PETERLEVY

ASC, ACS“I came to realize that light is a very

malleable medium. With the right tools and skills you can make it

do almost anything you want. The manipulation of light is infi nitely

satisfying. Our sense of taste and style become the determining

factors in deciding the appropriate way to photograph the subtext or poetry of the scene. Because we

communicate in a visual medium, we try to express ourselves

succinctly with choice of the right visual grammar. Our photography

creates a visual conduit for the story to fl ow through. People

love movies because of the emotional responses they have to the characters and the story. The

memory of those responses is what lives in their hearts.”

Peter Levy ASC, ACS began his career shooting documentaries

in Australia. He won an Emmy® Award for the telefi lm The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. His credits

include Predator 2, Ricochet, Cutthroat Island, Broken Arrow,

The War at Home, Lost in Space, Under Suspicion, Lonely Hearts,and the upcoming The Reaping,

as well as the pilots for 24 and Without a Trace.

To order Kodak motion picture fi lm, call (800) 621 - fi lm.

www.kodak.com/go/motion © Eastman Kodak Company, 2006.

Photography: © 2006 Douglas Kirkland

For an extended interview with Peter Levy, visit

www.kodak.com/go/onfi lm

[All these fi lms were shot on Kodak motion picture fi lm.]

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6

$5.95 Canada $8.95

TH

E

IN

TE

RN

AT

IO

NA

L

JO

UR

NA

L

OF

F

IL

M

&

DI

GI

TA

L

PR

OD

UC

TI

ON

T

EC

HN

IQ

UE

S

•

SI

NC

E

19

20

TLFeBOOK

WHEN WORDSAREN’T ENOUGH

SPEAK THE LANGUAGE EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS.

Powered by KODAK Color Science, KODAK Look Manager System and KODAK Display Manager System are designed to streamline the production process—from preproduction to digital dailies. Now you can create looks, share them with a touch of a button, and display the look of broadcast and projected print fi lm. Communicate in color with the language of look. For more information,visit kodak.com/go/ac.

TLFeBOOK

KODAK LOOK MANAGER SYSTEM KODAK DISPLAY MANAGER SYSTEM

© Kodak, 2006. Kodak is a trademark.

TLFeBOOK

“I’ve been a Schneider fan for 50 years – frommy first 4x5 format lens to precision glass filters forHD and 35mm work, to Century AchromaticDiopters for DV.

There are effects that only filters can create.For day exteriors, I rotate a Tru-Poltm in my

hands and look through it to see how it affects the colorsaturation of the sky, water, trees, and shiny objects likecars or glossy paint.

On ‘Baadasssss!,’ the Classic Soft® allowed me todiminish distracting artifacts on an elderly Ossie Davis’ face,without compromising the integrity or power of his character.

I love the sense of surrealism the Black Froststm can render.On a ‘Night Stalker’ flashback, we blew out thewindows and added a Black Frost. Itcreated a sometimes subtle, sometimespowerful image without compromisingthe sharpness and deep blacks.

For the short film ‘Cry of Ecstasy,’ I wanted todynamically portray an artist’s canvas. By adding the CenturyAchromatic Diopter to the Panasonic DVX100, I got really

dramatic edge-to-edge sharp full-contrast images without fringing.

From Achromatic Diopters to filters, Schneider isan important addition to this cinematographer’s toolbox.”

PhotoofRobertPrimesbyJoelLipton

exclusivelyforSchneiderOptics

Robert Primes, ASC is known for his televisionwork on the groundbreaking seriesthirtysomething, Felicity (2000 ASC nominationand 1999 Emmy Award), MDs (2002 ASC

Award for HD), My Antonia (1995 Emmy) andHarrison: Cry of the City (Emmy nomination).

Feature films include Baadasssss!, Bird on a Wire,and Money Talks.

See us at:IBC #11.124 • cinec #3-A10www.schneideroptics.com

7701 Haskell Ave. • Van Nuys, California 91406 • Phone: 818-766-3715 • 800-228-1254It Starts with the Glass tm

B+W • Century • Schneider

Congratulationsto Robert Primes

for his Emmy®

Nomination forSleeper Cell

TLFeBOOK

32 Darkest NoirVilmos Zsigmond, ASC investigates L.A.’s most infamous unsolved murder in The Black Dahlia

50 Conjuring the PastDick Pope, BSC lends cinematic sleight of hand to The Illusionist

60 Vikings on the WarpathDaniel Pearl, ASC travels back in time to 874 A.D. for the saga Pathfinder

70 A Call for Digital Printer LightsRichard Crudo, ASC discusses the need for more precise image control in the digital age

Departments

Features

Visit us online at www.theasc.com

On Our Cover:LAPD Detective Dwight “Bucky”

Bleichert (Josh Hartnett)pursues a vicious killer

in the atmospheric drama The Black Dahlia, shot by

Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC. (Photo by Merrick

Morton, SMPSP, courtesyof Universal Pictures.)

8 Editor’s Note12 DVD Playback18 Production Slate78 Short Takes84 Post Focus92 New Products & Services

104 Filmmakers’ Forum108 Points East112 International Marketplace113 Classified Ads114 Ad Index116 ASC Membership Roster118 Clubhouse News120 ASC Close-Up

50

18

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6 V O L . 8 7 N O . 9

The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques

60

TLFeBOOK

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 0 6 V o l . 8 7 , N o . 9The International Journal of Film & Digital Production Techniques • Since 1920

Visit us online at

www.theasc.com————————————————————————————————————

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

EDITORIALEXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello

SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley

ASSOCIATE EDITOR Douglas Bankston

TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSStephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Bob Davis,

Bob Fisher, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Ron Magid, Jean Oppenheimer, John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, David Samuelson, Jon Silberg,

Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson, David E. Williams

————————————————————————————————————

ART DEPARTMENTCREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore

DESIGN ASSOCIATE Erik M. Gonzalez

————————————————————————————————————

ADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann

323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce

323-908-3114 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com

ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell

323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188

e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.net

CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno

323-908-3124 FAX 323-876-4973

e-mail: diella@ascmag.com

————————————————————————————————————

CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTSCIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex LopezSHIPPING MANAGER Javier Ibanez

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

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost

ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras

ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark————————————————————————————————————American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 87th 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 Hollywoodoffice. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints should be made to Sheridan Reprints at

(800) 394-5157 ext. 28. Copyright 2006 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

TLFeBOOK

Michael Mann has a

very dynamic visual style.

His camera is never static. He

creates anticipation, a tension in

the frame that comes from a feeling

that your peripheral vision has been

taken away. You are in the driver’s seat.

Achieving this on ‘Miami Vice’ came

down to a combination of great operators

with almost entirely handheld cameras. A critical

part of this combination was the Zeiss 6-24mm

DigiZoom™. It has a great range, is lightweight and high speed. It

responded well to a variety of extreme conditions, from brilliant daylight

to very low light night exteriors. It handled the humidity in Miami and, due

to its compact size, allowed us to fit into some pretty tight spaces, including

the front seat of a Ferrari and the cockpit of a powerboat – places one usually

cannot go with a zoom. This lens lived on the A-camera. Of course the zoom capa-

bility was key. Imperceptible zooms were constantly part of the visual storytelling,

always pushing in and pulling you closer to the action. In realizing Michael’s vision of

‘Miami Vice’, the DigiZoom was a perfect fit.

Burbank 818-841-9655 • Munich + 49 89 94 54 84 90

W W W . D I G I Z O O M . C O M • W W W . B A N D P R O . C O M

onZEISS

Dion Beebe ASC, ACS

VISIT BAND PROIBC STAND #: 11.131

TLFeBOOK

OFFICERS - 2006/2007Daryn Okada

President

Michael GoiVice President

William A. FrakerVice President

Caleb DeschanelVice President

Victor J. KemperTreasurer

Michael NegrinSecretary

John Hora Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

Curtis ClarkCaleb Deschanel

George Spiro DibieRichard Edlund

William A. FrakerMichael Goi

Francis KennyIsidore Mankofsky

Daryn OkadaWoody Omens

Nancy SchreiberJohn Toll

Kees Van OostrumRoy Wagner

Haskell Wexler

ALTERNATESRobert Primes

Victor J. KemperLaszlo Kovacs

John HoraStephen Lighthill

MUSEUM CURATORSteve Gainer

American Society of CinematographersThe ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but

an educational, cultural and professional organization. Membership is by invitation

to those who are actively engaged as directors of photography and have

demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC membership has become one of the highest

honors that can be bestowed upon a professional cinematographer — a mark

of prestige and excellence.

6

TLFeBOOK

www.c la i rmont .com

HOLLYWOOD 818-761-4440

TORONTO 416-467-1700

VANCOUVER 604-984-4563

In The Western US & All Of Canada

TLFeBOOK

Right up front, I’ll confess: since reading SteveHodel’s Black Dahlia Avenger on a flight to Europeseveral years ago, I’ve harbored an unhealthy

obsession for all things Dahlia. After tearing throughthat book in a matter of hours, I recommended it toeveryone I met, causing a mini-frenzy in my immediatecircle of friends. AC’s art director, Micki Gore, wasforced to abandon her reading after developing asevere case of night sweats and sleeplessness; adver-tising sales rep Sanja Pearce began haunting my officeto offer her own bizarre theories about the case; and mybrother, Chris, drove straight to the murder site at 39th

and Norton to soak up the bad vibes. I, of course, topped them all by weaseling my wayinto the former Hodel home on Franklin Ave. in Hollywood (aided and abetted by ASCmember Curtis Clark, who was shooting a commercial in the alleged “house of evil”).

I’ve now read nearly every book about or inspired by the case, including JohnGilmore’s Severed, Donald H. Wolfe’s The Black Dahlia Files and James Ellroy’s novelThe Black Dahlia. The latter yarn provided the blueprint and title for director BrianDePalma’s new film, which, strangely, is the first theatrical feature inspired directly byL.A.’s most infamous unsolved crime. Seeking to lend the Forties-era picture an appro-priately noir look, DePalma called upon old friend Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC, who knowsa thing or two about evocative cinematography. In preparing my piece about the show(“Darkest Noir,” page 32), I grilled not only Vilmos, but also production designer DanteFerretti, gaffer Nimi Getter, colorist Mike Sowa and A-camera focus puller AlexanderBscheidl. That should tide me over until I gather my fellow Dahlia groupies for themovie’s opening weekend.

Atmospheric images also grace The Illusionist, a turn-of-the-century tale abouta magician whose powers put him at odds with a prince. To evoke the story’s period,Dick Pope, BSC stunningly simulates the look of an early color-photography techniquecalled the autochrome. Pope graciously allowed New York correspondent Pat Thomsonto peek into his bag of tricks (“Conjuring the Past,” page 50).

Moving even further back in time, to 874 A.D., Pathfinder pits warmongeringVikings against Native Americans in an epic tale of abandonment and revenge. FredSchruers, a well-traveled senior editor at Premiere, flew north to British Columbia toseek out cinematographer Daniel Pearl, ASC and director Marcus Nispel as theytoughed it out in a boggy marsh. Fred’s visit to the set produced a piece that capturesthe shoot’s rigorous logistics (“Vikings on the Warpath,” page 60).

This month’s issue also offers a compelling argument for more precise imagecontrol in our digital age, courtesy of Richard Crudo, ASC. In a carefully consideredpiece (“A Call for Digital Printer Lights,” page 70), Richard outlines some of the obsta-cles that continue to plague cinematographers during film-to-digital transfers of theirwork, and suggests a range of solutions. (Of course, we all know Richard misses theability to vent his spleen in his monthly President’s Desk column, so we were happy togive him the space.)

Stephen PizzelloExecutive Editor P

hot

o by

Dou

glas

Kir

klan

d.

1. The Cinesaddle is easy to use; to set it upjust put it down.

2. Available in five different sizes. Works withall video, film and still cameras.

3. Small - Compact - Portable. Weighs lessthan two pounds.

4. Super versatile camera mount. Get shotsnot possible with any other camera support.

5. Cinesaddle absorbs vibration. Use it on acar, bike, boat, helicopter, anything. Mountingkit included with all professional models.

Cinekinetic USA345 W. 85th StreetNew York, NY 10024Telephone: (212) 202-0675Email: info@cinekinetic.com

CinesaddleThe Perfect

Camera Mount

Visit Cinekinetic’s website:

www.cinekinetic.comand view streamed video clips of the

Cinesaddle in action.

Dale Brooks, ABC-TV / Walt Disney Co

8

Editor’s Note

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

“It’s way too good.”–Jody Eldred

“The image that the PDW-F350 puts out is absolutely stunning,” says director/cameraman Jody Eldred.“XDCAM® HD is the new Betacam®.”

Eldred and Mark Falstad, both Emmy Award winners, took PDW-F350 camcorders to the ends of theearth. Eldred went to Israel to shoot 1080/24P. Falstad went to Alaska to shoot the legendary Iditarod®

sled dog race in both news-style 60i and documentary-style 24P. Featured on Sony’s XDCAM HD DiscSet, the results speak for themselves.

Falstad says, “We shot pictures that I never dreamed possible. For instance, in the middle of the nightwith only a hazy moon and no chance of making a picture, I simply turned on the Slow Shutter at 64frame accumulation and we got the classic shot of a glowy tent in the mountains. And absolutely nonoise because I wasn't boosting gain. It was stunning!”

“To do time lapse, I put the camera on my tripod, easily set up the frame count on the LCD display and hitthe trigger. It was that fast. Overcranking at 60 frames per second, you can see slow motion of the dogs’paws kicking up snow and the ears and tongues flying. And you can play it back immediately in the camera.The PDW-F350 gives me a toolset that I never imagined having, especially at a price of $25,800 [MSRP].”

“XDCAM HD is The New Betacam”

TLFeBOOK

“XDCAM HD makes mea better cameraman.”–Mark Falstad

Jody Eldred came to a similar conclusion. “I’m very impressed with the skin tone, the way the reds work,the good detail in the darks and the highlights. I have $160,000 invested in my F900 HDCAM™ package. Butthe F350 really deserves to wear its CineAlta™ badge. In fact, it’s way too good for a camera at this price.”

Astonishing HD picture quality and an incredible toolset at an affordable price... that’s the new Betacam.

© 2006 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

Sony, CineAlta, HDCAM, Betacam and XDCAM are trademarks of Sony. The New Way of Business is a service mark of Sony. Iditarod is a registered trademark of the Iditarod Trail Committee.

See Jody and Mark’s dramatic footage. Register to get your

XDCAM HD Disc Set at www.sony.com/XDCAM

TLFeBOOK

Elevator to the Gallows (1957)1.66:1 (16x9 Enhanced)Digital MonauralThe Criterion Collection, $39.95

“I love you!” pant the first oftwo very different couples whotraverse the romantic, suspensefulterrain of Louis Malle’s Elevator tothe Gallows. As Florence (JeanneMoreau) and Julien (Maurice Ronet)whisper into the telephone, itbecomes clear that someone standsin the way of their consumingpassion. Florence tearfully vows tomeet Julien once he has dispatchedher husband, who is also hisemployer. After the murder, Julienrealizes he has left behind someincriminating evidence and returns tothe scene of the crime, foolishly leav-ing his convertible idling on the streetduring his search. Enter couple two,Louis (Georges Poujouly), a rebellooking for a cause, and his girlfriend,Veronique (Yori Berton). They slip intoJulien’s car, and when Julien fails topromptly return — after getting stuckin the building’s elevator — they takeoff. Florence, glimpsing Veronique inJulien’s passing car, thinks her loverhas deceived her.

Elevator to the Gallows wasMalle’s first feature film, and he wasdetermined to make a picture that

showed postwar Paris as it really was.He wanted to hint at what he felt thecity was becoming: more commercial-ized, less sympathetic and moreAmerican. Impressed by cinematogra-pher Henri Decaë’s crisp work in docu-mentaries and his stark, noirishimages in Bob le Flambeur, Mallehired him to photograph Gallows.Using newer, faster monochromenegatives, Decaë was able to giveElevator crisp daytime sequences andrealistic urban nights. It was Decaëwho insisted Moreau wear very littlemakeup; he believed the availablestreet light would bring out her strongfacial features in night sequences.Other filmmakers had frowned uponMoreau’s bone structure and deemedher face “too complicated” for film,and she had previously worked in onlya handful of pictures. Malle andMoreau have both credited Decaëwith being directly responsible for thestardom Moreau found after Gallows.Decaë later collaborated with Malleon four more pictures.

The Criterion Collectionrecently released an extraordinarilygood two-disc DVD of Elevator to theGallows. The picture transfer, whichappears to be from the 2005 restora-tion that led to a theatrical re-release,is stunning, offering ultra-crisp resolu-tion and sharp contrast. The audiotrack, clean and fully pronounced in itsoriginal monaural state, is also excel-lent, giving life to Miles Davis’ land-mark score, one of the film’s mostfamous elements.

The package’s well-producedsupplements begin on disc one withtrailers for the film’s original theatricalrelease and its recent re-release. Disctwo begins with a 17-minute excerptfrom a 1975 Canadian television inter-view with Malle. Next is an excellent

12 September 2006

18-minute interview with Moreau(taped in 2005), who gives substantialinsight into the making of the picture.Also featured are a joint interviewwith Moreau and Malle from the1993 Cannes Film Festival, and a briefbit from French TV circa 1957 thatspotlights actor Ronet.

Fans of Miles Davis will bethrilled with a supplement devoted tothe film’s score. It’s divided into threesections: the first comprises sixminutes of footage filmed on thelegendary night of Davis’ improvisa-tion; the second, “On Piano, ReneUrtreger,” is a 15-minute interviewwith the only surviving musicianinvolved in the scoring session; and inthe third, Village Voice music criticGary Giddins and horn player JonFaddis offer a solid portrait of Davisand the pivotal role Elevator played inhis career. This informative, 25-minute piece underscores the uniquechemistry in the collaboration of thefilmmaker and musician.

For many, Elevator to theGallows signaled the birth of theFrench New Wave. Shortly after thefilm’s release, many of the directorsassociated with the movement,including Claude Chabrol, Jean-LucGodard and François Truffaut, madetheir first films. But regardless of howElevator is categorized, it remains ahigh note in the history of Frenchcinema. Paired with the wistful soundof Davis’ horn, Decaë’s shots ofMoreau’s iconic face as she walksalong rainswept Paris streets areamong the lushest and most evoca-tive moments in modern cinema. Thistruly excellent presentation of Eleva-tor to the Gallows is not to be missed.

— Kenneth Sweeney

DVD Playback

➢

TLFeBOOK

90 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN FILMTECHNOLOGY NOW AVAILABLEFOR DIGITAL CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Coverage for the widest HD lenses

• Modular and adaptable

• Reliable and durable

• Worldwide product support

& parts availability

ARRI ACCESSORIES REINVENTEDFOR DIGITAL CINEMATOGRAPHY

arri.com

AbelCineTechTel. 212.462.0100sales@abelcine.com

Birns & SawyerTel. 323.466.8211sales@birnsandsawyer.com

ARRI Inc.Tel. 845.353.1400Tel. 818.841.7070info@arri.com

Film/Video Equipment Service Co.Tel. 303.778.8616fvesco@fvesco.com

Fletcher ChicagoTel. 800.635.3824kari@fletch.com

For more information please contact:

COMPACT MATTE BOX MB-20

FOLLOW FOCUS FF-5HD

TLFeBOOK

Eric Rohmer’s Six Moral Tales:The Bakery Girl of Monceau, Suzanne’s Career, LaCollectionneuse, My Night at Maud’s, Claire’s Kneeand Love in the Afternoon (1962-1972)1.33:1Dolby Digital MonauralThe Criterion Collection, $99.95

Eric Rohmer once described his six“Moral Tales” as a group of films with onestory: a man is interested in one woman,then distracted by another. This statementis true in the most general sense, but itfalsely implies that the films are repeti-tive. On the contrary, each tale allowsRohmer to develop and build on hismotifs, which culminate in the 1972masterpiece Love in the Afternoon.Collectively, the films are one of cinema’sgreatest explorations of the ways inwhich men and women choose to manip-ulate the truth.

Though a member of the FrenchNew Wave, Rohmer distances himselffrom colleagues Jean-Luc Godard andFrançois Truffaut by eschewing referencesto other movies. As the “Moral Tales”label implies, he is obsessed with moraland philosophical issues, and the ways inwhich language can be used to expose aswell as conceal. But Rohmer’s camerahides nothing; with his cinematographers,he has honed a detached style thatexposes his characters’ emotions withhonesty and clarity.

This recently released boxed setfrom The Criterion Collection allows view-ers to chart the evolution of one ofFrance’s greatest filmmakers. The firstpresentation is the 1962 short film TheBakery Girl of Monceau, a romance star-ring Barbet Schroeder as a young man

who develops a pastry habit while piningfor a woman he meets outside a bakery.The camerawork, by Bruno Barbey andJean-Michel Meurice, follows the NewWave tradition of naturalistic locationshooting, and many of the elementsRohmer developed in subsequent films areevident in the picture. Rohmer andSchroeder converse in the 83-minutesupplement “Moral Tales, Filmic Issues,”and The Bakery Girl of Monceau is alsoaccompanied by Rohmer’s 10-minute shortPresentation, or Charlotte and Her Steak(1951).

