AC mar 2012

88
MARCH 2012 $5.95Canada $6.95

description

American Cinematographer Magazine, A.S.C.

Transcript of AC mar 2012

Page 1: AC mar 2012

M A R C H 2 0 1 2

$5.9

5Can

ada

$6.9

5

Page 2: AC mar 2012
Page 3: AC mar 2012

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

Tobias Schliessler, ASC

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 website

grew up in Germany, where my father was adocumentary filmmaker

and my mother was his editor.Loading magazines andrewinding film on a Steenbeckwas part of my life from an early age, and my love forphotography and narrativemovies made me realize I wanted to pursue a career incinematography.

“After high school, Imoved to Canada to study film at Simon Fraser University. Itwas there I first becameacquainted with AmericanCinematographer, whichimmediately became my mostimportant resource.

“To this day, every issuesparks the same excitement andfascination in me that it did when I began my career. ACcontinuously inspires me to domy best work.”

— Tobias Schliessler, ASC

“I

©p

ho

to b

y O

we

n R

oiz

ma

n, A

SC

Page 4: AC mar 2012
Page 5: AC mar 2012

The International Journal of Motion Imaging

30 Varied VisionsThe cinematographers on Downton Abbey, The Walking Deadand Homeland detail their approaches

42 Power TripMatthew Jensen takes “found footage” to a new level forChronicle

50 Blazing TrailsWilliam Wages, ASC recalls the path that led to the Society’sCareer Achievement in Television Award

58 A Wholly “Justified” HonorFrancis Kenny, ASC is feted with the Presidents Award

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

— VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM TO ENJOY THESE WEB EXCLUSIVES —Podcasts: Conrad Hall, Jr. on OKA! • Amy Vincent, ASC on Footloose

DVD Playback: Godzilla • Tora! Tora! Tora! • Fright Night

On Our Cover: The romantic fate of Lady Mary Crawley (Michelle Dockery) and herfather’s heir, Matthew (Dan Stevens), hangs in the balance in Downton Abbey. (Photo byNick Briggs, courtesy of Carnival Film & Television Ltd.)

8 Editor’s Note10 President’s Desk12 Short Takes: When You Find Me18 Production Slate: The Ghastly Love of Johnny X • Project X68 Filmmakers’ Forum: Vincent De Paula72 New Products & Services76 International Marketplace77 Classified Ads78 Ad Index79 In Memoriam: Torben Johnke, ASC80 ASC Membership Roster82 Clubhouse News84 ASC Close-Up: Jonathan Taylor

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

42

50

58

Page 6: AC mar 2012

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

————————————————————————————————————

PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter————————————————————————————————————

EDITORIALEXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello

SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer

TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSStephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,

John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer,

John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich, Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson

————————————————————————————————————

ART DEPARTMENTCREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore

————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce

323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell

323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: [email protected]

CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno

323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: [email protected]

————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTSCIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul MolinaCIRCULATION MANAGER Alex LopezSHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal

————————————————————————————————————ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia ArmacostASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras

ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila BaselyASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark

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

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

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

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

Copyright 2012 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.

POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.———————————————————————————————————— 4

Page 7: AC mar 2012

RENT | ADORAMARENTAL.COM | 42 W 18 ST 6FL NYC 10011 | T 212-627-8487 |

LIGHTS. CAMERAS… RENTAL!

MORE ACTION. BETTER PRICES.

“UNBELIEVAB LE PRICES” “OUTSTANDING SERVICE” "CHECK US OUT ATADORAMARENTAL .COM"

Page 8: AC mar 2012

OFFICERS - 2011/2012

Michael GoiPresident

Richard CrudoVice President

Owen RoizmanVice President

John C. Flinn IIIVice President

Victor J. KemperTreasurer

Frederic GoodichSecretary

Stephen LighthillSergeant At Arms

MEMBERS OF THEBOARDJohn Bailey

Stephen H. BurumRichard Crudo

George Spiro DibieRichard Edlund

Fred ElmesMichael Goi

Victor J. KemperFrancis Kenny

Isidore MankofskyRobert Primes

Owen Roizman Kees Van Oostrum

Haskell WexlerVilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATESMichael D. O’Shea

Rodney TaylorRon GarciaSol Negrin

Kenneth Zunder

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

Page 9: AC mar 2012

www.arridigital.com

Proven ALEXA Image Quality

Optical Viewfinder and Mirror Reflex Shutter

The Only Digital Camera System with True Anamorphic Capability

TRULY CINEMATIC

Page 10: AC mar 2012

The high quality of television programming has been a hottopic in recent years. Critically acclaimed series like TheSopranos, The Wire and Battlestar Galactica helped raisethe bar for the current crop of shows, the best of whichboast a variety of virtues, including top-shelf cinematogra-phy and writing.

Suffice to say that more and more TV series arebeing considered for coverage during AC’s editorial meet-ings. We mulled over a range of titles for this month’sspecial focus on teleproduction, eventually assigning writ-ers to cover three that have drawn rave reviews anddevoted audiences: Downton Abbey, a British perioddrama whose recently broadcast second season was shot

by Gavin Struthers, David Marsh and Nigel Willoughby, BSC; The Walking Dead, an apoca-lyptic zombie thriller shot by David Boyd, ASC and Rohn Schmidt; and Homeland, a psycho-logical thriller that benefits from fine lighting and camerawork by Nelson Cragg III andChristopher Manley, ASC. Our detailed reports (“Varied Visions,” page 30) were penned byMark Hope-Jones, Iain Stasukevich and Pat Thomson, respectively.

Television experience proved a boon for cinematographer Matthew Jensen, whosecredits include the HBO series True Blood and Game of Thrones. Thanks in part to his workon those shows, he was offered Chronicle, his first feature. Designed as a “found footage”drama, the movie put Jensen’s small-screen savvy to good use. “They were looking for [a cine-matographer] who had experience with visual effects, stunts and high-end television, andwho was used to working with a modest budget,” Jensen tells Jay Holben (“Power Trip,”page 42).

At last month’s ASC Awards ceremony, the Society saluted two other cinematogra-phers who have honed their skills on television: William Wages, ASC received the CareerAchievement in Television Award, and Francis Kenny, ASC was feted with the PresidentsAward.

Wages’ place of honor at the awards ceremony probably felt familiar — he has wontwo ASC Awards and earned six additional nominations for his work on telefilms. He has alsocontributed to a number of acclaimed series. “Episodic is the hardest thing I’ve ever done,and I came away with a whole new respect for people who do it,” he tells David Heuring(“Blazing Trails,” page 50). “Some of the most creative work is being done in that arenaagainst all odds.”

Kenny is currently the director of photography on the hit series Justified, but he hasalso shot documentaries and an eclectic array of features, including Heathers, New Jack City,Jason’s Lyric, Harriet the Spy and Scary Movie. The ASC Presidents Award honors both hiscontributions to filmmaking and his service to the Society. “Francis brings a spirit of collabo-ration and camaraderie to everything he does,” ASC President Michael Goi tells Jean Oppen-heimer (“A Wholly ‘Justified’ Honor,” page 58). “This [award] reflects our deep appreciationfor how his work represents our craft, and how his selfless contribution of time to ASC andindustry issues moves [our organization] forward with clarity and purpose.”

Stephen PizzelloExecutive Editor

Editor’s Note

Phot

o by

Ow

en R

oizm

an, A

SC.

8

Page 11: AC mar 2012

“Mini S4s”

18, 25, 32, 50, 75, 100, 135mmT2.8

The Cooke Look®

CookeOpticsLimitedBritish Optical Innovation and Quality Since 1893.

T: +44 (0)116 264 0700Canada, South America, USA: T: +1-973-335-4460

cookeoptics.com

See You AtNAB,

Booth #C8334

Page 12: AC mar 2012

Although I have a fairly sizeable collection of movies (more than 15,000 Blu-rays, DVDs andlaserdiscs) and a pretty good collection of art and photography books, I find that more andmore, I turn to music as my inspiration for the visuals of a project I’m working on. The musicdoesn’t necessarily have to be a match for the setting of the film; in fact, sometimes thecontrast of eras or styles conjures up the most interesting ideas. For example, MarvinHamlisch’s use of Scott Joplin’s ragtime music was out of context for the 1930s milieu of TheSting, but they seem to belong together when you watch the movie.

To me, one of the bright spots in the movie-music scene of the early 1980s was BasilPoledouris’ marvelous score for Conan the Barbarian. In an era dominated by soundtracks thatfeatured wall-to-wall pop tunes, director John Milius fought to give Conan a classic orchestralscore, and the result is one of the best examples of motion-picture scoring of that decade.The music moves from Wagnerian, epic brass, backed by a chorus of bold operatic voices, togentle themes of profound longing. One of my favorite tracks is “The Search,” which startsout as a simple theme on the oboe and builds to an emotional swell that gives you a feelingof the vastness of destiny. I had this music in my head when I was filming many scenes for thetelefilm Judas in Morocco. Poledouris also composed a beautiful piece in waltz time, “TheSands of Time,” for Randal Kleiser’s The Blue Lagoon. I loved his work; he evoked the spirit ofMax Steiner and Erich Wolfgang Korngold.

Sometimes a specific performance of a classical composition can be a revelation andconjure images in your mind’s eye. I have heard many versions of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 6 as live performances and record-ings, but none has affected me as deeply as the recording by Herbert Von Karajan and the Berliner Philharmoniker. The third move-ment of this recording, with its measured pace and 17-minute blossoming of massed strings, is almost achingly lovely. It evokes amemory of pastoral bliss tinged with the sadness of loss. Many times have I delved into this recording to find the emotional co re ofthe visual heart of a scene. It is one of the best pieces of movie music never composed for the movies.

But it isn’t only music with high-falutin’ pedigrees that makes my imagination soar. For a recent gig shooting the TV seriesAmerican Horror Story, I found myself listening to “Goodnight Moon” from Shivaree’s album I Oughtta Give You a Shot in the Headon my way to work every morning. In a strange way, it just fit, and it helped me get into the mindset of the show’s photographi cstyle. The song has a cool, quirky vibe, aided by the use of the theremin and by Ambrosia Parsley’s smoky vocals.

One of my favorite songs that I hope to someday find a visual match for is Virginia Astley’s “Darkness Has Reached Its End”(from her album Hope In A Darkened Heart). Many forms of music have the power to free your imagination. You just have to findthe one that clicks.

While driving one day, I stopped at a light next to a gentleman who appeared to be really grooving out to whatever was play-ing on his stereo. I rolled down my window to take a listen. It was “The Ecstasy of the Gold” from Ennio Morricone’s score for TheGood, the Bad and the Ugly . That particular tune accompanies one of the greatest marriages of music and visuals ever created, asEli Wallach searches through thousands of gravestones for one name. The gentleman in the car saw me watching him. I said, “That’sfrom The Good, the Bad and the Ugly !” He smiled and said, “Yes, ‘The Ecstasy of the Gold.’” As the light turned green, I pointedto him and said, “That makes you cool!”

Michael Goi, ASCPresident

President’s Desk

10 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Phot

o by

Ow

en R

oizm

an, A

SC.

Page 13: AC mar 2012

With over 25 years’ experience in color correction, DaVinci Resolve is the world’s most loved high end color grading system! Only DaVinci Resolve is designed to be real time all the time, so it keeps up with you when you’re working on demanding client jobs. With the most creative toolset and highest image quality, it’s easy to see why DaVinci Resolve is used on more Hollywood feature fi lms, syndicated network television series, music videos and high end television commercials than any other system.

Greater Creativity

With a massive toolset designed by colorists for colorists! The innovative YRGB primaries and node based design allow more creative grading and better looking images. Combined with power windows,

RGB mixing, curve grading, blur, sharpen, mist, keying, noise reduction and 32 bit fl oat quality, you get more with DaVinci Resolve.

Super Computer Processing

DaVinci Resolve uses a cluster of GPUs for real time super computer performance. Simply plug in an extra common graphics card (GPU) to get more performance. Add up to 3 GPUs on Mac OS X or

a massive 16 GPUs on Linux. The freedom is yours, and there are no extra software costs! Simply plug in GPUs when you need more power!

Automated for Speed

DaVinci Resolve includes more automatic tools such as the 99 point 3D window tracker so you’ll rarely need to manually track windows! You get automatic 3D eye matching, auto-grade, auto stabilization, auto

3D color matching, automatic XML, AAF and EDL conforming, real time proxies, auto scene detection and much more!

World’s Best Compatibility

No system supports more fi le formats in real time than DaVinci Resolve. Grade from mixed format clips on the same timeline including raw RED and ARRI, even in bayer format, ProRes™, DNxHD, H.264, uncompressed and more. Get full multi layer timeline

XML, AAF and EDL round trip with editing built right into DaVinci Resolve! If your edit changes, Resolve will automatically relink grades!

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

DaVinci Resolve SoftwareFull Resolve with unlimited nodes and multiple GPUs. Use 3rd party control panels.

DaVinci Resolve Lite FreeFree download with unlimited nodes. Supports 1 GPU.

$995Full Resolve with colorist control surface for the most advanced facilities.DaVinci Resolve $29,995

Page 14: AC mar 2012

12 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Moving PicturesBy Iain Stasukevich

Shot by Andre Lascaris and directed by Bryce Dallas Howard,the short film When You Find Me is the culmination of producer RonHoward’s Project Imagin8ion, a Canon-sponsored, crowd-sourcedcompetition wherein photographers from all over the world wereasked to submit a photo in one of eight categories: character, mood,relationship, time, setting, goal, obstacle and the unknown. Afterchoosing eight finalists, Howard developed a story for the short withBryce, his daughter, and screenwriter Dane Charbeneau.

When You Find Me tells the story of sisters Aurora and Lisle(played as children by Karley Collins and Devon Woods, and as adultsby Jacy King and Erin Way), whose bond is tested by their mother’sdeath. The narrative alternates between past and present while blur-ring the line between dreams and consciousness.

The creative team initially assumed that Lascaris would shootWhen You Find Me with Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II DSLR, but when thecinematographer signed onto the project, rumors of a new Canoncamera began to surface. After making some inquiries, Lascaris wasgiven access to a prototype of the Cinema EOS C300, Canon’s firstcinema camera. “I like the 5D, but the C300 is more cinematogra-pher-friendly,” he notes. “It’s small and lightweight, but what reallysold me on it were its color space and dynamic range.” The camera’sCanon Log gamma setting offers up to 12 stops of latitude.

Also attractive were the two EF-mount Cinema EOS lensesthat came with the C300, a 14.5-60mm T2.6 and a 30-300mmT2.95-3.7, which Lascaris describes as “proper cine lenses.” Henotes, “They have that Canon crispness; they breathe very little; and

they’re well-machined, with big barrels that are easy to pull focuson.”

One of the project’s key creative challenges was incorporat-ing the winning still photos into the story in an organic way. “Oftenthat meant reinterpreting the photos and the photographer’sintent,” Lascaris explains. An example of this comes early in the film,when young Aurora and Lisle arrive at a hospital mere seconds aftertheir mother’s death. The original black-and-white photo, “TooMuch” by photographer Lexia Frank, depicts an embrace betweena man and a sick woman in a gloomy hospital room.

“The goal was to create a feeling of trauma that suited thescene, but we didn’t want a broody look, so we flipped it and madethe scene brighter and the mother more angelic-looking,” saysLascaris. The original photo features a strong window source, butLascaris and gaffer Evan Pesses lit the scene primarily with daylight-balanced fluorescent tubes they swapped into the location’s existingceiling fixtures. Outside a heavily ND’d window, an Opal-gelled 12KHMI created a halo of daylight around the mother’s lifeless form.

“‘Running from Wind’ is one of my favorite photos,” Lascarissays of Brooke Shaden’s still, which shows two girls in their night-gowns dashing through a field of tall grass in the pale half-light ofmagic hour. “Because it’s a magic-hour shot, we needed to set thecamera up and then wait for the right moment to get it,” he says.“I had to shoot the scene where Lisle sneaks out of the house at thetail end of magic hour so it would blend better into the nighttimeshots that follow.”

One of the main challenges posed by the night shoots wasthe limited time the filmmakers had with the child actors: threehours per night during the week, five per night on weekends.

Short Takes

Imag

es c

ourt

esy

of C

anon

.

Sisters Lisle(Devon Woods,

left) and Aurora(Karley Scott

Collins) struggleto understandtheir mother’s

death in WhenYou Find Me,

directed by BryceDallas Howard

and shot byAndre Lascaris.The short was

inspired by theeight winning

photographs inthe Canon-

sponsored ProjectImagin8ion

competition.

I

Page 15: AC mar 2012
Page 16: AC mar 2012

Lascaris and Pesses took advantage of theC300’s native 800 ISO by devising a lightingsetup that could quickly be adjusted for thekids’ blocking: a Condor crane with twoNine-light Maxi-Brutes and a 10K Fresnel.“The Maxis took care of the deep back-ground, and the 10K served as a key,” saysthe cinematographer. “The lights were gelledwith a sandwich of Rosco 1⁄4 CTB, 1⁄4 Cyanand 250 diffusion. I’m not a big fan of bluemoonlight, and that gel combination gave usa slightly green cast with just a hint of blue.”

Aurora follows Lisle to the towngraveyard, where the younger girl believes anold spaceship is hidden. The spaceship Lislediscovers looks more like the rusty chassis ofa derelict prop plane concealed within atangled bramble of shrubbery. After sheworks the plane’s creaky levers, the gaugesand meters roar to life, and she is instantlytransported into The Unknown. She thenfinds herself lying in a field. The sun shinesbrightly in a black sky, and before her, juttingout of a sea of white grass, is a tall tree withstrong branches covered in pure whiteleaves. “That’s when you realize it’s aninfrared image,” says Lascaris.

The scene is a faithful reproduction ofKelly Shipp’s still, “Where One Day Ends, OneDay Begins,” which was chosen to representThe Unknown. As it happened, reproducingan infrared still with a digital-cinema cameracarried its own share of mysteries. The teamworked with a modified Canon 5D whereinthe built-in Low Pass Filter was replaced with

Top left: The sisters’mother (Marianna

Palka) passes away inthe hospital. Top

right: The scene wasbased on Lexia

Frank’s photograph,“Too Much.”

Middle: The girls runthrough a field at

magic hour. Bottom:The scene was

inspired by BrookeShaden’s still,

“Running fromWind.”

14 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Page 17: AC mar 2012

[email protected] • www.angenieux.com

lenses transform light into the imagery of

your story. Employing the finest optics and mechanics

to capture images beyond every expectation.

Available in 17-80mm and 24-290mm.

optimo

Page 18: AC mar 2012

16 March 2012 American Cinematographer

a 715nm filter that allowed the slowinfrared light to pass through. The modifica-tion allowed a marginal amount of red visi-ble light, creating an image that Lascarisdescribes as “95 percent infrared and 5percent visible spectrum.

“Instead of capturing three differentcolors of visible light, the camera saw threedifferent wavelengths in the near-infraredspectrum,” he continues. “This allowed forbetter tonal range in the highlight areas,particularly with the grass and trees, whichwas important to us in terms of matchingShipp’s still.”

At f/2.8, with the camera’s colortemperature set to 5,600°K and an ASAbetween 320 and 640, the resulting imagesare largely monochromatic, with reds domi-nating the shadows and mid-tones. “Fromthere, you increase the contrast and then tryto bring color back in order to make it feelmore real,” says Lascaris. “Blue tends tolook better.”

The frosty foliage is a side effect ofcapturing infrared light, as are pale, translu-cent skin tones. After a day of testing withthe modified 5D on location at Big SkyRanch in Simi Valley, Calif., Lascaris noticedthat the actresses’ veins were visiblebeneath their skin. The effect was sopronounced that during production,makeup artists had to apply a layer of sunblock beneath the makeup to keep infraredlight from penetrating their skin.

“The other thing we had to considerwas the lenses we used, because newerlenses tend to have better IR-blocking coat-ing,” says Lascaris. After doing someresearch, he chose the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L, using a Tiffen polarizer tocontrol the contrast in the black midday sky.

The production recorded toCompact Flash cards, netting an 8-bit 4:2:2MPEG-2 long-GOP sequence at 50Mbpswrapped in the Canon XF file format. (TheHD/SDI output allows 10-bit recording to an

external source.) At 24 fps, the C300produces a 1920x1080 image downsam-pled from its 4K CMOS sensor.

