AC mar 2010

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

1/100

M A R C H 2 0 1 0

$5.95 Can

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

2/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

3/100

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

Anthony B. Richmond, ASC, BSC

W W W . T H E A S C . C O M

TO SUBSCRIBE BY PHONE:

Call (800) 448-0145 (U.S. only)

(323) 969-4333 or visit the ASC Web site

hen I was 12 years old, I

saw Citizen Kane. The

images created by Gregg

Toland, ASC were so powerful tha

all Ive ever wanted to do since

then is photograph films.

My first copy ofAmerica

Cinematographer came from

director John Sturges when we

were working on The Eagle Has

Landed. I have read the magazine

ever since.

In this ever-changing wor

of new technology and equipment

AC keeps me in touch with what

available. More importantly, it

enables me to see how my fellow

cinematographers are applying

their art, skill and vision to the

projects theyre shooting.

Anthony B. Richmon

ASC, BS

W

photobyOwenRoizman,ASC

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

4/100

Litepanels 1x1 Bi-ColorVariable Color TemperatureFinally, ultimate color control right at your fingertips. Asoft, high output light that lets you quickly dial up anycolorfrom cool white daylight to warm white tung-sten. The new Litepanels 1x1 Bi-Color flood lets youadjust color temperature instantly so you can adapt to

different shooting conditions and skin tones on the fly.Like all Litepanels 1x1 lights, the Bi-Color has a full-range dimmer,remains cool to the touch, runs on AC or an optional snap-on battery,and produces a great, soft-wrapping light quality.

Litepanels 1x1 Bi-FocusVariable Beam AngleThe alternative to energy inefficient Fresnel lights,the ultra-thin and portable 1x1 Bi-Focus is a cool-to-the-touch, low energy draw solution that offersthe flexibility to instantly vary the light beam width.So game changing its patented. The 1x1 Bi-Focusfeatures daylight color balanced (5600K) LED bulbs in a 1 by 1square housing and a dial that lets you infinitely vary the output. Inaddition to the dial you can control the unit remotely via the unitsintegrated DMX controller. Choose from either the variable

Spot/Flood or Spot/Super-Spot fixtures and enjoyLitepanels award-winning lighting. SeeLitepanels.com for details.

ariablelor dial

Litepanels Bi-Focus offersvariable beam angles

Litepanels1x1 Bi-Color & Bi-Focus both feature:Extreme PortabilityDial-up brightness

Runs on battery or AC1x1 square & 1.75 thick

Cool to the touchUltra-lightweight, 3 lbs. (1.36 kg)

Integrated DMX (new)Fits where other lights cannot go

Snap-on battery option for wireless lightingDraws under 10% power of conventional lights

818 752 7009 [email protected]

4200K3200K TungstenBalanced

5600K DaylightBalanced

$250 REBATE ON THE MOST VERSATILELIGHTS EVER MADE

Varfocu

$250 Rebate2-Lite 1x1Flypak Kit

See website

for 4'x4' & other

configurations

Act Now!Rebates expire 03.31.10

SUGGESTED KITS

1Bi-Color &1Bi-F

(Spot/Super-Spot)

1Daylight Flood &1Daylight SpotOther models availa

Winner ofthe 2009Emmy

WWW.LITEPANELS.COM

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

5/100

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

30 Mind GamesRobert Richardson, ASC lends hallucinatory edge toMartin Scorseses noir thriller

46 Home-Screen HitsCinematographers from The Pacific, Gleeand CSI: NYdetail their work

62 A Passion for His CraftJohn C. Flinn, ASC earns the Societys Career Achievementin Television Award

72 Saluting an Industry StalwartPresidents Award recipient Sol Negrin, ASC reflects onhis long and fruitful career

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES Friends of the ASC: Society unveils new membership level

DVD Playback: The Prisoner Paris, Texas Streamers

On Our Cover: U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) searches for a missingpatient at a psychiatric penitentiary in Shutter Island, shot by Robert Richardson, ASC.(Photo by Andrew Cooper, SMPSP, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.)

8 Editors Note10 Presidents Desk12 Short Takes: La Premire18 Production Slate:A ProphetNY Export: Opus Jazz78 Post Focus: EFilms Cinemascan System82 New Products & Services

88International Marketplace

89 Classified Ads90 Ad Index92 ASC Membership Roster94 Clubhouse News96 ASC Close-Up: Salvatore Totino

M A R C H 2 0 1 0 V O L . 9 1 N O . 3

72

62

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

6/100

M a r c h 2 0 1 0 V o l . 9 1 , N o . 3

T h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f M o t i o n I m a g i n g

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello

SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley

ASSOCIATE EDITORJon D. Witmer

TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,John Calhoun, Bob Fisher, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring,

Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer,John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,

Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson

ART DEPARTMENT

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore

ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce

323-908-3114 FAX 323-876-4973


ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell

323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188


CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno

323-908-3124 FAX 323-876-4973


CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez

SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost

ASC PRESIDENTS ASSISTANT Kim Weston

ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark

American Cinematographer(ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 90th year of publication, is published

monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription i nquiries (323) 969-4344.

Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit internationalMoney Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood

office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made toSheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail [email protected].

Copyright 2007 ASC Holding Corp. (All r ights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CAand at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.4

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

7/100

OPTICS TO LASTBEYOND THE HORIZON

Introducing 10 incomparable PL mount prime lenses,ready to deliver future-proof optical performance.

Delivering Summer 2010, only from Band Pro worldwide.

d Pro Fi lm & Digita l USA 818-841-9655 Europe +49 89 94 54 84 90 www.bandpro.com mystery@bandp

NAB Booth# C10308

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

8/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

9/100

Unifying all your video sources and cameras has

never been easy until now. The AJ-HPM200

P2 Mobile is the key workflow tool on any production

because its HD-SDI connectivity lets you record fromany camera or device in 10-bit, 4:2:2 independent

frame AVC-Intra100 or DVCPRO HD/50/25 and,

simultaneously* in long GOP AVCCAM.** So nomatter how many sources you have, you canbring them all into one portable unit.

With the new HPM200, you can play P2 andAVCCAM footage, as well as full frame rate P2

playback from a disk drive. You can also archive

master-quality footage and FTP low bit rate

AVCCAM dailies without ever leaving the set.

With the most diverse I/O connectivity of

any recorder/player and a bevy of features, like

e-SATA and GigE interfaces, split-screen editing,

six P2 slots for long record times and full

cross-conversion capabilities, its easier to listwhat the HPM200 doesnt do. The P2 Mobile

wont deliver craft services, but it just might

save you from running into overtime.

Learn more at www.panasonic.com/broadca

connect

the shots

consolidate your acquisition options. sacrifice none.

2009 Panasonic of North Ame

*With optional AJ-YCX250G codec bo**Panasonic markets its professional AVCHD products under the AVCCAM brand na

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

10/100

The setting of Martin Scorseses Shutter Islandis a fore-boding psychiatric facility that makes The Shinings OverlookHotel look like fun for the whole family. Looming on a rocky,heavily guarded island off Boston Harbor, Ashecliffe Hospital isa penitentiary for the criminally insane. Its a place that remindsU.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) of the Germanconcentration camp Dachau, which he helped liberate as asoldier during World War II.

With the help of Robert Richardson, ASC, Scorsese usesthis location to physically represent the movies nightmarishpsychological landscape. In crafting a look for the vivid halluci-

nations Daniels begins to experience at Ashecliffe, the filmmakers drew inspiration fromdirector/cinematographer George Stevens 16mm Kodachrome footage of the liberation ofDachau, material that Richardson describes as hyper-real. This style, as well as the filmsbrooding real-world ambience, was achieved with custom look-up tables; the LUTs werecombined with digital grading to augment the eerie images captured by Richardson and hiscrew, who also created the practical hurricane that pounds the asylum. The lighting, colorand texture all contribute to the blurring of reality and hallucination, raising the question ofwhat is subjective vs. objective, Richardson tells contributing writer Patricia Thomson (MindGames, page 30). Marty plays with this blurring of lines throughout the film, I think withgreat prowess. The film is a journey within one mans mind, and what you see could be realor imagined.

Teleproduction is this months special focus, and weve spotlighted several projects youshould add to your DVRs playlist: HBOs Band of Brothers sequel, The Pacific, which draftedcinematographers Remi Adefarasin, BSC and Steve Windon, ACS for hand-to-hand combat

(page 46); Glee, an award-winning series that allows Christopher Baffa, ASC to help chore-ograph energetic musical interludes (page 52); CSI: NY, the hit forensic procedural thatrecently required cinematographers Marshall Adams and Feliks Parnell to transition from35mm film to digital capture (page 58); and NY Export: Opus Jazz, a PBS ballet special shotand co-directed by Jody Lee Lipes that features choreography by the late Jerome Robbins(Production Slate, page 24).

This issue also profiles a pair of ASC standouts who were honored at last monthsawards ceremony: John C. Flinn, who received the Societys Career Achievement in TelevisionAward (A Passion for His Craft, page 62), and Sol Negrin, whose long record of service wasrecognized with the Presidents Award (Saluting an Industry Stalwart, page 72). I puteverything Ive got into every shot I do, says Flinn, who has lent his talents to such memo-rable shows as Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-O and Magnum, P.I. When Im on a series, I make

22 of the best movies I can per season. Negrin has also made the most of his career, earn-ing five Emmy nominations and then sharing his knowledge with new generations ofstudents. I worked on commercials, documentaries, industrial films and, eventually, featurefilms and television, notes Negrin. The best advice I was ever given came from [ASC cine-matographer] Harry Stradling Sr., who said, Never be afraid to take a chance. It may be thebest thing you ever did.