The second film, Suzanne’s Career(1963), is a 55-minute meditation on friend-ship, sex and money that also serves as asort of documentary on contemporaryParis. Daniel Lacambre’s 16mm black-and-white cinematography lovingly capturesthe details of the city in a manner thatgives the locations weight and texture,which in turn add dimension to characterswho are defined by their surroundings.(Interestingly, Lacambre went on to excelat a very different kind of low-budget inde-pendent filmmaking when he emigrated tothe States and joined Roger Corman’s NewWorld Pictures.) Suzanne’s Career isaccompanied by the 1964 short Nadja inParis, the first of Rohmer’s collaborationswith Néstor Alméndros, ASC, who wenton to shoot the remaining Moral Tales.Nadja is a modest work, but with their nextcollaboration, Rohmer and Alméndroscreated the first in a string of classics.

La Collectionneuse (1966) wasconceived as the fourth tale, but it becamethe third when scheduling conflictsdelayed My Night at Maud’s. The firstMoral Tale shot in color and on 35mm, LaCollectionneuse introduces Alméndros’gift for using natural light. In addition to atheatrical trailer, a supplement alsoincluded with all subsequent films in theset, La Collectionneuse features a 1977interview with Rohmer and his 1966 shortfilm A Modern Coed, also photographed byAlméndros.

My Night at Maud’s (1969) is aperfect union of sound, image and narra-tive that is observationally astute and tech-nically impeccable. The picture perfectswhat would become the defining visualapproach for the subsequent films: formal,

precise compositions that allow the audi-ence a direct connection to the characters’most deeply felt emotions. Supplementson My Night at Maud’s include Rohmer’s1965 television program On Pascal and a1974 episode of the French TV showTelecinema that was devoted to Maud’s.

In Claire’s Knee (1970), Rohmer andAlméndros further develop their techniqueof expressing meaning via delicategestures. One such gesture — the herotouching the titular knee — serves as themovie’s climactic moment. Shooting on abeautiful lake between France andSwitzerland, Alméndros used the lushsetting to give Claire’s Knee a greatersense of romanticism than the previousfilms in the cycle. At the same time,through careful exposures, he neverallowed the location to overwhelm thecharacters and drama. Included on thedisc is a brief episode of the French TVshow Le journal du cinema that featuresinterviews with the stars of Claire’s Knee,along with a charming 1999 video short,The Curve.

The final film, Love in the After-noon, which concerns a married mantempted to stray, is the most complex inthe cycle and the most generous to itscharacters. The climactic scene, in whichthe man and his wife realize the depth oftheir feelings for one another, affects ourperspective of not only the characters athand, but also of the Moral Tales as awhole. After 10 years and six films, itappears as though Rohmer and his char-acters have finally achieved a balancebetween reason and passion. This discincludes another Rohmer short, Veroniqueand Her Dunce (1958), as well as an 11-minute interview with Rohmer fan NeilLaBute.

The transfers of all these films liveup to Criterion’s usual high standards,though the source elements for TheBakery Girl of Monceau and some of theother shorts appear a bit worn. Fans ofRohmer’s work will be thrilled with thecomprehensive extras and director-approved transfers, and those unfamiliarwith his work will find this set to be anenlightening crash course.

— Jim Hemphill

14 September 2006

➢

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

Syriana (2005)2.35:1 (16x9 Enhanced)Dolby Digital 5.1Warner Home Video, $28.95

A detailed examination of theenergy industry’s role in Americanforeign policy might not sound like thestuff of gripping entertainment, but Syri-ana is just that: an exciting thriller that’sall the more suspenseful because it’sentrenched in real-world issues. Direc-tor/writer Stephen Gaghan (Traffic)explores the subject of America’s depen-dence on foreign oil through a compli-cated, ensemble-based narrative thatjumps from the Persian Gulf to Washing-ton to Europe while establishing connec-tions between corporations, govern-ments and terrorists.

The plotting is quite complicated,and an astonishing amount of material ispacked into the two-hour film. Gaghan’sdense screenplay is lent even moredepth by cinematographer RobertElswit, ASC (Good Night, and GoodLuck; Magnolia; Boogie Nights), whouses the widescreen frame and fluid,handheld camerawork to provide multi-ple perspectives within each scene. Theframe is in a state of perpetual flux, butthe constant repositioning of the cameraallows the viewer to assimilate moreinformation throughout each sequencewithout becoming disoriented.

Elswit’s visuals are incrediblysubtle and effective. His combination ofhandheld camerawork and naturalisticlighting gives Syriana the appearance ofa documentary, but at the same time, hisuse of lenses and composition createshighly subjective images that beautifullyexpress the emotional states of thecharacters. Elswit is particularly adept atmanipulating depth of field; within the

A T R A D I T I O N O F I N N O V A T I O N24 SHELTON STREET, LONDON, WC2H 9UB U.K. TELEPHONE: +44 (0)20 7836 9642 FAX: +44 (0)20 7497 3718

T H E L O N D O N F I L M S C H O O L

“Constantly saying 'one day, I'll make afilm' gets tedious. LFS lets you makefilms instead of justt talking about it”

“Constantly saying 'one day, I'll make afilm' gets tedious. LFS lets you makefiilms instead of just talking about it”

MA validated by

MA FILMMAKINGMA SCREENWRITINGCRAFT EXTENSION PROGRAMME

MA FILMMAKINGMA SCREENWRITINGCRAFT EXTENSION PROGRAMME

to find out more visit

lfs.org.uklfs.org.uk

Babak Jalali, Iran, LFS graduate 2006Director “Heydar, an Afghan in Tehran” nominated for BAFTAbest short film and won Best Student Film at the New York City Short Film Festival 2005.

16

TLFeBOOK

17

same scene, he often rapidly movesbetween deep-focus compositions thatprovide context and long-lens shots thatisolate specific characters or objects.This allows the viewer to simultaneouslyget both a wider perspective and an inti-mate experience.

Warner Home Video has doneSyriana justice with this DVD, whosetransfer allows the home viewer toappreciate the nuances of Elswit’spalette and the intricacies of the film’selaborate sound design. In a movie withthis many characters and storylines, thesound mix is crucial, and Syriana uses animpeccably calibrated balance ofdialogue, effects and music to provideclarity and texture. The disc’s Dolby Digi-tal 5.1 soundtrack is as stunning asElswit’s imagery in this flawless transfer.

In addition to the film’s theatricaltrailer, the DVD features two enjoyable10-minute featurettes, “A Conversationwith George Clooney” and “Make aChange, Make a Difference,” which illu-minate the filmmakers’ intentions but donot offer much in the way of technicalinformation, and a fascinating collectionof three deleted scenes that focus on CIAoperative Bob Barnes, played by Clooneyin an Academy Award-winning perfor-mance. These scenes expand on thefilm’s moral complexity and makeBarnes’ fate even more chilling.

It’s too bad the articulate Gaghandid not contribute an audio commentaryto this package, but Syriana still offersplenty of illuminating insights on its own.

— Jim Hemphill

NEXT MONTH’S REVIEWS

Dr. Mabuse, The Gambler (1922)Cinematographer: Carl Hoffmann

Seven Samurai (1954)Cinematographer: Asakazu Nakai

Mr. Arkadin (1955)Cinematographer: Jean Bourgoin

■

TLFeBOOK

Creepy Crawlersby David E. Williams

British director of photographySam McCurdy felt a chill run down hisspine when he first saw his name sten-ciled on a parking space at PinewoodStudios. “I’d started out 15 years agoworking the floor at Pinewood, reloadingmagazines while learning as much as Icould,” he remembers, “so to returnthere as a director of photography toshoot a feature film was bizarre.”

It was January of 2005, andMcCurdy had arrived at the venerablecomplex to shoot The Descent, ahorror/action movie written and directedby Neil Marshall, with whom McCurdyhad worked on the cult horror hit DogSoldiers (2002). Similar in setup to that

film, which featured British recruits lostin the wilderness and attacked by fero-cious werewolves, The Descent tracks agroup of female spelunkers who mustfight for their lives against a mutantstrain of blind, cave-dwelling humanoidsdubbed “crawlers.”

McCurdy says the spare-yet-atmospheric look of late-1970s frightfilms informed his approach to TheDescent. “Neil and I grew up on thesame kinds of movies,” says the camera-man, who cites The Goonies (shot byNick McLean) and Halloween (shot byDean Cundey, ASC) as the films thatsparked his interest in cinematography.“The Goonies is amazing because of thecompositions and camera placement,and Halloween has this graphic simplic-ity. Neil and I wanted that same feeling,

18 September 2006

that simplicity. We didn’t want anyvisual clutter, just a straight-ahead lookthat delivered the story. There was aquality to the horror films of the late1970s largely based on suspense; theydidn’t use gore, fancy lighting or overlyclever camera moves, just strongimages.

“Neil and I have a good short-hand,” he adds, “and on The Descent,we’d often describe our scenes in termsof what Cundey and John Carpenter haddone in Halloween, The Fog, Escapefrom New York and The Thing, whichare all beautiful anamorphic pictures.Years from now, they will still be consid-ered some of the most beautifully shothorror movies ever made.”

True to their influences, McCurdyand Marshall chose to shoot The

Horrifying SurprisesProduction Slate

The

Des

cent

pho

tos

by A

lex

Bai

ley,

cou

rtes

y of

Lion

sgat

e E

nte

rtai

nm

ent.

Cave explorerJuno (Natalie

Mendoza) fendsoff a fearsome

“crawler” in TheDescent. Makeupfor the creatureswas designed by

Paul Hyett andexecuted by Neil

Morrill.Cinematographer

Sam McCurdynotes, “At firsttheir skin was

pure white, butNeil and I

immediatelydecided they had

to have agrubbier,

‘underground’look. They

needed thatfilth.”

TLFeBOOK

HOW TO

2005 Academy Award® Winner

SPARROW HEAD

MOVE A CAMERA!

SUPER SLIDE®

Rips the Ice forNHL Spots.

POWER SLIDE® UNDERSLUNGSHOOTS 360˚at 100 MPH!

Two Axis Dolly

SUPER SLIDE® UNDERSLUNG

POWERSLIDE®

AnyLength.AnyAngle.POWER

SLIDE®

Let’s govertical!

1500 West Vurdugo Avenue • Burbank, CA 91506 • www.doggicam.com • 818.845.8470

10" Clearance at 150 MPH!

MoCapDigitalMotionCaptureandPlayback

MakesCinematicHistory!

SUPER SLIDE®

PrecisonHigh

SpeedDolly

POWERSLIDE®

at Over100 MPH!

MoCapMoCapDigital Repeatable Moves

POWERSLIDE®

at Over100 MPH!

TLFeBOOK

20 September 2006

Descent in a widescreen format, optingfor Super 35mm 2.35:1. “Given the low-light conditions we’d be shooting in, wehad to shoot in Super 35, otherwise myfocus puller would have killed me,” saysMcCurdy.

Properly lighting the creepyalbino crawlers — whose makeup wasdesigned by Paul Hyett and executed byNeil Morrill — was a concern. “We didtwo days of camera tests with differentprosthetics,” recalls McCurdy. “Theystarted off more wide-eyed and crea-ture-like, but we evolved away fromthat look to something more human. Atfirst their skin was pure white, but Neiland I immediately decided they had tohave a grubbier, ‘underground’ look.They needed that filth. Plus, their skinwould have had an improbably stark

look if we hadn’t brought it down.They’d look almost phosphorescent, andalthough that was the original idea, wecould see in the tests that as soon as weput the crawlers in a dark environment,they were far too bright, too reflective.For the story, we needed them to blendinto the shadows at times.”

These camera tests also deter-mined McCurdy’s selection of filmstocks. “Finances do influence how acinematographer has to shoot a picture,and on the modest budgets we oftenwork with in the U.K., it can mean thedifference between shooting 35mm orSuper 16mm, or even high-definitionvideo,” he says. “Fortunately, there wasno doubt we’d shoot The Descent on35mm, but there was a financial ques-tion of whether we’d shoot on Kodak or

Fuji stocks. So we did tests, and I foundthat Fuji Eterna 500 [8573] lookedabsolutely fantastic in our low-lightconditions. The contrast in the Fuji wasmuch better than in the Kodak stocks, inthat it dropped right off in the shadowswhile the Kodak seemed to be search-ing for things in the darkness. Kodak justdidn’t have the contrast we wanted —too much latitude for our use. So weended up using Eterna 500 for the entirepicture. I probably could have used Fuji’smidrange stocks for our exteriors, but Iabsolutely needed the speed for ourstudio work and also wanted to keepthings a bit simple.”

McCurdy saved the productionmoney by shooting in 3-perf, “so whilewe shot the picture with Arri cameras— Studios, Lites and a 435 — andZeiss Ultra Prime lenses from Take Two,we screened dailies at Panavisionbecause it’s one of the few placeswhere we could screen 3-perf.” Herelied almost entirely on Ultra Primesthroughout the studio portion of theshoot, primarily “because of thedistances involved. Often, we were 12inches or less from our subjects, sozooms were out of the question, withthe exception of stunts or other shotswhere we might need a quick re-frameof the action.

“My focus puller, JonathanGarwes, has never asked me for muchover the many years we’ve workedtogether, but between what he neededto do his job and our tests, we tried toavoid shooting wide open. Even in thereally dim scenes, we’d try to buildthings up with a backlight or additionalcontrast so we could have at least aT2.8. There were occasional shots thatwere lit just with torches or firebrands,getting us down to T2.1 or T1.4, and weknew we’d just have to crush all thoseblacks in post. To that end, we tried tokeep everything as clean and sharp aspossible so we’d have the best imagepossible to take into the digital interme-diate [DI].”

The lens filtration McCurdy diduse consisted of Tiffen 80C and 80Dcorrection employed in place of stan-dard 85s for day-exterior scenes. “We

Above: Bloodiedbut still battling

for her life, Sarah(Shauna

Macdonald)seeks an escape.

Below: In anearlier scene,

Sarah picks herway through a

cavern, using atorch to light the

way. “Thetrouble with low-light work comes

when you havevery bright

sources that dropoff quickly, like

torches orfirebrands,” says

McCurdy. “Aperson’s face

near [the source]may be a T16, but

just a foot or soaway, you’re

barelyregistering

anything. Sorealistically

supplementingthose sources to

get a bit of thebackgrounds

was thechallenge.”

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

22 September 2006

wanted to cool everything off, and I findthat the 80s create a kind of silverygloss I really like, especially in the kindof light you get in the U.K.”

Following two weeks of exteriorlocation shooting in the Scottish wilder-ness and in London, the productionarrived at Pinewood to film the cavingsequences over the next five weeks.There, production designer SimonBowles (also a veteran of Dog Soldiers)had built a warren of caverns andtunnels. “Simon and I have done a fewmovies together now, and he was greatabout letting me have input on hisdesigns,” says McCurdy. “He built muchof the caves with a self-expanding foamthat had a nice surface texture and

could be easily cut away to allow thecamera or lighting in wherever weneeded it. That made a big difference.”

The underground action beginsas the six women rappel down into thecave complex through a large openingin the earth, shafts of bright daylightfollowing them into the darkness,carried by a mist of water droplets. “Welit that scene with a big space-lightsetup, 20 or so units on the grid abovecoming down as a single source,” saysMcCurdy. “We then had four snooted6Ks shooting down within that to giveus those shafts. For lower-angle shotslooking up into the women’s faces, weused very heavily diffused Kino Flo ringlights on the camera for fill and then a

bit of additional backlight to add anedge. We used that setup throughoutthe picture and also often used piecesof white reflector boards strategicallystapled onto the set walls or floor tobounce back the headlamps that thewomen wore. As we did rehearsals,Neil and I noted where the womenwould be looking and then stapled upthe reflectors to get the best effect.”

Given the subterranean setting,the filmmakers knew their sourceswould be limited to whatever the char-acters brought with them: headlamps,flashlights, glow sticks, flares andimprovised firebrands. “We wanted tostay true to those sources,” McCurdysays. “The trouble with low-light workcomes when you have very brightsources that drop off quickly, liketorches or firebrands. A person’s facenear [the source] may be a T16, but justa foot or so away, you’re barely regis-tering anything. So realistically supple-menting those sources to get a bit of thebackgrounds was the challenge.”

To that end, McCurdy and gafferAndrew Taylor devised filter packs tomatch his supplemental lamps to theirsources. “The glow sticks were proba-bly the easiest, as we could just wrapMini-Flos in a mint green and hide themabout the set as needed. But the redflares were horrible; that kind of red isvery difficult to photograph well and canlater become very noisy in the digitalrealm. Also, the flares burn quitequickly, so you have a problem of main-taining the light. They’re beautiful whenthey first go off but become quitehideous, as they create so much smokeand noise. Our solution was to startwith wide shots showing the girls strik-ing a flare and then tossing it offcamera. As soon as the flare was out offrame, we’d bring up our supplementallighting — gelled lamps on flickerboxes— and douse the real flare. In post, wegraded that wide shot of the real flare toperfectly match our following shots,usually taking out a bit of the red.Instead of fighting to match all thoseshots to the real flare, we just changedone shot, which was much easier.”

Because each of these sources

Above: Junoleads the athleticRebecca (SaskiaMulder) througha tunnel. Below:

CinematographerSam McCurdy

(at camera) linesup a shot.

Observing, fromleft, are director

Neil Marshall,stunt coordinatorJim Dowdall and

1st AD JackRavenscroft.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

offers its own distinctive hue — crim-son red, warm orange, sickly green andbright white — The Descent benefitsfrom an array of lighting that helps keepthe visuals fresh. However, McCurdydismisses any notion that he plannedthe resultant color scheme. “I reallywish I could take credit for it,” helaughs, “but it was more subconsciousthan that, really. We start with whitelight at the beginning and gradually stripthat away to get more of the greens andreds to help suggest our characters aretraveling into the various levels of hell.Then, we come back into white daylightat the end of the film. Our story told uswhere we were going, but we didn’texactly plot out every step of how wewould get there.” With a chuckle,McCurdy adds, “I also think we got quitefed up with the red flares at some pointand stopped using them as much.”

McCurdy and Marshall gradedThe Descent with colorist Kevin Phelanat London’s Lip Sync Post, and the color-corrected files were recorded out to35mm on an Arrilaser. “We did a lot oftesting with different print options,”notes the cinematographer. “They’doutput about five minutes of footageand we’d have a print made at Deluxe,running that back-to-back with the samescene from our original printed rushes tosee what artifacts we were picking up inthe digital process. Well, the differencewas just huge, mostly in the blacks. Andbecause we were making a horrormovie set in a giant cave, the blackswere most important. We needed thedarkest blacks to keep the audienceguessing what was in those corners,away from the light.”

“There are a lot of good Britishdirectors working today who are tryingto keep productions based in the U.K. orEurope,” notes McCurdy, who will soonre-team with Marshall on the $25million project Doomsday. “It’s films likeThe Descent that are helping a newgeneration of filmmakers learn the craft,but with more money comes moreresponsibility and oversight, so we’ll seehow far we can go with the next one.”

Revisiting a Cult Favoriteby Jay Holben

In 1972, when British Lion Filmswas on the verge of closing its doors,millionaire John Bentley purchased thestudio and decided to put a film intoproduction quickly to allay fears that hewould strip the company down and selloff the assets. The film was The WickerMan, an odd horror yarn about a fictionalisland off the coast of Scotland and apoliceman’s search for an allegedlymissing child. The picture was still inproduction when British Lion Films wassold again, this time to Michael Deeley,who, upon seeing the finished film,pronounced it one of the worst he’d ever

seen. After tapping Roger Corman forediting and marketing advice, Deeleyrecut the picture and released it. TheWicker Man was a box-office successand has since become a favoritemidnight movie.

A new take on The Wicker Man,directed by Neil LaBute and shot by PaulSarossy, CSC, BSC, will appear in movietheaters this month. “I had seen theoriginal Wicker Man and had alwaysregarded it as an odd but wonderful cultfilm,” says Sarossy, whose creditsinclude Where the Truth Lies (see ACSept. ’05), Affliction (AC Nov. ’98) andThe Sweet Hereafter (AC Dec. ’97). “It’sone of those films that sticks with youfor a long time. It’s a fascinating

A massivewicker effigy is

set ablazeduring the

finale of TheWicker Man, aremake of the

1973 cult hitabout a policedetective whouncovers dark

deeds whileinvestigating a

crime on aremote island.

The

Wic

ker

Man

pho

tos

by A

lan

Mar

kfie

ld,c

ourt

esy

ofW

arn

er B

ros.

24 September 2006

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

26 September 2006

premise, and I was excited to work on aremake.”

Most of the picture was filmed inand around Vancouver, British Columbia,and about half was shot on BowenIsland, just off the coast. “We hadremarkably few sets,” says Sarossy.“About 90 percent of the film was dayexterior; that’s normally challenging inthat part of the world, but miraculously,we were only disturbed by the rain for10 minutes over 45 days of shooting!Completely by luck of the draw, we werehit with gorgeous weather.”