Lascaris monitored in Canon Log forthe duration of the shoot. “It’s weird to notlook at what your negative is,” he muses.“Afterwards, I would view the shots in theCanon MXF utility to see how some of thecolors would feel when they were cleanedup in terms of contrast. When I’m shooting,I’d rather look at what’s really happeningrather than trust an algorithm.”

The final color correction was done atCompany 3 by colorist Stephen Nakamura,who used a DaVinci Resolve. “We wantedthe present day to be a little less colorful,because the characters are in a kind of stasisuntil their issues are resolved,” says Lascaris.

“The [C300’s] color depth is compa-rable to that of the other digital cameras I’vedealt with, including the Red [One] and [Arri]Alexa,” notes Nakamura. “The skin toneslook very natural, and there’s a lot ofdynamic range in the shoulder and the toe.”

“On set, I felt like I was one of thefew people who could really see the differ-ence the camera made, but when I got topost, I didn’t feel like I was alone,” saysLascaris. “This was one of the best coloringexperiences I’ve ever had. We had time to becreative instead of clawing through a rawimage to try to get somewhere.” ●

The infrared look of The Unknown (top left) was informed by Kelly Shipp’s photo, “Where

One Day Ends, One Day Begins” (bottom). Top right: Lascaris (seated behind camera) and Howard set the frame with Canon’s

Cinema EOS C300 digital camera.

Page 19: AC mar 2012
Page 20: AC mar 2012

18 March 2012 American Cinematographer

An Unusual Swan Song for Plus-XBy Robert S. Birchard

When one contemplates Paul Bunnell’s retro sci-fi rock musi-cal, The Ghastly Love of Johnny X, the lyrics of Bob Dylan come tomind. The film has been “a long time comin’” — production startedin 2004 and was completed in late 2011 — and the medium withwhich it was photographed, Eastman Kodak Plus-X 5231, is going tobe “a long time gone.” Kodak has stopped manufacturing the stock,and whatever the movie’s reception may be, The Ghastly Love ofJohnny X will go down in history as the last feature to be shot on it.

The concept for Johnny X began to take shape in 1997, whenBunnell saw Teenagers from Outer Space (1959), Tom Graeff’s cult favorite. The script was developed over several years with inputfrom Bunnell and several other writers, including Steve Bingen, MarkD. Murphy and George Wagner. The idea to add songs came just as the film was about to go before the cameras, and Scott Martin was tapped to write lyrics and music while Ego Plum did the orchestrations.

From the inception of the project, Bunnell wanted to shoot thefilm in black-and-white and widescreen. This was partly an homageto the films that inspired him, but he also felt monochrome wouldwork best for his tale of an outcast teenager from another planetwhose ticket home is to commit one selfless good deed. Potentialfinanciers did not share Bunnell’s enthusiasm for black-and-white,however, so he financed the first phase of production on his own.That meant tapping into his home equity, a move that seemed muchless risky in the mid-2000s than it later proved to be. With faith in hisvision, Bunnell produced and edited a 20-minute section of the moviethat would show off the concept, music and talents of the cast andcrew. He hired cinematographer Francisco Bulgarelli to shoot the film.

“Paul and I met when I was working at Clairmont Camera,”recalls Bulgarelli. “He and his associate producer, Joe Rios, who alsoworked at Clairmont, were renting a camera package to shoot sometime-lapse scenes for their science-fiction movie. From the begin-ning, I was really fascinated by his ideas and his enthusiasm formovies.”

Clairmont Camera served as Bulgarelli’s film school. “Dennyand Terry Clairmont were always willing to share their knowledgewith me; they knew I wanted to shoot and always offered theirsupport, either by answering technical questions or allowing me totake out equipment on the weekends. Having the opportunity towork in the lens department proved to be very valuable later on,when I decided to go freelance. Working with lenses for all thoseyears came in handy when it was time to choose the right tools forthe job.”

When Bunnell and Bulgarelli were ready to shoot whatturned out to be only the first round of footage on The Ghastly Loveof Johnny X , Clairmont supplied a full Moviecam package withHawk C-Series anamorphic lenses.

“When I showed the early footage of Johnny X to Terry[Clairmont], he nodded his head in approval and said, ‘I want towatch this movie,’” recalls Bulgarelli. “That left me with a great feel-ing because Terry was a very genuine person who meant what hesaid.”

With cinematography experience mainly in short films andmusic videos, Bulgarelli saw Johnny X as an opportunity and a chal-lenge. “Few things can match the beauty of the anamorphicformat,” he observes. “It offers two things: more resolution,because it uses the full dimension of the Academy 35mm frame,and the shallower depth-of-field that is inherent in anamorphicoptics. But Paul wanted to shoot in black-and-white on Plus-X,

Production Slate

The

Gha

stly

Love

of J

ohnn

y X

phot

os b

y Sa

ra R

oss-

Sam

ko a

nd D

avid

Kee

ler;

pho

tos

and

fram

e gr

abs

cour

tesy

of O

tter

mol

e M

ovin

g Pi

ctur

e C

ompa

ny.

Johnny X (Will Keenan),

an outcastteenager from

another planet,makes waves

in The GhastlyLove of JohnnyX, a black-and-white feature

shot inanamorphic

35mm onEastman Kodak

Plus-X 5231.

I

Page 21: AC mar 2012
Page 22: AC mar 2012

20 March 2012 American Cinematographer

which meant an ASA of 80. My first thoughtwas, ‘We are going to need quite a bit oflight,’ and we sure did! Our lighting packageat times required five 20Ks, several 10Ks and5Ks and some smaller units. I have to say, we cheated a bit: we used [200-speed]Double-X 5222 for a few scenes, mainlynight exteriors.”

After getting 30 minutes of footagein the can, Bunnell had to suspend produc-tion when his resources thinned. He beganknocking on doors in an effort to raise themoney needed to complete the picture.Black-and-white continued to be a dealbreaker for several potential investors, whowere convinced it would limit exhibitionopportunities. Bunnell was advised to shootin color and rely on the digital-intermediateprocess to take the color out in post. But heheld out, believing that if he shot it in color,the color version would be the only one thatwould ever be shown. And although he hasan appreciation for digital cinema, it was hisdream to complete The Ghastly Love ofJohnny X on 35mm film.

Years ticked by. Finally, in 2010, MarkWilloughby stepped in to finance thecompletion of the picture. “I’d known Paulfor a number of years,” recountsWilloughby, “and I liked the footage he’dcompleted. By 2010, circumstances put mein a position where I could contemplateinvesting in his film, and I decided to take theplunge.”

By the time Johnny X was ready toresume production, however, shooting 5231was becoming problematic. On May 1,2010, Kodak announced that the stockwould be discontinued and “removed from[our] motion-picture products catalog.” Thecaveat, “Small stock may remain and will besupplied until depleted,” offered littlecomfort to Bunnell, who estimated hewould need at least 70,000' to finish hisfilm.

“Kodak went the extra mile for us,”says Bunnell. “Chris Russo was our rep atKodak at the time, and she literally combedthe world to assemble enough stock toallow us to shoot.”

Surprisingly, despite the six-yearbreak, Bunnell and Bulgarelli were able topick up right where they left off. All the castmembers returned as well, with littleevidence that Father Time had changed their

Top to bottom:Johnny and his

gangcommunicate

with their queen(Christine

Romeo) on thecliffs of

Damnation’sHole; the cliffswere built on

the RobertAldrich Stage at

OccidentalStudios in Los

Angeles; thefilmmakers

employed rearprojection for a

driving scenewith De Anna

Joy Brooks andLes Williams; a

frame grab from the

driving scene.

Page 23: AC mar 2012
Page 24: AC mar 2012

22 March 2012 American Cinematographer

features in any noticeable way. The fact thatBulgarelli had made extensive tests inpreparing to shoot the film also added to hissense of confidence, although for thesecond round of shooting, he had to use adifferent camera and different lenses.“When we got ready to resume production,Clairmont didn’t have any anamorphiclenses available,” says the cinematographer.“Fortunately, Panavision opened its doors tous and provided us with a Panaflex Plat-inum, a Millennium XL2, and Primo and C-series anamorphic lenses. We were so lucky

to have those two rental houses helpingus!”

Before he shot Johnny X, Bulgarellihad little experience with black-and-white,but he loved classic, pre-color cinema andwas determined to achieve a similarly richlook. “Black-and-white is about contrast,”he notes. “Color film offers you an infiniterange of hues to help you create separationbetween the actors and the background,but with black-and-white you have tocreate this separation with light andshadow.

“Tungsten light contains an abun-dance of yellow-red hues, and through test-ing I found that adding 1⁄2 CTB to our tung-sten units would give me a cleaner high-light, thus helping the overall contrast. All ofour tungsten lights were gelled with 1⁄2CTB.”

One of the time-tested techniques ofworking in black-and-white is the use ofcontrast filters to manipulate the stock’sresponse to natural daylight. “I used Harri-son & Harrison Yellow 1 and Red 5 filters,primarily in wider exterior shots to increasecontrast, darken the sky and make theclouds pop,” says Bulgarelli. “However, weultimately decided to use minimal filtration.The script called for a lot of interior/stagework. I wanted to be able to shoot at adecent stop, and the slow film stock andanamorphic lenses had already created chal-lenges in that regard. I was very pleasedwith the way the skin tones reproducedwithout filtration. We achieved any smallvariations we wanted by carefully enhancingthe makeup.

“We also used Mitchell diffusion forsome close-ups, but rarely. Kodak’s black-and-white stocks had seen very littleimprovement in terms of grain structurethrough the years, so even though wewanted to make a period piece, I felt thefilm stocks were already ‘soft’ and didn’tneed to be softened up even more. Ourimages needed to be a little gritty and darkat times.”

To help create the movie’s periodlook, Bunnell and Bulgarelli utilized anumber of outdated techniques duringproduction. “‘Realism’ is not really a wordyou can use to categorize this film,” saysBulgarelli. “The idea was to create a fantasyworld using some of the techniques fromthe past. Paul loves in-camera effects; someof the old techniques we tried included rear-process projection, utilizing plates shot onblack-and-white film and projected on abackground process projector made byMitchell Camera Corp. that used a carbonarc light. It was placed 100 feet away fromthe screen, and a long lens was used inorder to avoid the possibility of a hot spot onthe rear-projection screen. The arc made themachine so hot it required a water-cell cool-ing system between the light and the filmgate so the film wouldn’t melt! [ASC associ-

Above:Cinematographer

FranciscoBulgarelli metersthe light on theGrand Inquisitor

(KevinMcCarthy). Right:

Director PaulBunnell checks

the frame onlocation.

Page 25: AC mar 2012
Page 26: AC mar 2012

ate member] Bill Hansard Jr. did an amazingjob supervising the rear-screen projection.Another old trick we used was to smearVaseline on the lens for a sequence thatcalled for a dreamy feel.”

For another scene, “I wanted toshoot a candlelit scene with only the candleand a single 650-watt light,” he continues.“The idea was to create a sort of flicker ortwinkle by having someone wiggle hisfingers in front of the light, a very organicway of achieving the effect. The exposurewas so low I knew I was going to have verylittle density on the negative. I ended uppushing the Plus-X one stop and shootingalmost wide open. I think it worked reallywell, because the image has a very distinct,unique quality.”

Although most of The Ghastly Loveof Johnny X was shot using pre-digital tech-niques, there were a number of visualeffects that required a digital assist. For thiswork, FotoKem scanned the negative at 2K;visual-effects composites were then createdby Glenn Campbell and Tim McHugh atArea 51 and transferred back to film. Theseshots were intercut with the original cameranegative and conformed into six A/B print-ing rolls by Magic Film Works. The compos-ite show print was struck on Eastman 2302directly from the original negative. Themovie will premiere this month at theCinequest Film Festival in San Jose, Calif.

“Before we started shooting JohnnyX, Paul and I looked at various films forreference, specifically The Elephant Man ,Bride of Frankenstein and Touch of Evil,”says Bulgarelli. “But Johnny X is a veryunique film, and Paul had a really good ideaof what he wanted to achieve. He cares infi-nitely about the image and was always verysupportive of my ideas. In all, this was adream come true for a cinematographer.”

TECHNICAL SPECS

2.40:1Anamorphic 35mmMoviecam Compact; Panaflex Platinum,Millennium XL2; Arri 535, 435Hawk C-Series; Panavision Primo, C-SeriesKodak Plus-X 5231, Double-X 5222

Documenting Teen DebaucheryBy David E. Williams

In the new comedy Project X, a smallbirthday celebration planned for a nebbishteen explodes into a nocturnal rave fueled bybooze and drugs, and the hosts and guestsdocument the action vérité style with a vari-ety of personal digital devices. “It’s a reflec-tion of today’s youth culture, which expectseverything to be photographed,” says direc-tor Nima Nourizadeh, whose music-videoand commercial work landed him the job,his feature debut. “Our goal was to invitethe audience into that party on the screen.”

“Nima and I wanted to push the POVfilm into new territory, including fashion,drugged-out states and high action,” saysProject X cinematographer Ken Seng (Quar-antine). “We decided the way to do that wasthrough a progression of looks that paral-leled the mental states of our lead charac-ters. The film starts out beautiful and sunnyand degrades to a very dark and seedy lookas it progresses.

“Some of the references wediscussed were actually our own experiencesfrom when we were in our twenties,”continues the cinematographer. “We bothlove a documentary-style aesthetic, even thelook of using an on-camera hard light withlittle or no diffusion; it reminds me of flashphotography and creates this dark-edgedvignette that draws your eye right to thesubject. It creates a feeling that you’re spying

on things you’re not supposed to see.”Though many POV films present the

perspective of a lone character, the ProjectX team wanted to literally “crowd source”their images, with units distributed to multi-ple performer/operators. “We’d frequentlyhand 10 Flip cameras out to the partycrowd and just tell them to shoot whateverthey saw and try to keep our productioncameras and movie lights out of theframe,” Seng says. “The prospect of havingtheir footage get into the film excitedpeople, and that sort of rough, messy oper-ating gives the film a lot of its character.Most of it was unusable, but the small bitsthat did work were crucial to the texture ofthe movie.”

During prep, Seng tested an array ofcameras, including the Red One; Sony’s F23,F35 and PMW-EX3; Canon’s 5D Mark II and7D DSLRs; Silicon Imaging’s SI-2K Mini;Blackberries; iPhones; two kinds of Flipcameras; the Iconix Studio 2K; and theGoPro HD. “We wanted dynamic lighting inthe dance areas, which involved strobelights, and we wanted to avoid the rolling-shutter artifacts you get with CMOS-sensorcameras,” he notes. “We liked the depth-of-field and zoom-lens choices we could getwith a 2⁄3-inch camera, so we chose theF23, which we got from Panavision Holly-wood, as our main camera. That addeddepth-of-field made it just a little easier touse the Canon [HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC] 11xzooms. If we’d shot full sensor with full-

24 March 2012 American Cinematographer

J.B. (Jonathan Daniel Brown, left), Costa (Oliver Cooper, center) and Thomas (Thomas Mann) set out to make a name for themselves by throwing a party for the ages in Project X.

I

Proj

ect X

phot

os b

y B

eth

Dub

ber,

cou

rtes

y of

War

ner

Bro

s. P

ictu

res.

Page 27: AC mar 2012
Page 28: AC mar 2012

26 March 2012 American Cinematographer

sized zoom lenses, it would have been nextto impossible to walk through the crowdswith the camera. There’s nothing like a smallpop zoom to add that feeling of reality anddiscovery to a shot, and those Canon lenseswork great while wide open [F2.1]. They’revery robust.

“We used a 1⁄8 Schneider Black Froston the lens just to take the digital edge off,and we used some Antique Suede filters forone scene, but apart from that, we kept theimage clean,” he adds.

The additional shooting was donewith the Canon DSLRs, Sony PMW-EX3s,Iconix and Flip cameras, as well as varioussmartphones. “Coming up with creativeways to get those cameras into the actionwithout making them visible to our othercameras was a constant challenge,” saysSeng. “At one point, we dressed operatorKeith Dunkerly in a police uniform and cut asmall hole in his riot shield for the lens of theEX-3!”

As the party begins and guests arrive,“we start introducing all these differentcameras,” Nourizadeh says. “Early on duringthe shoot, we cut some of this materialtogether and discovered how we could coveraction in different ways. For example, wecouldn’t do conventional coverage to allowfor standard editing, but we could introducequick whip pans and other operating ‘errors’to conceal cuts we had to make.”

So how was this quest for impromptuimagery at odds with shooting a big-budgetstudio feature on the Warner Bros. backlot?“We were basically shooting a 360-degreenight movie with a thousand extras, a splin-ter unit and up to 16 cameras at once, andit’s tough to make that look good whilemaintaining control,” Seng replies with achuckle. “It was a chaotic shoot, but, fortu-nately, our producers at Green Hat and SilverPictures wanted to make something thatseemed authentic, and the photography hadto support that, sometimes by being whatsome people would consider imperfect. Ourdailies made it look like the movie was beingshot by all these little cameras randomlystrewn about a party, so everybody had to beonboard with that approach and understandwhat we were doing.”

To that end, one of the most vitalaspects of the production was to providedailies that represented the final look of the

Top:Cinematographer

Ken Seng(gesturing)

discusses a setupwith director

Nima Nourizadeh(right). Middle:Seng holds the

production’smain camera, a

Sony F23, abovethe teemingpartygoers.

Bottom: Sengtakes hold of a

rig conceived bykey grip BradyMajors (left) to

capture what thecinematographer

calls “a poor-man’s motion-

control shot [inwhich] the

camera had tosprint toward a

flamethrowerand dramatically

drop fromshoulder height

to the ground,landing next to

the leadcharacters. We

had to domultiple passes,and the camera

needed to moveon the same axisfor each [take].”Behind Seng are

1st AC PeterGeraghty

(holding remote-focus control)

and gafferGeorge Maxwell.

Page 29: AC mar 2012
Page 30: AC mar 2012

28 March 2012 American Cinematographer

film as closely as possible. “When so manydecision makers are looking at dailies, youdon’t want to get their eyes used to onelook, only to change it later,” Seng observes.“If you do, you’re fighting what they alreadyhave in their heads, and that’s not easy.”

When AC visited the set at WarnerBros. Ranch, in August 2010, Seng demon-strated his on-set color-correction setup,toggling between the raw image comingfrom the F23s and the image while applyinga look-up table that had been devised forthat particular setup. His mobile FilmLightTruelight system communicated directly withthe Baselight system colorist Jan Yarbroughwould be using in the final color correction atWarner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. “Janset it all up and made sure our productionmonitors were calibrated to match his in theDI suite,” says Seng.

To ensure that the recorded imageswould give the filmmakers as much flexibilityas possible in post, “we designed the lightingso we could pull faces out of the darknesswhenever necessary,” adds the cinematogra-pher. “If someone thought something wastoo dark, we always had the picture infor-mation we needed [to brighten it].”

Working with gaffer George Maxwell,Seng devised lighting for the party that

comprised concentric circles. “We had light-ing for the house and the yard, and then wehad what we called ‘flare lights,’ which werelocated just past the property, shootingthrough trees and right down the lens,” saysSeng. “Uplighting the trees in the distancewas another layer of lights gelled with ablend of Rosco Urban Vaporand a sodium-vapor pack [Lee 103 and 147] to mix colortemperatures. Beyond that, we lit up someof the other houses in the neighborhood.We were constantly looking to create depth.

“To give the entire party a constant,subtle edgelight, we used Condors thatusually each had two 12-light Maxi-Brutesgoing through our sodium-vapor gel packand a 12-by-12-foot frame of Light Gridwith a control grid in front of that,” hecontinues. “Underslung on each Condorwas an Arri MaxMover mounted with a 20Kand a Chimera that had its diffusion fabricremoved to control spill from the 20K in thelightest possible way. The falloff of the bigsources was critical to give the party depth,but the center areas, where most of theaction took place, were slightly under.”

Seng credits Maxwell and key gripBrady Majors with effectively wranglingthese big sources throughout the shoot. “Atone point, our producer, Todd Phillips, gaveme the nickname ‘Flight of the Condors,’because we had six of them going duringthe last two weeks of the shoot,” he says. “Itmay have looked like overkill, but shooting360 degrees with up to eight cameras at atime called for it.”

