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M E M B E R P O R T R A I T

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rowing up in Brooklyn, I wasalways surrounded by art.My father was an award-

winning art director for an A-listad agency, and one of hisphotographers was RichardAvedon. I would often stuff mypockets with Polaroids from hisshoots and entertain myself fordays, remembering the work ittook to create those images. I knewI wanted to be a photographerwhen I was 5!

“It was Gregg Toland,ASC’s stylishly designed, black-and-white cinematography inCitizen Kane that demonstrated tome that photography could be usedto tell a moving story. I wanted tobe part of that collaborative bandof artistic gypsies.

“AmericanCinematographer has become mybible for learning my craft, bothartistically and technically.Reading AC’s comprehensivearticles about my luminouscolleagues keeps me sharp and up-to-date with the perpetuallychanging elements of our craft. Toshoot is a spiritual and creativerelease, and to be doing it amongstmy peers is a privilege.”

— Crescenzo Notarile, ASC

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to shooting the pilots for the hit series The Closer, Nip/Tuck and Glee, he helmed sevenseasons of Nip/Tuck and is now in his secondseason of Glee.

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They are a truly beautiful filter, but quite subtle, and perfectfor smoothing out variations inskin tone and texture, while notallowing highlights and whitereference to weaken or milk out the blacks.”

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The International Journal of Motion Imaging

26 Scalawags in StereoDariusz Wolski, ASC captures Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 3-D

40 Hammer of the GodsHaris Zambarloukos, BSC brings a god to life in Thor

56 Tortured SoulsMichael Chapman, ASC revisits Taxi Driver and Raging Bull

68 Decoding Digital Imagers: Part 2AC analyzes digital-imaging sensors

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On Our Cover: Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) searches for the Fountain of Youth inPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, shot by Dariusz Wolski, ASC.(Photo by PeterMountain, courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.)

8 Editor’s Note10 President’s Desk12 Short Takes: TV on the Radio’s “Will Do”16 Production Slate: The Mill & The Cross • Last Man Standing80 Post Focus: Highlights from NAB88 New Products & Services

100 International Marketplace101 Classified Ads102 Ad Index104 ASC Membership Roster106 Clubhouse News108 ASC Close-Up: Dean Semler

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OFFICERS - 2010/2011

Michael GoiPresident

Richard CrudoVice President

Owen RoizmanVice President

John C. Flinn IIIVice President

Matthew LeonettiTreasurer

Rodney TaylorSecretary

Ron GarciaSergeant At Arms

MEMBERS OF THEBOARDJohn Bailey

Stephen BurumCurtis Clark

George Spiro DibieRichard EdlundJohn C. Flinn III

Michael GoiStephen LighthillIsidore Mankofsky

Daryn OkadaRobert Primes

Nancy SchreiberKees Van Oostrum

Haskell WexlerVilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATESFred Elmes

Rodney TaylorMichael D. O’Shea

Sol NegrinMichael B. Negrin

MUSEUM CURATORSteve Gainer

American Society of Cine ma tog ra phersThe 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.

6

The resurgence of 3-D requires filmmakers to adapt theirvisual ambitions to the format’s principles and equipment,often in ways that require ingenuity and careful planning.During production of Pirates of the Caribbean: On StrangerTides (“Scalawags in Stereo,” page 26), ASC member DariuszWolski found himself using heavier cameras on challenginglocations to achieve the kinds of freewheeling moves thatmade the franchise’s previous installments so lively. “We wereworking on beaches, in caves and on boats … and doing itwith sensitive cameras and equipment,” director RobMarshall says. “Some of the areas were so remote, we hadto bring in gear by helicopter. I give a lot of credit to Dariuszand all the experts who helped us.”

Having studied 3-D cameras while prepping for Alice in Wonderland (which was ulti-mately shot in 2-D and converted to 3-D in post), Wolski was well versed. He chose to shoot theproject with Red One MX cameras and Pace/Cameron Fusion 3-D rigs. “At the time, the Redcameras with the MX chip were … the best option considering that we were committed togoing to faraway places and shooting the way the [previous] films had been shot,” he tells ACcontributor Michael Goldman. “The challenge became how to adopt the 3-D technology andmake it flexible enough for a movie of this scale.”

On another 3-D release, Thor (“Hammer of the Gods,” page 40), director KennethBranagh and Haris Zambarloukos, BSC opted to shoot anamorphic 35mm and convert to 3-Din post. “I wanted to go with anamorphic mainly because I was interested more in portraiturethan landscapes,” Zambarloukos tells AC contributor Jay Holben. “If you’ve got an adventurefilm where the ‘wow’ factor of action sequences and visual effects is going to have a really highimpact, you need to pay special attention to the portraiture work to really engage your audi-ence. You need those moments to be exquisite, and the bokeh of anamorphic lenses is perfectfor portraiture.”

Michael Chapman, ASC faced an entirely different set of options when he shot the clas-sic films Taxi Driver and Raging Bull for Martin Scorsese. In a piece penned by film critic JohnAnderson (“Tortured Souls,” page 56), Chapman focuses partly on technology but also oncreative philosophy, explaining the influences and circumstances that informed the approach toboth movies. “With filmmaking, mechanics very much affect aesthetics,” he asserts. “If you’restuck in a cab and don’t have a generator, it will naturally affect how you can light those scenes.”

Characterizing Taxi Driver as “a werewolf movie”— “Think about it: even [Bickle’s] hairchanges! And the red, the blood, is just right for a werewolf movie …” — Chapman describesRaging Bull as “an opera, and the fights are the soaring, wonderful arias.” He adds that bothfilms offer “visual themes that emerged only later, and I don’t think we had them in mind at thetime.”

This issue also presents Part 2 of “Decoding Digital Imagers” (page 68), an ambitiousprimer in which AC technical editor Christopher Probst explains how various digital-imagingsensors function, how they are applied in specific digital-imaging platforms, and how theirimage data is processed and delivered to various recording mechanisms.

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It took a lot for me to move out to Los Angeles in 1991. It had absolutely nothing to dowith anything negative about the city, but rather my perception of it. I grew up in Chicago,so I was drawn to cities like New York, where public transportation went everywhere andyou found yourself in casual conversations all the time with complete strangers because,well, you just ran into them. In this atmosphere of constant human interaction, I felt likemy artistic soul was being fed, and stories and images flowed through my imagination ina never-ending stream.

But I knew the next logical step in my quest to be a director of photography onfeature films and television programs would be to put myself where the deals were made,where the project got the greenlight and the search for a cinematographer would begin.So I put all my belongings in a large storage facility in Chicago — my fallback in case I justcouldn’t stand L.A. — and moved west.

I admit that I arrived with a really bad attitude. I don’t like to spend a lot of time inthe car, and suddenly I was spending at least a third of my day that way just to get to threemeetings. I walked into a joint that advertised “Chicago pizza,” and it would be polite tosay that I was disappointed. I was a Bleacher Bum at Saturday Cubs games in Wrigley Field.My friends and I would go every week; we knew they would probably lose, but it didn’tmatter. We and every other fan were there for the first pitch, and we stayed until the last

batter was called out. When I went to my first Dodgers game, fans showed up sometime around the third inning and leftsomewhere around the seventh. I was convinced I was in hell.

But worse, I could feel my creativity drying up. In my constant state of angst about where I was, fueled with my frus-tration about not being able to find a job on a production doing anything, I could feel myself becoming artistically impotent.The things that normally fed my imagination didn’t work anymore — not a visit to the museum, not attending an orchestralperformance, and not even watching my favorite movie, The Graduate. It was as though I’d entered a vortex that drainedevery creative thought in my head.

As I sat in my studio apartment one day, eating my three hot dogs for 99 cents from the AM/PM Mini Market, I gota call from my sister Frances in Chicago. The storage building that housed all my possessions was on fire. They were callingit one of the worst fires in recent Chicago history. The blaze engulfed an entire city block. Nothing would be left when it wasover. For months afterward, my brain would take a mental inventory of what I’d lost: movies I’d shot when I was 8, babypictures and high-school yearbooks, 16mm and 35mm prints of films I’d collected, and a complete collection of AmericanCinematographer from 1956 to 1991 that I’d purchased from an amateur filmmaker. All gone.

About six months after the fire, something changed. I felt somehow better. What I realized was that I no longercarried any anger over where I was because everything that my life used to be had been essentially wiped out. Whatever mylife became would start now. I started doing things that I could only do in Los Angeles, things that made me happy. I wentto the Silent Movie Theater. While watching Metropolis there, I ran into Forry Ackerman, whose Famous Monsters of Filmlandhad been a key inspiration to me as a child. We discovered that we lived three blocks from each other, so I often walked tohis place to hang out among his incredible collection of horror and sci-fi memorabilia. Steve Poster, ASC introduced me toQT Chicago Dogs, and Joe Mantegna opened Taste Chicago, so I could get a real Chicago hot-dog and beef-sandwich fix.And Steve Martin’s L.A. Story showed me that maybe I was taking my new home too seriously, and I should just lighten up.All this made me excited about creating images once again.

Moms Mabley said, “If you always do what you did, then you always get what you got.” It took that fire for me toget to where I am today. And you know what? I’m feeling pretty good.

Michael Goi, ASCPresident

President’s Desk

10 June 2011 American Cinematographer

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TV on the Radio’s Vision of a Romantic FutureBy Iain Stasukevich

“It might be impractical to seek out a new romance,” singsTV on the Radio vocalist Tunde Adebimpe in “Will Do,” a cut on theband’s latest album, Nine Types of Light . “No choice of words willtake me back to you.”

In the song’s video, directed by Dugan O’Neal andphotographed by David Myrick, Tunde plays a man living out hisnostalgic fantasy by donning futuristic goggles capable of conjuringa dreamlike virtual reality where he and his lost love are reunited.

Myrick vividly recalls his first day working on the video inBrooklyn: “We’d just finished, it was raining, and everybody hadalready left. Dugan and I didn’t have a car, and we were in some partof Brooklyn we didn’t even know, so we just started walking. I said,‘We just did something next-level.’”

Myrick and O’Neal had been working toward that momentfor a long time. Growing up in Monterey Bay, the two met asteenagers when Myrick, whose family owned a camera shop intown, started working as a photo assistant for O’Neal’s father. Thefuture filmmakers hit it off, and in the following years they workedtogether on a number of features, shorts and music videos.

“It’s only been in the last few years that we’ve started tofigure out who we are as artists,” says Myrick, referring to his part-nership with O’Neal and visual-effects artist Brandon Hirzel, a.k.a.Bemo.

As a trio, they’ve made videos for Eskmo, The Glitch Mob andnow TV on the Radio. Even though they’re still early in their careers

— they’re all under 30 — a clear and unique style is emerging.Myrick attempts to sum it up: “Dugan’s style is pretty psychedelic,and I definitely have a psychedelic thing going on color-wise, but Ican also have a very natural style.”

Myrick and O’Neal didn’t have a lot of resources on hand toproduce “Will Do,” but they pushed themselves to compensate withstrong visual and narrative ideas. The virtual-reality idea was one thatO’Neal had been sitting on for some time. “I just love the idea of agadget that you can plug your dreams into and create this surrealreality,” the director remarks. “The surreal virtual worlds would bereally vibrant and psychedelic, but the real world would be really coldand naturalistic.”

Myrick knew he’d be shooting with the Canon EOS 5D MarkII, and he used the opportunity to take advantage of the image qual-ities specific to the camera, in particular the shallow depth-of-field,while shooting with still-photo lenses that covered the camera’s full-sized 24x36mm sensor. The resulting look lends an impressionisticquality to the video’s reality-based scenes, which were shot on loca-tion in Manhattan’s Chelsea and L.A.’s Silver Lake neighborhoods.

According to Myrick, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.0L USM lensreally set the look. Canon describes the discontinued glass as “theworld’s fastest interchangeable SLR lens.” At the time of its release,in 1989, photographers were attracted to the extra stop of light itoffered, but its overall image softness, high production cost and lowsales figures caused Canon to halt production, resulting in a veryshort run of actual units.

O’Neal’s father was on a waiting list for two years before hecould buy one, and he lent it to his son and Myrick to use for their

Short Takes

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CinematographerDavid Myrick

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video work. The lens served them well onthe Eskmo and Glitch Mob videos, and for“Will Do” they worked with slow ASAs(between 160 and 320 even indoors) andND.9 filters to keep the lens at its widestaperture. To achieve a more surreal look, headded a Canon 1.5x extender to the lens to

create a tilt-shift effect.Myrick recalls, “I was in the studio in

Chelsea, trying to get the shot of Tunde’seyes that opens the video, and I was think-ing, ‘I can’t get this shot,’ and then I realizedI had an extender in my backpack. I’d onlyused it once, and since then it had just sat in

my bag. I [put it on the lens] and went, ‘Thisis the jam.’ I was there for 15 minutes makingthat one shot, just tripping out on theeffect.”

Another trippy effect is the virtual-reality goggles, constructed from a solidpiece of transparent acrylic that wrapsaround the user’s face; Bemo’s colorful, kalei-doscopic animations are composited ontothe goggles. O’Neal and Myrick werediscussing how to best photograph thegoggles when the cinematographer had theidea to enhance them with LiteRibbon, a flex-ible, adhesive-backed material with a lineararray of low-profile wide-angle LEDs. “IfBemo was going to put a projection on theglasses, it needed to feel like it was actuallythere, illuminating the face,” he explains.“We also needed something that would becool on camera.”

“For as long as I’ve known Dave, hehas thought outside the box,” O’Nealremarks. “The LiteRibbon sold those goggles.It wouldn’t be the same video without it. Ihadn’t thought about [using] that at all, but Ihad a very specific vision for that effect.”

Kaleidoscopic animations were composited onto the virtual-reality goggles worn in the clip by TV on theRadio singer Tunde Adebimpe. To help illuminate the performer’s face, Myrick used LiteRibbon, aflexible, adhesive-backed material equipped with a linear array of low-profile, wide-angle LEDs.

14

Myrick has learned to scale hisapproach to the size of a given productionwithout compromising his ideas. For exam-ple, he used a Canon 5D to shoot the videofor Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’“Desert Song” before a manual-exposurefirmware update was available, twisting thelenses half off the camera to lock in theirsettings in HD-video mode.

“I try not to get too caught up in thetechnical stuff,” he says. “I owe a lot of mycareer to the 5D, with all of its little faults,but I’ve also shot a lot of film and used a lotof other digital cameras. At the end of theday, it’s a camera, and for me the mostimportant thing is staying tuned into theideas I want to get across onscreen.”

If he had to pick a technical point toobsess over, Myrick would choose lightingover camerawork, and his affinity for illumi-nating a scene is apparent in “Will Do.”While shooting the video, he used a mini-mal package that included a 1.2K HMI Par,an 800-watt Joker with a Bug-a-Beamadapter, and a 4x4 Kino Flo fitted with CoolWhite bulbs.

“We didn’t always have the besttools, but we made it work,” says Myrick.“Lighting has become such an instinctualthing for me that if I can get one good lightin place, then I can work everything elsearound it.”

On the Brooklyn greenscreen stage,he and O’Neal had access to a bigger grip-and-electric package, but they used only asmall part of it to capture shots of the bandmembers that Bemo could composite intowide shots of grassy fields and short flashes

of psychedelic imagery.“What’s most important to us is

creating something that has actual mean-ing, that isn’t just a bunch of edits,” Myricksays of his work with O’Neal and Bemo. “Ifwe’re going to put all this hard work andtime into something, we have to get some-thing out of it creatively. I want to walkaway from a piece feeling really proud.”

●

Myrick angles infor a close-upwith the Canon5D, which wasfitted with thediscontinuedCanon EF 50mmf/1.0L USM lensand a Canon1.5x extender, acombinationthat helped himachieve a moresurreal look.

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15


Entering Bruegel’s WorldBy Patricia Thomson

When art critic Michael Francis Gibson approached LechMajewski about making a film from his book The Mill & The Cross ,the idea was simple: create a scholarly art documentary, with Gibsonstanding before Pieter Bruegel’s 1564 masterpiece The Way toCalvary and explaining its hidden meaning.

Gibson would talk about how the Flemish artist transposedChrist’s journey to contemporary Flanders and depicted Romansoldiers as red-coated Spanish mercenaries. He would explain the reli-gious symbolism of the mill perched high on a rock, and note howthe windmill’s sails are in the shape of a cross. He’d explain how theentire landscape is a metaphor of life and death; on the left is a sunlitvillage with verdant woods, and on the right is Calvary, a barren hillfeaturing a forest of crucifixes and Catherine wheels. (Bruegel paintedsome 500 Flemish people walking toward the field of execution, withChrist at center but ignored by the throngs — and virtually hiddenfrom our view as well.)

Majewski told Gibson he wasn’t interested in a standard docu-mentary. “But I had a vision,” says the Polish director. “I wanted toenter Bruegel’s world.”

Thus began a three-year project that took them to the Jura

Mountains of Poland, the Czech Republic and New Zealand for 48days of filming, followed by 28 months of postproduction at OdeonFilm Studio in Warsaw. Production and post immersed them in digi-tal technologies that included the first Red One to arrive in Poland, 2-D compositing in Flame and After Effects, 3-D compositing in Nukeand Fusion, and 3-D graphics in LightWave.

The resultant film, which made its U.S. debut at this year’sSundance Film Festival and will be released in select markets this fall,shows Majewski to be a man of his word: it’s a unique vision, onethat embraces the aesthetic of Bruegel, the exegesis of Gibson andcutting-edge technology.

Majewski’s imaginative approach to Gibson’s book is in keep-ing with his diverse body of work, which includes films, video instal-lations, music compositions, painting and stage productions. Severalof his movies relate to painters, including The Garden of EarthlyDelights, which Majewski directed and shot, and Julian Schnabel’sBasquiat, which he co-wrote and co-produced.

On The Mill & The Cross, Majewski acted as director, producer,co-writer and co-cinematographer. Sharing the latter credit wasPolish cinematographer Adam Sikora, who had previously collabo-rated with Majewski on Angelus, Wojaczek and The Roe’s Room .Sikora was responsible for lighting, while Majewski handled camera-work and post.

Production Slate

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Pieter Bruegel(Rutger Hauer)

explains hisfamous painting

The Way toCalvary in the

film The Mill &The Cross, which

had its U.S.premiere at thisyear’s Sundance

Film Festival.Director/co-

cinematographerLech Majewski

wanted toachieve clarity of

detail in thehand-stitchedcostumes that

would be on parwith the

aesthetic ofEarly

Netherlandishpainting.

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www.theasc.com June 2011 17

Majewski imagined that the lynchpinof The Mill & The Cross would be a tableauvivant involving hundreds of extras. “Myvision was to assemble this crowd of peoplewho are motionless in the painting and thensail with the camera through the crowd,seeing their faces, hearing their thoughts,”he says. “Everybody is motionless,suspended in this magical time. The Greekshave a word for it: kairos, the holy time. Inthe most important moments, time seemsto be suspended, whether it’s a moment ofgrief or ecstasy.”

This initial idea is intact in the finalfilm. The camera tracks alongside thetableau, finally arriving at Bruegel (RutgerHauer), who is explaining the scene to hispatron (Michael York). The camera then tiltsup to reveal Bruegel’s mountain, the wind-mill and the miller himself, who pauses fromgrinding wheat to impassively watch theproceedings below. The camera tilts backdown, and the action resumes. It’s a 4 1⁄2-minute sequence presented as one continu-ous shot.

“This is the centerpiece of the trip-tych,” Majewski says. Before and after thisfrozen moment, life goes on. The filmfollows half a dozen characters from thepainting, fleshing out their stories, andincludes snippets from the Passion of Christ.Bruegel, the ringmaster, explains all as heprepares sketches and stage-manages theextras, his own painted landscapes a ubiqui-tous backdrop.

Situating living actors within aBruegel painting took much trial-and-error.“The biggest challenge came from mymisunderstanding of how we were going totreat this main image,” says Majewski. “Iimagined I’d find a landscape similar toBruegel’s, put 500 characters dressed inperiod costumes in that landscape, and thenphotograph it with a Steadicam or someform of traveling shot.”

He managed to find a landscape inthe Jura Mountains that resembledBruegel’s eerie rock formations. But duringtests, Majewski hit two snags. “First, thelight changed so fast that I knew we couldnever capture the entire scene with so manycharacters in one go and later match thosethings. Second, if I used a wide lens, therock that’s so impressive in Bruegel’s paint-ing would be tiny, like a finger; and if I used

a longer lens, it would just become a blob inthe background. The tests proved to me thatmy concept was completely, entirely wrong.”

Majewski realized he would have topiece Bruegel’s world together from theground up. His first stop was Vienna’sKunsthistorisches Museum, which provideda 120-MB photo of the 49"x67" painting.“We could blow it up on a huge screen,zoom in and get fantastic details,” Majewskisays.

He and a team of visual-effects artiststhen set about removing all 500 figures from

the digital reproduction. Museums inLondon and Darmstadt supplied otherphotos of Bruegel’s work, which allowedthe filmmakers to build a sizable library oflandscape elements that could extend oralternate with The Way to Calvary ’s back-ground.

Working so closely with the painting,Majewski realized that it contains not onecohesive perspective, but seven differentones. “Some are from high above, somefrom below, some from left or right —Bruegel tricks you!” he notes. “I presume

The film, which involved 48 days of filming and 28 months of post, culminates in the processiontoward Calvary, where Jesus is largely obscured by the throngs (as in Bruegel’s masterpiece).

Creating an organic-looking unity between multiple elements while emulating Bruegel’s colors andatmospherics was the greatest challenge during the color correction.


that this broken perspective allowed him toselect from sketches, choosing what wasmost useful for building this theatrum andpacking more clarity in the distribution ofcharacters.”

Accordingly, the filmmakers catego-rized their landscape components into sevensections, and Majewski photographedcorresponding landscapes in the Jura.“When we were compositing the landscapelater on, we were using a little bit of Bruegeland a little bit of reality, and finding the invis-ible point at which one goes into the other.”

Cloud formations were a trickiermatter. Bruegel’s static clouds would not do,but when shooting on location, the film-makers encountered blue skies, which wereuseless, or clouds of the wrong size. “Also,it sounds strange, but the real clouds didn’tlook real,” adds Majewski.

The solution was found halfwayaround the world. After principal photogra-phy, Majewski happened to go to NewZealand, and while traveling on the south-ern island, he noticed some remarkablecloud formations. “In Maori, they call this‘the island of the long clouds,’” he says.“The clouds were endless, like a piece ofpolished marble with rivulets and tinystreams going through it. It’s an endlessmetamorphosis, a real show. You could basi-cally pull out a chair, sit down and watch it.”