The story follows Edward Maulis(Nicolas Cage), a sheriff who is called

out to a small, secluded island to inves-tigate the alleged disappearance of alittle girl. Everyone on the island deniesthe child’s existence, and as his investi-gation progresses, Maulis uncoversevidence that the entire community iscovering up a very dark matter.

“For a scary film, we have veryfew night scenes,” notes Sarossy. “Wewere somewhat students of the Polan-ski school of filmmaking: creating acreepy atmosphere in plain sight. Forday scenes, we definitely did not resistthe beauty of the island. We felt thejuxtaposition of the gorgeous environ-ment with the sinister things that were

happening created an interestingtension.”

Working without the benefit ofclassic high contrast and deep shadows,Sarossy often created atmospherethrough composition and camera move-ment. “I tried to invest the frame andcompositions with an increasing senseof dread as the story goes on,” he says.“We know something odd is afoot, andwe worked to represent that composi-tionally, making the frame tell the storyas much as we could. As the storyprogresses, Maulis wanders about theisland conducting his investigation, andthe camera is like his companion as theclues and details are revealed. As theinvestigation goes on, we realize mostthings are not as they initially appeared;then the camera represents Maulis’innocent eye and we start to obscureparts of the frame. We get glimpses ofthings, and we peek around corners andshoot through doorways. I was veryoften creating a frame within a frame,and we had little elements pass throughthe frame almost casually — did we seethat?

“The whole story takes placeover the course of three days,” hecontinues, “so we do have some nightscenes, and in them the camera is verymobile and subjective so as to enhancethe feeling of dread. “The camera move-ment around Maulis suggests he isbeing watched. He’s not alone in thesedark places he’s investigating.”

Sarossy’s sinister cameraworkincorporated a great deal of Steadicamwork by operator David Crone. “David’sone of those guys who practically livesin his rig,” the cinematographer noteswith a laugh. “We did use Steadicamquite a bit to give the actors as muchfreedom as possible.”

Sarossy filmed The Wicker Manin Super 35mm 2.35:1 with PanaflexMillennium cameras and Primo primeand zoom lenses. “We pretty much hada B camera running full-time,” he notes.“That was because of the daylight hourswe had to work with, and because wewere conscious of scheduling turn-around time for the cast. If you aren’tcareful, the schedule can get later and

Right: SisterSummersisle

(Ellen Burstyn)is one of the

unusualcharacters the

detectiveencounters

during hisinvestigation.

Below: Theofficer, Edward

Maulis (NicolasCage), discovers

a mysteriousearthen mound.

TLFeBOOK

Why risk your valuable footage with distribution format

video? The high-performance AJ-HDX900 2/3" camcorder

offers 4:2:2 sampling and intra-frame recording at 100Mbps

in 11 high definition formats that hold up through layers of

special effects, graphic overlays and constant editing and

processing. Collaboration and content exchange are

essential in sports production, cable shows and reality

TV - and nothing maintains the original image integrity and

sound quality like DVCPRO HD.

when full HD production quality counts.

Reality check - With 1080i, 720p,24p and 25p capabilities, theHDX900 is perfect for long-formHD programming such as realityshows, documentaries, musicvideos, concerts, cable networkshows and many more.

AJ-HDX900 DVCPRO HD CamcorderIts native 16:9, progressive 2/3" 3-CCDs and 14-bitprocessing assure stunning, pristine HD video. Highlyversatile – records in 720 at 24/25/30/50/60p and 1080 at 24/25/30p and 50/60i. Records up to 33 minutes on a single cassette. IEEE 1394 interface for easy transfers.

For more information visit www.panasonic.com/broadcast or call 1.800.528.8601

© 2006 Panasonic Broadcast

TLFeBOOK

28 September 2006

later each day and really eat into theavailable daylight hours.

“I’m very conscious of the short-comings and compromises of usingmultiple cameras,” he continues. “Itaffects not only my department but alsothe sound department. They get upset ifwe’re trying to do a wide and a close atthe same time, because it reallycompromises the sound quality of the

closer shot. We tried very hard to workin the additional camera in a responsibleway that didn’t compromise things visu-ally. That usually translated into notdoing a wide shot and close-up at thesame time, and trying to instead get adifferent perspective on the scene withthe B camera.”

Although The Wicker Man wentthrough a digital intermediate (DI), a

digital finish was not part of the film-makers’ original plan, and it was there-fore not a factor in the decision to shootSuper 35 instead of anamorphic. “Weknew we had a great variety of compli-cated situations for the camera, amongthem aerial, underwater, Steadicam,and twilight shots that would need extraspeed,” explains Sarossy. “That was themain reason I chose Super 35. Also, itwas much more practical to shoot withmultiple cameras, as there are manymore [spherical] lenses available. I loveanamorphic and leap at the chance toshoot in that format, but this wasn’t thefilm for it.”

The Wicker Man’s emphasis ondaylight hours also meant Sarossy hadto depart from his usual strategy ofavoiding HMIs. “I love tungsten light-ing,” he says. “There’s an incrediblearticulation possible because of thehuge variety of small tungsten fixturesthat are available. HMIs are a necessaryevil; they’re large, clunky and cumber-some. Still, for day-exterior shoots,HMIs are obviously the tool of choice.”

However, the cinematographerdid get to employ some tungsten units,as the island has very little electricity

Above: Two ofthe local

residents, Dr.Moss (Frances

Conroy,foreground) and

Sister Beech(Diane Delano),

hold Maulisdown as another

residentprepares to

break his legs.Below: The

crew gets readyto film one of the

production’smany day

exteriors onlocation in

BritishColumbia.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

and relies on kerosene lanterns and fire-light for interior illumination. For dayinteriors, Sarossy streamed HMIdaylight through the windows andaugmented it inside with warm tung-sten lighting through flicker boxes tosimulate kerosene lamps. “Becausethere is very little modern lighting on theisland, we ran into the classic conun-drum of lighting without a source of light

on night exteriors,” he says. “I’ve foundit’s very often difficult to successfullycreate artificial moonlight. You can lighta local area, but the falloff in thedistance betrays where the light isreally coming from.”

In an effort to avoid this, Sarossyused Maxi-Brutes overhead that wereoften double-diffused with 12'x12' or20'x20' muslin bounces, creating a soft,

nearly directionless ambience. “I tend tolight high and then underexpose, ratherthan not use enough light,” he explains.“I try to shoot at a T4. I believe in givingthe focus puller a fighting chance. I’venever really preferred using such a tinydepth of field that you’re conscious of it.”

One of the few sets the produc-tion built was a ruined church, which isthe centerpiece of the island community.The set was constructed in an open field,and Sarossy had a 40'x40' silk positionedover the open ceiling to control daylightover the course of the shooting day. Forsequences set in the church at night,gaffer Burton Kuchera came up with theidea of rigging a series of Maxi-Brutes onthe truss holding the silk. A 12'x12'muslin bounce was mounted above thesilk, and the Maxis were aimed straightup at the muslin so the light wouldbounce off the muslin and pass throughthe 40-by silk into the church. “We calledthe rig our ‘pyramid of light,’” recallsSarossy. “At night, you could see that bigcone of light from a mile away. It created

Director ofphotography

Paul Sarossy,CSC, BSC

(center),Steadicam

operator DavidCrone and 1st

AC ShawnHarding awaitthe next setup

as Cage (inbackground)gets a quick

touchup.

30

TLFeBOOK

an incredibly soft, beautiful toplight thatdissipated gently around the set. It wasthe most convincing moonlight I’d everseen.”

The Wicker Man climaxes withthe burning of a huge human effigymade of wicker wood. “We had oneshot to get that right, because the effigywas so large only one was made,” saysSarossy. “We had nine cameras rolling,and we had to shoot it all in one takeand leave it to the gods. It ended upgoing off perfectly, actually! One of thecamera angles was from the base of theeffigy looking up, and at one momentthe burning head falls down right on thecamera. It’s an amazing shot, becausethe camera keeps rolling as it’s engulfedin flames, and burning embers are basi-cally melting the camera!”

The Wicker Man markedSarossy’s first experience with a DI, andhe notes that although he is pleasedwith the results, he found the process tobe far less convenient than a photo-chemical finish. “The shortcoming of DI

is that the cinematographer must bephysically in the facility when it’s beingdone,” he says. “With conventionaltiming, you can be off on another projectin another part of the world, and they’llsend prints for you to review so you cansend notes back to the timer. The DI iscertainly much more powerful, but it’smuch less convenient, especially ifyou’re on another project when they’re

ready to do the DI. I had to fly down toLos Angeles to grade Wicker Man onmy days off from another project I wasshooting in Toronto.

“However, our very first sessionat Pacific Title put my mind at ease,” he adds. “Our colorist, CorrineBogdanovicz, is incredibly visual, andshe did a beautiful job with the film.”■

Introducing the KODAK VISION2

16 mm Film Kit.Designed and priced exclusively for students and educators, the KODAK VISION2 16 mm Film Kit makes shooting film easier and more affordable than ever. It includes everything you need—film, processing, one-light transfer, and step-by-step instructions to walk you through the entire process.

Your film is ready.

Are you?To order* or learn more, visit www.kodak.com/go/studentkits

or call 800.621.FILM

© K

odak

, 20

06.

Kod

ak a

nd V

isio

n ar

e tr

adem

arks

.

*Currently available in the U.S.

31

Sarossy and hiscrew prepare tofilm the town’spagancelebration.

TLFeBOOK

32 September 2006

Just after 10 a.m. on January 15,1947, a young housewifenamed Betty Bersinger waswalking south on Norton Ave.in Los Angeles, pushing her 3-

year-old daughter in a baby carriageas she made her way to a shoe-repairshop two blocks south of 39th St.Strolling down the sidewalk, whichbordered an empty field, shesuddenly noticed a pale-white figurelying among the weeds. As sheslowed to take a closer look, shemistook the form for a discardedmannequin because its top andbottom halves were lying a footapart. On closer inspection, however,Bersinger realized to her horror thatshe was staring at the mutilatedcorpse of a neatly bisected female.

Bersinger quickly pushed the babystroller to the nearest house,pounded on the door, and told thewoman who answered to phone thepolice. That call set off a rapidlygrowing sensation at the crime scene,where the late Elizabeth Short would,in death, finally receive the attentionthat had eluded her as a would-beHollywood starlet. The ghastlytableau inspired months of luridheadlines in the nation’s newspapers,which referred to the raven-hairedvictim by her nickname, “the BlackDahlia” (a moniker inspired by the1946 noir movie The Blue Dahlia).

A gruesome landmark in theannals of L.A. crime, the BlackDahlia murder remains the city’smost notorious unsolved crime.

Vilmos Zsigmond,ASC brings an air ofdread and doom to

The Black Dahlia,whose plot springsfrom Los Angeles’

most famousunsolved murder.

by Stephen Pizzello

Unit photography by Rolf Konow, SMPSP

Darkest Noir

Darkest Noir

TLFeBOOK

American Cinematographer 33

Numerous authors have writtenbooks detailing their pet theories onthe case, but no one has definitivelyidentified the killer. Surprisingly,given the classic noir trappings of thecase and its era, few films have usedthe incident as a backdrop. Asidefrom the 1974 telefilm Who Is theBlack Dahlia? (a production thatemployed retired lead detectiveHarry Hansen as its “technical direc-tor”), the 1981 feature TrueConfessions (which incorporateselements of the case into its plot),and the recent indie-film exploita-tion effort Black Dahlia, this seem-ingly fertile material had remainedneglected.

Enter director Brian DePalma,who knows a thing or two about

creating morbid thrills onscreen.Rather than adapting one of thetrue-crime accounts of the case,DePalma opted to adapt JamesEllroy’s novel The Black Dahlia, inwhich Short’s murder threatens todestroy the lives of two Los Angelespolice detectives who team up tohunt the killer. Ellroy, of course, hasstaked a claim as the king of literarynoir by exploring men’s darkestimpulses in such books as L.A.Confidential, American Tabloid andMy Dark Places.

Intent on lending his picturean appropriately stylized ambience,DePalma recruited his old friendVilmos Zsigmond, ASC, who had

worked with the director onObsession, Blow Out and The Bonfireof the Vanities. Zsigmond relished theopportunity to apply his skills to anoir drama, although he admits hewas unfamiliar with source material.“I didn’t know much about the BlackDahlia before I signed onto theproject, so the whole story was basi-cally fresh to me,” he says. “I didn’tread Ellroy’s novel, so my approachto the movie was based on JoshFriedman’s script and my discussionswith Brian. Of course, we all knewthis was a film-noir idea. I’d seen L.A.Confidential and knew it was basedon a book by Ellroy. That movie is agood example of what I call ‘color

Opposite: Policedetective Dwight“Bucky”Bleichert (JoshHartnett) huntsfor a killer in theHollywood Hills.This page,above: Themurder victim,would-beactress ElizabethShort (MiaKirshner), seesher showbizdream turn into ahorrifyingnightmare.Below: DirectorBrian DePalma(left) conferswithcinematographerVilmosZsigmond, ASC(center) andproductiondesigner DanteFerretti onlocation inBulgaria.

Pho

tos

cou

rtes

y of

Un

iver

sal P

ictu

res.

TLFeBOOK

34 September 2006

noir,’ because it’s shot in color buthas the feel of a black-and-whitemovie.”

Zsigmond was well preparedto explore Ellroy’s shadowy milieu ofhardboiled cops and dangerouswomen. A native of Hungary, hegrew up watching an era of black-and-white classics such as CitizenKane and The Third Man, andlearned most of his lighting tech-niques while shooting black-and-white projects. “In film school, I gotmy training in black-and-white only,because it was 1951 and we didn’thave color film at the school yet,” herecalls. “During my final year, westarted to get some color film, but Inever got to use it. Black-and-whitealways depended on light and shad-ows, so we had to learn to light well.With black-and-white film, youcannot just bounce a light into the ceiling and get good results,because it would look so boring youwouldn’t be able to watch it. Youhave to create lit areas and shadowareas, and essentially, the shadowsare more important than the lights.

“When I started to shootcolor, I still lit like I was working inblack-and-white because that’s theonly way I saw movies. Later on,when soft-lighting techniques camealong, I tried to use them but neverreally enjoyed it. I find soft lightingvery boring. I grew up studyingpainters like Caravaggio andGeorges de la Tour, whose lighting ismore realistic, with light comingthrough windows and from sourceslike candles or fires. For me, lightingis always about trying to duplicatethe romanticism of sources. I thinkthe more abstract forms of lighting,like soft-lighting techniques, don’tcreate any tension in movies, espe-cially crime movies. When you’redoing a crime film, you have tocreate shadows. The Black Dahliawas certainly that kind of movie, so Icouldn’t think of a more appropriateway to light it.”

Lighting was only part of

Above: Policeand reporters

converge on thegrisly crime

scene at 39th andNorton. The

murder site wasre-created at an

uncompletedresidential

development inSofia. Right:

During anighttime sweep

of the area,Bleichert (right)

discusses thecase with his

partner, LeeBlanchard

(Aaron Eckhart).

Darkest Noir

TLFeBOOK

American Cinematographer 35

Zsigmond’s challenge on the show,however. He and a fellow AcademyAward winner, production designerDante Ferretti, were also tasked withcreating a believable facsimile of1940s Los Angeles in Bulgaria, wheretax incentives and inexpensive laborhelped reduce the project’s budget.Zsigmond recalls, “There was talkabout shooting in France, and thenthey talked about shooting in Italy,and then Germany, but we ended upin Bulgaria. That was a shock to me,because I thought we’d lose a lot offamiliar territory by not shooting inHollywood. Ultimately, we did abouteight days of shooting in Hollywood,and I think we got enough flavorfrom the real locations. At any rate,the site of the murder doesn’t looklike it did back in the Forties becauseit’s become a more residential neigh-borhood. It was easier to re-createthat street and others from scratch inBulgaria, where the mountains actu-ally looked pretty similar to theHollywood Hills. Of course, if wehad shot in the States, all the interiorsets would have been built on stages

anyway, because I don’t think wecould find many interiors today thatlook like they did in 1947. By build-ing everything from scratch, we wereable to better re-create the period.

“Still, it’s a shame that doing apicture in Hollywood now costs somuch, because it would be so mucheasier to stay in town,” he continues.“It’s hard to believe that shippingheavy furniture and props and hiringlocal technicians would reduce the

budget by 50 percent. It’s a real strug-gle to shoot in L.A. for economicreasons, so you have all of theseshows going to Canada, Australia,New Zealand and Romania. It’s reallya pity that we cannot somehow finda way to make these movies inHollywood.”

Ferretti was also nonplussedwhen he learned he would have tobuild wholly believable L.A. settingsin Eastern Europe. “Brian basically

Above: Ferretti’sArt Deco-accented policestation,constructed in anabandoned paperfactory, gaveZsigmond theopportunity tocreate a classicnoir atmospherewith hard shaftsof light generatedby HMI unitspositionedoutside the set’swindows. Theoverheadfluorescents weremostly cosmeticfor day scenes,but for nighttimescenes in thesquad room,gaffer Nimi Getterfitted the fixtureswith Osram tubes(Lumilux 830Warm Whites at3,000°K) to boosttheir illumination.Left: Zsigmondmanipulates ahandy set ofmoveableVenetian blinds topaint Eckhartwith slashes oflight.

TLFeBOOK

gave me the script and said, ‘Goodluck,’” he recalls with a wry laugh.“He felt that I knew L.A. very welland could pull it off. Nevertheless, Idid a scout in L.A. just before we left,and we did a lot of research about theBlack Dahlia. I looked at the realmurder site, even though that streetdoesn’t look the same today, and Ialso looked at all of the pictures thatwere taken back in the Forties. Whenyou have good information at yourdisposal, it’s not that difficult todesign convincing sets. What makesit difficult is when you have to workin an unfamiliar country with crew-people you don’t know very well. Ibrought all of my key people fromItaly, the States and London —construction coordinators, paintersand so on. Plus, I brought a graphicdesigner from L.A. to work on all ofthe neon signs and posters for ourstreet sets. But I also used a lot ofBulgarian laborers from Sofia, andthey were very good. We hired localcarpenters, plasterers and othercraftsmen, but most of them hadonly worked on low-budget projects,so we had to teach them certainthings about working on a movie of

this size.“Initially, I was told I could

find whatever I needed in Bulgaria,but after two weeks I realized Icouldn’t get anything,” continuesFerretti. “So I spoke with my setdecorator, who then went back toL.A. for several weeks to collectprops. In all, we shipped over aboutseven containers full of props and setdressing; we even shipped over theperiod cars! We ultimately builteverything from scratch in Bulgaria,including about 25 interiors thatwere constructed in an abandonedpaper factory. I started my work fourmonths before shooting began, andit was a very big job.”

The interior sets built withinthe former factory included a policestation, a portion of City Hall,several nightclub interiors, thehouses and apartments of variouscharacters, a seedy motel, and manyoffices. Exterior sets built at otherlocations in Bulgaria included themurder site, a stretch of HollywoodBlvd. (which did double duty as astreet in East L.A.), six BeachwoodCanyon bungalows, and two boxingrings (one of which was built in an

ice-hockey arena). Back in L.A., theproduction built a diner on a beachin San Pedro and newspaper-officeinteriors, and also lent a Forties lookto a block of the real HollywoodBlvd. in front of the PantagesTheatre.

The Black Dahlia opens inspectacular fashion with a sequencedepicting the infamous Zoot SuitRiots of June 1943, a viciousoutbreak of hand-to-hand violenceon the streets of East L.A. that pittedU.S. military soldiers and sailorsagainst Mexican-American youths.Ferretti and his team built the “EastL.A. street” in an unfinished devel-opment just outside Sofia, whereonly the sidewalks had beencompleted. (This set was laterconverted into a stretch ofHollywood Blvd., and the oppositeside of the same street was redressedas the murder site.) The riot scenebegins with a shot of a burning palmtree and glides down to street level tosweep viewers right into the fighting.After dollying down the streetthrough the action, the camerazooms into a side alley, where hard-nosed cop and former boxer Dwight

36 September 2006

Darkest Noir

The film’s openingsequence,

depicting thenotorious Zoot SuitRiots of June 1943,was staged on an

exterior “East L.A.”street set built by

Ferretti and hiscrew in Bulgaria.The complicated

shot, which beginson a burning palm

tree and thenglides down to thefighting at ground

level, wasexecuted with a

SuperTechnocranemounted on a

dolly.

TLFeBOOK

“Bucky” Bleichert (Josh Hartnett)rushes to the aid of Sgt. LeeBlanchard (Aaron Eckhart). Theirfriendship — and partnership —ensues.

The riot and other scenesafforded DePalma prime opportuni-ties to cover action in one continu-ous shot, a tactic he generally prefersto traditional coverage. Zsigmondenthuses, “What I like about Brian isthat he has the courage to do a shotthat’s two minutes long, and if it’swell-choreographed you end up witha really classic sequence.As a camera-man, you enjoy doing those shots,because when you’re finished you’reso proud that you managed tophotograph something that was sodifficult to do. It also looks great onthe screen, because there aren’t somany cuts; I hate watching moviesthat have lots of cuts. If Brian can dosomething in one shot, he will. Henever does the usual, boring stuff. Heknows when he needs an extremeclose-up, but over the course of an

entire movie he’ll only go to anextreme close-up maybe 10 times.That way, they have more impact.”