Also hanging over the party was a12'x12' cube balloon lamped with sodium-vapor bulbs “that we used just to fill thingsin,” says Seng. “At any given time, we couldbe shooting in the front yard with sixcameras while we had a thousand extras inthe background with the second unit work-ing at the rear of the house, so being able toquickly float the cube over was a timesaver.” He adds that a longtime collaborator,Joseph Aguirre, was the second-unit cine-matographer.

Throughout much of the third act, apolice helicopter flies overhead and movesits searchlight through the crowd, and TV-news crews capture the action from theirown choppers. “George Maxwell and BradyMajors devised an amazing box-truss rig thatheld a Libra head/F23 rig and two spotlights,

a VL3500 and a ClayPaky Alpha Spot 1500,and we hung it from a construction crane,”says Seng. “It gave the party so muchproduction value and scale.”

Creating more separation and depthwere practicals “that were slightly cool,which worked well with the sodium-vaporlook edging out the party,” he continues.“The Condors and the balloon were justgiving us this back edge, while these practi-cals, as well as our on-camera lights, went abit blue. A lot of the practicals were HuskyCool White-type CFL lights that you can getfrom Home Depot.”

To shoot some of the party coverageat 60 fps, Seng had to boost his light level.He notes, “I rate the F23 at about 250 ASA,and to get a stop of T2.8 at 60 fps, you needquite a bit of light. For the high-speed work,we’d sometimes mount a Par can right ontop of the F23 as our ‘on-camera light.’”

While shooting with F23s and EX3s,Seng used Codex digital recorders. “I knewI’d have a better image to work with [inpost] if we recorded 4:4:4 rather thancompressing and recording to SR tape,” hesays. “Also,because we were shooting withso many formats on so many differentcameras, bringing all of the material intoCodex simplified the data management.”Toby Gallo, the production’s data-acquisitionsupervisor, designed the workflow, whichinvolved “the equivalent of about 2 millionfeet of film, and the application of all ourpre-set looks to the dailies footage,” saysSeng.

“Catching reality between themoments when people were acting for thecamera added so much to this movie,”Nourizadeh concludes. “The time is justright for a movie like this.”

TECHNICAL SPECS

1.85:1Digital CaptureSony F23, PMW-EX3; Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 7D; Iconix Studio 2K;Research in Motion Blackberry; Apple iPhone; Flip HDCanon HJ11x4.7B KLL-SC 11x

A 12'x12' cube balloon with sodium-vaporbulbs provided fill light for the party. Visible

at top right is a box-truss rig fitted withspotlights to simulate a police helicopter’s

searchlight.

Page 31: AC mar 2012

15’, 20’, 32’ ... Introducing the 73‘ Hydrascope Equipment that works in any environment

weather resistant and tough

LOCATIONS: California: 888 883 6559New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Ohio & Florida: 888 758 4826

UK: +44 1 92 326 5953

TELESCOPING CRANES

With Stabilized Remote Camera Systems

CHAPMAN/LEONARDStudio Equipment, Inc.

DOLLIES...Super PeeWee© IV

Part of the PeeWee© series

Time Saving Camera Support for all your needs!Hustler IV

Pedestals, Mobile Cranes, Arms & Bases

www.chapman-leonard.com

Ask about our Sound Stage in Florida

CHAPMAN/LEONARDStudio Equipment, Inc.

Page 32: AC mar 2012

30 March 2012 American Cinematographer

F or this month’s special focus on television production, wego behind-the-scenes on three acclaimed shows: the PBSminiseries Downton Abbey, the AMC series Walking Deadand the Showtime series Homeland.

Downton AbbeyCinematographers: Gavin Struthers, David Marsh and Nigel Willoughby, BSC

Downton Abbey depicts the interdependent butcontrasting lives of a late Edwardian aristocratic family andtheir servants above and below stairs at an English countryhouse. It was created and is principally written by JulianFellowes, best known for his Oscar-winning screenplay forGosford Park (AC Jan. ’02), which also examined the Britishsocial classes of the early 20th century.

The first series of this hugely successful drama(produced by Carnival Films for the UK’s ITV network)covered the years between the sinking of the Titanic in 1912

and the outbreak of World War I in 1914. The war is thedefining event of series two, with domestic staff fromDownton fighting side-by-side at the front with the heir tothe estate, Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens), and the houseitself functioning as a convalescent home for injured Britishofficers.

The first series was primarily shot by David Katznelson,DFF, BSC, who won an Emmy Award for his effort. (At presstime, he had just earned an ASC nomination as well.) Thesecond series is mainly the work of Gavin Struthers, a gradu-ate of the National Film and Television School whose creditsinclude documentaries, features and the recent televisionproductions Garrow’s Law and The Reckoning.

“The biggest change the producers wanted to make inthe look of the second series pertained to the downstairsscenes,” says Struthers. “They didn’t want the smoky feel thosescenes had in the first series, partly because electricity hadreplaced gaslight and candles by the time the second seriesbegins, but also because the smoke created some complica-

Varied Visions

The cinematographers on the hit series Downton Abbey,

The Walking Dead andHomeland discuss their

creative strategies.

By Mark Hope-Jones, Iain Stasukevichand Patricia Thomson

•|•

Page 33: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 31

tions in the edit. In general, though,there’s not as much visual differencebetween upstairs and downstairs in thisseries, which seems appropriate becausein the story, the people downstairs arestarting to question whether this kind oflife is going to continue after the war.”

One character who representsthis very well is Thomas (Rob James-Collier), a conniving footman who goesto war and returns to a post above stairs,managing the temporary convalescenthome at Downton. “He’s a unique char-acter who can move about both aboveand below stairs,” says Struthers. “Hewas quite interesting in terms of cameraand lighting because he occupies allthree areas of the story: downstairs,upstairs and the war. We very rarely shothandheld upstairs, but for the scenewhere Thomas returns from the frontand comes in through the front door,which would have otherwise beenunthinkable for a servant, it made senseto go handheld.”

The first series of Downton Abbeywas shot on Arri’s D-21, but theproduction switched to the Arri Alexafor series two, equipping the cameraswith Cooke S4 prime lenses andAngenieux Optimo zooms. “A lot ofAlexa users typically shoot at 800 ASAand ND down when required, but Ididn’t do that on this show,” saysStruthers. “I used a wide range of ASAratings, from 200 to 1,600, and there isdefinitely a difference, as there is withneg stock. At 200 it’s more contrasty, soyou have to fill the shadows in more,whereas at 1,600 it’s a much flatterimage and the camera sees a lot furtherinto the blacks. I changed the ASA inthe same way I’d swap film stocks out. Ifind it easier to light that way, and also Idon’t like too much [filtration] in frontof the lens.”

Footage was captured in ProRes4:4:4 and recorded to SxS Pro cards.“The cards went straight to the digital-imaging technician, who checkedeverything as the footage was taken offand then copied it to a G-Raid trans-port drive as well as my own DroboRaid system,” says Struthers. “That way

we had a copy of everything at full reso-lution with us at all times. The editingteam would receive a G-Raid transportdrive every evening and return one thefollowing morning.”

Whereas scenes set below stairswere shot on sets built at EalingStudios, exteriors and almost all otherinteriors were filmed on location atHighclere Castle, the Jacobethanmansion that serves as Downton

Abbey. Being a historic property,Highclere comes with strict limitationson how and where equipment can beused. The fact that nothing could beattached to the walls, and that floors hadto be kept uncluttered, led gaffer PhilBrookes to use balloon fixtures for anambient level. He notes, “We usedseveral types of balloon lights, theprimary one being a 4K tungsten tube.In the main hall, which is a three-storyD

ownt

on A

bbey

phot

os b

y N

ick

Bri

ggs,

cou

rtes

y of

Car

niva

l Film

& T

elev

isio

n Lt

d. T

he W

alki

ng D

ead

phot

os b

y G

ene

Page

, cou

rtes

y of

AM

C.

Hom

elan

dph

otos

by

Jim

Bri

dges

and

Ken

t Sm

ith,

cou

rtes

y of

Sho

wti

me.

Opposite (from left): Matthew Crawley (Dan Stevens) and Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) in Downton Abbey; one of the many zombies on the prowl in The Walking Dead; CIA agent

Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) in Homeland. This page, top: Earl of Grantham Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville) pays close attention to a dinner conversation. Bottom: Cinematographer GavinStruthers (foreground left) prepares to shoot a scene in the family library, where smaller fixtures

and balloon lights were integral to the look.

Page 34: AC mar 2012

32 March 2012 American Cinematographer

atrium with a glass roof, we used a2.4/2Kdaylight-tungsten combinationunit, which enabled us to alter the colortemperature when we started to losedaylight.”

As far as possible, the filmmakerstried to light interior scenes fromoutside the windows. “The house isbuilt on quite a nice sun path,” notesStruthers. “We would control the sunwith silks and frames, and then push 6Kor 18K HMIs in through the windowsand add a small amount of soft lightinside, a diffused Kino or poly wedge, togive us a little bit of modeling. Onotheroccasions, we’d add a well-choppedharder light from outside, a 2.5K with alittle spot or a 4K Mole beam, to give ussome interest on the dark wood panel-ing or bookcases in the background.”

On the eve of Downton’s trans-formation into a hospital, a sequence ofsunset scenes required a slightly differ-ent approach. “I wanted to create thefeeling that the sun was setting on thehouse,” says Struthers. “The interiorsneeded to change with the changinglight outside, so as the sun sets, theambient light in the rooms becomesslightly cooler while the highlights getwarmer.”

“That was quite interestingbecause those scenes were spread overseveral weeks of the schedule, so we hadto develop a plan that we could referback to each time,” adds Brookes. “Toget a warm feeling, we changed theoutside lights to 24K tungsten units

with added CTO and then ‘cooled’ theinterior, where there were some tung-sten practicals turned on because it’s lateafternoon. We had to play around quitea lot with CTO and CTB to achieve agood balance. The sequence endsoutside, so we brought in a 50K SoftSungelled with CTO to get a low-sunlighteffect on the actors’ faces and undertheir hats. We actually had to shoot thatscene on quite a bright day, and we werereally fighting the daylight, but keepingthe camera angles tight and using theSoftSun made it believable and a goodmatch for inside.”

Many of the existing lightingfixtures at Highclere fit the story’speriod and proved extremely useful aspracticals, with bulbs swapped out whennecessary. “The library, the main halland the dining room all had lovely,ornate table lamps with six or eight littlelights branching off with individuallight shades,” says Struthers. “They wereof the period, so we used them. Forother rooms, our production designer,Donal Woods, brought in other fixtureshe’d sourced, and Phil would wire themin before we arrived.”

Using the existing fittings wascomplicated by the protectiveness of theHighclere staff. Brookes recalls, “Theirrule was that if we wanted to change abulb or move anything, they had to doit. They’d come in with their whitegloves on and take 20 minutes to changetwo bulbs, so it quickly became obviousthat using dimmers would be easier. The

only snag was that the lights were wiredinto the house system, so I made someadapters that allowed us to interrupt thefeed and get control of them. I alsomade tiny dimmers we christened‘sneaky dimmers,’ because you couldhide them in the tablecloth or behind atable leg, and they were all constructedwith period-correct braided cable. Nomatter how hard you try, someone’sgoing to spot a cable, so it might as wellbe the right sort of cable!”

In certain situations, the crewalso made use of old lightbulbs to lendan authentic feel to these early days ofdomestic electricity. “The most interest-ing bulb changing we did was actuallyon the kitchen set at Ealing,” saysStruthers. “Phil got hold of some periodbulbs that were beautiful, huge glassthings with thick filaments thatproduced a really warm light. Theymade me think that early electricitymust have looked pretty warm, so Imade anything that was lit by the newelectric lights [look] a lot warmer thanthe electric fixtures we saw in seriesone.”

Brookes says he remembered theperiod bulbs from a previous shoot, anddug them out of the “specials” box atPanalux. “The filament is huge and isstrung back and forth all the wayaround the glass envelope,” he says.“Nowadays they use a coil construction,so filaments are a lot smaller; you cantell a modern bulb because it’s a verypoint source to your eye. These periodbulbs are perhaps only 60-100 watts,but as the filament is so long, they don’tburn out as much on camera. I only hada few, so we couldn’t use them every-where, but the kitchen was a good placebecause the bottom of the bulbs wouldprotrude below some of the glass shadesand into shot. They looked really good.Most people don’t notice such things,but Gavin and I liked it.”

For the time during whichDownton Abbey serves as a hospital,Struthers wanted a cooler, more austerelook. “The house is a character in theshow, so it had to have a character arc,”he says. “We wanted the house to

◗ Varied Visions

Lady SybilCrawley (Jessica

Brown Findlay,right) venturesdownstairs forsome cooking tips from Mrs.

Patmore (LesleyNicol, center) and

Daisy (SophieMcShera).

Page 35: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 33

initially feel relatively similar to the firstseries, and then, as the war starts to filterin, we wanted to strip away the veneer ofgrandeur before restoring it for the laterepisodes.”

It was not Struthers who shot the two episodes for which this coolerlook was intended, but David Marsh.(A third cinematographer, NigelWilloughby, BSC, was on second unitand also shot the finale, which aired inthe U.K. as a Christmas special.) Marshhad shot a couple of episodes in the firstseries and was able to share his experi-ences with Struthers. “It was verycollaborative,” says Marsh. “Gavin and Iagreed that the general feeling for myepisodes would be much busier andbleaker. The woman who ownsHighclere told us that the house reallyhad been used as a convalescent home inWorld War I, so it was exciting to re-create something that had actuallyoccurred in that place.”

Scenes set in the trenches on theWestern Front were limited in number,but Struthers relished the opportunityto do something different and gave a lotof thought to his approach. “We wanteda look that would feel horrific but alsosit in the world of Downton, so I spentquite a while grading stills in Photoshop[for the colorist’s reference]. We endedup with a yellowy-khaki feel, but with acoldness, a tiny bit of blue in the blacks.”

The camerawork had to put theaudience on the battlefield and alsoachieve continuity between exteriorsand bunker scenes. “I came up with arough design and asked one of mycamera assistants, Scott Rodgers, tocreate what we called a ‘Wobbleator,’which was basically a motorized, rotat-ing weight,” says Struthers. “We putthem on both cameras, and wheneveran explosion went off, a little button waspressed that made the camera wobble sothe operator had to fight to control theframe. It’s quite an old trick, but thatjudder at the moment of an explosionreally helped to sell the experience ofbeing in the trenches.”

— Mark Hope-Jones

The Walking DeadCinematographers: David Boyd, ASC and Rohn Schmidt

On the surface, AMC’s TheWalking Dead seems like zombie apoca-lypse stories we’ve seen before: a small,scrappy group of survivors, in this caseled by small-town sheriff Rick Grimes(Andrew Lincoln), struggles through theaftermath of a mysterious worldwidepandemic that causes the dead to rise as“walkers.”

At the heart of the rotting fleshand pulpy horror is a story about thestrength of the human spirit, and seriescinematographer David Boyd, ASCbelieves that’s the key to the franchise’ssuccess. “My interest in The WalkingDead lies in seeing how the human spiritresponds to a brave, new world — howwe all adapt to weather the times,” hesays.

The show’s pilot was shot in andaround Atlanta, GA, by DavidTattersall, BSC; Boyd shot the firstseason as well as some of the second,which were also based in Atlanta. Boydtheorizes that his work on NBC’s FridayNight Lights helped him land the job; heshot that show in Super 16mm withmultiple cameras, and The WalkingDead ’s original showrunner, FrankDarabont, wanted the same thing.

The Walking Dead uses PanavisedArri 416 cameras, rented fromPanavision offices in Dallas and Atlanta,and mainly two Kodak Vision3 nega-tives, 250D 7207 (for most day exteriors)and 500T 7219 (for most interiors andnight work). “Shooting 16mm was afantastic choice in terms of what itenables us to achieve, and the pace of theshoot is a perfect fit for the Arri 416,”says Boyd. “The camera is small andlight; it moves fast; it’s totally self-contained; and it can handle all theaccessories that are necessary for a goodphotographic outcome.

“With a Canon 10.6-180mmzoom on each body, we can move thesecameras around freely at no cost in termsof production time, even between takes,”he continues. “The compulsory shots canbe accomplished with speed, leavingtime to do the unique shots that helpmake the show visually interesting. Theproduction benefits greatly from the easeof use the 416s give us. Shooting 16mmeasily buys us an hour-and-a-half a dayin production time, maybe more,compared to any other format.”

As part of his prep for the series,Boyd delved into the comic books thatinspired the show. “The illustrationsconvey what the characters are thinkingas well as what they’re saying,” he notes.“My goal was to construct a method ofshooting that would do justice to some

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) wrangles a zombie in a scene from The Walking Dead.

Page 36: AC mar 2012

34 March 2012 American Cinematographer

McGinn and Angela Holford — aver-age 70 to 80 shots a day. At the end ofthe first season, film loader TracyMinnis tallied about 2,000 rolls betweenA and B cameras, including short endsand reloads.

The story’s decaying urban envi-ronments and rural, wooded areas arewell suited for handheld and tripodwork, and a single grip was assigned toeach camera team, providing the opera-tors and camera assistants with supportwherever they went. “Crane moves arerare, but our great dolly grips, FrankBoone and Mike Besaw, were very busy,often putting dolly runs in the woodswhere it seemed impossible,” says Boyd.“Handheld or not, we were stretched out

on the lens so the camera was fartheraway from the actors. It makes them feelmore trapped, and it allows me and thedirectors to play with different depths offield.”

The show’s roster of directorsincludes Ernest Dickerson, ASC, whosedirectorial credits include episodes ofDexter, The Wire and Treme. As might beexpected from a former cinematographer,Dickerson maintains a close relationshipwith the camera department. “I rely onthe camera as our primary storytellingtool, so I am pretty clear with the opera-tors about how I want a shot framed,” hesays, noting that he was often lookingover Boyd’s shoulder as the setups cametogether.

“I do my work near the cameras,and I encourage all of our directors to getout from behind the monitor and partic-ipate,” says Boyd. “Good things happenwhen there’s a director close to thecamera.” In lieu of a video village, thedirectors use three 5" standard-definitionmonitors attached to a “mobile board”equipped with video receivers.

Boyd also used his proximity to thecamera to gauge filtration and T-stops,freeing the first assistants to concentrateon pulling focus. For day exteriors, NDfilters were stacked to achieve a moreselective depth-of-field. At dawn or inthe late afternoon, Boyd corrected the7219 500T with a Tiffen 81EF filter. “It’swhat I use with tungsten film to bias ittoward the cool side,” he says. “It gets youto that early dawn/magic hour look quitenicely.”

For each season so far, the produc-tion has spent six months shooting onlocation in Georgia, usually in swelteringheat. The grip team is often using itsequipment to shield the actors from thesun as well as control the natural sunlight.“Almost all of our day exteriors have beendone in available light,” says Boyd. “I’d getby with a 12-by Griffolyn orUltraBounce — something soft that puta bit of light in the actors’ eyes. If we wereworking underneath a tree, I’d considerputting a light up, but if I did, it would bea 4K HMI. We used 18Ks for wide fills.

“The show works best when it

pretty brilliant thinking on the parts of[comic-book creators] Robert Kirkman,Tony Moore and Charlie Adlard.”

This method was greatly influ-enced by Boyd’s experiences as a docu-mentary filmmaker in the 1980s. “I’m soglad I had that early experience,” heremarks. “Every chromosome is trainedto size up a scene fast and start shoot-ing.” On The Walking Dead, he scrupu-lously avoided complex lighting setups,indoors and out, in favor of natural lightand practical motivation.

The primary camera crew —operators Mike Satrazemis, Chris Jonesand Glen Brown (the latter two onSteadicam); 1st ACs David Galbraithand Bruce Robinson; and 2nd ACs Matt

◗ Varied Visions

Top: Cinematographer David Boyd, ASC lights the undead. Bottom: Episode director Ernest Dickerson, ASC points toward a setup.

Page 37: AC mar 2012
Page 38: AC mar 2012

looks rough, because it portrays a danger-ous world,” he adds. “From time to time,I had to stop myself from making it lookbetter!”

In the show’s second season, thesurvivors took refuge in a secluded farm-house, much to the dismay of its secretivelandlord, Herschel Greene (ScottWalker). For these scenes, the productionrented a farmhouse property in HenryCounty, Ga., which served as the show’sbase of operations for the entire season.