Majewski asked a local cinematogra-pher, John Chrisstoffels, to film these cloudformations in various light conditions. “With

those images, we almost had it, but therewas a little too much reality,” says the direc-tor. So the team went back to the Bruegeldigital library and extracted some skyscapes.In the final, about 80 percent of the cloudsmoving across the frame are New Zealandclouds. “But in order to combine those with[the CG clouds] in the right way, we had toextend the cloud formation in the Bruegelpainting,” says Majewski. “That’s where mypainting background came into play!”

The village and mill interior werefilmed mainly at historic sites in Poland andthe Czech Republic. These included twowindmills and a 600-year-old salt mine,whose cavernous rock walls helped createthe mill interior. The mine’s huge, woodwheels and cogs were set in motion for thefirst time in centuries “after a lot of negotia-tion,” says Majewski.

The final piece of the jigsaw was theactors, who were filmed in a bluescreenenvironment onstage in Katowice. “All thetechnicians were very unhappy that wecouldn’t use greenscreen, because it’s easierto extract images from greenscreen thanbluescreen,” notes the director. “But thereare so many green details in Bruegel’s paint-ing that we had to use blue.”

Principal photography was accom-plished with a Red One, which recordedonto 8GB Compact Flash cards. 24Media inKatowice supplied the camera package,which included a 24mm Zeiss Super Speedlens and an Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm

zoom lens. “The Red was a saving grace interms of playing with various layers becauseof the amount of pixels it provides,” notesMajewski.

To evoke the atmospheric haze ofBruegel’s landscapes, he considered filtra-tion, but he eventually decided to use onlyND filters on the lens. “I rejected other filtra-tion because I felt it removed me from thehuman beings,” he explains. “I knew wehad to get inside the aesthetics of Bruegelanother way.”

In post, most of the Red’s RAW datawas converted to DPX files, “but for bigshots involving many people, like the one inwhich Bruegel walks around the charactersin the painting, we didn’t convert the Reddata at all because we didn’t want to loseany information captured by the camera’ssensor,” says visual-effects supervisor PawelTybora of Odeon. After receiving the shots,the effects artists would decide whether touse 2-D or 3-D compositing, and then pickthe best platform for specific shots. “It’s easyto shoot all the elements but hard to assem-ble them as one, to create a unity that has asignificant and recognizable aesthetic,”observes Majewski.

Tybora notes, “It took us many hoursto find the right atmosphere for each shotbecause we had about a hundred differentshots of clouds, Bruegel paintings, actors onbluescreen and shots of fields, hills and rocksto choose from. It was trial-and-error to findthe right elements that would fit together,

Left: Bruegel’s metaphorical mill sits atop a rock that was inspired by the artist’s journey through the Alps to Italy. Right: Majewski works with the actors on a bluescreen set in Katowice, Poland. “There are so many green details in Bruegel’s painting that we had to use b luescreen

instead of greenscreen,” notes the director.


Last Man Standing Brings Alexa to DetroitBy Jean Oppenheimer

The first obstacle Steven Bernstein,ASC faced on Lifetime Movie Network’s LastManStanding was convincing the powers-that-be at Sony Television to let him use anArri Alexa instead of Sony’s F35, Panavision’sGenesis or Red’s One. “I pushed hard for theAlexa,” says the cinematographer. “I wasable to show that the camera would proba-bly end up saving us money and a whole lotof time, if used correctly.”

The second obstacle proved to befinding an Alexa, which has been extremelypopular since its introduction in April 2010.“Fletcher Camera came to our rescue,” saysBernstein. “[ASC associate] Thomas Fletcherhad one [brought to us] from the company’sheadquarters in Chicago, and he actuallypurchased a second one from Arri so we’dhave two.”

Last Man Standing , Bernstein’s thirdcollaboration with director and fellow ASCmember Ernest Dickerson (following thefeature Bulletproof and the telefilm Big Shot:Confessions of a Campus Bookie ), starsCatherine Bell as Abby, a soccer mom with ablack-ops background who uses her militarytraining to rescue her kidnapped husband(Anthony Michael Hall).

The cinematographer had tested theAlexa shortly after it hit the market but hadnot yet used it on a project. “It’s incredible in

its simplicity,” he observes. “It has dials onthe side for shutter angle, frame rate, ASAand color temperature, which makes itincredibly easy to operate. It’s small, handleslike a film camera and has an enormousdynamic range.”

Although Dickerson hadn’t used theAlexa, either, he had been following itsdevelopment. Faced with an 18-day shoot-ing schedule on Last Man Standing , heknew “the only way we could pull it off waswith a digital camera that had the flexibilityof a 16mm film camera. That’s the Alexa.”

More than half of the movie’s actiontakes place at night, and the Alexa’s latitudeenabled the filmmakers to shoot in down-town Detroit with just available light. WhenBernstein needed additional illumination, heused small sources such as LED ribbon lights.

He chose T1.3 Arri Master Primesbecause “they can be used in very low lightwithout any reduction in quality,” and fortheir ability to combine sharpness with soft-ness. “I know that sounds like a contradic-tion, but one has to do with contrast and theother has to do with acutance; it’s a lovelycombination that makes the image lookthree-dimensional.” (He also used twoAngenieux Optimo zooms, a 24-290mmand a 17-80mm.)

The Alexa’s ability to record to solid-state cards was also very appealing. “Youdon’t have that bulky cable going to theback of the camera, so it’s faster to use, andwe could also eliminate the traditional DIT

and then we would experiment some morewith colors, different kinds of fog, dirt andsmoked glass. Creating an organic unity foreach scene was indeed very hard work, andmany, many scenes involved this process.”

The finished DPX 10-bit logarithmicfiles went to the Warsaw Film Studio lab forfinal color correction, which was handled bycolorist Ewa Chudzik. The festival print wasmade on Kodak Vision Premier 2393.

As for that living tableau at the heartof the film, “the most challenging part wasdealing with the length of the sequence,”say Tybora. Running about 4 1⁄2 minutes, itcomprised 147 elements. At its foundationwere three Red shots: one with the tableauvivant in the Jura, a second with Hauer andYork in bluebox, and a third with the crowdmoving. These were combined with a CGrock, mill and miller. It took Tybora ninemonths to build and texturize the rock,using images of rock surfaces, cracks, andslabs he’d gathered with his Canon EOS450D. He and Majewski also struggled tofind the right speed for the CG cameramovement.

Astute observers will notice that thissequence contains two conflicting lightsources. The crowd walks through a raking,golden light, but the virtual camera movetilts up to a mill backlit by the sun, with CGrays of light slicing past the windmill’sblades. “That was to ‘spiritify’ the light,”Majewski explains. “It might seem like amistake, but in painting at those times, therewas often a different usage of sunlight [inthe same image]. There’s real sunlight andholy sunlight. When Van Eyck painted theangel visiting Mary, Gabriel is lit from the left,or north, wall. Anybody who sees thatknows this is not the real sun; this is the lightof the Creator.”

In addition to the feature’s upcomingtheatrical release, a video installation calledThe Bruegel Suite, which incorporates exten-sive footage and drawings from the film, willbe featured in the Venice Biennale thismonth.

TECHNICAL SPECS

1.85:1Digital CaptureRed OneZeiss Super Speed, Angenieux Optimo

In Last Man Standing, Catherine Bell (right) stars as Abby, a soccer mom and former black-opssoldier who uses her military training to rescue her kidnapped husband.

Last

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tent, with all its cables and accoutrements,”says Bernstein.

Instead of the tent, the filmmakersmonitored the image using a small, self-contained cart that Bernstein designed. “It’sa little frame with curtains on it mountedonto a rolling cart — you tuck yourself inand pull the curtains behind you,” heexplains.

Instead of a DIT, the production hireda data wrangler. “We found this interestingkid for the job in Detroit, Joe Elrom, who hadworked as a DIT and was quite brilliant,”says Bernstein. “I’d tell him how I wanted[the images] to look, and then he’d makeadjustments on his computer that wouldcontrol the image on the monitor and showit to me. He quickly understood what I was

going for; he has a great eye. We wouldcreate the look-up tables, which were thensent to FotoKem, which handled our postwork, and they’d re-create the imageaccording to my instructions.

“I was obsessed that the LUTs I wasusing in Detroit be the same ones used in theediting room and [throughout] post,” headds. “I wanted our vision of how the filmshould look to be consistent throughout theprocess.”

Initially, the software that wassupposed to standardize the LUTs didn’twork properly. After much back-and-forth, asolution was found. “The significant thing isthat I was trying to [utilize] a single set ofLUTs throughout,” says Bernstein. “Toooften the cinematographer will get to the

timing suite for the final pass and the coloristwill suggest ‘starting fresh’ with a new set ofLUTs. But why start from scratch? When wegot to the final timing on this movie, all I hadto do was some tweaking. Our colorist, JimGarrow, was terrific. He thought it was greatwe [retained the original] LUTs.”

Last Man Standing has two mainlooks: one for Abby’s family life, which ispeaceful, quiet and happy, and the other forher secret life, which harks back to her daysas a black-ops officer in Afghanistan. Herhome life is rendered with warm colors, softlighting and smooth camera moves; compo-sitions are balanced and symmetrical, andnight scenes have a cool hue. Bernsteinexperimented with many different ASAs,finally settling on 500, which “gave us thegreatest speed while maintaining the bestlatitude,” he notes.

When Abby goes undercover to findher husband, the look is defined by harsher,more directional lighting, wider lenses and ahandheld camera, and the night lookemphasizes green and red. “Remarkably,500 ASA worked best for these scenes aswell,” says Bernstein.

For the short flashbacks toAfghanistan (shot in a rock quarry outsideDetroit), Bernstein exposed on the upperpart of the register and added hard-spottedHMI Pars to suggest intense sun. “One ofthe things that makes the Alexa special is theway it handles the top end, with areas ofoverexposure falling off gradually, as withfilm,” he observes.

“Ernest loves mixing color tempera-tures in lighting — we’re both big fans ofWong Kar-wai’s films with Chris Doyle[HKSC],” continues Bernstein. “Ernest ismore concerned with the audience’semotional reaction to a color than any sortof objective reality of what a color shouldbe.”

Shooting entirely on practical loca-tions, Bernstein tapped whatever lightexisted on site and often simply matched hislight to it. “We often used the existing lightsources, letting the colors fall where theymay, and I would add some fill light to thesubject that would match the color temper-ature on his or her face, reducing thecontrast but maintaining the ‘found art’ ofthe mixed color temperatures. Then I wouldnot correct for that color in post.” ➣

Top: Abby’s friend and former military colleague Jeremy Davies (Mekhi Phifer) attends thefuneral of a fallen comrade. Bottom: Director Ernest Dickerson, ASC ponders his next movewhile cinematographer Steven Bernstein, ASC (center) chats with gaffer Anthony Simms.

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constantly relight. Bernstein also made use of dappled

light. In one night scene, Abby carries a tele-phone outside and plugs it into a secret jackon the side of the garage. A couple of 12KHMIs gelled with ½ CTO were set up, “andwe attached 20 or 30 branches to stands infront of the lights so that Abby wasconstantly moving in and out of shadow,”says the cinematographer. “The light seemsto have life and texture. It’s also a great trick,especially for TV lighting, in that you canlight to a fairly high key so the audience cansee every detail, but because the actor ismoving through shadows, the scene looksdarker than it actually is.”

LED ribbon lights were a favoritesource, especially on cars’ dashboards,where they could be dimmed 50 percentand still light the actor at the wheel. At onepoint, Abby has to shake several police carsthat are pursuing her SUV. The nighttimechase ends in a large parking lot, where sheoutmaneuvers the police, eventually forcingthem to crash. The scene was keyed with12Ks atop two Condors, and HMI Pars on

He lit many scenes set in Abby’s homewith just three China balls, all wired todimmers. One was placed below the actor,tilting up. “I’ve always been fascinated withRenoir’s paintings, and how the characters inthem seem to be lit from within,” he notes.“I’ve always mixed my main key light with a

little light from below as well. It seems tomake the objects glow.”

One China ball inevitably wound upon the end of a fishing pole that was held byan electrician, who would swing it to followthe subject. This allowed the actors to movefreely and also obviated the need to

A remote head captures a

close-up of Bell in action.

24

the roof of a nearby building were aimedstraight down to provide some bounce fill.

Allotted 1½ nights to complete thescene, the filmmakers used five cameras.“Ernest storyboarded the entire sequence,and we used that as our model for [the A]camera,” recalls Bernstein. “The other fourcameras — the second Alexa, two Sony[PMW] EX3s and a Canon [EOS] 5D — werecatch-as-catch-can. The Sony and Canoncameras aren’t as good as the Alexa in lowlight, but we used them to get little insertsand cutaways. We did a lot of shutterchanges to make things look jerkier andmore dramatic. Some of it was done with a90-degree shutter, some at 120.”

All but the A camera were mountedonto a little electric pursuit car that trackednext to the vehicles at 35 mph. Each camerahad its own operator and focus puller onboard. It wasn’t the most comfortablearrangement, but it worked. “We wereundercranking, shooting at 12 fps and even6 fps,” recalls Bernstein. “If the car wasgoing 20 mph at 6 fps, it would appear tobe going 60.”

Another striking sequence showsAbby sneaking into a high-tech securityoffice and using a giant Plexiglas computermonitor to access classified information.“Those monitors are actually in develop-ment — they’re called gestural interfacemonitors,” says Bernstein. “In post, thevisual-effects team added whatever wassupposed to be on the screen.

“I had to make this small conferenceroom with low ceilings look visually interest-ing,” he continues. “Rather than lightingfrom above or using standard lamps, Idecided to dress the lights into the set. Wetook long fluorescent tubes, put little boxesaround the ends to make them look morelike a design choice, and placed themaround the bottom of the set so that thelight was hitting the walls. The light reallydoes look like part of the architecture.”

Next, Bernstein’s crew hid LED ribbonlights around the table where Abby wassitting, lighting her from below. A particu-larly small LED ribbon hit the monitor’s Plex-iglas frame. Inkies were hidden behind thetable to further treat the walls. The location

25

featured a translucent screen on one wall,and Bernstein was able to put lights behindit.

“Steve and I have a lot of fun work-ing together,” says Dickerson. “We laughand kid each other a lot. What we most havein common is a love of cinema; we’re alwaysreferencing other films, art, photographyand even music when working out ideas.”

“We definitely have a shorthand,”says Bernstein. “Ernest would say, ‘What I’mgoing for here is …’ and he’d mention amovie. The only film we looked at on thisparticular project was Gaspar Noé’s Enter theVoid [AC Oct. ’10].”

With a laugh, he notes, “It has noth-ing to do with our film, but we found it inspi-rational in terms of the risks Noé took.”

TECHNICAL SPECS

1.78:1Digital CaptureArri Alexa, Sony PMW-EX3, Canon EOS 5DArri Master Prime, Angenieux Optimo ●


Dariusz Wolski, ASC tackles 3-Dcapture for Pirates of the Caribbean:

On Stranger Tides.

By Michael Goldman

•|•

Scalawagsin Stereo

Looking back, Dariusz Wolski, ASC chuckles at hisSteadicam operator’s plight while trying to capture JohnnyDepp’s performance on an isolated beach in Fajardo,Puerto Rico, for a climactic scene in Pirates of the

Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Because the movie was beingcaptured in native 3-D, Steadicam operator DavidLuckenbach was laboring beneath a heavy stereo rig, waitingfor director Rob Marshall to call “action.”

“The rig was so heavy, and we were on sand,” Wolskirecalls. “David could feel his feet sinking all the way to hisankles. He couldn’t lift his foot when they called ‘Action,’ so heconstantly had to stomp up and down to keep his feet free.That’s an example of how exhausting this shoot was.”


Marshall calls the efforts ofWolski’s team “Herculean,” noting thatPirates is “the most physical film” he hasever directed. “The story required thingsthat are difficult to accomplish with 3-D rigs,” he observes. “Fortunately,everyone was up for the adventure.”

Disney’s decision to shoot thelatest installment in its Pirates franchisein 3-D makes the film a high-profiletest case for the latest paradigm shift instereoscopic cinematography: bringingit out of controlled environments andinto the real world — and, in this case,to a number of rugged locations. “Wefelt like pioneers,” says Marshall.

“We were working on beaches, incaves and on boats in places like Hawaii,Puerto Rico and London, and doing itwith sensitive cameras and equipment,”continues the director. “Some of theareas were so remote, we had to bring ingear by helicopter. I give a lot of creditto Dariusz and all the experts whohelped us.”

Wolski was a veteran of thePirates franchise, having shot all three ofthe previous pictures, The Curse of theBlack Pearl (AC Aug. ’03), Dead Man’sChest and At World’s End (AC June ’07),and he had also studied digital camerasand 3-D rigs while prepping Alice in Wonderland for Tim Burton ( ACApril ’10). In the end, Alice was shot in

2-D and converted to 3-D in post, but Wolski’s research into thePace/Cameron Fusion 3-D rig duringthat period made him comfortableusing it on Pirates. Additional testingmade it clear that of all the digital-capture systems available at the time,the Red One with the Mysterium-Xsensor was his best option in terms ofsize, weight, compatibility with cine-style lenses, ability to record to solid-state media (16-gigabyte Red CFcards), and 4K resolution.

“At the time, the Arri Alexawasn’t available, and the Sony cameraswe tested were too heavy,” explainsWolski. “The Red cameras with thePh

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Opposite: Capt. JackSparrow (Johnny Depp,center) joins aharrowing search forthe Fountain of Youthin Pirates of theCaribbean: On StrangerTides. This page, top:Blackbeard (IanMcShane) encouragesSparrow to cooperate.Middle: Capt. Barbossa(Geoffrey Rush, secondfrom left) takes uppursuit. Bottom:CinematographerDariusz Wolski, ASCchecks the 3-D rigfitted with Red Onecameras on location onPalomino Island, offthe coast of PuertoRico.


MX chip were more manageable. Theywere the best option considering thatwe were committed to going to farawayplaces and shooting the way the [previ-ous] films had been shot. The challengebecame how to adopt the 3-D technol-ogy and make it flexible enough for amovie of this scale.”

Wolski has a longstanding rela-tionship with Panavision, so he wantedthat company to service the production,

even though he was using Red camerasand Pace rigs. He therefore asked hisfirst assistant, Trevor Loomis, to bringPanavision and Red together on theproject. Panavision ended up purchasingand providing 13 Red cameras to themain unit and six to the second unit,plus multiple sets of matching lenses.Red also provided support in partner-ship with camera-data supervisor JeroenHendriks, particularly in terms of writ-

ing custom firmware for the Redcameras that tailored them to 3-Dcapture. “We essentially broughtPanavision, Red and Pace together, andthey all helped make it happen,” saysLoomis.

Panavision’s lens expertise provedto be critical. Senior technical adviserDan Sasaki sorted through more than160 lens pairs to find the best matches,ultimately culling 76 pairs for the show.Panavision provided three sets of ZeissUltra Primes, two 15-40mm AngenieuxOptimo zooms, two 28-76mm Optimozooms, a set of Primo Close-Focusprimes, a set of Primo (14.5-50mm)Macro Zooms, one Primo 4:1 (17.5-75mm) zoom and one Primo 11:1 (24-275mm) zoom.

The first unit shot mostly withthe Ultra Primes and Optimos, reserv-ing the Primos for 2-D capture, whichamounted to underwater work, extremeclose-ups and some high-speed shots,according to Wolski. The second unit,led by director of photography PatrickLoungway, used Ultra Primes andOptimos on Fusion rigs alongside the

◗ Scalawags in Stereo

Right: The crewcaptures a shot

inside the PaintedHall at the Old

Royal NavalCollege in

Greenwich,England. The

location stood infor St. James

Palace, whereSparrow is forced

to meet withKing George.

Below: Sparrowexits St. James

Palace in hisinimitable

fashion.


first unit in Hawaii and Los Angeles,and used Primo primes and Optimos onElement Technica stereo rigs inLondon, says Loungway.

“We had to establish limitationsand tolerances for allowable focal-length disparity, concentricity of the lensmount to the sensor, and overallcompatibility of lens-focus scale tomatched lens sets,” Sasaki explains. “Wetried several methods of findingmatches initially, such as wedding amicroscope to the projection bench,

using the MTF [Modulation TransferFunction] to give us point-spread read-ings, and mapping the lenses on theprojection bench at like magnifications.In the end, using the projection benchwith respect to lens MTF readings gaveus the most consistent results. We foundthat we had to find focal-lengthmatches within .25 percent of eachother, as well as maintain the overallquality of the lens image.”

Wolski says the short zooms wereespecially useful on the 3-D rigs

because of their light weight and smallsize. They also permitted him to shootwide open, the style he prefers for 3-Dcapture. “Once we had the zoom on thecamera, we couldn’t zoom during theshot because [it] wouldn’t track correctlywith the two lenses, and there was noway to have them totally in sync,” saysWolski. “However, we learned that oncewe zoomed in, we could quickly realign[the rigs], so we ended up using thezooms more as variable primes. Thatsaved us some time in lens changes; it

Clockwise fromleft: In his flightfrom KingGeorge and hismen, Sparrowcommandeers acoal wagon; thesecond unitfollows the chasefrom a dolly;another 3-D rigfollows theaction fromabove.


4.5K-resolution imagery (in its 4.5Kwidescreen 2.35:1 mode), Pirates visual-effects supervisor Charlie Gibsonsuggested that the production shouldnot set the convergence point on set, butinstead simply shoot parallel and leavethe convergence work for post. Bydoing so, the filmmakers could preserveextra pixels around the extraction areaby avoiding distortion in closer objects;such distortion can happen whenimages are mechanically converged in-camera. (3-D expert Rob Engle of SonyPictures Imageworks also offered advicein prep.)

“Converging in-camera wascommon before [this production]

because of the limited resolution of thedigital cameras that were available,”explains Dave Drzewiecki, who servedas the stereographer for most of Pirates.(James Goldman, Wolski’s longtimesecond assistant, took over near the endof the show when Drzewiecki movedon to another project.)

“Back then, you didn’t have thoseextra pixels around the images availableto use for realignment later, anyway,”continues Drzewiecki. “Whenever youdo an image adjustment to correct anerror or to create convergence [on set],you sacrifice pixels and, therefore, reso-lution. But with the greater resolution ofthe Red MX sensor, we could take a 4K

took about four minutes to change themout, which is really fast for 3-D.”