To capture the riot scene,the filmmakers dollied aSuperTechnocrane along a track thatran the length of the street.When theshot reached the end of the track,they took advantage of the crane’stelescoping arm to move the camerainto the alley with the two hero cops.Gaffer Nimi Getter, who has workedwith Zsigmond on and off since1992’s The Long Shadow (the cine-matographer’s only attempt atdirecting), estimates that 40 percentof the film’s scenes were done ascontinuous shots. He expressesadmiration for DePalma’s free-flow-ing style: “We were only supposed touse the SuperTechnocrane for theriot scene and one other scene, butBrian liked it so much that we kept ituntil the end of the shoot, since weonly had a few days left in the sched-ule — and he took full advantage ofits unique capabilities. Some people

have a lot of equipment lying aroundthe set, but often they won’t use it orwill use it for things you couldaccomplish more easily with simplermethods. On this show, we usedequipment to do things that onlythose pieces of equipment could do,which was nice.”

In lighting this street set,Getter says he and Zsigmond“exhausted the entire equipmentsupply of Bulgaria” and alsoemployed additional lighting equip-ment that had been shipped fromMole-Richardson and other facili-ties. “We had lots of Dino lights, lotsof cranes, miles of cables, you nameit. The set dressings that Dante andhis people created were incredible —all the marquees and neon signslooked completely real. We had touse one generator just for that stuff!Then, of course, we had to bring inour own streetlights, which werenumerous. We used Dinos mostlyfor backlight or three-quarter back-light, but we also used many 10Ks,

American Cinematographer 37

U.S. sailorscharge towardtheir hand-to-hand battle withMexican-Americanyouths.

TLFeBOOK

38 September 2006

5Ks and smaller units to light thesides of the buildings and shape thearchitecture. There were a lot of firesburning during the riot scene, andwe augmented those by creating avariety of flicker effects on the Dinosand on small 1K and 2K units thatwe hid around the set.”

The SuperTechnocrane is alsoshowcased in a grand reveal of theDahlia’s corpse, a shot staged as a

vertical crane move that culminatesin a God’s-eye view of the murdersite. The early-morning scene beginswith a shot of the two detectives intheir squad car. The camera thenrises up the side of a nearby buildingand over the roof to reveal the corpsein the distance. The ambitious shotdoesn’t end there, as Zsigmonddetails: “A woman starts screaming,and we follow her to the next street

over, where we see a bicyclist go by.Then we pan to the original streetwhere the cops are, with the cranestill high up. The camera eventuallydrops and tilts down to show a truckdriving by and a couple of principalswalking in the street. Taken as awhole, the shot establishes the entiregeography of the scene, and it goeson forever; it’s a beautiful, beautifulshot. Everything had to be just right— the timing, the choreography, thedriving. The 1st and 2nd ADs had togive cues while Brian was watchingthe video monitor, and it took usabout six tries to get it just right.Someone other than Brian mighthave shot the scene in the standardway, with a wide establishing shotand then a person walking by thebody, but we don’t even go close tothe body in our shot.”

No less ambitious were thescenes shot on Ferretti’s interior sets,which presented a variety of logisti-cal difficulties. The productiondesigner notes that the cavernousspace was often “freezing cold,” andGetter reveals that the structure washardly an ideal place to create a

Darkest NoirRight: Blanchard

and hisparamour, KayLake (Scarlett

Johannson),form a cozy

romantictriangle with

Bleichert.Below:

Bleichert alsofinds himself

tempted into aseries of

passionateencounters with

wealthy,bisexual bad girl

MadeleineSprague (Hilary

Swank).

TLFeBOOK

soundstage: “When we saw it for thefirst time, it was completely run-down. The windows and skylightswere broken, and we had to usemiles of black plastic to cover them.Also, there wasn’t really any way tohang lights. Fortunately, we didn’treally have to do that, because mostof the sets had hard ceilings that werarely removed; if we did hanganything, it was inside the sets them-selves. Sometimes we cut holes in theceilings to accommodate lights, butmost of the time we just let them be.”

One of the most importantsets was the spacious police depart-ment, which was dressed withVenetian blinds that allowedZsigmond to create the hard slashesof light that have always been a clas-sic motif of film noir. “The fixturesyou see in that set were not reallylighting anybody in the day scenes,”notes Zsigmond. “They were justdecorative, because we needed muchmore light than they could provide.”Getter and his crew lit the setthrough the windows with a row ofHMIs of varying intensities thatincluded 18Ks and 12Ks; when light-

ing from inside the room, theydeployed 6Ks or smaller units.Smoke was added to enhance theshafts of light. “For the night scenes,we based the lighting on the practi-cals that were in the set,” Getter adds.“There were fluorescents hangingoverhead that we fitted with goodOsram tubes, and lamps on all of thedesks. Those were our main sourcesof light.”

“On this picture, I used direc-tional light as much as I could, andthat allowed me to create shadowsbecause I could cut it more easily,”

says Zsigmond. “We mainly usedMole-Richardson lights with Fresnellenses in them. I used the barn doorson the fixtures to create soft shad-ows, and flags to create hard shad-ows. Many times we used dimmerswhen we had characters movingfrom one room to another.

“When it came time to doclose-ups, I tried to go with themood of the scene, so I was oftenkeeping the characters in silhouetteor half-light,”he continues.“I usuallytry to avoid toplight because it’s notreally pleasant on any actor’s face. I

Left: Hartnettand Johannsonprepare for ascene staged inthe house Kayshares with Lee,where Zsigmondand DePalma(observing at farright) strove tocreate a lighter,more invitingambience. Notethe fluorescentfixturessupplementingthe hanging on-camera sources.Below:Bleichertreaches out toKay as apotential sourceof salvation.

American Cinematographer 39

TLFeBOOK

40 September 2006

always try to get a modeling qualityfrom my key light. Many times Iwould use a 45-degree angle for mykey light, or a 90-degree sidelight. Ihardly ever use backlight, because itlooks unnatural unless the sun isdirectly behind the actors. I use filllight almost all the time, and I’m a

great believer in it. Many people feelthat with today’s film stocks, youdon’t have to use fill because yourambient light basically gives you fill.Sometimes ambient light can lookgood, but sometimes that kind oflight is not so great because it’scoming from the wrong angle —

especially if it’s coming up from thefloor. If the effect of ambient lightisn’t good on the faces, then I wouldrather use fill light that comes fromthe direction of the camera. The nicething about fill light is that it alsogives you a little eyelight; even a verysmall amount of fill will show up inthe actor’s eyes. To create fill on thispicture, I would usually use a bigsource, like an HMI or a tungsten 5Kor 10K, coming through a 4'x4' pieceof diffusion material in a frame, likeRosco 216 or 250.”

To create moonlight effects fornight scenes, Zsigmond usually usedgelled HMIs, but he did employ alighting balloon for one scene inwhich Bleichert hunts for cluesaround the Beachwood Canyonbungalows beneath the vintage“Hollywoodland” sign. The balloon,which contained six 1.2K HMIs, wasgelled with 1⁄2 CTO. “To tell you thetruth, it’s rather difficult to workwith a balloon because it’s very hardto control the light,” Zsigmondopines. “If you go too high with it, itdoesn’t give you enough light, and if

Darkest Noir

Above: Thedetectives

observe theinterrogation ofa prime suspect

from behind aone-way mirror.Right: Bleichert

and Det. RussMillard (Mike

Starr) ponder theevidence in a

hotel roomilluminated by a

red neon glow.

TLFeBOOK

ww

w.fl

enne

r- fr

aem

bs.d

e

N E W !

sachtler – Tokyo OfficeJapanPhone (+81) 3 5457 1381 email info@sachtler.co.jp

sachtler – Beijing OfficeChinaPhone (+86) 10 8528 8748email rick.xin@vitecgroup.com

sachtler – Berlin OfficeGermanyPhone (+49) 30 6779 80-6 email info-berlin@sachtler.de

sachtler – New York OfficeUSAPhone (+1) 845 268 2113 email sales@sachtlerusa.com

sachtler – Headquarters GermanyPhone (+49) 89 321 58 200 email contact@sachtler.de

www.sachtler.com

CINE 30 HD

Snap & Go mechanism

3628 320 4 8 12 16 20 240

50100150200250300

Step 1

Step 18

Counterbalance Cine 30 HD

Wedge plate Total load (kg)Cen

ter o

f gra

vity

hei

ght (

mm

)

+ LARGE SLID ING RANGE OF CAMERA PLATE

+ S I D E L O A D C L A M P I N G M E C H A N I S M

+ 1 8 C O U N T E R B A L A N C E S T E P S

+ B O O S T B U T T O N I N T E G R AT E D

+ W I D E PA Y L O A D R A N G E

= TH E SE A M L E S S

CH O I C E

+ + + + + + + + + +see you at:

IBC, AmsterdamSept. 8 - 12, 2006

Booth 11.420+ + + + + + + + + +

TLFeBOOK

42 September 2006

you’re low, it can create too muchlight in some places.” In creatingmoonlight with standard fixtures, “Ilike to go just halfway toward a blueeffect,” he says.“If I used an HMI, I’dwarm it up with 1⁄2 gel. If I used atungsten light, I would only put a 1⁄2CTB on it. Using half correction onHMIs and half on tungstens makesit easy for me to avoid using filterson the lens. I don’t like to use filtersin front of the lens too much.”

Zsigmond did apply somelens diffusion to scenes involvinglead actresses Scarlett Johansson andHilary Swank. Johansson plays KayLake, a woman living withBlanchard who becomes increas-ingly interested in Bleichert, andSwank plays a bisexual femme fatalewho lures Bleichert into a series oftorrid trysts. “I couldn’t possiblyshoot such beautiful actresses with-out a diffusion filter on, because

lenses are too sharp today andpeople don’t want to see raw faces,”he maintains. “My favorite diffusionfilter is the Tiffen Soft/FX. I wouldgo with a strength of 1⁄2 or 1, up to amaximum of 2, because that’salready very heavy; I try to be care-ful, because I don’t like the look ofdiffusion. If you watch any of mymovies, you’ll never detect that Ihave the diffuser on. That would bebad, because we’re not in the DorisDay era! Many times, to make thecut better, I even use a bit of diffu-sion on the male actor, becauseotherwise the shots will not blendtogether.”

According to A-camera focus puller Alexander Bscheidl,Zsigmond’s primary lenses on theshow were Angenieux’s 24-290mmand 17-102mm zooms, although he also employed an ArriflexLightweight Zoom, as well as ZeissUltra Primes for situations involvingmultiple cameras, longer-lenscompositions or Steadicam work byoperator Jaromir Sedina. “I likezoom lenses — I have since my days

Darkest NoirThe hardnosed

detectives makea name for

themselves bybeating each

other to bloodypulps in a

boxing matchthat provides the

policedepartment with

some splashypublicity. To

illuminate thering, the crewinstalled 500-watt bulbs in

“mushroomlights” hanging

from anoverhead grid.

According toGetter, “On thering itself, wehad a stop of

about T5.6.Above the grid,we hung some

additional unitsto create

lighting thatgradually fell

off; the first tworows around thering were at T4,

and the nextfew rows wereat T2.8. Vilmoswanted to seeall the way to

the back of thearena.”

Zsigmond adds,“All of the

boxingsequences were

shot with longlenses or with

wide-anglelenses on the

Steadicam. Wewere mostly

shooting insidethe ring, almost

creating thePOVs of the

boxers. Whenthe Steadicamwas not in thering, we used

long lenses froma Giraffe crane,

or dollies. Wealso got some

low angles fromvery close to thering, shooting up

into the lights.”

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

44 September 2006

with Robert Altman,” saysZsigmond.“You have all of the lensesyou need in a zoom; I don’t likechanging lenses all the time, so it’svery convenient. Also, there aremany times when I like to change thesize of the lens during a shot, espe-cially on dolly shots. When you use azoom, you don’t have to build the

dolly track so precisely to suit aparticular lens. Many times whenyou’re shooting with a standard lens,you’ll make a little mistake and real-ize the dolly should have ended up abit closer to the actor. With a zoomlens, I can accomplish everythingeasily, because I can start at 24mmand go to a 27mm or 30mm. Or I

can keep the dolly and zoom movingand end up in a close-up. For me, allthe conveniences of using a zoom areunbeatable. Some of the directorsI’ve worked with never liked thezoom before we worked together,but they started to like it when theysaw how convenient it was and howmuch faster we could work. Plus, thelenses are so good now that zoomlenses are really almost as sharp asstandard lenses. Some of them areeven so sharp I have to use diffusionon them!”

As an aside, Zsigmond pointsout that The Black Dahlia includes anumber of split-diopter shots, one ofDePalma’s favorite special tech-niques. “Brian doesn’t like to usetechniques that are very obvious, andI don’t see that particular techniqueas being manipulative because in reallife, the human eye can see both fore-grounds and backgrounds,” he says.Getter adds, “Split-diopter shots arealways a bit tricky, especially whenyou’re shooting moving actors froma moving dolly and you want to keeptwo different focal planes sharp at all

Darkest Noir

The seedy RedArrow Inn,

where Bleicherthas his trysts

withMadeleine, was

another setFerretti’s crew

built in the“freezing cold”

paper factory.The production

designer flew ina graphic

designer fromLos Angeles to

create theshow’s neon

signage, and allof the period

cars wereshipped from

the States.

TLFeBOOK

times. Those particular shots took alot of time and calculation, but wealways managed to pull them off.”

Because the show’s mainproduction company, Nu-Image,had its own supply of Arriflexcameras, Zsigmond shot withArricam Studios and Lites and usedArri 435s for high-speed work. Heencouraged DePalma to shoot in 3-perf Super 35mm (2.35:1) for bothpractical and economic reasons, andused Kodak Vision2 500T 5218 as hissole film stock. By opting for Super35 over anamorphic, he couldemploy spherical lenses, which gavehim a bigger stop for the film’s low-light situations. Zsigmond also knew3-perf would save money in terms offilm costs and developing, savingsthat could later be applied to theshow’s 4K digital intermediate (DI)at LaserPacific. “I realize now that ifwe hadn’t done a DI, I could not havedone as good a job with the periodlook,” says Zsigmond, who adds thatThe Black Dahlia was his first experi-ence in a DI suite. “With the DI, youdon’t lose anything [in the finaltransfer] like you did when it was anoptical step. Another advantage ofthe DI is that all of the dissolves,fade-ins, fade-outs and special effectscan be incorporated when you’reactually doing the scanning, whichmeans you’re not losing a generationwhen you go from regular footageinto the opticals.

“The 4K scan was the sellingpoint for me,” Zsigmond continues.“I told Brian that the only way Iwould do the movie in Super 35 wasif we could go 4K; I didn’t think 2Kwould be good enough becauseSuper 35 has a smaller negative sizethan anamorphic. Brian really lovesthe anamorphic format, so I had toconvince him we wouldn’t losemuch image quality by shooting inSuper 35 with a 4K scan. That’s howwe ended up at LaserPacific — theywere willing to give us 4K at a goodprice. The DI was absolutely abudget consideration; I had to

www.panther.tv

45

TLFeBOOK

46 September 2006

promise I wouldn’t get too fancy,and that I wouldn’t spend five or sixweeks doing the work. I knew that ifI lit the movie properly, I wouldn’thave to spend as much time on theDI. In the end, the grade took about

14 days.”Colorist Mike Sowa confirms

that LaserPacific was eager to tacklethe 4K process on Dahlia, not onlybecause of the project’s prestige, butalso because it gave the facility the

chance to streamline its DI work-flow. “At that point, we had onlydone 2K projects,” says Sowa. “Wehad some limitations in terms of 4K— data storage, rendering time, andthe amount of time it takes to recordto negative, which is a very slowprocess when you’re dealing with 4Kfiles. On Black Dahlia, we were ableto smooth out some of those issues.”

Sowa adds, “Because Vilmoshad never done a DI before, hisprimary concern was whether whatwe were looking at would translateto film. That’s a pretty typical fear ifa cinematographer hasn’t done a DI,but we took great pains to ensure thequality of the images before Vilmossaw them. We did some little film-out tests to show him, and they wereright on.”

The DI was carried out on aDiscreet Lustre, and the footage wasprojected on a 33'x13' screen with a2K Christie “Black-Chip” (or DLP)Digital Cinema Projector. Sowa saysZsigmond’s mandate for the lookwas “desaturated sepia.” The cine-

Darkest NoirRight: Seeking

leads in thecase, Bleichert

questions anactress in her

moodily litapartment.

Below: Alighting balloon

illuminates aBeachwood

Canyonbungalow, built

in an area ofBulgaria that

resembles theHollywood Hills.Zsigmond notes

that theillumination

from balloonscan be hard to

control, but addsthat “the digital

intermediaterescued us byallowing us totone down the

parts of thescene that were

too hot andmake it look like

a dark, moonlitnight.”

TLFeBOOK

47

matographer notes that duringproduction, he “tried to avoid select-ing colors that were too garish, andwe stayed away from greens duringinterior scenes because greens are notgreat against skin tones. We let thewardrobe department do what theyneeded for the period clothes, butthey knew we didn’t want too manycolors. We wanted the whole movieto have a desaturated look, with theexception of certain scenes involvingKay, Scarlett’s character. When weshowed her in the house she shareswith Lee, we tried to make thosesequences warmer, lighter and moreinviting, because that house is theonly place where Bucky truly feelshe’s at home. In the rest of the envi-ronments, we wanted the atmos-phere to be darker and desaturated,with lots of cigarette smoke and otherstylistic touches from the Forties.”

Sowa reveals that he andZsigmond also dialed a bit morecolor into Johansson’s skin: “Brianfelt that her beauty didn’t comethrough with the desaturated sepialook, so we scaled it back a bit onher.” He adds that scenes involvingblood were “toned down” during theDI to make the effect subtler.“We usethe Lustre as a data-conform tool anda grading tool all in one. It gives megreat latitude to create a lot of thevisual effects through rotoscoping,and it gives me all of the basic color-correction tools as well. I really lovethe box, and once Vilmos saw thekinds of things I could do with it, hebecame thrilled with the process. Ifound this project to be a lot of fun,because the movie has quite a fewinteresting transitions, like windowwipes that start in the middle of theshot and work their way to the outeredges of the frame. Those were aninteresting challenge, because I hadto make the following scene matchinto the previous scene and track thewindows with my color correction.”

Zsigmond, of course, is nostranger to creative image manipula-tion. In fact, he can be considered a

TLFeBOOK

pioneer in that regard. On McCabe &Mrs. Miller, he famously flashed hisnegative with light to create a desatu-rated, Old West feel; on Deliverance,for which he used the Technicolordye-transfer process, he introduced ablack-and-white matrix to mute theforest colors and create a moreominous, suspenseful tone. On later

projects, he went back to flashingand also experimented with theTechnicolor’s ENR process. Hemaintains that the DI allows a levelof creative control that goes wellbeyond these old-school tricks. “TheDI gives us a lot of tools that allow usto do practically anything, and Idon’t think I could do another movie

without one,” he says. “We can makethe look more contrasty, lesscontrasty, more colorful, less colorfuland so on. We have a tool here thatreally improves the final answerprint. Before the DI, we were verylimited in what we could do with thetiming of a print. In order to controlour images and get a good result, we

Zsigmond’s crewhad high praisefor the veteran

cinematographer,whom they

described as“exceptionallygenerous with

his knowledge.”From left: 2nd AC

AlexandreSzabo-Fresnais,A-camera focus

puller AlexanderBscheidl,

Zsigmond, andgaffer Nimi

Getter.

Darkest Noir

TLFeBOOK

had to be very sharp and very goodon the set. Today, we sometimes canlet certain things go on set if we don’thave enough time to fine-tune thelighting or if we don’t have the rightweather. For example, we can rely onthe DI to diminish the differencebetween sunny footage and overcastfootage. That’s a great thing for us.Today we have the problem of neverhaving enough time in the schedule,so a DI helps in that regard as well.”

“Some people say, ‘Today wehave faster films, so you don’t evenneed to light.’ But I say regardless ofwhether you have slow film or fastfilm, you still have to create a look! Itdid help me to have a 500-ASA filmon this movie, because I needed anegative that allowed me to controlcontrast. With black-and-white film,we always had that kind of control— if you needed more contrast, youoverdeveloped your negative, and ifyou needed less contrast, you under-

developed it. With color, you couldnot do that to the same degree. Butnow, with the DI, we can achievethose results much faster.”

Zsigmond’s continued enthu-siasm for his profession is obvious,and his love of moviemaking wasreadily apparent to his crewmem-bers. Speaking to this point, Getterhas the last word:“Vilmos is not onlya great craftsman and artist, he’s alsoan amazing person, and you can feelthat straightaway. On the set he’squite amazing. He’s not young, as weknow, but he has an incredibleamount of energy, and more thanthat, he belongs to a generation ofworking people, which is becomingrarer and rarer, especially when youbecome a star in your profession.He’s up on his feet from call time towrap time. Even when we weredoing a very, very complicated shot,where it would take an hour or twoto reset for the next take, he would

not sit down to wait for everything tobe ready. He would constantly walkaround, look around and find some-thing to improve here or there. He’sextremely willing to adopt whateverideas you can give him.” ■

A Division of Samy’s Camera585 Venice Blvd. Venice, CA 90291(310) 450-4365 FAX (310) 450-3079

NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

Samy’s DV & EditSamy’s DV & EditBEFORE YOU BUY YOUR DIGITAL CINEMA EQUIPMENT, TALK TO US!