For day scenes in the farmhousethat called for bright sun outside, “I’d tryto get big lights outside the window,usually Nine-light Maxi-Brutes withnarrow Firestarter [1.2K tungsten Par64] bulbs,” says Boyd. “When you bringthem in through a window, it’s goodsunlight.” Night interiors relied mainlyon practicals and a bit of augmentation inthe form of Master Blasters and BargerBaglites with fairly directional hard grids.

Night exteriors were often lit with18Ks, 12K Pars and Nine-light Maxisplaced deep in the background, freeingthe cameras to capture the maximumnumber of angles. Small units — 400-watt and 800-watt Jokers and individual1.2K Firestarter Par cans — were keptnearby to “put a kiss of light into theworld and the actors’ faces,” says Boyd.

“I can get lights up faster than theactors can get ready,” he adds. “Nightexteriors require a bit of planning, but bythe time the company arrives we’re readyto shoot.”

Boyd moved into the director’schair for “Secrets,” the sixth episode ofseason two, and Rohn Schmidt took overthe cinematography duties, which hethen assumed for the rest of the season.“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Schmidt saysof his approach to the show. “David leftsome big shoes to fill, and there were afew areas where our tastes were different,but those were handled in an evolution-ary way.”

Schmidt recalls that when heinterviewed for the job, he received twonotes from Darabont and executiveproducer/head writer Glen Mazzara,who had both previously worked withhim on The Shield. “They didn’t want to

do a lot of handheld, and they wanted thestyle to be very cinematic,” says Schmidt.

“With this show, shots evolve andplay without a lot of editing,” he contin-ues. “We were almost never just on sticks;we had a lot of very carefully designeddolly and crane shots.”

Schmidt introduced more primelenses into the show’s visual vocabulary,favoring wide Zeiss Compact Primes.“Primes really force you to commit to theshot,” he observes.

In the climactic midseasonepisode, “Pretty Much Dead Already,” aswarm of walkers was discovered inHerschel’s barn, and Rick’s group grimlyput them down in a hail of gunfire. Thewalker effects, designed by executiveproducer Greg Nicotero’s KNB Efx, werelargely practical, but shots portrayingphysical trauma were accomplished digi-tally by a team at Stargate Studios led byvisual-effects supervisor Victor Scalise.

Greenscreen backings and body-suits helped Stargate artists key outportions of the frame. Shots that neededto be rescaled were shot on 35mm film,and lens, camera position and T-stopwere recorded, “but we were not encour-aged to lock the camera off that much,”says Schmidt. “Shooting on zoom lenses,dollying and handheld were all fine withVictor.”

For both seasons of the show,Atlanta post house Cinefilm processedthe negative, and Crawford Media (alsoin Atlanta) created the HD dailies.(Colorist Steve Johnson handled seasonone; David Cardinale handled seasontwo.) The final color timing was done atthe Burbank facility Modern VideoFilmby colorist Dan Judy.

Once season two was in the can,Boyd moved on to other projects, butSchmidt says he is likely to return forseason three. “I remember Frank[Darabont] saying, ‘Just finish the year —you’ll like it so much you’ll want to comeback,’” he recalls. “And he was right! Theproducers, the network, the cast and thecrew made it a decidedly satisfying expe-rience, and I’m really looking forward tonext season.”

— Iain Stasukevich

HomelandCinematographers: Christopher Manley, ASC and Nelson Cragg III

One of the most popular newshows of 2011 was Homeland, a psycho-logical thriller that was loosely adaptedfrom an Israeli series about prisoners ofwar who return from captivity. The storyconcerns U.S. Marine Sgt. NicholasBrody (Damian Lewis), who returns tothe United States after spending eightyears as an Al Qaeda captive, and CIAofficer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes),who collects intelligence suggestingBrody may have been “turned” by theterrorists. Mathison also strugglesprivately with bipolar disorder.

The pilot was shot by ChristopherManley, ASC, perhaps best known for hisregular work on Mad Men (AC Oct. ’09),and the series was shot by Nelson CraggIII, the only cinematographer so far towin both the ASC Heritage Award forstudent cinematography ( AC June ’04)and an ASC Award for a professional gig(CSI: Crime Scene Investigation).

Cragg has also shot episodes of theseries Flash Forward and Breaking Bad,and he notes that his experience on thelatter show “taught me that you canproduce great, intimate stuff and takechances [on premium channels] that youcan’t take on network television.”

Homeland co-executive producerMichael Cuesta, who directed the indiefeatures Twelve and Holding and L.I.E.(AC Oct. ’01), directed Homeland ’s pilotas well as the finale and pivotal seventhepisode. “Michael likes to work veryorganically,” Manley says. “His ideascome out of what he sees the actors doingin rehearsal. He’s open, intuitive andimprovisational.”

Cragg describes Homeland as “ajazz-based show — the score is jazz,Carrie listens to jazz, and the showbecame very improvisational in the handsof directors like Michael and ClarkJohnson.”

In that vein, Homeland had no“look book” to follow. But there was theequivalent of a musical key: an emphasis

36 March 2012 American Cinematographer

◗ Varied Visions

Page 39: AC mar 2012

www.clairmont.com

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

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

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

coupled with the industry’s widest selection of lenses and

accessories to give cinematographers the ability to

maximize their creativity. We have a wide selection of

anamorphic lenses both fixed focal lengths and zoom

lenses, including the new Vantage Hawk V-lites in

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

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

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

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

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

includes Arri Alexa and Alexa Studio, Canon EOSC300, 1D Mark IV & EOS 7D; all with PL mounts, Iconix,

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

and F3 cameras and the amazing high speed Weisscam

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

monitoring and DIT control equipment in addition to both

file based and tape based recording options. Our

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

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

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

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

see what’s new in our inventory.

Sincerely, Clairmont Camera

CREATIVITY!Your Mind, Our Tools!

Hollywood818-761-4440

Vancouver604-984-4563

Toronto416-467-1700

Albuquerque505-227-2525

Montreal514-525-6556

Michael Condon, SOCVP Digital Division

Andree MartinVP Technical Services

Page 40: AC mar 2012

38 March 2012 American Cinematographer

on naturalism. “The story is based onwhat’s going on around us now, so Iwanted it to feel as real as possible,” saysCuesta. “I didn’t want it to come off as anaction thriller, but as a psychologicalpiece. You have to hang onto the shot,stay with these characters, get into theirheads. The look is not stylized. I’malways turning lights off on set, saying,‘Let it be real.’”

While prepping the pilot, thecreative team revisited the 1970s thrillersThree Days of the Condor and TheConversation, “which feel like documen-taries in that they capture the action in asimple way,” Cuesta says. But their mostimportant touchstone, according toManley, was Michael Clayton, shot byRobert Elswit, ASC.“That became mygo-to point of reference,” says Manley.“The photography is so naturalistic andunobtrusive, yet every scene feels correct.[Elswit] never tried to do anything flashyor tip his hand and let his presence beknown, and that’s really hard to do. It’seasier to make things look beautiful thannatural and correct.”

As the storyline develops,Homeland ’s look evolves correspond-ingly. “It started as a show about peopleobserving people, and we created thatfeeling of surveillance by emphasizinglonger lenses through episode four,” saysCragg. “Then, as more of the story was

about 2 feet on each side, but beyondthat, they were pretty much practicallocations. We didn’t have the luxury to flywalls or put in backlights or sidelightswhere we wanted, which was a goodthing.” Cuesta adds, “It’s hard to getcameras in there, but when you make ittoo easy to shoot, it starts looking like aTV show. So I prefer to be crammed inthe corner and not be able to get theangle.”

Both Manley and Cragg basedtheir lighting on practicals that wereaugmented by China balls and smallinstruments, bounced light and lots ofnegative fill. “With the Alexa, I was basi-cally using smaller and lesser lights,” saysManley, who was working with thecamera for the first time. “You think youneed a 4-foot double [Kino Flo], butthen you find you only need a 4-footsingle — and then you end up puttingtape all over the front to knock it downmore. It’s kind of amazing that way.”

Cragg’s go-to units were “Tommyboxes,” small softboxes created by gafferTommy Ray Sullivan. Built in five sizes,they accommodate different-sizedglobes, all wired to dimmers. “They’reincredibly versatile and low-profile, andwe used them all over the place, hidingthem or clipping them to things,” saysCragg.

The creative team worked with adigital-imaging technician on the pilot,but Cragg opted to do without one, usinga data loader instead. “I don’t think youneed a DIT with the Alexa,” notesCragg. “I just used Iridas SpeedGrade tocreate our look-up tables. The Alexa cansave frame grabs, and I’d just load themonto the program, color-time them andthen have them sent off to FotoKem.”

Cragg and FotoKem colorist KeithShaw calibrated their iPads so Craggcould give notes on the QuickTime filesor DVD he received. “It’s not a perfectsystem, but we achieve a lot of the look ofthis show in-camera,” says the cine-matographer. “We gel the lights if wewant a specific look, and because we’regoing for a raw, naturalistic feel, we letfluorescent lights go green and let warmcolors play with cool ones. So there

revealed, our style got more visceral, withmore handheld [camerawork].”

Showtime mandated that pro-duction be based in North Carolina totake advantage of local tax breaks, andthe network also mandated digitalacquisition. The team chose Charlotte,and local rental house IlluminationDynamics provided Arri Alexas,Arri/Zeiss Ultra Primes and a range ofAngenieux Optimo zooms.

The pilot was shot on practicallocations in North Carolina, Israel andWashington, D.C. The episodes wereshot on soundstages built in some vacanttobacco-processing factories and ware-houses in Charlotte.

The main sets are Brody’s andMathison’s residences. Brody’s ramblingranch house “is designed to be thewarmest, most comforting place,” saysCragg, “because we need to ground him,to care about his family, because thisfamily is what ties him to reality andkeeps him alive.” By contrast, Mathison’stownhouse has a cool palette, fewwindows and spare lighting. “The spacefeels contained and closed, just like hercharacter,” says Cragg.

The sets were copied closely fromthe pilot’s practical locations. “Michaelrequested 8-foot or 9-foot hard ceilingson every set,” says Cragg. “They wereexpanded from the real locations by

◗ Varied Visions

U.S. Marine Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis) endures eight years of captivity in the Middle East in Homeland.

Page 41: AC mar 2012

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

Acquire with AJA.

www.aja.com

Designed as a miniature field recorder forcreating ‘ready-to-edit’ professional digitalvideo, Ki Pro Mini records Apple ProRes 422(including HQ, LT and Proxy) direct from anySDI or HDMI camera. Mounted andconnected to your camera, Ki Pro Minirecords the ProRes footage to affordableCompact Flash media, instantly ready toedit when connected to a Mac.

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

Ki Pro Mini. Lens to Post...in a Flash.Portable 10-bit 4:2:2 Flash Disk Recorder

Unifying the different formatsemployed by broadcastcameras, Ki Pro features AJA’spowerful hardware up/down/cross conversion and capturesProRes direct to removableStorage Module media. RS-422 andmachine control capabilities make Ki Pro a compactfile-based VTR replacement. Extensive I/O ensures integration with all your other production gear is seamless.

ACQUIRE

Ki Pro. Unify Cameras and Formats.10-bit Recorder with Conversion

From Lens to Post, capture edit-ready 10-bit footage direct from your camera.

Free Software Update Coming SoonEncode & Decode! Free firmware update 3.0 with new features for

Ki Pro and Ki Pro Mini - coming soon!

Page 42: AC mar 2012

weren’t many corrections to be made [inthe final timing].”

However, the look of the showchanges completely for Brody’s flash-backs to his experiences in captivity inthe Middle East. For glimpses of beat-ings and torture, “we wanted somethingthat looked hot and frightening,” saysManley. He used the Alexa’s CC correc-tion to warm the images in-camera andthen added some grain. To create an

image that might suggest Brody’s frag-mented memory, Manley used ArriSwing & Tilt lenses and added flaresand fogging by shining a Scorpio flash-light or Pocket Par straight down thebarrel.

When testing revealed that theSwing & Tilt lenses could be removedfrom its mount, Cragg had 1st ACPatrick Borowiak maneuver it by hand.“You can jiggle it and shift the focus in

weird ways that you couldn’t do by turn-ing the little dials,’ says Cragg. “We alsoused a 90-degree shutter to give theimages a jarring crispness and went forsome supersaturation to give the colorextra pop.”

As Brody’s memories graduallycohere and advance the story, the flash-backs take on a less extreme look, andwhen he embraces Islam, a different lookis established, characterized by strongshafts of sunlight. “It’s his spiritual awak-ening, so we felt we could get more styl-ized,” notes Cragg. “We pushed a bigMolebeam through the window andadded more atmosphere to the set.”

A special look was also required fora drone attack, a critical plot point thatexplains Brody’s motivation. “We shot alot of that at 48 fps, and I gave it a strongbleach-bypass look in the timing,” saysCragg. “It’s an intense, hyper-realisticlook.”

“Intense” also describes the 90-minute season finale, which called for 200

◗ Varied Visions

352

A moment’s hesitation. A knock. The discovery of what lies behind this hollow-eyed symmetry.

Please visit us at: USITTBooth No. 560

Th ink LEEwww.leefi lters.com

Photo Credit: Nicky Decorte – www.nickysownphotography.com

40

Assigned todetermine

whether Brodyposes a risk to

his country, CIAagent Carrie

Mathison (ClaireDanes) studies

some data in herhome office.

Page 43: AC mar 2012

extras and extensive action. But contraryto the norm for such big set pieces, “wedecided to get closer to the characters,”says Cragg. The camera stays glued toMathison and Brody as they strugglewith their respective demons while racingto overcome external obstacles. “You’renot sure who’s good or bad,” Craggobserves. “Carrie is possibly crazy, andBrody, our terrorist, is possibly the sanestperson on the show.”

Here and throughout the season,Cragg shot as much as possible withprime lenses. “Often in television, you’reon an 11:1 zoom all the time, but thatdistances you from the characters, and itwasn’t really appropriate for this show,” heremarks. “We used prime lenses as muchas we could, generally staying betweenthe 20mm and the 65mm.”

In Brody’s climactic scene, Craggoperated the camera himself, trailing thesoldier as he initiated a suicide bombing.The actor moved without marks througha dark, crowded bunker lit with narrow

spotlights. “The images go from overex-posed to really dark and back,” Craggsays. “We had one shot up in the corneron a 16mm, and then the rest was hand-held on a 20mm or 24mm, right in hisface. You’re watching him and wonder-ing if he’s going to do this thing. It’sriveting.”

The finale closes with Mathisonundergoing electroshock therapy, andCragg again took up the camera. “I was

standing on the bed and holding theAlexa right over Claire’s face as she wasconvulsing,” he says. “Originally, we weregoing to zoom in on her, but it didn’t feelright. We decided the camera shouldmove, so I pushed in to about 6 inchesfrom her face.” After four takes, Cragg’slegs were shaking. “Those were intense,draining scenes to shoot.”

— Patricia Thomson●

Free trial at www.assimilateinc.com/trial

Up to 52 fps rendering ProRes (that’s 60%

faster than our closest competitor)

Seamless background rendering while you

continue working on your next shot

Only $4,995 Mac or PC

Image courtesy of el mall www.elmall.mx

Ultimate Production Dailies

How do you measure the true performance of

a production dailies system?

DIGITAL INGENUITY

SCRATCH Lab - the heartbeat of dailies workflows

for hundreds of films, TV shows and commercials

.assimilateinc.com/trialFree trial at www

for hundreds of films, TV shows and commercials

ab - the heartbeat of dailies workflows CH LTSCRAAT

.assimilateinc.com/trial

for hundreds of films, TV shows and commercials

ab - the heartbeat of dailies workflows

for hundreds of films, TV shows and commercials

ab - the heartbeat of dailies workflows

AL INGENUITYDIGITTA

41

SeriescinematographerNelson Cragg IIIeyeballs a setupinvolvingMathison and a colleague.

Page 44: AC mar 2012

42 March 2012 American Cinematographer

On a balmy Seattle night, three high-school friends exit abarn in which their fellow students are enjoying a rave.They enter a large, empty field. As the boys walk, theyhappen upon a sinkhole that leads to a mysterious

subterranean passageway, where they find evidence of an alienpresence. The encounter changes the boys, endowing eachwith incredible telekinetic powers. Soon, one of the friendsbegins a steep descent into extremely bad behavior.

Directed by Josh Trank, Chronicle is the latest entry inthe “found footage” genre popularized by such features as TheBlair Witch Project (AC April ’99), Cloverfield (AC March ’08)and Paranormal Activity. In Chronicle, the conceit is that one

of the three boys, Andrew (Dane DeHaan), carries his CanonXL1 MiniDV camcorder everywhere, recording nearly everyaspect of his life, including the extraordinary changes inhimself and his two friends.

In actuality, the man behind the camera was cine-matographer Matthew Jensen, whose credits include theseries True Blood (AC March ’09) and Game of Thrones .Chronicle marks his first feature for a major studio. “I gotinvolved in Chronicle through Game of Thrones producer MarkHuffam, who recommended me to [20th Century] Fox,”recalls Jensen. “They were looking for [a cinematographer]who had experience with visual effects, stunts and high-endtelevision, and who was used to working with a modestbudget. Based on Mark’s recommendation, I got the inter-view, and HBO set up [pre-broadcast] screenings of Game ofThrones for the Chronicle team. Josh and I got along very well,and that was that.

“I think Chronicle is an interesting experiment in stylein the sense that it’s more of a hybrid than any of the otherfound-footage films I’ve seen,” he continues. “It starts out verydocumentary-like, with a lot of wobbly camerawork, but asAndrew’s powers develop, he realizes he can telekineticallyoperate the camera, at which point the feel of the camerawork

Chronicle, shot by Matthew Jensen,gives the “found footage” genre a

new twist.

By Jay Holben

•|•

Power TripPower Trip

Page 45: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 43

becomes much more fluid and cine-matic.”

Jensen acknowledges that work-ing in a distinctly amateur visual stylewas a challenge. “It’s hard to wrap yourhead around these kinds of movies ifyou’re a cinematographer, because we’retrained to put the camera in just theright place to tell the story. OnChronicle, the camera was often in thewrong place, and for long takes!Andrew is shooting from the hip, notlooking in the eyepiece, panning aroundand snap zooming. At times, when hegets distracted, he even pans away tonothing in the middle of a conversation.

“Another thing I found difficultinitially was justifying why the camerawould be rolling — if Andrew is alone,or if he’s in the midst of an intenseconversation with someone, why wouldhe be shooting? We establish early onthat he always has the camera with him,and we tried to make the camera behaverealistically in those [more solitary]moments. When Andrew is involved inan intense conversation, the cameradrops down to his side. We’ve got badlyframed shots where we’re cutting peopleoff at the eyes or showing them fromthe nose down! We had to get across the

important story elements, but at thesame time, we were always trying tomake the camerawork feel organic.”

Andrew becomes a much bettercamera operator as the story progresses,a plot point that allowed Jensen and hiscamera team to adopt a more traditionalapproach. “When Andrew starts oper-ating the camera telekinetically, westarted doing dolly shots, and we evenbrought in a Technocrane, although Itold the operators to avoid making anyperfect crane moves,” says Jensen. “We

wanted all the camera moves to be alittle wobbly. We wanted to swing rightwhen the action went left, and thencompensate. We wanted a littlerandomness. With each shot, I toldthem, ‘Surprise me a little.’ The key wasto keep a floating feel, because thecamera is supposed to be literally float-ing in the air.

“As the story unfolds, we intro-duce more visual effects and stunts, andusing a more traditional operating stylemade it easier for us to create thosePh

otos

by

Ala

n M

arkf

ield

, cou

rtes

y of

Tw

enti

eth

Cen

tury

Fox

Film

Cor

pora

tion

.

Opposite: Highschooler AndrewDetmer (DaneDeHaan) lets hisnewfound powersget the better ofhim in Chronicle.This page, top:Andrew and hisfriends Steve(Michael B.Jordan, middle)and Matt (AlexRussell) toy withtheir telekineticabilities. Bottom:Andrew carries avideo cameraeverywhere,enablingChronicle’s“found-footage”aesthetic.

Page 46: AC mar 2012

44 March 2012 American Cinematographer

sequences,” he adds. “We also started toincorporate more cameras, such as secu-rity cameras, news cameras and the like,opening the door for more coverage.”

