

“matching between the two cameras has

been as seamless as anticipated. We’re

working with a Quantel Pablo 4K

color-correction system and a Sony 4K

projector in a theater-type setting. We’re

basically just fine-tuning the original

footage as captured on set, making some

subtle adjustments to better match

shot-to-shot within a scene, and doing

some repositioning.”

The filmmakers found one of the

Epic’s most significant advantages to be

its HDRx function, a simulated high

dynamic range mode that enables a

secondary, darker track of video to be

The production’s digital Red cameras were frequently required to capture low-light situations.

recorded, allowing for 1-5 stops of

selectable highlight bracketing via the

secondary, faster-shutter exposure track.

“We used that to get about 3 more stops

of latitude,” says Cronenweth. “It

records on a separate track that’s a frame

off, and you then use software to sync it

back. It really fills up the data cards by

doubling the recorded information, but

for certain situations it’s invaluable.

“We also like the fact that the

Epic is smaller and lighter than the One

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 35

◗ Cold Case

Top: Banks of

fluorescent

fixtures augment

source lamps for

a dialogue scene

involving

Plummer and

Craig. Bottom:

Cronenweth

practices his

bedside manner

during a

hospital scene.

and doesn’t have that camera’s quirks,”

continues the cinematographer. “In

addition, you can overcrank up to 96 fps

and stay in 5K [resolution]. David also

likes to have the option of manipulating

the final composition or stabilizing the

image, and with the Epic we had 5K to

work with. We utilized the extra resolution

to create our own frame lines,

smaller than what you get using the

entire sensor. Actually, we did that with

both the One and the Epic, allowing

room for repositioning shots. For example,

if an operator clipped an eyebrow on

a tilt up, we had plenty of space to

correct the composition. We also used

the extra space created by the extra

resolution to help stabilize many

shots, including all the driving footage

we shot in Stockholm. The Epic gives

you much more information than you

actually need, and that gives you more

flexibility.”

“I like the picture the Red gives

me, the way it feels,” says Fincher.

“Ultimately, that’s what people are talking

about when they say they prefer one

format over another. When people

speak fondly of the anamorphic lenses

from the 1970s, they’re talking about the

feeling they get from that certain kind of

image. I like the Red One MX a lot —

in fact, I wish we hadn’t switched to the

Epic at the end of our shoot. There’s

nothing wrong with the Epic, but I sort

of like the graininess of the MX

[image]. It’s an aesthetic choice, not a

technical one.”

➣


© Kodak, 2011. Vision and Kodak are trademarks.

◗ Cold Case

Top: The crew

confronted frigid

conditions on

location in

Northern Europe.

Bottom: Working

in the relative

warmth of a

soundstage in

Sweden, the crew

simulates the cold

while setting up a

car shot.

From Fincher’s perspective,

perhaps the biggest advantage of the

Red is its size. “Because it’s small, I feel

like the filmmaking process itself

becomes sort of intimate,” he says.

“Filmmaking is a small circus — that’s

the nature of the beast — but I prefer to

keep it as intimate as possible. When

the mechanics become too consuming,

it’s too easy to get distracted from the

real reason we’re there: to capture the

actors’ performances. When the gear

gets too big, I feel like there’s a wall

between my cast and me, and it’s hard to

get around it to talk to them. I really

prefer to have that relationship, that

connection, be immediate. How we

shoot, where we shoot and what we

shoot with all play a role in finessing

that relationship.”

Shooting with two cameras

simultaneously and having the cinematographer

operate the B camera are

usually part of the plan. “David has

almost always worked that way,” says

Cronenweth. “I was the B-camera operator

on Fight Club and Social Network,

and Claudio [Miranda] was the B-

camera operator on Benjamin Button.”

Fincher explains, “I try as much

as possible to put that second camera in

a place where it will get me another

setup that I actually need — I’m never

just looking for gravy. It can be frustrating

for my cinematographer and tough

for lighting, but I’m going to challenge

him to bring that second camera as far

around as possible, to not just stack [the

cameras] and get a medium and close at

the same time. I’m going to shoot a

pretty wide and fairly disparate view. If

I can, I’ll do opposing coverage, 180

degrees. That does make lighting tough,

but sometimes getting those perfor-


our extended

family of lightweight

Optimo zooms

now includes

45 – 120mm.

The perfect portrait lens has finally arrived…

45-120mm Optimo zoom lens joins our award

winning 15-40mm and 28-76mm family of

hand-held lenses to provide a combined focal

range of 15-120mm. They allow you to take

fewer lenses on location without any sacrifice in

performance – and without the excess weight

of all the prime lenses they replace. Plus

Optimo 35mm Zoom Lenses deliver the

extremely fast apertures and outstanding

contrast and color reproduction that have

made them the optics of choice for DPs all over

the world. Take our extended family of Optimo

35mm Zoom Lenses on your next shoot and

experience the difference.

NEW 45mm - 120mm

Actual product image may vary

15mm - 40mm

28mm - 76mm

973.812.3858

angenieux@tccus.com • www.angenieux.com

◗ Cold Case

Stepping away

from her

computer,

Lisbeth seeks

some answers

the oldfashioned

way.

mances simultaneously is what’s best for

the movie.”

In keeping with Fincher’s preference

for keeping the technical footprint

as small as possible on the set, Dragon

Tattoo didn’t have a digital-imaging

technician. “I don’t believe in tweaking

on set,” says the director. “Why would I

want a tent and more people around?

That’s anathema to me.”

Instead, just as they did on Social

Network, Fincher and Cronenweth set

one look-up table at the beginning of

the shoot and didn’t change it.

“Originally we thought we might have

one LUT for every location, but that

got confusing,” notes Cronenweth.

“Our approach is similar to using just

one film stock. If we change anything,

it’s the color of the light or the filter

instead of chasing LUTs. It makes

things faster and easier.”

The Red One is known for

having higher sensitivity in the blue

spectrum, and the filmmakers used an

80D filter on the lens most of the time.

“Although Sweden has a cool, desaturated

palette in winter, we used the 80D

to raise the color temperature about

400°K, which gave a little more blue

light to the sensor and gave us more latitude

to work with later,” says

Cronenweth.

The production shot primarily on

the locations described in Larsson’s


◗ Cold Case

In an attempt to blend into society, Lisbeth adopts a more feminine style, donning a

blonde wig and dressing conventionally.

novel. “The notion of these horrors,

these particularly evil doings, taking

place in an environment that’s icy,

snowy and somewhat inhospitable just

seemed right to me,” says Fincher. “I

couldn’t see setting the story anywhere

else. In Northern Europe, you’re cut off

from the rest of the world a good

portion of the year in a very unique

place. The people are hearty, and the

winters are very hard. I’m happy we

didn’t transpose the story to Seattle or

Montreal or, worse, play Montreal for

Sweden.”

However, the unique properties

of natural light at that latitude presented

some challenges. At summer’s peak,

Stockholm experiences 19 hours of

daylight, and at winter’s peak, just six

hours. Moreover, the winter sun barely

makes it off the horizon, even at “high

noon,” and the summer sun typically

reaches a point about 54 degrees off the

horizon at the height of the day.

“There’s a reason why Sven

Nykvist’s movies look like they do!”

Fincher notes with a laugh, referring to

the late ASC cinematographer who was

famous for his collaborations with

fellow Swede Ingmar Bergman.

Early in his career, Cronenweth

worked with Nykvist as a camera assistant

and operator. “Sven brought his

own version of soft light to all of his

movies,” he says. “He was very inspired

by the light of his hometown. In the

summer, it almost never gets dark, and

because you’re so far north, the sun can

set and then rise again, about an hour

later, in almost exactly the same place. If

you want a dawn shot, dawn can last two

hours! The light changes so much

throughout the year that it’s very challenging

on a project as long as this one.”

“We had short nights when we

got there and really long nights when we

left,” adds Fincher. “It can be very

disconcerting if you’re not used to a sixhour

day. You can start work in the

morning and then find the sun going

down at lunch.”

“We set out to embrace the

Swedish winter,” says Cronenweth. “It’s

a strong element in the story, almost a

character of its own, and we spent a lot

of time out in the snow with those very

unique light tonalities. We embraced all

of the idiosyncrasies of the locations.”

The biting cold of winter gave rise

to one of the production’s few equipment

problems: the low temps caused

some of the floating elements in the

Arri/Zeiss Master Primes to misalign,

so the lens’s witness marks were off.

“The Master Primes have seven floating


Built on revolutionary Thunderbolt technology, UltraStudio 3D has a

blazingly fast 10 Gb/s connection that’s up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0!

Machined from a solid piece of aluminum, UltraStudio 3D is an attractive,

rugged device that’s packed with features previously only available with

a workstation. It’s perfect for those on the go as an extremely portable

companion to your camera, notebook and favorite editing software.

Connect to any Deck, Camera or Monitor

UltraStudio 3D features a huge range of video

and audio connections. Dual Link 3 Gb/s

SDI, HDMI, component analog, NTSC, PAL

and s-video for capture and playback in SD,

HD or 2K. Also included is 2 ch XLR AES/EBU audio and 2 ch balanced

XLR analog audio. Connect to HDCAM SR, HDCAM, Digital Betacam,

Betacam SP, HDV cameras, big-screen TVs and more. UltraStudio 3D even

supports two streams of full resolution video up to 1080p HD for new

stereoscopic 3D workflows!

Advanced 3 Gb/s SDI Technology

With exciting new 3 Gb/s SDI connections, UltraStudio

3D allows twice the SDI data rate of normal HD-SDI,

while also connecting to all your HD-SDI and SD-SDI

equipment. Use 3 Gb/s SDI for 2K and edit your latest

feature film using real time 2048 x 1556 2K resolution capture and playback!

More Third Party Software Compatibility

UltraStudio 3D works with the software you love to

use! Use QuickTime software, or the world’s most

popular editing software such as Final Cut Pro and

Premiere Pro ! You also get Photoshop plug-ins

to grab and output frames, plus real time preview

in After Effects and Nuke . No other editing solution supports more

software on Mac OS X, so now you have the freedom to build your studio

your own way!

Hardware Down Conversion

If you’ve ever wanted to monitor in both HD and

SD while you work, then you’ll love the built in

high quality down converter. Use the Dual Link SDI

outputs as a simultaneous HD and SD output, or

you can switch back to Dual Link 4:4:4 when working in the highest quality

RGB workflows. Select between letterbox, anamorphic 16:9 and even center

cut 4:3 down conversion styles!

Learn more today at www.blackmagic-design.com/UltraStudio3D

UltraStudio 3D

$

995

◗ Cold Case

Left: A large silk and a solid hung from crane arms help the crew shape the

look of a street scene. Right: While shooting a night-exterior chase sequence,

crewmembers used rain spinners and hair dryers to keep mist from freezing

on the camera lenses.

elements, and in extreme temperatures

that can create obstacles,” says

Cronenweth. “The first assistants

ended up having to pull focus more off

of monitors, by eye. They’re phenomenal

lenses, and I would definitely use

them again; they probably held up as

well as any equipment does in that kind

of environment. But it’s something to

be aware of when you’re working in

extreme weather conditions.”

Some of the movie’s large exterior

setups posed other challenges.

Salander’s main mode of transportation

is her motorcycle, and she is not a timid

driver. Many sequences show her

zipping around dangerously icy roads,

and Cronenweth had to tackle one of

these scenes, a 5-mile run through a

forest at night, on his second day on set.

“I thought, ‘How are we gonna

do this?!’” he recalls. “We ended up

tackling it very simply, actually, and it

looks quite believable. We used an

insert car to either chase or lead the

motorcycle. When we were chasing her,

we simply increased the strength of the

headlight on her motorcycle by adding

some headlight fixtures with quartz

globes and wide-angle lenses so the

light would fan out and hit the trees in

front of her on both sides of the road.

“We set out to

embrace the Swedish

winter. It’s a strong

element in the story,

almost a character of

its own.”

“We then put a small bounce on

the front of the camera car, about 2 stops

underexposed, to get some detail on her

and the motorcycle. Lastly, we used

narrow-beam HMIs to softly project

ahead of and above her to illuminate the

forest. When we were leading her, we

used the same bounce idea on the truck

and the same narrow HMIs, and let the

motorcycle’s headlight bounce and light

her with just soft return.”

Making night exteriors like this

even tougher was the moisture from

nearby bodies of water, which created

mist that often froze to the lenses on

moving shots. The filmmakers used

standard rain spinners to keep moisture

off the lenses, but the mist would freeze

on the spinners and transform them into

rotating diffusion filters. To combat this,

the camera assistants mounted hair

dryers below the spinners and kept a

constant flow of warm air on the spinning

blades.

Driving sequences involving cars

were shot onstage in Sweden using what

Cronenweth and gaffer Harold Skinner

laughingly describe as “Rich-Man’s

Process.” Skinner explains, “It was your

typical greenscreen stage, but we built

this rig with LED media panels around

the car so that we could play


Dolby congratulates Light Iron

on the successful completion of its recent projects.

Thank you for using the

Dolby ® Professional Reference Monitor

in color grading.

Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. © 2011 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. S11/25091

◗ Cold Case

Lisbeth’s

sleuthing skills

shine a light

on some

horrifying

secrets.

QuickTime movies of the background

plates through the panels and project

the reflections and interactive light

directly from the background plates

onto the car and the actors. The LED

panels were 3 feet high by 14 feet long

on both sides of the car, and we added

another for the back and front windows.

Using this system, we got real interactive

lighting from the actual background

plates, so it feels much more authentic.”

To reduce spill and reflections

from the greenscreen, Skinner hung

Duvetyn on curtain tracks so he could

mask off any area of green that wasn’t

directly behind the actors.

One pivotal scene that was reshot

because of script changes shows young

Harriet outside a cottage and boathouse

on a waterfront Vanger property. The

scene was originally shot on location in

Stockholm, but when the filmmakers

returned for reshoots, they discovered

the property had new owners who had

torn down both buildings. In addition, a

winter storm had killed two large trees

that helped make the location unique.

A sharp snap

splits the

silvery silence.

A whisper of

time, suspended.

142

46

Think LEE

www.leefilters.com

Fincher and production designer

Donald Graham Burt decided to reconstruct

the cottage onstage at Paramount

Studios and the boathouse and dock at

Red’s studio.

“It was a huge set, and I wasn’t

really sure how to approach it,”

confesses Cronenweth. “There were

some practical lights on the dock that

gave us a base look, especially when we

added atmosphere. We decided to use a

single 2K out from the cabin to the

water and hillside — we hung blacks

and added some sky augmentation in

post — and it was perfect.”

“We slipped a bare 2K globe

inside a Big Eye 10K housing with no

lens, just to protect the globe and create

a very large open-face source,” says

Skinner. “The dock lights were all clear

25-watt practical globes, so we added

some 1 ⁄4 CTO to the 2K to match their

warmth. We augmented with a single

1K Baby Fresnel to help when we were

doing turnarounds and the 2K got a

little too garish and flat, but that was it.

It’s very simply lit and very beautiful.”

A night scene that shows

Salander meeting Blomkvist at his

Stockholm apartment required a

massive shot that encompassed several

blocks of cobblestone streets. “It’s an old

part of Stockholm on this grand hill,

and David wanted the coverage to

encompass all four directions at night

for about two blocks,” recalls

Cronenweth. “In and of itself, that’s not

such a bad thing, but in April in

Sweden, you only have four hours of

darkness! So the challenge was to light

two blocks in each direction and have

the ability to quickly do turnarounds, to

move into any direction and switch our

backlight and whatever keys we had on

the fly. Our rigging crew spent an entire

night setting it up.”

“We had eight construction

cranes, four generators and 20 electricians,

and the special-effects team was

making snow at the same time — it was

quite the expansive setup,” adds

Skinner.