Stephen PizzelloExecutive Editor

Editors Note

8

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

11/100

Whichisprobabl

ywhypeopleare

comingbacktofil

m.Film

hasincredibleexp

osurelatitude,wh

ichmakesitsoea

syto

lightandworkwit

honset.Andit

givesmeanimage

thats

loadedwithcolor

informationtost

artwithwhichs

avestime

inpost.Theunma

tchedresolutionmakeseveryth

ingfromHD

transferstospot

sontheweblook

amazing.Consider

ingall

thesurprisesa

productionthrows

atyou,whyaddan

unproven

workflowintoth

emix?Film,man.

Itsjustbeautif

ul.

StefanSonnenfeldrefu

sestocompromise.His

award-winningworkon

commercials

andfeaturessuchas

StarTrekandTransfor

mers2:Revengeofthe

Fallenisa

testamenttothat.He

arhisstoriesandoth

ersatkodak.com/go/mot

ion

Stefan SonnenfeldColorist. Entrepreneur. Fanatic.

K

odak,

2009.

KodakandVisionaretrademarks.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

12/100

Its hard to become a member of the ASC. Now, I know that might sound like a brilliant flashof the obvious, but in reflecting on my own path to the hallowed gates of the ASC Clubhouse in Holly-wood, I was reminded of just how tough it was.

First, you have to be recommended by three active members who write letters explaining whythey think youre qualified. They take into consideration your body of work as well as the integrity ofyour character. Those three letters are not something that you can solicit; they just have to happen.You and your cinematography have to have made enough of an impression that three of the worldsbest cinematographers took notice.

Second, you are invited to sit before the Membership Committee. This call comes in a decep-tively casual way. Patty Armacost, the Societys events coordinator, called me on a Tuesday and askedif I was free that Saturday morning. Then she asked if I could come by the Clubhouse to meet someof the members, and bring 10-15 minutes of work to show them. I said sure, no problem. It wasntuntil I hung up the phone that I realized Oh, my god! This is the ASC Membership meeting!

Ben Toguchi, who had been the Clubhouse caretaker since 1959, greeted me at the door. He knew everyone and everything thatwent on in that building. He invited me to sit in the library while the committee was preparing to meet me, and he offered me somethingto drink. He said they would call for me in a few minutes, so I sat and waited.

When you walk into the membership meeting, you are warmly greeted by 15-20 of your cinematography heroes. At my meeting,Allen Daviau was the chairman, and sitting at the table were people like Vilmos Zsigmond, Owen Roizman, Laszlo Kovacs, Victor Kemper,George Spiro Dibie, Richard Crudo, Ron Garcia, and on and on. You shake everyones hand, and the world goes blank for the rest of themeeting. Seriously. The shock of being in that room with those incredible artists completely numbs you.

I know I was asked questions about my work, about the craft of cinematography and about what the ASC stands for, but I canthonestly say I remember my answers. I know I showed my work to them, but I couldnt tell whether they liked any of it or not. After a fewmore questions, they thanked me for coming, and I walked out of the room.

Then the Membership Committee discusses your qualifications, and they vote. If you pass that vote, the ASC Board of Governorsconsiders your work and the Membership Committees recommendation, and then they vote. If you pass thatvote, a letter proposing you

for membership is sent to every active member of the ASC, and they have 30 days to write a response if they feel you should not be accepted.If there are no objections, you are then invited to join the Society.

Its tough. Even though we are on a constant search for qualified members, we have only 316 active members as of this writing and thats covering the entire world, because the ASC is truly international in scope. We look for potential new members all the time. Wediscuss work weve seen on small films where the cinematography stood out. We keep tabs on student cinematographers who have showngreat promise, hoping that one day they will be worthy of ASC membership. And we are excited when we find work that we feel is trulyextraordinary.

As I walked out of the room after my Membership Committee meeting, old Ben came up to me and asked how it went. I told him Ididnt know. With a smile, he patted me on the back and said, Dont worry. I think Im going to see you here soon. You have the rightheart.

Ben passed away two years ago. In the seven years Ive been in the ASC, Ive seen many people come up for consideration shoot-ers on big and small projects, boisterous personalities and reclusive ones. But in the end, Bens observation, as indefinable as it was, rings the

truest: You gotta have the right heart.

Michael Goi, ASCPresident

Presidents Desk

10 March 2010 American Cinematographer

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

13/100

www.aja.com

One workflow.From Lens to Post.

Ki Pro is an all new way of connecting production and post.Finally, shoot on the same codec as you edit with, Apple ProRes 422,built natively into Ki Pros stand-alone, portable hardware.

With its extensive analog and digital connectivity, virtually any video and audio source can be fed into Ki Pro.

It also includes AJAs powerful 10-bit realtime up/down/cross-conversion, enabling instantaneous recording

of SD or HD from any camera format.

Record pristine ProRes media to a removable Storage Module with built-in FireWire 800, or to

34mm ExpressCard Flash both instantly mount on your OSX desktop for immediate editing and file access.

Ki Pro is tough and rugged, yet small and portable, designed for real production environments.

Powered through an industry standard 4-pin XLR, you have flexible AC and battery options. Use Ki Pro on a

table, or mate it between your camera and tripod via a bulletproof optional aluminum cage, complete with

sliding baseplate and accomodation for 15mm rods.

Visit our website to discover the full details of how Ki Pro will change your world.

K i P r o . B e c a u s e i t m a t t e r s .

Record natively to Apples ProRes 422 codec

for full raster 10-bit 4:2:2 HD and SD.

Record to a removable Storage Module

with built-in FireWire 800 or 34mm

ExpressCard Flash.

Built-in WiFi and Ethernet for completecontrol via a web-browser, or your iP hone.

Connect any digital camera via SDI or HDMI,

or any analog camera. Convert in realtime

from SD to HD, or 720 to/from 1080.

Ki Pro is your hub for all types of sources,

regardless of format or connectivity.

Ki

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

14/100


Dramatizing Cinema HistoryBy Iain Stasukevich

The year is 1895. In the United States, Thomas Edison tinkerswith his Kinetoscope as a means of exhibiting short motion pictures.The device is conceived for an audience of one. Meanwhile, acrossthe Atlantic, French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumire develop adifferent idea about how moving pictures should be seen, believing

they should be experienced communally, and they begin patentingtheir own film processes while working at their fathers photographicfirm in Lyon.

The short film La Premire, shot by Matt Wise for sibling direc-tors Michael and Nick Regalbuto, tells the story of the Lumiresstruggle to develop the cinematograph the worlds first motion-picture projector and present the first public screening of movingimages. As with most history, there are a lot of perspectives, and nota lot of them are definitive, notes Nick.

In their attempts to separate fact from legend, the Regalbutosunearthed contemporaneous articles about the Lumires public

screenings, along with a program of the films that were shown.

Arrival of a Train at La Ciotatwas one of their first films, and wenoticed it wasnt projected at any of the early public screenings, sowe tried to figure out why that might have been, says Michael. Thefilmmakers turned their attention to the legend that tells of aconfused, terrified crowd fleeing a presentation ofArrival of a Trainout of fear that the filmed locomotive would come right throughthe screen.

Nick continues, According to history, the first screening tothe paying public took place in Paris in December of 1895, but thatsnot the screening in our film. We know from the lineup that theydidnt showArrival of a Train, and our film suggests that the reason

Short Takes

Above: Charting motion pictures origins, the short film La Premireincludes a brief stop at the 1895 Exposition Internationale. The

sequence involved a combination of 2-D elements and greenscreencomposites to bring Paris Grand Palais to life. Right: Brothers Auguste

(Henri Lubatti, left) and Louis Lumire (Matthew Wolf) with theirinvention, the cinematograph.

I

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

15/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

16/100


they were afraid to show it was because ofwhat happened at the earlier screening[seen in La Premire], which went horriblyawry.

Ironically, to tell the story of two ofcinemas pioneers, Wise found himselfworking with some of the latest camera

technology, a Red One and a Canon EOS 5DMark II. But filmmaking is more than tech-nology, he notes. The point of LaPremire is that in spite of the technology inthe room, those people in the audiencereally believed there was a train coming atthem, and they ran out in a panic.

Wise shot most of La Premire withthe Red the 5D was used for a few bicy-cle-mounted shots and he found that thesystem presented a few hurdles of its own.Most notably, the Red doesnt perform wellin low-light situations, and the sensorssignal-to-noise ratio is negatively impactedby warm light. Therefore, when shootinginteriors, Wise shot wide open on ZeissSuper Speed prime lenses, and he used a CTB filter behind a hot mirror filter.

Framed in 16x9, La Premire beginswith a brief montage that traces cinemasprogression from the magic lantern to thecamera obscura, the Daguerreotype, thezoetrope and, finally, Edisons Kinetoscope.Inspired by the look Roger Deakins, ASC,BSC, created with Kardan Swing and Tilt

lenses for some shots in The Assassinationof Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford(ACOct. 07), Wise chose to apply a selec-tive-focus look for these early moments,suggesting that the lens in use wasnt yet aprecise instrument. We used a Lensbabywith a PL mount, the cinematographerexplains. The Kardan lens doesnt changethe focus on the subject or the depth-of-field; it just bends the light coming throughit to throw a certain portion of the frameout of focus.