One challenge in post wasmaking the footage, which was shotwith an Arri Alexa (primarily withAngenieux Optimo zoom lenses), looklike the output of a consumer DVcamcorder. “Josh and the producerswanted us to capture at maximum qual-ity and resolution, and then degrade theimage in post,” says Jensen.

In prep, the filmmakers tested theAlexa side-by-side with a Red One(upgraded with a Mysterium-X sensor).“Josh had experience with the Red, sohis instinct was to go with that camera,

but I’m not a big fan of the Red — Idon’t find it to be very intuitive,” saysJensen. “I was open to using it on thisproject, but our shoot was going to be inCape Town, South Africa, with a lot ofexpansive night exteriors, and I wasconcerned about the camera’s speed.

“I’d had a great experience withthe Alexa on Game of Thrones ,” hecontinues, “so we decided to test theRed One and the Alexa [recordingArriRaw] side-by-side. To my eye —and I’m not über-technical when itcomes to pixels and resolution — theAlexa image had a sharper yet morefilmic quality. Although the Red is 4Kand the Arri is 3.5K [with a 2.8K imag-ing area], we found no problems with

the reduced resolution. The Alexa wasalso faster: I got better results at 1,600ISO and 1,280 ISO.

“We took footage from bothcameras through color correction, andthe post house [HD Hub in CapeTown] had a much easier time workingwith the ArriRaw footage,” he adds. “Ontop of that, our visual-effects team said itstrongly preferred the Alexa over theRed. Once Josh saw the tests and tookall of this into consideration, he wasconvinced as well.”

When the time came to finishChronicle, “we shrank the Alexa imagedown and then blew it back up andsharpened it,” says Jensen. “We playedwith the contrast levels so that we lostsome details in the whites and made theblacks a little crunchier. It was surpris-ingly effective. Late in the story, Andrewgets an HD camera, and we kept theAlexa’s native look for that material. Itypically use a little diffusion with theAlexa, but I didn’t in this case becausewe wanted to maintain that extra sharp-ness.”

The filmmakers recorded toCodex ArriRaw drives, starting produc-tion with three drives and later pickingup two more. “You can only get 25minutes per magazine, which was achallenge for us because of our longtakes,” recalls Jensen. “We were alsobacking up to ProRes via the Alexa’s SxScard.”

As compact as the Alexa can be,once handheld brackets and a recordingmagazine are added, the camera nolonger behaves like a small camcorder.The filmmakers used several techniquesto combat this, including separating theCodex recorder into a backpack worn bythe operator or a camera assistant. Amore elaborate solution was what Jensenand A-camera operator Peter Belchercall the “pipe slider.”

Jensen explains, “Peter suggested avery low-tech but ingenious rig, whichwas basically a piece of speed railbetween two combo stands. A set ofskateboard wheels fit onto the speed railon a metal fitting, with a carabiner hang-ing down from that. We’d hook the cara-

◗ Power Trip

Above: As Andrewdevelops his

powers, he beginsto telekinetically

operate his camera;here, the filmmakersemploy a Cable Camrig to capture a shot

in which Andrew“levitates” the

camera 120' in theair. Right:

CinematographerMatthew Jensen

maneuvers the ArriAlexa on skateboard

wheels to simulateAndrew’s camera

being kicked acrossthe floor.

Page 47: AC mar 2012

could,” he explains. “Often we were justlighting the environment and letting thecharacters exist in that environment. Iset steadfast rules to justify every lightsource in a scene, and if I actually sawthe source in the shot, all the better. Oneof my rules was if there wasn’t a windowor a place for a practical, there wouldn’tbe light. I took some liberties with thoserules, but rarely.” ➣

biner into an eyehook on the top of theAlexa, and it allowed Peter to just rollup and down the pipe with the cameraand pan and tilt in a very loose manner.The rig took the weight completely outof his hands and gave him a lot of free-dom, and he could be as steady orunsteady as we wanted. Peter had useda similar rig while working with [cine-matographer] Oliver Wood on SafeHouse. Our rig evolved from theirs, so Iowe Oliver some thanks for doing theR&D for me!”

The production shot in SouthAfrica for budgetary reasons, and pass-ing Cape Town off as Seattle createdsome special challenges. “Nothing inCape Town is even remotely likeSeattle,” Jensen observes. “It was proba-bly the most challenging for the artdepartment, because every sign andevery storefront had to be changed.They also drive on the opposite side ofthe road, so we had to ship in [U.S.-market] cars and shut down every streetwe were on so we could have our char-acters drive in the right lane.

“The only real effect it had on thephotography was that we never reallyopened up the frame, so the movie has

a slightly claustrophobic feel,” hecontinues. “The imagery is supposed tobe spontaneous and free, but it wascarefully constructed to not reveal thefact that we were on a different conti-nent!”

The found-footage aesthetic alsolimited the range of lighting fixturesJensen felt he could employ. “Iapproached the lighting as naturally as I

Left: A 4Ktungsten balloonprovides ambientfill for a night-exterior houseparty. “This is aperfect exampleof how I litenvironmentsrather thanindividual shots,”says Jensen. “Theballoon mixedwith thepracticals andallowed me toshoot in anydirection and stillhave a believable,soft and lowambience.”Below: AlthoughAndrew’sbedroom was aset constructedonstage, “I setsteadfast rules tojustify every lightsource,” saysJensen.

www.theasc.com March 2012 45

Page 48: AC mar 2012

46 March 2012 American Cinematographer

One such occasion was the nightscene in which Andrew and his friendsfind the sinkhole in the field. “I thought,‘How the hell am I going to do this?’”Jensen recalls with a laugh. “I did a lot ofnight-in-the-wilderness lighting on TrueBlood, but that’s a fantasy, so we could getaway with creating a back-moonlightlook with a cool, soft wrap. Here, I didn’thave that luxury. Luckily, Josh was keenon Andrew having a light on the camera.We used a Litepanels MiniPlus with abit of 250 diffusion and kept it dialedway down, which helped us light theimmediate area.

“We had to be able to see beyondthat, though. We had to see one of theboys walk off about 200 yards in thedistance, way beyond the reach of our‘Obie’ light. So I went with an old trick:a 12K [tungsten/daylight] hybridballoon, which was not easy to find inSouth Africa! It was extremely windyout in that field, so we had to bring out ahuge construction crane, and then thecrew had to build a big cage that wouldkeep the balloon steady in the blowingwinds.

“I shot the scene at a 1,280 ISO. Iput the balloon 21⁄2 to 3 stops under; itwouldn’t even register on my meter,which just read ‘Error.’ If an actor gotwithin about 4 feet of the MiniPlus onthe camera, he would go overexposed,but the Alexa held all of that amazinglywell. The scene plays really well. Theballoon was the perfect solution; itprovided just enough of a soft, realistic,toppy glow to help us see in the darknesswithout making the shot look ‘lit.’”

When the boys enter the tunnel— a set built onstage by productiondesigner Stephen Altman — Jenseneliminated all light sources except theMiniPlus on the camera. “All throughprep, Steve kept asking me, ‘Do you needme to cut holes anywhere in the tunnelto put lights through?’” he recalls. “Hewas surprised at how minimally we weregoing to do this! But it worked out greatfor the scene. The MiniPlus only lets yousee so far into the tunnel, so there’s thisforeboding darkness ahead of the boys asthey walk. Steve put a lot of curves in the

◗ Power Trip

Top: A stuntmanis suspended

from a crane for ascene in which

Andrew fliesdown to a gas

station and stirsup some

explosive trouble.Middle: The wire

rig was againused to fly a

stuntman duringthe effects-heavyfinale, for which

Jensen rolledmultiple Alexasand Canon EOS

7Ds. “My lightingwas gelled with

Lee 651 HiSodium to mix

with the naturalsodium-vapor

streetlight,” hesays. Bottom:

Working onstage,the crew straps

Russell into aharness for a

flying sequence.

Page 49: AC mar 2012
Page 50: AC mar 2012

set, so it feels like a huge labyrinth.” As the boys begin to understand

their newfound powers, they continue togo about their normal routines. “We dida lot of work in a high school, where welit through windows and with fluores-cents,” Jensen explains. “We replaced allthe tubes with daylight Kino Flos and

blasted 18K HMIs through thewindows and softened them up. I alsobuilt a little Kino Flo softbox that wecould move around inside to get somedirectionless light and fill in the ceilingfluorescents. For other interiors, wewere often working with large daylightsources coming in windows, and then

letting the interior practicals play warm. “We were lucky to be shooting in

the winter,” he adds. “We had a lot ofovercast skies, which helped sell theSeattle look.”

Set in a barn on the outskirts oftown, the rave sequence that opens thestory required one of the production’smost elaborate lighting setups. Jensenused Kino Flo Image80s with bothtraditional tubes and SuperBlue tubesthat mimicked a black-light feel, and heused deep golds, pinks, reds and vibrantcolor washes intermixed with data flash-ers, all rigged to a dimmer board so theycould be synced with the music. “Wealso had the extras carry glow sticks,” hesays. “It was amazing to see what theAlexa could read on people’s faces fromthe glow sticks alone!”

As the boys hone their abilities,they discover that their telekinesis allowsthem to fly. “We had two weeks ofgreenscreen work just for the flyingsequences,” Jensen recalls. “I’ve got a

◗ Power Trip

THE ROUNDPEGS HADA PRETTYGOOD RUN.

Nila is the industry leader in environmentally sustainable, high-brightness, LED fixturesdurable enough to meet the needs of the harshest production situations.

Nila fixtures are versatile and user-friendly, producing tremendous light output,good color rendering, and cradle-to-cradle sustainability.

VISIT US AT NAB BOOTH C10339 & AT WWW.NILA.TV48

Jensen lines upa frame withdirector JoshTrank (right).

Page 51: AC mar 2012

great deal of respect for all the filmmak-ers who’ve made movies with sequenceslike that, because it’s so difficult to makeit feel real. I felt as though we had asmaller margin for error in that depart-ment, though, because of the documen-tary style of our camerawork. Plus, weonly had four weeks of prep to figure outhow we were going to create the effectsin that style!

“The trick was to get some move-ment from the actors in the rigs andsome movement through the move-ment of the camera, and then emulatethe sunlight by moving a source aroundthe actors. We rigged the stage with a60-by-40-foot softbox with 1⁄4 GridCloth under it and space lights inside,all dimmable and controllable. We hadsome Xenons for light kicks and high-lights, and we brought in a 50K SoftSunon a Lenny Arm as our sunlight source,which we put on tracks so we couldmove it up and down and around ourflying actors.”

When production commenced,HD Hub was the only Cape Town postfacility capable of working withArriRaw. It provided the Chronicle teamwith DVD dailies, but Jensen preferredto visit the facility each night and sitwith the colorist, Craig Parker, to set thelook for the day’s footage. “On set Ilooked at a Rec 709 image [on a 24-inch HD monitor] just to get us in theballpark for color and exposure, but Ididn’t want to be futzing around withcolor and contrast on the set, so Idecided to go to HD Hub each night,”he says. “In the United States, a lot ofdigital-imaging technicians are fairlywell versed in coloring, even thoughthey’re not colorists, but I’ve found that’sless common in Europe and Africa.”

Colorist Walter Volpatto handledthe final timing at FotoKem inBurbank. “I’d worked with Walterbefore, on a feature. He’s got great tasteand he’s fast, which came in handy forthe rush at the end of the post sched-

ule,” says Jensen. “I was only able to timea few selects of the final to lay thegroundwork, and Josh and Walterfinished the timing while I began prep-ping another feature.

“Chronicle has a crazy style thattook me awhile to get used to,” heconcludes. “I had to adopt a very techni-cal mindset rather than base my deci-sions on character or the emotionalcontent of a scene. I found myself fight-ing my instincts a lot, but in time itbecame easier, almost second nature. Ilike a good challenge like this. It helpsshake things up!” ●

49

TECHNICAL SPECS

1.85:1

Digital Capture

Arri Alexa; Canon EOS 7D

Angenieux Optimo, Cooke S4

Page 52: AC mar 2012

50 March 2012 American Cinematographer

In presenting its Career Achievement in Television Awardto Society member William Wages last month, the ASCrecognized a cinematographer who has shot more than 50TV projects and so far earned eight ASC Award nomina-

tions (winning twice) and two Emmy nominations. Thislatest award is the culmination of a journey that began inAtlanta, Ga.

Wages’ early school experience was made difficult byunrecognized dyslexia. His interest in photography wassparked by his father and fanned into flames by a viewing ofJohn Huston’s Moulin Rouge (1952), photographed byOswald Morris, BSC, and an encounter with a copy ofAmerican Cinematographer. The camera-store proprietor sawthe fire in Wages’ eyes and told him to keep the magazine. Hestill has it. “I had an epiphany,” Wages recalls. “I connected thedots. Somebody actually made these films, and someone actu-ally photographed and lit them. It was a revelation!”

Blazing TrailsBlazing TrailsWilliam Wages, ASC

receives the Society’s CareerAchievement in Television

Award after years of stellar work.

By David Heuring

•|•

Page 53: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 51

His parents needed an explana-tion as to what exactly his newfoundobsession entailed, but they were fullysupportive. Soon Wages was shootingSuper 8mm films in the backyard withhis brother, Bob. In one memorableinstance, the camera was crushed by acar, but Wages was undeterred.

The next step involved a TVprogram called The Now Explosion! ,which aired on a local station. On week-ends, a lack of programming meant thatTop 40 radio hits were broadcast ontelevision, usually accompanied by avariety of images, including videotapesof dancing teenagers and psychedelicgraphics, or films that were a precursorto what later became music videos.Wages made an 8mm film to accom-pany Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge overTroubled Water”; he brought the film, aprojector and the record to the show’soffices, and started everything runningto approximate sync. “At the time, I hadjust bought a 16mm Bolex with a25mm lens, but I couldn’t afford film toput in it,” he recalls. “They liked mylittle movie, so they gave me threethree-minute rolls of film, told me to

pick a song and said if they liked whatI did, they’d give me $25. I was in thefilm business!”

During the summer between hisjunior and senior years of high school,Wages made films for The NowExplosion! He teamed with RobertWhitney, the man behind the show,and Ken Chambliss, an inventor whoowned Video Tape Associates and laterwent on to develop the Da Vinci color-

correction systems. “By the end of thatsummer, I had a Miller tripod, a 12-120mm zoom lens and $25 in mypocket,” says Wages. “I was broke, but Iwas rich!”

Next Wages enrolled at GeorgiaState University in Atlanta, where hestudied fine art and art history on theadvice of Stevan Larner, ASC, whom hehad met on a film set. He landed asummer photography internship at theIn

to th

e W

est p

hoto

s co

urte

sy o

f TN

T. O

ther

pho

tos

cour

tesy

of W

illia

m W

ages

.

Opposite: Directorof photographyWilliam Wages, ASCon location inMoab, Utah, for theASC Award-winning projectRiders of the PurpleSage (1996). This page: Thecinematographer atwork on CrashLanding: TheRescue of Flight 232(1992), one of themany projects heshot for directorLamont Johnson.

Page 54: AC mar 2012

52 March 2012 American Cinematographer

◗ Blazing Trails

Atlanta Journal-Constitution and usedthe position to contact every filmproduction that set foot in Georgia,saying that the newspaper needed filephotos. Upon gaining access to the set,Wages would approach the cinematog-rapher, confess his ruse and ask if he

could learn from him. In this manner, hebegan friendships with Societymembers Larner and William Fraker, aswell as other cameramen. “Those guystook me under their wings,” says Wages.“They let me ask any questions andnever said they were stupid questions.

Even though these were very short peri-ods of time, they came at criticalmoments in my life.

“Stevan told me to skip filmschool because I already knew the tech-nical side,” he adds. “He told me tostudy art history and keep shooting,even if I worked for nothing.”

After graduating from GeorgiaState in 1976, Wages started freelancingon locally produced industrials andcommercials. He shot a no-budgetfeature with the Bolex that was neverreleased, but he started gaining sometraction in the commercial arena, even-tually landing bigger jobs with clientssuch as Budweiser. Often he did doubleduty as director and cinematographer.Still, his goal was feature filmmaking, sohe started turning down commercialsand taking on long-form documen-taries. That led to First Strike, whichincluded a fake vérité depiction of aSoviet nuclear strike. The first interviewwas with the head of Strategic AirCommand, who allowed the filmmak-ers unprecedented access to missile silosin North Dakota and the war roominside Cheyenne Mountain. Some ofthat footage was picked up and used inthe popular ABC miniseries The DayAfter, for which Gayne Rescher, ASCearned an Emmy nomination.

Meanwhile, Wages was trying toland an agent in Los Angeles. His workcaught the eye of Ray Gosnell, butGosnell didn’t know how to sell Wages,given that he lived in Atlanta and wasnot a member of the Los Angelesunion. Another year passed, and thenWages landed an assignment forHallmark Hall of Fame, the first ofseveral he would get over his career.Resting Place starred Morgan Freemanand John Lithgow, and it was directedby John Korty, whom Wages creditswith giving him his first break inHollywood. Upon completing it, Wagesapproached Gosnell again. “I said, ‘Ray,you represent cinematographers fromAustralia, England and Germany, andI’m from the South, which is likeanother country. Can’t you handle mejust like you do them?’ We made a deal

Top: Wages atwork with

Johnson, one ofhis longtime

mentors, on TheBroken Chain

(1993). Bottom:Ready for action

on location.

Page 55: AC mar 2012

on the phone, and I had an agent.”Wages decided to stay based in

Atlanta for family reasons, but he foundthere were other advantages. “My wife,Cathy, and I decided early on to investin my career and live well below ourmeans, which is easier to do in Atlanta,”he says. “If I needed to take six monthsoff or work without pay, I could do it.Staying there might look like a disad-vantage, but it helped in many respects.For one thing, I became known as ‘thatguy in Atlanta!’”

Once his career began to take off,opportunities to shoot more telefilmsproliferated. “The shoots weren’t thatlong, which allowed me to do moreprojects. I also liked that I wasn’t gonefor eight months at a time, because Ihad four young boys.”

One key association Wages madeduring this period was with directorLamont Johnson. Their first collabora-tion was Gore Vidal’s Lincoln , whichbrought Wages his first ASC Awardnomination (AC April ’89), and theysubsequently reteamed for manyprojects, including Crash Landing: TheRescue of Flight 232, Broken Chain, Man

Next Door and Voices Within: The Lives ofTruddi Chase, the latter of which alsoearned Wages an ASC nomination (ACMay ’91).

Wages was invited to join theASC in 1992 after being proposed formembership by Society fellows Allen

Daviau, Robert Primes and John Hora.Around this time, he gained anothermentor, director Irvin Kershner, withwhom he made the HBO filmTraveling Man, among others. “Lamontand Kersh were always supportive andbrutally honest with me, and I stayed

www.theasc.com March 2012 53

Top: With hisWagBags inposition, Wages(foreground right)preps a shot forthe miniseries Into the West(2005), on whichhe sharedcinematographerduties with AlanCaso, ASC. Bottom: Wageschecks the light inanother interior.

Page 56: AC mar 2012

54 March 2012 American Cinematographer

friends with both of them until theypassed away,” says Wages. “They weremy fathers in this business. They toldme the truth instead of what I wantedto hear. Until the very end of their lives,they were engaged, involved and excitedabout filmmaking. They wanted toknow everything that was going on. Ialways ran my important decisions bythem and asked for their wisdom andadvice. It was sometimes painful butalways truthful.”

Wages’ career hit its stride, and

he began taking on projects as fast as hecould shoot them. Between 1987 and1997, he shot more than 30 telefilmsand pilots, as well as multiple featuresand episodes of series. More ASCnominations followed for Caroline? (ACMay ’91), I’ll Fly Away (pilot; AC May’92), The Moving of Sophia Myles (ACMay ’01) and Miss Lettie and Me .Wages won ASC Awards in 1997 and1998 for Riders of the Purple Sage (ACMay ’97) and Buffalo Soldiers (AC May’98), respectively. The latter project alsoearned an Emmy nomination, as did

Into the West (AC June ’05).Buffalo Soldiers producer Don

Watson asked Wages during that shootif he had ever directed. “He said he wasdoing a pilot, and that if it went toseries, he wanted me to direct anepisode,” says Wages. “I thought it wasmerely a nice gesture, but about fourmonths later he told me I would directEpisode 11 of The Magnificent Seven .Lamont, Kersh and Charles Haid, thedirector of Buffalo Soldiers, wrote lettersto the Directors Guild on my behalf. Iasked Lamont what he thought of theidea, and he said it was wonderful. Irvin,on the other hand, asked me if I had lostmy mind! I asked him if he thought Iwas capable. He said, ‘Of course. Theleast experienced person on a televisionset is usually the director. But youalready have the best job in show biz —don’t blow it!’ My heart sank, but overtime he gave me his support, and Idirected four episodes of the show.”