WE ACCEPT MASTERCARD, VISA,AMERICAN EXPRESS & DISCOVER. SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY & CORPORATE P.O.’S WELCOME www.samysdv.com

1/3" 3-CCD 16:9 HD/DVCPRO/DVCinema P2 Camera withCineSwitch™ Technology,CineGamma™ Software and IEEE 1394 Interface.

AG-HVX200

GY-HD100UPROFESSIONAL

• New 3-CCD Pro HDV • Interchangeable lenses • Totally professional com-

pact shoulder camcorderwith full Progressive HDand real 24P specs

24P Pro High DefinitionCamera Recorder

XLH1

• HD Resolution withSelectable Frame Rates

• Professional JackPack• 20x HD Video Lens• DIGIC DV II Image

Processor • Still images can be

captured at full HD resolution (1920x 1080)

High Definition 3CCD Camcorder

AJ-SD93 Also Available

AJ-HDX900

• Adds on support for 1080i and 720p• Three 2/3" 520,000 Progressive CCD imagers• 24P/30P/60i recording capability • Captures film-like 24-frame images using CineGamma

Affordable ProfessionalHi-Definition Camera

AJ-SDX900Also Available

• Record HDV, DVCAMand DV images at 60i,50i, 30, 25 or 24 fps, ineither SD or HD

• Three Super HAD™,1/3-inch, 16:9 native CCDs

• 12X Optical Zoom CarlZeiss Vario-Sonnar� T* Lens

HVR-Z1UProfessional HDV Camera

The PDW-F350 True 24P, overcranking and undercranking. Plus time lapse, slow shutter and SD/HD switchable recording. And the PDW-F350 is a news camcorder, with the rugged,shock-resistant construction you can take to extremes.

XDCAM HD PDW-F330

XDCAM HD PDW-F350

Digital Camcorders

HD recording in 1080/59.94i, 50i, 29.97P,25P and native 23.98P. The operator canalso select the desired bit rate to record in,either 35, 25 or 18 Mb/s depending on thedesired picture quality and recording length.Being a dual format camcorder, it can alsorecord in SD mode at 25 Mb/s.

TM

SONY IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK

The HDW-F900 CineAlta camcorder is capable ofcapturing images at 24/25/30 frame progressiveor 50/60 interlace at 1080 resolution.The HDW-F900h utilizes a 2.2 Mega Pixel FIT

CCD and comes equipped with various gammacurves for superior imaging. Features dual filterwheels, comprehensive software adjustment parameters for superior image control.

SONY HDW-F900 Cine AltaHDCAM

FREE Leica M7 with 50mm summicron lens A $5,200 VALUE!*with purchase of Sony HDW-F900 Cine Alta HDCAM Camera, HD Lens & Professional Tripod.*offer expires 9/30/06

To all D.P.’s, Producers, Directors, and anyone else who hasalways dreamed of owning a Leica – Dreams can come true!

New!

New!

New!

New!

49

TECHNICAL SPECS

Super 35mm 2.35:1(3-perf)

Arricam Studios, Lites; Arri 435

Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm and17-102mm zooms;

Arriflex Lightweight Zoom; Zeiss Ultra Primes

Kodak Vision2 500T 5218

Digital Intermediate

TLFeBOOK

50 September 2006

Though he is best known as MikeLeigh’s longtime cinematogra-pher, Dick Pope, BSC hasacquired another particularspecialty in recent years: 19th-

century costume dramas set in theworld of the theater. Pope first ven-tured into this territory with Leigh’sTopsy-Turvy (see AC March ’00),one of seven films he has shot for his

compatriot since 1990; in that film,the focus was 1880s England andthe light opera of Gilbert andSullivan. A few years later, Poperevisited 1850s England for NicholasNickleby (2002), in which the titularprotagonist attaches himself to thetraveling Crumbles theater troupe.Now there is The Illusionist, writtenand directed by Neil Burger

(Interview With the Assassin), whichrequired Pope to immerse himselfin the Austro-Hungarian empirecirca 1900 and explore the world ofmagic, early cinema, and an earlycolor-photography technique calledthe autochrome.

Based on a short story bySteven Millhauser, The Illusionisttells the tale of Eisenheim (Edward

Dick Pope, BSC creates a handsome, antique look for The Illusionist, the tale of a turn-of-the-century magician

whose tricks put him at odds with a prince.by Patricia Thomson

Unit photography by Glen Wilson

Conjuring thePast

Conjuring thePast

TLFeBOOK

Pope because he was convinced thecinematographer’s work wouldenhance the story’s emotionaldimension considerably. “Dick’sfilms with Mike Leigh are incrediblycinematic because they’re so well-observed,” says Burger. “He’d donethese period films for Leigh —Topsy-Turvy and Vera Drake [ACJan. ’05] — and made them look sobeautiful and inhabit their particu-lar time so perfectly. Plus, there’s areal emotional quality to the light-ing. Dick has a very beautiful way oflighting faces that makes them moreluminous. I knew The Illusionist wasgoing to be a dark film, yet I wantedto be able to connect with thesecharacters, and I knew he would beable to do it.” Pope acknowledgesthat lighting faces “is a big thing forme. I’m totally in love with it andhave been since I was a young boy,took up a camera and immediatelyconcentrated on portraiture.” Headds that this is one reason he getson so well with Leigh. “The land-scape of the human face is, in a way,what cinema is all about. That’swhere the emotion is. The rest of itleads up to that.”

Norton), a brilliant magician whobecomes entangled in a love trian-gle. Set in Vienna and shot largely onpractical locations in Prague, thefilm begins in 1885, when the ado-lescent Eisenheim and youngDuchess Sophie are smitten witheach other, but prohibited from con-tact because of class differences.After they’re separated, the storyjumps to 1900, when Eisenheim isattracting ever-growing crowds withhis stage performances. As his famerises, so does the status of his audi-ences. Soon he is performing for theCrown Prince Leopold (RufusSewell) and his fiancée (Jessica Biel),who turns out to be the duchessEisenheim once loved. Suspicious ofthe illusionist, Leopold orders ChiefInspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to spyon him. Meanwhile, Eisenheim ruf-fles the prince’s feathers with publictaunts about his ambitions to thecrown. When tragedy strikes,Eisenheim summons his powers tobring down the monarchy before itdestroys him.

Though Burger was planningto work with a mostly Czech crewon the production, he sought out

American Cinematographer 51

From the time he wrote thescript, Burger wanted to conjure anearly-cinema look for TheIllusionist, and he made autochromephotography the cornerstone of thevisual design. “In films likeNosferatu, there’s something verycreepy in the image itself — in thegrain and density, the way it flickers,the vignetting,” says the director.“Those create a disquieting feeling,and I wanted a disquieting, unnerv-ing undertone for this picture. I didn’t necessarily want to make itlook old; I wanted it to be real butotherworldly, to inhabit this realmof dream and mystery.” Burger didnot want to go with black-and-white, and he eventually discoveredthe autochrome, a color-photogra-phy technique that was almost con-temporaneous with his story.During that period, cinema andmagic were closely interwoven, andmagicians tapped early moving-image and projection devices tohelp create their illusions.

Burger arrived at his firstmeeting with Pope carrying a copyof The Art of the Autochrome.“When I met Neil, I knew very little

Opposite: Duringa commandingperformanceonstage,mindblowingmagicianEisenheim(Edward Norton)proves that hestill has apowerful effecton his formerparamour,Sophie (JessicaBiel). This page:Eisenheimteaches ChiefInspector Uhl(Paul Giamatti) asimple buteffective trickunder thewatchful eye ofhis businessmanager, Josef(Eddie Marsan).

Pho

tos

cou

rtes

y of

Yari

Film

Gro

up

Rel

easi

ng.

TLFeBOOK

52 September 2006

about the history and detail of theseautochromes,” recalls Pope. “It cameas something of a revelation to mewhen he opened the book.”Inventedby the Lumière brothers in 1903,autochromes involved unique trans-parencies created by coating a sheetof glass with microscopic starchgrains dyed red, green and blue,which formed a screen of color par-ticles. Carbon black was applied overthe plate, filling in the spaces aroundthe starch grains. Then a silver gela-tin emulsion was applied over thecolor screen. When the plate wasexposed, the base side was turnedtoward the subject, and the colorscreen acted as a filter over the emul-sion. The developed plate rendered apositive color image with delicatecolor qualities that resemble hand-tinted photographs.

“There’s almost a sepia tonewithout any sepia,” notes Burger.“Because of the primitive emulsions,certain colors that are the predomi-nant dyes seem to leak into all theother colors. You can get a green or

golden tinge, even though it’s notsepia and may have all the colors ofthe rainbow.”In The Illusionist, gold,ochre, rose and green dominate the palette, particularly beforeEisenheim’s emotional declinemotivates a shift to a more mono-chromatic look oriented aroundsickly green hues. “They were notquite like anything I’ve seen,” saysPope of the autochromes. “Manywere really crude but very beautiful,like looking at color for the firsttime, which back then, of course,was the case. The focus too could bereally selective, as you would achievewith Swing & Tilt lenses. The glasswasn’t perfect; it could be quite bub-bly in places, and you’d lose focus inthose spots. So color wasn’t the onlyunusual characteristic; it was thefocus as well.”

Pope’s challenge was mimick-ing the look of the period techniquewith modern cameras, lenses andemulsions. He chose to film TheIllusionist with an ArricamStudio/Lite package from Arri

Munich that included Cooke S4prime lenses, and he shot the pic-ture on Kodak Vision2 500T 5218and Vision2 200T 5217. “It took usquite a while to find the best way tocapture this look,” says the cine-matographer. “It was quite trickyand involved quite a lot of experi-menting. For instance, I did a majortest of various scenarios inside andoutside Eisenheim’s theaters withstands-ins in costume and makeup.It was a full day, from morning untilvery late at night.”

After putting various lightingtechniques, film stocks and filtra-tion through their paces, Popebegan experimenting in collabora-tion with visual-effects supervisorViktor Müller at UPP in Prague.“We worked together on differentmanipulations of the film, includ-ing various strengths of bleachbypass applied to the print, theinterpositive, and the original digi-tal output neg,” recalls Pope. Mülleradds, “We also combined bleachbypass on the positive with bleach

The purposefulEisenheim

ignores Uhl’sadvice to forgethis feelings forSophie, who is

engaged tomarry Crown

Prince Leopold.

Conjuring thePast

TLFeBOOK

bypass on the negative, as well ascombining digital bleach simulationwith positive bleach bypass.”

The principle was there, butthe effect was always “too much,”says Pope. “It’s a difficult thing todescribe, but autochromes are verysubtle. When you first look at them,they appear quite desaturated andpastel, but when you look closer,certain strong colors shine through.So we abandoned the physicalbleach bypass but took the basicidea into the digital-intermediate[DI] suite and manipulated theimage with a lookup table wedevised, one that would bring outthese greens, reds and yellows. Afterthat, we were there very quickly.”Because the production did notplan to print any dailies, this lookuptable became a critical tool in main-taining a consistent look for theDVD dailies, he adds.

Knowing that time for the DIwould be limited, Pope tried toaccomplish as much as he could incamera. “I thought perhaps all I’dneed, come the DI, was this magic

lookup table, this simple twist of thedial, to immediately bring the wholething into this fabulous autochromeworld,” he says wryly. “If only lifewere like that!”

Down the line, theautochrome illusion was completedat EFilm by colorist Steve Scott.Highly regarded by Pope, Scott wasintroduced to Burger by Pope earlyin the project. “After a good deal ofexploration with various softwaretools and filters, a final look wasachieved by first desaturating theimage, then reintroducing satura-tion to the skin tones and variousspot colors,” explains Scott. “A filterwas then applied to slightly blur theluminance of the shot while keepingthe color component sharp. Thisrepresents a pretty broad generaliza-tion of the process and techniques,as each shot was dealt with individ-ually to optimize the effect and tokeep the look understated. Ofcourse, there were shots throughoutthe film that required unique solu-tions. For example, in one scene,Leopold slaps Sophie across the face.

We animated and auto-tracked avery soft shape onto her cheek,which allowed us to slowly bring upa flushed color as she recoveredfrom the blow. It’s subtle, but it sup-ports the narrative. A final pass wastaken to make sure all of the blacksand highlights were rich and consis-tent, and to make final color tweaksto assure the entire picture had acohesive ambience.”

During production, the bookThe Art of the Autochrome steeredPope toward certain lighting deci-sions. For example, mostautochrome landscapes “were takenwith the sun over the shoulder andwere never really backlit — it’s theforerunner of the early Kodak BoxBrownie,” says Pope. He and his col-laborators scheduled exteriors withthis in mind. “Luckily, we wereshooting in spring, so we had quite alow sun. I love some of these exteri-ors because they are absolutely likethat autochrome book.” Onefavorite is a wide shot of Eisenheimrunning down a riverbank andplunging into an icy river to reach

Uhl’s admirationfor the magiciantests his loyaltyto the prince.

American Cinematographer 53

TLFeBOOK

54 September 2006

Sophie; another shows youngEisenheim chasing after her carriagealong a main street beneath the cas-tle walls.

In keeping with the look ofearly cinema, Pope avoidedSteadicam shots and wide-anglelenses. He mainly used the S4primes in the 32mm-150mm range. In the theater, he used anAngenieux 17-80mm Optimo zoomon the camera crane for maximumflexibility.

In order to maximize the pic-ture area and record the most infor-mation, Pope shot The Illusionist inSuper 1.85:1. He notes, “We talkedabout doing Super 35mm, but thefilm is set in a theatrical environ-ment, so the proscenium arch wasimportant to capture, as was theaudience stacked up vertically inbalconies and circles.We would havemissed a lot of that or been forcedout very wide to get it.”

In addition to the autochromelook, other techniques of early cine-ma occasionally come into play, par-ticularly during the prologue, which

is set in 1885. These include theflicker effect of hand-cranked cam-eras, vignetting, distressed film, andiris transitions. During preproduc-tion, Pope tested different ways tocreate such effects in camera, but thefilmmakers ultimately decided toconstruct them all in post. “I reallythink that was a wise decision,because without an assembly, howdo you know exactly where theseeffects are needed?” says Pope. “Wemight have chosen wrong areas toapply it to, the wrong strength of theeffect, and so on. Most importantly,it would have taken our eyes off theball of the main event.”

Instead, these effects wereachieved in the DI. Scott explains,“Where required — and especiallyin the first section of the film, whichwas a semi-flashback and the mostcomplicated look — a very soft andsubtle oval vignette that matchedthe proportions of the aspect ratiowas added to bring down the out-side of the frame. Sometimes thisoval shape was discarded and irreg-ular vignettes were used to take

advantage of the particular compo-sition of a shot. The final touch wasadding a subtle hand-animatedflicker effect to suggest early cine-matography.”

During principal photogra-phy, Pope’s biggest challenge wasfilming Eisenheim’s performanceson practical locations before a liveaudience. The production used twohistoric theaters: an opulent theaterin Prague and a more dilapidatedone in the rural town of Tabor.Both are still active stages, so film-ing had to be squeezed in betweenshows. The production’s very firstlocation was the Prague theater. “Ithad to be, because it was their onlydark week in our entire schedule,and we had exactly five days insideto finish,” recalls Pope. “It was abaptism of fire.

“We went straight into illu-sions on the stage,” he continues.“The very first thing we did was theillusion with the growing orangetree, which was a logistical night-mare.” Based on magic tricks of theperiod, the illusions were to be

Conjuring thePastInitially

impressed withEisenheim and

his abilities,Leopold (Rufus

Sewell) turnsconfrontationalas he senses a

rival forSophie’s

affections.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

56 September 2006

achieved in camera as much as pos-sible. “I always wanted the audienceto be thinking, ‘How doesEisenheim do it?’ rather than, ‘Howdo the filmmakers do it?’” saysBurger. In the case of the orangetree, an intricate set of gears pushedout leaves folded within stems,which then bloom. This mechanicalprocess constituted the major partof the illusion, but it was just onepart of the puzzle facing Pope.Sweeping camera moves on a SuperTechnocrane meant the tricks wouldshare the shot with both Eisenheimand his audience, which was a kindof collective character shouting atthe stage. The bigger camera movesencompassed all three elements:audience (including principalactors), magician and magic trick.

“On the very first day of theshoot, we had our principals onstage and amongst a full theateraudience of hundreds,” says Pope.“Very first up was the most challeng-ing shot of the entire film! This wascompounded by the fact that a playwas just finishing its run, so all wehad was the one day to get in thetheater and prep the entire interior.The grips and the producers had

sweat pouring off their brows withthe thought we wouldn’t make it.The camera was to be placed at theback of stage looking out at thepacked theater, while in center-stageforeground, Eisenheim was to stepup to the table and begin the illu-sion. As the orange seed in the potbegan to sprout and grow, we wereto track in towards it, then circle it180 degrees, then track back outover the front of stage and then outover the audience, skimming theirheads as we pulled right backtowards the rear of the theater stalls,while all the time the shrub was tocontinue to grow into a fully matureorange tree bearing fruit, but nowwith the camera angle diametricallyopposed to where we had started.

“The fact that I had neverbefore worked with any of my crewmade what was a very ambitiousand complicated camera move eventrickier,” continues the cinematog-rapher.“We had to deal with how tophysically move around EdwardNorton without destroying his per-formance, communicate with alargely non-English–speaking audi-ence, and deal with the really com-plicated mechanics and timing of

the tree growing. It’s the type ofmove that could be a serious con-tender for a heavily rotoscoped CGIeffect, but it was mainly achieved incamera, which makes it so muchmore believable. The credibility ofThe Illusionist hangs on the veryauthenticity and believability of itsillusions.”

Pope decided a Technocranewould enable him to achieve manyangles fairly quickly. “I know fromexperience that theaters are reallyawkward to work in, and setting allbut the simplest of shots can be real-ly time-consuming,” he says. Keygrip Robert Kodera deliberated forsome time about what was physical-ly possible in such a tight space,and he ultimately decided a 25'SuperTechnocrane was the onlyoption. “Full credit to him, as thisdecision proved to be spot-on,” saysPope. “The crane hadn’t as long areach as I wanted but was very shortat the back. Our only option was tobuild its track along nearly the entirelength of a side aisle, largely to max-imize the number of positions wecould achieve, but also to keep it outof the shot from onstage. But ofcourse, it was a theater with a steep

Conjuring thePastEisenheim

demonstrates hisshowstopping

“orange treeillusion.” This

complexsequence was

shot with aSuperTechnocrane

on the very firstday of the shoot at

a rented theater.“Because a play

was just finishingits run, all we had

was the one dayto get in the

theater and prepthe entire

interior,” Poperecalls. “The gripsand the producers

had sweat pouringoff their brows

with the thoughtwe wouldn’t

make it.”

TLFeBOOK

rake, and the track had to be leveledto stage height. Although we couldquickly remove sections of track onstage when necessary, the downsidewas the real possibility of the bucketknocking against the theater boxesthat lined the aisle. But becauseeverything had been measured per-fectly, that didn’t happen, and theshot worked.”

During the orange-tree illu-sion, he continues, “we had to fullyextend this shortish arm to get thecamera across to the center of thestage and auditorium so the symme-try would be maintained. Wetracked into and then tightly aroundthe table with the growing plant,sucking the arm first in and thenout, while Edward deftly moved outof and then back into the sweepingshot while the camera maintainedperfect alignment with the center ofthe theater.” The shot also incorpo-rated a hidden zoom and a majorlighting change. “It was the toughestof calls, but it worked great straightoff, and my crew were superb,”enthuses Pope.“I think the success ofthis first major challenge set the tonefor the rest of the shoot, whichbecame a hugely enjoyable andrewarding experience.”

Pope’s lighting package wasbased on the rig he’d developed forTopsy-Turvy’s historic theaters,“units that were fast, flexible andomni-directional, because withMike Leigh I had to be prepared forwhatever he was going to hit mewith.” Helium balloons, China balls,and practicals were the mainsources. “With skirts and systems ofchopping the light, I can control[helium lights] like a directional softlight. I’m very specific about howthey’re played. It’s something I’veevolved over the past few years. I usethem as specific lighting tools, not asbig, general sources of illuminationMy gaffer in Prague, Vaclav ‘Enzo’Cermak, was brilliant at taking allthis onboard and had everythingpatched through dimmers and fed

57

TLFeBOOK

back to a lighting desk.”These units were combined

with practical footlights, whichhoused Edison-style bulbs with lowcolor temperatures appropriate tothe era. The footlights weredesigned, built and installed by pro-duction designer Ondrej Nekvasiland his art department. “They had

reference pictures, and Ondrej hadthem made by Czech craftsmen,beautifully,” says Pope. No flameswere used in the location. In fact,says Pope, “We weren’t even allowedto strike a match.” But once the pro-duction moved to the theater inTabor, Pope eliminated electricalsources and based his look on flame.