The filmmakers considered applyinga few other vintage looks to the rest of thepicture, and they were particularly inspiredby the period industrial tone that Wally Pfis-ter, ASC brought to The Prestige (ACNov.06). Our film is set in a time before elec-tricity became widespread, notes Michael.Its a story where a lot of the illuminationcomes from candlelight. Wise initiallyconsidered using windows and practicals ashis sole motivators, but the tight shooting

Top to bottom: Louis inspects a strip of film; the brothers brainstorm with their father,Claude-Antoine (Ronald Guttman); Louis and Auguste prepare the cinematograph for aprojection; director of photography Matt Wise finds the frame with a Red One camera.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

17/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

18/100

setup wouldnt detract from the look of thefilm, says Wise. It was appropriate for thetone, and I could still swing the cameraaround and only have to tweak the lightingjust a little bit. If we went with any othersetup, we would have lost a lot of time and

shots, and we would have lost the look wewanted.

The interiors have a chiaroscuro lookthat is aided by a candle, gas lamp orwindow source in almost every shot.Adding a backlight for these scenes wouldhave been distracting, muses Wise. Forthe dinner scene [in the Lumires home],the only accent I wanted was the 10K in thewindow. I didnt want to overstimulate theaudience with unnecessary sources.

Before the Lumire brothers unveiltheir cinematograph, their father, Claude-Antoine, promises the skeptical audience abrand-new technology that seems a lotlike magic. The patriarchs speech inspiredWise to try something different once thescreening started. What was being

projected was an alien experience for theaudience, and I felt we needed to put thescene in a different context than the rest ofthe film. I asked my gaffer to turn off all theoverhead lights and shoot a Source FourLeko gelled with Half CTB up into themuslin. It created a nice, soft, bluish tone onthe audience.

The real cinematograph, whichcombined a camera, processor and projectorin one housing, was less magic than a fusionof rudimentary chemical and clockworkprocesses. Working from archival blueprintsand photographs, the directors cobbledtogether a non-functional reproduction ofthe original device. Much of its constructionwas based on guesswork. The toughestthing to figure out was the shutter, notesNick. Wed seen a lot of shutters in ourresearch, but they were all different shapes;there would be a frame-shaped cutout inone disc and a wedge-shaped cutout inanother. Figuring out how fast the shutterspun and how the rods connected to thecrank was also difficult. The original camera

seemed so immaculately designed.In La Premire, the first film the

Lumires show is Arrival of a Train, whichquickly causes the frightened audience toflee. Staring at the upturned chairs litteringthe caf floor, Claude-Antoine offers,Maybe they werent ready for it yet, butthey will be soon. Sure enough, the shakenbut curious audience creeps back in, eagerto see more. The rest is film history.

Story is what drives us as filmmak-ers, but the fact is that the Lumires werent

storytellers they were innovators, saysNick. They were interested in pushing theenvelope of what was possible, technologi-cally speaking. As much as were tellingstories, none of it would be possible withoutthe innovators. Wise agrees, adding, Its agiven that technology will change. If peoplekeep coming back, its because theyve beenmoved by whats on the screen. Thats thefactor that remains the same.


schedule forced him to instead shoot interi-ors under one big light.

Gaffer Eric Ulbrich and key grip Bran-don Alperin designed the large source, apair of cross-keyed 2Ks and a single lampfrom the center of a Maxi-Brute softened

through a 12'x8' frame of unbleachedmuslin. This rig was used for all of the inte-riors, including the Lumire household, thecaf where the cinematograph makes itsdebut, and a turn-of-the-century re-creationof the Grand Palais in Paris. All interiorscenes were shot in an industrial space inNorthridge, Calif. A Duvatyn skirt was usedto keep light off the walls, and all of thelamps on the grid were rigged to MagicGadgets dimmers on the floor. I knew that

Above: The lightingplot for the caf set,where the Lumires

first project theirmoving images. Right:

The same overheadsource used in thecaf was also used

above the Lumireskitchen. Production

designer WalterMartinez crouches in

the background while

directors Michael (athead of table) and

Nick Regalbuto(holding book) and1st AD Jason Allen

(far right) prepare thenext take.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

19/100

8JJ:XFY'TTYM(

MAKING D FEEL FAMILIAR

TECHNICA D.COM

A division of Element TechnicaA division of Element3TECHNICA

echnicaT

.COM

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

20/100


A Self-Made ManBy Benjamin B

Sitting at a table in Paris 19th district, director Jacques Audi-ard and cinematographer Stphane Fontaine, AFC laugh as theyrecall the pressure they experienced during the world premiere ofAProphet(Un Prophte) at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. Because ofdeadlines, the filmmakers had opted for a 2K digital projection oftheir movie in the JPEG2000 format. Fontaine says he knew that digi-tal would suit the film, which was shot on 35mm, but Audiardconfesses that he was a doubting Thomas. The lights went down,and when the picture came up, Audiard was dumbfounded. I

discovered my film! he recalls. Thats when I discovered the finesseof Stphanes work. It looked like some kind of Caravaggio theskin tones, the shadows, the resolution. It was incredible.A Prophetwent on to win the festivals Grand Prize.

Reflecting on the quality of the Cannes screening, which wasdone with a Christie CP2000 DLP projector in a system configured byXDC, Audiard says, I know less about this than Stphane does, butI think that the combination of 35mm, the digital intermediate andJPEG2000 is simply miraculous. Its a miraculous hybrid that magni-fies the beauty of 35mm. Fontaine explains that, after doingnumerous comparison tests, the filmmakers chose to shoot 35mm

rather than 16mm or digital because 35mm was less ostentatiousthan the other formats. The 16mm was very beautiful, but itbrought a false documentary feel, a kind of pose, he notes.

A Prophet, Audiards second collaboration with Fontaine(after The Beat My Heart Skipped;ACSept. 05), follows the six-yearprison sentence of a young Arab-Frenchman, Malik (Tahar Rahim),who transforms from a lowly convict into a respected leader. Thestory begins with Malik arriving in prison, where he is singled out bythe head of the prisons powerful Corsican clan, Csar (NielsArestrup), who gives him an ultimatum: kill a fellow Arab or bekilled. In a succession of harrowing scenes, Malik becomes a killerand eventually a member of the privileged Corsican gang, whose

members treat him as a servant. Over time, by dint of his intelligenceand daring, Malik makes a place for himself in the prisons milieu,where, as one convict tells him, the idea is to come out a little lessstupid than you went in. When Malik finally leaves the prison, heis truly a self-made man.

Audiard considered shooting on location in a Europeanprison but quickly decided that he needed the freedom of a set. AProphetwas shot in an abandoned factory, with an entire cellblockbuilt on a floor some 30' above a courtyard, another importantsetting. Production designer Michel Barthlmy began by building amodel cell as a set with thin removable walls and an open ceil-

Production Slate

Malik (TaharRahim) is a

petty criminalwho arrives at

a French prisonpoor, illiterate

and withoutfamily orfriends in

A Prophet,which was

nominated foran Academny

Award forBest Foreign-

Language Film.

I

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

21/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

22/100


ing. Audiard recalls that it soundedwrong, looked wrong and felt wrong,and he subsequently decided to build thecells with thick walls and real ceilings.

This confined interior defined thelighting and framing possibilities forFontaine, who found that there werespots in each cell where the camera fit.Most of the light sources had to be builtinto the set. The main interior light sourcewas true to the institutional setting: fluo-rescent tubes on the ceilings and walls.Fontaine notes that the tube choice alsoyielded a more diffuse lighting qualitythan bulbs would have.

Each row of cells has windows that

look out onto the courtyard below, avantage point that is a leitmotif of the film,as Malik often looks out his window at thecourtyard society. Thus, a combination oftubes and daylight defined Fontaines light-ing scheme for the prison. To accommo-date changing daylight through the cellwindows, the cinematographer had sets ofidentical windows made with differentneutral-density values, so changing densityinvolved a quick change of the entirewindow. Fontaine would sometimes

supplement weak daylight from the cellwindows with an 18K HMI on a Condoroutside the window, complemented bytwo 6Ks through a bleached-muslin frameto add softer light. But by the time we getto the window, he notes, there isnt thatmuch light.

When shooting inside cells,Fontaine would start with fluorescent tubeson the ceiling and sometimes on the wallas well. To provide variety to the look of day

and night interiors, he would change thediffusion or sometimes add two-tube orfour-tube Kino Flo sources. He felt free tovary the quality and color of light becausethis was not a documentary. Audiardnotes that these variations helped preventthe setting from becoming monotonous.One of the challenges of a prison film, saysthe director, is that time stands stills. Light-ing creates a break in time and allows youto impose a different kind of time, to nolonger be in a strict chronology.

The directional feel of the lighting inthe prison is rooted in the realism of thetubes and daylight, but much of the interiorlight comes from above, and Fontaine did

not shy away from darkened eye socketsand shadowy, even obscured faces, as in thescene in which Csar asks Malik to make ahit for him. Some scenes, like a conversationby a window, are played entirely in silhou-ette. Fontaine concedes with a smile that heused very little fill light. Audiard adds, Its amatter of realism everything is not visibleall the time. Fontaine also did not hesitateto overexpose, especially in the scenesoutside the prison.