At first, directing was over-whelming. “I saw the first iteration ofthe schedule, and I was shocked by ninepages a day!” he says. “I called Kersh andasked, ‘How do I do this?’ He said, ‘Oneshot at a time.’ It sounds trite, but it’sabsolutely true. You have to focus on

◗ Blazing Trails

Clockwise from top left: Wages prepares to capture a shot for Iron Will (1994); on location inUtah for Riders of the Purple Sage ; at work in South Africa for King Solomon’s Mines (2004).

Top

left

pho

to b

y Jo

hn B

ram

ley.

Page 57: AC mar 2012
Page 58: AC mar 2012

each shot and make intelligent compro-mises. I had never worked with a direc-tor of photography, so I told GordonLonsdale [ASC], ‘If it’s okay with you,I’ll block and place the camera becausethat’s the only way I know how to do it,but I will never question your lighting inany way.’ Gordon said, ‘Great,’ and itwas a wonderful collaboration.”

Soon Wages had to make a deci-sion. Pursuing a directing path wouldmean moving to Los Angeles. “Whatfinally made me choose to continue as acinematographer, though, was that Ilove shooting so much,” he says. “I stillget an occasional chance to direct. Forexample, I directed and shot the battlescenes for Gods and Generals [AC March’03], which was the most fun I’ve everhad in the movie business.”

In recent years, Wages has takenon assignments shooting episodic tele-vision, including stints on the series BigLove, Surface and Burn Notice. “Episodicis the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I

came away with a whole new respect forpeople who do it,” he observes. “Someof the most creative work is being donein that arena, against all odds.”

Whether he is shooting or direct-ing, a healthy dose of spontaneity helpskeep things fresh. “When you’re flyingwithout a net, it creates an energy and aspark,” he says. “Kersh and Lamonttaught me that when everything isperfect, you don’t get a sense of reality.Instead of planning everything, youshould let it evolve in front of your eyesand then jump on in. That keeps every-body on his toes.

“After the first take of the firstscene on the first day of any project,Lamont would immediately say, ‘Print.Move on.’ That got everyone’s attentionand got the ball rolling. It surprised meat first, but later he told me it was amethod. And it works. On a TV series,you work that way because you have to.It’s very hectic, and I’ve learned a lot. Iam so much faster now, and I like to

think I’m faster without compromising.There is a way to do that.”

Over the course of his career,Wages has had a hand in developing anumber of tools that contribute to on-setefficiency and flexibility, including TiffenGlimmerglass diffusion filters and twodevices named by his crew, WagFlagsand WagBags. Glimmerglass filters gottheir start when Wages began experi-menting with damaged filters. Withadvice from Denny Clairmont, hesoaked them in acetone and separatedthem to reclaim the glass. He experi-mented with graphite and laminated thefilters himself with various opticalcements. Once he achieved the delicate,net-like diffusion he was after, he gavesets to Daviau and Steven Poster, ASC.“When I showed them to Ira Tiffen, heloved the effect, so [his company] cameup with a way to manufacture them,”says Wages. “Steve Tiffen has sincecombined the Glimmerglass effect withdigital diffusion and created a filter that I

◗ Blazing Trails

56

Page 59: AC mar 2012

think makes hi-def video look likefilm.”

The WagFlag grew out of theneed for flexibility in practical locations.He explains, “It’s an 8-by-6-foot flagcovered in black, rip-stop nylon that’s 4feet wide and can be rolled up on theflag. By using this flag and a C-stand,you can tease a ceiling bounce off a wallin a practical location with no rigging.Believe it or not, we use it at 6 inches allthe time. The WagBag is a 2½-by-8-foot black helium balloon that does thesame job as a WagFlag. For a widerteaser, I use a black plastic tableclothclipped to the balloon with clothespins.

“I came up with the balloon ideawhen we were shooting in a beautifullyrestored Victorian house that hadFrench hand-blocked silk-screenedwallpaper,” Wages recalls. “One tiny bitof damage would have required acomplete repapering, which would havecost $30,000. As an experiment, I had aballoon company make the first one. It

worked great, but it cost about $500,and one was not enough. All myresearch says that helium will leakthrough Visqueen, but I filled up agarbage bag and it floated for two days,which was plenty of time for ourpurposes. I rounded up some 2-milblack plastic, and we started makingthem.

“Unless there’s a tremendousamount of wind, they settle and stayput,” he notes. “I also clip them togetherinto a U shape, which can be easily resetwhen doing the reverse angle.”

Thinking back to his education inart history, Wages notes with irony thatphotography changed painting. “Forme, painting became more interestingwith the Impressionists,” he says.“Impressionism came about as aresponse to photography. Prior to that,everyone wanted to paint as realisticallyas possible, but [the Impressionists]quickly figured out that the cameracould do that better, and that realism

was boring. Of course, there are shiningexamples where this isn’t true, likeVermeer and Rembrandt. But for a lot ofpainters, it was a technical quest forperfection in composition and perspec-tive with little regard for chiaroscuro.Photography opened their eyes.

“Toulouse-Lautrec, one of myfavorites, had a Brownie camera, and youcan see compositional and spatial aspectsof his paintings that came from thatcamera and lens. His work is absolutelyastounding. Thinking about that takesme back to Huston’s Moulin Rouge,which took color, composition and othercues from his work. When Ossie Morriswon the ASC International Award, Ihad the chance to tell him that he’s thereason I became a cinematographer.”

Of his own ASC honor, Wagessays, “I’m deeply grateful. I love being acinematographer, and becoming amember of the ASC was a high point inmy career. This accolade is astonishing,to say the least.” ●

57

Page 60: AC mar 2012

58 March 2012 American Cinematographer

A Wholly“Justified”HonorA Wholly“Justified”Honor

Francis Kenny, ASC receives the Presidents Award for his contributions to the Society and the craft.

By Jean Oppenheimer

•|•

The ASC presents its Presidents Award to an ASC cine-matographer who has made a significant contribution tothe appreciation, celebration or practice of the art form,and/or has demonstrated extraordinary service to the

Society. Receiving the honor last month was Francis Kenny,ASC, who is serving his second term on the Society’s Boardof Governors and his 10th year as chairman of itsMembership Committee. He is also busy as the director ofphotography for the lauded FX series Justified (AC March’11), his third year in that position.

“The ASC benefits from Francis’ contributions in waysthat go beyond his participation on committees,” notes ASC

Page 61: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 59

President Michael Goi. “He brings aspirit of collaboration and camaraderieto everything he does. This PresidentsAward reflects our deep appreciationfor how his work represents our craft,and how his selfless contribution oftime to ASC and industry issues moves[our organization] forward with clarityand purpose.”

Nothing in Kenny’s backgroundpointed toward a career in cinematog-raphy. He was born in Indianapolis,where his grandfather was a test pilotfor the U.S. government. His mathe-matician father specialized in corporateanalysis and traveled extensively, soIndiana became the family’s home base.Still, the family moved frequentlyenough that Kenny attended 15 schoolsand three colleges. As a child, heexcelled at mathematics and flirted withthe idea of becoming an astronomer.

He was especially close to hisgrandfather. “I remember my childhoodbeing a lot of flying,” he says with asmile. “I first went up when I was aboutsix months old. From then until I was13, I’d fly with him twice a week; he’dput my sister and me in the cockpit andhe’d fly from the back. We used to thinkwe were flying the plane.”

Despite his enthusiasm forflying, however, Kenny had no desire tobe a pilot, and he definitely wasn’t inter-ested in being a mathematician. Hedidn’t know what he wanted to do untilhis final semester at college, when hesigned up for his first film course. Bythen, he was at Hofstra University,having already taken classes at HarvardUniversity and the University of Texas-Austin.

His film professor, documentar-ian David Hoffman, expected everystudent to make a short film. Kenny’schoice of topic was unusual, to say theleast. “When I met a Jewish mother forthe first time, I thought I had never metanything as great as a Jewish mother,”he says. “They had so much energy,such great senses of humor and somuch love. I had never had that in mylife, because everything had been aboutmath and very serious. I found sixPhot

os c

ourt

esy

of F

ranc

is K

enny

, ASC

. Pho

to o

n p.

58

by R

icha

rd C

rudo

, ASC

.

Opposite: FrancisKenny, ASC, therecipient of thisyear’s PresidentsAward, positions alight on the set ofthe series Justified.This page, top tobottom: Kennyfilms adocumentary aboutartist Harry Bertoiain 1976; Kenny onlocation in Venice,Italy, shooting the1986 documentaryThe Creation of theUniverse; on the setof Coneheadsin 1993.

Page 62: AC mar 2012

60 March 2012 American Cinematographer

terrific Jewish moms who were articu-late and funny, and made them thesubject of my movie.”

Hoffman loved the film, andwhen he quit teaching and started aproduction company soon thereafter, hebrought Kenny aboard as the director ofphotography. Kenny explains hismentor’s seemingly impulsive decision:“After winning the critics’ prize atCannes [in 1970], David decided hehated the film business and switched toteaching, only to find he hated teachingeven more!”

Hoffman landed Exxon-Mobil’scommercial account, and for the nextthree years, Hoffman, Kenny and a

soundman circumnavigated the globe,shooting commercials and a variety ofTV documentaries sponsored by the oilcompany. Their first shoot was on anoilrig in the Arctic Circle — inFebruary. It was -80°F. “We went wher-ever they were looking for oil,” recountsKenny. “We were in Singapore, Norwayand Iran. What an adventure that was!”

Although he continued shootingdocumentaries, which he still calls “mypassion,” Kenny also began shootingmusic videos and other corporatecommercials. He transitioned intofictional filmmaking in 1984, when EdLachman, ASC, hired him to be thecamera operator on Desperately SeekingSusan. Kenny’s first feature as director ofphotography, the hit independent film

◗ A Wholly “Justified” Honor

Top: Kenny (right)and documentarianDavid Hoffman (in

white shirt) inSumatra in 1976.

Middle: Kennyshoots a

documentary inHerat, Afghanistan,

in 1983. Bottom: The

cinematographerprepares to get anaerial view for the1986 documentaryRiders in the Wind

(Aboard theCalypso).

“There is a reasonwhy you’re telling astory a certain waywith your cameraand with light.”

Page 63: AC mar 2012
Page 64: AC mar 2012

62 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Heathers (AC Nov. ’88), came three yearslater. (His credits also include thefeatures New Jack City , She’s All That,Scary Movie, Harriet the Spy and Jason’sLyric ; the telefilm Sweet Bird of Youth ;and the documentaries The Creation ofthe Universe, Riders in the Wind (Aboardthe Calypso) and He Makes Me Feel LikeDancin’. The latter was an AcademyAward winner.)

When Kenny moved from NewYork to Los Angeles to concentrate onfeature work, he called the local office ofthe International CinematographersGuild and told them he would like tojoin. “They’re probably still laughingabout it,” he says, shaking his head at hisown naïveté.

Kenny has a wonderful sense ofhumor about himself, and has noqualms confessing gaffes he has madealong the way. The first major-studioproject he shot was a TV series calledThe Flash. “Someone came up to me andasked if I needed ‘greens.’ I thought hewas talking about ficus trees, and said,‘No, I don’t think so.’ Turns out, ofcourse, he was talking about green bedsthat cost about $80,000 to put up. Theguy went back to the producer and said,‘This guy’s brilliant; he just saved us$80,000.’ A week before shooting, Iannounced, ‘I’m going to need some wayto put lights up there.’ The guy looked atme like I was a moron and said, ‘I askedyou that before.’”

Even after 30 years as a cine-matographer, Kenny still gets excitedabout “what you can achieve throughthe power of an image. There is a reasonwhy you’re telling a story a certain waywith your camera and with light.Justified has a wonderful texture — thecharacters have dirt under their finger-nails, their jeans are 10 years old — so Ilight in a way I call ‘asymmetrical.’ Onmost shows the actors are perfectly lit,but the producers on Justified let me usetoplight. It’s not smooth and perfectlywrapped; instead, it looks real, and thatmakes the story better. Of course, Icouldn’t do any of it without my remark-able crew.”

Kenny maintains that “nothing

◗ A Wholly “Justified” Honor

Top: Kenny anddirector Nicolas

Roeg on location forthe telefilm Sweet

Bird of Youth in1989. Middle: Thecinematographer

quenches his thirstwhile Roeg checksthe frame and star

Elizabeth Taylorreadies herself forthe scene at hand.

Bottom: Kenny linesup a shot with co-star Valerie

Perrine.

Page 65: AC mar 2012

The great content shift — the demand for content anytime, anywhere— has set in motion a kaleidoscope of infi nite consumption options with unlimited potential for businesses in-the-know. Broader-casting® professionals are leading the evolution by building on future-focused strategies that can thrive in an ever-shifting environment. Collaborating across screens and leveraging multiplatform distribution, and uncovering solutions for the creative process, interoperability, branding, advertising and funding, they’re expanding profi tability in a global economy.

NAB Show®, the world’s largest media and entertainment event, is the place to discover the elements necessary to design and incorporate savvy, effective strategies — successful alternative approaches that include today’s new players and innovative technologies to help deliver products that shape and respond to your audience’s expectations. Turn shift in your favor and evolve in a marketplace that moves forward with or without you. Register now!

FREE Exhibits-only Pass Use code PA03

CONFERENCES April 14–19, 2012 EXHIBITS April 16–19 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada USA

www.nabshow.com

Page 66: AC mar 2012

64 March 2012 American Cinematographer

looks as good as film,” but he has enthu-siastically embraced digital capture,shooting the first two seasons of Justifiedon Sony cameras and the current seasonon the Red Epic. (He calls the latter “a21st-century miracle.”) He likes shoot-ing with four or five cameras simultane-ously because it facilitates “a continuityin the acting. There is something magi-cal when you shoot that way, and I havelearned not to compromise the light.

“I refuse to use a DIT [digital-imaging technician],” he continues. “Idon’t want somebody else telling mewhat [the image] should look like. I givethe card to a crewmember who down-loads the data. Sometimes I’ll follow alittle histogram. When I start to colortime, I throw away the look-up tables— every single one of them. I knowwhat the latitude is. Besides, if youshoot raw images, you have a widerpalette to color correct. I’d rather do thatwork in a color suite than when I’mdealing with the pressure of the set.”

Kenny joined the ASC in 1998,after he was proposed for membershipby Robert Stevens, Sol Negrin andSandi Sissel. He refers to the Society as“the advanced school of cinematogra-phy [because you learn so much] fromthe other members. Some are 3-D

specialists, some excel at comedies,others at dark movies.”

He recently sat down with OwenRoizman, ASC, and watched theremastered version of The Exorcist,which Roizman shot in 1973. “To levi-tate Linda Blair, they used a form-fitting harness that suspended her fromthe ceiling with four wires,” relatesKenny. “I went right up to the TV andsaid, ‘Owen, where are the wires?’ Hesaid, ‘I’ll tell you a trick. It’s a black wire,but every other inch I painted white.’He had created an optical illusion thatyour eye couldn’t focus on. Now, do youknow any other place in the worldwhere you could learn something likethat? That’s what’s magical about theASC!”

Roizman, an ASC vice presidentwho also serves as vice chairman of theMembership Committee, describesKenny as “a very gentle soul and, at thesame time, very tough. That’s a rarecombination. He is a fantastic father tohis daughter, Kate, and he’s a terrific stillphotographer. He knows all aboutprinting, Photoshop, all those thingsthat I seem to take so much time tofigure out.”

Kenny considers Roizman both amentor and a close friend. “I listen to

Owen a lot, and not just about artisticand technical matters. He taught methat there are times when I need to keepmy mouth shut. If I feel somebody isout of line, even in the ASC, I usuallywant to confront them, but don’t. Owenhas taught me that those types of argu-ments don’t really go anywhere.”

However, he is always up for arobust discussion. “We have a lot ofspirited political conversations,” affirmsRichard Crudo, an ASC vice president,“but we don’t come away from themfeeling like we’ve been through a battle.Francis is a good listener.”

Crudo, who does second-unitand additional photography on Justified,considers Kenny “one of the [most]underrated cinematographers workingtoday. He has an artist’s eye and a terrif-ically discerning taste on what will workin the context of a scene. But he doesn’tblow his own horn; he likes to do hiswork and go home.”

That’s because Kenny considershis most important role to be that offather to Kate, his 10-year-old. Goimarvels at how “Francis balances beinga world-class cinematographer and afirst-class father without sacrificingeither in terms of importance.” BeforeKate started school, she always accom-

◗ A Wholly “Justified” Honor

Left: Kenny demonstrates working with the Red Epic to fellow ASC members (clockwisefrom left) Daryn Okada, Richard Crudo, Owen Roizman and Steven Fierberg.

Above: Kenny and Doug McHenry, co-director of House Party 2 (1991), discuss a shot.

Page 67: AC mar 2012
Page 68: AC mar 2012

66 March 2012 American Cinematographer

panied her father on location; today heonly takes jobs that shoot in LosAngeles. Kate notes, “The place we’vebeen to most often is Vancouver.”

Like her father, Kate is an avidreader. When she spoke to AC, she andher father were on their way to a book-store. Asked what she would like peopleto know about her father, she thinks amoment and then declares, “He is reallyawesome.”

Kenny’s self-assessment is a bitmore complex. “I know my limitationsboth as an artist and as a human being,”he says. “My hope is that I keep learningand getting better. Will I ever be as goodas Owen or Caleb [Deschanel, ASC] or[Vittorio] Storaro [ASC, AIC]? I don’tknow. What’s important is that I striveto be the best that I can be.”

With his inquisitive mind, wide-ranging interests and passion for learn-ing, Kenny is a modern-dayRenaissance man. A voracious reader, hecan chat about everything from thelatest medical research to EdithWharton’s obsession with symmetry.Roizman and Crudo both admit tobeing constantly amazed by “hisremarkable breadth of knowledge.”

Kenny sees himself as “a WillRogers kind of guy. I assume everyone isa good person. I like people. I like hear-ing what they have to say.” Nevertheless,he has no illusions about the state of theworld. “It’s sad. I talked to some kids theother day who didn’t know whereVietnam is. And look at today’seconomic [problems], and then remem-ber what helped [lead] to World War II.A bankrupt country looks for somebodyto blame.”

Still, he holds tightly to his opti-mism. “I have faith that things will getbetter,” he says. “Besides, what’s ourchoice? It’s bleak out there. You have tobe optimistic.” ●

◗ A Wholly “Justified” Honor

Mid

dle

phot

o by

Ric

hard

Cru

do, A

SC.

Top: Kenny andcamera operator

Eric Roizman findtheir frame on the

set of Justified.Middle: Key grip

Richard McCormickawaits the next

take with Kenny.Bottom: "My hope

is that I keeplearning and

getting better,"says Kenny.

"What's importantis that I strive to be the best that

I can be."

Page 69: AC mar 2012
Page 70: AC mar 2012

68 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Negotiating the Best Shooting FormatBy Vincent De Paula

Many years ago, when I decided I wanted to be a cine-matographer, I looked to paintings as a strong visual reference. Idiscovered Vermeer’s masterly treatment of light, de Hooch’s use ofcolor and perspectives, Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro, and Monet’sImpressionist style. I learned about the techniques these painters hadused to master their craft, and the tools they applied to their work.

Like other artists, cinematographers must understand thetools that can be applied to our work, choose the tools that best suitthe story at hand, and apply those tools in ways that will maximizetheir distinct characteristics. Because we are responsible for the lookof our projects, choosing the right format should be an essential partof the process.

A couple of years ago, I flew to London to meet with direc-tor Kelly Smith, who was looking for a cinematographer to shoot hisdebut feature, Don’t Let Him In . It was a low-budget independentproduction, so the word “digital” arose quite frequently in ourconversation. We talked for a long time, discussing a lot of visualreferences and the style Kelly had in mind for his movie.