“We did the footlights in flame, theunits again custom-designed andbuilt by Ondrej, and they rule thewhole feel of the theater.We installedgas lighting in the auditorium, and Isupplemented that with both realand simulated flames.”

This theater is whereEisenheim performs his more sedi-tious tricks: conjuring souls frombeyond the grave to make accusa-tions against the prince. For Pope,just as for magicians of the period,smoke and mirrors were instrumen-tal in producing the ghostly appari-tions, which were actually a form ofhologram. How smoke was used iscrudely demonstrated in the film bythe chief inspector, who uses a rudi-mentary movie projector to throw aperson’s image onto white smoke.For Eisenheim’s more subtly craftedapparitions, Pope “tested manythings, and it was tricky. If you fill anenclosed area with smoke, you can

Conjuring thePastPope ponders

his cameraplacement. “Mychallenge was

to make themagic look

believable,” hesays.

58

TLFeBOOK

project a moving picture onto it andcreate a hologram-like effect with awavering, otherworldly feel. One oftheater’s favorite tricks consists ofprojecting ghostly images onto care-fully lit shark’s-tooth theatrical gauzeand making them appear and disap-pear to great effect. This goes rightback to Victorian theater. Thosemagicians extensively used theseearly holograms in such a sophisti-cated way that I’m sure they couldtrick a turn-of-the-century audience.They wouldn’t have so much luckthese days, but studying these tricksformed the basis of how we wentabout creating the apparitions.”

Pope’s proudest moment wasa mirror illusion done almost entire-ly in camera. For this trick, Sophie isbrought to the stage and shrouded ina hooded cloak. An 8'-tall mirror isbrought before her. Initially, herreflection is as it should be, but soonits movements no longer mirror

hers. A puff of vapor rises and exitsthe mirror, like the breath of lifeescaping, and the reflection collaps-es to the floor. “We discussed thisscene endlessly,” says Pope. “At thebeginning, we considered usingbluescreen and covering the mirrorin chroma-key blue, rather thangoing through the possible night-mare of revealing the entire rig offilm lights and film crew in thereflection and also revealing the factthat there was no audience in theupper circles! So I had a swivelmechanism put on the mirror.Then, when we were looking into it,I lit up the audience quite a lot tocompensate for the fact that theglass was quite old and I was losinga lot in the reflection. So I was ableto control the reflection problemsand light levels, and to me it lookedperfect.” In the end, bluescreen waslimited to just a few of the reflectedelements in the middle of the scene.

Actual mist was pushed out througha hole in the mirror; it was enhanceddigitally only as it began to dissipate.“I had been dreading this scene, butit came together,” says Pope. “Mychallenge was to make the magiclook believable. Doing so much of itin camera definitely makes it morebelievable, and I’m really pleasedwith it.” ■

59

TECHNICAL SPECS

Super 1.85:135mm

Arricam Studio, LiteCooke, Angenieux and Canon

lenses

Kodak Vision2 5218, Vision2 5217

Digital Intermediate

Printed on Kodak Vision 2383

TLFeBOOK

60 September 2006

On the call sheet for today’swork on Pathfinder — offi-cially Day 51 of 51 shootingdays — the note under“Location” says “Widgeon

Marsh/far far away and out of callservice.” In truth, the densely wood-ed valley leading to this provincialpark in British Columbia is onlyabout an hour from downtownVancouver, but guarded by forbid-ding rock walls and what geologistscall a “slough” of deep mud.Cinematographer Daniel Pearl, ASCarrives on this early December daywith the same challenge he has faced

over the previous couple of months:the sun will set at about 4:20 p.m.,and in the forest where directorMarcus Nispel has staged most ofthe film’s scenes, it grows dark evenearlier. At least it’s not raining for achange — this afternoon the fore-casters have correctly predictedsnow.

For Pearl, whose first cine-matographer credit was TobeHooper’s The Texas ChainsawMassacre, and who also shot the2003 remake with Nispel, the taskwas to make a virtue of the job’s lim-itations. After all, he and Nispel were

Pathfinder, shot byDaniel Pearl, ASC,

pits Norse invadersagainst NativeAmericans in

874 A.D.

by Fred Schruers

Frame grabs by Encore Hollywood Unit photography by Doug Curran

VikingsontheWarpath

TLFeBOOK

on a restricted color palette ofbrowns and grays. “It’s not a veryhappy tale,” says Pearl, “so we didn’twant happy, bright, bubble-gummycolors.We didn’t want the look to becolorful and poppy. This film isgoing to look quite desaturated.”

“I come out of music videos,and we get hired to do a lot of glossycommercials,” notes Nispel, whoestimates he has done some 300shoots with Pearl.“The main reasonto do a movie is to go against thegrain of what I normally do, whichis why [on film projects] I usually gofor kick-ass topics and a painterlystyle. My background is in illustra-

telling a story that was set in 874A.D., a time when, according tosome recent archeological finds,Vikings may well have precededColumbus to North America’sshores. The saga’s main character isGhost, a savagely mistreated Vikingchild who is abandoned by his clanand raised by North AmericanIndians. Ghost eventually grows tobecome a fierce warrior (played byKarl Urban) whose destiny sendshim into a grim and bloody battlewith the seagoing warriors who lefthim behind.

To convey the movie’s era andsober tone, the filmmakers settled

American Cinematographer 61

tion and painting, and I’ve alwaysloved the look of Degas and Rembrandt. [On Pathfinder,] Ididn’t want to do an epic; I wantedto make an anti-epic. I wanted toachieve a very small movie with bigideas. In a way, the story appeals tomy immigrant mindset, becausewe’re making a movie about the firstAmerican hero.”

During preproduction, theduo sought to impress executives at20th Century Fox by shooting eye-catching test footage in a swamp inThousand Oaks, California, whichshowed an actor rising out of thewater to fell a full-dress Viking amid

Opposite page:Abandoned byhis Viking clanand raised byNativeAmericans,Ghost (KarlUrban) becomesa skilledwarrior andconfronts thebloodthirstyVikings inPathfinder,which boasts astrikingdesaturatedlook. This page,top: Vikingleader Gunnar(Clancy Brown)checks hiscompass.“[Director]Marcus Nispelwanted theVikings to bedown and darkand sketchy,”says DanielPearl, ASC. “It’sa bit moreominous if youcan’t make outwho’s beneaththe helmet.”Bottom: Ghost’sadoptive familycounsels theyoung warriorin a steam hut.

Pho

tos

cou

rtes

y of

20th

Cen

tury

Fox

.

TLFeBOOK

62 September 2006

shafts of cathedral light. Ultimately,their visual strategy for Pathfindermarried a restricted color palettewith the expansive, cross-lit stylethey had employed on the Chainsawremake. “We’re trying to make thefilm feel old, because the story sup-posedly takes place more than athousand years ago,” says Pearl.Nispel notes that the resultantscheme is “full of atmosphere anddesaturated stone colors, like daVinci painting Mona Lisa — andyou don’t get to do that if you’re sell-ing beer.”

Pearl adds that nature and cir-cumstance enhanced the produc-tion’s nearly monochrome aesthetic.Thanks to delays in the greenlight-ing process and Fox’s dictum that afilm this philosophically bleak hadto be made for a price — i.e., northof the border — the filmmakersfound themselves scheduled for aSeptember start in a northern lati-tude. After a preliminary scout andconversations with seasoned localcrewmembers, the filmmakers real-ized they were in for a prolongedstruggle. “At first, Daniel was reallysad,” says the mischievous Nispel,“because he learned that in theseforests, even on a bright day, it’salmost pitch black.” Nispel hadheard that when The 13th Warriorcame to Vancouver to take advan-tage of the area’s normally abundant

rainfall, the filmmakers were “pun-ished with good weather.” However,Nispel’s own reverse optimism did-n’t pan out: “We came here hopingfor good weather because we wantedshafts of light in the forests. Didn’thappen, so we got all this fog andrain.”

Though Pearl had to createsome innovative solutions toaccommodate the weather, he notes,“For lighting, I had a fairly standardHMI feature package, except that Itend to carry more than 50 percentof my heads as Fresnels.”To simulatethe primitive illumination of theperiod, “I also had a small tungstenpackage with a good selection ofMole Baby Softs, from 4Ks on down,which I like to use for fire effects.Because we were not that into creat-ing color on this film, I used 1⁄4 or 1⁄2CTO for nighttime fire effects andno gels at all for the daytime fires. Toget the varying intensity and subtleshadow shifts that indicate firelight,I had the electricians wave theirarms at an irregular rhythm in fairlyclose proximity to the source. I didhave a few Kino Flos on hand, but Iused them sparingly.”

Thanks in part to his trust inwhat a digital intermediate (DI)could do, Pearl stuck with an emul-sion he had come to rely on duringprevious shoots: Kodak Vision2500T 5218. “5218 was outstanding.

The grain structure is so ideal forwhat Marcus and I wanted that Idecided to shoot the whole pictureon it, even our few full-sun exteriors.This is my second picture in a rowusing only 5218, and productionabsolutely loves it. I couldn’t be hap-pier with the tonal range it capturedand its response to the look we gave it in the DI suite at EncoreHollywood.

“I rate it at 400 ASA, and for afew scenes I’ve pushed it one stopwith no noticeable increase in grain.I find the stock to be very filmic, butKodak has made it so good that weneed the DI process to get back tothe kind of old-style contrast I want.I keep that in mind when I exposethe film, capturing everything andthen later just crushing away whatwe don’t need.”

Standing ankle-deep in theboot-sucking mud of the Widgeonslough, he and Nispel share a wrysmile as wranglers bring a splendidwhite mare onto the set. Striving tocomplete the last of the production’s“clean-up days,” they are shootingpage 4 of Laeta Kalogridis’ scriptusing a 6' slider that has often stoodin for dolly track in the location’sconfining canyons, streambeds andstands of old-growth trees. “We’vemade extensive use of the compactslider and a Fisher 10 dolly,” saysPearl.“We’ve also occasionally used a

In a flashbackset 15 years

before thestory’s main

action, youngGhost arrives in

North Americawith his Viking

clan. Thealmost

monochromevisuals the

filmmakers hadin mind were

facilitatedby the

circumstancesof the shoot: a

denselywooded area

of BritishColumbia and aSeptember startdate. “The localcrew guys kept

saying, ‘ComeNovember,

there is no lightin the forest —

zip,” recallsPearl.

Vikings on the Warpath

TLFeBOOK

30-foot Technocrane, sometimesmounted on the arm of a ChapmanTitan truck crane. That rig gave us areach of about 60 feet in the air andlimitless flexibility, due to the factthat the dual crane arms create anelbow at their junction. To get someidea of what this allows comparedto fighting the arc of a single cranethat goes in the opposite directionof what is normally required, imag-ine trying to feed yourself withoutan elbow.”

Pearl notes that he used “zeroSteadicam” on the shoot butnumerous handheld shots. (DonReddy was the A-camera operator.)Although the production’s PanaflexMillennium XL is one of the lighter35mm sound cameras, by the time avideo transmitter, filtration, a spraydeflector and Panatape were addedto the camera body, it grew muchheavier. Pearl notes with a smile,“The production did pay for Don tohave weekly massages as thanks forthe great job he was doing.”

As Nispel prepares to capturea shot involving the horse andactress Michelle Thrush (portrayingthe character Indian Mother),Pearl checks the setup, gives the f-stop to B-camera operator WayneMcConnell, and sets off to shoot amuch more challenging sequence,hiking down a muddy logging roadto meet up with a purportedly tame

mountain lion that will be filmedleaping across the frame in slowmotion. He’s been told the big cat isnoise-sensitive, a fact that doesn’tjibe well with a crewmember’s com-ment that a particular camera run-ning at accelerated frame ratessounds like “a baloney chopper.”Thanks to his good rapport with 1stAD Eric Hays, Pearl has survivedworse. As Nispel remarks, “We’vebeen working in the worst weatheryou can imagine — ice, rain, snow,on water, in whitewater. It’s beenreally, really crazy, and we’ve beenworking mostly at night. We went toone location, and after the secondday, thanks to the slippery rocks,moss and snow, we had 17 peopledown with injuries that forced themto leave the set.” Pearl describes thatparticular location as “treacherous,”but adds that local gaffer OwenTaylor and his crew “were great atgetting the big heads into incredibleperches on massive rocks.”

Tramping toward hisencounter with the mountain lion,Pearl comments, “Wayne has beendoing a great job for us, and he’sbeen good at understanding mylighting style, so I don’t have a prob-lem leaving him to protect my inter-ests on inserts. For the dramaticscenes, Don is a fantastic operator.This is my third show in a row withhim, and his credits go on forever.

He’s an old friend of mine fromTexas. We got to know each otherback in ’73. He was director of pho-tography on Benji during the sum-mer I was shooting the originalChainsaw. It was so strange for us tobe 23 years old and shooting moviesthat would both become big films intheir respective genres. We struck upa bit of a friendship based on the factthat we were such anomalies; at thetime, we were about half the age ofthe youngest working cinematogra-phers.”

If Pearl had begun to worry assoon as he got a taste of the weatheraround Vancouver, his first recruit-ing meetings with the local savantswere even more daunting. “When Iwas interviewing crew guys up here,they kept saying,‘Look, you’ve got tounderstand that come November,when you go into the forest, there isno light in there. Zip.’ That’s anotherreason I decided to shoot the entirefilm on 5218; I knew I would needthe speed. I also knew I would beshooting a lot of stuff at night thatwas supposed to be daytime, andthat I’d be shooting in dark placeswhere there was no light in the mid-dle of the day.” Gesturing from thehazy twilight on the path toward thedarkening recesses of the forest, headds, “Look at this now. You go intothe forest, there’s nothing in there.

“Simon Jori, my incredibly

American Cinematographer 63

Ghost andIndian Father(Wayne Baker)are silhouettedin the forest asthe older mandispenses somewisdom.

TLFeBOOK

quick and efficient assistant camera-man, knows the routine up here. Hementioned to me that Tiffen had afilter called the LLD, which standsfor Low Light Daylight. I had neverheard of it, because I hadn’t reallybeen in situations where you’dalways be on the edge of even havingan exposure. Normally, with 5218 orany of the tungsten-balanced stocks,you would use an 85 filter, whichtakes two-thirds of the stop of yourlight. Well, the LLD filter cuts theultraviolet of daylight and colors thefilm a bit, but not fully. It has noexposure compensation and nolight loss; it almost looks like a pieceof clear glass, and I found it to be theideal tool for our daylight scenes. It’salso been helping with the desatura-tion of colors by clipping a lot of thewarmth out of them. This picture isnot nearly as warm as it would be if

I were using an 85.”The brief Pearl and Nispel set

for themselves on Pathfinder was inmany ways a variation of their workon the Chainsaw remake, a projectPearl had pondered hard beforejoining. “Marcus is a very smartman, and it was his idea. At the timewhen he got hired to do the picture,I was shooting most everything hewas doing. The producers were actu-ally not that keen to have me shootit, but he had two ideas that I thinkproved to be true and helped thefilm: he knew I was the one guy thatwouldn’t go in there and just copythe original film, which was a gritty,vérité kind of thing. For me, therewas no percentage in that since I’dalready done it. He also knew thatnobody would care more about theremake than me, because the origi-nal basically made my career. Prior

to shooting Tobe Hooper’s film, Iwas told I could not be in the filmbusiness and that I would probablywind up being a film professor. AndI believed it until I shot that film.Then, suddenly, I was in the filmbusiness. Based on that history,Marcus knew I had to makeChainsaw great again, or else I wasgiving it all away. I had gotten a lotfrom the original, but all of thatcould’ve been wiped out if the sec-ond one didn’t turn out to be a suc-cessful film.

“For most situations, I’m adevout cross-lighter, particularly fordramatic material like Pathfinder,”Pearl continues. “The rich imagesyou get that way appeal to my eye.When I’m looking for camera posi-tions with my operators, I often tellthem to ‘shoot the light.’ This doesn’tmean actually photographing the

The productionprepares to film

with a 30'Technocrane.

64 September 2006

Vikings on the Warpath

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

66 September 2006

lighting instrument, but rather find-ing the camera position, relative tothe light and the subject’s eyeline,that captures my look. Over theyears I’ve had to explain myapproach to numerous students inlighting seminars, and I’ve come upwith an analogy that best explains it.Think of the lighting setup as a bil-liard shot where the key light is theball, the subject is the bumper, andthe camera is the pocket. I’m mosthappy when my light strikes thesubject at such an angle that if thesubject were a mirror, the lightwould be sent right down the lens.”

Nispel later comments,“WhatDaniel has down is the one-sourcelighting approach, which means youdon’t want to go into a bright set.Instead, you backlight it. You needshiny floors, and you need to wet itdown. You need to smoke it up andget the backlight to illuminate thesmoke. Then he shapes what’s infront of it.”

In applying this strategy to

Pathfinder, however, Nispel gavePearl a mandate to keep the villain-ous Vikings largely obscured. “TheVikings are frequently not lit at all,”says Pearl. “Marcus wanted them tobe down and dark and sketchy. Hefeels if you get too good a look at theVikings, they might be laughable insome way. We shot them from lowangles with wide lenses, and youdon’t get to see their faces verymuch. It’s a bit more ominous if youcan’t really make out who’s beneaththe helmet.” However, as seasonedactor Clancy Brown brought moreand more dramatic pith to the roleof Gunnar, the Viking leader, Nispelbegan to remove the actor’s helmet abit. Regarding these threateningcharacters, Pearl says he eventuallybegan to “round them out withlight. We play with a lot with lightand shadow on all of our characters,but there’s a little less light and a lit-tle more shadow on the Vikings.”

Shadowy faces proved to beanother practical benefit, as Pearl,forced to light a series of complexdaytime tableaux while darknessdescended, found himself creating aday look inside an artificial bank offog. In such cases, he says, “it’s quitecommon to put big lights up onCondors to light big areas, [but] wewere in some places where wecouldn’t even use Condors. I thinkwe’ve been pretty successful at creat-ing a daylight look in nighttime sit-uations.A lot of scenes set in the day,maybe one-third, were actually shotat night. We had a very tight sched-ule in terms of the number of setupsand the scope of the project. Themovie’s big, there’s a lot of action init, and Marcus shoots at a very fastpace.”

Creating a sizable backdropthat would play as daytime, saysPearl, “was about placing big lightsfar back.We use a lot of smoke in themovie to diffuse the light. But thething is, when you’re really in day-light, there’s light as far as you cansee. At night, there’s only light as far

as you provide light. So you have tocreate some sort of an end to the set.Basically, we’ve done that by back-lighting the smoke. You can’t seebeyond that, so it creates a false senseof infinity.”

Another homemade aspect ofthe film, so to speak, was the signa-ture desaturation. “We’ll get a lookfor this film that would be very hardto achieve any other way,” says Pearl.“There are other ways to desaturatefilm, like the bleach bypass we didon the Chainsaw remake. But on thisfilm, we’ve been able to go beyondthat. That’s one of the advantages ofusing 3-perf Super 35mm [2.35:1].There’s an old joke that in filmmak-ing there’s a triangle of ‘good, fastand cheap,’ and you can only everhave two of them. But with Super35’s larger negative area, you get the‘good,’ shooting 3-perf answers to‘cheap,’ and running at 67.5 feet perminute, as opposed to 90, necessi-tates fewer reloads, which, over a 51-day schedule, helps out on ‘fast.’ Itallows you to shoot faster film, and itallows you to push in developing ifyou need to. I basically use just a lit-tle overexposure all the time becauseI think that results in a better prod-uct when we’re doing the final grad-ing; you can bring [your exposure]down, but if you bring it up, it canget grainy and noisy.

“We mainly shot with zooms,using the Panavision Primo 17.5-75mm on the A camera and thePrimo 25-275mm on the B camera.We also carried a set of Primoprimes ranging from 14mm to150mm. Marcus likes to use theoptical dynamics of the wide end ofthe 4:1 zoom to create dolly mas-ters.”

Although the production waslight on its feet, budget constraintsand the awkward locations led Pearlto use three cameras for the battlescenes. “Much of the film was shotoff-speed, sometimes 6 fps for 6 fps,but more frequently we over-cranked. Due to the frequently

Vikings on the Warpath

The cunning andstealthy Ghost

emerges from aswamp tosurprise a

Viking warrior.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

inclement weather, my gaffer urgedme to go with the more reliablemagnetic HMI ballasts.”

At one point, the threat of los-ing a day’s work forced Pearl to

come up with a solution that mayprove useful to other filmmakers.The situation arose from a prettystandard scenario: “We occasionallyused shutter angles to compensate

for illegal HMI speeds, which is apractical technique up to 60 fps.While we were shooting a flashbackto the massacre that took placewhen our hero was still a young boy,one camera was mistakenly set at 80fps, which is neither a legal norshutter-fixable speed. I called thetelecine suite at TechnicolorVancouver, where they were doingthe dailies, and asked them to sendme a DVD so I could view the prob-lem. Sure enough, the footage flick-ered.”