A Prophet was the first feature

Fontaine shot on Fuji film stocks; he usedtwo, Eterna 500 8573 and F-64D 8522. Hesometimes used the fast stock outside,when the winter light was dim. Fuji hascontrast but is less saturated than Kodak,he notes. Its very subtle in the blues andcyans. Going from one color to another isvery graduated without being very satu-rated.

Fontaine confesses to being a sticklerabout color temperature. The tube sources

were usually gel-corrected for daylight, withspecial care taken to reduce the greenspikes of the fluorescent spectrum. A fewsources, such as the light above the mirrorin Maliks cell, were set to a warmer color,giving a distinctive look to some of the char-acters introspective moments. The

sequences outside the prison are oftenwarmer, like the sunlit car ride fromMarseille, and sometimes more saturated,as in the scenes driving at night.

With tungsten stock in daylight,Fontaine used an 85C instead of an 85,which he finds saturates colors too much.The 85C corrects less, and you thereforehave a bluer negative. That doesnt preventyou getting warm hues afterwards, if youwant them. Its just that theres less satura-tion everywhere.

Working almost entirely handheld,Fontaine shot A Prophet with an Aaton35-III (with Cooke S4 prime lenses and anAngenieux Optimo 27-68mm zoom). AnArri 435 was used for a few high-speedshots. There is one dolly move during anairport sequence, and one unusual high-angle dolly right before the movies moststylized scene, a slow-motion shootoutinside a van, which Audiard describes as themoment when Malik becomes a filmhero.

Although Audiard wanted to cover

certain scenes with two cameras, the finalcut almost exclusively comprises FontainesA-camera material. Its just the way thingsworked out, says the director.

Fontaine states that he does notlight actors or sets, but instead describeswhat he does as creating a luminousambience that he feels the characterwould like to evolve in. I am not trying tolook; I am trying to see from his point ofview, he remarks.

On some takes, Audiard asked

Fontaine to apply what he calls a manonegro, to obscure part of the frame bycreating a soft-focus circle with his hand infront of the lens. This simple techniquegives a distinctive first-person point-of-viewto the opening scenes, and to the speechCsar gives to Malik to remind him whos incharge.

The richness of A Prophet is madeup in part by a series of brief anecdotalmontages: short sequences that condense a

Aftermurdering afellow Arab

(HichemYacoubi), whoposes a threat

to theCorsicans that

rule prisonsociety, Malikis haunted byvisions of his

victim.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

23/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

24/100


stages of a rocket you have to separateyourself from the first one for the secondone to work.

When you write a story, of course,you have dramatic goals for the storys clar-ity, intelligibility and its plot points, and atsome point you look it over and say, Ah,yes, this is well made. I understand every-

thing. And that is when you have to posethe question of creating holes in the story.There are floorboards that you have tobreak, that you have to remove; this can bedone in the writing, the shooting or theediting. Then, all of a sudden, the specta-tor can imagine more than he has seen orheard.

The filmmakers originally planned todo a photochemical finish, but with theCannes deadline and a growing number of

visual-effects shots looming, they finallyopted for a DI. This was carried out at 2Kat clair, where Fontaine worked withcolorist Isabelle Julien, a longtime collabo-rator. The cinematographer stresses thatfor him, the DI can only serve to continuethe intention already in the negative.

Speaking with Audiard andFontaine, one senses their strong mutualtrust. Audiard agrees, noting, WithStphane, there is never a question of risk.We never had a discussion where eitherone of us said, We cant do that. Its too

risky. It just doesnt come up between us.Fontaine adds, Also, we never sought tomake the film beautiful. We never talkedabout that.

On set, the filmmakers workquickly, but Fontaine notes that he still hastime for reflecting. He reminds Audiard,You told me that weve improved. Thedirector responds, I think we have, andyou know me better now, so because ofthat I rely on you a lot. We do have time toreflect and to talk, but in the end, I want to

be surprised. Thats the magic of cinema.

TECHNICAL SPECS

Super 1.85:1

3-perf Super 35mm

Aaton 35-III; Arri 435

Cooke and Angenieux lenses

Fuji Eterna 500 8573, F-64D 8522

Digital Intermediate

side story. For example, Maliks friend Jordi(Reda Kateb) tells him the story of unluckydrug traffickers whose car stalled in front ofthe authorities. The story is illustrated in aseries of shots unified by a continuous left-to-right motion as we see the traffickerspush their car, meet the customs agents,and then end up handcuffed on the

ground as their stash is unpacked. Wethought about A Prophetas an odysseywith many stories, many characters, saysAudiard. He muses that sometimes holesin the story contribute to its richness.When you set off writing, you tell yourselfthat every drawer that is opened must beclosed, and every character shown must beunderstood, but that isnt true. There is acertain kind of secondary character whosestory should not be concluded. Its like the

Clockwise fromabove: Csar (NielsArestrup), theleader of the

Corsicans, becomesMaliks protector;cinematographer

Stphane Fontaine,AFC crouches next

to Rahim as thecrew prepares tofilm in a typicallysmall set; director

Jacques Audiardgives some last-

minute pointers to

his star as Fontainelines up the shot.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

25/100

www.clairmont.com

Hollywood

818-761-4440

Vancouver

604-984-4563

Toronto

416-467-1700

Albuquerque

505-227-2525

Montreal

514-525-6556

Clairmont Raises The Bar!Cinematographer Salvatore Totino, ASC, explains why he

feels Clairmont Camera raises the bar in every aspect.

The quality of Clairmonts equipment, their service, their

reliability and their willingness to go above and beyond the

call of duty is by far the best in the industry. Their standard

level of quality, their attention to details and the

improvements and enhancements they make to their gear i

incredible.

What I really like about Clairmont is that they get excite

about your projects, and will strive to find solutions to eve

the most obscure problems. They never question any craz

idea they just make it work!Salvatore Totino, ASC

Director of Photograph

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

26/100


The Return of Jerome RobbinsBy John Calhoun

Finger-snapping dancers on NewYork City streets. Spectacular skyline viewsand visits to derelict locations populated byathletically graceful, multi-racial youngpeople. A jazzy soundtrack punctuated bybursts of romantic feeling. Sound familiar?

Maybe so, but West Side Storyis notthe movie in question. Its NY Export: OpusJazz, a new dance film scheduled for a

March 24 broadcast on PBS. The commonfeature to both is the late Jerome Robbins,choreographer and director of both stageand screen versions of West Side Storyandchoreographer of the original ballet NYExport: Opus Jazz, which premiered in1958. Though the latter is a more formal,abstract work, with music by Robert Princeas opposed to the Broadway sounds ofLeonard Bernstein, the kinship is clear.

But apart from a prelude showing

the performers going about their daily lives,transitions bridging the five movements,and a vrit montage of youths on thestreets, NY Export: Opus Jazzis pretty muchall dance for its 46-minute length. Relievedof the requirements of telling a linear story,it also has the feel of pure cinema. Each ofthe five movements is shot entirely in itsown style: the first with a locked-offcamera, followed by Steadicam, handheld,crane and dolly. And the frame is anamor-phic, giving the dancers and their backdrop

an expansive view.According to co-director/cinematog-

rapher Jody Lee Lipes, the inspiration forOpus Jazzcame after New York City Balletrevived the dance, in 2005. Two of thedancers in the restaging, Ellen Bar and SeanSuozzi, started talking about how cool thiswould be as a movie, and they conceivedthe story and the idea of shooting it in reallocations, says Lipes. They recognized thatwith its kinetic rhythms and the popular

African-American and Latin-American influ-ences on its dancing and music, Opus Jazzseemed destined to burst the confines ofthe stage. Bar and Suozzi became executiveproducers on the film and enlisted Lipes,whose credits include the documentaryBrock Enright: Good Times Will Never Bethe Same and the feature Afterschool,along with his colleagues Henry Joost (co-director and associate producer) and ArielSchulman (associate producer and art direc-tor). Lipes and Joost wrote the adaptationfor the piece.

The first stage of filming took shapein 2007, when the producers raised funds

to shoot Passage for Two, the balletsfourth movement. Ellen and Sean wantedto shoot one scene from the larger film inorder to raise more money, says Lipes. Thelocation was Manhattans High Line Park.Referencing both West Side Story and aperformance of the ballet from The Ed Sulli-van Showin the late 1950s, the filmmakersdecided to do the five-minute duet mostlyin a single take, using a 30' Jimmy Jibmounted on a dolly to capture the dancersfrom as many angles as possible.

We knew the piece was going todetermine how the rest of the film wouldgo, so we were very intent on doing it theright way, says Lipes. We gave ourselvestwo days because we wanted it to be atmagic hour. Shooting all day to give them-selves backup footage, and as a means ofpracticing the complex take, Lipes and hiscrew completed more than 20 takes, butgot the best one at the last moment. Itwas overcast, but at the very end of the day,

These frame grabsshow two movements

in the ballet NY Export:Opus Jazz,

choreographed byJerome Robbins. The

top frame is fromPassage for Two,

which the filmmakersshot in 2007 to help

raise money to film therest of the work. Theframe at right is from

Improvisations, shotin a gym

in Brooklyn.