“In the end, we got it in our four

hours, and everything worked fantastically,”

says Cronenweth. “David’s final

establishing shot was done just as the

sky was starting to change colors, but we

got it in under the wire.” ●

2.40:1

TECHNICAL SPECS

Digital Capture

Red One, Epic

Arri/Zeiss Master Primes

®

The Cooke Look

One Look. All Speeds

cookeoptics.com

CookeOpticsLimited

British Optical Innovation and

Quality Since 1893.

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700

Canada, South America, USA:

T: +1-973-335-4460

47

War Horse, directed

by Steven Spielberg

and shot by

Janusz Kaminski,

sends a valiant

creature to the front

lines of World War I.

By Patricia Thomson

•|•

Animal

Instincts

The period drama War Horserepresents new turf for cinematographer

Janusz Kaminski and director Steven

Spielberg, even though the film is their 13th feature

collaboration. The movie tells the story of World War I

through the eyes of a horse who is raised by a farm boy,

Albert (Jeremy Irvine), in Devon, England, and then falls

into the hands of various British, French and German

masters during the war.

World War II has become a hallmark of Spielberg and

Kaminski’s collaborations, which began with Schindler’s List

(AC Jan. ’94), but War Horse is their first foray into the Great

War. “I was very excited about it because I’d never had the

chance to re-create this war before,” says Kaminski, speaking

to AC on a break from Spielberg’s Lincoln.

The picture is also something of a novelty in that it’s a

family-friendly story that takes place during wartime. The

source material is a young-adult novel of the same name by

Michael Morpugo, and the Walt Disney Co. is releasing the

DreamWorks production. However, Kaminski notes, “This

movie is not a quintessential Disney thing. It’s not happy,

bright, chocolate-covered storytelling. It’s got very brutal

moments, very sad moments.”

The filmmakers decided to shoot widescreen to play up

the pastoral landscape of Devon, where the story begins, and

they chose Super 35mm over anamorphic because they

believed the latter might be “too beautiful,” says Kaminski,

adding, “We wanted the images to have a slightly gritty feel.

“We wanted to do beautifully composed wide shots

where the land would play a significant role,” continues the

cinematographer. “We talked about John Ford films . Steven

was fascinated by the relationship between humans and land

— humans do not blend with the land, they shape it. In the

first act, when Albert is training the horse or trying to plow

the field, you see him in this amazing Devon landscape where

clouds are rolling across the sky. The shots are so wide you can

see the light patterns rolling across the field.”

Kaminski was keen to create the movie’s look incamera,

even though originating in Super 35mm and the realities

of digital exhibition meant a digital intermediate would

be part of the post process. In fact, he color-timed the picture


Photos by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP and David Appleby. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of DreamWorks.

photochemically at Deluxe Laboratories

in Hollywood with timers Clive Noakes

and Jim Passon, “and we just matched

the look of the print in the DI with

[colorist] Yvan Lucas [at EFilm],” he

says. “There were very few adjustments.

“Steven and I make the movie on

the set,” he emphasizes. “I do not create

the look of the movie in the DI, just as

Steven does not create the movie in the

editing room. That’s not the way we

work. An important part of our process is

screening 35mm film dailies, which we

did with an Arri LocPro throughout the

shoot.”

Kaminski shot War Horse on two

Kodak Vision3 negatives, 250D 5207

and 500T 5219, both of which he often

pulled one stop, and he developed a

filtration strategy that involved using

Classic Soft and Coral filters together for

Devon sequences and other idyllic

passages, and then transitioning to

Double Fog filters for the muddy look of

war. Finally, for the triumphant return of

the hero, he layered on sunset grad filters.

Principal photography lasted 63

days and took place mostly on practical

locations close to London. Many key

crew were longtime collaborators of both

Spielberg and Kaminski, including A-

camera operator Mitch Dubin, A-

camera 1st AC Mark Spath, lighting

director (supervising gaffer) David

Devlin and key grip Jim Kwiatkowski.

Their British counterparts were B-

camera/Steadicam operator George

Richmond, B-camera 1st AC Jonathan

“Chunky” Richmond, gaffer Eddie

Knight and key grip David Appleby.

When Spielberg is in the director’s

chair, one hallmark of the production is

speed, and Kwiatkowski recalls telling

Appleby that War Horse would be “the

fastest movie he’d ever worked on.” It

was June 29, and the grips had just been

handed six previsualizations for complicated

action scenes. Production was set

to start Aug. 1. “Steven’s schedules are

always like a race,” Devlin observes. “He

loves the energy of shooting quickly and

seeing the film made right before his

eyes. Even if he had 300 days to shoot a

film, he’d shoot it in 50.”

Another hallmark of a Spielberg

production is complex camera choreography.

“Steven is extremely versatile

with the camera, which means his

movies are always challenging to shoot,”

says Kaminski. “He likes really big

shots, and his camera always moves.”

“Every shot is elaborately choreographed,”

adds Dubin. “He always

shoots them as complex masters. Even

though a lot of the shots might be cut

up in the end, it’s better for the actors if

we shoot the entire scene.”

Opposite page: Albert

(Jeremy Irvine) bonds

with his family’s new

horse, Joey. This

page: After Albert’s

father (Peter Mullan)

pays top dollar for

Joey, he endures the

ire of his wife (Emily

Watson, middle) and

landlord (David

Thewlis, bottom),

who threatens to

repossess the

Narracotts’ farm

unless they make

their rent payment.

Achieving big, complicated shots

very quickly would be a challenge under

any circumstance, but the particulars of

the War Horse shoot ratcheted up the

difficulty.

For starters, some locations were

quite remote. The Devon sequences

were shot in Dartmoor National Park,

a large moorland crossed by rocky

roads. “Getting generators in there was

a challenge,” Devlin recalls. “One

generator had to be placed almost

1,700 feet away, so it required a lot of

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 49

◗ Animal Instincts

After England goes to war with Germany,

Albert is forced to part ways with Joey when

his father sells the horse to a British officer.

cabling and preparation.”

Then there was the rain, which

came both at the whim of Mother

Nature and on demand, especially for

the combat scenes. At one point during

a battle, Joey escapes into No Man’s

Land, a 480-yard stretch along the

Western Front that was full of barbed

wire and trenches. “No Man’s Land was

a vast field that became a horrible,

muddy, violent place,” says Dubin. “It

was so hard to work in there. Everybody

wore black rain gear, so you could never

tell who anybody was. At the end of the

day, they’d turn on the power hoses and

spray us down.”

Topping it all off was the challenge

of building so many scenes around

a horse. The main character, Joey, was

played by five of them. There was an

equine hair-and-makeup department,

and each horse had its own trainer. (The

head trainer was Bobby Lovgren.)

“Each horse had its own specialty: one

laid down, another bucked up, one

plowed, and another was good at turning

his head to look backward on cue,”

says Kaminski.

Such actions were vital to

suggesting Joey’s thoughts and emotions

— as was the animal’s eyelight during

close-ups. “Truly, when you look at a

horse, there are no emotions in its eyes,”

says Kaminski. “They don’t blink, they

don’t smile and they don’t get sad. They

just get tired.”

Given that Joey is the central

character — and a hero — the filmmakers

tried to make the horse stand out

from its environment. “We were glorifying

Joey a little through lighting and

composition,” says Kaminski. “We were

always trying to place the light so that

his coat would reflect it, and so it would

create glints in his eyes.”

To get a horse to act, a trainer had

to be in the animal’s line of sight, and

sometimes two trainers were necessary

— if, for instance, the horse had to look

in one direction, and then in the other.

For scenes involving several horses, that

added up to lots of trainers. “The trick

was to put a trainer in the horse’s sight

but not in the frame,” says Dubin. “For a

close-up, that’s easy. But for wide shots,

which Steven likes, we had trainers

hiding all over the place — behind bales

of hay in the barn, up in the rafters,

everywhere.”

The filmmakers worked with a

previs team from The Third Floor to

plot out the movie’s most complicated

action scenes, but Spielberg’s collaborators

observe that his mastery of cinematic

storytelling is due as much to his

own instinct as it is to such preparation.

“Steven can walk onto a set with very

little pre-planning and know exactly

how he wants to shoot it and how many

shots he needs,” says Dubin. “His eyes

immediately turn into a 21mm lens.” ➣



Top: The camera crew dollies past a muddy battlefield for a sequence staged at Wisley Airfield in

Surrey, England. Middle: An English soldier spots Joey after the horse becomes entangled in

barbed wire between enemy trenches. Bottom: Albert and his nemesis from Devon,

David (Robert Emms, right), charge into battle.

Of course, ideas developed in prep

often change on set. One example of this

in War Horse is a British cavalry charge

that was filmed on the Stratfield Saye

estate. The scene expresses a key idea in

Morpugo’s book: that World War I was

the end of the horse’s usefulness as an

instrument of war. As Dubin sums it up,

“The story is about the change from a

gentleman’s war to a mechanized war.”

The scene begins with the British

cavalry approaching a German camp

through a field of golden reeds. “These

soldiers are very handsome, very proper,

very passionate about the glorious aspect

of the war, and I wanted it to be a bit

larger than life,” says Kaminski. “We

tried to create the glorious part of it, but

with a realistic take.”

The charge appears successful at

first, but suddenly the Germans open fire

with machine guns. No blood is shown.

Instead, the film cuts to a shot of riderless

horses, and finally the camera pulls

back to reveal the field littered with dead

soldiers and horses. “This sequence was

extensively previsualized because the

charge involved dozens of horses galloping

at high speed on uneven terrain,” says

Kaminski. “We used two or three different

camera platforms that would travel at

various speeds, and we occasionally had

two cameras and two insert cars traveling


The AG-HPX250 handheld delivers an unprecedented level

of image quality — 10-bit, 4:2:2 intra-frame AVC-Intra — for

its 5.5-lb. size. Its 2.2 megapixel 3-MOS imagers produce

superb low light images. It offers a 22X zoom lens, genlock/

timecode input for multi-camera operation, 3 independent

adjustable (Zoom/Focus/Iris) rings, and a faster, solid-state

workfl ow. Unprecedented quality, handheld size.

AG-HPX250

© 2011 Panasonic Corporation of North America


Top and middle: A 50' SuperTechnocrane was mounted on a Bickers 4x4 Taurus Quad

to capture shots of Joey and other horses pulling heavy artillery up a steep hill.

Bottom: A Scorpio Stabilized Head overslung on a Bickers Racing Quad was used to

capture a mounted German soldier, Gunther (David Kross), pulling his younger brother

from the march to spare him from combat.

[at the same time]. We did a couple of

days of extensive rehearsals with a skeleton

cavalry, and that allowed us to figure

out if it was possible to achieve what

Steven had envisioned in the previs.

“Once we figured that out, I’d have

ideas about where the lights should be,”

he continues. “Of course, in England, it’s

cloudy, then halfway through the day it

becomes sunny, and then it’s cloudy

again. So you just play your cards according

to the weather. We wanted a lower

sun for the wide shots. You can get away

with overcast moments and mismatched

[light] when the camera is traveling at

high speed, because you know the

sequence will be cut up into very short

shots.”

Spielberg initially envisioned using

some type of cable rig to achieve the big

camera pullback, but his crew speculated

that such a rig would take too much time

to set up. Dubin observes, “If the shot is

performance-driven, Steven doesn’t ever

seem to grow impatient, and he will do as

many takes as needed. But if it’s just a

technical shot, even a very complicated

one, he wants to do it once and move

on.”

The speedy solution proved to be

an Akela crane. “We kept it in one position

and did this incredible pullout,” says

Kwiatkowski.

With its 70' arm, the Akela was an

oft-used tool on War Horse, as was a 50'


CHAPMAN/LEONARD

Studio Equipment, Inc.

www.chapman-leonard.com

TELESCOPING CRANES

15’, 20’, 32’ ... Introducing the 73‘ Hydrascope

Equipment that works in any environment

weather resistant and tough

With Stabilized Remote Camera Systems

Super PeeWee® IV

Part of the PeeWee® series

DOLLIES...

Pedestals, Mobile Cranes, Arms & Bases

Hustler IV

Time Saving Camera Support for all your needs!

LOCATIONS: California: 888 883 6559

New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio & Florida: 888 758 4826

UK: +44 1 92 326 5953

Ask about our Sound Stage in Florida


Camera

operator Mitch

Dubin captures

battlefield

close-ups of

Albert and his

friend from

Devon.

SuperTechnocrane mounted on a

Bickers 4x4 Taurus Quad. “Steven really

loves the Technocrane,” Kwiatkowski

notes, “and we did a lot of elaborate shots

with just the arm.” The production also

used a MovieBird 20 from Alpha Grip,

carried by a Bickers camera car.

The cranes were often outfitted

with Scorpio Stabilized Heads. “That

was the trick, because those heads

enabled us to do some longer-lens shots

with great stability,” says Kwiatkowski.

“That worked really well on the cavalry

charges not only for technical reasons,

but also because the camera’s stability

showcased the natural energy of the

horses.”

Another indispensable tool was

the Russian Arm, which was used to

track alongside galloping horses.

Equipped with a gyrostabilized Flight

Head and offering 360-degree panning

capability, the remote arm rode atop a

Stealth high-speed tracking vehicle, and

it could get quite close to the horses.

“The horse trainers had worked with

that vehicle before, so they knew what

they could and couldn’t do,” says

Kwiatkowski.

The Russian Arm’s speed and

handling were put to the test in a scene

showing Joey’s flight through the woods.

The production cleared a 400-yard

stretch of terrain for the liberty horse

(one without a rider) and picked out

a parallel path for the Stealth.

Thoroughbreds can accelerate to full

speed within a couple of strides, but the

Stealth had to carry four people plus

crane and camera. “The driver had one

foot on the gas pedal, all the way down,

and one foot on the brake at the same

time,” says Dubin. “When the horse

took off, the driver just took his foot off

the brake. The horse could be at full

speed within seconds! It was really

thrilling.”

Some rigs were custom-designed,

occasionally at the last minute. One

example was something used for

“Cannon Hill,” a scene that shows Joey

and other horses struggling to haul a

cannon up a steep hill. After the previs

was scuttled because of safety concerns,

Spielberg planned another elaborate

shot that moved from the bottom of the

hill to the top — a 15-percent grade.

Kwiatkowski explains, “The shot starts

out a bit wide, and then suddenly a character

comes in close. The camera drops

down to catch the soldier’s feet, and then

we go by the big wheel of the cannon

trailer. We come back up, see the horses

and all the soldiers, and then go up to the

German commander, and now it’s a

close-up again. That’s what Steven does

best: tell the story with the camera.

Characters come in and out all in one

take that lasts about 45 seconds.

“When Steven described the shot,

I knew where I had to put the camera,

but I didn’t know how to do it,” he adds.

Spielberg wanted to use a Bickers

Racing Quad with the Steadicam, but

the team eventually determined that the

hill was too steep, and the weight on the

back of the quad would be too great. So

the grips borrowed a page from the

special-effects team, which was planning

to haul the cannon up with a 10-ton

winch buried between I-beams.

Kwiatkowski built his own winch parallel

to theirs on a lesser grade. This was

cinched to the Bickers 4x4 Taurus,

which carried the Technocrane. “We

were able to level the crane and pulled

that vehicle up with the winch in coordination

with the special-effects crew

bringing up the cannon,” says

Kwiatkowski. “After four takes, we got

the shot. It was pretty intense.”

In contrast to the grips’ huge arsenal,

the production’s lighting package

was relatively modest, according to

Devlin. At its core were five ArriMax

18Ks. “We’d use all those lights every

day, on every setup,” says Devlin. “When

we ran out, we were out! Our lighting

package wasn’t very big at all compared

to, say, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of

the Crystal Skull.”

The HMIs were deployed even

on sunny Devon exteriors.“The Devon

scenes are meant to suggest innocence,

the beginning of Albert and Joey’s

friendship, so the lighting is more idealized,”

says Kaminski. “I wanted deep

blue skies with white clouds, so I used a

daylight stock and frontlit the actors so

they’d stand out and look glorious



Top: The 50' SuperTechnocrane, mounted on a Bickers 4x4 Taurus Quad, is positioned in No Man’s Land

to capture shots of Joey galloping straight into barbed wire. Middle: 1st AC Mark Spath adjusts focus

for a shot captured with a Scorpio Stabilized Head. Bottom: Armed with a bullhorn, cinematographer

Janusz Kaminski coordinates some explosive action.

against the landscape.”