Pearl realized that that if heseparated the footage into odd andeven frame numbers, “what I hadwas actually two sets of 40-fps takesat a 90-degree shutter, one being theodd-numbered frames and theother being the even-numberedframes. I put the DVD into my MacPowerbook and viewed the flicker-ing shot. Then, remembering thatthe DVD software allowed for 2x

Vikings on the WarpathLongtime

collaboratorsNispel (left)

and Pearlamidst some

of theproduction’s

2,900storyboards.

68

TLFeBOOK

viewing, I checked the shot at dou-ble speed and there was no flicker.”Pearl convinced the colorist to runhis telecine machine at exactly dou-ble speed. “To everyone’s surprise,there was no flicker when thefootage was run at 48 fps. In theend, we simply used every otherframe, resulting in a flawless 40-fpsshot that’s featured in the film andthe trailer. I’ve since wondered howmany millions of dollars ofreshoots could have been saved byother productions over the yearswith this method.”

As the mountain-lion shot iscaptured (it would later wind up onthe cutting-room floor), the cameracrews reunite for one last, arduousshot. A prone Urban mounts and“rides” a bucking but stationarysled while a wind machine, simulat-ing the foul weather that had earliersent real snow and freezing raindown, blows prop snow into his

face. With that shot, it’s finally timeto pack up, but not before Brownshrugs off his helmet one last timeto say, in his actor’s baritone, thathe’s thankful for how the crew hasstepped up: “This has been a verydifficult challenge, and I’ve got 20years to tell me that’s it’s the tough-est I’ve seen. What you guys havedone is unbelievable. You’re awe-some. Give yourselves a hand.”

Nispel clutches the actor andthanks him, and when Pearl takes amoment with Brown, Nispel citesan example of Pearl’s exemplarywork on the show. “The climacticsequence plays against this big rockwall, and for timing reasons we hadto shoot in the daytime but still keepthis crushed [night] look. So Danielsaid, ‘Look, if the sun comes out, I’lljust put some blacks up and we’lldeal with it.’ But then, while we wereshooting the sequence over 10 days,the sun came and went, and there

was rain, then no rain. It was likefour different movies, you know?Daniel’s work blows me away all thetime, but what blew me away thistime was that he could balance it.When you watch that footage now,you have no idea what the differ-ences were.” ■

TECHNICAL SPECS

Super 35mm 2.35:1(3-perf)

Panaflex Platinum, Millennium XL;

Arri 435

Primo lenses

Kodak Vision2 500T 5218

Digital Intermediate

69

TLFeBOOK

70 September 2006

One of the most frustratingobstacles that continue toplague cinematographers inthis hybrid era is the absenceof a way to accurately and

consistently dictate the look of ourwork during film-to-digital transferof our dailies. For decades, those ofus shooting for theatrical releasehave used the Hazeltine printer lightas a simple, consistent measure ofwhat we’ve put on the negative, bothtechnically and creatively. Withnothing comparable to call upon inthe telecine suite, we find thatdespite all best efforts, we’re not justflying blind, we’re working withouta net. Every time out it’s a newadventure, and the results are neverprecise. Right now, short of sitting atthe colorist’s elbow, there exists noindustry-wide method for us toproperly judge what we’re doing

digitally, let alone protect our vision.Fair or not, a lot of what we do

is judged by an unforgiving “firstimpressions are lasting impressions”ethic. With print dailies now theexception rather than the rule, a largeportion of our time is spent reassur-ing nervous directors and producersthat the movie won’t ultimately lookthe way it does in the electronicdailies. Through the application ofexisting technology, however, it’snow possible for us to quickly andeasily regain full control over ourwork.

What follows is a step-by-stepanalysis of why and how we shoulddo it.

On the Print Side:The Genius of the HazeltineThe Hazeltine console is an

analyzer used for determining what

grade of color and density should beapplied to the printing of a distinctlength of negative.

Hazeltine workflow beginswith a basic calibration tailored tothe demands of a particular emul-sion or desired effect as measuredagainst the laboratory’s standardpractices.

Drawing from a lab roll of upto 2,000', a color timer scrolls thedeveloped film across a scanninghead, stopping to address a singlestill frame from each shot that hasbeen executed by the cinematogra-pher. Simultaneously, a positive rep-resentation of that negative image isrelayed to an onboard cathode-raytube.

Also built into the consoleand subject to the additive systemare three separate dials, one govern-ing the amount of red (R) that will

A cinematographer’s suggestions for better, more preciseimage control in the digital age.

by Richard P. Crudo, ASC

A Call forDigital PrinterLights

TLFeBOOK

measured in printer points has adirect relationship to exposure atthe lens. For example, in most labs,8 points of density on the Hazeltinerepresents the equivalent of 1 T-stopof density during actual exposure ofthe action on set. Fractional modifi-cations apply in kind.

The complete catalog ofprinter-light information (asassigned to each shot by the timer)is ultimately relayed by computer tothe contact printer in order to createthe positive. During the screening ofdailies, a hard copy of this informa-tion is delivered to the cinematogra-pher for reference and approval.

Hazeltine Advantagesa.has predictable, quantifi-

ably repeatable resultsb.enables exact communica-

tion among many differentparties

c.provides the option ofremoving the timer’s opin-ion from the process

d.printer lights help deter-mine/personalize precisefilm-speed rating

e.makes anomalies easy toisolate/correct

f. time-tested, establishedstandard

make up the image, one governingthe amount of green (G) and onegoverning the amount of blue (B).Each of these dials is incrementallymarked to render a measurement of1 point through 50 points. A fourthdial governs overall density, also des-ignated to a scale of 1 through 50points.

Working by virtue of an expe-rienced eye or from the cinematog-rapher’s written or verbal instruc-tions, the timer refers to the CRT’spositive still-picture representationof the negative frame and uses thesedensity and R-G-B controls to “dialin” an acceptable image. Under clin-ical conditions, for example, a mid-range R-G-B Hazeltine setting (theprinter light) for a properly exposedand developed negative would be25-25-25. What this means on apractical level is that a sunny dayexterior will look “normal” whengiven that specific amount of red,green, blue and density. In otherwords, when projected onscreen, thesky will appear blue, grass willappear green, the brightness levelwill replicate that of a clear day, andso on.

Keep in mind that the successof color timing (noted, as always, inthe subjective quality of the result-ing print) is wholly subservient tothe potential or limitation set by the combination of exposure andthe lab’s processing controls.Nonetheless, a certain amount oflatitude is inherent to the system’sdesign.

Variations in color can berealized by shifting the R-G-B print-er light values up or down, eitherindividually or in combinationwithin the established 50-pointrange. On the other hand, densitycorrections are generally made in anamount that is identical across theboard. Thus, equally increasing thevalue of the overall printer light willresult in a darker print; decreasing itwill render a lighter print. It is alsoimportant to note that density as

American Cinematographer 71

g.simple, reliable, easy to useh.6-stop range of correctioni. printer lights tell all you

need to know about color,density and lab controls

Hazeltine Limitationsa.no immediate feedbackb.lack of secondary correc-

tionc.no gamma, gain, lift, lumi-

nance or chroma controld.corrections are general; no

Power Windows or specifictreatments available

Although it’s consideredsomewhat primitive in certainquarters, the Hazeltine remains astandard part of the process bywhich photochemically based proj-ects marked for theatrical releaseare printed. Don’t be misled bycomplaints about a mature technol-ogy. The simple three-numbercoordinate it generates empowerscinematographers to control thefinal appearance of their imageswith boldness and exactitude.

The One-Light PrintThe use of a single, predeter-

mined set of Hazeltine numberstakes the guesswork out of the lab’sdailies-printing protocol and placestotal control of the film’s look whereit belongs: in the hands of the cine-matographer.

Each night, dailies timersscroll an incredible amount of neg-ative through their Hazeltines.These tens of thousands of feet areculled from a wide range of produc-tions shot under a variety of cir-cumstances. Very often, the timer’sonly guidance in determining whatinformation gets sent to the contactprinter is a barely legible scrawl atthe bottom of a camera report:print cool … print warm … day fornight … dawn effect, and so on.Though lab technicians can be sur-prisingly good at extracting mean-ing from the indefinable, using a

Through the

application of

existing technology,

it’s now possible

for us to quickly

and easily regain

full control over

our work.

TLFeBOOK

72 September 2006

single printer-light setting (arrivedat through the cinematographer’sown testing and choosing) elimi-nates the problems caused by rely-ing on vague, highly personal andsubjective written or verbal descrip-tions. In addition, working in thismanner allows the cinematograph-er to introduce any amount of vari-ation in color and density to theimage in a quantifiable and repeat-able way. Whether these changes areeffected through filtration used onthe lens, gels over the lamps, or awell-considered shift in the printerlight is a matter of taste and experi-ence.

Assuming the cinematogra-pher’s working method and the lab’schemistry are both up to code, theimmediate payoff from using a sin-gle printer light is a day-to-dayimage consistency on par with thatof the still photographer’s vaunted“previsualization.” For the longterm, answer- and release-printingprocedures are much simpler affairsbecause corrections to color anddensity become a matter of fine-tuning rather than a complete re-balancing of the entire film.

But remember that the one-light print designated by the cine-matographer’s choice is markedlydifferent in concept from whatdailies personnel commonly refer tousing the same words. Left to itsown devices, any lab can deliver aone-light print every day. The dif-ference is that because the dailiestimer is making color and densitydecisions using his or her judgment,the lab’s version will inevitablychange its R-G-B Hazeltine valuesfrom negative roll to negative roll,or even among different shots andsetups within the same roll. Theprinter light that ultimately resultsfrom the cinematographer’s testingprocedure is something peculiar tothat cinematographer, and is meantfor use in printing negative from sit-uations that match the lighting con-ditions under which the test was

performed. Thus, it is possible —indeed preferable — to shoot anentire feature film on the sameprinter light. That said, it is alsoviable to establish printer lights for defined situations or effects,i.e., day/exterior, night/exterior,night/interior, etc. When that isdone, the positive looks exactly theway the cinematographer wants it to

look, not the way the Hazeltinetimer (or anyone else, for that mat-ter) interprets it to look.

A detailed explanation of theprocedure used to determine a spe-cific printer light for dailies can befound in the eighth edition of theAmerican Cinematographer Manual,in the chapter “Finding Your OwnPrinter Light” (pp. 112-120).

On the Digital SideAn industry-wide equivalent

of the Hazeltine printer light, anironclad indicator of both technicalstandards and specific artisticvision, does not currently exist inany form in the electronic realm.The rationale for developing thiscapability is as follows:

The Hazeltine process givesus the option of excluding the arbi-trary judgment of the timer in ren-dering the look of our dailies. Thefilm-to-digital process creates a bar-rier by requiring the colorist to

make independent creative deci-sions.

This is no knock on colorists.They are a necessary part of ourprocess, and every one I’ve knownhas done his or her job amazinglywell. But the fact remains that webest realize our digitally transferredimages only when we’re able to pro-vide immediate guidance whilephysically present in the telecinesuite. Unfortunately, this can’talways be the case. I also know thatmany cinematographers are satisfiedby their long-term relationshipswith specific timers and colorists.During the finishing stages of ashow, the input of a talented timeror colorist provides an indispensablecontribution that goes a long waytoward making us all look likeheroes. However, to a great degree, asacrifice of control is inherent towhat goes on in the digital suite.

An Example, Part 1Rather than restate the famil-

iar film-to-digital workflow, a sim-ple but disturbingly common sce-nario illustrates my point:

You compose, light andexpose a shot of your lead actress fora not-quite-silhouette effect inwhich she is kept in the dark, butonly so dark that you’ll still be ableto see her eyes onscreen. Technicaldetails are as follows:

Key exposure at the lens: T2.8Backlight: +1 stopFront fill: -2 stopsPrinter light: 29-31-26

The next day, you view theprint of this shot in dailies, renderedat the very same printer light youchose during preproduction testing(29-31-26). The lead actress isindeed dark, and her eyes are defi-nitely readable. The result is exactlywhat you intended.

Later, though, it’s an entirelydifferent story in the digital dailies.Despite regular and vigorous com-

A Call for Digital Printer Lights

We best realize our digitally transferred imagesonly when we’reable to provideimmediateguidance in thetelecine suite.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

74 September 2006

munication, the colorist was ulti-mately forced to make a decisionthat he thought would suit your eye.This choice is not necessarily a badone, it’s just not your own. And thecolorist’s error is compounded byinefficient or incorrect calibration ofthe displays used to watch the digitaldailies. Thus, the electronic effect isone of no silhouette at all. You seethe actress’s eyes, but you see a lot ofother things, too. The overall imagequality is too bright, flat, washed-out and devoid of the strong graph-ic texture apparent in the print. Nowexplanations are in order for every-one who was not able to see the pro-jected film in the screening room.

An overly simplified hypo-thetical? Sure. But this sort of thinggoes on in one form or another allthe time! Every cinematographerhas suffered a similar situation;some have even experienced cata-strophic consequences. Keep inmind also that this example onlyaddresses the issue of density, amuch simpler conceit than that ofcolor. Now transpose the number ofplaces at which the digital-dailiesprocess can go wrong, and you’llbegin to understand the urgency ofthis argument.

The Failure of Current “Solutions”Written descriptions on cam-

era reports … verbal descriptionson minicassettes … Polaroids sentin with the negative … special graycards … telecine-analysis films …referencing of still stores … com-puter or Web-based previsualizationsystems …. Some cinematographersare pleased with what they get fromone or another of these techniquesfor relaying information about theirwork to the colorist. But each willalso admit that these methods fallfar short of the consistency thatwould be enabled by a measured,printer light-like system. Thenthere’s ease of use. Existing previzsystems are cumbersome and intru-

sive to employ on set. They alsorequire a substantial investment oftime and effort after wrap if youwant to communicate your wishesfor the treatment of what you’vejust shot. What could be less com-plicated than providing a series ofnumbers that lock in the look fromthe get-go?

An Example, Part 2After a few weeks of living

with the print of the nearly silhou-etted actress, the director tells youhe’d now prefer to see her in totalsilhouette. Armed with the knowl-edge of what your negative and labcan deliver, you dutifully call thetimer and order a reprint of theshot. You then designate a pass thatis 12 Hazeltine points (11⁄2 lensstops) darker than the original.Witness the math:

Original printer light:29-31-26New printer light: 41-43-38

Simple, reliable, quantifiablyrepeatable — and easy to commu-nicate. No visit to the lab isrequired. In fact, you didn’t evenhave to see the second version toknow you’d get exactly what youwanted.

Doing the same thing elec-tronically is impossible. Somehow,calling in from location and saying,“Give me 1⁄16 of an inch more of aspin to the northeast on the density

tracking ball” just doesn’t have thesame precision.

Digital Telecine Advantagesa. immediate feedbackb.an essentially infinite num-

ber of choices for the lookc. primary and secondary

color correctiond.ability to effect gamma,

gain, lift, luminance andsaturation

e. easy access to a variety ofeffects; Power Windowscapability

Digital Telecine Limitationsa. cinematographer must be

physically present to getexactly what is desired

b.no option to measure color,density, gamma, gain, lift,luminance or saturation

c. no precise means of com-munication with colorist,especially with so manychoices at hand

You can see that by using theHazeltine theory as a model, it’simperative that we develop andimplement the equivalent of a digi-tal printer light (DPL) on the elec-tronic side.

The ProposalThe effort to meet this

demand needs to unfold in anorderly fashion according to a prac-tical and achievable design.

First, we must create a way tocalibrate the entire digital workflowwithin a universally interoperablecolor space. This is an issue of over-riding importance not just for cine-matographers, but for everyone inthe industry; nevertheless, itsabsence at this moment is no obsta-cle to the development and imple-mentation of a DPL capability.

Second, working within thisarena, we must create a way to pre-cisely measure what R, G, B, C, M, Y,gamma, gain, lift, luminance and

A Call for Digital Printer Lights

We must create a protocol thatdelivers the exactsame look duringeach transfer session.

TLFeBOOK

chroma are doing at any point dur-ing the digital transfer process.These numbers will represent theDPL.

Third, we must create a pro-tocol that delivers the exact samelook during each transfer sessionwithin a given facility simply by set-ting the telecine controls to the cho-sen coordinates, just like theHazeltine. The point system bywhich numeric value is assigned(the DPL) can be entirely arbitraryin nature and precisely tailored tothe working methods of the cine-matographer. There are an infinitenumber of look choices available indigital transfer, but the fact is, we’reinterested in only one look at a time.If a certain project demands a vari-ety of textures to be applied over dif-ferent scenes or sequences, then avariety of DPLs can be designatedfor use — once again, just like theHazeltine.

Furthermore, the R, G, B, C,M and Y coordinates must be setup to track directly with the lab’sHazeltine printer light. In otherwords, a 2-point increase in blueon the Spirit or the da Vinci musthave the same effect as adding 2points of blue to the print. In keep-ing with this, software must bedesigned to detect and compensatefor any drift or deviation from the“norm” anywhere in the digitaltransfer system. Because this normis established by the cinematogra-pher during preproduction testing,what’s most important is what thecinematographer actually sees onthe display. After choosing a specif-ic look or looks, consistency mustbe guaranteed.

Fourth, we must create amethod by which to record all rele-vant negative and transfer informa-tion as metadata. This road mapmust then follow a project frominception to completion and shouldinclude reference to any changesmade to the image during postpro-duction as well. In doing so, it will

A

GF-

8

GF-

10G

F-9

GF-

16

75

TLFeBOOK

76

for all time provide a record of thecinematographer’s original intent.

Ideally, a universally interop-erable color space within the digitalworkflow should apply from imagecreation through image delivery,but its development represents anenormous challenge. Although asolution is most certainly withinour reach, this proposal accepts asystem of calibration unique to thepost facility in which the cine-matographer happens to be work-ing. Don’t forget, the primary appli-cation of the DPL is for electronicdailies. With that, each productionis essentially a “one-time-only”affair whose baseline measure-ments, whatever they may be, are, ineffect, solely for that specific projectin that specific facility. For example,a cinematographer wraps Movie Aon Friday and returns to the samefacility on Monday morning to startanew with Movie B. Because Movie

B calls for an entirely different visualtexture, fresh tests and calibrationswill be needed in order to find theDPL that delivers this new look.

The DPL in PracticeAfter arriving at a desired

look or looks on film during prep,the same test negative is brought tothe digital facility for the next step.

Utilizing the services of a talentedcolorist, the cinematographerworks to find the appropriate digi-tal look or looks. When satisfied,the cinematographer makes note ofthe relevant R, G, B, C, M, Y,gamma, gain, lift, luminance andchroma settings on the transferconsole; these figures make up theDPL.

At the end of each workingday during production, the cameraassistant enters these DPL numberson the camera report (along withthe Hazeltine printer lights for theprint side, if print is involved). Thecolorist receives the camera reportat the digital facility and sets theconsole controls to these exactcoordinates. Then the negative isscrolled through the scanner, andthe electronic dailies are timed pre-cisely to the cinematographer’sdirections.

A Call for Digital Printer Lights

Tell us what themachinery is doingat any giveninstant, and let usmeasure it so wecan repeat itseffect.

TLFeBOOK

Further Advantages1. A practical DPL will for

the first time qualify electronicdailies to give meaningful informa-tion to the cinematographer. Theconcurrent use of a singleHazeltine printer light with a singleDPL will automatically corroboratewhat’s seen onscreen in both thedigital and film domains. Granted,there is an innate differencebetween the two mediums that’sunlikely to be bridged. But cine-matographers long ago masteredthe internal computations andadjustments of the eye needed tomake substantive judgments aboutdifferent forms of image creationand delivery.

2. As stated earlier, today’sdigital transfer can render remark-able images from all but the mostgrievously deformed negatives. Butcurrently, on productions that donot print their dailies, the cine-

matographer is literally in the darkin this respect.“Is my exposure goodor bad?” There’s no way to know.Often, mistakes don’t show up untilthe release-printing stage, at whichpoint it’s too late to remedy anyproblems. In helping cure this infu-riating problem, it’s ironic that theDPL may in some cases render theneed to see a print superfluous.

3. Ridiculously long hoursand tight schedules mitigate againstall but the most superficial partici-pation in the transfer process for thetelevision cinematographer. It’s easyto see how the DPL will help solvethat dilemma. Just having the abilityto communicate in a language thatmeans the same thing at all times toall parties will represent a huge stepforward on that front.

Looking AheadTake a quick look around any

digital suite, and you’ll recognize

that we’ve already got the rocket thatgoes to the moon. What we needtechnicians to do is merely install aspeedometer. Tell us what themachinery is doing at any giveninstant, and let us measure it so thatwe can repeat its effect.

Believe me, this can be done.Be on the lookout for Part 2

of this article, in which ASCPresident Daryn Okada will recounthis real-world experience with aprototype DPL system. ■

77

TLFeBOOK

Filmmaking, like politics, often makesstrange bedfellows, and evidence ofthis is Behind the Camera: The Shorts

Circuit, a slate of short films jointly spon-sored by luxury-goods manufacturerHermès and broadcaster Turner ClassicMovies. This mini-festival, which beginsairing on TCM on Sept. 15, features clas-sic short films by Martin Scorsese, AlfredHitchcock, David Lynch, Roman Polanski,Stanley Kubrick, François Truffaut andYasujiro Ozu, as well as six new shortsdirected by Griffin Dunne, Peter Gilbert, E.Elias Merhige, Floria Sigismondi, MarySweeney and Mario Van Peebles.