Another key issue involved whichmethod to employ to set the interocular(a.k.a. interaxial) distance and conver-gence point between left-eye and right-eye imagery. Wolski notes that manynative 3-D projects rely on mechanicallysetting and controlling the convergencepoint on set, and it’s often set to corre-spond to a point in focus in the mainaction, or what is called the “screenplane” or “stereo window.” (The conver-gence setting doesn‘t always have torelate to the same point as where thelenses are focused, however.) Butbecause Red’s MX sensor can record


Clockwise fromright: Blackbeard’s

sinister ship, theQueen Anne’sRevenge, sets

sail for theFountain of

Youth; Blackbeardpractices the dark

arts in his cabin; a crane follows

the action aboardthe ship.

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slice out of the middle of the 4.5Kimage in post and designate pixelsaround it left-to-right as realignmentpixels. So shooting parallel made sense.”

It was Hendriks’ job to quality-control the recorded images on set byviewing, syncing and backing them up.This included examining stereo qualityby building rough 3-D files on location— applying a 1-percent offset to syncedimagery using Assimilate Scratchpowered by Red Rocket acceleratorcards.

As the production moved aroundthe globe, the filmmakers sent 3-Dimagery and metadata from the set toCompany 3’s headquarters in SantaMonica and to Deluxe 142 in London,using a remote data center set up at eachlocation by Company 3. Variouscolorists graded the dailies and thensent them on to editorial, also sendingthose same color settings as metadataback to the location, where Drzewieckiwould apply them to files on site.(Wolski also did the final color correc-tion at Company 3, working with ASCassociate member Stefan Sonnenfeld.)

But the process started with datadownloads and checks on location.Hendriks used Scratch on a mobile 3-Dstation in tandem with 1 Beyond’s


◗ Scalawags in StereoTop: Working ona set constructedon the UniversalStudios backlot,

the crewprepares to roll

camera on anattack by an

army ofmermaids.

Middle: A camerahousing is

employed to geta closer angle on

the mermaids.Bottom: The crew

sets up a nightshot on location

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Wrangler Pro and RedCine-X softwaretools, which enabled him to do full-resolution real-time checks of the stereoimages. His 3-D station was little morethan a small suitcase with a hard drive, a flip-up keyboard and a 24" LCDmonitor.

“I would download informationfrom the camera to my internal driveand build 3-D files out of it,” Hendriksexplains. “My job was to make sure thatwe knew exactly what we had before weleft a location. During every reload,about every nine minutes, I’d use thissystem to check everything — to see if

Digital Stereoscopic Image Processors.Drzewiecki calls the SIPs crucial and“essentially a default standard for how tocapture 3-D in terms of analytical infor-mation about the 3-D image. Theyallowed us to have a level of alignmentprecision that we could not do visuallyusing traditional methods.”

Hendriks and Drzewiecki alsodevised a solution for viewing 3-D onlocation on something other than smallmonitors. They paired 3-D beam-split-ting techniques with 22" LCD panelsfrom Cinetronics, configuring twopanels and electronic componentstogether into a cube-like monitor thatallowed the crew to view full-resolutionimages with passive 3-D glasses.

Despite such innovations, shoot-ing a large-scale action-adventure filmin stereo was still a grueling affair.Capturing stunts and other second-unitwork was particularly difficult, largelybecause the nature of 3-D acquisitionprevented the team from using many ofthe time-honored tricks for such work.Loungway notes that the ability to bespontaneous while shooting actionscenes, a freedom the filmmakers hadenjoyed on the previous Pirates movies,was curtailed by the 3-D rigs. In effect,

time code matched, to check for anygen-lock problems, and to make sure wehad both eyes to build a 3-D file. I didthat for every shot as we went along,and I backed everything up even beforewe sent the cards to our data center.”

The stereographers and Fusion-rig technicians, meanwhile, were oftenbusy realigning rigs. Even with constantvigilance, alignment positions betweenleft and right cameras could moveslightly during routine handling,temperature shifts and the like. To alignand track rigs and lenses, and to balancecolor, the stereographers used two 3ality


Right: Technicians atwork at the 3-D

monitoring stationsset up during

filming at PinewoodStudios in England.Below: For location

work in morerugged terrain,

camera-datasupervisor JeroenHendriks worked

with a mobile 3-D station to

view, sync and backup the recorded

stereo images.

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the camera footprint had to be moreinvasive this time around.

“For the first three films, the film-making presence was sometimes just ahandheld camera with a couple of guyson a large boat or set with a small crew,”says Loungway, who was the second-unit cinematographer on Dead Man’sChest and At World’s End and did addi-tional photography on The Curse of theBlack Pearl. “With 3-D capture, theability to shoot jazz style, off-the-cuff,wasn’t possible. We did have spontane-ity, but within the context of having tofigure out how to do it in the thirddimension. Spontaneous decisionssometimes proved to be impractical.”

In particular, whip-panning fastenough to record action like the carriagechase through London proved to becomplicated because, as Loungwaynotes, “a 100-pound rig, once moving,doesn’t want to stop quickly. But we hadsolutions that worked well; we usedLibra and Chapman G3 remote heads alot on second unit. We might not haveneeded them if this weren’t a 3-Dmovie.”

For a few specific shots, hecontinues, the second-unit team evenhung 3-D rigs from an 80' Condor onbungee lines to swing the rigs around in

a 10'-15' area. It was an old-schooltechnique he and Wolski were inspiredto try after Loungway recalled anAmerican Cinematographer cover photo

of legendary cinematographer JackCardiff, BSC swinging a 3-stripTechnicolor camera on ropes for TheRed Shoes (AC Dec. ’48).

“If you think about it, they were

handholding a giant camera, in a sense,”Wolski says of the Cardiff photo. “Inother words, the size of the cameradidn’t stop them. That’s the attitude wehad on this project.”

Indeed, the filmmakers madeextensive use of Condors, Techno-cranes, and various other traditionaltools to surmount obstacles. A bigvisual-effects sequence, for instance,features an attack by an army ofmermaids at night. Establishing shotswere captured at Halona Cove in Oahu,but the waves were so treacherous thatthe filmmakers had to replicate the coveon the lot at Universal Studios to shootrequired plates. Loungway says most ofthis work on the Universal lot was shotusing Technocranes on barges, not onlyfor sweeping crane shots, but also fordramatic pans.

In Hawaii, the production alsohad to shoot a major night-exteriorsequence on a galleon at a locationcalled Kaneohe Bay. The filmmakersencountered high winds on the night ofthe shoot, threatening gaffer RafaelSanchez’s plan to provide subtle moon-light.

“We had balloons on cranes andwere trying to keep the companymoving, but we had to minimize the

Director RobMarshall talks

with Depp on theFountain of

Youth set, whichwas built on the

007 Stage atPinewood

Studios. Marshallsays Pirates is

“the mostphysical film” he

has ever directed,and praises the

“Herculean”efforts of his

collaborators.


“With 3-D capture,the ability to

shoot jazz style, off-the-cuff,

wasn’t possible.Spontaneous

decisions sometimes provedto be impractical.”

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damage to the equipment in those highwinds,” recalls Sanchez. “In the end, wewere able to wrap the balloons in clearGriffolyn. That didn’t cut any light fromthe balloon, but it protected them andadded another layer to help disperse thewind around them.”

Overall, Sanchez maintained the

same lighting techniques he used on theprevious Pirates films. “Our approachwas mostly traditional,” he says. “Inkeeping with all the Pirates movies, wewere always trying to motivate as manypractical sources as possible — lots ofwarm light for firelit and candlelit interi-ors, and cool moonlight for night work.”

Thanks to thorough preproduc-tion testing, he and Wolski were confi-dent that this approach would hold up.“Our conclusion was that a single Redcamera responded incredibly well inextremely low light, but the two camerasand the mirror [in the Fusion rig] wouldreduce things by about one stop,” saysSanchez. “We went from about 800ASA, which is the desired ASA forRed, to 400 ASA, which is closer to35mm. That meant we could lightthings pretty much as we always had.”

Beam-splitting mirror technol-ogy, of course, lies at the heart of theoptical system in modern 3-D rigs, andfor Pirates, the production chose themost sophisticated mirrors Pace offers— dubbed “organic mirrors.” Wolskiand Drzewiecki say they believe theseare currently the least-polarizing mirrorsavailable for 3-D rigs. That’s importantbecause polarization can introduce spec-ular anomalies and color shifts into therecorded imagery from the reflected eye,


Wolski andsecond-unit

cinematographerPatrick

Loungway (farleft) line up a

shot on locationoutside the Old

Royal NavalCollege.

38

creating subtle differences between left-eye and right-eye images that cannotalways be corrected in post.

The organic mirrors are particu-larly delicate, and the production wentthrough more than 30 of them. “ThePace mirrors produce beautiful images,but they are incredibly fragile, and thatmakes them susceptible to moisture andsalt air,” says Drzewiecki. “As soon aswe took them out of their wrapping inthese environments, they would start todegrade. Sometimes we went throughone or more in half a day, depending onconditions. We were putting them inthe worst possible environments, so itwas costly. But you could argue it wasmoney well spent because it all showsup on the screen.”

For the crew and cast, there werealso hurdles to overcome in terms oflearning how to use framing and block-ing to achieve desired compositions in3-D. All these issues, says Wolski, arewhy the production was “experimental”

and “risky.” (Indeed, the experimenta-tion went on until production’s finalmoments, as the filmmakers circledback for pickups using Red Epic 5Kprototypes with Element Technica andParadise 3-D rigs in addition to Fusionrigs.) But, Wolski adds, Pirates benefitedsignificantly from timing, in the sensethat stereo-capture techniques andworkflows were rapidly advancingthroughout the shoot.

“To shoot a movie like this in 3-D when the workflow is not matureand the technology is changing, youhave to combine everyone’s expertise toachieve your goal,” says Wolski. “Youneed people who can put all this knowl-edge together efficiently, and we had anexpert team doing that, which enabledRob Marshall and me to focus on thestory. The most important lesson is thatwe need to demythologize 3-D. It’s stillfilmmaking.” ●

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39


When future BSC member Haris Zambarloukos landedhis first film-industry job at Panavision’s rental facilityat Shepperton Studios, he often took runs to the stagesto watch cinematographers in action on the set. “That

was always the perk of the day, to get to go to the set,” herecalls. One of the productions he visited was Frankenstein,directed by Kenneth Branagh and shot by Roger Pratt, BSC.

Several years later, Zambarloukos shot Sleuth (2006) forBranagh, and they recently teamed for a second time on Thor.“I think working with a director a second time really makes adifference — you work better,” he observes. “There’s definitelysomething productive and useful in the history and experienceyou already share that helps to refine the second workingexperience.”

Thor “is a comic-book movie, but it’s very different fromwhat we’re used to seeing in such movies,” continuesZambarloukos. “Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created a hero thatwas based almost entirely on Nordic mythology, which is rela-tively unknown, especially compared to Latin and Greek

Thor, shot by HarisZambarloukos, BSC,

marks the Nordicsuperhero’s

big-screen debut.

By Jay Holben

•|•

Hammerof the

Gods


mythology. Also, Thor doesn’t justinteract with the gods; he also interactswith people in the modern-day world.We get to see Asgard, the Norse gods’home, a place full of advanced technol-ogy. It’s a new world to explore.”

The filmmakers consideredcapturing the movie in 3-D or 15-perf65mm Imax to render that world in anexciting way, but they eventuallydecided shooting anamorphic 35mmwas the way to go. (Stereo-D convertedthe picture to 3-D in post.) “Wedecided the versatility of anamorphic35mm was our best option,” saysZambarloukos. “I wanted to go withanamorphic mainly because I was inter-ested more in portraiture than land-scapes. If you’ve got an adventure filmwhere the ‘wow’ factor of actionsequences and visual effects is going tohave a really high impact, you need topay special attention to the portraiturework to really engage your audience.You need those moments to be exquis-ite, and the bokeh of anamorphic lensesis perfect for portraiture.”

Zambarloukos says he iscomfortable shooting at around a T4, sothe speed of anamorphic lenses was nota concern, “especially when focus was inthe hands of such gifted camera assis-tants as Bill Coe and Patrick McArdle.

“I like to shoot close-ups onPhot

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Opposite: The mightyThor (Chris Hemsworth)wields the hammerMjolnir as he charges intobattle. This page, top:Odin (Anthony Hopkins)casts his petulant son,Thor, out of Asgard’shallowed halls. Middle:The Warriors Three —(from left) Hogun(Tadanobu Asano),Fandral (Josh Dallas) andVolstagg (Ray Stevenson)— receive their marchingorders. Bottom: DirectorKenneth Branagh (left)lines up a shot withcinematographer HarisZambarloukos, BSC.


wider lenses, which can make minimumfocus a challenge with some anamor-phic lenses, but [senior technicaladviser] Dan Sasaki at Panavision wasable to tweak a set of G-Series lenses togive us better close focus,” he continues.“Dan also prepared a 20mm and 25mm,which gave us some really greatmoments, especially in terms of addingvolume to what would become a 3-Dshot. In those really wide shots, youreally feel the 3-D; it’s quite impressive.

“The other lenses we used a lotwere the 40-80mm and 70-200mmzooms, which are both really clean andfantastic,” he adds.

Zambarloukos used three Kodaknegatives for Thor:Vision3 500T 5219for stage and night work, Vision2 50D5201 for most day-exterior work, andVision3 250D 5207 for dimmerdaylight conditions. “In anamorphic,5201 is so sharp that it’s pretty damnclose to 65mm,” he attests. “Withtoday’s film stocks and the power of thedigital-intermediate process, it’sastounding how much we can see intothe highlights and shadows. I find it abit unfortunate that digital originationis starting to take over just as the combi-nation of motion-picture film and digi-tal post is achieving such incrediblethings. When we were shooting exteri-ors in New Mexico on Thor, we hadactors inside buildings and wanted tosee the depths of the desert behindthem; those highlights were at least 7 to8 stops brighter, and we got all thatdetail. That would never happen with adigital format.”

Thor was shot entirely with dual-camera coverage, a technique that bothBranagh and Zambarloukos prefer. “A-camera operator Peter Cavaciuti and B-camera operator Denis Moran weretotally in sync about how to performcreatively in such conditions,” says thecinematographer. “Of course, for largeaction sequences we’ll bring in morethan two cameras, but we’re alwaysworking with at least two.

“I know a lot of directors like tocross-shoot, but that is always acompromise photographically. The best

◗ Hammer of the GodsRight: Sent to Earth,Thor is found in the

desert by JaneFoster (Natalie

Portman) and her co-workers. Middle:

Romance begins tokindle between

Foster and the godof thunder. Bottom:

Branagh discussesthe scene with

Portman andHemsworth.


way to work with two cameras, Ibelieve, is to have them as closetogether as possible; you put the close-up camera as close to the eyeline as youcan, and the wider shot just off of that.Another benefit to shooting anamor-phic, even with two-camera coverage, isthat you give your sound team and yourboom operators a fighting chance to getin there when you’re shooting bothwide and close at the same time.”

Another interesting use of two-camera coverage was placing the A andB cameras perpendicular to oneanother. “Ken and I both love profiles,so we used them a lot,” Zambarloukossays. “I think the profile is a very inter-esting shape. It’s a very decisive angle,more so than a three-quarter position. Ilike being right on the axis of theeyeline or in profile, just like I like verywide shots and really close shots. I feelthe more you can be on the extreme endof things, the more you’re adding some-thing to the story with your composi-tion.

“We also made very liberal use ofDutch angles throughout Thor,” hecontinues. “The wider camera would beDutched one way, the close would beDutched the opposite, and we’d flipthat for the reverse shots. It was a kindof interpretation of the comic-bookstyle.”

One benefit of shooting a moviefor a comic-book company, he notes, ishaving continual access to great illustra-tors. “You pretty much have a team ofillustrators available at all times, andthat’s a wonderful resource,” saysZambarloukos. “We’d discuss how we’dlike to cover a scene, and then they’dcome back a day later with an amazingstoryboard for it.”

Those storyboards became thebasis for animatics. Then, after incor-porating AutoCad drawings from theart department, the visual-effects teamwould previsualize the more elaboratesequences. In addition, visual-effectssupervisor Wesley Sewell would create“tech vis” (technical visualizations) forthe department heads, 3-D previsvideos from an objective witness camera

Top and middle: Thor finds his hammer under lockdown in a compound controlled by themysterious agency known as Shield. Bottom: Zambarloukos and company prepare a shot of

Thor inside the Shield facility.

that would include set walls, green-screen areas, lighting, camera equip-ment, stunt equipment, the soundstageparameters and more. “With the techvis, we could immediately see where our problems might be,” saysZambarloukos. “For instance, we couldsee that a certain shot would be pointedup at the ceiling where there wasn’t anyset or greenscreen, and we could figureout how to solve that problem before wereached the set. It was also very easy tosee which shots should be crane shotsand which should be Steadicam shots,and so forth. We didn’t do tech vis for

every scene, but Wesley made themavailable to me for any scene wethought might be an issue.”

The production shot on locationin Galisteo, New Mexico, at a produc-tion ranch that was previously used forsuch films as 3:10 to Yuma (AC Oct. ’07)and Silverado (AC July ’85). Productiondesigner Bo Welch retooled theWestern backlot set to make it look likeMiddle America in the 1950s.“Kenneth and I talked a lot about thefeeling of Edward Hopper’s paintings,”says Zambarloukos. “We wanted toevoke that kind of feeling as a backdropfor this war of the gods that comes toEarth. ➣


◗ Hammer of the Gods

“The concept was to create

lighting that wouldallow us to wraparound the actors

and the set nomatter where wewere looking.”

Top: Thor kneelsbefore his father’s

throne. Middle andbottom: The Asgard

sets wereconstructed onstageat Raleigh Studios in

Manhattan Beach.Running over thelength of the setwere 24'x8' soft

boxes fitted with 12-Light Maxi-Brutes,

lined withUltrabounce and

fronted with LightGrid. Greenscreenswere provided by

The Rag Place.

“I have to say, I didn’t enjoyshooting in New Mexico very much —the seasons would change within thetime it took to drink a cup of coffee.The light changed constantly through-out the day. I did my best to maximizeour time by using Sunpath to figure outthe approach for the day; we’d useUltrabounce to soften the contrastwhen it was clear, or bring out a 60-by-40-foot Half Grid when the windsweren’t raging. The weather was verytrying. When we first arrived, there was 2 feet of snow on the ground, and we had to wait for it to melt to startshooting!”

The rest of Thor was shot onstageat Raleigh Studios in ManhattanBeach, Calif. One of the sets built therewas Asgard, and to underscore themythological city’s magical quality,Zambarloukos decided to use no practi-cal sources there at all. “We decidedthere would be the feeling of fire atnight and a kind of magical glow duringthe daytime, but no visible sources,” hesays. “I equated it to the greatRenaissance paintings: there’s awindow, and yes, there’s some kind ofsource, but the light has a kind of magi-cal feel.”

The show’s gaffer, Cory Geryak,recalls, “Early in prep, I walked into theoffice and found Haris holding a smallKino Flo over the model of the set of



Top: Thenefarious Loki

(Tom Hiddleston,right) approaches

Heimdall (IdrisElba), the

guardian of theRainbow Bridge

that leads in andout of Asgard.

Middle: Heimdallopens a portal toEarth. Right: Lokiuses the RainbowBridge to his ownmischievous ends.

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Asgard — he was playing with the lightto see its effects. It created a really beau-tiful look on the model, but given thesize of our set, we would need a KinoFlo about 60 feet long and 8 feet high toachieve the same effect!”

To create a comparable source,Geryak and key grip Al LaVerde built24'x8' boxes of truss rigging that werecovered on four sides by Ultrabounceand fronted with Light Grid. Insidethey mounted six 12-Light Maxi-Brutefixtures, each fed back to a dimmerboard for individual control. The fourcorners of each softbox were attached tothe stage perms with chain motors sothat the units could be raised, lowered ortilted to any angle. Several of the soft-boxes were lined up together to createone large soft source.

“The concept was to create lighting that would allow us to wraparound the actors and the set no matterwhere we were looking,” explainsZambarloukos. “We also needed a lot oflight at times. For some Photo-Sonics360-fps work, we needed an equivalentstop of around T11, so we had to have aplan that allowed us to go from a T4 toa T11 very quickly. I’m a big advocate ofdimmer boards and planning ahead. Wewere able to bring Scott Barnes, ourdimmer-board operator, onto theproduction early enough that he could


Top: Sif (JaimieAlexander, farleft) joins the

Warriors Three todo battle against

the menacingDestroyer. Middle:

Thor approachesthe Destroyerwhile a crane

follows theaction. Bottom:

With theDestroyer’s back

turned,Zambarloukos

makes his move.


take my awful pencil drawings, adaptthem to AutoCad drawings of the sets,and plug them into the dimmer boardto create cues and lighting plots.”

Geryak and LaVerde’s riggingcrews then took the lighting plots andhung fixtures according to exact specs.“Instead of the rigging crew hanging alight, plugging it in and then calling out

a number to the board operator, it wasall decided ahead of time, so when thefixtures were in place, they were alreadyprogrammed and we were ready to go,”says Zambarloukos.

One of the picture’s more chal-lenging lighting effects involved theRainbow Bridge, a connection betweenAsgard and any point in the universe.

The bridge is a shimmering, glowingstructure, and Zambarloukos andSewell worked to create something thatwould both allow for interactive lightingon set and facilitate CG work in post.

“We wanted to see the actors’reflections in the bridge as they cross it,”explains Zambarloukos. “This was a realchallenge for the visual-effects depart-ment. We ended up creating the bridgeout of Plexiglas and laminating the faceof the Plexiglas with 50/50 mirror adhe-sive, like they use in car windshields. Wecould light through the 50/50 layer to getlighting on the actors, and we’d also geta reflection of them and the greenscreenaround them, so the effects team couldkey out the Plexiglas structure and addthe Rainbow Bridge effect later.”

To achieve the interactive light-ing, Zambarloukos’ crew rigged rows ofPar cans under the bridge, wiring themto Barnes’ board. By programming asubtle chase sequence, the filmmakersachieved the desired “shimmering” look.

Regarding Thor’s 3-D release, thefilmmakers decided to shoot 2-D andconvert in post after they determinedthat capturing in 3-D would both


Right: Overheadsoft boxes

illuminate anAsgardian feast.For scenes set in

Asgard,Zambarloukos

notes, “wedecided therewould be the

feeling of fire atnight and a kindof magical glow

during thedaytime, but novisible sources.”Below: Branagh

preparesHemsworth for

Thor’s battle witha frost giant.

prolong the shooting schedule and limittheir creative options. “Kenneth and Iwanted to shoot on film, and we wantedvery dynamic camera coverage —aggressive crane and Steadicam shots,”notes Zambarloukos. “Kenneth isfantastic at choreographing actors andtwo cameras in a very exciting way. Wedidn’t want to compromise our camera

moves, and if you want to be free, youhave to shoot in 2-D. We knew wewould never be able to be this dynamicand still shoot film if we were shootingin 3-D.”