“We often used very hard light

that was diffused a little bit, similar to the

way arc lights were used in the 1970s,”

says Devlin. “Whereas we’d typically use

four 18Ks through a large frame of diffusion,

like a 12-by-20, on this we’d use just

one 18K through a 4x4 diffusion, which

would give the same intensity but

wouldn’t be as soft. And with one light,

it’s more frontal; that makes it a flatter

light and gives it a richer look, almost

like a classic movie from the 1970s.”

For scenes set in the trenches and

No Man’s Land, production designer

Rick Carter’s crew built three sets on

Wisley airfield in Surrey. “It was a beautiful

set, with quintessential imagery of

the First World War — everything

looked scorched and destroyed,” says

Kaminski. Because Joey had to travel

through it at a full gallop, often in wide

shots, the set was vast, which meant

Kaminski had to light large areas for

night scenes. “Logistically, that was difficult,

because we also had to light the

horse so he wouldn’t just blend into the

night,” he says. “It’s lit like a Christmas

tree, but at the same time I think it looks

realistic.”

Camera tests in No Man’s Land

immediately revealed a problem: the bay

horse wasn’t visible against the red soil.

“The highlight on the horse from the

explosions didn’t read as strong as the


Michael Condon, SOC

VP Digital Division

Andree Martin

VP Technical Services

CREATIVITY!

Your Mind, Our Tools!

Let us help you pick the right tools for your job. Film or

digital, we’re here for you. You can choose from a vast

variety of 35mm and 16mm film cameras. These are

coupled with the industry’s widest selection of lenses and

accessories to give cinematographers the ability to

maximize their creativity. We have a wide selection of

anamorphic lenses both fixed focal lengths and zoom

lenses, including the new Vantage Hawk V-lites in

both 2x and 1.3x squeeze. Much attention has been

focused on 3-perforation and now 2-perf cameras. Our

Moviecam SL MK2 (tri-perf) is one stellar example, and

we’ve recently introduced our 2-perf Arricams, 35 BL4,

35 BL3, Arri 435 and Arri 3 cameras. Our digital inventory

includes Arri Alexa and Alexa Studio, Canon EOS

C300, 1D Mark IV & EOS 7D; all with PL mounts, Iconix,

Panasonic, Red Epic and Red One MX, Sony F65, F35

and F3 cameras and the amazing high speed Weisscam

HS2 and PS-cam X35. All supported with the latest in

monitoring and DIT control equipment in addition to both

file based and tape based recording options. Our

goal is to provide outstanding service 24/7. The choices

to express your creativity are endless. Feel free to call or

drop by anytime and let us show you how we will take

care of you and your creativity. Please visit our website to

see what’s new in our inventory.

Sincerely, Clairmont Camera

www.clairmont.com

Hollywood

818-761-4440

Vancouver

604-984-4563

Toronto

416-467-1700

Albuquerque

505-227-2525

Montreal

514-525-6556


Kaminski

takes a meter

reading with

actor Eddie

Marsan.

ground,” explains Devlin, “so the eye was

drawn more toward the shadow of the

horse than the rim light.

“One thing that makes war

movies look eerily real is when the

person’s face is brighter than the sky,” he

continues. “We found that true on

Saving Private Ryan [AC Aug. ’98], and

we used that same technique [to light

actors] here: burning diesel fuel and

darkening the sky behind the person.”

But a bay horse required a different

solution. In the end, Carter decided

to darken the color of the soil by painting

it. “That set was about 1,200 feet by 800

feet,” Devlin marvels. “When the soil

was all churned up, Rick’s crew had to go

back and repaint it [for another take].”

Joey’s flight across No Man’s

Land includes wide shots full of smoke

and mist backlit by flares and flames.

“The beast is running across the landscape,

silhouetted,” says Kaminski. “It

looks very beautiful and mythical.”

To match the look of the practical

flares and fires created by the specialeffects

team, Kaminski’s crew layered a

variety of sources. “We used 180 Narrow

Spot 1K Par bulbs almost like a Wendy

Light on steroids,” says Devlin. “We

used four of those setups. Then we had

four 250K Lightning Strikes [gelled]

with colors to create a contrast that

popped from the flashing of the tungsten

bulbs. For moonlight, we had an

ArriMax with a Max Mover, a remote

pan-and-tilt system, mounted up in the

same rig.

“So we had three different technologies

working: an HMI, a Lightning

Strikes and that huge tungsten rack of

light. And they all give such different

textures.” During tests, Devlin worried

“that it might come off looking like a

rock ’n’ roll show.” But in the end, he was

satisfied. “It really gives it a big feel. You

get a sense that you’re seeing everything

on this battlefield.”

Joey’s run through No Man’s

Tell Your Story

Y

we

t Learn

dience y

888.77 9 | regent.edu/communicatione

Bachelor’s, Master’s s and Docto

60

Regent University

is accredited by the Commission on Colleges

of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associates, baccalaureate, masters, and doctorate degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur,

Georgia 300

4097 or call 404.679.4500 for questions about the accreditation of Regent University. Regent University admits students without discrimination on the basis of race, color, disability, gender,

religion or national or ethnic origin. Regent University is certified by the State Cou

33

ncil

-

of Higher Education for Virginia to operate campuses within the Commonwealth of Virginia. COM110855

Land required several previsualizations,

“and all of them were very complicated,”

says Kwiatkowski. “There were 18 shots

of Joey, all tracking shots, all off different

kinds of platforms.”

One such shot begins with the

camera inside a trench. Kwiatkowski

explains, “Joey jumps over the trench,

and the camera actually follows him. He

runs alongside the trench, and we’re

looking up at him. Then he tries to jump

again and falls in, and then we’re tracking

with him inside the trench. Those

trenches were narrow, and the terrain

was extremely rough. We used the

suspension on the Bickers Racing Quad

and mounted Chapman Leonard’s

Large Vibration Isolator to eliminate

most of the bumps. This combination

enabled the Scorpio head to stabilize the

image perfectly. It’s a pretty amazing

shot.”

Another remarkable camera

move involved the Akela. The shot starts

in the trench with Albert, Joey’s original

master. “At first it looks like it could be a

Steadicam shot, but then the camera

follows Albert up a ladder and out onto

the battlefield, ending with a high-angle

view,” says Kwiatkowski. “The Akela

does that; it’s such a long arm, and the

arc to it isn’t an issue.”

The most dramatic palette in War

Horse appears at its conclusion, when

various characters are shown silhouetted

against a pink-orange sky in Devon. “It

looks glorious — and totally fake!” says

Kaminski. “We wanted to go that way

because it’s such a heroic and mythical

moment. I’m very proud of the look

because it’s right for the story, and it was

done in-camera. I had four or five filters

on the lens — red, orange and ND. Each

was cutting the light, so we ended up

side-lighting the actors with several

18Ks so they wouldn’t go black.

“We did very little CGI in this

movie,” he adds. “[Digital effects] were

used only to remove a horse trainer from

a shot or a rider dressed in a greenscreen

suit, which was necessary because the

horse couldn’t go through the battlefield

at night without someone to guide him.

Everything else was live photography.

What you see is what you get.” ●

2.40:1

TECHNICAL SPECS

4-perf Super 35mm

Arricam Lite, Studio;

Arri 435, 235

Arri/Zeiss Master Prime,

Angenieux Optimo

Kodak Vision3 250D 5207,

500T 5219


61

Lord of War

Barry Ackroyd, BSC and director

Ralph Fiennes stage Shakespeare’s

Coriolanus as a modern conflict

between intractable foes.

By Iain Stasukevich

•|•

Gen. Caius Marcius (Ralph Fiennes) is Rome’s most

courageous and controversial public figure, revered and

reviled for his fierceness in battle as well his open

contempt for the citizens of his country. After emerging

victorious in a war between Rome and the neighboring

Volscians, Marcius is dubbed “Coriolanus,” after the Volsce

city of Corioles, and is urged by his mother, Volumnia

(Vanessa Redgrave), and Sen. Menenius (Brian Cox) to seek

political office. In order to do so, Coriolanus must first submit

himself for approval by the people of Rome, who instead call

for his banishment. Once exiled, Coriolanus aligns himself


Opposite page:

After he is exiled

from Rome, Gen.

Caius Marcius

(Ralph Fiennes)

takes command

of Volscian troops

in his quest for

revenge against

the state. This

page, top: While

still in charge of

Rome’s forces,

Marcius battles

the Volscians.

Bottom: Fiennes,

who also directed,

confers with

cinematographer

Barry Ackroyd,

BSC (second from

left in gray cap).

Photos by Larry D. Horricks, courtesy of The Weinstein Co.

with his sworn enemy, Volscian leader

Tullus Aufidius (Gerard Butler), to

exact revenge on the country he once

served.

The new film Coriolanus, which

marks Fiennes’ directorial debut, situates

William Shakespeare’s play in the

present day, emphasizing urban warfare

and the power of mass media. The film’s

cinematographer, Barry Ackroyd, BSC,

notes that the story’s elements are well

suited to today. “Coriolanus is a modern

story because it’s about warlords and

unjust wars and food riots,” says

Ackroyd. “It’s also a story about the

umbilical connection between a man

and his mother, which is timeless.”

Ackroyd and Fiennes had

worked together before, albeit briefly,

on The Hurt Locker (AC July ’09), in

which Fiennes had a cameo, and which

brought Ackroyd his first ASC and

Academy Award nominations. When

Fiennes contacted Ackroyd about

Coriolanus, it quickly became clear to

the cinematographer that Fiennes had

fully immersed himself in preparing the

project. “Ralph is an artist by schooling,

and we referred to paintings and drawings

for inspiration,” Ackroyd recalls.

“He had also created a ‘mood book’ of

illustrations and photographs. He can

sketch out his ideas very easily, and he

would also act out moments from the

play, which is a level of understanding

I’d never experienced before. It was

obvious that if anyone knew this script,

he did.”

The mood book evolved into a

mood reel comprising photojournalism

from modern battlefields in Chechnya

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 63

◗ Lord of War

Marcus confronts

his archenemy,

Tullus Aufidius

(Gerard Butler),

leader of the

Volscians.

and Iraq, video clips culled from location

scouts and documentaries, and

animated storyboards that were

narrated by Fiennes and Redgrave

(performing monologues from the

script). “Creating those storyboards was

really my first experience in the way of

directing and getting a toehold on the

film,” says Fiennes.

Ackroyd says he prefers to get

most of the talking out of the way in

preproduction. “I like to have the confidence

of the director, and I knew that

with Ralph directing and acting in the

film, he had to be able to trust that I’d

give him what he wanted. With most

directors, you reach a point where he

doesn’t have to tell you exactly what it is

he’s trying to get from the scene.

Sometimes that’s almost impossible to

express, anyway.”

The filmmakers considered

shooting on 16mm, 35mm and highdefinition

video, but ultimately opted to

film on 2-perf Super 35mm with

brand-new Aaton Penelope cameras.

Ackroyd observes, “The usual issues

with 2-perf are that you get more hairs

in the gate, something the Penelope is

brilliant at avoiding, and you get flares

off the hard gate, which you can see a

few times in our film. But we could

justify that in our style — the camera is

“The film has two

sides — it bursts

into movement in

the battle zones,

and then there are

the more formal

confrontations.”

typically active.”

Most of Coriolanus was shot on

location, with the Serbian capital of

Belgrade standing in for Rome and the

Mediterranean port of Kotor in

Montenegro doubling for the Volscian

city of Antium. The filmmakers took

advantage of Belgrade’s widely varying

topography — from the classical design

of the House of the National Assembly

to the post-war blokovi housing projects

— to differentiate the worlds of the

patricians and the commoners.

The film opens with a scene that

establishes Marcius as an enemy of the

people — he all but spits upon a starving,

angry mob that’s trying to break

into a grain depot — and then segues to

his natural environment: the battlefield.

This scene, the battle of Corioles, was

shot in Pancevo, a Serbian municipality

that still bears the scorch marks of a

devastating 1999 NATO airstrike.

Marcius and his troops are deployed in

Corioles to halt a Volscian attack on

Roman territory.

The filmmakers traveled light,

shooting sequentially over the course of

three days with two cameras handheld

by Ackroyd (A-camera operator) and

Svetomir Pajic-Kivi (B-camera and

Steadicam operator). Angenieux

Optimo 17-80mm zoom lenses were

used for the fast-moving action beats,

with Ackroyd’s longtime 1st AC, Oliver


◗ Lord of War

Top: Marcius bows to his mother (Vanessa Redgrave) as he is honored by Rome for his bravery

in battle. Bottom: Marcius eventually finds himself at odds with Rome’s fickle politicians.

Driscoll, and B-camera 1st AC Drasko

Pejanovic pulling focus directly from

the lens.“I guess it’s a thing from my

documentary days,” says Ackroyd. “I’d

rather have the focus puller on a gear

wheel than using a remote focus,

because that way he can feel your movements

and watch the action, and if you

need to make a change yourself, you’re

able to use your left hand to grab the

focus wheel.”

Cameras were positioned to

cover action simultaneously and intercut

in different directions, revealing new

information with each shot. “No part of

any location was out of bounds,” says

Ackroyd. “You think you’re seeing in

more directions than you really are. It’s

an illusion that works well; by creating a

360-degree world, you make the audience

feel totally involved.”

The production had a featurescale

grip-and-electric package, but the

work in Pancevo rarely called for any

major setups. “I wouldn’t light a day

exterior, particularly a battle scene,” says

Ackroyd. Instead, he worked with 1st

AD Zoran Andric to time the shoot so

he could keep the actors backlit by the

sun. As the battle calms and elsewhere,

he used mirrors and 6'x6' Griffolyn

bounces to redirect daylight into a

scene. “I try not to use big lights [on day

exteriors] because you’re losing the

battle if you’re trying to fight nature,” he

says.

As Marcius advances on Aufidius

and the Volscians, distant 6K HMI Pars

and 18Ks diffused with silk, Grid

Cloth, 250 or 251 combined with

strategic T-stop pulls helped keep the

exposure even while the camera moved

through the war-torn apartment blocks.

Tiffen NDs and Schneider True Polas

were used to keep the [12:1] Optimos

open to T2.8 whenever possible,

“although when you’re at the end of a

24-290mm, you need a little more

depth-of-field than that, maybe a T5.6

or T8,” Ackroyd adds.

The face-off between Marcius

and Aufidius was shot in a damaged

wing of the Hotel Yugoslavia. “These

two figures emerge like ghosts from the

mist,” says Fiennes, who describes this

scene as one of the more theatrical

moments in the film. “The film has two

sides — it bursts into movement in the

battle zones, and then there are the

more formal confrontations.”

Ackroyd made sure to keep the

cameras from getting between the two

soldiers as they grappled for domination.

“The camerawork is all from what

I call ‘outside the circle,’” he says. “You’re

an observer, always over someone’s

shoulder. Rarely is there a clean single of

anyone.”

Because the cameras were seeing

in all directions, key lights were difficult


◗ Lord of War

Top: Marcius is

persuaded to run

for political office

by Roman

senator

Menenius (Brian

Cox, second from

left). Bottom: 1st

AC Oliver Driscoll

assists as

Ackroyd frames a

shot for Fiennes.

to place in the location, so Ackroyd

keyed from two large mezzanine

windows with two 18Ks on a Genie

boom that were going through 1 ⁄4 CTS

and exterior silk curtains. As the light

changed outside, gaffer Harry Wiggins

maintained continuity indoors with

18K, 12K and 4K HMI Fresnels aimed

through 251 diffusion or skipped off the

floor, walls and ceiling — “never on the

actors,” he remarks. Ackroyd’s own

Tubo lights — 2' or 4' sections of PVC

pipe painted white inside and holding a

single Kino Flo — were used to simulate

the effect of bounced light and soft

key reflecting off a wall onto the

combatants’ weapons or soldiers in the

background.