Because of the project’s budget (just under $1 million), theproducers had already decided on digital acquisition. When I readthe script, though, it became clear to me that shooting on filmwould be more appropriate; the story had a very organic feel, andmost of the references Kelly and I discussed were films from the

1970s, such as Straw Dogs (1971). I knew I would have to struggleto achieve that look with a digital format, and I believed film wouldnot only help us obtain the desired look, but also give us betterproduction value. It would give us a texture, color rendition, charac-ter and resolution that no other format could, so I really pushed forit. I didn’t want to hear, “Let’s shoot on the Red and make it looklike film.”

I decided Super 16mm would be the best format to help usachieve the visual texture Kelly and I had discussed. To persuade theproducers that this was the right path, I had to show them that themovie’s style was perfectly suited to film acquisition, and I also hadto prove that shooting film would be cost-effective. Producers oftencite the costs of processing negative and transferring footage whenthey argue for digital capture, and one of the reasons I successfullymade a case for shooting Super 16mm was that it turned out to bemore cost-effective.

There are many hidden costs in digital acquisition, and thesecombine to contradict the notion that it is a cheaper way to shoot.When I’m on a digital shoot, it seems to take more people to get thesame job done. You must also use expensive HD monitors, numer-ous hard drives and a lot of cabling, whereas on a film shoot, I justneed a feed for the director’s monitor (if he requires one). I can there-fore move more quickly, saving production money.

Furthermore, the post path for projects that originate on filmis seamless and proven, whereas with digital files and hard drives,the same work is a bit more complicated and technically challeng-

Filmmakers’ Forum

Imag

es c

ourt

esy

of V

ince

nt D

e Pa

ula.

I

Mandy (GemmaHarvey) makesher case in the

feature Don’t LetHim In. Duringpreproduction,

cinematographerVincent De Paula

made his owncase for why the

feature shouldbe shot on Super

16mm film.

Page 71: AC mar 2012

ing. Most of the time, this results in a longerpost process and the need to involve morepeople.

I have found that film-originatedfeatures get more attention and support,and this proved to be true for Don’t Let HimIn. My contacts at Kodak were willing togive us a fantastic deal on film stock, andiLab in London gave us a great deal for theprocessing and transferring of the negative.Film-camera packages proved to becheaper to rent, and there was no need forall the monitors, cards, hard drives, cablingand tents. On the post end, TechnicolorLondon gave us a deal on the digital inter-mediate. Overall, with the deals we got andour workflow, it proved to be about 15percent less expensive to shoot Super16mm than to shoot with a high-end digi-tal camera.

Of course, my choice was not basedon cost alone, but also on aesthetics. Don’tLet Him In follows two couples spending aweekend in the English countryside, wherethey cross paths with the wrong person.The main setting was a Buckinghamshirecottage whose rooms were all very smalland confined, with no places to rig anylighting.

This precarious situation was actually

Come visit our showroom or call for our latest Magliner product catalogWe are the largest retailer specializing in Magliner customized products and accessories for the Film and Television Industry in the world

De Paula (at camera) snaps a digital photo as areference for the colorist while director Kelly Smith

(left) studies the scene.

Page 72: AC mar 2012

70 March 2012 American Cinematographer

a good fit for the look we wanted, becausewe were after a claustrophobic feel with aminimal, naturalistic lighting style. The storycalled for fairly dark environments, and thebudget meant that our lighting packagewould be quite small. This was one of thestrongest points I made in my argument forshooting film: film would enable us to dofaster setups on location, and I could reallydig into the shadows.

An example of this was a scene weshot at dusk under a lot of foliage fromnearby trees. The light was fading veryquickly, and I didn’t want the actors to losethe rhythm of the scene, so instead ofswitching from the film stock we wereusing, Vision2 200T 5217, to a faster one,Vision3 500T 5219, I carried on shooting,

knowing that the information would still bethere on the negative. Although I wasunderexposed by as much as 2 or 3 stops,the rushes proved me right.

Under these extreme lighting condi-tions, I knew where the exposure would beon the negative, and I knew how I couldmanipulate that information later on inpost. Had I shot that scene on a digitalformat, I probably would have spent timeplaying with the settings in the camera’smenus, compromising the look while slow-ing the production down and losing theavailable light.

Also, I have found that althoughdigital cameras, especially the latest ones,are very good at seeing in low-light condi-tions, the resultant image can have digital

noise and other artifacts. Many times I findit hard to rescue information from theblacks when color correcting a digitally orig-inated image. At the time we started prep-ping Don’t Let Him In , I wasn’t happy withthe noise and quality of the blacks we couldget from a Red One shooting at our lowlight levels.

As we began seeing our rushesduring the shoot, everyone was reallythrilled about the look of the picture. Theyrealized film had been the right choice. Inpost, it was a huge advantage to be able togo back to the negative, color correct onthe latest Baselight system in front of a 14'screen, and have all of that picture informa-tion in the negative. In the end, weproduced a picture that has the look andstyle we envisioned from day one.

It’s worth repeating: cinematogra-phers are responsible for the look of thestories we shoot, and we should be givenfull responsibility when it comes to choosingthe format. In Kelly’s own words, “The deci-sion to shoot on 16mm [gave the movie] arichness and depth that digital video hasn’tsimulated yet. The [result] will look a lotmore expensive than it really was.”

I want to believe that I can continueto choose the proper formats for theprojects I shoot. It is one of the manycreative decisions cinematographers make,and it is crucial to the success of our work.

In addition to thefilm’s cramped

cottage location,De Paula had to

contend withnight exteriorswhile working

with a smalllighting package.“This was one of

the strongestpoints I made in

my argument forshooting film,”

he says. “Filmwould enable us

to do fastersetups on

location, and Icould really dig

into theshadows.”

Page 73: AC mar 2012
Page 74: AC mar 2012

Elation Launches LED Display PanelElation Professional has introduced the EPV6 LED display

panel. Equipped with 3-in-1 Tri-Color SMD LEDs, this 6mm indoorvideo panel features 2,500-nit brightness and a wide viewing angleto produce extraordinarily clear, sharp, high-resolution videos,

graphics, text, special effects and other images. The EPV6 boasts a slim cabinet design that

measures 22.7"x22.7" and a light weight of only31 pounds, making it easy to transport and fit intoa variety of applications. Integrated onboardpower and data, along with fast and easy panel-to-panel connections, allow users to quicklyassemble a video screen of any size.

Each EPV6 panel comes equipped with Ether-con input-output for the video signal, with eitherport having the capability to be used as an inputor output, allowing for extremely versatile setup.The panel also features Powercon in/out for powerlink. Additionally, each panel includes its ownbuilt-in multi-voltage electronic power supplyoffering 100-240-volt auto switching power.

Featuring a 6mm pixel pitch, the EPV6contains 96x96 pixels (9,216 total) per panel anda total of 27,777 pixels per square meter. Mini-mum viewing distance for a crystal-clear image is

16.5'. The panel’s high-output 3-in-1 SMD LEDs measure 3.5mm x2.8mm and have a long-life rating of 100,000 hours for reliable,low-maintenance operation. Additionally, each panel consumes just390 watts of electricity at maximum use, and 255 watts at averageuse.

An integrated rigging system with fly bar and an optionalground support structure are also available, offering multiple setupoptions.

For additional information, visit www.elationlighting.com.

32Ten Studios Opens DoorsA group comprising former employees of Kerner Optical and

Industrial Light & Magic have announced the launch of 32TenStudios. The employee-owned venture is based at the former site ofILM, 3210 Kerner Boulevard in San Rafael, Calif., and is headed byindustry veterans Tim Partridge, who serves as president, and GregMaloney, COO.

32Ten Studios will reopen the legendary ILM soundstage andmake it available for rent to all Bay Area film, television, commercialand multimedia projects. The stage is approximately 6,000 squarefeet and boasts a 20' high, two-walled coved greenscreen.

Adjacent to the soundstage is the 32Ten Theatre, a 138-seat

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.

state-of-the-art screening room. Clients can rent the screeningroom, as well as offices for wardrobe, makeup and production.32Ten Studios will also offer fabrication services from full sets tomodels and miniatures, drawing on the talent of the many modelmakers and special-effects technicians in the area. A complete CGpipeline will also be available to complete the practical shots.

“32Ten Studios is a collaborative venture, one that will hope-fully attract other service providers and filmmakers in need of avibrant location for their projects,” says Partridge. “We wanted tomake this unique stage available to everyone and also provide aplace where the uniquely talented artists in the area can cometogether and create amazing work.”

For additional information, visit www.32ten.com.

72 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Rosco Rotates GobosRosco has introduced a range of smart and silent Gobo

Rotators.The Gobo Rotators feature complete DMX control and

indexing, even, in some models, without the need for an externalpower supply. The Rotators are also all equipped with re-cently developed high-temperature silicon beltdrives to keep themquiet at any operatingspeed. Additionally, theversatile and ultra-reli-able Rotators’ steppermotors are precise evenat the slowest speeds.All of the Rotators can accept any gobo type, be it steel, litho glassor effects glass, and an innovative threaded collar makes goboinstallation quick and easy.

For additional information, visit www.rosco.com.

Page 75: AC mar 2012

Encore Adds New York LocationEncore, a Deluxe Entertainment

Services Group company, has announced itsexpansion into New York. The move buildson the company’s long-established WestCoast network of postproduction facilitiesfor television, including Encore in Holly-wood and sister facility Level 3 in Burbank,Calif.

Encore’s New York location is basedout of Deluxe’s state-of-the-art facility andoffers the same high-caliber, cutting-edgetelevision post and visual-effects workEncore in Hollywood is known for. Encore’sNew York visual-effects group makes use ofa highly skilled pool of local artists andcutting-edge technology.

“Having a location in New York andworking as a unified group is especiallyexciting for all of us at Encore,” says BillRomeo, senior vice president of televisionfor Deluxe. “With television production inNew York growing at a compelling rate, thetiming is perfect for our move here. NewYork TV productions now have easy accessto Encore-quality services with the ability tomake use of local tax incentives.”

For additional information, visit www.encorevideo.com andwww.bydeluxe.com.

Control Dailies Settles into Nice ShoesMTI Film Hollywood and Nice Shoes

New York have entered into a strategic rela-tionship, dubbed Control Dailies at NiceShoes, to offer entertainment televisionproducers a digital dailies service forepisodic television shows originating in NewYork and finishing on either coast.

According to MTI CEO Larry Cher-noff and Nice Shoes CEO DominicPandolfino, the relationship is the latestchapter in a long history of cooperation andfriendship between the two companies.“I’ve known Dominic for [more than] 25years,” says Chernoff. “Two years ago,when I decided to open MTI’s service busi-ness, I called Dominic to let him know I wasback in the game. There’s friendship, trustand tremendous respect for each other andthe organizations we represent.”

Pandolfino adds, “We’ve wanted toextend our successful commercial post

Page 76: AC mar 2012

To ensure rapid content delivery fromone location to another, the satellite office isfully integrated with FotoKem’s GlobalDataplatform, which facilitates delivery ofcontent via a secure Internet connection.GlobalData can be linked directly to editingrooms, creative offices, company mediacenters or any location worldwide.

“FotoKem customers shooting in theregion have prompted this expansion,” saysFotoKem vice president Mike Brodersen.“The need for local, file-based postproduc-tion and location mobile services is growingas the state enjoys record-breaking produc-tion stimulated by tax incentive programs.We are looking forward to helping filmmak-ers streamline post in the southeast regionwith NextLab and experienced on-groundstaff.”

Tom Vice, vice president and generalmanager of FotoKem’s NextLab division,says, “The file-based workflow is increasinglyentrenched in the filmmaking process, andthe need for powerful and reliable toolsgrows exponentially…. We are excited tobring our decades of postproduction experi-ence to the region, and provide local supportfor one of the most advanced tools theindustry has to offer.”

The NextLab division of FotoKemfocuses on developing new and efficientworkflows of the highest quality whileaddressing the unique challenges of the vari-ous digital camera technologies on themarket. The division has developed propri-etary file-based workflow software thatsecurely stores media, archives to LTO andprovides quality-control tools, offering accessto metadata, audio syncing, color manage-ment and transcoding.

FotoKem’s NextLab Mobile systemsare built on NextLab software, and consist ofintegrated, portable units that bring power-ful postproduction capabilities on set or nearlocation. An extension of the company’s in-house technological advancements andprofessional services, NextLab Mobile unitscan be deployed to assist with streamliningworkflow and the dailies process and provid-ing fast delivery to editorial and finishing.

The expansion into New Orleans isbeing overseen by industry veteran PeterSantoro, FotoKem’s vice president of featureand commercial services. For more informa-tion, visit www.fotokem.com.

IQstor Goes Big With IQ-XLStorage-solutions provider IQstor has

introduced the IQ-XL, the latest in thecompany’s emerging line of high-perfor-mance RAID storage systems. It is an idealproduct for multi-streaming HD/2K/4K videoformats for digital content creation, postpro-duction, broadcasting and off-line archivalapplications.

The 16-bay IQ-XL is designed to offerunparalleled performance with built-in video-streaming technology that eliminates framedrops. The system can scale to maintain asustained throughput well in excess of 4,000MB/s at an affordable price. With eight 8-gigFC ports in a dual active/active controllerconfiguration, the IQ-XL can readily supportan eight-user production workgroup. Thesystem can also scale via expansion chassis tosupport up to 720 TB. For transaction-inten-sive database applications, the IQ-XL providesup to 500,000 IOPS. The system is alsoCommandSoft FibreJet Certified.

For additional information, visitwww.iqstor.com.

GoPro Enhances CineForm Studio Software LineGoPro has released the latest version

of its professional family of 2-D and 3-Dproduction software, GoPro CineFormStudio, CineForm Studio Premium and Cine-Form Studio Professional, all of which addpowerful features that will appeal toconsumers and professionals alike.

“This announcement represents asignificant milestone in GoPro’s efforts toprovide a complete camera-to-software solu-tion for 2-D and 3-D productions for its entirecustomer base,” says David Newman,GoPro’s senior director of software engineer-ing. “The updated GoPro CineForm Studiosoftware line has huge implications, not onlyfor consumers and enthusiasts, but forprofessional cinematographers and filmmak-ers who are increasingly embracing newcamera technologies to help them tell theirstories in ever more exciting and uniqueways. The new software maintains an intu-itive user interface for basic tasks but also

services into the entertainment area for sometime now, so partnering with MTI providesboth companies with added ability to servicecustomers in this very important space.”

At the core of their cooperation will bethe Control Dailies service with a high-speedInternet connection between the two cities,which will ensure that customers receive on-time and compatible dailies. Unique to theoperation will be a real-time connectionbetween the two facilities, allowing for coast-to-coast interaction. “This will allow ourcustomers on both coasts to be able to seetheir images in high-quality video whenneeded,” says Chernoff.

“MTI has been at the leading edge ofdigital dailies technology for 10 years,” saysPandolfino. “When no one else was thinkingabout digital dailies, I remember Larry being alone voice in the post wilderness evangelizingthe virtues and efficiency of tapeless dailiesworkflows. My partner, Chris Ryan, andRobert Keske, our chief information officer,flew to L.A. to demo the product. Theirconclusion was that Control Dailies is the bestand most complete solution they’ve seen inthe space.”

“At the heart of our choice to collab-orate with Nice Shoes was the fact that whilebeing a leader in the creative space, they alsohave a reputation of having a strong technol-ogy backbone,” says Chernoff. “I’m veryhappy that we were able to bring togetherthis relationship, and that Nice Shoes willhouse our technology in New York. Knowingthe creative and engineering talent NiceShoes brings to the partnership ensures thatour Los Angeles-based customers will be wellserved.”

For additional information, visitwww.niceshoes.com and www.mtifilm.com.

FotoKem Expands NextLab to LouisianaFotoKem has opened a satellite office

in New Orleans, La., to support local produc-tions and provide quick deployment of itsaward-winning NextLab services and exper-tise. The downtown location, near the FrenchQuarter, provides a range of postproductionservices and support, with an infrastructurefor file-based dailies, file-delivery services andoffline editorial systems. FotoKem is currentlyworking with multiple television productionsand feature films in the region.

74 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Page 77: AC mar 2012

provides sophisticated Active Metadata-driven capabilities that slipstream into themost advanced production pipelines in theindustry.”

Available for both Mac and Windowsplatforms, GoPro CineForm Studio enablesusers of every skill level to adjust aspect ratiosand instantly correct distortions thatfrequently occur when resizing images. Forhigh-impact, dramatic time-lapse sequences,CineForm Studio now enables users to addkey frames anywhere in the video, and addeffects such as pan and zoom to introducemovement and drama to time-lapsesequences. Other new features include auto-matic recognition for 3-D videos for YouTubeuploads, auto-update of HD Hero2 camerafirmware, and support for popular .mov and.mp4 video formats to bring in content fromother camera systems.

For professionals, GoPro has alsostrengthened its CineForm Studio Premiumand CineForm Studio Professional applica-tions. CineForm Studio Premium captures themost popular features of both CineForm’sNeo HD and Neo 3D into a single solutionideal for 2-D and 3-D broadcast and featureproduction. CineForm Studio Professionalextends even more powerful stereo 3-D postcapabilities and is optimized for multi-camerastereo rigs. Additional features include a newand improved user interface; non-destructivecolor correction, reframing/image manipula-tion and 3-D correction; support for a widerange of consumer and professional 2-D and3-D video cameras; and support for HD andbeyond. Additionally, CineForm Studio Profes-sional offers independent eye control forprofessional 3-D camera rigs.

GoPro CineForm Studio Premium ispriced at $299 and CineForm Studio Profes-sional is priced at $999; both can be down-loaded from www.cineform.com.

For additional information, visitwww.gopro.com.

SilhouetteFX Updates Visual-Effects SuiteSilhouetteFX LLC has released Silhou-

ette v4.5, the latest iteration of its rotoscop-ing, paint, keying and visual-effects suite. AllSilhouette capabilities are stereo enabled,and v4.5 features OpenColorIO colormanagement.

Developed by Sony Pictures Image-works, OCIO manages color transforma-tions and image display in a consistentmanner across multiple graphics applica-tions. Unlike other color-management solu-tions, OCIO is geared toward motion-picturepostproduction, with an emphasis on visual-effects and animation color pipelines.

“Color management is one of thetrickiest and most challenging aspects ofdigital motion-picture production,” saysMarco Paolini, partner at SilhouetteFX and aveteran visual-effects artist. “This is particu-larly true of visual effects and animation,where images often flow through multiplesoftware applications and productionhouses, each often using [its] unique colorprocesses. Virtually every facility must rein-vent a color workflow, for every application,which is hard to get right. OpenColorIOaddresses this critical issue.”

By providing a unified color environ-ment, OCIO greatly simplifies the task ofcreating and validating multi-applicationcolor workflows. For smaller facilities, Open-ColorIO allows artists to work in a properlycolor-managed process with minimal effort.For larger facilities, off-the-shelf OCIOcompatible tools can be extensivelycustomized, matching existing facility colorpractices.

Silhouette v4.5 is a free featurerelease to current v4 customers. Newlicenses start at $995. For more information,visit www.silhouettefx.com. ●

75

Page 78: AC mar 2012

International Marketplace

76 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Alura Carry Handles

toll free: 877-467-8666 www.oppenheimercameraproducts.com

DCSliderTM

NEW Heavy-Duty Camera Platform…

Page 79: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 77

CLASSIFIED AD RATES

All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00per word. First word of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capitals without extracharge. No agency commission or discounts on clas si fied advertising.PAYMENTMUSTAC -COM PA NYORDER. VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are ac cept ed. Send ad toClas si fied Ad ver tis ing, Amer i can Cin e ma tog ra pher, P.O. Box 2230, Hol ly wood,CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Dead line for payment and copy must be in the officeby 15th of second month preceding pub li ca tion. Sub ject mat ter is lim it ed to items andser vic es per tain ing to film mak ing and vid eo pro duc tion. Words used are sub ject to mag -a zine style ab bre vi a tion. Min i mum amount per ad: $45

CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE

Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site. Internet ads are seen around the world at the same great rate as in print, or

for slightly more you can appear both online and in print. For more information please visit www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail:

[email protected].

Classifieds

SUPER16INC.COMTop-notch camera and lens servicing

Ask about Ultra 16!