Sewell recalls, “When we wereprepping Thor, the 3-D conversiontechnologies were still being developedand were quite controversial. Knowing

how they had progressed, I had faiththat they would evolve to a robust pointby the time we reached post, so I recom-mended we do the conversion.

“We had incredible support fromMarvel,” he continues. “[Marvel execu-tive] Victoria Alonso led the charge bygetting seven companies to do conver-sion tests for us, using five minutes offootage from Iron Man . When wescreened the results, some felt flat orcard-like and others felt too deep andtreated, but Stereo-D’s work stood out— it felt real. In fact, it felt indiscerniblefrom stereoscopic cinematography.”

According to Sewell, Stereo-D’smethod involves working with actualgeometries, not just volumetric illusions.By rotoscoping out individual elementsof each frame of a 3-D shot, the stereo-graphers can create a 3-D wireframe ofthat element, be it a set piece or actor,and then re-map the original photogra-phy onto the 3-D element. By doingthis, they create a 3-D world inside the


52

Two cameras rollon a heated

conversationbetweenadoptive

brothers Thorand Loki. “For

large actionsequences we’ll

bring in morethan two

cameras, butwe’re always

working with atleast two,” saysZambarloukos.

computer that can then be re-photographed by two virtual cameras tocreate a new 3-D shot.

“One thing that helped usimmensely was that Marvel andParamount understood that in order totake this stereo conversion to a higherlevel, we needed to allot enough timefor the process,” notes Sewell. “Victoriahad scenes turned over to Stereo-D sixmonths ahead of schedule, and that leadtime was critical. In addition, sheinsisted on weekly reviews of all theconversion work, which meant thatKen, Haris and I were able to guide andadjust the process from the beginning.This meticulous management andguidance was also crucial to oursuccess.”

Zambarloukos concurs. “The realkey to the success of the 3-D conversionwas that Ken, Wesley and I reviewedevery shot and were constantly collabo-rating with the Stereo-D team,” he says.“If the filmmakers aren’t involved in the

process, then our intentions can’t reallybe known. That leaves too much roomfor interpretation.

“I am really, really happy that wedecided to shoot in 2-D and convert to3-D later,” he continues. “It freed us upto do what we wanted photographically,and it allowed us very fine control overthe 3-D effect of every shot, much morethan we’d ever have on set. In addition,by waiting until the film was editedtogether, we could carefully balance the3-D effects in every shot of a sequenceto provide the most dynamic look with-out fatiguing the eyes.

“I wouldn’t change anythingabout how we did the conversionprocess,” he concludes. “In fact, I’drecommend shooting 2-D for 3-Dconversion long before I’d decide toshoot 3-D itself.” ●

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53

TECHNICAL SPECS

2.40:1

Anamorphic 35mm and Digital Capture

Panaflex Millennium XL, Photo-Sonics 4ER

Panavision G-Series

Kodak Vision2 50D 5201;Vision3 500T 5219, 250D 5207

Digital Intermediate

3-D Conversion by Stereo-D


From the moment Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) drovehis Checker cab through a fog of sewer breath andcarbon monoxide, it was clear that Taxi Driver (1976)would be a movie of the street — a meaner sort of

street than even Martin Scorsese had previously depictedonscreen.

Shot during a New York summer that was reekingwith heat and a garbage strike, the movie captured a citythat resembled either Sodom or Gomorrah, but in eithercase was a mess. Entire neighborhoods looked bombed-out. Graffiti scarred the landscape. Hookers, pimps andpushers ruled a Times Square synonymous with seedinessand sleaze.

Gerald Ford had told the city to drop dead. It didn’tseem to need any encouragement.

Making a movie in the midst of that environmentmust have been dangerous. “No,” recalls cinematographerMichael Chapman, ASC. “Bobby [De Niro] fell asleeponce while driving. I suppose that was dangerous.”

The risks the filmmakers took may have been strictly

artistic, but working on the edge became the default posi-tion for Chapman and Scorsese, who later reteamed forthe equally intense Raging Bull (1980). In recognition ofhis work on these classics and many others, the Ojai FilmFestival last year presented Chapman with its LifetimeAchievement Award. (He was honored with the ASCLifetime Achievement Award in 2004.) This honor,combined with the recent digital restoration and re-releaseof Taxi Driver (see page 58), inspired AC to ask Chapmanto reminisce about both movies.

The backstory of Taxi Driver is virtually folkloric:how it portrayed a city in freefall, reflected what manyperceived as a sickness in the national soul, inspired anattempt on President Reagan’s life, and established anindelible character in American cinema. Bickle, an ex-Marine who suffers from headaches and insomnia,harbors a starkly apocalyptic vision of the city, and seeshimself as its angel of retribution. “Some day a real rainwill come and wash all this scum off the streets,” hedeclares.

Michael Chapman,ASC looks back at hiswork on Taxi Driver

and Raging Bull.

By John Anderson

•|•

TorturedSouls


Making Taxi Driver, Scorsese’sfourth feature, was a kind of guerrillawarfare for the entire productionteam. To capture most of the shots ofBickle at work in his cab, Chapmanrecalls, “we just piled into the cab,with Bobby driving. We’d have thecamera in the back of the car, and thepoor soundman was in the trunk! Wehad to swim like fish in the sea ofpeople, and it turned out to be exactlythe right thing to do.

“We had a low budget andlimited equipment — we weren’tbeing towed. We had a bunch of 110-volt batteries in the trunk of the cab,and there were very few lights thatcould be run with those batteries. Butit turned out to be the right thing todo, very much so, because we wanted[everything] to be bathed in the lightof New York. We didn’t have themoney, the time or the generators tooverpower the existing light; we hadto let the city light itself and thenbring down the Inkies lightingBobby to a level that matched.

“With filmmaking, mechanicsvery much affect aesthetics,” hecontinues. “If you’re stuck in a caband don’t have a generator, it willnaturally affect how you can lightthose scenes.”

A prime example of mechanicsaffecting aesthetics, he adds, is Jaws(1975), on which he served as the A-camera operator for another futureASC member, Bill Butler. “The sharkwouldn’t work, so they decided not toshow the shark. And that, of course,was the making of the movie.”

A lot of the camerawork inTaxi Driver conveys emotional ordramatic subtext. One memorableexample shows Bickle on the phonewith Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), apolo-gizing for their disastrous date. As itbecomes clear that she is brushinghim off, the camera slowly moves offDe Niro to gaze down an empty hall-way. “The camera is hideouslyembarrassed by this guy begging onthe phone,” Chapman explains.“After awhile, it can’t be thereT

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Opposite, top: As directorMartin Scorsese (crouchingat left) considers the scene,Robert De Niro checks hisscript and MichaelChapman, ASC leans in tometer the actor’s light for asetup in Taxi Driver.Opposite, bottom: De Niro, Scorsese andChapman enjoy a lightmoment between takes inthe ring on Raging Bull.This page, top: Bickleprepares to purchase adate with Iris. Middle:Chapman (far right)watches as cameraoperator and future ASCmember Fred Schulercaptures a fatefulencounter between Bickleand Sen. Palantine(Leonard Harris). Bottom:Scorsese, Chapman andSchuler (holding camera)discuss a shot of Bicklebehind the wheel.


Restoring a film can lead to surprisesboth great and small, and when the

Sony Pictures team began preparingfor an all-4K digital restoration of TaxiDriver (1976), they discovered that thefilm’s now-iconic “You talkin’ to me?”scene had been presented incorrectlyon home screens for years.

“Previous home-video transfersof the film were unsupervised, and wefound the framing of a number ofscenes, including Travis’ dialogue intothe mirror, to be incorrect when wecompared them to the correct framingbased on the film’s 1.85:1 aspect ratio,”says ASC associate member GroverCrisp, senior vice president of assetmanagement, film restoration anddigital mastering at Sony PicturesEntertainment. “In the mirror scene, inthe letterboxed 1.85:1 video releases,several shots look like Travis is talkingdirectly into the camera when, in fact,he’s talking into the mirror — the shotswere zoomed in to cut out the mirror’sframe. This was a surprise to us becausethere was really no reason to do it.”

Because Crisp was involved inSony Pictures’ previous restoration ofTaxi Driver , a photochemical under-taking in 1995, he was familiar withthe challenges the original cameranegative presented. “When the filmwas made, a number of prints werestruck off the OCN, which has exten-sive scratches and tears as a result,” saysCrisp. “By 1976 there was less and lessprinting like that being done, but priorto that it was a common practice.

“Taxi Driver ’s original neg wasour source for 99.9 percent of thisrestoration,” he adds. “There were justa couple of shots where we scanned a35mm interpositive.”

The negative (six spliced ABrolls, complete with the originalColumbia Pictures logo and dupe-negopticals) was scanned at 4K on a wet-gate scanner at Cineric in New York.The files were then sent to MTI Filmin Los Angeles for a frame-by-frame

digital cleanup, which included remov-ing dirt and scratches and repairingtorn frames. The picture was thengraded at Sony Pictures’ Colorworks,where colorist Scott Ostrowsky workedwith a FilmLight Baselight Eight,referencing printsthat had beenapproved by Martin Scorsese andMichael Chapman, ASC following thefilm’s 1995 restoration.

Both Chapman and Scorseseoffered notes and signed off on the final4K picture, but Crisp notes that theoverall mandate was fairly straightfor-ward: make the film look as good aspossible while staying true to the era inwhich it was made. “The filmmakersdidn’t have any inclination to modern-ize anything, and neither did we, so ourapproach was to be as true as possible totheir original vision,” he says.

This included maintaining thedesaturated look of the film’s climacticshootout, which takes place in an EastVillage flophouse. Concerned that thesequence’s extensive bloodletting mightearn the film an X rating, Scorsesedecided during the film’s postproduc-tion phase to desaturate that portion ofthe negative using the Chem-Toneprocess, which had been developed byTVC Laboratories to enhance the

speed of Eastman Color 5247 ( ACSept. ’75). In this case, the process gavethe blood a sepia-like tone.

“For previous home-video trans-fers, they tried to enhance that scene byadding a lot of red to the image in aneffort to create brighter-looking blood,and when you try to pump a color that’snot really there into an image, you riskcontaminating the whole frame, whichis what happened,” says Crisp. “As aresult, you see red not just in the blood,but also in Travis’ hair and in his jacket,for instance.”

The digital restoration, whichincludes a director-approved multi-channel sound mix created from theoriginal stereo tracks, premiered togreat acclaim at this year’s Berlinale. ABlu-ray release followed, and 4K and35mm theatrical exhibition will beongoing throughout the year, accordingto Crisp.

“With every restoration, thereare usually little things you can’t totallyfix that nag at you — it comes with theterritory,” he notes. “But I’m very happywith the way this one turned out, andby all accounts the filmmakers arehappy with it, too.”

— Iain Stasukevich

•|• A Classic Reborn •|•

Bickle takes aim at an imagined enemy in this frame from the 4K digital restoration of Taxi Driver.

anymore and goes away.”Chapman and Scorsese knew

they wanted to immerse viewers inBickle’s world. “Before we startedshooting, we swore up and down thatwe would never use a lens longer thana 75mm,” says Chapman. “In otherwords, we planned to use wider lensesthat would put the characters incontext, within the world aroundthem. Longer lenses tend to be exclu-sionary and aristocratic; they isolatethe figure you’re shooting becausethey have a shallow depth-of-fieldand all the rest. We very consciouslydecided that even in close-ups, wewould use fairly wide lenses.”

It was a strategy that they stuckto — with some exceptions. “You cancall us on that,” laughs Chapman,“because there are times when weused long lenses. But by and large, wedidn’t. We used mainly 40s and 50sand maybe a 75 in close-ups.”

Scorsese told Roger Ebert backin 1976 that Taxi Driver ’s violentcrescendo, in which Bickle murdersthree people in an attempt to rescueIris (Jodie Foster), a young prostitute,was shot “in slow motion, at 48frames… [because] we wanted

[Travis] to look almost like a monster,a robot, King Kong coming tosave Fay Wray.”

Speculating that Bickle didn’tactually survive the bloodbath, somecritics and fans have interpretedBickle’s final scene with Betsy as adying man’s hallucination. “I neverthought of it in those terms,” saysChapman. “It was never presented tome as a dream sequence, although ithas a dreamlike quality. But it’s just as[surreal] an idea that Travis is out onthe streets again, as screwy as ever.”

Getting Bickle to that point,and through the climactic shootout,required ingenuity, cunning … andchainsaws. The memorable finale wasshot in a condemned building onManhattan’s Upper West Side, andChapman’s crew was tasked withachieving an unusual shot specified inPaul Schrader’s script: a slow over-head dolly move that would surveythe scene after Bickle’s rampage. “I’dbeen up to the floor above our set andnoticed it had the same layout,”Chapman remembers. “I took a pieceof chalk and drew a line where wewanted the dolly to go, and then thegrips took chainsaws and cut through

Gaffer Richard Quinlan (left, leaning forward with hands on knees) and other crew stand by asgrip Edward Quinn (leaning toward dolly), Chapman, Scorsese and Schuler (standing behind

Scorsese) refine their plan. Standing at right (in profile) is AD Peter Scoppa, and at Chapman’simmediate left is actor Albert Brooks.

59


the floor — they literally cut downinto the apartment below.”

The crew then constructed asmall dolly so camera operator (andfuture ASC member) Fred Schulercould lie on his stomach and hold thecamera as the grips pulled him slowlyalong the track. The remarkablemove, which takes in the blood-spat-tered wall, the trail of bodies and evena lamp hanging from the ceilingbelow, ends when the camera reachesthe doorway, where police officershave assembled. Chapman says, “Wewent as far as we could go until theend of the apartment stopped us.Then [the camera] pulls back downthe hallway, past the other bodies, andends up outside the building.”(Schrader has said that in writing thatsequence, he was inspired by the cele-brated shot in Alfred Hitchcock’sFrenzy — shot by Gilbert Taylor,BSC — that begins at the killer’sapartment door, backs down the stairsand moves out into a crowdedLondon street, almost as though the

camera needs to flee what is happen-ing inside.)

The blood in the violent climaxwas desaturated in post in order toavoid an X rating, and as a result, itlooks more like transmission fluid.But red is a thematic artery that runs

through the entire film, from theneon sign at the Belmore (thecabbies’ late-night hangout), to thewalls of the Palantine campaign’sheadquarters, to the cup Bickledrinks from in his cab.

“In one sense, you can think of

Taxi Driver as a werewolf movie,”Chapman muses. “Think about it:even his hair changes! And the red,the blood, is just right for a werewolfmovie. Was it conscious? There arethemes that emerge in every moviethat aren’t necessarily decidedconsciously by the makers at thetime.”

Raging Bull, the story of 1940smiddleweight boxing champion JakeLaMotta (also portrayed by DeNiro), possesses a look that’s bothcoolly seductive and anachronistic.The tales behind the making of thefilm are the stuff of film-schoolobsessions. Chapman had never shotblack-and-white. He says he andScorsese found their inspiration inWeegee’s photographs, World WarII-era newsreels and films such asCity for Conquest and Sweet Smell ofSuccess, “black-and-white moviesabout New York, movies that encour-aged us.”

How they got what theywanted required a cool head and

◗ Tortured Souls

On location at a condemned building, the crew sawed through a floor to facilitate an overhead dolly shot that would capture the results of Bickle’srampage. Left: Before the set is dressed, Schuler (lying on dolly), Chapman (next to Schuler) and 1st AC Alec Hirshfeld rehears e the move. Middle: The team prepares to film, with grip Quinn leaning in to pull Schuler along. Right: AD Scoppa glances up during a break in filming the scene. A bloodied

Bickle is on the couch behind him, and police are gathered at the door in the foreground.

“You can think of Taxi Driver as a

werewolf movie.”

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some fancy footwork. “The boxing islike a ballet,” Chapman says of thecelebrated fight sequences, each ofwhich was choreographed and shot ina different fashion. “[The moves]were very, very, very precise, and withfew exceptions all the actual fightingwas [shot at] 24 frames [per second].There’s a shot of LaMotta betweenrounds where they pour water onhim, and we shot that really highspeed. The water just trickles down… it looks like Mantegna’s paintingof the deposition of Christ.

“Then, of course, there’s thefamous shot that begins at 24 frames,with LaMotta knocking the guydown and walking to the neutralcorner. The camera follows him andgoes to 48 frames, and then goes backto 24 frames as he goes in to fightagain. It’s all one shot.

“In general, though, we werevery careful to make almost all theboxing 24 frames, except at the veryend. It gets kind of surreal whenSugar Ray [Robinson] is beating himup, and there’s some high-speed stuffthere.”

Most of the fights were shot ina straightforward manner on dollies.“I remember doing one handheldshot,” says Chapman. “We weren’tsure it was going to work, and I guessI thought I’d take responsibility for it.We were on the face of one ofLaMotta’s opponents, whogets hitand goes down, and I brought thecamera down with him to the ground.I’m pretty sure that’s the only hand-held shot we did.”

One bit of ingenuity involvedthe rig that was attached to De Niroduring the fight scenes. “We rigged a

◗ Tortured SoulsTop: Jake

LaMotta (De Niro)finishes off anopponent in a

scene from RagingBull. Middle:

Chapman checksthe shot using an

Eyemo that wasrigged to De Niro

so he could throwpunches at the

camera as hewalked forward.Between De Niroand Chapman iskey grip EdwardQuinn. Bottom:

Scorsese works inthe locker room

with De Niro andJoe Pesci.

“The boxing is like a ballet.”


little Eyemo shooting back at Bobby’sface, so it was the equivalent of ahandheld shot,” says Chapman. “Ashe advanced and punched, the camerawent with him. You can feel himswinging, and you see enough of hisshoulders to know he’s punching, butyou can’t see the straps.”

There is also a noteworthySteadicam shot — the only one in thefilm. It begins with LaMotta warm-

ing up with his brother (Joe Pesci) inan arena’s dressing room, “and thenthe camera follows him all the waythrough the corridors under the ringand up the stairs, and then the cameralets him past and goes behind him,”says Chapman. “Everyone’s lookingat him, and at that point theSteadicam guy stepped onto a cranethat lifted him up for the big reveal ofthe arena. We tried to do another

Steadicam shot in the ring, but wescrubbed it after lunch because itwasn’t precise enough.”

For most of the film, the film-makers followed the same wide-lensstrategy they’d applied on TaxiDriver. There were exceptions,however. “One scene in Raging Bullwas done with long lenses, as we shotwith flames underneath the lens sothere would be ripples [of heat]coming up across the frame,”Chapman recalls. “The second SugarRay fight was also shot with longerlenses because we wanted to isolatethe fighters — by that time, youdidn’t need the social context somuch. We just wanted them to bespectacular opponents, so we usedlong lenses.

“If Taxi Driver is a werewolfmovie, then Raging Bull is an opera,and the fights are the soaring,wonderful arias, and they’re laid outwith enormous precision to be justthat,” he adds.

But, as with Taxi Driver, “thereare visual themes that emerged onlylater, and I don’t think we had themin mind at the time.”

For example, Chapman

◗ Tortured Souls

Above: Chapmandiscusses one of

Raging Bull ’spoolside shots with

De Niro andScorsese. Below:

The crew preparesto film De Niro

behind the wheel.

◗ Tortured Souls

observes that Vickie (CathyMoriarty) is associated with water“because she is like water. She slipsthrough Jake’s fingers; he can’t hold

onto her. You first see her at the pool,where she’s splashing with her legs.Then you see him in the rain, waitingfor his brother to tell him he’s got to

throw a fight, and they start talkingabout Vickie. Later, in their homemovies, he throws her into the water.She’s associated with liquidity, some-thing he can’t grasp.

“I, at least, was not consciouslymaking those connections, but theyemerge. The scene that introducesher shows young men throwingthemselves off a building into thepool, as though they’re committingsuicide. It’s uncanny how well itworks itself out as a metaphor.”

Metaphors may occur acciden-tally, but slow motion is deliberate,and the use of it in Raging Bull isprecise and calculated. “The thingsthat are slow motion tend to be Jake’spoint of view,” says Chapman. “Theygo to a social thing at a church,Vickie’s there, and the Mafia guyscome and she goes away with them,and when she walks away and he’swatching her, it’s all slow motion.When you first see her sitting at the

After retiring from the ring and packing on some pounds, LaMotta settles into domestic life with Vickie (Cathy Moriarity) and their children.

66

edge of the pool and kicking her legs,that’s slow motion.”

The last stage of classic Italianopera, Chapman notes, was verismo,a style that developed in the 19thcentury and comprised stories aboutordinary people. “The characters inRaging Bull are exactly those people— they just happen to have moved tothe Bronx. Otherwise, they’re thefolks in Cavalleria Rusticana orPagliacci, and it’s given away in thehome-movie sequences. Most of themusic in Raging Bull is popularmusic of the times, but in one of thehome-movie sequences they play anEntr’acte, an orchestral piece fromCavalleria Rusticana, which gives theshow away.”

With the exception of the ringsequences, most of Raging Bull isshot “extremely simply: the cameralooks here and looks there,” hecontinues. “The fights are elaborate,yes, but elsewhere, if you think back,

[the camerawork] couldn’t be simpler.We may have dollied along the streetwith people talking, but by and large,the camera shows the people as theydo things. When it gets into the ring,it swoops and has a wonderful time.”

Both Taxi Driver and RagingBull are considered among the bestfilms of their respective decades,maybe of all time. One is a feverdream with a hallucinogenic palette,the other a melodrama in black-and-white. Chapman is proud of both, butnotes, “What I did would havevanished into the dustbin of filmhistory if the stories, directing andacting hadn’t very kindly carried mywork along.” ●

Chapman surveys the scene during the filming of Raging Bull.

67

processing and CMOS-imager fabrication techniques, single-imager systems that add color filters over the sensor’s individ-ual photosites in various patterns, or “arrays,” have alsoemerged.

Tri-Imager SystemsThree-chip digital-imaging systems evolved out of the

2⁄3"-video market of the 1970s. Those cameras used variousvacuum tubes as their photosensitive image pickup devices.Because CCDs dominated in early digital-video camerasystems, they were the first sensors to be incorporated into thiscamera architecture.

With three-CCD cameras, an object-image passingthrough a lens is directed through a beam-splitting prism thatseparates its red, green and blue light components (through theuse of various interference filters) before focusing each onto aseparate 2⁄3" CCD sensor. Each sensor then captures full-reso-lution data for the corresponding color-filtered channel.