When the Volscians retreat,

Marcius returns to Rome to great

acclaim and the new title of Coriolanus.

His family and colleagues fete the

triumphant warrior in the atrium of the

Roman Imperial Senate, a scene shot

in Belgrade’s House of National

Assembly.

A skylight at the peak of the

atrium’s dome provided little usable

natural light inside, so Ackroyd’s crew

floated a locally sourced, custom-built,

8.8K mixed-source (4K tungsten/4.8K

daylight) lighting balloon into the dome

to provide consistent ambient light

below. On a circular balcony above the

actors, four diffused 4K HMI Fresnels

pushed light in from a three-quarter

angle to wrap around the actors and

“give a bit of shape to what was otherwise

a difficult space,” says Ackroyd.

“We always started with 1 ⁄4 CTS

and 251 [diffusion]on the HMIs,” says

Wiggins. “If it was too much, rather

than messing around with scrims or

flags we’d put more diffusion up on

intermediate 4-by-4 frames. Once it’s

already that soft, adding an extra degree

of softness is a bonus.”

“I’ve never been able to light with

hard light,” notes Ackroyd. “I know it

can be done, but I tend to see the light


11

10

9

8 TES

7

12

6

1

5

2

4

3

TESSIVE

◗ Lord of War

After forging a truce with Tullus and turning the tide against Rome (top), Marcius resists

pleas of mercy from his wife (Jessica Chastain, middle) and mother (bottom).

as having traveled some distance. If you

describe the kind of place that’s ideal for

filming, it’s at the edge of a stage, in this

netherworld between the light and the

dark.”

If there is a netherworld in

Coriolanus, it might be the palatial

Georgian estate where Marcius rests his

head yet finds little comfort in the

company of his mother and wife.

Fiennes recalls the scene in which

Coriolanus’ wife, Virgilia (Jessica

Chastain), comes into their bedroom

and lies down next to him: “That was

one shot I knew that I wanted, a sort of

effigy-like figure of Coriolanus in the

foreground and Virgilia entering from

the shadows.” Ackroyd took the idea a

step further, using Fiennes’ profile to

bisect Chastain’s look to camera at the

end of the shot.

Chastain’s approach to the bed

was lit with paper China balls hidden

on the floor behind the bed and one

hanging at camera left. “We then felt it

would be a good idea — and I remember

Ralph sort of raising his eyebrows at

this — to boom a Dedo over the bed

and put a hot spot on the pillow just

behind his head. You didn’t see what it

was doing until Jessica laid down next to

him. It just brought a beautiful glow to

her face.”

Meanwhile, in a network of catacombs

beneath Antium, Aufidius plots

his next move against Rome. “I told

Barry, ‘It has to be Caravaggio,’”

Fiennes says of the setting.

The catacomb scenes were filmed

beneath the citadel in Belgrade’s

Kalemegdan Park. Production designer

Ricky Eyres lined the catacomb arches

with low-output Photofloods hidden

behind metal shades, providing pools of

light for the actors to walk through.

Firelight from off-camera braziers and

Ackroyd’s fluorescent Tubos provided

most of the rest of the lighting.

After Coriolanus is expelled from

Rome and joins Aufidius’ army, the

Volscians become emboldened and

move aboveground. The filmmakers

staged these day and night exteriors on

the grounds of an old factory on the


◗ Lord of War

Fiennes blocks out a shot with B-camera/Steadicam operator Svetomir Pajic-Kivi

and Ackroyd (right). Standing at left is script supervisor Susanna Lenton.

outskirts of Belgrade. Firelight keyed

the night scenes. “We had a couple of

real ragers burning,” recalls Ackroyd.

“We used some tricks to push the

light from the bonfire further into the

shot,” says Wiggins. “We built timberwood

boxes with six 300-watt Par 36

bulbs inside, going back to a desk

control for the fire effect. Each bulb was

on a channel, and they were coming

through Full CTO and 251 diffusion.”

(For some scenes, a tungsten 12K on a

Genie boom provided an easily

adjustable overhead backlight.)

For day scenes in the factory, the

8.8K lighting balloon was floated into

the open ceiling and wrangled with

wires from the upper floor. 4K and 6K

HMIs supplied soft backlight at ground

level, and a 4x4 Kino Flo was used for

fill.

Just as Coriolanus and Aufidius

are about to descend on Rome,

Coriolanus’ mother, wife and son arrive

to plead with him to reconsider.

Volumnia kneels before her son and

begs him to make peace with the

Romans.

The dialogue-heavy scene took

two days to capture, with the two

cameras cross-shooting Chastain,

Redgrave and Fiennes much of the

time. The second day was dedicated

72

almost entirely to Redgrave’s monologue,

and Ackroyd moved the cameras

to parallel positions, with the 24-

290mm Optimos in a portrait-friendly

80-200mm range. “When you live with

these lenses and get to know them as

well as I do, [choosing focal lengths]

isn’t always a conscious decision,” says

the cinematographer. “It’s just a feeling

that [a given focal length] is what’s

necessary to tell the story.”

“That was one of the hardest

scenes to direct,” says Fiennes. “I had to

be building up for my own breakdown

at the end of the scene, so I had to

completely hand over my trust to Barry.

I wanted to start the scene farther back

and then get close into the actors’ faces.

You need to see the face, the eyes.

There’s something powerful running

through Vanessa in that moment.”

Ackroyd agrees. “Vanessa, like all

great actors, gave everything to the

scene and to the other actors, making

the shooting easy. She never left the set

until we’d finished. That kind of spirit in

your film is added value that no

producer, director or cinematographer

can provide.”

By the time Ackroyd arrived at

LipSync Post in London to begin the

digital grade with colorist Stuart Fyvie,

he felt most of the color work had

already been accomplished. “The real

coloring comes into play when you’re

designing the film,” he observes. “It’s in

the locations, the costumes and the

makeup. I still like to create films in the

camera. The most important work you

do in post is matching skin tones,

throwing things into light and shade

and covering up your mistakes.”

“Barry’s honesty is one of the brilliant

things about him,” Fiennes reports.

“He doesn’t ever come up with a

contrived or a decorative thing — ever.”

“The thing I hope for Coriolanus

is that every shot and every edit works

together for the right reason,” says

Ackroyd. “We didn’t do anything

special, technically speaking. What’s

special is being able to show your

emotional side. It isn’t about getting lost

in the lighting or the camerawork; it’s

about telling stories.”

●

2.40:1

TECHNICAL SPECS

2-perf Super 35mm

Aaton Penelope

Angenieux Optimo

Fujifilm Eterna 250D 8563,

500T 8573


73

Go

Flow

AC’s

withthe

technical editor surveys

evolving digital workflows and

some of the challenges they pose.

By Christopher Probst

•|•

Workflows have existed in some form since the birth of

cinema itself, but today, as digital-imaging techniques

become more and more prevalent, the very concept of

a “workflow” can be difficult to define. In practice, a

digital workflow truly begins the moment a manufacturer lays

down a set of specifications for a digital camera system. Those

choices affect the quality of the outputted image, establish its

recorded format (tape or a file-based alternative) and have a

major impact on post pathways.

Once specs are established, the workflow branches out

in both physical and theoretical directions. On the physical

side, data-handling protocols must be established for hardware

and software usage both on and off the set. One must

also properly address issues related to color space, transforms

and the file-format containers in which image data is stored,

converted and used to communicate with different platforms

and devices.

Each step on this path is slippery enough to cause

stumbles, either through human error or through the loss of

information as image data is transferred and/or translated.

Pitfalls can include errors or limitations introduced during

image acquisition; mishandling of the physical data itself;

problems involving the integration, manipulation/processing

and delivery of the digital imagery during post; and, finally,

complications related to digital exhibition.

To define the concept of a digital-image workflow, we

should begin by breaking down and analyzing the entire

image-making chain.

When film was the prevailing capture medium, on-set

protocols were established for handling the camera negative

and safely conveying it to the lab. The lab, in turn, had its own

set of procedures for creating dailies off the developed negative

and preparing those original elements for final assembly

and printing. Further steps were established for editorial,

sound syncing and so on.

In today’s industry, which finds digital-imaging tools

introduced and supplanted with head-spinning frequency,

workflows are evolving in new ways and at breakneck speeds.

“Post is no longer a ‘place,’ it’s a state of mind,” states Michael

Cioni, founder and CEO of Light Iron, a post facility that

targets productions with file-based workflows. “As soon as you

pull the card out of the camera, post has started, even though

you’re still on set. On [the upcoming feature] The Amazing

Spider-Man, all of the data backup, sound syncing, Avid

dailies and color-corrected dailies — in other words, the

footage that would be sent out to the studio executives and all

the filmmakers — was created without a brick-and-mortar

post house. On a movie that large, that’s a profound thing.”

The creative potential of emerging digital technologies

is vast, but the importance of handling data correctly on set is

often overlooked. Brook Willard, a digital-imaging technician

whose credits include The Muppets (AC Dec. ’11), The

Amazing Spider-Man and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby,

says, “My biggest pet peeve regarding on-set data handling is

the cavalier attitude people have about it. With film, we hand

the negative over to the lowest-paid member of the camera

department. With digital data, it’s even scarier. Everybody has

a computer, and everybody has copied files to a hard drive


This graph by Los

Angeles post

facility Light Iron,

which specializes

in file-based

workflows,

predicts that such

workflows will

eclipse all others

by 2015.

Diagram courtesy of Michael Cioni.

before, so handling data seems even

easier than handling film. Many people

assume [the task] can therefore be

handed down to the least-experienced

person on set.”

The data on a memory card or

tape that is removed from the camera is

extremely vulnerable until it is retrieved,

backed up and verified. The efforts of

the entire production team are held

within this small digital package of ones

and zeroes, so it’s vital to establish a

structured hierarchy for the handling of

shot media. “Describing on-set data

management as ‘copying data’ is sort of

like describing cinematography as

‘pointing a camera’ — it just doesn’t tell

the whole story,” Willard observes. “A

proper on-set digital workflow requires

an experienced individual. The time,

money and sanity saved by hiring an A-

list team will be worth a hundred times

more than what it costs.”

Many methods and devices are

used to store, back up and transport onset

data, and given the serpentine path

any particular workflow can take, it is

crucial to establish a clear set of checks

and balances to safeguard your “digital

negative.” In addition to verifying the

data copies (by performing checksums

on copied data across several duplicate

drives), one must create a procedure for

methodically rotating media cards,

shuttle drives and archive masters both

on set and when transporting materials

to and from post houses.

“Have you ever seen someone

sitting on set with 20 fire-wire drives

of different sizes all daisy-chained

“Describing on-set

data management

as ‘copying data’

just doesn’t tell the

whole story.”

together?” asks Cioni. “Well, for some

people, that’s a workflow.

“The first mistake many productions

make is deciding not to spend the

money on the workflow up front,” he

continues. “People are reluctant to spend

money on something they don’t understand,

and that’s logical. But trying to

save money on your workflow and

slowly trickle it out as you go actually

creates bumps in the road. You need to

decide up front that you will get the

right type of drives and the right

number of drives, not to mention the

right amount of recording media, like

solid-state cards. Clients often ask me,

‘Will five or six cards do the trick?’ And

I ask, ‘For what, the morning? Because

ideally, we’d like to hold onto cards that

are storing footage for at least 72

hours!’”

The next hurdle in a digital workflow

is preparing the media for its move

to the editorial and post teams. Many of

today’s high-end digital motion-picture

camera systems shoot to their own

proprietary file formats that don’t

directly allow for editing in systems such

as Avid and Final Cut Pro. Therefore, it

is often necessary to transcode the

footage into a format that is compatible

with the post house’s chosen editorial

equipment.

Several possible workflow paths

can be introduced through this process,

and each has potential pitfalls that can

impact the image. Does the production

want to use the transcodedfiles for

offline purposes only, similar to a work

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 75

◗ Go with the Flow

This illustrates two sample workflows that are possible when image capture is accomplished

with the Arri Alexa.

print? Or do they wish to have the

transcodes provide files that can be

edited and also used to create the online,

much like taking color-corrected dailies

back into a telecine for a final tape-totape

process?

The latter option presents a red

flag in terms of the effect it can have on

the quality of the image. Mike Most, a

senior colorist at post facility Next

Element, explains, “For many, the word

‘digital’ is completely misunderstood. It

can be nearly impossible to convince

some producers that there is a difference

between this digital format and that

one.

“A good example of this can be

seen on many productions shooting on

Alexa cameras and recording to the

ProRes 4:4:4 codec, which is a

compressed format to begin with,”

continues Most. “As far as producers are

concerned, they are shooting on ‘digital,’

so it’s all the same, but the problem is

that they will then take that ProRes

4:4:4, convert it to DNxHD 115 — a

mid-range Avid codec — and bring it

into an Avid Media Composer. Then

they cut the show and output that as

their color-correction master. In the

“It can be nearly

impossible to

convince some

producers that there

is a difference

between this digital

format and that one.”

process, they’re losing a lot of quality

because they are subjecting [the

footage] to two separate compressions

and leaving it in a mid-level data-rate

codec. The cinematographer on the

show may value the difference between

shooting 4:2:2 or 4:4:4, but, whether he

knows it or not, his footage isn’t being

handled properly.”

Even when the transcoded material

is used only for offline editing and

the original full-range camera files are

used for the final color grade, workflow

hazards might lurk around the corner. I

recently experienced one of these on an

Old Navy commercial I shot with Red

Epic cameras.

The Epic’s Mysterium-X sensor

has a native aspect ratio sized to the

DCI standard of 1.89:1. Filming for a

TV commercial, we set the in-camera

framing guides for 16x9 (1.78:1), which

represents a slight crop of the sides from

the full sensor size. Transcodes were

performed on set and cropped in

RedCineX to our desired aspect ratio.

After editing was completed, the original

raw .r3d files were conformed at the

post house for final color correction.

Many contemporary color correctors

are able to work directly with the

raw .r3d files by utilizing a RedRocket

card internally to help process and realtime

deBayer the Redcode source material.

However, in order to crop the

1.89:1 material to the 1.78:1 aspect

ratio, a software checkbox must be

selected for either “Fit to Width” or “Fit

to Height.” “Fit to Width” uses the

entire width of the recorded frame and

leaves a slight letterbox on the top and

bottom of the frame. “Fit to Height”

uses all of the height information and

then crops the image at the 1.78:1

aspect ratio of the HD delivery spec.

Erroneously, the post housechose

“Fit to Width,” but the client found the

resultant letterboxing unacceptable. The

post team then attempted to remedy the

situation by pushing in on the final HD

image to fill the height of the 16x9

frame, but this made the footage lose

sharpness, which further dismayed the

client. At this point, the producer called

me to ask why our commercial looked

“soft.” After determining where the

problem began, we had the post house

go back to the original files and lay

Diagram by Christopher Probst.



The author used

this workflow on

the 2012

Lionsgate feature

release Fire with

Fire, shot with the

Red Epic. Tunnel

Post in Santa

Monica will

handle the digital

mastering.

down that material again, this time in

the proper aspect ratio.

“That’s a perfect example of a job

where everything goes right, and then a

simple 1.89-to-1.78 conversion is

missed and the whole workflow is

compromised,” notes Cioni. “It wasn’t

the file format or color corrector that

created the problem; it was the nature of

change that created the problem. We

are all engaging in completely new

acquisition formats, and now, with filebased

systems, this generation of film

professionals is tackling the steepest

learning curve they’ve ever confronted.”

“Every time you get that type of

phone call, you can spend two days

doing detective work trying to figure

out what happened,” observes Jeff

Heusser, a digital-effects supervisor at

Digital Domain and cofounder of

fxguide.com. “I recently spent several

days dealing with a problem on a 3-D

project, trying to sync up two cameras

that had time codes that wouldn’t

match. Eventually I looked at the metadata

and found that the two cameras [in

the stereo rig] were running completely

different firmware! I’d never have

thought we’d have to specify to crews

that both cameras shooting on a 3-D

rig must have the same firmware.”