I

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

27/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

28/100


the clouds broke on the horizon, and therewas a beautiful sunset, he says. ShootingKodak Vision2 250D 5205 with a PanArri435 and a Z5A 40-200mm T4.5 SuperPanazoom lens, I opened up all the wayand ended up pushing it 2 stops. It was theabsolute last take, and it was perfect,

thanks in part to my great focus puller, JoeAnderson.What helped the team achieve it

was Joosts decision to prepare detailedphoto storyboards. We took pictures of adance rehearsal with a digital SLR, andHenry made a big board of all the keyframes with the crane moves, says Lipes.We went through it with the crew andthen rehearsed it for half a day. For thismovement, and throughout the shoot,constant collaboration with Bar, Suozzi anda ballet master from the Robbins Trusthelped to preserve the choreography whileenhancing it for the camera. The choreo-grapher is thinking about movement as itsseen straight from the front, and some-times it works better to alter that a bit forthe camera, notes Lipes. One example ofthat in Passage for Two is when thecamera rises up above them. The guy isholding the girl, who makes a sort of X withher body. Usually thats done toward theaudience, but in this case, we had her do ittoward the sky, where the camera was.

With Passage for Two in hand,the filmmakers were able to raise the capi-tal to film the rest of Opus Jazzby 2009.The stylistic approach to the remainingmovements had mostly been worked out.Of course, the decision to shoot in the

Top to bottom:Two frame grabs from

Entrance/Group Dance,shot at McCarren Park Pool

in Brooklyn; co-directorHenry Joost (left) and

co-director/cinematographerJody Lee Lipes confer;a frame from Theme,

Variations and Fugue,shot in an old theater

in Jersey City, N.J.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

29/100

CookeOpticsLimited

cookeoptics.com

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700

Canada, South America, USA:T: +1-973-335-4460

Place

YourOrderToday

NEWPanchroby Cooke

18, 25, 32, 50, 75

and 100mm. Coversup to 33.54mmImage Circle.

For details onour NEW Panchro,NEW 5/ T1.4 Primesand our S4/ Primeand zoom lenses,go to:

cookeoptics.com.To sign up forupdates, see News

anamorphic format, with Hawk C-Seriesand V-Series lenses, was part of the equa-tion from the beginning. Jerome Robbinswas a perfectionist, to say the least, and hemade his only film on 70mm, says Lipes.In that spirit, we wanted to shoot on ahigh-quality format. And when youre

working with big groups of dancers,widescreen is a lot easier to use; people canall stand in a line together, and you can gettighter on them and see their whole bodies.Also, it calls back to an older style of film-making.

A similar gesture to the past was thedecision to use Ben Shahns abstract back-drops from the ballets original production asa starting point in determining which loca-tions to use. We chose places that wererun down, places that were once somethingelse and are now old New York, explainsLipes. A case in point is Brooklyns McCarrenPark Pool, a crumbling, Depression-era relicused for the films opening number,Entrance: Group Dance. After a prologuethat shows the dancers making their way tothis space from various locations, themembers of the ensemble enter the pooland take their positions. Something wetook away from West Side Story was theimportance of trying to make the choreog-raphy exist in the space, says the cine-matographer. We didnt want to just take

choreography and plop it down in McCar-ren Pool; we wanted to integrate the move-ments into the space.

Entrance/Group Dance was shotwith a locked-off camera, a time-consumingchoice given that the shoot employed onlyone camera, an Arricam Lite. The move-ment required more than 100 takes. Thissequence became the films static-cameramovement almost by process of elimination.It was pretty arbitrary, says Lipes. Im abig fan of making rules for yourself to limit

what you can do. Deciding to make thatmovement totally static, or this movementon a dolly, makes us think about how tocapture the dance while emphasizingdistinct styles of photography.

It was clear that the third movement,Improvisations, which was shot in agymnasium in Brooklyn, would benefit themost from a freewheeling handheldapproach. The last movement, the eight-minute Theme, Variations and Fugue,

was shot onstage in an 80-year-old theaterin Jersey City, N.J., and it was determinedthat a dolly would be needed for optimalcoverage of the choreography. The openloft space in Red Hook, Brooklyn, that wasused for the second movement, Statics,became the Steadicam sequence largely

because of its structural properties, whichincluded columns.Dave Ellis was the Steadicam opera-

tor for Statics, a nighttime sequence thatLipes shot on Kodak Vision3 500T 5219,

opening up to T4 and pushing one stop.This kept 1st AC David Jacobson on histoes, as he had to pull focus with thecamera flying around the room at 360degrees, says Lipes. The most frequentlyused lens in this sequence was a 40mm,which was about as wide as Lipes went on

the shoot. All of the Hawks open to a T2.2or T3, and I shot the first couple of setupsat T4. My favorite colorist, Sam Daley atTechnicolor, called me at one point, franticabout extreme distortion. He said T8 was

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

30/100

really where I should be. That dictated a lotof the look of the film, because I wasnt ableto shoot at low light.

Lighting the Steadicam sequence,set entirely in a sixth-floor walkup, was achallenge for Lipes and his gaffer, JoshAllen. I hoped to light from the street, butthere were construction scaffoldings with

black knitting over them, says the cine-matographer. So I turned to the inside,where there were construction lights hang-ing in the ceiling. I started thinking wemight as well use practicals because wewere going to see 360 degrees. So we putthe highest-wattage bulbs possible in thereand put several Mighty Moles on the roof,

shooting them down through the skylights.My key grip, Matt Walker, had teams ofpeople with nets and flags running aroundbehind the camera, trying to keep out theshadows that resulted from these 60-oddbulbs.

Lighting for the final movement atthe Jersey City theater was also a major

Above: A frame from Statics, a movement shot entirely with a Steadicam in a sixth-floor loft space.Right: Filming the movement.

28

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

31/100

undertaking. The dancers perform on thestage to an empty auditorium, a spectacleviewed from a number of dolly positions inthe house and finally from the stage itself. Iwent through a lot of options to try to makeit look nice, and then I realized its supposedto look like a bunch of kids putting on ashow, and it should therefore feel kind ofhomemade, says Lipes. So we put a 20Kup in the balcony and just pointed it at the

stage. 24 Source Four Lekos in the wingsand 24 above the stage added flares andedging to the theater seats, while a 4K andother units in the lobby and two MightyMoles on the theater floor brought out walldetails. We also had 15 or 20 shop lightsin the upper tier of balcony seats, so when

we looked up there, there was distanceinstead of just black.At press time, the filmmakers did not

know whether Opus Jazzhad the potentialfor exhibition beyond television. At thispoint, were not doing a print, says Lipes.But weve had offers for a theatrical run inNew York, which is pretty amazing, consid-ering that the film is only 46 minutes long.

TECHNICAL SPECS

1.78:1

(2.40:1 mask)

Anamorphic 35mm

Arricam Lite; PanArri 435

Hawk, Cooke and Panavision lenses

Kodak Vision2 250D 5205, 50D 5201;

Vision3 250D 5207, 500T 5219

ERRATA

In our coverage of The HurtLocker(July 09), special-effects supervi-sor Richard Stutsman was incorrectlyidentified as Robert Stutsman.

In our coverage of Avatar(Jan.

10), some technical specs were incor-rect. The two primary lenses the film-makers used were both Fujinon zoomlenses, a 6.1-101mm and a custom-made 7-35mm. The original aspect ratioand Imax presentation were 16x9. Stan-dard theatrical presentations were2.40:1.

From left: Loader Jeff Peixoto, 1st AC David Jacobson,2nd AC Johnny Sousa, camera intern Destin Douglas and

camera operator Joe Anderson mix it up on the set.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

32/100


In a novel, dreams and reality can be melded solely with

words, but on a film, that feat requires an army of talentsand state-of-the-art technology. On Shutter Island, hisadaptation of Dennis Lehanes best-selling novel, direc-

tor Martin Scorsese was well stocked on both counts, thanks

to a team of familiar collaborators that included director ofphotography Robert Richardson, ASC and Rob Legato, theshows visual-effects supervisor and second-unit director/cinematographer.

Set in 1954, Shutter Islandestablishes a porous linebetween dreams and reality, presenting a protagonist, TeddyDaniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), whose mental state is put tothe test as the story unfolds. A World War II veteran andU.S. Marshal, Teddy travels to Shutter Island with his newpartner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), to investigate the mysteri-ous disappearance of an inmate from Ashecliffe Hospital, a

Mind

GamesRobert Richardson, ASC delves

into darkness for Martin ScorsesesShutter Island

, which follows afederal investigation at a sinisterpsychiatric facility.

By Patricia Thomson

|

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

33/100

www.theasc.com March 2010

psychiatric penitentiary on the island.Though Teddy and Chuck are given awarm welcome by the physician incharge, Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley),

Teddy becomes increasingly suspiciousof the doctor and his staff, and when

he begins experiencing fiercemigraines and vivid visions oftragedies in his own past, he begins tofear that he has become Cawleys latestexperiment.

Scorseses goal was to placeviewers directly in Teddys shoes, andhe wanted to convey the charactersfluctuating mental state with a varietyof visual cues, primarily utilizing colorand lighting. The lighting, color andtexture all contribute to the blurring of

reality and hallucination, raising thequestion of what is subjective vs.objective, says Richardson. Martyplays with this blurring of linesthroughout the film, I think with greatprowess. The film is a journey withinone mans mind, and what you seecould be real or imagined.

The films color palette alternatesbetween a slightly desaturated look,used for the present day, and

the saturated look of 1950s-era

Kodachrome, used mainly for Teddysmemories and hallucinations. Scorsesesinitial inspiration for tapping theKodachrome look was director/cine-matographer George Stevens 16mmKodachrome footage of the liberationof the concentration camp at Dachau;

Teddys wartime experiences includedthe liberation of the camp, and thehorrors he witnessed there are amongthe visions that haunt him. Most ofU

nitphotographybyAndrewCooper,S

MPSP,courtesyofParamountPictures.