Last month we established the two dominant forms ofimaging sensors in use today. In this article, we will exam-ine how these sensors are applied in specific digital-imag-ing platforms, and how their image data is processed and

delivered to various recording mechanisms.

Solutions for ColorThough a photosite on a typical imager can produce a

range of analog electrical signal strength (representing thebrightness at a given point in an object-image being projectedonto the sensor), the photosite itself cannot differentiatebetween the color wavelengths of the light being collected.Camera engineers have therefore devised some clever ways ofcapturing and interpreting this color information.

The first of such strategies is using three separateimagers attached to a prism, with each imager filtered forsensitivity to a separate R (red), G (green) and B (blue) colorexposure. Thanks to recent advances in color demosaic

DecodingDigitalImagers: Part 2

An analysis of thesensors used in today’s

digital-imagingsystems.

By Christopher Probst

•|•


“The 2⁄3-inch format was specifi-cally designed to empower the develop-ment of the first truly portable videocameras,” notes Larry Thorpe, nationalmarketing executive of Canon’sBroadcast and CommunicationDivision. “This image format became soubiquitous worldwide that it continuedwhen the CCD arrived in the mid-1980s, resulting in the first 2⁄3-inchstandard-def CCD camera systems. Inthe 1990s, the first 2⁄3-inch HDcameras appeared, and a few years later,the first 24P HD system was developed[by Sony, with the CineAlta HDW-F900].

“A fundamental philosophyunderlying [the design of] early HDmotion-imaging systems was the desireto have complete interchangeability ofall available HD lenses, both cine-styleand video, among all cameras that usedthe 2⁄3-inch image-format platform.However, by any definition, the 2⁄3-inchformat is a small image. Though 2⁄3 inchequates to an almost 17mm-diametercircle, the actual specified image formatis only 11mm diagonal, which poses aunique challenge to HD lens design.”

With any digital imager, as thesize of the sensor is decreased, thedemand on the quality of lenses — theirMTF performance capabilities — isproportionally increased. Thorpeexplains, “The size of an HD 2⁄3-inchsensor is 9.6mm x 5.4mm. The MTFissue for any system is, ‘How many linepairs can we pump through 1mm?’ Inthe lens-camera system, we look sepa-rately at resolution horizontally andvertically primarily because there aredifferent mechanisms going on in bothdirections; we hope the lens is balancedin both directions, but in the camera itcan be different. A typical 2⁄3-inchimager has 1,080 samples vertically.Nyquist says that if you have 1,080vertical samples, you can only resolve540 line-pairs. Now, it just so happensthat a 2⁄3-inch sensor is 5.4mm tall.That means the lens has to transfer 100line-pairs/mm — with high contrast—if that image is to appear sharp. With35mm-sized sensors, the lens only needs

A three-CCD prism block with three separate sensor circuit boards attached.


to resolve 20-25 line-pairs/mm to havethe [sufficient] contrast. Because 2⁄3-inch sensors shrunk the image formatdown so much, the [lenses’] opticalperformance had to be pumped up.

“If you dice that same 2⁄3-inchsensor in the horizontal direction,” hecontinues, “you’ll see that the final33Mhz filter required in all HDcameras actually helps a bit — we onlyneed 81 line-pairs/mm for HD. [ForSD, we need 32 line-pairs/mm.] That’s2.7 times more information that has tobe transmitted through the lens. So

there is a huge difference between anHD lens and an SD lens.”

Adding to this increased opticaldemand in the 2⁄3" format is the beam-splitting prism in the optical path.“Clearly, there is an optical complexityin this system that is absent from anyfilm camera,” says Thorpe. “The lensand the prism operate as an integraloptical system, and each must be of thehighest optical quality to ensure that theoverall HD imaging performance isoptimized and the optical aberrationsminimized. The latter is especially chal-

lenging within the context of the tri-imager’s 11mm diagonal image format.”

Steve Mahrer, senior technologistfor Panasonic’s Production and MediaServices Division, expands on this idea.“With a three-CCD prism assembly,there are some unique aspects that arequite important and often overlooked.First, the light coming through the lensis split optically into three wavelengths[red, green and blue] by the prism, butyou’re actually not losingany light; you’rejust channeling the appropriate wave-length through to its imager — red tothe red imager, green to the greenimager and blue to the blue imager. Thisdiffers greatly from a color-filter overlay,where you are essentially throwing awaytwo-thirds of the light at each [photo-site]. With a three-imager system, youcan actually use that light, and thatmakes the camera significantly moreefficient and sensitive. That’s quiteimportant, especially with smallerimagers.”

A strong attribute of the tri-imager configuration is its ability toprovide full-resolution bandwidth foreach primary color channel. Mahrerelaborates, “When a tri-imager camerahas three native 1920x1080 CCDimagers — one each for red, green andblue — that means it’s a 4:4:4 camera allthe way through from image capture toimage processing and then to recording.There’s no deBayering required, nointerpolation, no black magic. It’s justtaking the raw RGB information fromthe imagers and processing it. That’squite important, especially when you’redoing any sort of color-specific worksuch as greenscreen photography, whereyou could get color aliasing from a Bayerpattern.”

An additional consideration of2⁄3" tri-imager systems is that theyproduce depth-of-field characteristicssimilar to those of the 16mm format, soyou must use lenses that are scaledaccordingly. This has been a significantfactor in the push to develop single-imager 35mm-sized sensors that can usethe vast array of 35mm cine lenses.

◗ Decoding Digital Imagers: Part 2

The first commercially produced CCD camera was developed by RCA and released in 1984. The camerafeatured three 1⁄2" Frame-Transfer CCDs, each 403 x 485 pixels. RCA won an Emmy Award for its

development. Below: A sample of some of the tri-imager camera systems on the market today and theirrespective photosite structures.


Single-Imager SystemsThe last decade has seen an ever-

increasing rise in the development andimplementation of single-imager digi-tal-camera systems. This is due not onlyto increasing fabrication capabilities, butalso to improved image-processingalgorithms and color-filtering tech-niques.

“The single-imager system inher-ently enjoys the same optical simplicityas a 35mm film camera,” says Thorpe.“Absent an optical relay system, itpresents the same single focal plane as afilm camera, so it can use standard filmlenses. Additionally, single-imagercameras employ a single, proprietary,large-format, solid-state image-sensorsystem — eitherCCD or CMOS —whose function is to implement anopto-electronic transformation of thefocused object-image, [similar to] theopto-chemical transformation thattakes place in the film camera.”

However, unlike film emulsions,current semiconductor-fabricationtechniques cannot adequately allow asingle point on a sensor to be sensitive to(and able to capture a value for) each ofthe three primary colors. (However,Foveon manufactures an imager incor-porating this idea for use in single-sensor still-photography cameras.) So inorder to derive RGB color information,CCD and CMOS single-imagersystems require a color-filter array —applied directly to the sensor’s photo-sites — to designate a prescribedportion of the photosites as green-sensi-tive, blue-sensitive and red-sensitive.

Color-Filter Arrays CFAs perform the same function

as the tri-imager’s prism assembly, butinstead of separating light to individualsensors, they divide incident light tospecific photosites. Thorpe elaborates,“The separation of the incident lightinto the requisite RGB color represen-tations is accomplished with a mosaic offilters that individually applies a primarycolor to encompass each [photosite]within the imager’s array in a predeter-mined pattern. Precision interpolation

— real time or non-real time, depend-ing on the manufacturer — then takesplace in the digital-video-processingsystem to reconstruct the separate RGBcomponents.”

John Galt, senior vice president ofPanavision’s Advanced Digital ImagingGroup, notes, “The filters used in aCFA are basically pigments lithograph-ically printed onto a sensor during fabrication. They are typically absorp-tion-type filters that have much less effi-ciency than a three-CCD’s interferencefilters, which have about 90-percentefficiency. So when you’re building acamera with a CFA, the color and satu-ration level of the filters greatly affectthe sensitivity of the camera.”

“Careful selection of the colorfilters is important,” cautions GlennKennel, president and CEO of Arri,“because that defines the response of thesensor to color and mixed illuminants,as well as the overall color gamut of thesensor. That applies whether you’re talk-ing CCD or CMOS. However, theCMOS sensor’s now-superior sensitiv-ity gives us more flexibility in workingwith the color filters; we can make theresponses broader and at the same time

tailor them to creating clean color rendi-tion and gamut.”

Several types of CFAs are usedtoday. The most prevalent is the BayerCFA, named for its inventor, Bryce E.Bayer of the Eastman Kodak Co. In1975, Bayer filed for a patent for hisCFA pattern. He described a scenario inwhich green (or “luminance-sensitive”)elements are arranged in a checkerboardgrid with their corresponding red andblue (“chrominance-sensitive”) elementsin a ratio of 2:1. (See illustration above.)

The raw sampling output of aBayer-filtered sensor is often referred toas a Bayer-pattern image. To obtain afull-color image out of this anisotropicarray of color information, variousdemosaicing algorithms must be used to

A sample of some of the single-imager camera systems on the market today and their respectivephotosite structures. Below: A Bayer color-filter-array structure.


combine and interpolate a full-spectrumcomposite of red, green and blue valuesfor each point in the digital-outputpixels. Today, many systems allow thisdemosaic processing to be done in-camera (generating a video-outputsignal that can be monitored on set andrecorded to tape or tapeless formats),while others save the raw, unprocessedBayer data for later processing, demo-saicing and transcoding into variousdelivery specs.

“You have a fundamentaldilemma with the Bayer CFA that youdo not have with a three-chip camera,”notes Thorpe. “With the Bayer pattern,you will see lots of green photosites inan odd quincunx structure, eachsurrounded by two reds and two blues.If you break them apart to look at themseparately, you will find the resultingpatterns for R, G and B [picturedabove].

“We see that with the Bayerpattern, half the samples, both horizon-tally and vertically, are green, while theremaining half are allotted to red andblue. The red and blue patterns arearranged in a classic cardinal structure

— they don’t have that quincunx look— but there are big gaps between them.The fill factor is very big in the red andthe blue. The dilemma with the Bayerpattern is that depending on the totalnumber of photosites, you may have agood sampling resolution with thegreen, but only half that resolution withthe red and blue.

“With any sampling,” he contin-ues, “you have to contend with aliasing,but with a single-sensor system you canonly use one Optical Low-Pass Filter.So which sampling resolution do youdesign it for? Do you favor the green orthe red and blue? If you opt to filter forthe green, you’ll get good green resolu-tion performance with a degree ofgreen-aliasing control, but there will bea whole lot of aliasing on the red and theblue. [See figure #1.]

“The other option is to use anOptical LPF that properly handles thered and blue aliasing, leaving you arespectable red and blue response butreally clobbering the green resolution.[See figure #2.]

“I recommend a compromise: usean Optical LPF that falls somewhere in

the middle and live with a certainamount of green aliasing and a higheramount of red and blue aliasing,” heconcludes. [See figure #3.] “You willfind this aliasing with a test chart veryeasily, but fortunately, the real world ispretty forgiving!”

Bayer-pattern single-sensor sys-tems are being used more and more indigital-imaging platforms today, includ-ing Arri’s D-20, D-21 and Alexa; RedDigital Cinema’s One and Epic; VisionResearch’s Phantom cameras; andWeisscam’s HS-2. Sony, long apurveyor of CCD technology, has alsobegun using Bayer-pattern CMOSsensors with such cameras as thePMW-F3, as well as the new F65,which uses an 8K diagonally rotatedBayer-pattern super 35 CMOS sensor.Most DSLR cameras capable ofrecording HD video also utilize Bayer-pattern sensors.

Demosaic ProcessingAfter the full-spectrum incident

light projected by the lens onto thesensor has passed through the color-mosaic filter structure and is collectedby the photosites below, the camera’sdigital image-processing functionsinterpolate that information and assem-ble usable color information for eachderived digital-output pixel. With aBayer-pattern imager, this process iscalled demosaicing.

The process of interpolating, or“deBayering,” the color-matrix infor-mation from a Bayer CFA sensor canfirst be looked at from a single, four-pixel cluster with two diagonallyoriented green photosites bracketed by asingle value for red and a single value forblue. Using this information to derivefull RGB values for each of the photo-sites, however, cannot yield 4:4:4sampling. (For more details on colorsampling, see “The Color-SpaceConundrum,” AC Jan. ’05 and April ’05,or visit www.theasc.com/magazine/jan05/conundrum/index.html.)

In this worst-case scenario, thesefour pixels would represent a colorsampling of 4:2:0. One red pixel would


A breakdown of the Bayer CFA into its separate RGB color paths.


be used to determine the red for all fourpoints, and one blue pixel would deter-mine the blue values for all fouroutputted digital pixels. Fortunately,with today’s powerful image-processingcapabilities and sophisticated demosaic-ing algorithms, this is not how typicaldeBayering is accomplished. Instead oflooking at a grouping of only fourphotosites to determine the color valuesfalling in that general area of the sensor,today’s Bayer-processing techniquesutilize a much larger grid of photositedata to synthesize the final image, andcan deliver efficiencies of at least 80percent.

“With Bayer-pattern-imagingcameras, you have to look at all of thevalues around a given [photosite] area,typically a group of around seven pixels,and then interpret and calculate fromthose values what one [digital-outputpixel] value will be,” says Galt. “Bayer’sinvention goes back to the 1970s, sothere have been almost 40 years ofdevelopment in deBayering algorithms.In fact, today’s demosaic processing iscontextual; it can understand if it islooking at a sky, greenery or graphicsand then processes that informationaccordingly.”

Because the single-sensor imagermust divide its photosite count amonggreen-sensing, red-sensing and blue-sensing elements, full-resolution infor-mation from that sensor is not possible.Kennel explains, “In dealing with aBayer filter array, you need to recon-struct a clean, high-quality signal. If youreconstruct that Bayer data back to itsfull resolution, you’re going to havesome color artifacts because you’resampling the red and the blue at half theresolution of the green — the color issub-sampled and has to be interpolatedback up. Conversely, when you look atan over-sampled image, such as a 2Kimage derived from a 3K or 4K sensor,you get a cleaner, sharper image thanwhen reconstructing the direct resolu-tion of the sensor.”

Thorpe expands, “With the greenpixels that had gaps between themwhen you looked at them horizontally


and vertically, if you look at them diag-onally, you can see that there is a contin-uous stream of pixels. I marvel at thecleverness of the Bayer pattern, becausewhat it’s effectively doing is diagonalsampling. Now, this is not intuitive, butwhat it adds up to is that it gives you the‘beans’ in terms of the green-photositesampling — you get the full benefithorizontally and vertically — but youlose resolution diagonally. That’s notintuitive. You would think that diagonalsampling would favor resolution diago-nally.”

Galt explains, “When you lookaround you in the real world, almost allthe lines in our environment are eitherhorizontal or vertical, so sampling in adiagonal direction is a good idea. You’reless likely to get aliases that way. In fact,it’s an old trick that was used in half-tone photographic reproduction innewspapers. The early lithographersrealized that if they rotated their [half-tone] ‘screen’ by 45 degrees, the screenbecame less visible. That same conceptapplies to the Bayer pattern.”

Alternative CFAsThere are several alternative

methods of color filtering a single-imager system to capture color infor-mation. Some of these alternatives arevariations on the Bayer RGGB pattern,

such as the RGBE [red, green, blue,emerald] filter arrangement, whichsplits half of the green-filtered photo-sites into alternating green and emerald[blue-green] filter overlays within theBayer mosaic structure. The CYGM[cyan, yellow, green, magenta] CFA,however, introduces a wholly differentcolor-pattern arrangement.

Next to Bayer, perhaps the mostpopular CFA pattern in single-sensordigital motion-picture-imaging systemstoday is the striped-pattern CFA,which attacks the color-filteringconcept in a different manner. Withthis CFA structure, the red, green andblue filters are arranged in verticalcolumns, with each featuring onecontinuous “stripe” of color. Red, greenand blue are adjacent to one another,and this RGB pattern is repeated acrossthe sensor.

Panavision’s Genesis was the firstcamera to incorporate a Super 35-sizedCCD imager with a striped CFA. Withphotosite dimensions measuring 5760(H) x 2160 (V), the system uses “macrocell” groupings of two rows by threecolumn stripes — one of each color —of its photosites to derive a full-band-width 1920 x 1080 RGB output. Withthis over-sampling structure, a singlemacro cell features two red, two greenand two blue photosites to derive a

single RGB digital-output pixel value.(See illustration below.)

Global and Rolling ShuttersUnlike film cameras, digital

imagers do not require a physical shut-ter. However, all digital-imaging sensorsperform some form of electronic shut-tering — a prescribed interval of lightgathering — by means of the sensor’stiming circuitry. There are two forms ofelectronic shuttering in today’s digitalimagers: global and rolling.

A global shutter exposes andcaptures the entire imager’s photositearray simultaneously. At the beginningof a set timing cycle, the entire frame ofthe sensor’s imaging area is exposed tothe object-image being projected by thelens, and this image information iscollected for a set period. When thatpredetermined period has elapsed, thesensor stops gathering light informationand outputs its data before resettingitself. This is analogous to the way a filmcamera exposes a single frame of film.

With a rolling shutter, the inter-val of information gathering does notoccur simultaneously. A rolling shutteractually “exposes” different portions ofthe sensor’s frame at different points intime, rolling its scan progressively fromtop to bottom through the frame.Because a rolling shutter collects itsexposure information row by row atdifferent moments to create a singleimage frame, it can cause problems ifyou’re photographing certain types ofmotion or working in rapidly changinglight levels.

“With a rolling shutter, motioncan be a problem both horizontally andvertically,” states Mahrer. “You can getsloping or tilting [distortion known as‘skew’] when panning, or when youhave fast-moving objects in frame. Aworst-case scenario would be taking aCMOS camera with a slow rollingshutter into a badly vibrating helicopter.The whole image would ‘wobble’ andlook like you’re using a lens made ofJell-O.

“Global shuttering certainly ismuch more advantageous,” continues


Mahrer. “Although global shutters areavailable in CMOS imagers, they aremuch more complicated devices andmore expensive to make.”

Partial-frame exposures can alsooccur with rolling shutters when there isa fast-changing lighting event in thescene — a flash of lightning, forinstance. With the rolling shutter, thisfast lighting change might be capturedbetween two partial frames of exposure,with half of the bright, light-flashedframe appearing at the bottom of oneframe and the second half of the flashcaptured at the top of the next frame.An experienced eye can detect thesepartial frames.

Why not use global shutters forall imagers? The fabrication techniquesrequired to include global shuttering ina sensor’s function is fundamentallydifferent between CCDs and CMOSimagers. By design, all CCD sensors areable to deliver global electronic shutter-ing with little impact to the imager’s fillfactor. To implement the same elec-tronic-shuttering scenario in a CMOSimager, you must introduce several moretransistors per photosite, and this greatlyimpacts the fill factor and, in turn, thesize of the photosensitive area of thephotosite. (The additional shutteringtransistors must be placed in whatwould otherwise be an optically sensi-tive area of each photosite.)

“Rolling shutters [on CMOSsensors] cause the integration period foreach row of photosites to happen at aslightly different period in time,” saysJeff Zarnowski, chief technology officerof Panavision Imaging. “Row 0 is readand reset to start integration for readingthe next frame. Row 1 is then read andreset to integrate for reading the nextframe, and the process is repeated for allrows. Global shuttering allows thecollected image-signal charge for allpixels to be stored at once, but thisrequires an extra transistor to indepen-dently reset the pixel separately from thesense node, and this separate reset alsocauses an increase in noise of at least3dB.”

Color BalancingBy design, a digital-imaging

sensor captures light differently than afilm negative does. Film stocks aremanufactured to produce a neutral colorresponse for a specifically balanced illu-mination source (daylight or tungsten),whereas a digital imager can be adjustedelectronically to match its spectral-response output characteristics to a vari-ety of illumination sources. For example,

in order for a digital imager to display agray card as gray, it must balance thegain applied to the red, green and blueoutput signals from the sensor.Depending on the color balance of thelight illuminating the scene, the amountof gain applied to each signal can varygreatly.

The spectral response, sensitivityand dynamic range of a sensor are alsogreatly influenced by the color proper-


ties/performance of the various filters(IR, Optical Low-Pass and UV)placed in front of it, as well as any CFAmask pigments that might be utilized.In fact, each of these color-affectingelements is chosen and optimized bymanufacturers to meet individualrequirements; the net result is a generalcolor-temperature range in which thelowest overall gain to the red, green andblue signals is applied, yielding the leastpossible noise in the image. It is thissweet spot that is generally regarded asthe “native” color temperature of thesensor.

“I like to think of a digitalcamera’s gains as a balance beam withthe green value in the middle, and theblue and red on either side of it,” saysGalt. “So, without changing the gain ofthe green, in order to color balance acamera to a certain illuminant, we haveto pivot around the green value,increasing or decreasing the blue or red.If the camera in question is balanced toa tungsten illuminant, you will havevery little blue light [collected from thesensor], and in order to balance thatcamera back to equal outputs, you’llneed to boost that blue signal, addingabout 6dB of gain to the blue channelfor any CCD or CMOS camera. Thatwill give you a surfeit of red andinfrared light, which means you’ll haveto reduce gain in the red signal.

“If that same camera is balancedfor daylight, however,” he continues,“you’ll have plenty of blue signal,making the [image] appear less noisy,and will actually have to decrease theblue gain by about 3dB while increas-ing the red gain by about the sameamount.”

Digital Processing/Image HandlingThe transformation of the

captured image information into adigital signal requires several samplingsteps and A/D conversions, comprisingwhat is otherwise known as imageprocessing. The details of this process-ing depend on the various approachesutilized by individual camera-system

manufacturers and the options incor-porated into their sensor/cameradesigns.

Galt notes, “With a CMOSdevice, which has an amplifier with anumber of transistors, diodes andcapacitors, you can get much greatervariation in output than with a simplerCCD imager. One of the terms for thatvariation is Fixed Pattern Noise.

“Now, no sensor’s pixels areentirely flawless,” he continues. “In fact,there are different classifications ofimperfections in a sensor: Class 1, Class2, etc. But even on a Class 1 sensor,

there are bad pixels. Bad pixels,however, are very rarely completely‘dead.’ They usually have a slightlyhigher or lower output. And when youlook at signal-to-noise ratios, that’sreally what you’re looking at. Noise isseen as a variation in the output. Indigital image processing, however, youcan deal with FPN. When you turn onthe camera and do a ‘black balance,’ thecamera is sending a signal throughevery one of these pixels, creating a mapof the sensor and then storing a seriesof corrections for the variations.”