The difficulty in moving to filebased

cameras and workflows is exacerbated

by the fact that many companies

“This generation of

film professionals is

tackling the

steepest learning

curve they’ve ever

confronted.”

are trying to introduce this new workflow

into existing systems and methodologies.

“One of the biggest workflow

mistakes is that people attempt to force

material through a pre-existing

pipeline,” says Willard. “I’ve seen

numerous productions get into major

trouble by, for example, jamming Red

.r3d files through their ‘proven’ workflow

rather than embracing the camera for

what it is. You can get .r3d files through

any workflow you want, but you can do

a lot of things in life that are not recommended.

When all you’ve got is a

hammer, everything begins to look like a

nail, and when all you’ve got is an

HDCam-SR deck, your .r3d workflow

is going to be compromised.

“That’s not to say a tape workflow

is the enemy,” he adds. “It’s just an

outdated solution to an outdated problem.

There is always a ‘best’ workflow for

a given project based on the required

speed of turnaround and deliverables. If

you want to shoot on camera X, watch

dailies in format Y and deliver files to

everybody in format Z, there’s a line that

connects those dots. The addition of

specialized hardware or software breaks

that line by forcing a detourfor the sake

of the workflow rather than for the sake

of the result.”

For post facilities, transitioning to

file-based workflows requires not only a

change in thinking, but also considerable

financial investment. “Because I

work in post, I can honestly blame the

Diagram by Christopher Probst.



This diagram shows how the Image Interchange Framework-Academy Color Encoding Specification,

better known as IIF-ACES, functions with three different capture devices.

struggle to move toward file-based

workflows on the post houses themselves,”

Cioni declares. “It’s not that the

crews on set are resistant to it, or that

the cinematographers can’t get a goodlooking

image out of it. In fact, workflow

problems usually do not occur on

set, but in post. It’s the post house that

is slow to upgrade and change. For some

facilities, getting a file-based workflow

[going] is like sucking a golf ball

through a garden hose, but they will

throw time, manpower and horsepower

at a problem, and if they apply enough

suction, they will get that golf ball all of

the way through. Or, instead, they could

just invest in a separate pipeline right

next to that one that is twice as wide!”

Restructuring an entire post

house’s pipeline can be a massive undertaking,

especially if that pipeline is based

on legacy standards. “For a digitally

captured production to look its best, and

to get the most out of the camera, an

all-digital path is the best way to go,”

says Most. “If you believe film is the

only acceptable aesthetic, or the most

desirable one, then you should try to

find a way to shoot film. Manipulating

digitally captured images in a rather

destructive way in order to make them

look ‘not digital’ is, to my mind, counterproductive.

The advantage to all of

these digital formats only really materializes

if you hand that file over to the

final colorist, and in many cases, that

just isn’t happening.”

In an effort to ingest all the various

formats, resolutions, codecs and bit

depths, many post facilities have engineered

their own solutions for their

particular hardware/software pipelines.

“Secret sauces are

not helping the

workflow situation.”

In fact, many use this “secret sauce” to

promote their services. “Secret sauces

are not helping the workflow situation,”

says Cioni. “I’ll admit that there are

things I don’t know about post, but I

have not been able to find anything in

what we do that I wouldn’t share with

someone else. I find that if you share

information with your clients, they are

more likely to come back to you.”

A discussion of workflow can

quickly get bogged down in technical

terms such as color space, color gamut,

linear, log, bit depth and so on, but these

image parameters play a crucial role in

the quality of the images they display. It

is vital to understand that different

devices and post steps “speak” in different

color-space languages, and that in

order to move an image through a

specific workflow, it is often necessary

to transform the image from one color

space to another.

In fact, transforms can occur at

almost every step in the post process.

The original camera files, for example,

must be ingested into a color-corrector

platform in order for the images to be

graded. If you’re shooting on an Alexa

in Log C to ProRes files, for instance,

you must choose what color space to

perform your color corrections in, such

as Rec 709 for HD broadcast or Blu-ray

finish, or the DCI P3 standard for

theatrical exhibition. Either way, a

transform occurs.

The process of transforming an

image can significantly impact the

results. Cioni explains, “When you

transform from one color space into

another, the result cannot be exactly the

same. The only way for it to be exactly

the same is for it to be in the same color

space. So when doing a transform, there

has to be some percentage of change. If

it’s less than 1 percent, it’s probably not

an issue, and if it’s less than 1 percent in

the highlights, that’s even less of an

issue.

“For example,” he continues, “if I

showed you a series of pictures and said

the difference between them is that one

has white at 100 percent, one has white

at 95 percent, and the final image has

white at 90 percent, you probably

wouldn’t see much of a difference. But if

I were to show you images with black at

zero, black at 5 percent and black at 10

percent, you’d probably be throwing up

by the time we got to 10. It’s the same

amount of variation, but where you put

[that variation] changes the perception

of what you see. When transforming

between color spaces, you want to make

sure that the transforms upset areas in

the image that are the least detectable.”

A loss of image quality can occur

when transforming imagery captured

by a modern digital-cinema camera,

Diagram courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.


TM

Gem n 4:4:4

Award Winning Uncompressed Recorder!

-4:2:2/4:4:4 RGB S-Log 10-Bit

-Supports both Full Uncompressed and

your favorite Compressed Workflows

-Low Power, Weight, Size, Cost

-$5995 with transfer-station,

hard case

3D (Option) and/or ARRIRAW (Planned) Support via paid upgrades

www.convergent-design.com www.gemini444.com ++720-221-3861 ++803-278-0941


This illustrates how the ACES color space encompasses and exceeds the capabilities of

current camera and display devices.

“ACES is the

ultimate way to

future-proof your

‘digital negative.’”

because many of these cameras can now

supply dynamic ranges and color

gamuts that far exceed the specs of

established format standards such as

Cineon’s 10-bit log DPX and the HD

standard, Rec 709. “You need a format

that has a deep enough bit depth to hold

the equivalent information without gaps

in it,” explains Most. “The critical aspect

of this is that when the image is

processed, as with color correction, the

color space you’re transforming to has a

deeper bit depth than your source.

That’s why most color correctors work

at 32-bit, 64-bit, full float and so on.

“Bit depth has more to do with

accuracy: the more bits you have, the

more sample levels you have,” he

continues. “And the more sample levels

you have, the less steppiness you have

between what those levels represent. We

live in an analog world, and analog, for

all practical purposes, has infinite bit

depth. Digital is always a representation

of something that’s analog, so when we

digitize something, we have to choose

how much [information] we’re going to

throw away and what in-between levels

are not going to be available. For example,

if you digitize a curve, the lower the

sampling rate, the steppier the resulting

curve will be. With an infinite sampling

rate, you end up with an analog curve

again.”

“One way to think about transforms

is to imagine that you have a color

space with only three points — let’s say

red, green and blue,” says Cioni. “When

you transform an image into that color

space, all the colors apart from red, green

and blue can wiggle around quite a bit

because we didn’t give specific directions

for the placement of those colors. The

idea with a good transform is to have

more vertices of precision than your

source material so that when you transform

into it, you can plot the color information

with a more accurate placement

in the new gamut. A good transform has

more precision for where it places

magenta or fuchsia, for example; those

colors hover around similar locations. If

you have a value for red and blue, you

might get purple correct, but what about

magenta or fuchsia? Those colors are in

between those [basic] values, and that’s

what a good transform has to take into

consideration.”

With many post facilities creating

custom workflows, exchanging material

between companies can be problematic.

One company might use one color

space, while another facility uses a

different one. Having to transform shots

back and forth between these dissimilar

workflows can have a detrimental effect

on the image. To address this, the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and

Sciences Science & Technology Council

has been developing a new set of workflow

standards, the Image Interchange

Framework. The IIF and its proposed

color space, the Academy Color

Encoding Specification, have been

detailed in AC before, most recently in

March ’11 and April ’11.

“None of today’s digital cameras,

or even scanned 35mm negative, can be

looked at independently from its workflow

specs, and the most critical part of

a workflow spec is how various colorspace

transforms affect your image’s

dynamic range and color gamut,” says

Curtis Clark, ASC, chairman of the

ASC Technology Committee and a

participant in the development of the

IIF. “IIF-ACES is the first system to

address this challenge. ACES is a starting-point

color-space environment

where everything plays on an equal footing.

There are no ambiguities in the way

we get to ACES from whatever the

original capture device created, because

ACES is a color space that is much

broader than the capabilities of any

current camera or display device. It

doesn’t clip or restrict the attributes of

Diagram courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.


•|• New IIF-ACES Workflow in Action •|•

Last year the FX series

Justified became the

first episodic TV show to

test the Academy’s IIF-

ACES workflow, which it

did using Sony cameras,

and since then post facility

Encore has begun using

the process on shows that

use different capture

media, among them

35mm film, the Arri Alexa

and the Red Epic.

Encore senior colorist Pankaj

Bajpai reports that IIF-ACES is being

used to color correct/finish Hung and

Enlightened, which are shot on 35mm;

Chicago Code and How to Make it in

America, which are shot with the Alexa

(using SxS cards to record to the ProRes

4:4:4 codec); and the new season of

Justified, which is shot on Red’s Epic.

“The image characteristics yielded by all

these different digital sensors are unique

to each camera, just as the image characteristics

of the various film negatives

are unique, but once you have the proper

input-device transform for each camera,

the reference-rendering transforms and

output-device transforms remain the

same within the IIF system, regardless

of the camera used,” explains Bajpai.

“Is there a difference between the

look of Epic images and Sony F35

images? Absolutely, ” he continues. “Is

one better than the other? That’s an

aesthetic question. However, in terms of

supporting the full range of what each

sensor or film stock can capture, IIF-

ACES has proven to be very simple to

work with. It brings all of that information

into a common workspace. With

the color correction, our job is to respect

the uniqueness of these cameras and the

cinematographers’ intentions for shooting

with them.”

For the HBO series Hung, shot

by Uta Briesewitz, Encore scans 3-perf

Super 35mmnegative on a 4K Spirit

and saves the data as 1920x1080 10-bit

uncompressed DPX files. “We then use

Pankaj Bajpai

the IDT for film negative

that the Academy has

provided to bring that

material into ACES,” says

Bajpai. “It’s amazing how

well a 10-bit DPX scan

falls into place with it.

[Once in ACES space,] we

can color correct it using

the same RRTs and ODTs

as we would on a digitally

captured show.

“In the past,” he continues, “TV

shows would do a telecine transfer from

film to some form of video, such as

DigiBeta, D1 or HDCam, but you

could never really record the full range

of what was on the negative. Even in

HD, you were limited by the Rec 709

gamut. There were ways you could try to

flatten the image and retain more detail,

but there wasn’t anything like 10-bit

DPX uncompressed data.

“ACES really captures all of the

characteristic curves and the way that

film behaves, with very meaty midtones,

gorgeous blacks that don’t have

the sort of blue noise you sometimes get

with film scans, and creamy, subtle

highlights. On Hung, even with areas of

underexposure in dark scenes, we can

maintain detail while making the blacks

rich.”

The new season of Justified, shot

by Francis Kenny, ASC,is being

captured with Red’s Epic, which offers

5K Bayer-sensor resolution and framerate

versatility. (It allows up to 96 fps in

full-frame 5K.) For that show, says

Bajpai, “we’re working from the raw

.r3d files and have an IDT that’s

designed to maintain the integrity of the

native full dynamic range of those files.

Of course, at some point the .r3d files

have to be deBayered, and we are

deBayering them in such a way that our

color-science maps out. The ACES

workflow is working very well. We’re

getting very good blacks, lots of detail in

the highlights, and really meaty midtones.”

— Christopher Probst


what was there in the original image. It’s

the ultimate way to future-proof your

‘digital negative.’”

To understand how IIF-ACES

works, it’s necessary to distinguish

between linear and log encoding. Linear

encoding is often confused with video

gamma, which is sometimes called

linear video. The linear encoding we are

discussing is scene linear, which represents

images that have a linear relationship

between the captured RGB values

and the physical light luminosities of

the original scene. Logarithmic encoding,

on the other hand, encodes images

with a non-linear relationship to the

scene’s physical light intensities,

mapping the scene’s dynamic-range

information within a smaller number of

bits. Its values, therefore, do not increase

in tandem with the physical light levels

present in the taking scene. It is important

to realize that although film densities

have a logarithmic relationship to

the scene, not all logarithmic encodings

encode the images as film would have.

Many of today’s popular digitalcinema

cameras utilize log encoding as

part of their recording schemes. Arri’s

Alexa can incorporate Log C encoding

with its ProRes recording option, and

Sony’s F35 and SRW9000PL employ

the company’s S-Log format. On the

linear side of the coin, several camera

systems offer raw linear data capture,

including Red’s One, Scarlet and Epic,

the Alexa (when using third-party

onboard recorders to capture ArriRaw

data) and Sony’s F65. In order to

capture the full capabilities of these

cameras, the IIF uses custom inputdevice

transforms, or IDTs, to ingest the

maximum information from the original

data into the ACES color space.

“Most of the IDTs are created by

looking at the spectral sensitivities of the

sensor on a given camera,” Clark

explains. “The Academy has analyzed

that data and very carefully devised a

matrix for each camera — assuming, of

course, that the camera manufacturer

allowed them to go that deep into their

specs. If not, then the onus is on the

manufacturer to provide the matrix that

Photo courtesy of Encore.


does the transform accurately from its

camera’s output into ACES RGB

values. That doesn’t have to entail going

all the way back to the spectral response

characteristics of the sensor, however; it

may be just a look-up table, if that’s the

way the manufacturer prefers to do it.”

Once in the ACES color space,

the full range of data captured from the

digital camera can then be adjusted

within a much larger bit-depth format,

which utilizes the OpenEXR container

originally developed by Industrial Light

& Magic for use in the visual-effects

arena.

“The image characteristic of a

digital camera and its sensor is unique

to each camera,” says Encore senior

colorist Pankaj Bajpai, who graded last

year’s IIF test-bed TV series, Justified.

“Each camera responds to the highlights

and shadows a little differently.

It’s analogous to how different film

stocks behave. Cinematographers can

test each camera the way they would a

film stock to learn how the blacks feel,

how the mid-tones register and so

forth, and then light the way they

always have, by eye or with a meter —

whatever method they’re comfortable

with. With ACES, when I have a scene

with a wide dynamic range, I don’t have

to chase certain areas with a power

window to bring the highlights down

the way I often had to before ACES.”

IDTs account for only one aspect

of the IIF-ACES workflow. Within

the IIF there are also transforms

for rendering (called the Reference

Rendering Transform, or RRT), transforms

specific to color-grading changes

applied to a rendered image in the

color corrector (Look Modification

Transforms, or LMTs), and transforms

that take into account the display device

used to view the output image (Output

Device Transforms, or ODTs). Clark

explains, “To make an analogy, if ACES

is your ‘negative,’ then the RRT, along

with color-grading LMTs, is your

‘print,’ the rendered negative that you

can view. You cannot make use of

ACES files independently of the RRT.

That’s also true of ODTs, which map


the rendered ACES information

[OCES, or Output Color Encoding

Space] to a specific display device.

“When you’re not in a DCIcompliant,

projection-standard, colorspace

environment, variations in

monitor calibration can dramatically

impact what you perceive in your

image,” continues Clark. “You initially

trust that the display reference is properly

calibrated and configured for the

appropriate color space, but you might

actually find that isn’t the case, and your

reference isn’t really a reference at all. In

that situation, you just don’t know

exactly what you’re looking at. It’s

imperative to ensure that the calibration

and color-space settings of the display

device being used are proper for whatever

distribution platform the project is

geared toward, whether digital cinema

or HDTV.”