Opposite: InShutter Island

U.S. MarshalsChuck Aule(Mark Ruffaloleft) and TeddDaniels(LeonardoDiCaprio)attempt toshed light on patientsbafflingdisappearancefrom a high-

securitypenitentiary fthe criminallyinsane. Thispage, from toDr. Cawley (BeKingsley, nextto DiCaprio)gives the pairtour of thefacility; thelawmen inspethe missingwomans roomRobertRichardson,

ASC and MartScorsese confon the set.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

34/100


the footage Ive seen of the liberationof the camps is black-and-white andthe Stevens footage is shocking whenfirst seen because in contrast to theblack-and-white, it is, for lack of abetter word, hyper-real, says

Richardson. That footage served asthe template for Teddys World War IIexperiences, and from that the concept

of Kodachrome grew. Rob Legatomethodically analyzed the inherentcharacteristics of Kodachrome, using a

vast library from the 1950s, andcreated a look-up table that enabled usto achieve something similar in the

digital intermediate. The extraordi-nary vibrancy of color became the keyto Teddys dream states.

The rest of the picture isrendered in a palette that approximatesa light application of ENR; this look

was also achieved with a LUT. ENRprovides an apparent desaturation ofskin tones and heightened grain,

which enhanced the contrast with thefine-grained, vibrant properties of theKodachrome look, says Richardson.

In prep, the filmmakers testedvarious methods of further enhancingthe hyper-real look of Teddys visions;65mm, anamorphic 35mm and high-definition video were all considered asmates for the projects main format,Super 35mm. The goal was to captureas much detail as possible for the DIsuite, says Richardson. There werentas many differences among thefilmouts as you might expect theDI was the great equalizer but65mm had a definitive edge. We could

wrestle with it in the digital worldwithout the normal side effectsencountered with a smaller negative.

After he saw the tests, Marty agreed toshoot Teddys dream states on 65mm.Unfortunately, after filming one day

with a Panavision PFX System 65

Mind Games

Above: Danielshallucinates an

unnervingencounter

with thedisfiguredhandyman

(Elias Koteas)who set a firethat killed his

wife. Right:Scorsese,

Koteas andDiCaprio workthrough thescene amidRichardons

mix of stageand source

lighting.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

35/100


Studio and an Arri 765, both camerasbroke down on a frigid night. Only afew of those shots remain, saysRichardson. (Ed. Note: These can beseen in a dream sequence that shows

Teddy in Dachau in civilian clothes.)

The filmmakers decided toshoot the rest of the hallucinatorysequences on Super 35mm and rely onthe digital grade, carried out at EFilm,to differentiate that look from that ofthe rest of the picture. (Ed. Note: HD

was used for the films final shot, ahanging miniature, because Scorseseneeded to see and approve the shot viathe Internet. The only way to see thedepth-of-field properly was to shooton HD, which gave us a perfect expo-sure on the monitor, says Legato. Iknew it would match the body of thefilm quite well, and Marty got to seethe illusion as if it were real via aQuickTime file as I was shooting.)

LUTs devised by Legato, whodetermined how to digitally approxi-mate Technicolors three-strip andtwo-color processes for Scorsese and

The partners findthemselvestrapped at theasylum when agale-forcehurricane poundShutter Island. In

creating the storthe filmmakersfaced majorlogistical hurdlesthat required thedeployment ofrain bars, Spidersfirehoses, Ritterfans and windmachines not mention hugelighting units,bounce muslins,black overheadsand greenscreenWe had an

enormous speciaeffects crew thatwould blastgallons of waterat the camera,says gaffer IanKincaid. A largeplastic bag wascreated to coverthe camera andBob.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

36/100


Richardson on The Aviator (ACJan.05), were integral to achieving Shutter

Islands contrasting palettes. Using thesame method I applied on The Aviator,I re-created the look of Kodachromein [Adobe] After Effects and then

generated a color chart based on thatmanipulation, Legato explains. AnEFilm-friendly LUT was created, andmore LUTs designed to achieve vary-ing degrees of the Kodachrome look

were derived from that.We discovered that the differ-

ence between three-strip Technicolorand Kodachrome lies mainly in the

yellows, adds Legato. Yellows arevery pronounced in Kodachrome, so Iadded one more step to the LUT thataccentuated the yellows.

Determining exactly when toapply the LUT was a matter of trial-and-error. It took time to find theproper path, says Richardson.Should it be prior to timing or after?

At what level do you do the timing?Do you place the desaturation processfirst and then add on top? The team

Mind Games

Top: Danielsquestions the

missing patient,Rachel Solando

(Emily Mortimer),after she

mysteriouslyreappears.

Middle: Danielsembraces his wife,

Dolores (MichelleWilliams), during

a dreamlike vision

in which she turnsto ash and

disintegrates inhis arms. The

stylized look ofthe sequence washeightened by the

application of aKodachrome LUT

that resulted invivid colors and

increasedsaturation.

Richardson adds,To enhance the

Kodachrome look,

we took a highlyunnaturalapproach to the

lighting, using20Ks and Dinos

for backlight andmaking all frontallight the result of

passive bounce.The extremely hot

backlights which were morethan 8 stops over

created a visualdynamic that

catapulted theLUT onto another

level.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

37/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

38/100


well as the final picture, diagnosed anadditional problem when they noticedhow the LUTs amplified any bias

inherent in the Kodak film stocks,Vision3 500T 5219 and Vision2 200T5217 and 100T 5212. If the uncor-rected footage was overly warm orcool, that trait would be exaggerated inunpredictable ways, and to a degreethat could be difficult to remedydownstream. Legato realized thatbefore any LUT could be applied, thefilm had to be perfectly white-balanced. That way, when we ampli-

fied each color, it wouldnt bias in onedirection or another, and the result

was predictable, he says. He also

determined that the LUT should notbe baked in until after HD dailies

were generated. Lucas therefore saw aLUTs effect in view-only mode.That added an extra step, saysLegato, but it also gave us fullcontrol.

As soon as you bake in theKodachrome LUT, youve recorded adigital file that looks like Koda-chrome, he continues. You can then

Mind Games

initially baked in the LUT early in theprocess, and although that worked

well for the overall feeling of dailies,

when it came to the final rendering,we found there were aberrations bothin the highlights and in the skintones, says Richardson. The desatu-rated/ENR LUT influenced theKodachrome LUT. On a 50-inchscreen, the effect wasnt noticeable, buton a 30-foot screen, the issues weremagnified.

Legato and EFilm colorist YvanLucas, who graded the HD dailies as

Clockwise fromupper left:

Richardson andScorsese eyeball an

angle; Aule andDaniels seek refugefrom the rainstorm

in a crypt; thepartners debatetheir disturbing

circumstances whilestanding at the

edges of the hotoverhead light that

has become one ofRichardsonssignature

techniques.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

39/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

40/100


turn off the LUT and color-correct ontop of it. But if you cant achieve thecolor correction you want with normalmanipulation, like desaturation, then

you have to bake out the LUT andstart clean by creating another LUT.

In all, Richardson and Lucas workedwith about five variations of theKodachrome LUT in the DI.

As complicated as it was, devel-oping the strategy for rendering

Teddys shifting mental state was not

the filmmakers most daunting task.Each film has its own set of complex-ities, and the biggest challenge onShutter Islandwas maintaining the lookof a severe storm over the period in

which the film was shot, says

Richardson. A hurricane gathers forceas Teddys investigation proceeds, andportions of the agents search for themissing patient takes place outside thecompound. Principal photographycommenced in Massachusetts in the

winter of 2008 and wrapped in July,with the work spread over 85 days, andalthough the story called for fog,clouds and driving rains, the shoot wasplagued by sunlight, says Richardson.Careful scheduling and extensive tent-ing were required throughout theshoot. The tenting became an enor-mous task for the grips, says gaffer IanKincaid. I cant imagine the yardage ofmaterials [key grip] Chris Centrellaand his capable band of grips put up inthe air. Eventually, entire setupsbecame compounded with green-screens, so there were huge bouncelights, huge bounce muslins, hugeblack overheads and huge green-screens. It was insanity. Richardsonnotes, Ive never been involved with a

shoot that utilized so many overheadblacks. Chris Centrella is a master, the

Mind Games

After exchanging their wet clothes for orderly uniforms, the investigators search for clues on a

precarious cliff. Environmental shots of the island were achieved by combining practical locations,setpieces and CG elements added in post.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

41/100

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

42/100


finest in this business. He was able toprovide vast areas of shade underextremely complex conditions thatfluctuated from harsh sun to deepclouds and fierce rains. Without him,this film wouldnt have the look it

does.Most penitentiary exteriors andsome interiors were shot at MedfieldState Hospital, a former mental insti-tution that the production convertedto meet its needs. Centrella recalls,Each building represented a differentset that worked as exteriors and evensome interiors, so it was like havingour own backlot. Other interior sets

were built in a nearby vacant ware-house.

Describing the exterior of WardC, a former Civil War fort that hasbeen modified to house Ashecliffesmost dangerous patients, Centrellasays, We employed four 60-by-40-foot rags in different configurations.

The special-effects team would actu-ally put the rain the Ritter fans and

wind machines underneath therags. Centrella used The Rag PlacesCharcoal Vintage Grid Cloth, whichlet some light through and was rela-tively silent in the wind. That would

take out the sun, and then the altitudeof the rag would determine how muchambience came in around it, he says.