A system’s digital-processing andimage-handling specs greatly influencethe performance and characteristics of agiven camera. Bit depth, color gamut,

color sampling, sharpening, raw outputvs. other signal-transmission interfaces,and data compression all affect theimaging characteristics of a particularsystem. A separate article would berequired to address these factors indetail, but their importance in theimage-performance chain should benoted.

The idea of a “raw” signal outputvs. a processed one has become increas-ingly common in digital motion-picture cameras. Arri’s digital cameras,Red’s cameras, Thomson’s Viper andVision Research’s Phantom line allfeature raw-output options as part oftheir recommended post pipelines.Each manufacturer has its own defini-tion of “raw,” however. Panavision andSony approach this idea differently,offering extended contrast-curve char-acteristics with their Panalog and S-loggamma curves, respectively.

“The Alexa offers the ArriRawformat, which is essentially everythingthat’s coming off the sensor in anuncompressed raw signal,” says Kennel.“By storing that onto S.two or Codexrecorders and taking it into post, youcan resize or process that uncom-pressed data to get every last bit ofdetail out of it. The promise of a rawformat is that the post algorithms andcodecs can improve over time.”

Digital-Output StandardsPart of a digital-camera system’s

image processing is to structure outputsignals that can be delivered to andinterface with the outside world. Tohelp standardize digital-image specs,the major Hollywood studios joinedtogether in 2002 to form the DigitalCinema Initiatives. As stated on theircharter, “DCI’s primary purpose is toestablish and document voluntaryspecifications for an open architecturefor digital cinema that ensures auniform and high level of technicalperformance, reliability and qualitycontrol.”

Notes Thorpe, “DCI came upwith a term I quite like: they describethe structure of a digital image format


“The promise of a raw format

is that the post algorithms

and codecs can improve over time.”

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as a ‘container.’ There can be all sorts ofthings going on in the imaging sectionof a given camera system, and withinthis container there can be a variety ofanalog content that can be variable insharpness and dynamic range, depend-

ing on the number of photosites, etc.,but each manufacturer will have to handover one or more of DCI’s establishedstandards, which very specificallydescribe the digital structure to be deliv-ered.”

Recording The last decade has seen the

introduction of a number of newoptions for recording and storing video-signal-output information from digitalmotion-picture cameras. Historically,such recording and storage was tape-based, but today many tapeless, file-based recording mechanisms exist,including hard drives and CompactFlash cards.

“Logically, using a very thin pieceof plastic film and writing to tiny tracksthat move over a cylindrical, spinningtransport has become a mature technol-ogy,” says Mahrer. “About eight yearsago, Panasonic started the P2 line ofcameras, which utilize solid-statememory cards as the recording mecha-nism. P2 cards have always been veryfast, but initially they were only record-ing about 100Mb/s of data. The largestP2 card we have today is 64GB, andthat can hold almost 90 minutes of D5-level 4:2:2 HD, recording using


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the AVC-Intra codec. However, thetoolkits for encoding are much moreadvanced now, and the memory hasbecome bigger and cheaper. We can dotoday with 100 Mb/s what D5 did with235 Mb/s about 10 years ago.”

Today there are almost as manysolid-state recording media as there aredigital-camera manufacturers. With theAlexa, Arri has adopted Sony’s SxSmemory-card format, recording ProRes4:4:4, 4:2:2 HQ, 4:2:2 Lite or Proxyfiles deBayered internally. Red recentlyunveiled its SSD memory cards, whichcan store up to 256GB of RedCoderaw-image data on a single card. (Redwill continue to support the use of CFmemory as well, but with the release ofthe Epic, it will phase out older, hard-drive-based RedDrives in favor ofSSDs.)

Meanwhile, Panasonic continuesits successful P2 line of memory cardsand has recently introduced the higher-resolution codec AVC-Ultra, which can

record H.264/AVC data rates of morethan 400Mb/s in some of its 12-bit4:4:4 1080p/2K/4K implementations.And with the recent announcement ofits F65 4K camera platform, Sony alsointroduced its 1TB SR memory-cardformat, a RAID 5 format that canachieve data-transfer rates of up to5Gb/sec.

“That’s one of the beautifulthings about a non-physical format: youcan change the file format, the codecand the bit rate, and the cards don’tcare,” summarizes Mahrer. “There is nofragility of tape, no impact sensitivity,and you don’t need a $100,000 deck toplay the material back; you just plug itinto your computer. Memory-basedrecording and high-efficiency codecshave really revolutionized the industry.”

Looking ForwardWith the current push for more

single-imager CMOS sensors, andgiven Moore’s Law’s prediction for

technological advances, it seems wehave only scratched the surface of thedigital imager’s potential. Arri hasgained strong support for its large-pixel-size and wide-dynamic-range Alev-IIIsensor in the Alexa; Red has a working5K Bayer-pattern imager packed in avery small body with its Epic; and thenew 8K sensor used in Sony’s F65 4Kcamera system is just around the corner.The future for digital imagers looksbrighter, sharper and faster with eachpassing day.

In addition to interviews by theauthor, both installments of this articleincorporated material written by the interviewees, including John Galt andLarry Thorpe’s presentation “DemystifyingDigital Camera Specifications” and inter-nal white papers by Galt, Thorpe and JeffZarnowski. ●


Highlights from NAB

The National Association of Broadcasters conference recentlywrapped, and AC was on the floor to take a look at the latest toolsand technology that impact the cinematographer’s craft. In additionto new gear for the set, the show shined a spotlight on the latestadvances in the post arena. “Workflow” was the word on everyone’slips, and the software, firmware and hardware on display promise tostreamline images’ transition from the camera through to finalpresentation while guarding the intended vision throughout. Here isa look at some noteworthy developments.

Technicolor Unveils CineStyle for Canon DSLR WorkflowsTechnicolor and Canon U.S.A. have formed a strategic

alliance to leverage Technicolor’s color science in the development ofa suite of creative tools for cinematographers to facilitate greaterusability and integration of Canon EOS DSLR cameras into themotion-picture-production pipeline.

The first in the new suite of tools is Technicolor’s CineStyle, apicture profile for Canon EOS DSLR cameras that allows for greaterdynamic range in the image, taking full advantage of the Canonimaging chip set and giving cinematographers and their post part-ners greater flexibility in finishing their projects. Created by Techni-color color scientists with the cooperation of Canon U.S.A., CineStyleallows for greater artistic freedom during shooting, as the look doesnot have to be locked in on set. Coupled with Technicolor’s DigitalPrinter Lights, CineStyle will provide a seamless pipeline from princi-pal photography into editorial for projects shot with Canon EOSDSLR cameras.

CineStyle is loaded onto the Canon EOS camera using thestandard EOS Utility software provided with the cameras; when it isselected in the camera, it puts the standard H.264 Rec 709 colorspace into a log color space. Though CineStyle is designed and opti-mized for Technicolor’s post pipeline, the files can be used with anymajor NLE software.

“Technicolor has closely followed the adoption of Canon EOSDSLR cameras into the ranks of professional productions,” saysAhmad Ouri, Technicolor’s chief marketing officer. “We remaincommitted to cinematographers as they adopt new tools and tech-niques, and, based on the requests we’ve received from many of ourclients, we have worked with Canon to provide a stable path, origi-nating with these cameras and flowing effortlessly into our postpipeline.”

“Having shot a theatrical feature using Canon’s EOS DSLRs, Iam very supportive of Technicolor and Canon working together todevelop the CineStyle profile,” says Tom Stern, ASC, AFC. “This canonly help to serve greater utility of the EOS DSLRs in production cine-matography.”

Daryn Okada, ASC, adds, “Technicolor, once again, is takingan innovative leadership position by their very forward-lookingdevelopment of tools and workflows to support the deployment ofCanon’s EOS DSLRs into motion-picture production.”

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

The Foundry Unleashes StormVisual-effects-technologies provider The Foundry has intro-

duced the Storm workflow product, which offers a consistent andreliable way to review, organize, prepare, edit, conform, grade anddeliver digital-image media on a laptop or work station on or nearset.

Storm was conceived for Red One workflows, but a version1.1 update — due for release this summer — will expand supportfor DSLR camera systems, QuickTime and Arri media, and Avideditorial integration.

Storm makes ingesting digital media fast and simple, and thesoftware can be employed on a number of additional tasks. Userscan apply tags to identify and later search for key frames or clips, andthey can create user-defined bins based on tagged media. The visualintent for the ingested media can also be clarified through the useof pre-defined and custom looks, and users can navigate throughand grade media via the Artist Color panel. Storm’s floating-pointimage processing ensures that no captured data is thrown away andoutput is of the highest quality possible. Single effects or wholestacks can be saved as looks for re-use and reference later in the postworkflow.

Storm allows for real-time playback of ingested media for

Post Focus

VANCOUVER CONVENTION CENTRE

immediate verification of focus, exposure,color, audio and more, and users can displayand edit multi-track video and audio tocompare takes, establish baselines andverify editorial intent. Storm’s integrationwith Final Cut Pro then allows users, afterediting, to re-conform in Storm to the orig-inal digital media while maintaining alllooks, tags and metadata references.

“Storm has been built from theground up at The Foundry to address a newand growing market,” says Bill Collis, CEOof The Foundry. “We have enjoyed a verycollaborative alpha and beta period andbelieve there is a real hunger for the toolsthat Storm provides. We look forward tocontinued input from customers andexpanding Storm’s features and role in themarket.”

Storm is currently available on Mac OS X for $375; extended platformsupport is planned to include Windows. For additional information, visitwww.thefoundry.co.uk.

Assimilate Launches Scratch v6Assimilate has unveiled version 6 of

Scratch, the company’s end-to-end digitalcinema and broadcast-imaging tool for postworkflows. Available on Mac OS X andWindows 7, Scratch v6 offers a number ofupdates, including a multilayer timeline fortighter integration with editorial systems,advanced tracking and keying technologyfor color grading and visual-effects work-flows, enhanced 3-D stereo capabilities andsupport for a wide range of input andoutput formats.

New state-of-the-art tracking tech-nology within Scratch v6 combines theaccuracy of a point tracker with the ease ofuse of a shape tracker, while multiple keyerswith precise controls offer artists multiplecreative options to tackle the most sophisti-cated grades. Vector paint tools have alsobeen introduced for non-destructive paint-ing, allowing paint setups to be saved andreapplied on different images. Additionally,enhanced features for 3-D projects includeautobalance, which balances the grade

82

from one eye to the other, and high-accu-racy bicubic controls for fixing lens differ-ences and distortions.

Multilayer timeline support withinScratch v6 automatically reproduces multi-layer timelines from EDLs, and AAF andFCPXML import allows multi-track timelinesto be exported and rebuilt with metadata-rich descriptors. The wide range of inputmedia natively supported by Scratch v6includes Red Epic, ArriRaw, Phantom, SI-2K,Panasonic and DSLR formats, with outputoptions including DPX, MXF, DNxHD andTIFF.

Also available is Scratch Lab, a digi-tal-lab tool designed to meet the uniquerequirements of on-set and visual-effectsdailies ecosystems. Scratch v6 is available for$17,995, and Scratch Lab is available for$4,995.

For additional information, visitwww.assimilateinc.com.

FilmLight Spotlights Blackboard 2FilmLight unveiled Blackboard 2, a

completely rethought control surface forthe company’s Baselight color-gradingsystem. Unique to the Blackboard 2, eachkey is “soft” programmable, labeled viaback projection, enabling the keys’ labels(and concomitant functions) to changedepending on individual preferences andthe specific needs of individual projects, andto accommodate future functionality addi-tions. Blackboard 2’s soft-programmablekeys allow complex functions to be accom-plished with a single keystroke.

The control surface includes a seriesof configurable “haptic” controls that allowusers to perform certain functions in a more

intuitive and tactile manner. Additionally,Blackboard 2 incorporates four high-resolu-tion screens, providing the user with live, in-context feedback about complex gradingfunctions.

“Blackboard 2 represents a hugeergonomic shift that will result in increasedproductivity and transform grading into amore dynamic and exciting process for boththe colorist and the client,” says WolfgangLempp, co-founder of FilmLight. “For post-

service providers, Blackboard 2 offers a wayto empower artists and differentiate a facil-ity from its competitors by providing apremium, creative service.”

During NAB, Bangkok post facilitySpice Shop became the first facility in theworld to purchase a Blackboard 2. “Whenwe saw Blackboard 2, we understoodimmediately the impact it would have onour business and our facility, and we knewwe had to have it,” says Matthew Szabo,

Spice Shop’s director of operations. “Wewere amazed by the possibilities that thisnew grading panel offers.”

For additional information, visitwww.filmlight.ltd.uk.

Cintel Introduces Origin, Updates DittoCintel International has introduced

the ImageMill2 Origin data image restora-tion tool, which processes 2K and HD DPXfiles faster than real time. Origin can fixdust, scratches and other image defects,and can run simultaneously with Grace,Cintel’s noise- and grain-management tool,and Steady, the company’s real-time image-stabilization application.

Simon Carter, Cintel’s sales director,notes, “ImageMill2 already addresses theindustry’s need for fast and simple noise-and grain-management tools for bothdata-centric DI applications and restorationprojects. Origin can now fix a lot of imagedefects in real time, which is amazingconsidering many software-only systemscan take up to a minute per frame. Withspeeds in excess of 31 fps for 2K and HDfiles, the performance of ImageMill2 isunequalled. We are currently processing 4Kfiles at 10 fps and can also deal with SD filesat twice real time.”

Cintel has also introduced a fasterversion of its Ditto Evolution film scanner,with 2K speeds at up to 11 fps and 4K atup to 7.5 fps. Ditto Evolution is instantlyswitchable from pin registration to non-pinregistration, and also includes film-grainmanagement and image-stabilization tools.

For additional information, visitwww.cintel.co.uk.

JMR Highlights SilverStor JMR Electronics, Inc. has launched

SilverStor, a direct-attached, high-perfor-mance storage solution that features aSAS/SATA backplane, PCIe 2.0 connectivityto the host and PCIe expansion within theunit itself. Drives are hot-swappable, SESmonitoring and reporting is included andthe system can be configured in a variety ofways. SilverStor systems can quickly andeasily be expanded up to hundreds ofterabytes, all in one desktop unit.

“As the bandwidth and processingrequirements of new digital media have


DFT Offers Flexxity SuiteDigital Film Technology has intro-

duced the Flexxity software suite, whichoffers specialized applications for dailies,archive and restoration; video playout andfile mastering; and ingest, transfer andtranscoding tasks.

The Flexxity Archive applicationallows users to access archived image/audiofiles from disk storage as well as ingestmaterial from film scanners. It helps performquality-control measures on archive mater-ial, image/audio synchronization, timelineediting, color correction and image scaling.Processed files can be output in many file orvideo formats. The Archive app also hasbuilt-in scratch and dirt removal as well asretouching capabilities.

The Flexxity Playout applicationconverts DPX, QuickTime and raw clips andgenerates a master for playout as video,DPX and encoded file formats. It performsimage and audio synchronization, timelineediting, EDL on-line conforming andoptional image processing such as color

correction and image scaling. The Playoutapp also handles DPX, R3D, ArriRaw andQuickTime clips natively. Stereoscopic 3-Dsupport includes stereo color matching andparallax adjustments.

The Flexxity Dailies app provides asolution for digital and film dailies. Itprovides native support for DPX, R3D, Arri-Raw, QuickTime and single frame fileformats. It performs image and audiosynchronization of dailies material, timelineediting, color correction and image scaling,and supports parallel workflows for higherthroughput and efficiency. Stereoscopic 3-Dsupport includes stereo color matching andparallax processing.

Flexxity Playout and Flexxity Dailiesalso provide optional scratch/dirt removaland retouching. Grain reduction and imagecontouring are optional for all threemodules. DFT plans to continuously addfurther applications and functionalities tothe Flexxity suite.

For additional information, visitwww.dft-film.com.

grown, editors, colorists and visual-effectsusers are having to make hard decisionsand painful compromises,” says Josef Rabi-novitz, CEO of JMR. “JMR’s new SilverStorproduct line is a solution for all of thesecurrent problems. It can handle the needsof an independent film up to a large-budget 3-D motion picture.”

SilverStor’s combination ofSAS/SATA storage, PCIe expansion andpatented PCIe host interface gives users thecomfort of having their data on a RAID-protected system and reliable PCIe expan-sion that gives colorists, editors and otherdigital-content creators maximum time tofocus on their projects and not theirsystems.

The SilverStor product line will beavailable in four, eight, 10 and 18-bayexpandable units. Pricing begins at under$3,000 for a four-bay, 4TB, SAS/SATA JBODsystem with controller, drives and cables.Each unit is fully configured and includes a3-year limited warranty.

For additional information, visitwww.jmr.com.

Blackmagic Design Updates DaVinci ResolveBlackmagic Design has announced

the DaVinci Resolve 8 color-correction tool.This update adds multiple features basedon customer feedback, combined withinnovative new image-processing technol-ogy developed by Blackmagic Design.

“Colorists today face many imageenhancement and workflow challengesthat are not purely color-correction issues,”says Grant Petty, CEO of BlackmagicDesign. “DaVinci Resolve 8 provides thetools they need to solve these problemsquickly, and the advanced grading featuresto create any visual feeling from theenhanced image. It’s also important for theworkflow between DaVinci Resolve andedit system to be as smooth as possible socolorists can focus on the images they areworking with and not waste time.”

New Features in DaVinci Resolve 8include multi-layer timeline support withediting, and XML import and export withApple Final Cut Pro. Resolve 8 also includesOpenCL processing to allow use on AppleiMac and MacBook Pro computers.Advanced processing tools have been We accept

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The support is screwed to both ¼“ threads to give necessary stability for using heavy PL-Mount lenses.The support weighs 480 gr and provides fixtures for Ø 15 mm rods to mount the shoulder pad, the popular FFMini Follow-Focus or accessories like batteries etc.On the side there are Hirth-toothed rosettes for mounting the DENZ Light-Wight-Handle-System.

added for real-time noise reduction, curvegrading, advanced multi-point stabilizationand automatic stereoscopic 3-D alignment.Resolve 8 also supports the Avid Artist Colorcontrol panel and offers ALE export to re-linkgraded DNxHD files back into Avid editors.

XML import and export combinedwith the multi-layer timeline allows complexsequences from FCP to be imported, colorgraded and then exported directly back into

FCP, keeping grading and layer structureintact. If the FCP edit is changed, Resolve 8will automatically re-link all clips so thegrades are still preserved. Editing can alsobe performed inside Resolve 8.

Advanced OpenCL image process-ing allows a broader range of GPUs to beused for real-time processing up to 1080HD resolutions. Resolve 8’s high-qualityCuda-based noise reducer is incorporated

into the color correctors so it can be used inany corrector node and limited to inside oroutside windows or by color qualifiers,allowing colorists to use noise reductioncreatively. Additionally, the intelligent, multi-point stabilizer uses dozens of stabilizationpoints to totally lock every part of the image,resulting in incredibly stable images, evenfrom shaky handheld cameras.

Resolve 8 includes a Curve Gradingfeature for users new to the Resolve plat-form. Resolve 8 Curve Grading allowscolorists to customize the curves and offershue vs. hue, hue vs. saturation, hue vs. lumi-nance and luminance vs. saturation controls.Curves can be adjusted from the mouse andfrom the control panel.

For 3-D projects, Resolve 8’s auto-matic image alignment analyzes hundredsof individual image points in order to alignboth the left- and right-eye images. Align-ment takes only seconds per shot and iscompletely automatic, requiring no settingsby the colorist.

For additional information, visitwww.blackmagic-design.com.

Digital Vision is grateful to its customers who continually raise the bar of excellence and propel them to push the boundaries in nonlinear grading.

www.digitalvision.tv

Recipient of the HPA 2010 Engineering Excellence Award for its High Dynamic Range Pipeline.

“The work that we do at Hydraulx is inventive and demanding. Our tools and methodology have to keep up. When we dug into the sophisticated grading tools of Nucoda Film Master and its OpenEXR architecture, we saw that it would serve both our films and the visual effects clients of Hydraulx in an extremely powerful way.”

Greg Strause | Skyline Director – Owner of Santa Monica based Hydraulx.

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Quantel Streamlines Stereo PostQuantel has introduced a stereo 3-D

toolset that is now a standard feature on allV5 eQ, iQ and Pablo systems.

Among the new tools, Geofix auto-mates the process of fixing geometry errorsbetween the left- and right-eye images,making geometry fixes fast and accurate.Geofix first analyzes the two images, andthen applies translation, rotation and

corner-pin DVE processes to correct errors.A Stereo Measurement Console

adds a suite of tools that makes monitoringand working with Stereo 3-D faster andmore productive. The console includes liveon-screen histogram and vectorscopedisplays to help identify differencesbetween eyes. The Console also includes ameasurement tool for disparity, whichmakes it easy to meet the typical specifica-

tions being introduced for 3-D channelcontent by broadcasters. There is also a newoverlay and cursors on the main outputs,making it straightforward to see exactlywhere objects sit in 3-D space.

The Flip tool allows signals to beinverted on import/conform, allowingimages captured with mirror rigs to beviewed without an additional correctivestep. Additionally, the Auto Color Balancetool has been improved with gammaadjustments to deliver a better matchbetween left- and right-eye signals.

For additional information, visitwww.quantel.com. ●

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Sony Introduces F65 Camera,SR-R4 recorderBy Benjamin B

During the NAB convention in Las Vegas, Sony unveiled itsnext-generation CineAlta camera, the F65, along with its SRmemory-card recorder, the SR-R4. The F65 is Sony’s highest-qualitycamera to date, and presently offers HD, 2K or 4K output. Sony indi-cates that the camera’s raw format is also designed to allow forhigher resolutions in the future, including 8K.

The F65’s image sensor is similar to Super35, and its PL-mountaccommodates standard cine lenses. The camera can run up to 72fpsin full 4K mode, and up to 120 fps in “high frame rate” mode.The F65’s size and weight will be less thanthat of the F35. Its frontend will also be detachable from the camera’s electronics to accom-modateshooting on a Steadicam, in 3-D, on a crane, and in otherapplications that require a smaller footprint. The SRmemory systemoffers recording of high-quality signals onto compact SRmemorycards.

AC thanksPeter Crithary, Satoshi Kanemura, Richard Lewis,Dhanendra Patel and Fabien Pisano from Sony for sharingdetailsabout the new products, and Curtis Clark, ASC, who shared hisshooting experience with the camera.