“CRTs have been dying [in colorcorrection

suites] for several years now,”

notes Bajpai, “but even those do not

truly represent what will be seen on a

plasma or LCD screen today. The most

important aspect of a color-correction

environment is being able to predictably

set your viewing environment to a

“Even CRTs don’t

truly represent what

will be seen on a

plasma or LCD

screen today.”

specific set of specs so that when you’re

looking at white, it’s white, and when

you’re looking at black, it’s black. Even

with pro-grade plasma sets, it’s impossible

to match one with another when you

put them side-by-side.”

Having an output image transformed

to the specific, calibrated device

on which it will finally be displayed

seems like an obvious idea, but having a

working color space and workflow

process that can easily move between

any of the delivery formats, be it DCI

P3 for theatrical distribution or Rec 709

for HDTV, is a unique feature of the

IIF. Bajpai elaborates, “In the colorcorrection

suite, when you start with a

Rec 709 color space and try to colorcorrect

that image, you can actually see

how quickly you lose details. By

contrast, when you’re working from the

original logarithmic image with an IDT

into ACES color space, you can see how

much dynamic range you’re able to

maintain. With IIF-ACES, everything

just sort of falls into place, and you don’t

have to struggle to get the image to

balance out or retain detail.”

86

Once the post processing of the

imagery is complete, the final step in a

project’s workflow is generating the

final deliverables. Even at this last

step, outdated delivery specs or imagecompromised

workflows can derail an

otherwise solid workflow strategy. In

the TV realm, for example, many

broadcasters still require an HDCam

tape be provided for final delivery,

even if a show is entirely file-based

throughout production and post. “But

most of today’s shows don’t air off

tape; they air off servers!” Cioni notes.

“Productions might finish on some

sort of server system at a post house,

but they will then lay that file-based

show to tape, drop it into a FedEx

package and send it to Master

Control, where it will be digitized

onto a server and then aired. Tape has

become a way to mail things, and

that’s it.”

Some TV productions have

already adopted an entirely file-based

workflow and delivery. “[Producer]

Dean Devlin is a great example of a

pioneer in file-based delivery,” says

Cioni. “Leverage is now in its fourth

season, and they shoot on Red

“Tape has

become a way to

mail things, and

that’s it.”

cameras and finish it all in QuickTime

files. When it airs on TNT, it’s airing

from a file.”

Bajpai adds, “After Sony ran out

of HDCam-SR tapes [during the

Fukushima nuclear disaster], we

started to see more and more filebased

delivery. People are taking baby

steps right now, and there is a lot of

discussion about what the final format

should be. But once you finish, especially

if you use ACES, you can walk

out of here with [your project in]

almost any [format] you want.”

For cinematographers, trying to

stay abreast of current technologies

requires a much broader understanding

of workflows than ever before. But just

as the film-based workflow settled into

a relatively controlled set of standards,

so, too, will digital workflows, especially

as manufacturers come to terms with

file-based systems and initiatives such as

IIF-ACES simplify the challenges. ●

87

New Products & Services

• SUBMISSION INFORMATION •

Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to:

newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact

information and product images. Photos must be

TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.

Canon Unveils

Cinema EOS

Signaling the company’s

commitment to professional

motion-picture production,

Canon has unveiled the

Cinema EOS C300, an

interchangeable-lens digital

cinema camera that

combines exceptional imaging

performance with

outstanding mobility and

expandability. The camera

will be available in two models: the EOS C300 EF, equipped with an

EF lens mount for compatibility with Canon’s diverse line of interchangeable

EF and EF Cinema lenses; and the EOS C300 PL, with a

PL lens mount for use with industry-standard PL lenses.

Both models feature a new Super 35mm-equivalent CMOS

sensor that incorporates approximately 8.29 million effective pixels,

with a pixel size that is larger than that of conventional professional

camcorders, thus enabling greater light-gathering capabilities for

enhanced sensitivity and reduced noise. The sensor reads full HD

(1920x1080) video signals for each of the three RGB primary colors,

decreasing the incidence of moiré, and 4:2:2 color sampling further

enables high-resolution performance.

Supported by a heightened signal read-out speed, the

CMOS sensor reduces rolling-shutter skews. Additionally, the

combination of the sensor with Canon’s high-performance Digic DV

III image processor facilitates high-precision gamma processing and

smooth gradation expression. The C300 also features the Canon

Log Gamma recording mode, which captures a “flat” looking

image with 12 stops of dynamic range for maximum flexibility in

post.

The camera’s video and audio recording file format adopts

the industry-standard Material Exchange Format, an open source

file format ideally suited for nonlinear editing systems. The C300

records to readily available CF cards and is equipped with two card

slots for simultaneous recording. The camera also offers 59.41i,

50.00i, 29.97P, 25.00P, 23.98P and 24.00p recording modes.

The C300 measures 5.2" wide by 7.0" high by 6.7" deep.

The camera can be outfitted with a handle, grip, thumb rest and

monitor unit. Additionally, it offers an array of industry-standard

terminals, including HD/SD-SDI video output for external recording.

When used in conjunction with Canon’s WFT-E6B wireless file transmitter

for EOS DSLRs, the C300 can also be controlled remotely via

a smart phone or tablet.

The camera is equipped with four start/stop buttons posi-

tioned at various locations to satisfy a variety of camera-holding

styles. The camera is also compatible with a host of third-party accessories,

including matteboxes, follow-focus systems and external

video and audio recorders.

Other features include fast- and slow-motion shooting with

frame rates adjustable between 1 and 60 fps in 1 fps increments.

Additionally, a selection of Custom Pictures enables users to adjust

the image quality for greater control over the look.

The EOS C300 EF is scheduled to be available this month,

while the C300 PL is slated for release in late March; both cameras

have a recommended price of $20,000.

For additional information, visit www.canon.com/cinemaeos.

Canon Debuts

EF Cinema Lenses

Supporting the release

of the Cinema EOS C300 digital

camera system, Canon has

introduced seven 4K EF

Cinema Lenses.

The lineup includes four zoom lenses (two each for EF and

PL mounts) covering a focal-length range from 14.5mm to

300mm, and three EF-mount prime lenses. All seven lenses are

capable of delivering exceptional 4K optical performance and

offer compatibility with the Super 35mm-equivalent image

format. The three prime lenses can also be used with cameras

equipped with 35mm full-frame sensors.

The four zoom lenses comprise the EF-mount CN-E14.5-

60mm T2.6 L S, the PL-mount CN-E14.5-60mm T2.6 L SP, the EFmount

CN-E30-300mm T2.95-3.7 L S and the PL-mount CN-E30-

300mm T2.95-3.7 L SP. Zoom, focus and iris markings are all

engraved on angled surfaces for improved readability from behind

the camera. With a focus rotation angle of approximately 300

degrees and a zoom rotation angle of approximately 160 degrees,

the lenses facilitate precise focusing performance while making

possible smooth and subtle zoom operation.

The prime lenses comprise the EF-mount CN-E24mm T1.5

L F, CN-E50mm T1.3 L F and CN-E85mm T1.3 L F. The primes and

the zooms all employ anomalous dispersion glass, which is effective

in eliminating chromatic aberration, and large-diameter

aspherical lenses, providing high-resolution imaging across the

frame. Each lens is equipped with a newly designed 11-blade

aperture diaphragm for soft, attractive blur characteristics.

For additional information, visit www.usa.canon.com.


Redrock Micro

Introduces UltraCage

Redrock Micro has introduced

UltraCage Blue accessories for the latest

generation of digital cinema cameras,

including Canon’s EOS C300.

Designed in partnership with Canon,

the UltraCage Blue ensures all buttons,

functions and doors on the C300 are

completely accessible, and the C300’s

handgrip can be removed and attached

without removing the cage. Furthermore,

the UltraCage mirrors the compact design

of the C300 to allow users to add critical

accessories without expanding the system’s

footprint.

“When Canon approached us to

create a cage that would ‘finish’ the C300

into a supremely functional production

camera, we wanted to do something more

than just create a square cage,” says James

Hurd, Redrock Micro’s chief revolutionary.

“We felt it was important to mirror the

C300’s compactness and beautiful lines

without increasing the camera’s footprint.

Customers want to retain the camera’s feel

and ergonomics, and add the support,

security and features of the UltraCage.”

Redrock Micro has also announced

the UltraCage Blue Universal, a version of

the UltraCage designed to work with an

array of digital camera systems from a

number of manufacturers, including Sony

and Panasonic. Both the UltraCage Blue

and UltraCage Blue Universal boast a

modular form factor that allows users to

quickly and easily switch from ultracompact

to full studio-style modes.

For additional information, visit

www.redrockmicro.com.

Hurlbut, Letus Develop

Master Cinema Series

Shane Hurlbut, ASC has partnered

with camera-accessories manufacturer

Letus Corp. to produce the Shane Hurlbut

89

Master Cinema Series, a line of products

designed to give DSLR cameras a professional

form factor.

Having worked with DSLR systems

for the past four years on an array of

projects, Hurlbut approached Letus owner

Hien Tu Le with a vision for an affordable

line of accessories. As a result of their collaboration,

Letus has prototyped and manufactured

16 individual components for the

Master Cinema Series. The complete system

allows users to effortlessly morph the

camera’s form factor between four specific

configurations: Studio Cam, Shoulder Cam,

Man Cam and Action Cam.


http://mastercinemaseries.com.

Birns & Sawyer Updates

Clamp-On Mattebox

Birns & Sawyer has released the MB-

114 clamp-on mattebox.

The company’s popular tray-less,

clamp-on mattebox was introduced more

than a decade ago with the MB-95, which

utilized 4x4 filters. Later, the MB-105

update used 4x5.65 filters. The latest

version, the MB-114, is available in either a

two-stage or three-stage version for 4x5.65

filters.

The MB-114 features a 114mm

clamp-on back and comes with four stepdown

rings to 110mm, 105mm, 95mm

and 80mm. The mattebox is compatible

with most professional cinema lenses.


www.birnsandsawyer.com.

Cooke Adds 135mm Lens

Cooke Optics has added a 135mm

lens to its 5/i Prime and Panchro lens sets.

The 135mm for the 5/i set boasts a

speed of T1.4 and the 5/i’s signature focus

ring, which illuminates when required. The

Panchro 135mm joins the smaller, lighterweight

lens set and has a speed of T2.8.

Both lenses are color-matched and calibrated

to all existing Cooke lenses and

feature built-in /i Technology, which

Paradise FX Supports 3-D

with Helios Rig

Paradise FX has introduced the

Helios 3-D stereo rig, whose wireless, selfcontained,

advanced design and operational

features support fast on-set deployment,

streamlined post and cost-effective

3-D production.

The Helios rig is suitable for all

types of un-tethered camerawork,

including handheld,

Steadicam and

studio applications.

Helios also features a

self-balancing design,

whereby interaxial

convergence controls

move out from the

center of the rig, preventing

a weight shift from affecting

Steadicam performance.

Helios can also be quickly

switched over from one shooting

configuration to another.

Helios is manufactured from rigid,

lightweight magnesium and aluminum

alloy. It is designed for use with Red Epic

cameras, with future support planned for

provides cinematographers, camera operators

and post teams with vital metadata,

including lens setting, focusing distance,

aperture, depth of field, hyperfocal distance

and focal length in both metric and imperial

measurements.


www.cookeoptics.com.

Arri Alexa M and Sony F3 cameras.

Paradise FX offers Helios with a range of

matched lens pairs, including Arri Ultra

Primes and Angenieux Compact Zooms.

Using Preston G4 wireless controls,

Helios’ interaxial range can be adjusted

from 0" to 2", and convergence can be

adjusted from 10" to infinity. The rig

measures 18.5"x18.5"x8.5", with a

mirror-box width of 15". Without

cameras or accessories, the

rig weighs 18

pounds.

Helios can

be deployed with

Paradise FX’s

Mercury metadata

capture system. Files, time codes,

associated lens and 3-D stereo

information, such as interaxial and

convergence metadata, can be

offloaded for post or visual effects.

Additionally, camera moves can be

played back on set in the same way as a

motion-control system.


www.paradisefx.com.


Lensbaby Packages

Movie Maker’s Kit

Lensbaby has introduced the Lensbaby

Movie Maker’s Kit, a complete

creative solution for filmmakers looking to

add unique effects to their footage incamera.

Conveniently packaged in a rugged

Pelican case, the Movie Maker’s Kit

contains two Lensbaby lenses for use on

PL-mount cameras: Muse PL with Double

Glass and Composer Pro PL with Sweet 35.

The Kit also includes one Composer Pro

with a Canon mount for use on Canon’s

line of DSLRs.

In addition to the lenses, the Movie

Maker’s Kit includes a wide range of interchangeable

optics and accessories

designed to provide the filmmaker with

limitless aesthetic and creative options at a

variety of focal lengths.

Filmmakers can achieve an array of

effects in-camera with the Movie Maker’s

Kit. The Sweet 35, Double Glass, Plastic

and Single Glass optics can be used to

create different quality selective-focus

effects, where one area of the image at a

given distance is in focus while other areas

at the same distance fall out of focus. The

Fisheye, Soft Focus and Pinhole/Zone plate

optics allow further in-camera creativity.

The Lensbaby Movie Maker’s Kit is

available for $2,900. For more information,

visit www.lensbaby.com.

Schneider Takes iPhone Pro

Schneider Optics has introduced

the iPro Lens System, designed to enable

professional-quality photographic and

video imagery on Apple’s iPhone 4 with

interchangeable wide-angle and fisheye

lenses.

The iPro Lens System features a

rugged iPhone case and wide-angle and

fisheye lenses that tuck neatly away in the

pocket-sized handle/lens case. The lenses

use a bayonet mount to securely fasten

onto the custom iPhone case. The case also

gives users the option of attaching the

handle on the left or right side of the

iPhone; the handle itself enables the phone

to be attached to a tripod.

Optimized for both still and video

images, the iPro Lens System includes two

precision-made, genuine Century lenses.

The wide-angle lens simply twists on and

increases the iPhone’s field of view by 35

percent with low distortion and edge-toedge

sharpness. For a super-wide, distorted

effect, the fisheye lens alters the field of

view by a dramatic 165-degrees.

iPro lens housings are precision

machined from aluminum alloy and

anodized for durability. The lens elements

are painstakingly ground and polished from

top-grade optical glass. To avoid flare, the

lenses feature multi-layer anti-reflection

coatings.

The iPro Lens System is available for

$199. For more information, visit

www.schneideroptics.com and www.ipro

lens.com.

➣

New:

Tristar Dolly

1

2

3

4

5

2

High - Low - Turnstile

Limit Programming

3-stage column

High - Low Platform

PANTHER

GmbH

Raiffeisenallee

3

82041

Oberhaching–Munich

Germany

T

+49.89.61

39 00 01

F

+49.89.61

31

00 0

contact@panther.tv

www.panther.tv

3

1

4

5

91

PAG Links Batteries

PAG, a British camera power and

lighting specialist, has introduced the

PAGlink, a linking-battery system for powering

a wide array of digital cameras.

PAGlink allows users to link multiples

of 96-watt-hour V-Mount Li-Ion batteries to

create super-high capacities and a high-load

capability of 12 amps. The batteries incorporate

heavy-duty contacts, which are engineered

for high-drain applications. Up to

eight packs can be linked.

“Camera people were telling us they

needed more power for their cameras and

accessories,” says Nigel Gardiner, PAG’s

sales director. “By linking the batteries, we

could keep the individual capacities below

100 watt hours for unrestricted shipping to

any location. We set out to achieve a system

that would enable more batteries to be

linked, and make more power available

from smarter, smaller and lighter units.”

PAGlink batteries create an intelligent

network that enables them to communicate

with each other and operate seamlessly

as one. This unique system allows

batteries to be charged as well as

discharged while linked. Charging can take

place on any V-Mount Li-Ion chargers, such

as the PAG Cube or an equivalent Sony

charger.