Creating the films atmosphericisland location was another challenge.No existing island had all the requisitefeatures, which included a lighthouse,caves and steep, rocky cliffs, so thelocation was created with a mix ofpractical work and CGI. (Legatoestimates that Shutter Islandcontains650 visual-effects shots, the most of

any Scorsese picture.) For wide shots,the visual-effects team reworkedPeddocks Island near Boston, addingCG cliffs, digitally removing land-mass, and creating vistas withcomposite shots. For a scene in which

Teddy and Chuck stand on a cliff andlook toward the lighthouse, DiCaprioand Ruffalo stood on a small dirtbluff, with bits of greenscreen belowand tents overhead to keep out the

Mind GamesDaniels

investigates thefacilitys ominous

Ward C, wherehe discovers the

most violentpatients wasting

away in

dungeon-likecells. The crew

employedbutane cansrigged with

flame bars toaugment the

light from thematches Daniels

uses toilluminate thedarkest areas.

There wereusually two

[special-effectsartists] moving

in sync with thecamera as it

tracked withLeo, Richardson

notes. Flamebars give me thecolor of a match

flame, and Iprefer the effect

to electricalfluctuations

through adimmer board

because theflame is in

motion.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

43/100

sun; the finished shot combines bits ofAcadia National Park (captured with aSpyderCam rig with a stabilized headthat was flown from a 300' crane), BigSur, fake rocks, a lighthouse miniature,and plate shots of rough seas and over-

cast skies.Practical rain and wind were

augmented by plate shots of flyingdebris. It was an uncomfortably wetshoot. Special-effects coordinator R.Bruce Steinheimer and special-effectssupervisor Rick Thompson broughtout the big guns, including four 100'rain bars that could cover a 140'x60'area and Spiders for 80'x80' areas. Wehad an enormous special-effects crewthat would blast gallons of water at the

camera, says Kincaid. A large plasticbag was created to cover the cameraand Bob. He prefers riding the crane,so we employed a GF-16 that he couldride to near 40 feet, and we wrappedhim in plastic. It usually ended updirectly in the line of fire ofSteinheimers waterguns [Ritter fans

with firehoses attached].Richardson says economics are

one reason why he favors riding a

Richardson issues commands to his crew viaheadset, a strategy they jokingly dub

Radio KBOB.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

44/100

crane. I can use it any time becausethe cost to rent it is so minimal there isnt the cost of a remote head oradded hands, he explains. Also, as Ioperate, Im looking through the lens,not at a monitor. I react with a greater

degree of accuracy and have a fineredge in how I analyze a sequence notonly in terms of lighting and composi-tion, but also because Im able to seethe actors eyes. I feel when some-things not working. Furthermore, I

attempt to calculate the position inorder to allow the camera to findnumerous positions from one setup,such as a moving master plus a single,or whatever the situation might allow.

[Crane work] is a craft, and it

takes a great deal of work to get to thelevel of proficiency Im seeking, hecontinues. With a riding crane, I canrespond very well to an actors move-ment, even if its improvisational,because I can sense the actor moving

and can attempt to control [the crew]through my headset, asking them todolly left or right, boom up or down, etcetera. (Some crewmembers jokinglydub this one-way stream of communi-cations Radio KBOB.)

Most of the moves inShutter

Islandwere actually accomplished witheither a dolly or a Steadicam, depend-ing on the move at hand, notesRichardson. Marty asks for precision

with the camera, so whether we wereon a crane, a dolly or Steadicam, theresult was the same, he says. Theshoot was largely single-camera,though three were always on hand,

with one dedicated to a Steadicam rigoperated by Larry McConkey, SOC.

Richardsons interior lightinggrows increasingly expressive as thestorm intensifies and Teddys situationbecomes direr. As the storm hits itspeak, lightning strikes violentlycascade through a number ofsequences, linking reality to Teddysdreams, says Richardson. This is mostevident in a scene set in Cawleysoffice, where Teddy suffers an acute

Mind Games


Richardsonrides a crane

while

shooting themovies

disturbingclimax.

Explaining hispreference for

this movingperch, he

offers, As Ioperate, Im

lookingthrough the

lens, not at amonitor. I

react with agreater degree

of accuracyand have afiner edge in

how I analyzea sequencenot only in

terms oflighting and

composition,but also

because Imable to see the

actors eyes. Ifeel when

somethingsnot working.

Furthermore, Iattempt to

calculate theposition in

order to allowthe camera to

find numerouspositions from

one setup.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

45/100

migraine and is tended to by thedoctor and Chuck. The lightbecomes brilliant in its intensity the

windows glow and the statues arepounded with blinding light, saysRichardson, who boosted the effect

even more in Teddys POV shots.Marty wanted the audience to ponderwhether Teddy is imagining the light-ning or whether its real.

To create this effect,Richardsons crew positioned severalNine-light Mini-Brutes in the room,fairly close to the actors. Ben, Leoand Mark were all being hit directly by

vast amounts of light that was putthrough a dimmer board, says thecinematographer. Ian Kincaid playedthe controls like they were keys on apiano, taking the lights to maximumpower and then bringing them downagain. Richardson further intensifiedthe look in the DI. I sometimesenhanced three or four frames at thehigh point to extend it longer in termsof the white level. The image is sooverexposed that it virtually disap-pears.

Richardsons psychologicallyinflected lighting continues when

Teddy sneaks into the dark, mono-

chromatic environs of Ward C insearch of a specific inmate. He findsthe person, and when the storm killsthe facilitys electricity, Teddy lightsmatches, one at a time, as theyconverse. How do you light asequence set in near-total darkness

with just a match? muses Richardson.He embraced the darkness but didntfeel bound by verisimilitude. At times

we took faces to the point where onlythe slimmest of outlines were visible,

meaning that if our base stop wasapproximately T2.8 with 5219, wemight be near three [stops] down onexposure and, with the lighted match,raise that to half below key to specialmoments where the highlights wouldbloom over six stops. Richardsonallowed a base level of ambient light toenter through the wards skylights andbrought additional light through low

windows, which provided edges or

backlight on the walls and gave thecells more shape. I put enough lighton the walls to create a basic exposurethat could be enhanced or diminishedin the DI, if necessary, he says.

To boost the illumination

provided by Teddys match, the crewused handheld butane cans that gener-ated small flames. There were usuallytwo [special-effects artists] moving insync with the camera as it tracked withLeo, explains Richardson. When thematch went out, the flames went out.

When the match was re-struck, theflames came back up. The butane flames

were the key. When we shot Teddyspoint of view, the flame bars were

enhanced with a larger bar placed nearthe camera to light the cell bars in theforeground and send light into the cells.Flame bars give me the color of a match

flame, and I prefer the effect to electri-cal fluctuations through a dimmer boardbecause the flame is in motion, andbeyond that, it varies there are incon-sistencies that are often mysterious andunexpected. In the DI, Yvan worked onthe walls, sometimes darkening them tohelp reduce the excess light that camefrom the butane lighters.

In general, he adds, I dont lookto motivation as a guide in how to light

In general, I dontlook to motivation

as a guide in how tolight a sequence. Idsay my philosophy ismore emotionally or

psychologicallydriven.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

46/100

a sequence. Its not that I dont utilizemotivation, but Id say my philosophy ismore emotionally or psychologicallydriven.

Another striking lighting setup isTeddys first vision of Dolores in theirapartment, and Richardson notes thatthe scene also illustrates how he and his

collaborators, including productiondesigner Dante Ferretti and costumedesigner Sandy Powell, tailored their

work to make the most of theKodachrome LUT. As Teddy movesdown the hallway of his Boston

apartment toward his wife, the wallsvibrate with a vivid green, the actorsfaces glow with deep saturation, andMichelles red lipstick is intensely vivid,says Richardson. To enhance theKodachrome look, we took a highlyunnatural approach to the lighting,using 20Ks and Dinos for backlight andmaking all frontal light the result ofpassive bounce. The extremely hotbacklights which were more than 8stops over created a visual dynamicthat catapulted the LUT onto anotherlevel.

In post, Richardson cut lightfrom the walls, creating a soft pinholeeffect that slowly widens as DiCaprioapproaches Williams. When the actorsembrace in the living room, the camera

Mind Games

4

Scorsese blocks out a suspenseful encounter between Max von Sydow (as Dr. Jeremiah

Naehring) and DiCaprio.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

47/100

moves toward DiCaprios face, thenpivots 180 degrees toward Williams.During this move, Richardson subtlyfinessed the backlight. I had two keysthat were dimmed during the move, sothe first served as a backlight as I

approached Leo. Then, as I moved fromhis face to hers, a backlight on the oppo-site side was brought up to become abacklight on her. Again, no light wasadded to their faces beyond the passivebounce reflecting off each of them.

Dream logic takes over as theapartment catches fire. Water beginsoozing from Williams belly, and thefluid soon turns to blood; she then turnsto ash and disintegrates, leavingDiCaprio empty-armed. About half ofthat shot was done practically, and therest was CGI, says Legato. Thats mystyle. If theres any way to shoot some-thing practically, even if its a separateelement, I do that before I resort toCGI. The mix can fool your eye intothinking what it sees is real. In this case,

the filmmakers first shot Williams inDiCaprios arms, and then she slippedout so they could film DiCapriocompleting his action. The two shots ofDiCaprio were then stitched together.Meanwhile, Legacy Effects artists

created an ashen figure that was pre-rigged to fall apart, says Legato.When we pulled it, it disintegrated.