The F65 is the first high-end Sony camera to use a CMOSimage sensor. (Previousmodels utilized CCDs.)Crithary and Lewisexplain that Sony’s advances in semiconductor design and manufac-turing have overcome the conventional deficiencies of high-pixel-density CMOS sensors, such as limited sensitivity, dynamic range andsignal-to-noise ratios. Sony’s state-of-the-art CMOS design increasessensitivity and lowers noise, with faster readout and a novel photo-site manufacturing process. In addition, an optional rotating

mechanical shutter in the F65 should eliminate any “rolling shutter”motion artifacts linked to sequential read-out of CMOS sensors witha moving image.

“The F65 is the first CMOS camera in the industry with 8Kphotosites,” states Crithary. “The F65 thereby achieves an extremelydetailed 4K output image that cannot be achieved with conven-tional Bayer patternsthat only have 4K pixels.”

The F65 sensor has 4K green, 2K red and 2K blue pixels, fora total of 8K. Sony refers to this as a “True 4K” sensor, to distinguishthe F65 from 4K Bayer-pattern cameras that have 2K green, 1K redand 1K blue pixels. Lewis emphasizes this by saying that the F65 has“100-percent4K resolution in the green, where our eyes see themost resolution.”He adds that the F65 may also be used in thefuture to provide higher-than-4K images rendered from the 16-bitlin raw.

To achieve maximum pixel density in the Super 35-sized area,Sony uses a pattern in which the sensor pixels are rotated andplaced in a diamond array; this enables the F65 sensor to pack about20 megapixels in an area where the F35 places about 12.4 millionphotosites (yielding 6.2 million compound RGB pixels).Sony statesthat this new pixel geometry entails an increase in resolution andsensitivity and the unique sampling pattern permits the use of thegreen channel information to enhancehigher resolutions in the redand blue channels.

The F65’s output signal is 16-bit linear raw, at a native datarate of about 19 gigabits per second, which can be mildlycompressed for SRmemory recording, and/or rendered to RGB.

Sony’s compact SR-R4 recorderwill fit onto the F65 cameralike a digital magazine. The SR-R4 will record the 16-bit linear rawsignal with mild compression of less than 4 to 1 onto iPhone-sizedSRmemory cards. A separate “Render Module” box will convert toHD, 2K or 4K 10- or 12-bit RGB signals in real time.

The SRmemory cards can record up to a sustained rate of 5gigabits per second with built-in error correction, which will simplifyhigh-quality recording. The biggest capacity card will carry 1TB ofdata — about 50 minutes of 16-bit linear at 24 fps.

Pisano adds that the advent of SRmemory will also give usersof other Sony cameras like the F35 (with the SR-R3) or even the F3(SR-R1) the facility to record high-quality or stereo signals with alightweight on-board or adjunct SRmemory-card recorder.The SRmemory recorders will also write the SR Codec, the same codec thatis in the widely-used HDCam-SR videotape system. Sony now offersthe SR Codec at the new data rate of 220Mbps, as well as the exist-ing rates of 440Mbps and 880Mbps. The SR file format is alreadysupported for native, direct-to-edit and DI workflows in Avid MediaComposer and Symphony Nitris, Final Cut Pro, FilmLight’s Baselightsystem and DaVinci Resolve,and the list is growing rapidly.

New Products & Services• SUBMISSION INFORMATION •

Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to:[email protected] and include full contactinformation and product images. Photos must be

TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.

At Sony’s invitation, Clarkwrote,directed and photographed a five-minutefilm, “The Arrival,” to explore the possibili-ties of the first prototype F65 camera. Thefilm was recorded in 16-bit linear raw,processed with IIF-ACES, and screened inSony’s booth at NAB in 4K with an SXRDprojector.

Shooting the short allowed Clark toevaluate the F65 in real-life productionconditions for several days. After testing,the cinematographer rated the F65 at anominal value of 800 EI, which he increasedto 1,250 EI for night exteriors. He adds thatthe camera could go to “1,600 EI withoutdeterioration” if needed.

The cinematographer stresses thenew camera’s extremely low noise level inthe shadows, and its wide color gamut,which he said exceeds that of print film.Clark adds that, while he has not yet hadthe possibility to “benchmark” the camera,he would estimate “pragmatically” that theF65’s “very low noise” allows for “at least14 stops of dynamic range.”

Clark concludes that the F65 offers“extraordinary visual resolution with anuanced reproduction of fine detail andtexture that I’ve not seen in currently avail-able digital motion-picture cameras. Inconjunction with exceptionally widedynamic range and color gamut, the F65will open up a new set of possibilities forcinematography.”

For additional information, visitwww.sony.com/f65.

Arri Expands Alexa LineArri has introduced the latest addi-

tion to the Alexa family of digital-cinemacameras, the Alexa M. Comprising acamera head and separate camera bodyand featuring the same image quality andworkflow options found in the Alexa, theAlexa M is tailored foraction photography,tight-quarter shots and 3-D productions.

The Alexa M head is optimized forsmall size and low weight, and multiplemounting points on the top and bottomallow for easy integration with existing 3-Drigs. The head and body are connected viaa fiber-optic cable that can also be used forpowering the head, depending on thedistance separating the head and body. As

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with the Alexa, images, sound and meta-data can be recorded onto SxS cards or onexternal recording devices, and the AlexaM’s PL mount accommodates PL-mount35mm cinema lenses.

For additional information, visitwww.arri.com.

Convergent Design Records Uncompressed with GeminiConvergent Design has introduced

the Gemini 4:4:4 uncompressed videorecorder/player. Gemini enables users tocapture at the ultimate video quality in asmall, low-power, lightweight package andat a very affordable price. Gemini features abuilt-in high-brightness 5.0" 800x480 24-bit LCD touch-screen for monitoring andplayback, and introduces the ability tosimultaneously record to two removablesolid-state drives, creating instant backupsfor insurance against lost footage andopening new workflow options.

Building on Convergent Design’ssuccessful NanoFlash recorder, Geminirecords 10-bit uncompressed 4:4:4/4:2:2video in most popular HD/2K/3G formats,including 1080p24 and 1080p50/60, withup to 16 channels of embedded audio andtime code. Gemini has slots for two remov-

able 1.8" solid-state drives, enabling record-ing in either parallel mode (instant backup)or spanning mode (longer recording times).Sporting a lightweight milled aluminumcase, Gemini also includes image-process-ing capabilities with dual HD/3G SDI I/Os,HDMI-Out and consumer level audio I/O,and it consumes only 8 to 15 watts ofpower.

Gemini features S-Log support withuser programmable viewing LUTs, whichcan be enabled selectively for either HD-SDIoutput. Flexible recording options includesimultaneously recording native S-Log videoto one SSD (for on-line) and the samefootage withburned-in LUTs to the secondSSD for faster creation of off-line proxiesand/or H.264 video for mobile and Web-enabled devices.

A 3-D option will also be available,enabling dual-stream recording and play-back in a single Gemini unit. The 3-Dversion will record independent left/rightchannel files while providing fully synchro-nized playback of two streams as well asside-by-side, 50/50 composite or anaglyphcombinations. Gemini can also output 3-Din multiple formats (such as side-by-side and50/50 composite) simultaneously to aid incamera alignment and monitoring.

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Other planned enhancements forthe future include reference-image overlay,allowing users to capture still frames orcreate their own reference images to mixwith live video, using an opacity slider. Thiswill allow users to check the current on-setenvironment against a previous day’sproduction, assisting in camera setup andeasily identifying anything out of place.

Convergent Design plans to supportall major NLE programs, including Avid,Final Cut Pro, Premiere, Vegas and Edius.Editors have the option to edit in fulluncompressed (transfer time off the SSD toa fast HDD is about 1⁄3 real time) or use anyof the popular Codecs, such as ProRes,DNxHD and Cineform.

The Gemini 4:4:4 Kit includes therecorder, 1.8" SSD to eSATA transferstation, AC power supply and cables, allhoused in a custom-fitted hard plastic case;the kit is priced at $5,995.

For additional information, visitwww.convergent-design.com.

Codex Digital Opens VaultCodex Digital has introduced the

Vault, a next-generation on-set laboratorysolution for review as well as dailies anddeliverables production. The Vault supportsdigital cinema cameras made by Red, Arri,Sony and other leading manufacturers.

A fully featured Vault is a standalonesolution that includes its own internal trans-fer drives and requires no external drives.The Vault’s support of a wide variety ofcameras also provides a single, standard-ized workflow for productions employingmultiple camera systems. Additionally, theVault can produce deliverables in allformats required for dailies review, postpro-duction and archival purposes.

Other key features of the Vault

include support for Red drives, CF cards andSxS cards; secure, high-speed data transfers;a metadata server for data management;an H.264 wireless server (enabling iPaddailies viewing); and a rugged design thatholds up on set or on location.

“The Vault is the solution that cine-matographers, producers and DITs havebeen waiting for,” says Marc Dando,managing director of Codex Digital. “Itprovides a simple, seamless workflow thatcan be applied to all cameras and service alldeliverable needs. It eliminates much of thecomplexity involved in designing productionworkflows while taking full advantage ofthe efficiencies of file-based production andthe ability to share rich metadata.”

For additional information, visitwww.codexdigital.com.

Canon Introduces PL-Mount LensesCanon U.S.A., Inc. has introduced

the FK14.5-60 wide-angle cine zoom andFK30-300 telephoto cine zoom, two PL-mount lenses that address emerging 4Kproduction standards. The precision-matched lenses incorporate Canon opticaldesigns that simultaneously optimize andenhance multiple imaging attributes whileminimizing optical aberrations and distor-tions. Both lenses are also more compactand lightweight than contemporary PL-mount lenses and both feature a totallynew Canon optical design that virtuallyeliminates focus breathing.

Both the wide-angle and telephotocine zooms are engineered to meet themost demanding overall imaging require-ments of the latest large-format single-sensor digital cinematography cameras, andthe creative requirements of the mostdiscerning cinematographers, producersand directors. By already performing inaccordance with emerging 4K productionimage format standards, both Canon PL-mount cine zoom lenses inherently ensurethe very highest performance in contempo-rary 2K and HD digital motion imaging.

“The 2K and HD digital productionformats are firmly established in the globalmarketplace today, while 4K resolution ispoised to further propel the imaging qualityof digital cine production,” says LarryThorpe, Canon U.S.A.’s national marketing

91

executive, Broadcast and Communicationsdivision. “Anticipating this exciting evolu-tion in digital acquisition guided Canon’sdevelopments of a new optical platform inrecent years to meet the current and futureimaging needs of high-resolution camerasensors. Canon has extrapolated a newoptical platform … to bring to marketthese two new PL-mount lenses.Advanced glass materials, exotic new opti-cal coatings, and new computer-designtechniques were all employed to achievesignificant overall optical performance inthese two lenses.”

Both lenses are engraved withlarge, highly visible focus scales for conve-nient film-style operation. Both also have acommon 136mm front diameter for usewith industry-standard optical accessories.The location, diameter and rotation angleof the lens gears are also identical, whichstreamlines lens changes on set.

The wide-angle FK14.5-60 main-tains its T2.6 maximum aperture over theentire focal range. The lens preserves ahigh Modulation Transfer Function atwide-open apertures, exhibits well-controlled light distribution across theimage plane and greatly curtails ghostingand veiling glare artifacts from strong lightsources. These attributes combine to helpensure superb contrast under a wide rangeof lighting conditions. The telephoto FK30-300 complements the wide-angle zoom inlarger studios while also servicing manyoutdoor shots with exceptionally vividimagery.

Both lenses are equipped withprecision back-focus adjustments to expe-dite lens-camera setup; the mechanism isconcealed beneath a cover plate. In addi-tion, both lenses provide superb controlover geometric distortion to prevent visible

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Angenieux Adds Lightweight Optimo ZoomAngenieux has unveiled the

Optimo 45-120mm zoom lens for film anddigital cinematography. Featuring a 2.7xzoom ratio and a fast aperture of T2.8, thelens weighs only 4.3 pounds, making it anideal lens for handheld or Steadicam work.The lensalso incorporates an exclusiveoptical design to avoid breathing, as wellas such professional features as a 320-degree focus rotation with over 50 precisefocus witness marks.

The Optimo 45-120mm is designedwith similar specifications as the 15-40mmand 28-76mm lightweight Optimo lenses.It perfectly complements the other Optimozooms to create a three-lens system with atotal combined focal range of 15-120mm.

The Optimo 45-120mm will also beavailable with the Angenieux Data System/I module integrating the /I protocol anddesigned for all Angenieux lightweightlenses, including the Optimo DP series. TheADS/I module enables monitoring andtransfer of key lensdata for many applica-tions, such as postproduction analysis, lenssynchronization for 3-D, special effects andvirtual studios.

With the Optimo 45-120, users canalso employ Angenieux interchangeablemounts designed to easily fix lenses onDSLR cameras with APS-C format sensors.

For additional information, visitwww.angenieux.com.

➣


Schneider Optics Provides Perspective ControlSchneider Optics has announced a

new family of Perspective Control throughTilt/Shift (PC-TS) lenses, designed to provideDSLR and medium-format photographers atool that allows them to control perspectivein a manner previously possible only with amonorail-style camera.

The PC-TS lenses can shift laterallyup to 12mm or tilt at an angle up to 8degrees. These movements can be appliedin 30-degree increments at any positionwithin the 360-degree lens rotation. Withhuge 90mm and 120mm image circles (forDSLR and Mamiya/Phase One Systemcameras, respectively), the lens retains its fullrange of movements without vignetting.

The lenses also feature Schneider’s high-resolution optics and a precise, zero-playmechanism.

Schneider currently offers three PC-TS lenses: the Super Angulon f2.8 50mmand the Makro-Symmar f4.0 90mm forDSLR cameras and the Apo-Digitar 5.6/120HM Aspheric lens for medium-formatMamiya/Phase One System digital cameras.

For additional information, visitwww.schneider.com.

Band Pro Distributes Horseman Tilt/Shift SystemBand Pro is now the dealer for

Komamura Corp.’s Horseman TS-Pro in theAmericas, Europe and Israel. The HorsemanTS-Pro allows DSLR and digital cinemacamera users to creatively control depth-of-field and perspective distortion through lenstilt and shift, as well as lateral and rise-fallmovements. Such movements allow theshooter to selectively focus on a small

portion of the image while leaving the restsoft, create miniaturization effects andcorrect or exaggerate perspective distortion.

The TS-Pro works with four differentcamera-mount styles: PL, Micro 4⁄3, CanonEOS and Nikon F. With the TS-Pro’s inter-changeable mount system, one main unitcan work with many camera types by simplyswitching mounts. The mount on the lensside is also interchangeable, allowing arange of lens options, including PL, CanonEOS, Nikon F, Hasselblad, Mamiya 645,Pentax 645 and M39.

For additional information, visitwww.bandpro.com.

Lowel Illuminates LED Studio SeriesLowel-Light has introduced the LED

Studio Series, a set of powerful lightingfixtures that bring state-of-the-art LED tech-nology to studio environments both largeand small.

The first fixture in the LED StudioSeries is the Studio 450, which boasts apowerful output of 89 foot candles at 9'with a beam angle of 50 degrees. TheStudio 450 has a tungsten color output of3,200°K and a CRI of 91+, which mixesperfectly with existing tungsten-halogenfixtures as well as high-CRI tungsten-colorfluorescent lamps. Additionally, the fixture’s

DMX jacks allow connection and communi-cation with DMX-512 control systems.

Lowel plans to release a daylight-balanced version of the 450 shortly, as wellas further tungsten and daylight LED Studiomodels. All fixtures in the LED Studio Serieswill auto-set to voltages from 90 to 240volts. There will also be accessories such asbarn doors, egg crates and honeycombgrids for each fixture in the series.

For additional information, visitwww.lowel.com.

Litepanels Highlights Hi-Output LEDsLitepanels has unveiled the H2 Hi-

Output LED lights. The new fixtures answerthe need for an LED fixture capable ofthrowing illumination over a 20-25'distance, providing HD-friendly light with allthe advantages of Litepanels’ proprietaryLED fixtures.

The H2 Hi-Output is 5,600°K colorbalanced, utilizing an array of 72 1-wattdaylight LEDs focused to a 10-degree angle.H2 fixtures integrate perfectly into sets orlocations utilizing other Litepanels fixtures,providing wide-spectrum daylight-balancedillumination.

Like all Litepanels LED fixtures, theH2 provides incredible output while remain-ing energy efficient. The 100-watt H2fixture provides light equivalent to a 1,000-watt legacy lighting fixture, utilizing just 10-percent of the energy. Additionally, becauseH2 lights generate no noticeable heat, theneed for power-hungry air conditioning isreduced.

H2 fixtures feature dimming from100-percent to 0 with no noticeable colorchange; dimming is provided via a knoblocated on the fixture itself, or from a DMX

dimmer board. H2 fixtures also boast anintegrated yoke and gimbal system for easyhanging in the grid or positioning on a lightstand.

For additional information, visitwww.litepanels.com.

B&M Unveils Mac Tech LED SeriesBardwell & McAlister Lighting has

introduced the Mac Tech range of power-efficient LED lighting fixtures. Each fixtureincorporates the latest in LED technologyand boasts virtually no heat.

The rugged Mac Tech fluorescent-style LED tubes come in both tungsten anddaylight and have a rating life of 100,000hours. Manufactured out of high-gradealuminum, the Mac Tech fixtures areextremely sturdy and lightweight.

Currently, B&M offers five fixtures inthe Mac Tech LED range: the 2x2 (two 2'LED tubes), the 2x4 (four 2' LED tubes), the2x8 (eight 2' LED tubes), the 4x4 (four 4'LED tubes) and the 4x8 (eight 4' LED tubes).Each fixture includes a mounting yoke andworks off of a 110-volt power supply. Thelargest fixture, the 4x8, weighs only 37pounds and draws only 320 watts of power.

For additional information, visitwww.bmlighting.com.

➣


Rotolight Ringlight Kit Gets Creative with ColorRotolight has launched the HD Ring-

light Kit for Creative Color FX, which isdesigned for HD-DSLR users looking for acompact, lightweight on-camera lightingsystem for use in HD video and stills portrai-ture in macro and close-up modes.

The Rotolight Creative Color Kit is aportable, professional, single-light creativeHD lighting solution designed for photogra-phers and cinematographers alike. TheRotolight ring light produces a natural,warm and “shadow-less” wide beam and isperfect for use on location or in a studioenvironment. As a continuous light source,Rotolight provides DSLR photographers a“shoot what you see” alternative to flashand delivers the classic fashion ring-lighteffect without red-eye reflection orunwanted blink responses.

Each Rotolight contains a filterholder and a custom Lee Lighting six-piecering-filter Calibration Gel Set for studio-cali-brated color at 6,900°K, 5,600°K, 4,100°Kand 3,200°K, as well as soft diffusion andneutral density gels for accurate dimmingover a range of up to 1.5 stops. Alsoincluded in the Creative Color Kit is theRotolight Color FX Gel Filter Kit, comprising10 of the most popular Lee Lighting colorFX filter gels, including eight Color FX filtersfor sidelight, backlight, kicker or top light,and two Cosmetic filters for skin-toneenhancement, all of which enables users tocreate a wide range of lighting effects fromone compact, easy-to-carry Kit.

The Rotolight Hotshoe/StandMount, also included, allows for mountingon tripods, lighting stands, rail supportsystems or to a standard accessory shoe foruse with DSLRs and camcorder systems. The

entire lighting kit fits into the suppliedAccessory BeltPouch and weighs less than1 pound. The Pouch can also hold aniPhone, keys and six spare AA batteries.

For additional information, visitwww.rotolight.com.

Innovision Optics Moves with KamtraxInnovsion Optics has introduced the

Kamtrax vertical and horizontal cameraslider, which provides weightless and ultra-smooth vertical-tracking camera movementvia sealed ball-bearing wheels runningalong an anodized stainless steel track.

Kamtrax is available in 3' and 6'lengths. Both ends of the Kamtrax can beattached to various mounts, including100mm ball, Mitchell plate or High Hat. Thebottom of the track features a heavy-dutyball-bearing ring, which allows the track topivot around endlessly.

A continuous cable surrounds thetrack end-to-end, providing control ofcamera travel up and down the track.Camera packages weighing up to 40pounds can be mounted on Kamtrax; torender the camera weightless, a matchingamount of weight is added in barbell disksto the other side of the continuous cable.The camera can then be raised or loweredwith a single finger, and the camera can bepositioned at any point up or down thetrack without being locked off. The cameraplatform can also swing down 90 degreesor be locked off at any point in between fora Dutch tilt.

The camera package can bemounted directly to the camera platform via3⁄8" or ¼" threaded bolt, or with a pan-and-tilt head between camera and platform toprovide pan-and-tilt control. An optionalbracket allows users to mount a monitor forviewing cameraoutput.

Using the Kamtrax Horizontal Kit, thetrack can be oriented horizontally in minutesto provide a side-to-side slider with the samesmooth travel. Angular travel can also beachieved through the optional Angle SliderKit. Optional durable travel cases are alsoavailable for the 3' and 6' versions as well asthe accessory kits.

For additional information, visitwww.innovision-optics.com.

K-Tek Packages Norbert Filmmaker KitK-Tek’s Norbert accessory frame is

now available in a Filmmaker Kit that allowsthe Norbert to attach to a universal railsystem. The Norbert frame is a convenientway to mount accessories around a DSLR orcompact HD camera, including 4⁄3"-chipcameras.

Norbert allows users to attach a largearray of production tools to a DSLR camerawithout compromising the camera’s integralshoe mount. The heart of the kit is theNorbert base frame. Machined from rugged,lightweight black anodized aluminum, itoffers 17 accessory slots, numerous ¼"-20and 3⁄8"-16 threaded holes, and 19 standardshoe mounts that allow the operator to becreative in setting up lights, audio products,video-streaming devices and monitors whenon a tripod or shoulder rig.

The Norbert Filmmaker Kit has aheight-adjustable frame allowing for exter-nal batteries or for tall cameras, a standardquick release, two locking handgrips forquick handheld shots and an Iris Rod ClampSystem, which allows Norbert to interfacewith traditional 15mm rail systems. Thisgives Norbert the ability to work around

most existing rigs and allows the Norbert tobe used in conjunction with matteboxesand follow-focus units. The kit includes apair of 8" carbon-fiber iris rods. Additionalthreaded holes on the base accept tripod-mounting brackets.

The standard Norbert Filmmaker Kitcomes complete with the frame, iris-rodclamp, two carbon-fiber iris rods, two lock-ing handgrips and the Manfrotto 323 quickrelease. A top handle and longer iris rodsare also available separately. K-Tek alsooffers twooptional high-precision dovetails:a High Dovetail for use with the Canon 7Dand similar-size cameras, and a Low Dove-tail for the Canon 5D. The dovetails preventthe camera from rotating when lens-controlmotors are used.