PAGlink batteries are available with

either a numeric LCD that displays remaining

camera run time (in hours and minutes)

and battery capacity (in amp hours or

percentage), or with an LED indicator for

capacity and run time. Additionally, the

PAGlink system reports the collective stateof-charge

information for display in the

camera viewfinder.


www.paguk.com.

Company 3 Offers DI Dictionary

Company 3, a subsidiary of Deluxe

Entertainment Services Group, has

compiled the DI Dictionary. The iPhone and

iPad app allows users to find definitions by

typing in specific words or scrolling through

a list of terms associated with the digitalintermediate

process.

The DI Dictionary is available for free

through the iTunes Store. For additional

information, visit www.company3.com.

KataData Calculates Runtime

Katabatic Digital, a New York-based

grading, finishing and visual-effects studio,

has released the KataData iPhone app. Kata-

Data is a storage and runtime calculator for

on-set, post and even non-technical positions.

KataData was built for filmmakers

and post artists, and it supports an extensive

list of cameras — such as

Red One, Red Epic, Phantom,

Arri Alexa and

Canon DSLRs — and

codecs — such as DPX,

Open EXR, DNxHD and

ProRes.

KataData’s ease of

use eliminates hours of

calculations and frustration.

Users simply enter

the amount of footage

they have by file size (MB,

GB or TB) and KataData

calculates the runtime or

Light Iron Launches Live Play

Post facility Light Iron has launched

its iPad-based Live Play mobile-dailies application

through Apple’s iTunes Store.

Live Play is an automated and interactive

playback system that enables users to

monitor metadata-rich files and simultaneously

review takes and add comments on

multiple iPads. Wireless, secure and

customizable, Live Play enables close collaboration

among the creative team on set, as

well as with visual-effects, editorial and

other post teams. Live Play’s toolset includes

instant HD playback, database creation and

metadata management.

Light Iron has used its Live Play

system with such clients as Columbia

Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Lakeshore

Entertainment, NBC Universal and Electric

Entertainment. “We now have clients who

rent multiple iPads so they can leave them in

different places to view their dailies,” says

Light Iron CEO Michael Cioni. “The

response has been overwhelming.”

Located in the Apps Store in iTunes,

Live Play can be downloaded for $34.99.

For additional information, visit www.light

iron.com.

storage. Multiple calculations can also be

entered and added.

“For today’s apps, an intuitive user

interface is a must-have, so we’ve built in

some cool features like swipe gestures to

convert units and time code,” says Emery

Wells, founder of Katabatic Digital. “For Red

camera users, it’s also easy to calculate

stereo and HDRx options. We’ll continue to

add more features based

on user feedback. If

market demand is there,

we’ll build it.”

KataData is available

now through the iTunes

App Store for $4.99. In

addition to the iPhone,

the app is also compatible

with the iPod and iPad

running iOS 4 or later.

For additional information,

visit www.kata

batic.tv/katadata.

New:

Twister Dolly

level

platform

towingpush

bar

The creative way

of rigging!

combiwheels

ready

to

use

rear, front or round steering

PANTHER

GmbH

Raiffeisenallee

3

82041


Germany

T

+49.89.61

39 00 01

F

+49.89.61

31

00 0

contact@panther.tv

www.panther.tv

93

Sony Upgrades Vegas Pro

Sony Creative Software has introduced

Vegas Pro 11, the latest upgrade to

the company’s nonlinear editing software.

Vegas Pro 11 adds significant performance

improvements courtesy of OpenCL and

highly optimized GPU hardware acceleration

for video processing and rendering.

Other new features include Nvidia 3D Vision

support for single-display 3-D computers

such as the Vaio F Series 3-D laptops and L

Series 3-D desktops, an enhanced video

stabilizer tool, and new software tools for

creating animated titles.

“Sony continues to be a leader in

developing professional content-creation

applications that are extremely powerful,

yet easy to use,” says Dave Chaimson, vice

president of global marketing for Sony

Creative Software. “With the addition of

GPU acceleration, Vegas Pro 11 streamlines

the video-editing experience by providing

smoother previews and faster rendering

times, ideal for industry professionals who

work on tight deadlines where every second

counts.”

Vegas Pro 11 adds native format

support for stereoscopic 3-D MVC and

MPO files from Sony camcorders and

DSLRs. Other natively supported codecs and

formats include XDCam, XDCam EX,

HDCam-SR, NXCam, AVCHD, AVCCam,

Red .r3d, Red Epic, and AVC-based .mov

and raw files from popular DSLR cameras.

Native P2 support is also available with an

optional plug-in. Vegas Pro 11 also offers

users the option to render to the AVC/MP4

file format, which includes progressive file

download support for streaming purposes.

Vegas Pro 11 easily handles complex

projects with multiple formats and mixed

resolutions, from standard definition to 4K.

Vegas Pro 11 is available now for a

suggested price of $699. For additional

information, visit www.sonycreativesoft

ware.com.

Avid Releases 64-bit Media

Composer, NewsCutter,

Symphony versions

Avid has introduced Media

Composer version 6, NewsCutter version

10 and Symphony version 6. The updated

editing systems boasts new levels of openness,

performance, collaboration and

productivity, enabling users to complete

their work faster, work together more effectively

and reduce costs through greater

productivity.

With these new versions, Media

Composer, Symphony and NewsCutter

have all been rebuilt from the core on an

entirely new, open, 64-bit architecture. Avid

has also introduced a sleek new user interface

designed to speed workflows while

simultaneously preserving the same functionality

users have come to expect.

“Time and creativity [are] money for

our customers, and they are looking for

solutions that can help them continue to

advance the art of creative storytelling without

adding technological complexity,” says

Chris Gahagan, senior vice president of

products and solutions at Avid. “As we

debut the most open, accessible and highest-performance

versions of Media

Composer, Symphony and NewsCutter ever,

we are thrilled to take a significant leap

forward in providing our customers with

new industry standards in speed, ease and

access that can help them do their jobs

more effectively.”

Avid’s new Open I/O enables support

for popular video and audio cards from AJA

Video Systems, Blackmagic Design, Bluefish444,

Matrox and Motu, allowing users

to leverage existing hardware investments

and easily add the Avid systems into their

current workflow configurations. Users can

also maintain a familiar and trusted editorial

process with new 3-D stereoscopic workflows

as well as a deep toolset, with title and

conversion control. Editors can also easily

export metadata into Avid or other thirdparty

finishing systems for grading and

high-end effects.

The Avid DNxHD 444 high-quality

HD codec allows users to preserve full color

information from HD RGB 4:4:4 sources

without compromising system performance

or storage. Avid DNxHD 444 can help significantly

enhance real-time HD production

productivity with the highest color detail

possible.

The updated systems eliminate

timely transcode, re-wrap, and log and

transfer processes through expanded Avid

Media Access, which now offers native

support for AVCHD and Red Epic as well as

the ability to encode Apple ProRes (on Mac

OS-based systems only). The systems also

support the Avid Artist Color control

surface, offering greater power and flexibility

in high-performance color correction.


www.avid.com.

Tiffen Digital Filters Go 64 bit

The Tiffen Co. has announced that

its Tiffen Dfx v3 digital filter suite is now

compatible with Avid 64-bit systems. In

addition to 64-bit support, the updated Dfx

v3 plug-in features enhanced filter control

and adds support for 16 Sony camera

models.

“We are always looking for ways to

enrich the Tiffen Dfx capabilities, whether it

is qualifying new editing system releases

such as Avid’s 64 bit, or expanding our

already comprehensive list of cameras we

support,” says ASC associate Steve Tiffen,

president and CEO of The Tiffen Company.

“Our customers can count on Tiffen to

keep pace with the changing technology

and continue to take advantage of their Dfx

investment.”

Tiffen Dfx v3 is a powerful, robust

video and still-image editing-effects suite.

Compared to previous versions of the software,

v3 boasts enhanced multi-processor

acceleration for faster interaction and

rendering of images, more than 10 new

filters for optical effects, updated host

support, interface improvements and more.

Other features of the digital filter suite

include more than 120 filter effects, more

than 2,000 presets, digital versions of Tiffen

filters, specialized lens-correction tools, film

grain, film stocks and color correction.


www.tiffen.com.


AJA Ki Pro Mini Supports

Avid Codec

AJA Video Systems has been working

jointly with Avid to build support for the

Avid DNxHD video codec into AJA’s Ki Pro

Mini portable recorder.

“Video producers and editors are

always seeking to ease their workflows and

improve the quality of their productions

while reducing costs,” says Paul Foeckler,

vice president of Creative Professionals,

Product Solutions Org., whose team oversees

the products at Avid that are used by a

wide range of creative professionals. “With

the AJA Ki Pro Mini supporting Avid’s high

quality, low-bandwidth DNxHD codec, editing

can begin more quickly than ever,

easing workflows in film, television and live

productions.”

“One of the most frequent requests

we get from the field is for support of

DNxHD in our Ki Pro family of products,”

says Nick Rashby, president of AJA. “Avid’s

commitment to professional editors has

been unwavering for [more than] 20 years,

and we’re very excited to bring Ki Pro Mini

with DNxHD support as a free upgrade for

all Ki Pro Mini owners.”

AJA also recently released firmware

version 2.6 for the Ki Pro Mini. The updated

firmware allows Red Epic, Red One and

certain Canon XF cameras to pass metadata

directly to the Ki Pro Mini via a single SDI

cable. “We’re continually looking at how

people are working, and how we can help

them take full advantage of the best our

industry has to offer,” says Rashby. “By

enabling people to control Ki Pro Mini via

the Red camera metadata precisely from

camera to post, we’re automating a lot of

what was largely a manual process — and

making workflows easier all the way

through the production process.”


www.aja.com.

Digital Film Tools Plugs into Avid

Digital Film Tools has announced

that all of its Avid plug-in product offerings

— comprising Composite Suite Pro, Photo-

Copy, Rays and zMatte — now support 64-

bit processing and are compatible with

Media Composer version 6, Symphony

version 6 and NewsCutter version 10.

“We have a fairly large Avid user

base, many of whom keep pace with the

new technology releases,” says Marco

Paolini, founder and president of DFT. “Our

64-bit DFT plug-ins will provide them with

speed and memory advantages that

streamline the entire visual-effects process.”

Composite Suite Pro features a wellrounded

collection of visual-effects plug-ins

designed to combine multiple images by

utilizing compositing tricks and techniques.

The toolset includes color correction; blur,

grain, and matte manipulation; lens distortion;

lighting effects; and edge blending.

PhotoCopy copies the brightness,

color, tone, detail, grain and texture from

one image and applies them to another.

This plug-in also allows user to select a

preset look from a library of 94 movies, 72

paintings, 40 photographs and 30 historical

photographic processes.

Rays allows users to create realistic

light-ray effects quickly and easily. Users can

add such effects as shafts of light streaming

through clouds, rays filtering through a

forest canopy or beams of light on a foggy

night.

Lastly, zMatte is an intelligent, easyto-use

blue- and greenscreen keyer that

provides such tools as DV and HD de-artifacting,

color suppression, matte manipulation,

color correction, edge treatment and

light wrapping.


www.digitalfilmtools.com. ➣

New:

VacuRigg

The creative way

of rigging!

- for driving shots

- easy handling

battery operated

utom. pump system

Film/HD cameras

PANTHER

GmbH

Raiffeisenallee

3

82041


Germany

T

+49.89.61

39 00 01

F

+49.89.61

31

00 0

contact@panther.tv

www.panther.tv

95

Marquise Technologies

Enhances Rain

Marquise Technologies has

integrated Cintel’s ImageMill2 board

into its Rain color-grading solution,

resulting in a fully featured colorgrading

station with real-time image

de-grain/de-noise, stabilization and

dust/scratch concealment features.

The upgraded Rain hardware

platform allows the parallel processing,

in real time, of the restorationdedicated

applications Grace, Steady and

Origin on 2K images, and up to 8 fps in 4K.

With this new set of tools, Rain provides not

only color correction, but also real-time

capabilities for image cleaning for operations

such as chroma-keying and tracking.

Rain allows for immediate work on

any type of native-format image in either

2-D or stereo 3-D. In addition to high-level

grading capabilities such as the multi-point

tracker and the dedicated curves for highlights,

mid tones and shadows, Rain

features a versioning mode that can memorize

up to nine versions of a clip; a Story-

Board mode, which allows for the creation

of up to 32 groups of sequences to grade

them as an ensemble; QuickStore, which

provides immediate access to the grades

stored in the Grade Library; and an

enhanced Grade Library, which allows users

to access any grade stored from any project.

“From its beginning, Rain’s philosophy

[has been] the ability to work in realtime

all the time,” says Laurence Stoll, CEO

of Marquise Technologies. “The ImageMill2

board matches perfectly our paradigm in

offering unbeaten processing performance

and excellent results.”


www.marquise-tech.com.

Globalstor Unveils LCD

for 4K Post

Globalstor Data Corporation has

introduced the GS564KLC10 LCD display

for 4K dailies and postproduction, as well as

other high-resolution applications.

The 56" LCD display features an

ultra-wide viewing angle, high contrast ratio

and high brightness. The monitor also

boasts an ultra-fast response time, which

ensures the fidelity of the moving image.

The display also includes easy-to-use

OSD and RS-232 configurations, allowing

the monitor to be quickly integrated into

even the most complex environments. Its

maximum display mode is 3840x2160 pixels

at 60 Hz, and it is calibrated for several color

temperatures, including 5,400°K, 6,500°K,

7,500°K and 9,300°K. The monitor is also

calibrated for 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, DICOM and user

gamma presets.

“The monitor supports VESA DDC2B

and DDC/CI plug-and-play options,” says

Scott Leif, president of Globalstor. “Optional

features include a touch panel with up to

four sensors for four simultaneous touches,

in addition to an AR/AG protective glass.”

The display’s power consumption is

less than 450 watts, and it consumes

roughly 10 watts on standby. It measures

approximately 53"x34"x6" and, without its

stand, weighs approximately 119 pounds.


www.globalstor.com.

Sonnet’s Echo Express

Streamlines Red Workflow

Sonnet Technologies has introduced

its Echo Express PCIe 2.0 Thunderbolt

Expansion Chassis, which works with the

Red Rocket playback and transcoding card.

The Echo Express expansion chassis enables

the use of high-performance PCIe

expansion cards — designed for desktop

computers — with computers

equipped with Thunderbolt ports,

including the latest Apple

MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac mini

systems.

The Echo Express PCIe 2.0

Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis

contains one PCIe 2.0 slot, an integrated

universal 75-watt power

supply and two Thunderbolt

ports. This system enables users to

connect one PCIe 2.0 adapter card

to a computer via a Thunderbolt cable while

allowing the connection of additional Thunderbolt

peripherals to the daisy-chain Thunderbolt

port.

The Red Rocket card delivers realtime

4K RGB video playback and real-time

transcoding of R3D files generated by Red

digital cameras. When installed into the

Echo Express chassis and connected via a

Thunderbolt cable to a laptop computer, the

Red Rocket allows Red footage to be

decoded and edited at high resolution without

dropped frames.

“We’re excited to be bringing such a

groundbreaking new solution to digital

cinema professionals — one that will literally

change the way they work,” says Greg

LaPorte, vice president of sales and marketing

at Sonnet Technologies. “The Echo

Express chassis enables a truly portable solution

that is exponentially faster than

currently available options. It really creates a

paradigm shift in on-location Red project

work, to be able to use a backpack to carry

on-set what typically has been transported

in a rolling cart.”


www.sonnettech.com.

●


International Marketplace

Monitor Yoke Mounts


NEW Heavy-Duty Camera Platform…

DCSliderTM

SUPER16INC.COM

Top-notch camera and lens servicing

Ask about Ultra 16!

T: 607-642-3352bernie@super16inc.com

Toll-free: 877-376-6582FREE ESTIMATES

Classifieds

CLASSIFIED AD RATES

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per

word. First word of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capitals without extra charge. No

agency commission or discounts on clas si fied advertising. PAYMENTMUSTAC COM PA NYORDER .

VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are ac cept ed. Send ad to Clas si fied Ad ver tis ing,

Amer i can Cin e ma tog ra pher, P.O. Box 2230, Hol ly wood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973.

Dead line for payment and copy must be in the office by 15th of second month preceding pub li -

CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE

Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site.

Internet ads are seen around the world at the same great rate as in print, or for

slightly more you can appear both online and in print.

For more information please visit www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: classifieds@theasc.com.

4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A Good Box Rental

818-763-8547

14,000+ USED EQUIPMENT ITEMS. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT

COMPANY. 50 YEARS EXPERIENCE. New: iLLUMiFLEX LIGHTS &

FluidFlex TRIPODS.

ca tion. Sub ject mat ter is lim it ed to items and ser vic es per tain ing to film mak ing and vid eo pro - www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com AND

duc tion. Words used are sub ject to mag a zine style ab bre vi a tion. Min i mum amount per ad: www.ProVideoFilm.com

$45

EMAIL: ProVidFilm@aol.com

CALL BILL 972 869 9990, 888 869 9998.

World’s SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENT!

Buy, Sell, Trade. CAMERAS, LENSES, SUPPORT, AKS & MORE! Visual

Products, Inc. www.visualproducts.com Call 440.647.4999

SERVICES AVAILABLE

STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL AND UPDATES.

QUICK TURNAROUND. ROBERT LUNA (323) 938-5659.

99

Advertiser’s Index

16x9, Inc. 98

AC 92

Aja Video Systems, Inc. C3

Alan Gordon Enterprises 98

Astrodesign, Inc 85

AZGrip 99

Backstage Equipment, Inc.

6

Barger-Lite 98

Blackmagic Design 43

Cavision Enterprises 79

Chapman/Leonard Studio

Equipment Inc. 55

Cine Gear 97

Cinematography

Electronics 85

Cinekinetic 98

Clairmont Film & Digital 59

Codex Digital Ltd., 67

Convergent Design 81

Cooke Optics 47

Creative Handbook 86

Deluxe 41

Dolby 45

Eastman Kodak 37, C4

EFD USA, Inc 83

Film Gear 89

Filmtools 6

Film Und Videotechnik 99

Focus Features 5, 7

Fox Searchlight 23, 27

Glidecam Industries 71

Hochschule Film &

Fernsehen/Konrad Wolf 73

Hollywood Post Alliance 92

Kino Flo 61

Lee Filters 46

Lights! Action! Co. 99

LitePanels 2

Lowel 65

Matthews Studio Equipment

99

Movcam 57

Movie Tech AG 98

NAB 101

NBC/Universal 51

Oppenheimer Camera Prod.

98

P+S Technik 98

Paramount Pictures 9, 13,

17, 21, 25

Panasonic 53

Panther Gmbh 91, 93, 95

Pille Film Gmbh 99

Powermills 98

Pro8mm 98

Regent University 60

Rosco Laboratories, Inc. 87

Sony Pictures Entertainment

C2-1, 29, 31

Super16 Inc. 99

SXSW 72

Tessive 69

Thales Angenieux 39

Tiffen 77

VF Gadgets, Inc. 98

Warner Bros. 11, 15, 19

Willy’s Widgets 98

www.theasc.com 4, 6, 89,

91, 93, 95, 99, 100

100

Clubhouse News

New ASC members Patrick Cady (top) and

Larry Fong (bottom).

Cady, Fong, Maibaum

Join Society

The ASC recently welcomed Patrick

Cady, Larry Fong and Paul Maibaum into its

ranks of active members.

Patrick Cady, ASC grew up near

Buffalo, N.Y., and attended Ithaca College,

where he earned a bachelor’s degree in still

photography and motion-picture production.

After workingas a camera intern for

Roger Deakins, ASC,BSC on Passion Fish,

Cady enrolled in New York University’s graduate

film program.

Upon completing his MFA, Cady

began working as an electricianand

climbed the ranks to gaffer and then cinematographer

on independent productions.

His work on Girlfight won him a mention

on Variety’s “10 Cinematographers to

Watch,” and he then went on to shoot

Sunshine State. Cady shot the first season

of Cold Case, and his credits also include the

series In Treatment, Body of Proof and Suits

and the features The Stepfather (2009) and

The Lottery Ticket.

Larry Fong, ASC was born and

raised in Los Angeles. As a teen, he became

interested in photography and filmmaking,

and he began experimenting with short

films, cel animation and stop-motion

projects. He earned an undergraduate

degree in linguistics from the University of

California-Los Angeles and a film degree

fromArt Center College of Design in

Pasadena.

He launched his career shooting

music videos for such acts as R.E.M., Van

Halen and the Goo Goo Dolls, and then

began shooting commercials, independent

features and television pilots.In 2004, he

shot the pilot for Lost, for which he earned

an ASC Award nomination. He shot several

episodes of the hit series before embarking

on his first studio feature, 300. He has since

shot the features Watchmen, Sucker Punch

and Super 8.

The son of screenwriter and

producer Richard Maibaum, Paul

Maibaum, ASC was born into filmmaking.

While studying theater arts at California

State University-Hayward, he took a course

that set him down the path toward cinematography.

He enrolled inthe University of

Southern California’s School of Cinema and

Television, and upon graduating he found

work at Filmart, a smallproduction

company andcamera-rental facility. While

working at Filmart, hejoined the union as a

loader, and he quickly climbed the ranks to

first assistant.

After operating for such cinematographers

as Woody Omens, ASC and Dean

Semler, ASC, ACS, Maibaum was promoted

to director of photography on the series

Parker Lewis Can’t Lose . His recent credits

include the series My Boys, Samantha Who?

and Sons of Anarchy and the pilot for

Intercept.

HPA Hosts Reference-Monitor

Symposium

The Hollywood Post Alliance recently

hosted a Reference-Monitor Symposium at

the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, Calif.

Theevent was conceived by a blue-ribbon

group of industry professionals, including

ASC members Curtis Clark and Steven

Poster and ASC associates Lou Levinson,

Josh Pines and Jan Yarbrough.

The symposium included a full day of

demonstrations and presentations. Poster

participated in “Myth Busting: Monitoring

On Set”; Pines participated in “Myth Busting:

Digital Cinema”; Levinson and ASC

associates Howard Lukk and Leon Silverman

participated in “ 101 Dalmatians: A

Case Study of Monitoring in ACES”; and

Clark contributed to the panel discussion

“What’s Coming Next?”

“This event has brought together a

group of some of the most insightful professionals

working in our industry today to

address an issue that has not been addressed

in this way before,” said Silverman, president

of the HPA and the general manager of digital

studio for Walt Disney Studios. “As

display technology has changed and

evolved, the need to understand how best to

display and view our content for the various

delivery platforms is an increasing challenge

for industry professionals. This event is a

unique opportunity for our industry to literally

see what we are doing with new eyes.”

Kuras Shares Emerging Visions

Ellen Kuras, ASC was selected to

participate in the recent “Emerging Visions”

program co-presented by The Film Society of

Lincoln Center and the Independent Filmmaker

Project. The one-day event, which

Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.

Fong photo by Françcois Duhamel, SMPSP. Michos photo by Alan Thatcher.


Top left: Anastas Michos, ASC leads a workshop at

Fletcher Camera & Lenses in Chicago. Top right, left

to right: Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC; AC contributor

Stephanie Argy; and Joe Van Dalsem, the creative

director of post for Paradise FX. Bottom: AC associate

editor Jon D. Witmer (left) interviews Salvatore

Totino, ASC, AIC.

was held at the Film Society of Lincoln

Center’s Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center,

introduced 25 emerging filmmaking

talents to Kuras and other prolific filmmakers

through one-on-one meetings, workshops,

case studies and pitching sessions.

Michos Visits Fletcher Chicago

Anastas Michos, ASC recently led

a cinematography seminar and workshop

at Fletcher Camera & Lenses in Chicago.

The event attractedlocal professionals as

well as students fromColumbia College,

DePaul, Tribeca Flashpoint Academy and

NorthwesternUniversity.

The idea for the seminar germinated

when Michos came to the Midwest

to shoot the feature Sparkle. Fletcher

handledthe logisticsfor the seminaron

short notice, enlisting local IATSE volunteer

crews (led by gaffer Tony Lullo) andCinespace

Chicago Film Studio, which provided

studio space and sets, Essanay Studio and

Lighting, which provided lighting and grip

equipment, and Eastman KodakCo.

Michos and camera operator Lukasz

Bielan showed clips, discussed theircreative

collaborationand then conducted a lighting

demonstration. “I love speaking about

what we do tostudents who, for geographical

or other reasons, might not have access

to the professional filmmaking community,”

Michossays. “New blood and fresh

perspectives are essential in our field. I’m

always aware that some of these students

will be working pros in a few short years.”

ASC Active at

Createasphere Expo

The Createasphere Entertainment

Technology Expo and Postproduction

Master Class recently wrapped in Burbank,

Calif.

Featuring educational sessions and

interactive panels, the Expo brought

together media experts and technical innovators

for two days of lively discussion.

Salvatore Totino, ASC, AICparticipated in

a keynote conversation moderated by AC

associate editor Jon D. Witmer; Totino

discussed his first forays behind the camera

and collaborations with such directors as

Oliver Stone and Ron Howard, and he also

screened some of his commercial and

music-video work before taking questions

from the audience. Later, along the Expo’s

“gear alley,” Rodney Taylor, ASC led a

“Shoulder to Shoulder” look at Sony’s F65

camera.

The invitation-only Postproduction

Master Class opened with the keynote “The

Critical Collaboration Between Cinematographer

and Editor,” with John Bailey, ASC

and his wife, Carol Littleton, ACE. The

Master Class also featured “The ASC Case

Study: A Dolphin Tale,” moderated by AC

contributor Stephanie Argy. The panel

featured Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC

and Harvey Rosenstock, ACE, who offered a

behind-the-scenes analysis of the film.

AC Wins 2 Folios

American Cinematographer recently

won two 2011 Folio “Eddie” Awards for

Editorial Excellence in its category, Business

to Business/Entertainment.

Senior editor Rachael K. Bosley won

the Bronze Eddie for Best Feature Article for

her March ’11 cover story on The Adjustment

Bureau.

The magazine also won the Silver

Eddie for Best Online Community for its

Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Amer

icanCinematographer), which had 61,700

fans at press time.

The awards were handed out Nov. 1

in New York.

●

ww.theasc.com w

January 2012 103

Close-up Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC

When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression

on you?

I was blown away by Jason and the Argonauts (1963), particularly

the skeletons’ fight. That scene changed my life. Because of it, I

learned how to do stop-motion animation and made my own

monster films with my older brother.

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most

admire?

Since I was in film school, I’ve been inspired by the naturalism of

Néstor Almendros, ASC; the style of Jordan Cronenweth, ASC; the

elegance of Sven Nykvist, ASC; and the strong compositions of

Gabriel Figueroa.

What sparked your interest in

photography?

Working for a year as an assistant in a

still-photography studio in Mexico City

with photographer Nadine Markova

made me aware of the power of framing,

lighting and color.

Where did you train and/or study?

At the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica

in Mexico City.

Who were your early teachers or mentors?

Nadine Markova; Miguel Fernández Morán; Guillermo Navarro,

ASC; and Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC.

What are some of your key artistic influences?

I use the work of still photographers as my main reference for lighting

and composition. I admire the work of Nan Goldin, Alex Webb,

Cindy Sherman, Sebastiao Salgado, Jonas Bendiksen and many

others.

How did you get your first break in the business?

I was working on a commercial as a PA and still photographer when

I was 22 and still in film school. The client liked my photos and asked

the production company to hire me as the director of photography

on their next commercial. That kick-started my career as a cinematographer.

What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?

So many! Moments like sharing a cry with Naomi Watts on 21

Grams after an emotional scene, or watching Tony Leung reacting to

Tang Wei singing on Lust, Caution, or improvising with the camera

onstage with Eminem on 8 Mile, or seeing Matt Damon imagining

his deceased wife on We Bought a Zoo . Also, watching the first

dailies of the color-infrared battle scene on Alexander.

Have you made any memorable blunders?

On one of my first commercials in Mexico, I was required to shoot a

telecommunications facility from the air, and I operated the Tyler side

mount on a helicopter. On the way to the location, I filmed landscapes

and sheep in idyllic pastures. We arrived, and as I started filming

the huge antenna, I saw soldiers running to trenches and pointing

their guns at us — apparently they weren’t aware of our permit.

So after circling once, we left. Upon landing, I realized I had run out

of film before we reached the antenna! I had to go back and shoot

it from the ground on another day.

What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?

On my first day on my first job as a

PA, the production manager was

late, and a grip said, ‘It is disrespectful

to be late on a shoot day.’ That

made a big impression on me.

What recent books, films or

artworks have inspired you?

I enjoy books by Haruki Murakami.

His mysterious, introspective and

vivid style is fascinating to me. I also

appreciate the work of artist Francis

Alÿs, particularly his keen eye on the

politics and life in Mexico City.

Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to

try?

I love science fiction and horror, but I have not had an opportunity

to delve into those genres since I did my own Super 8 films!

If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing

instead?

I would probably be a graphic designer.

Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for

membership?

Steven Poster, Guillermo Navarro and Emmanuel Lubezki.

How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?

Being a member of the ASC has allowed me to be in direct contact

with cinematographers I admire and keep learning from them, as

well as discuss ideas and techniques with them. It is also a great

forum to participate in defining the evolving role of the cinematographer.

●


ACQUIRE

www.aja.com

Acquire with AJA.

From Lens to Post, capture edit-ready

10-bit footage direct from your camera.

Ki Pro Mini. Lens to Post...in a Flash.

Portable 10-bit 4:2:2 Flash Disk Recorder

Ki Pro. Unify Cameras and Formats.

10-bit Recorder with Conversion

Designed as a miniature field recorder for

creating ‘ready-to-edit’ professional digital

video, Ki Pro Mini records Apple ProRes 422

(including HQ, LT and Proxy) direct from any

SDI or HDMI camera. Mounted and

connected to your camera, Ki Pro Mini

records the ProRes footage to affordable

Compact Flash media, instantly ready to

edit when connected to a Mac.

Free Software Update Coming Soon

Encode & Decode!

Unifying the different formats

employed by broadcast

cameras, Ki Pro features AJA’s

powerful hardware up/down/

cross conversion and captures

ProRes direct to removable

Storage Module media. RS-422 and

machine control capabilities make Ki Pro a compact

file-based VTR replacement. Extensive I/O ensures

integration with all your other production gear is seamless.

Free firmware update 3.0 with new features for

Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini - coming soon!

Find out about our latest Acquire products at www.aja.com

B e c a u s e i t m a t t e r s .

ONFILM

JAVIER AGUIRRESAROBE, AEC

“In cinematography, texture is so

important because it deeply influences

all the other elements of the image. I

have always preferred a simple, natural

style with logical lighting that respects

the actors. I hate anything artificial

and I don’t like a hard, harsh look with

crushed blacks. With a natural style,

dramas feel more raw and real, and

romantic comedies are sweeter. Risktaking

is important to my work, but I

take logical risks in order to maintain

the coherence of the look, and I like

collaborating with those who place

importance on the quality of the image.”

A native of Spain, Javier Aguirresarobe,

AEC has photographed more than

100 narrative projects and dozens of

documentaries, and earned six Goya

Awards for Best Cinematography. His

credits include the Twilight movies

Eclipse and New Moon, The Road, The

City of Your Final Destination, Vicky

Cristina Barcelona, Goya’s Ghosts, The

Sea Inside, The Others, and Talk to Her.

[All these films were shot on Kodak

motion picture film.]

For an extended Q&A with Javier

Aguirresarobe, visit www.kodak.com/go/

onfilm.

To order Kodak motion picture film,

call (800) 621-film.

© Eastman Kodak Company, 2011.

Photography: © 2011 Douglas Kirkland

AmericanCinematographer201201

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?