You add some CGI to that, stitch it alltogether, do some paint fixes and, littleby little, you create the illusion.

Working with a cinematogra-pher as gifted as Richardson makessuch work more demanding than itsounds, Legato adds. Bob has aninnate sense of cinema, and his brain

just clicks in exactly where the cameraneeds to go, how it moves and wherethe light should be. Its a bit likeMozart and music: it seems effortless,but when you try to re-create it, onlythen do you appreciate how much skilland art were involved.

TECHNICAL SPECS

2.40:1

3-perf Super 35mm, 65mm andHigh-Definition Video

Panavision Panaflex Millennium,PFX System 65 Studio;Arri 765, D-21

Panavision Primo andSystem 65 lenses

Kodak Vision3 500T 5219;Vision2 200T 5217, 100T 5212

Digital Intermediate

Printed onKodak Vision Premier 2393and Vision 2383

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

48/100


For our roundup of current prime-time-television high-lights, we interviewed the cinematographers on threediverse productions: HBOs World War II miniseries ThePacific, shot by Remi Adefarasin, BSC and Stephen

Windon, ACS; Foxs new musical dramedy Glee, shot byChristopher Baffa, ASC; and CBSs long-running hit CSI:

NY, shot by Marshall Adams and Feliks Parnell.

The PacificCinematographers: Remi Adefarasin, BSC andStephen Windon, ACS

As his crew dragged a crane through the jungle in FarNorth Queensland during production of The Pacific, RemiAdefarasin, BSC couldnt help but think of Werner Herzogsmad adventure Fitzcarraldo. I seem to remember the cine-matographer on that film was crying, too, wasnt he? he jokesgood-naturedly.

The Pacific, which Adefarasin co-shot with Stephen

Windon, ACS, is a World War II miniseries that will beginairing on HBO on March 14. The 10-part drama is a sequelof sorts to Band of Brothers(ACSept. 01), which Adefarasinco-shot with Joel Ransom, CSC. Whereas Band of Brothersfollowed a company of soldiers, The Pacificfocuses on threeenlisted men who serve in different battalions of the 1stMarine Division in the Pacific Theater of Operations.

In keeping with the method established on Band of

Brothers, Adefarasin and Windon shot their episodes simulta-neously, each working with his own crew. The filmmakersused a mix of Arriflex cameras with Arri Ultra Primes andAngenieux Optimo (17-80mm and 24-290mm) zoom lenses.(Adefarasin also deployed an 18mm Zeiss Superspeed lens.)

During prep, the cinematographers decided to limitthemselves to two Kodak Vision2 emulsions, 200T 5217 and500T 5218. We also decided to shoot all daytime scenes

without an 85 filter to help expose the greens in the lushjungles and give a slight twist to the color curve, saysAdefarasin. Of course, that meant we needed a lot of NDs!

Home-Screen

Hits

Cinematographers onThe Pacific, GleeandCSI: NYdetail thechallenges of their

respective projects.

ByJoshua Gollish, David Heuring

and Jean Oppenheimer

|

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

49/100


The cameramen also agreed to film allcombat scenes handheld, a stylemodeled on the front-line footage shotby war correspondents at the time. Thecameras back then had huge shutters,and cameramen often shot with theshutter at 90 or even 60 degrees, says

Windon. We altered the shutter speedduring some of the combat sequences,[going as narrow as] 45 degrees. We felttwisting time a little bit would heightenthe reality of those scenes.

One idea that quickly fell by thewayside was using wide-angle lenses.With a wide-angle lens on a handheldcamera, the viewer can really experience

walking through a jungle or movingthrough a ship, says Adefarasin. Youshare the experience with the characters,

because as they turn their heads, you cansee instantly what theyre looking at.But in order to finish each episode

within its allotted five weeks, it wasessential to use multiple cameras. Thebulk of the shooting, therefore, was doneon longer lenses; Windon favored32mm, 40mm and 50mm, while

Adefarasin favored 28mm and 32mm.About one-third of The Pacific

was shot on location in Far NorthQueensland. Windon knew the region

well, having shot a TV adaptation ofSouth Pacific there several years earlier.One thing about shooting in a jungle isthat if you put a movie light in theresomeplace low, the scene will alwayslook lit, no matter how good a cine-matographer you are, he notes. Hetherefore resisted lighting from theforest floor, even though little naturallight penetrated the dense foliage. Istuck with overhead lighting, and we

used a bounce card or a white or bluesheet to bounce light up under the menshelmets.

Australias environmental lawsprecluded hanging lamps from anytrees, so Windon hired native treeclimbers to string hemp yacht-rigging

wire between the trees, and his crewthen suspended about 60 space lights,spreading them across 2 acres. Weran them all through a dimmer board,

which was inside a large shippingcontainer that we positioned adjacent tothe set, he recalls.

In an extended sequence shot atthis location, Pvt. Robert Leckie ( JamesBadge Dale) and his unit are pickingtheir way through the jungles of CapeGloucester when Japanese soldiers

ambush them. Later that night, whilecamped beside a river in a driving rain,they are attacked again. The nighttimebattle lasts only a few minutes, and it ispitch black. Windon embraced thedarkness, relying on flashes of gunfireand bursts of lightning to illuminate thescene. Every time there was a lightningstrike, youd see what was happening,he recalls. It would freeze the rain for afraction of a second, which heightenedthe reality. I was amazed at how much

we could see just by using gunfire.Windon did a bit of testing to see

how much exposure hed get from theweapons not that you can get a lightreading on a gunshot! he laughs andended up filming the scene at T1.9. It

was tough on the focus pullers, MattToll and Matt Windon. We added off-camera gunfire to create a little morelight and threw in a few small fixtures,gelled blue-green, to backlight the rain.

A number of Windons scenescalled for rain, at times a torrentialdownpour. Rain towers and hats wereset up 20' below the lamps, and becausethe production didnt want real rain, atransparent covering was positionedabove all the lamps. Wind proved to beanother problem, especially during

Australias winter. (The 10-month shootran from August 2007 to May 2008.)

After filming in FNQ , where all of thejungle sequences and beach landingswere shot, the production moved to theYou Yangs, 50 miles southwest ofMelbourne, where almost all of theoutdoor sets, including the battlefields,

were spread across a 200-acre quarry.Adefarasin, whose episodes

include two amphibious landings,

grimaces slightly as he recalls the firstday of production, the landing onGuadalcanal. Two-dozen nervousMarines, on their first mission, arecrouched inside a Higgins boat as itbarrels toward shore. Being in aHiggins boat is like being in a tin can

with tall walls, declares Adefarasin.The boat was tossed around by the

waves, the sun was beating down, andthe odor of diesel permeated the air. Welost 18 men to motion sickness that

day!Whereas the landing on

Guadalcanal turned out to be unop-posed, the landing on Peleliu was met

with fierce resistance from the Japanese,who were hiding in bunkers and pill-boxes in the hills above the beach. Theshots of the American boats reachingshore were filmed in FNQ , but oncethe Marines hit the beach and the battlebegan, everything was shot in the giantT

hePacificphotosbyDavidJames,

SMP

SP,andAndrewCooper,

SMPSP,courtesyofH

BO.

Opposite: U.S. soldiersendure heavy combaton Okinawa in a scenefrom The Pacific. Thispage, far left: Episodedirector Tim Van Patten(wearing white cap)checks the shot ascinematographer SteveWindon, ACS films ascene for episode 9.Near left:Cinematographer RemAdefarasin, BSC at woron another episode.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

50/100


quarry in the You Yangs. It was here thatproduction designer Anthony Pratt the brilliant Anthony Pratt, as both

Windon and Adefarasin repeatedlyrefer to him designed and built notonly Peleliu, but also Okinawa, Iwo

Jima, Pavuvu, the hospital on Banika,Camp Pendleton and a dozen otheroutdoor sets.

The landing on Peleliu marks theintroduction to combat for Pvt. Eugene

Sledge ( Joe Mazzello). Adefarasin andepisode director Carl Franklin designed

Home-Screen Hits

Top and middle:Amphibious

landings poseda variety of

challenges forthe filmmakers,who shot these

scenes in FarNorth

Queensland,Australia.

Bottom left:Soldiers movebetween their

Higgins boatand a destroyer.

Bottom right:Filming the

scene onstage.

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

51/100

H o l l y w o o d8 1 8 - 7 6 1 - 4 4 4 0

V a n c o u v e r6 0 4 - 9 8 4 - 4 5 6 3

T o r o n t o4 1 6 - 4 6 7 - 1 7 0 0

A l b u q u e r q u e5 0 5 - 2 2 7 - 2 5 2 5

M o n t r e a l5 1 4 - 5 2 5 - 6 5 5

w w w . c l a i r m o n t . c o m

F e l i k s P a r n e l lC i n e m a t o gr a p h e r

M a r s h a l l A d a m sC i n e m a t o g r a p h e r

W e a l l h a v e t h e m b u t n o t e v e r y o n e m e e t s t h e m .

C l a i r m o n t C a m e r a c o n t i n u a l l y s u r p a s s e s a l l o f

o u r e x p e c t a t i o n s .

F e l i k s a n d M a r s h a l l

E x p e c t a t i o n s !

7/29/2019 AC mar 2010

52/100


five shots that followed Sledge as helanded on shore, scrambled up the beachamid constant mortar attacks, andfinally dov

AC mar 2010

Documents

Transcript of AC mar 2010