For additional information, visitwww.ktekbooms.com.

Redrock Micro Showcases 3-D RigRedrock Micro has introduced the

Micro3D rig for professional stereoscopic 3-D production. The Micro3D delivers

professional features and build quality at aprice that makes 3-D incredibly accessible.

The Micro3D rig is a state-of-the-artside-by-side support rig for two-camerastereoscopic production. It is designed fortoday’s smaller format cameras and price-conscious image makers looking to ownhigh-quality 3-D gear.

The Micro3D features an 18" rail fora range of interaxial adjustments; thecameras are locked into place via lockingknobs. Other key features include uniquetools-free three-point XYZ adjustmentplates for precision camera alignment, abottom mounting plate with ¼" and 3⁄8"taps for virtually any tripod mount, innova-tive quick-release camera plates, laser-

engraved markings for convergence andinteraxial distance, and rugged all-metalconstruction.

The Micro3D carries a lifetimewarranty and is available for $895, or $995with a shroud designed for Canon XF105 orsimilarly sized digital video cameras. For moreinformation, visit www.redrockmicro.com.

Manfrotto Unleashes Hurricane RigManfrotto Distribution, in conjunction

with Genus, has launched the Hurricane 3-Dcamera rig. Designed with cost effectivenessin mind, the Hurricane rig is an entry-levelmirror rig able to be used in a broad range of3-D applications.

The Hurricane 3-D camera rig featuressimple, easy-to-use manual controls forcamera alignment and adjustment. Targetedtoward educational users and training estab-lishments, the Hurricane rig is a perfect learn-ing tool, simple to operate and easy tounderstand.

“The increased popularity of 3-Dcontent has made the demand for a cost-

98

effective 3-D camera rig grow considerablyover the past few years,” says Wayne Schul-man, Manfrotto’s sales and productmanager for video. The Hurricane 3-D Rig iscompletely adjustable and able to fit a broadrange of cameras, from small consumer-style camcorders to entry-level professionalvideo camcorders. As a result of its simpledesign, the overall weight of the rig is keptto a minimum while being able to supportan 8.8-pound camera or camcorder. At justover 13 pounds, the Hurricane 3-D Rig caneasily be used with low-cost professionaltripods.

The Hurricane 3-D camera rig is avail-able for $8,500 and comes with a resin case.For additional information, visitwww.manfrotto.us.

DSC Labs Offers Dashwood 3D ChartDSC Labs has introduced the Dash-

wood 3D Chart. Developed with stereogra-pher and Dashwood Cinema Solutionsfounder Tim Dashwood (pictured), theDashwood 3D Chart allows 3-D crews toachieve accurate 3-D rig calibration whenintegrated with the new DashwoodStereo3D CAT calibration software. Thechart’s unique visual code trackers workalongside the application’s logic system toautomatically track to 1⁄100 of a pixel forideal stereo alignment at unprecedentedspeeds. The chart also offers an optionalinterface for live wireless feedback, withiPad support to assist camera alignment,sync testing, slating, and color and gammacalibration. For those aligning withoutcomputer assistance, the Dashwood 3DChart offers manual pattern alignment thatfeatures DSC Labs’ distinctive FiddleHeadspirals for corner-to-corner focus.

Key features of the Dashwood 3DChart include horizontal, vertical and angledalignment patterns; ChromaDuMonde

color reference on the center line to matchvectorscope orientation; linear left/rightgrayscale for matching gamma response inboth cameras; see-through slots with 0.7-percent and 1-percent markers for checkingpositive parallax in the background; 18-percent gray scale chips to assist in evenlighting; and an optional iPad holder.

For additional information, visitwww.dsclabs.com and www.dashwood3d.com. ●

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102


American Society of Cinematographers RosterOFFICERS – 2010-’11Michael Goi,

President

Richard Crudo,Vice President

Owen Roizman,Vice President

John C. Flinn III,Vice President

Matthew Leonetti,Treasurer

Rodney Taylor,Secretary

Ron Garcia,Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE BOARDJohn BaileyStephen H. BurumCurtis ClarkGeorge Spiro DibieRichard EdlundJohn C. Flinn IIIMichael GoiStephen LighthillIsidore MankofskyDaryn OkadaRobert PrimesNancy SchreiberKees Van OostrumHaskell WexlerVilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATESFred ElmesRodney TaylorMichael D. O’SheaSol NegrinMichael B. Negrin

Roger DeakinsJan DeBontThomas Del RuthBruno DelbonnelPeter DemingJim DenaultCaleb DeschanelRon DexterCraig Di BonaGeorge Spiro DibieErnest DickersonBilly DicksonBill DillStuart DryburghBert DunkLex DuPontJohn DykstraRichard EdlundEagle EgilssonFrederick ElmesRobert ElswitGeoffrey ErbScott FarrarJon FauerDon E. FauntLeRoyGerald FeilSteven FierbergMauro FioreJohn C. Flinn IIIRon FortunatoJonathan FreemanTak FujimotoAlex FunkeSteve GainerRon GarciaDejan GeorgevichMichael GoiStephen GoldblattPaul GoldsmithFrederic GoodichVictor GossJack GreenAdam GreenbergRobbie GreenbergXavier GrobetAlexander GruszynskiChangwei GuRick GunterRob HahnGerald HirschfeldHenner HofmannAdam HolenderErnie HolzmanJohn C. HoraTom HoughtonGil HubbsShane HurlbutTom HurwitzJudy IrolaMark IrwinLevie Isaacks

Robert McLachlanGeary McLeodGreg McMurrySteve McNuttTerry K. MeadeSuki MedencevicChris MengesRexford MetzAnastas MichosDouglas MilsomeDan MindelCharles MinskyClaudio MirandaGeorge MooradianDonald A. MorganDonald M. MorganKramer MorgenthauPeter MossM. David MullenDennis MurenFred MurphyHiro NaritaGuillermo NavarroMichael B. NegrinSol NegrinBill NeilAlex NepomniaschyJohn NewbyYuri NeymanSam NicholsonCrescenzo NotarileDavid B. NowellRene OhashiDaryn OkadaThomas OlgeirssonWoody OmensMiroslav OndricekMichael D. O’SheaAnthony PalmieriPhedon PapamichaelDaniel PearlEdward J. PeiJames PergolaLowell PetersonWally PfisterBill PopeSteven PosterTom Priestley Jr.Rodrigo PrietoRobert PrimesFrank PrinziRichard QuinlanDeclan QuinnEarl RathRichard Rawlings Jr.Frank RaymondTami ReikerRobert RichardsonAnthony B. RichmondBill RoeOwen Roizman

Peter JamesJohnny E. JensenTorben JohnkeFrank JohnsonShelly JohnsonJeffrey JurAdam KaneStephen M. KatzKen KelschVictor J. KemperWayne KennanFrancis KennyGlenn KershawDarius KhondjiGary KibbeJan KiesserJeffrey L. KimballAdam KimmelAlar KiviloDavid KleinRichard KlineGeorge KoblasaFred J. KoenekampLajos KoltaiPete KozachikNeil KrepelaWilly KurantEllen M. KurasGeorge La FountaineEdward LachmanKen LamkinJacek LaskusAndrew LaszloDenis LenoirJohn R. LeonettiMatthew LeonettiAndrew LesniePeter LevyMatthew LibatiqueCharlie LiebermanStephen LighthillKarl Walter LindenlaubJohn LindleyRobert F. LiuWalt LloydBruce LoganGordon LonsdaleEmmanuel LubezkiJulio G. MacatGlen MacPhersonConstantine MakrisDenis MaloneyIsidore MankofskyChristopher ManleyMichael D. MarguliesBarry MarkowitzSteve MasonClark MathisDon McAlpineDon McCuaigSeamus McGarvey

ACTIVE MEMBERSThomas AckermanLance AcordLloyd Ahern IIHerbert AlpertRuss AlsobrookHoward A. Anderson IIIHoward A. Anderson Jr.James AndersonPeter AndersonTony AskinsCharles AustinChristopher BaffaJames BagdonasKing BaggotJohn BaileyMichael BallhausAndrzej BartkowiakJohn BartleyBojan BazelliFrank BeascoecheaAffonso BeatoMat BeckDion BeebeBill BennettAndres BerenguerCarl BergerGabriel BeristainSteven BernsteinRoss BerrymanMichael BonvillainRichard BowenDavid BoydRussell BoydJonathan BrownDon BurgessStephen H. BurumBill ButlerFrank B. ByersBobby ByrneAntonio CalvachePaul CameronRussell P. CarpenterJames L. CarterAlan CasoMichael ChapmanRodney ChartersJames A. ChressanthisT.C. ChristensenJoan ChurchillCurtis ClarkPeter L. CollisterJack CoopermanJack CoufferVincent G. CoxJeff CronenwethRichard CrudoDean R. CundeyStefan CzapskyDavid DarbyAllen Daviau


Pete RomanoCharles Rosher Jr.Giuseppe RotunnoPhilippe RousselotJuan Ruiz-AnchiaMarvin RushPaul RyanEric SaarinenAlik SakharovMikael SalomonHarris SavidesRoberto SchaeferTobias SchliesslerAaron SchneiderNancy SchreiberFred SchulerJohn SchwartzmanJohn SealeChristian SebaldtDean SemlerEduardo SerraSteven ShawRichard ShoreNewton Thomas SigelJohn SimmonsSandi SisselBradley B. SixMichael SlovisDennis L. SmithRoland “Ozzie” SmithReed SmootBing SokolskyPeter SovaDante SpinottiTerry StaceyUeli SteigerPeter SteinTom SternRobert M. StevensDavid StocktonRogier StoffersVittorio StoraroHarry Stradling Jr.David StumpTim SuhrstedtPeter SuschitzkyAlfred TaylorJonathan TaylorRodney TaylorWilliam TaylorDon ThorinJohn TollMario TosiSalvatore TotinoLuciano TovoliJost VacanoTheo Van de SandeEric Van Haren NomanKees Van OostrumChecco VareseRon Vargas

Mark VargoAmelia VincentWilliam WagesRoy H. WagnerRic WaiteMichael WatkinsJonathan WestHaskell WexlerJack WhitmanGordon WillisDariusz WolskiRalph WoolseyPeter WunstorfRobert YeomanRichard YuricichJerzy ZielinskiVilmos ZsigmondKenneth Zunder

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAlan AlbertRichard AschmanVolker BahnemannKay BakerJoseph J. BallAmnon BandCarly M. BarberCraig BarronThomas M. BarronLarry BartonBob BeitcherMark BenderBruce BerkeBob BiancoJohn BickfordSteven A. BlakelyMitchell BogdanowiczJack BonuraMichael BravinWilliam BrodersenGarrett BrownRonald D. BurdettReid BurnsVincent CarabelloJim CarterLeonard ChapmanMark ChiolisDenny ClairmontAdam ClarkCary ClaytonMichael CondonSean CoughlinRobert B. CreamerGrover CrispDaniel CurryRoss DanielsonCarlos D. DeMattosGary DemosMato Der AvannesianKevin DillonDavid Dodson

Judith DohertyCyril DrabinskyJesse DylanJonathan ErlandJohn FarrandRay FeeneyWilliam FeightnerPhil FeinerJimmy FisherScott FleischerThomas FletcherSalvatore GiarratanoRichard B. GlickmanJohn A. GreschJim HannafinWilliam HansardBill Hansard, Jr.Richard HartRobert HarveyCharles HerzfeldLarry HezzelwoodFrieder HochheimBob HoffmanVinny HoganCliff HsuiRobert C. HummelRoy IsaiaGeorge JobloveJoel JohnsonJohn JohnstonMarker KarahadianFrank KayDebbie KennardMilton KeslowRobert KeslowLarry KingenDouglas KirklandTimothy J. KnappRon KochKarl KresserChet KucinskiChuck LeeDoug LeightonLou LevinsonSuzanne LezotteGrant LoucksHoward LukkAndy MaltzSteven E. ManiosRobert MastronardiJoe MatzaAlbert Mayer, Jr.Bill McDonaldAndy McIntyreStan MillerWalter H. MillsGeorge MiltonMike MimakiRami MinaMichael MorelliDash Morrison

Nolan MurdockDan MuscarellaIain A. NeilOtto NemenzErnst NettmannTony NgaiMickel NiehenkeJeff OkunMarty OppenheimerWalt OrdwayMichael ParkerWarren ParkerDoug PentekKristin PetrovichEd PhillipsNick PhillipsJerry PierceJoshua PinesCarl PorcelloHoward PrestonDavid PringlePhil RadinChristopher ReynaColin RitchieEric G. RodliDomenic RomAndy RomanoffFrederic RoseDaniel RosenDana RossBill RussellKish SadhvaniDavid SamuelsonSteve SchklairPeter K. SchnitzlerWalter SchonfeldJuergen SchwinzerRonald ScottSteven ScottDon ShapiroMilton R. ShefterLeon SilvermanGarrett SmithTimothy E. SmithKimberly SnyderStefan SonnenfeldJohn L. SprungJoseph N. TawilIra TiffenSteve TiffenArthur TostadoJeffrey TreanorBill TurnerStephan Ukas-BradleyMark Van HorneRichard VetterJoe ViolanteDedo WeigertFranz WeiserEvans WetmoreBeverly Wood

J U N E 2 0 1 1

Jan YarbroughHoyt YeatmanIrwin M. YoungMichael ZachariaBob ZahnNazir ZaidiMichael ZakulaLes Zellan

HONORARY MEMBERSCol. Edwin E. Al drin Jr.Neil A. ArmstrongCol. Michael CollinsBob FisherDavid MacDonaldCpt. Bruce McCandless IILarry ParkerD. Brian Spruill

ASC Visits NABASC members participated in a

number of events during the recentNational Association of Broadcasters confer-ence, in addition to scouring the show floorto assess the latest tools and technologies.Among the goings-on, Curtis Clark, ASCand Francis Kenny, ASC joined coloristPankaj Bajpai and associate member Ray

Feeney for the panel “Justified: The Debutof the Academy’s Groundbreaking ImageInterchange Framework,” moderated byAC contributor Stephanie Argy; Societymembers Steven Poster , Don Burgessand M. David Mullen joined Bajpai andproducer Sean McKittrick for “From GoProto 3-D: Quality Filmmaking on a Budget”;Russell Carpenter, ASCjoined cinematog-raphers Svetlana Cvetko and John Guleser-ian for “Small Profile, Big Results? TheAdvantages and Challenges of DSLR Cine-matography,” moderated by AC associateeditor Jon D. Witmer; and Daryn Okada,ASC joined associate member JonathanErland and vision scientist Wendy Davis for“The State of Solid-State Lighting in ImageAcquisition and Reproduction: A Reportfrom the Academy of Motion Picture Artsand Sciences’ Science and TechnologyCouncil,” moderated by associate memberAndyMaltz .

Additionally, Robert Primes, ASCpresented a special session for industryprofessionals. Primes and his panel —which included Society members StephenLighthill and Nancy Schreiber, and asso-ciate members Michael Bravin andWilliam Feightner — discussed the resultsof their recent single-chip camera evalua-tion, for which they shot 15 live-action andinstrumented tests specifically designed togive filmmakers an apples-to-applescomparison of exposure latitude, low-lightsensitivity, color space, flesh tones, shutterartifacts and compression.

In the days leading up to the NABShow, NAB and SMPTE co-produced DCS2011. This year’s theme was “Advances inImages and Sound: 3-D, 4K and Beyond,”and among the highlights was a panelmoderated by Clark and including ASCPresident Michael Goi and associatemembers George Joblove and HowardLukk. The panel focused on the impact andconsiderations of moving to higher produc-tion resolutions, including 4K, 8K andbeyond.

Taking place concurrently with NABwas the Broadcast Education Associationconference. Among the BEA activities wasthe “HDSLR and Filmmaking DocumentaryWorkshop,” presented by Rodney Char-ters, ASC, CSC and associate memberTimothy E. Smith . During the session,Charters and Smith screened clips anddiscussed the opportunities and challengesof filmmaking with DSLR camera systems.

Masters Share Their POVsASC members Allen Daviau ,

Robbie Greenberg , Daniel Pearl andDavid Darby recently participated in TheMaster’s POV, a three-day educational eventpresented by The Film Training Co. All fourparticipated in an opening panel discussion,where they were joined by cinematogra-pher Mark Sawicki as well as industryexperts from Kodakand the George East-man House. Later, Darby, Greenberg andPearl led seminars in which they discussedtheir working methods for feature films,commercials and music videos. Additionally,Pearl and Darby each led lighting demon-strations.

Crudo Named UCLA Cinematographer in ResidenceKodak and the University of Califor-

nia-Los Angeles recently named RichardCrudo, ASC the 2011 Kodak Cinematogra-pher in Residence for the spring quarter atUCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Televi-sion. The program, inaugurated by profes-sor and ASC associate William McDonaldwith Kodak’s support, aims to enhance thelearning experience of students with insightfrom renowned cinematographers.

Crudo’s activities began with ascreening of American Buffalo , which hephotographed for director MichaelCorrente. Following the screening, whichwas open to the public, McDonald moder-ated a Q&A with Crudo. ●

Clubhouse News


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John Guleserian; (left to right) associate memberTimothy E. Smith and Rodney Charters, ASC;

Daniel Pearl, ASC; Richard P. Crudo, ASC.

Never Stop

Learning. Never Stop

Networking.

New Professional Level Workshops Starting July 2, 2011Cinematography, 3D, RED, HDSLR Filmmaking, Production Sound and MoreBook your seats at www.studentfilmmakers.com/workshops/

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Scott Pelzel1123 Broadway #307, New York, New York, 10010


When you were a child, what film made the strongest impres-sion on you?David Lean’s Great Expectations (1946). Forty-odd years later, he askedme to shoot his final epic, Nostromo!

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire?Robert Krasker, BSC, for The Third Man . Today, working with imagecapture up towards 2,000 ISO, I bow down to him for his powerfulnight cinematography on slow black-and-white film. Conrad Hall, ASC,a master of light, for his brilliant photography from Butch Cassidy andthe Sundance Kid right through to Road to Perdition.Guy Green, BSC, for his superb photography onGreat Expectations. And Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC,AMC, an extraordinary cinematographer with anexceptional style.

What sparked your interest in photography?I was given a small Coronet still camera when I was14, and I started taking a few shots, especially land-scapes — I lived in a small town on the fringes of theOutback. The film was processed by the localchemist and was quite expensive, so I didn’t get toshoot a lot, but it was a thrill to see the tiny images.

Where did you train and/or study?I had no formal education in photography, as there were no filmschools in southern Australia, but I got a lucky break when I was givena position as a props boy on Rupert Murdoch’s new television channel,NWS9, in Adelaide. Why I got the job, I’ll never know; I was 16 andhad no experience in anything at all. After two years of props andstudio camera, I joined the news department and operated as a one-man band with my trusty Eyemo and 100' rolls of black-and-whitereversal.

Who were your early teachers or mentors?Two news cameramen became my mentors and taught me how toload a camera, use a Weston light meter and cover a story. Pat McEwanhad a very safe and steady style: use a tripod, use filters for enhancingskies, avoid flares in the lens, don’t pan too fast, etc. Trevor Rose, bycontrast, was a wild man: handheld, no matte box or filters, ‘Don’tworry about bloody flares, just get in there and get the pictures!’ I amforever indebted to them both.

What are some of your key artistic influences?My inspiration came and still comes from anywhere: cinematogra-phers, photographers, painters, landscapes, skies, the moods of theocean, the magical changing light in a giant city or tiny country town,light on a face in a million ways. No matter where I am on the planet,every day there are images that inspire me.

How did you get your first break in the business?I guess it was being asked to photograph George Miller’s The RoadWarrior.

What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?Ninety percent of my shooting days are satisfying — otherwise, I would-n’t be doing it — and it’s near impossible to single out one. But if I hadto, it might be filming the buffalo stampede in Dances With Wolves. Ithad never been done before on such a scale, and never with a majorstar riding amongst the thundering herd. We strategically placed half a

dozen or so cameras, taking extra care to protect thecrew, and then hoped that the beasts would followa certain route through the valley — and they did.

Have you made any memorable blunders?The biggest one was on day one of The Bone Collec-tor. I took a gamble that didn’t pay off: Denzel Wash-ington lying on white sheets in dim, pre-dawn light.I lit more for the pre-dawn look than for our leadingman. There was practically no detail on his face at all.I’ve never experienced such a sickening feeling indailies. I know [director] Phil Noyce prevented mefrom being fired that day!

What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received?From George Miller: ‘Just be bold, Dino! Be as bold as you want!’

What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?The book South, the story of Shackleton’s extraordinary expedition inthe Antarctic.

Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like totry?I love vast stretches of barren land, dark thrillers and musicals. Now ifonly some writer could combine those in one movie!

If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doinginstead?Probably flogging Christianity to heathen tribes in the highlands of NewGuinea.

Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-ship?Jack Cooperman, Harry Wolf and John Alonzo.

How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?Being a member of the most prestigious cinematographers’ club in theuniverse immediately raises the bar. The opportunity to share experi-ences and challenges with the world’s greatest cinematographers is initself a great privilege. ●

Dean Semler, ASC, ACSClose-up

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H A R I S Z A M B A R L O U K O S , B S CONFILM

To order Kodak motion picture fi lm, call (800) 621-fi lm. © Eastman Kodak Company, 2011. Photography: © 2011 Douglas Kirkland

“I see fi lmmaking as a study of the human condition. The elements that you use to translate the human condition into a visual form, and the clarity of your choices when doing so, defi ne you as a cinematographer. Cinematography is the result of a process. Sometimes something that goes wrong can liberate your mind and open you up to another way of creating an image. My art school training taught me that underexposure and overexposure are textures that can be used in the service of storytelling. I’ve always been more interested in the artistic aspects of what we do. Empirical comparisons between fi lm and digital capture are in no way representative of the emotional diff erences. The face is the most interesting photographic subject, and fi lm has a more pleasing portraiture range. When I watch fi lmed images, I feel like a certain veil that exists with other formats disappears, and in a way, I’m peeking into the human soul.”

Haris Zambarloukos, BSC grew up in Cyprus and studied fi lmmaking at Central St. Martin’s College of Art & Design in London and at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Before beginning his professional career, he interned with Conrad Hall, ASC. In addition to commercials and music videos, his resume includes The Other Man, Venus, Death Defying Acts, and Mamma Mia!, as well as Sleuth and Thor, both directed by Kenneth Branagh.

All these productions were photographed on Kodak motion picture fi lm.

For an extended interview with Haris Zambarloukos, visit www.kodak.com/go/onfi lm.

AC iun 2011

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Transcript of AC iun 2011