T: [email protected]: 877-376-6582FREE ESTIMATES

WANTED

Wanted: Zeiss MK-1 Super Speed - 50mm T1.4, PL-mount. [email protected], 626-396-2273

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

O’Connor 30 Fluid Head, wooden sticks tripod, w/spreader.$150.00 +UPS. Call 843-342-9290

4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A Good Box Rental 818-763-8547

14,000+ USED EQUIPMENT ITEMS. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY.50 YEARS EXPERIENCE. New: iLLUMiFLEX LIGHTS & FluidFlex TRIPODS.www.UsedEquipmentNewsletter.com AND www.ProVideoFilm.comEMAIL: [email protected] BILL 972 869 9990, 888 869 9998.

World’s SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENT! Buy, Sell,Trade. CAMERAS, LENSES, SUPPORT, AKS & MORE! Visual Products, Inc.www.visualproducts.com Call 440.647.4999

SERVICES AVAILABLE

STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL AND UPDATES. QUICK TURN-AROUND. ROBERT LUNA (323) 938-5659.

Page 80: AC mar 2012

Advertiser’s Index16x9, Inc. 76

AC 1, 75Adorama 5, 17Aja Video Systems, Inc. 39Alan Gordon Enterprises 76Arri 7ASC 83Assimilate, Inc. 41AZGrip 77

Backstage Equipment, Inc. 69Barger-Lite 6, 76Blackmagic Design, Inc. 11Burrell Enterprises, Inc. 77

Cavision Enterprises 23Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment Inc. 29Chemical Wedding 47, 65Chrosziel Filmtechnik 2Cine Gear Expo 67Cinematography Electronics 73Cinekinetic 76Clairmont Film & Digital 37Codex Digital Ltd., C3Cooke Optics 9

Deluxe C2

Eastman Kodak C4EFD USA, Inc 21

Film Gear 69Filmtools 73

Genus Limited 56Glidecam Industries 25

Innovision 77

K5600 35Kino Flo 49Koerner Camera Systems 6

Lee Filters 40Lights! Action! Co. 77Lowel 27

Maccam 4Matthews Studio Equipment 76M. M. Mukhi & Sons 77Movie Tech AG 76

NAB 63NBC/Universal 13Nila Inc. 48

Oppenheimer Camera Prod. 76

P+S Technik 76Panther Gmbh 75PC&E 55Pille Film Gmbh 77Pro8mm 76

Rosco Laboratories Inc. 57

Super16 Inc. 77

Thales Angenieux 15Tiffen 19

VF Gadgets, Inc. 76

Willy’s Widgets 76www.theasc.com 6, 69, 71, 73, 78, 79

78

Page 81: AC mar 2012

New York production houses. I was soonworking on industrials, documentaries,independent features and a variety of TVprojects. Then came TV commercials, whichhave dominated a great deal of my career.”

Johnke’s growing body of workattracted attention in Hollywood, and in

1956, Ray Fern-strom, ASC recom-mended Johnke forASC membership.Johnke was votedinto the Society onSept. 10, 1956.Graciously accept-ing the honor, hewrote to the Boardof Governors, “I amvery proud andpleased at this occa-

sion, and I shall always do my best to be agood member of your organization.”

Around the same time, Johnkeserved as vice president of Astor PicturesCorp., where he produced and shot theopera pictures La Traviata and CavalleriaRusticana, both of which werephotographed in Eastmancolor.

Johnke held successive positions as astaff cinematographer at Robert LawrenceProductions, E.U.E. Screen Gems and TeleVideo Inc. In 1962, he revived Illustra,opening facilities in New York and at theSamuel Goldwyn Studios in Hollywood. In1968, he took a job as staff cinematogra-pher for M.P.O. of California.

In 1973, Johnke moved to Toronto,Canada, to work for Glen Warren Produc-tions, and he lived in that area for the restof his life. He taught cinematography atRyerson University’s School of Image Arts.He also co-created and co-produced theeducational video series Craft of Cine-matography.

Johnke is survived by his son, Erik,and three grandchildren.

— Jon D. Witmer●

Torben Johnke, ASC, a Clio Award-winning cinematographer who shot morethan 2,000 commercials in addition tofeatures, shorts and documentaries, diedDec. 25, 2011, at the age of 89.

Johnke was born on April 5, 1922, inCopenhagen, Denmark. His interest inphotography wassparked when heinherited a camerafrom his brother,and he followed hisgrowing passionthrough to theRobertson Schoolof Photographyand the DanishPolytechnic Univer-sity, where he stud-ied photochemistryand optics. He also earned a Master ofPhotography degree from the CopenhagenInstitute of Technology.

Johnke worked as an apprentice tocameraman Hans Robertson before form-ing his own company, Illustra Films, in 1943.Illustra produced commercials, shorts andanimation. In a 2008 conversation with AC,Johnke recalled his time at Illustra: “Icontacted Technicolor in London to rent asuccessive-frame Technicolor camera. Theywere unable to provide one, but they sentme the blueprints for the construction ofone. In an antique store, I managed to finda camera built by Pathé in 1905. Using it asa basis, I built a successive-frame camera,photographed a cartoon and sent the nega-tive to London, where it was processed andreturned with comments about the excel-lent quality of the negative.”

By 1948, Johnke felt ready for achange. “I had the urge to get out and seethe world,” he told AC. “I arrived in NewYork in the spring of 1948 and planned togo straight to Hollywood, but friendsconvinced me to stay. At that time, very fewfeatures were produced in New York, butthere was work on independent produc-tions of many kinds. Fortunately, I had a35mm sample reel that gave me an entry to

Torben Johnke, ASC, 1922-2011In Memoriam

Phot

o co

urte

sy o

f Eri

k Jo

hnke

.

79

Page 82: AC mar 2012

80 March 2012 American Cinematographer

American Society of Cinematographers RosterOFFICERS – 2011-’12Michael Goi,

President

Richard Crudo,Vice President

Owen Roizman,Vice President

John C. Flinn III,Vice President

Victor J. Kemper,Treasurer

Frederic Goodich,Secretary

Stephen Lighthill,Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE BOARDJohn BaileyStephen H. BurumRichard CrudoGeorge Spiro DibieRichard EdlundFred ElmesMichael GoiVictor J. KemperFrancis KennyIsidore MankofskyRobert PrimesOwen RoizmanKees Van OostrumHaskell WexlerVilmos Zsigmond

ALTERNATESMichael D. O’SheaRodney TaylorRon GarciaSol NegrinKenneth Zunder

Allen DaviauRoger DeakinsJan DeBontThomas Del RuthBruno DelbonnelPeter DemingJim DenaultCaleb DeschanelRon DexterCraig Di BonaGeorge Spiro DibieErnest DickersonBilly DicksonBill DillAnthony Dod MantleStuart DryburghBert DunkLex DuPontJohn DykstraRichard EdlundEagle EgilssonFrederick ElmesRobert ElswitGeoffrey ErbScott FarrarJon FauerDon E. FauntLeRoyGerald FeilSteven FierbergMauro FioreJohn C. Flinn IIILarry FongRon FortunatoJonathan FreemanTak FujimotoAlex FunkeSteve GainerRobert GantzRon GarciaDavid GeddesDejan GeorgevichMichael GoiStephen GoldblattPaul GoldsmithFrederic GoodichVictor GossJack GreenAdam GreenbergRobbie GreenbergXavier GrobetAlexander GruszynskiChangwei GuRick GunterRob HahnGerald HirschfeldHenner HofmannAdam HolenderErnie HolzmanJohn C. HoraTom HoughtonGil Hubbs

Clark MathisDon McAlpineDon McCuaigSeamus McGarveyRobert 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 PergolaDave PerkalLowell PetersonWally PfisterBill PopeSteven PosterTom Priestley Jr.Rodrigo PrietoRobert PrimesFrank PrinziRichard QuinlanDeclan QuinnEarl RathRichard Rawlings Jr.Frank Raymond

Shane HurlbutTom HurwitzJudy IrolaMark IrwinLevie IsaacksPeter JamesJohnny E. JensenFrank 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 LaskusDenis LenoirJohn R. LeonettiMatthew LeonettiAndrew LesniePeter LevyMatthew LibatiqueCharlie LiebermanStephen LighthillKarl Walter LindenlaubJohn LindleyRobert F. LiuWalt LloydBruce LoganGordon LonsdaleEmmanuel LubezkiJulio G. MacatGlen MacPhersonPaul MaibaumConstantine MakrisDenis MaloneyIsidore MankofskyChristopher ManleyMichael D. MarguliesBarry MarkowitzSteve Mason

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 ByrnePatrick CadyAntonio 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 Darby

Page 83: AC mar 2012

www.theasc.com March 2012 81

Tami ReikerRobert RichardsonAnthony B. RichmondBill RoeOwen RoizmanPete RomanoCharles Rosher Jr.Giuseppe RotunnoPhilippe RousselotJuan Ruiz-AnchiaMarvin RushPaul RyanEric SaarinenAlik SakharovMikael SalomonHarris SavidesRoberto SchaeferTobias SchliesslerAaron SchneiderNancy SchreiberFred SchulerJohn SchwartzmanJohn SealeChristian SebaldtDean SemlerBen SeresinEduardo SerraSteven ShawRichard ShoreNewton Thomas SigelSteven SilverJohn 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 Totino

Luciano TovoliJost VacanoTheo Van de SandeEric Van Haren NomanKees Van OostrumChecco VareseRon VargasMark VargoAmelia VincentWilliam WagesRoy H. WagnerRic WaiteMandy WalkerMichael WatkinsMichael WeaverJonathan WestHaskell WexlerJack WhitmanGordon WillisDariusz WolskiRalph WoolseyPeter WunstorfRobert YeomanRichard YuricichJerzy ZielinskiVilmos ZsigmondKenneth Zunder

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAlan AlbertRichard AschmanKay BakerJoseph J. BallAmnon BandCarly M. BarberCraig BarronThomas M. BarronLarry BartonWolfgang BaumlerBob BeitcherMark BenderBruce BerkeBob BiancoSteven A. BlakelyMitchell BogdanowiczMichael BravinWilliam BrodersenGarrett BrownRonald D. BurdettReid BurnsVincent CarabelloJim CarterLeonard ChapmanMark ChiolisDenny ClairmontAdam ClarkCary ClaytonDave ColeMichael CondonRobert B. CreamerGrover Crisp

Peter CritharyDaniel CurryRoss DanielsonCarlos D. DeMattosGary DemosMato Der AvanessianKevin DillonDavid DodsonJudith DohertyCyril DrabinskyJesse DylanJonathan ErlandRay FeeneyWilliam FeightnerPhil FeinerJimmy FisherScott FleischerThomas FletcherGilles GalerneSalvatore GiarratanoRichard B. GlickmanJohn A. GreschJim HannafinWilliam HansardBill Hansard, Jr.Richard HartRobert HarveyJosh HaynieCharles HerzfeldLarry HezzelwoodFrieder HochheimBob HoffmanVinny HoganCliff HsuiRobert C. HummelRoy IsaiaGeorge JobloveJoel JohnsonJohn JohnstonMarker KarahadianFrank KayDebbie KennardMilton KeslowRobert KeslowDouglas KirklandMark KirklandTimothy J. KnappKarl KresserChet KucinskiChuck LeeDoug LeightonLou LevinsonSuzanne LezotteGrant LoucksHoward LukkAndy MaltzSteven E. Manios, Jr.Steven E. Manios, Sr.Peter MartinRobert MastronardiJoe Matza

Albert Mayer, Jr.Bill McDonaldKaren McHughAndy McIntyreStan MillerWalter H. MillsGeorge MiltonMike MimakiMichael MorelliDash MorrisonNolan MurdockDan MuscarellaIain A. NeilOtto NemenzErnst NettmannTony NgaiMickel NiehenkeJeff OkunMarty OppenheimerWalt OrdwayAhmad OuriMichael ParkerWarren ParkerDhanendra PatelKristin PetrovichEd PhillipsNick PhillipsJoshua PinesCarl PorcelloHoward PrestonDavid PringlePhil RadinChristopher ReynaColin RitchieEric G. RodliDomenic RomAndy RomanoffFrederic RoseDaniel RosenDana RossBill RussellKish SadhvaniDavid SamuelsonSteve SchklairPeter K. SchnitzlerWalter SchonfeldWayne SchulmanJuergen SchwinzerSteven ScottAlec ShapiroDon ShapiroMilton R. ShefterLeon SilvermanGarrett SmithTimothy E. SmithKimberly SnyderStefan SonnenfeldJohn L. SprungJoseph N. TawilIra TiffenSteve Tiffen

M A R C H 2 0 1 2

Arthur TostadoJeffrey TreanorBill TurnerStephan Ukas-BradleyMark Van HorneRichard VetterDedo WeigertFranz WieserEvans WetmoreBeverly WoodJan 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

Page 84: AC mar 2012

Gantz Joins SocietyNew active member Robert Gantz,

ASC credits a film class he took during hisfreshman year at the University of Michiganwith sparking his love for cinema. He wenton to earn a bachelor’s degree in film andtelevision from the university while shootingcommercials for local businesses in his sparetime.

Gantz was then accepted into theAmerican Film Institute’s cinematographyprogram, and after graduating he foundsteady work as a gaffer. He transitioned intocinematography by way of music videosand soon began shooting commercials. Heshot hundreds of videos and spots for direc-tors such as Gore Verbinski, Michael Bayand Matthew Rolston, and then got hisfeature break on Renny Harlin’s Mind-hunters.

Gantz has shot three features fordirector Jean-François Richet: Assault onPrecinct 13, Mesrine: Killer Instinct andMesrine: Public Enemy #1 (AC Sept. ’09).His other credits include the feature LakeCity and episodes of the series CSI: CrimeScene Investigation, The Forgotten, DarkBlue and Chase. Most recently, he shot thepilot and first season of the series Hart ofDixie.

Kirkland, Bäumler, Märtin Named AssociatesNew associate member Mark Kirk-

land is a three-time Emmy-winning direc-tor, an independent filmmaker and avintage-movie-camera collector with apassion for cinematography. He beganmaking Super 8 films and working for hisfather, ASC associate Douglas Kirkland,when he was in his early teens, and heearned a bachelor’s degree from the filmschool at CalArts. He began his professionalcareer as a storyboard/layout artist and crewsupervisor at Hanna-Barbera Productions;he has worked as a producer/director in theadvertising arena; and he currently holdsthe record for directing the most episodes

of The Simpsons. Kirkland is also assistingSteve Gainer, ASC with the curation of theSociety’s camera collection.

Wolfgang Bäumler and PeterMärtin, managing directors of VantageFilm, have joined the Society as associatemembers. Lifelong friends, Bäumler andMärtin fell in love with filmmaking whenthey were both 7 years old. While Märtinfocused on his Super 8 camera, Bäumlerbegan learning how to frame shots, andbefore long he was developing film in thefamily bathtub. They were both fascinatedwith lens optics and the mechanics ofcameras, and Bäumler pursued those inter-ests as a camera assistant and cinematogra-pher, while Märtin went on to direct. Theyregularly collaborated on commercials andshort films, and in 1993 they foundedVantage Film to address filmmakers’ tech-nological needs. The company is renownedfor numerous technical innovations, includ-ing Hawk anamorphic lenses and theVantage PSU-3 Digital Video Assist system.In addition to its headquarters in Weiden,Germany, Vantage has offices in Paris,Prague and Berlin.

Seale, Lachman Honored at CamerimageThe 2011 Plus Camerimage Interna-

tional Film Festival of the Art of Cinematog-raphy included special honors for JohnSeale, ASC, ACS and Ed Lachman, ASC.

Seale was presented with the Life-time Achievement Award, and Lachmanand director Todd Haynes shared the Cine-matographer-Director Duo Award. Thefestival program included screenings ofseveral of Seale’s feature films, as well asscreenings of Lachman and Haynes’ collab-orations, Far from Heaven (for which Lach-man won the Camerimage Silver Frog), I’mNot There (a Bronze Frog winner) and theTV miniseries Mildred Pierce. ●

Clubhouse News

82 March 2012 American Cinematographer

Phot

o of

Clu

bhou

se b

y Is

idor

e M

anko

fsky

, ASC

; lig

htin

g by

Don

ald

M. M

orga

n, A

SC.

Kir

klan

d ph

oto

by D

ougl

as K

irkl

and.

Lac

hman

pho

to b

y A

ndre

w D

. Sch

war

tz, S

MPS

P

Top to bottom: Robert Gantz, ASC; associatemember Mark Kirkland; Ed Lachman, ASC

on the set of Mildred Pierce.

Page 85: AC mar 2012
Page 86: AC mar 2012

84 March 2012 American Cinematographer

When you were a child, what film made the strongestimpression on you? The Red Balloon (1956) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you mostadmire?Robert Krasker, BSC and Gregg Toland,ASC for their groundbreaking, beautifuland inspiring work. David Watkin, BSCfor his innovative use of bounce lightingand the Wendy Light. Roger Deakins,ASC, BSC for his ability to adapt his lighting style to complement the narra-tive. Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC for hisuse of delicate, soft and realistic sourcelighting.

What sparked your interest inphotography?Picking up my dad’s Leica and learning bytaking pictures of just about anything. Hehad a contact at the lab, so my filmprocessing was free.

Where did you train and/or study?After college, I started as a film loader and learned by watchingand working with other technicians. I was lucky to learn my craftin a practical environment. I learned early on the importance ofunderstanding all the various jobs within a film crew.

Who were your early teachers or mentors?My father, Peter Taylor, an Academy Award-winning film editor,inspired me to enter the film industry. Paul Wilson, BSC gener-ously shared his vast knowledge with me. Stanley Kubrick taughtme the importance of careful composition. Over the years, highlytalented camera assistants, operators, key grips and gaffershelped me hone my craft.

What are some of your key artistic influences?Photographers: Henri Cartier-Bresson and Frank Capra. Automo-bile designers: Ettore Bugatti,Delahaye and Malcolm Sayer.Music: R&B and classic rock. Painters: Turner, Constable andVermeer.

How did you get your first break in the business?I started as a film loader at Century 21, a company best knownfor producing the British TV show Thunderbirds.

What has been your most satisfying moment on aproject?Directing and shooting the second unit on Captain America: TheFirst Avenger. The dual role was challenging, but a fantasticexperience.

Have you made any memorable blunders?Very early on in my career, I asked a personI assumed was a production assistant toperform a menial task, only to discoverlater that day that he was, in fact, the film’sdirector.

What is the best professional adviceyou’ve ever received?Stay calm, listen, observe and lead byexample.

What recent books, films or artworkshave inspired you?Denise Mina’s crime-novel trilogy based inGlasgow, and the films A Single Man, TrueGrit (2010)and Midnight in Paris.

Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you wouldlike to try?I would like to shoot a low-budget drama that is meaningful andhas a great human story and a great soundtrack — like Ameri-can Graffiti.

If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you bedoing instead?Classic-car restoration.

Which ASC cinematographers recommended you formembership?Bill Pope, Russell Carpenter and Philippe Rousselot.

How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?As a second-unit director of photography and, more recently, asecond-unit director, I get to work with many talented ASCmembers, each with a unique and clever way of shooting. As aresult, I come off of each film with a stronger sense of knowl-edge. It’s always a humbling experience. ●

Jonathan Taylor, ASCClose-up

Page 87: AC mar 2012
Page 88: AC mar 2012

R E E D M O R A N OONFILM

To order Kodak motion picture fi lm, call (800) 621-fi lm. © Eastman Kodak Company, 2012. Photography: © 2012 Douglas Kirkland

“I love looking through the viewfi nder because I’m transported to another world where I just fall into the story and forget about everything else. The idea that where the camera is placed, how it moves and how the light falls in the scene can infl uence the audience’s emotions is what inspires me when I work. 

As I begin to read a script, I start to see fragments of images in my mind and the most fascinating part of the process is fi guring out how to make those pictures come to life. Finding a director’s unique vision and bringing it to fruition — really making sure that each story is told in its own organic way is diffi cult, but very gratifying. You can conjure up so many diff erent reactions with the way you decide to execute a scene. A single moment on screen that you created can have a massive eff ect on people. That’s an incredible feeling.”

Reed Morano started out shooting short fi lms and documentaries. Her feature fi lm credits include Frozen River, Yelling to the Sky, Little Birds, For Ellen, The Magic of Belle Isle, Free Samples and Autumn Blood, and the documentary features Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa and Shut Up and Play the Hits. Reed was recognized as one of Variety’s 10 Cinematographers to Watch and is a recipient of the Kodak Vision Award for cinematography.

For an extended Q&A with Reed Morano, visit www.kodak.com/go/onfi lm.