For the new films, Gilbert drew on

his experience as a documentary film-maker to make a short about hisAlzheimer’s-afflicted mother and theirshared passion for classic movies; VanPeebles took a page from his own life bycasting his children in Baadasssss Grand-kids!, a playful, mock trailer for his featureBaadasssss! (see AC May ’04); andDunne, in his as-yet-untitled mockumen-tary, explores what might have happenedto the executive who turned down StevenSpielberg’s request to use M&Ms in E.T.

Following are details about threeother productions, Merhige’s The Din ofCelestial Birds, Sweeney’s In the EyeAbides the Heart, and Sigismondi’s Post-mortem Bliss.

The Din of Celestial BirdsMerhige drew on his early feature

Begotten, a wordless depiction of human-ity’s creation, for The Din of CelestialBirds, which he photographed as well asdirected. “When I originally conceivedBegotten, it had two other parts, and Dinis part of a preamble that takes on the roleof the creation myth,” explains Merhige.Featuring no dialogue and shot entirelywith miniatures, the film was an attemptto create “a silent film from the future,”one that would allow Merhige to utilizethe extreme polarities of technology, fromthe earliest cinema cameras to modern-day software.

“I used almost every kind of formatin the making of this piece,” saysMerhige. His equipment included a No.1A Folding Pocket Kodak camera from1903, a Hasselblad 501 medium-formatstill camera, an old 35mm Mitchell rack-over camera, 16mm Bolex and Arri-Scameras, a Leica M-series microscopeadapted for use with an Arri-S camera,and a Sony HDR-FX1 high-definitionMiniDV camcorder.

78 September 2006

The Model 1A yields a negativethat’s about 4"x5", but film is no longermade for it, so Merhige changed thesprocket wheels to match the perfora-tions on 120 medium-format film andshot with Kodak Portra 400NC/400VCand Portra 800. Another challenge withthe camera was the extensive light leak-age, “which was sometimes good andsometimes not so good,” says Merhige.“We had to black out areas in the back ofthe camera with tape and black cloth.”

To shoot the miniatures, Merhigeused still photography in a stop-motionmanner, mounting the Model 1A to analuminum rack and rail system thatallowed him to hold the camera perfectlystill yet move it horizontally or verticallydown to the precise millimeter. “I couldcreate the light changes I wanted bymoving the camera and changing thelight slowly and carefully with eachshot.” He also used chemical reactionsto create some of the more celestialeffects, including portions of cloudvortices and the “birthing of worlds”section of the film. Though he won’treveal the details, Merhige says thesechemical reactions are created in a smallglass dish and lit from behind or under-neath with the camera looking down intothe reaction.

Hermès and TCM Celebrate Short Filmsby Elina Shatkin

Short Takes

Above: Threeframes from the

experimentalshort The Din ofCelestial Birds,

directed andshot by E. Elias

Merhige (right).

TLFeBOOK

EXCEPTIONALEQUIPMENT.

SUPERIORSERVICE.

HOLLYWOOD TEL 323-469-2774 www.ottonemenz.comHONOLULU TEL 808-484-5706 www.hawaiimedia.comUTAH TEL 801-978-9292 www.redmanmovies.com

Big enough to do the job. Small enough to do it right.

EXCEPTIONALEQUIPMENT.

SUPERIORSERVICE.

Grey’s

Anatomy

Entourage

Lady in

the Water

Snakes on a

Plane

Little Man

Clerks II

Grey’s

Anatomy

Entourage

Lady in

the Water

Snakes on a

Plane

Little Man

Clerks II

TLFeBOOK

80 September 2006

For the 16mm and 35mm cine-matography, Merhige used a standardcomplement of Schneider and Zeisslenses, as well as two lenses he designedhimself. Both of the latter were uncoatedand custom-made by a glass blower inSanta Cruz, California. “One [of theselenses] creates a feeling of looking throughan endless tunnel,” says Merhige. “Itleaves everything in the center very crisp,while everything on the outer edgesbecomes softer and softer in gradations.The other lens has more of an anamorphicfeel; you can rotate it, and as you do, theworld takes on this pliant quality, like taffy,and looks as though it’s being pulledapart.”

To achieve the film’s high-contrastblack-and-white look, Merhige shot the16mm and 35mm footage on Kodak Vision200T (5274/7274) and Vision 500T(5279/7279), then made a series of printsand desaturated them so they would begenerations away from the original nega-tive.

Merhige shot with a final aspectratio of 2.35:1 in mind, composing imagesthat could be blown up or scaled down toconform to the format. The results weremostly composited on an Oxberry opticalprinter, with additional digital compositingdone on a software application developedspecifically for the film by Miguel P.Eckstein, who studies vision and imageperception at the University of California-Santa Barbara. Eckstein wrote severalalgorithms that allowed Merhige and histeam to take a series of stills and stitchthem together into a single file, whichcould then be treated as one layer in theoverall composite. “Some layers ofcompositing were modified in the digitalrealm, which helped a great deal insmoothing out the flow of the visual narra-tive,” says Merhige. “Scenes were laterstitched together digitally to help createone seamless, flowing world/film.”

Despite the extensive manipulationof formats and technologies, Merhigewanted Din of Celestial Birds to be a trulyhandcrafted film. “It was really aboutgetting into the physical nature of cinemaas it has transformed and evolved. Ibelieve film can create a philosophicaldialogue about the macrocosmic and

microcosmic archaelogy of perception asa kind of hologram, taking us beyond thelimits of the possibilities of what we cansee.”

In the Eye Abides the HeartSweeney’s name has appeared in

the credits of many films directed byDavid Lynch, her one-time romantic andcreative collaborator. During their part-nership, Sweeney produced and editedseveral of Lynch’s features, includingLost Highway, The Straight Story andMulholland Dr.

For her directoring debut, In theEye Abides the Heart, Sweeney chose toexplore the timeless essence of romanticlove. The idea came to her when sheheard the piece of music that gives thefilm its title. The original tune was trans-lated from German into English byStephen Foster in 1851. Sweeneyrecruited Steve Marker of the bandGarbage to update the music, andMarker convinced lead singer ShirleyManson to provide vocals for the newarrangement.

The chance to make the filmdropped into Sweeney’s lap just as shewas preparing to serve as a judge for theBuenos Aires International IndependentFilm Festival. Friends in the cityconnected her with a local productioncompany, and Sweeney decided shewould shoot the film there. During thefestival, she spent her mornings attend-

ing screenings and her afternoons at AquaFilms, where she prepared for production.Immediately after the festival, she shot fortwo days, working with Argentinian cine-matographer Marcelo Lavintman, ADF,who has shot numerous music videos,documentaries and features since he grad-uated from Universidad del Cine in 1994.

In the Eye Abides the Heart, whichtakes place entirely outdoors and was shotin black-and-white, is divided into twosections, each of which presents a youngcouple in love. One is set in the early1900s, and the other unfolds in moderntimes. “I set the movie in two differentperiods because the lyrics of the song tome express an idea that is timeless,” saysSweeney. “And I wanted the whole movieto be silent because I wanted to rely onimages to tell the story.”

“Mary wanted the sequence set inthe past to look like a movie from thatperiod, with exaggerated contrast andwithout camera movement,” says Lavint-man. “For the present-day story, we agreedon less contrast, a more modern kind ofdiffusion, and putting the camera on aSteadicam.”

To further differentiate the twosections, the section set in the past wasshot at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, whereasthe present-day section was shot at 1.78:1.“I knew the first half of the film would havea 1.33:1 ratio, so we framed everything tomake sure I had room at the edges to cut itoff and put in a mask that would replicate

Director MarySweeney

(standing) poseswith the stars of

In the Eye Abidesthe Heart,

Alejandra LopezYasky and Juan

Minujin.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

less. Aside from a polarizer for a fewshots containing skies, Lavintman usedno filtration for the first portion of thefilm. For the second portion, he usedTiffen Soft/FX filters in varying grada-tions.

The black-and-white look wasachieved during production by modifyingthe camera’s RGB settings. Lavintmandetails, “[HD operator] Rino Pravato andI set the luminance by dropping down theblue, as if I had used a yellow filter, anddropping the green a little to control theleaves lit by the hard sun. Then we setthe chrominance at -99, the minimum, sowe could obtain a black-and-white thatkept the luminance setting.”

Much of the rest of the look canbe credited to luck, according toSweeney. “Everything we did to theimage — a little bit of blossoming in thewhites, flickering the image, a tiny bit ofscratching — was done in post,” saysSweeney. “The fact that the wind wasblowing and the leaves were golden wasjust a gift from God.”

82

an old-time vignette,” says Sweeney,who also edited the film.

Because of budget constraints,Sweeney and Lavintman shot on high-definition (HD) video, using a SonyHDW-F900 and a Cine Style F 5/50 lens.Lavintman manipulated the f-stop so themodern segment had more depth offield and the historical segment had

Postmortem BlissFor music-video director Floria

Sigismondi, Postmortem Bliss was anopportunity to explore adolescent angst.Based on a script by her husband, LillianBerlin, the film explores the interior land-scape of a 15-year-old boy who questionsthe nature of his existence, which is predi-cated on prescribed medications. “Iwanted the film to have a very printed look,quite pushed and little gritty,” says thedirector. “And [I felt] the kid should lookgreasy and sweaty, like he’s been up allnight.” To achieve this feel, she workedwith cinematographer Nicola Pecorini,with whom she had collaborated on theFiona Apple video “O’ Sailor.”

“Floria was very clear from thebeginning that she wanted the piece tolook very real, very normal,” says Pecorini.“My main concern was to find a way toallow her as much time as possible to dealwith the performance.” Having such ayoung actor and such a difficult scriptrequired Pecorini and his crew to maximizetheir time; the cinematographer swears

In PostmortemBliss, a 15-year-

old boy (NickFowler) askshimself some

existentialquestions.

TLFeBOOK

the crew never spent more than 10minutes turning around or changing shotsduring the one-day production.

Shooting in a friend’s apartment inthe Silverlake area of Los Angeles,Pecorini made the most of the location. “Itwas a small house with very low ceilingsand very little room both inside andoutside,” he says. “We lit everything fromthe outside using 12-lights with verynarrow spots corrected with 1⁄2 CTB andgoing through full or half diffusion.”

Sigismondi and Pecorini agreedthat the camera should always be movingto allow for quick repositioning and totransmit the “floating” feeling that thedrug Ritalin can induce. They wantedPostmortem Bliss to have a handheld feel,but worried that such a style would be toodistracting. Instead, they chose to shootwith an Aerocrane fitted with a WeaverSteadman three-axis head and mountedon a Chapman PeeWee dolly. “It’s thesame configuration I used on Fear andLoathing in Las Vegas [AC May ‘98] andTideland,” says Pecorini, who collaborates

regularly with director Terry Gilliam.Shooting in Super 16mm,

Pecorini used Kodak Vision2 7218,which he rated “by the book” at 500ASA. He knew that every minute wouldmake a difference, so he dropped hisresistance to using zoom lenses andshot mostly with a Canon 7mm-63mmT.2.8 zoom mounted on an Arri 16SR-3.(He also used a Canon telephoto lensand a Century prime lens.)

On of the film’s most strikingmoments is an underwater segmentthat shows the protagonist floating in apool. The tight budget and schedule didnot allow for underwater housings, soSigismondi used a small, pre-fabpaddling pool that was set up on thecurb outside the house. Old linoleumwas laid on the bottom of the pool, abackdrop that matched the color of theapartment was placed in the water atthe back of the pool, and props from theapartment were placed in the pool tomake it look as though the bedroom wasfilling with water. Protected by a splash

box from Clairmont Cameras, the camerawas placed at the bottom of the pool andtilted up to catch reflections from thesurface, creating an unexpected, mirror-likeeffect.

“As we were waiting while thecamera was being loaded, we caught ashot of the actor’s feet and legs on the top,and it was such an interesting shot Idecided to use it,” says Sigismondi. “I loveto have things as scripted as possible, andthen I look for magic to happen.” ■

83

Director FloriaSigismondichecks an image withcinematographerNicola Pecorini.

TLFeBOOK

Paris Circa 2054by John Pavlus

Although widely employed invideo games, the animation techniqueknown as motion-capture (mo-cap forshort) has had relatively little exposure infeature filmmaking. The technology blursthe line between production and post, aswell as that between live-action film-making and traditional animation, by“capturing” real-time information aboutan actor’s movements in three dimen-sions and then mapping that data onto acomputer-animated character. Thethriller Renaissance, which is set in Parisin 2054 and will open in U.S. theaters

this month, tries to push the technologyin new directions.

Renaissance pits a hardboiled copnamed Karas (voiced by Daniel Craig)against a vast corporate conspiracy hecan only vaguely fathom. When a bril-liant young scientist named Ilone iskidnapped, her employer, the AvalonCorp., sends Karas on the hunt. But whatbegins as a routine missing-person casesoon deepens into a morass of conflict-ing loyalties and doublecrosses overnothing less than the possibility of attain-ing eternal life. Matching the dark plot isa starkly graphic look that uses animatedchiaroscuro “lighting” to split everythingonscreen into pools of inky black and

84 September 2006

shards of sharp white, with almost nogray in between. The filmmakers inten-tionally sidestepped the issue of photo-realism; Renaissance instead looks likea cyberpunk crime comic come to life,offering stylized animation, dizzyinglydetailed Parisian backgrounds, andfluidly realistic performances by digitalcharacters.

The visuals the filmmakers hadin mind took nearly a decade to realize.Director Christian Volckman starteddeveloping the project in 1998 withMarc Miance, a 23-year-old whoshowed him a short test of the distinc-tive chiaroscuro look at an animationfestival both men had entered. Over thenext six years of fundraising, testingand script-writing, Miance launched hisown animation company, AttitudeStudio, to meet the production’s esca-lating technical demands, whichincluded 90 virtual Parisian sets, morethan 100 characters, and 200 dynamicprops and accessories ranging “fromthe small ashtray that sits on the Avalonboss’s desk to all the moving vehicles,”according to Volckman.

Production began in 2004 andtook more than a year, although the mo-

Post Focus

Top: Oblivious toa spectacularview of Paris,

tough-as-nailspolice detective

BarthélémyKaras ponders

the case at handin Renaissance.Bottom: Bislane(left) discusses

her sister’sdisappearance

with a mutualacquaintance,

Dmitri.

Ren

aiss

ance

fra

me

grab

s co

urt

esy

ofM

iram

ax F

ilms.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

cap workflow dissolves many of thetraditional distinctions between produc-tion and post. “It’s very complexbecause you have all the problemsnormally expected on a 2-D animatedfeature, all the problems of a 3-Danimated film, and all the problems of alive-action cast, such as post syncing,”says Volckman. “It’s a huge amount ofwork, and sometimes you go nuts.”

For one thing, the work of fram-ing shots and editing them togetherproceeded virtually in tandem onRenaissance, “which is bizarre becauseit’s usually the other way around,” saysthe director. “Normally in live action,once it’s shot, it’s all over. You go to theediting room, and if you’re missinganything, you’re screwed. But with mo-cap, it’s reversed. You still have to think

of the framing you want, but whenyou’re with the actor you mainly worktogether to anticipate the [shots],because only later, in editing, do youchoose exactly what your coverage is. Ifyou look at the cut of the scene andthink you’re missing a necessary close-up, you just go back into the mo-capmachine that has the action recorded ina 3-D volume and say to your collabora-tor, ‘Can you make a close-up of her atthis moment?’ The process is actuallyvery organic.”

Volckman’s collaborator in thisprocess was Henri Zaitoun, whose titlewas digital camera supervisor. Zaitoun’spost duties often paralleled those of atraditional camera operator, except his“camera” was a weightless cube invirtual space that was moved with a

mouse instead of a dolly or gearedhead. “We could play each scene fromthis camera’s point of view and followthe action in real time with our mouse,”explains Zaitoun. “It was really fun todo, just like following actors on a setwith a real camera. The camera objectin the volume also has a focal-viewsetting that we could use to zoom in orout, and we even created our own plug-ins to approximate handheld-stylemovement. We usually programmedour camera moves according to ananimatic, but we could use the mouseto modify the initial movement in realtime and record it as a different take.”Zaitoun’s team used a program calledMotion Builder to execute these real-time manipulations.

Volckman worked closely with

86 September 2006

Top: Karaspursues a

suspect on thecity’s multilevelstreets. Bottom:

Bislaneremembers hersister, Ilona, a

promisingscientist of

considerableambition.

TLFeBOOK

Zaitoun and editor Pascal Tosi duringthis stage, creating shots scene byscene in chronological order to match adetailed animatic, and also modifyingscenes or adding new shots whennecessary to improve the flow of theedit. “The only constraint you have istime,” says the director. “You can editand frame your film for 10 yearsbecause you can always go back and tryinfinite options. Someone like JohnWoo would probably freak out, becausehe would always be able to create moreand more coverage of a single scene.”Zaitoun agrees, adding that most of thetime, the Renaissance team exercisedthe kind of discipline most filmmakersdo in choosing shots. “For some simplescenes, we just created two or threeshots that were edited together imme-diately, but for others that were morecomplex, we often made 100-150 differ-ent shots. When the editor saw everything, he was really … well,impressed!”

Although the filmmakers couldtheoretically generate an endlessamount of coverage, they did only haveone 3-D mo-cap take — that is, one setof raw data captured from the actors’movements — to draw upon for fram-ing each scene. “In that sense, it’s simi-lar to live-action because you can’t goback and reshoot the actors’ literalmovements,” explains Volckman. “Butfor a sense of rhythm and finding theright shots for the right moment, it’sgreat.”

Preceding the six-month processof framing and editing Renaissancewere three months of mo-cap work thatsupplied the raw material for theanimated performances. Every humanaction in the film, ranging from a simpleconversation on a couch to an elaborategun battle in Avalon’s headquarters,was performed by the film’s cast on a6x10-meter square surrounded by acircular array of 24 digital-videocameras. The actors all wore close-fitting jumpsuits studded with dozens ofmo-cap sensors, each of which corre-sponded to a respective point mirroredin the 3-D virtual space. “The cameraswere all shooting in infrared, so they

87

TLFeBOOK

lensliteTM

evolutionthroughinnovation

LIGHTWEIGHTVERSATILE DESIGN

• Optimized for Z1

and P2 cameras

• Fixed and rotating

filter trays

• 12V-40V input range

• Wireless dimming

IBC STAND No 11.261

saleswww.cirrolite.com

www.ambient.de

www.bbplight.nl

www.cartonifrance.com

www.mediateknik.se

www.vfgadgets.com

www.gekkotechnology.com

88

only registered those markers on theactors’ bodies,” says Volckman. “Theydidn’t see anything else, so in the mo-cap footage, you only see these dots inspace flying around corresponding tothe actors’ body movements. Thatmakes it hard, in a way, to choose yourbest takes. Luckily, we also had threenormal video cameras shooting refer-ence footage at the same time, espe-cially for close-ups.”

Because so much of an actor’sperformance is in his or her eyes, theRenaissance team decided to createspecial eyeglasses that held tiny mo-capcameras that captured the wearer’s eyemovements. “The glasses were barelyheavier than normal glasses, so theactor could feel at ease,” says OlivierRenourd, Attitude Studio’s technicalsupervisor. “With the big mo-capprocess, you’re trying to establish aposition in 3-D space, so you alwaysneed at least two cameras to see agiven point. But for the eye, you cancapture in 2-D space with one camerabecause the pupil just moves around anessentially flat plane.”

This process is what sets mo-capanimation apart from keyframe anima-tion, in which artists build the charactersand their body language from scratch.Because real actors are recorded, thecharacters’ movements become imbuedwith an extra level of naturalism; it alsoallows actors some freedom to impro-vise. “It’s all acted out like a stage play,”says Volckman. “It’s not as though youhave to start and stop and break it allinto pieces to get all your separate shotsjust right. It’s more natural and lets theactors get into character better, andonce it’s in the box and everyone’shappy, we go to the next scene orsequence.

“Then again, the actors don’thave anything physical to help them inthe process — no sets, no wardrobe,very few props — so they have to reallyvisualize how the film is going to look,”he continues. “But once you put theright elements in for them to play with,they can do whatever they want or needto do and can improvise a lot. Of course,since this was my first film, I was trying

to control everything and not go crazy!At some points, you’re asking yourselfwhy you’re doing mo-cap at all whenyou know that talented animators cando a really good job animating people.But in the end, you see it does make ahuge difference when you’re looking forsomething lifelike and human to gethumans to generate it in the first place.”

Ironically, the final stages ofRenaissance’s post phase hewedclosely to a more traditional animationworkflow. While the mo-cap riggingsupplied the broad strokes of charactermovement and Zaitoun’s digital cameraallowed great flexibility in choosingshots, each edited sequence went backto a team of keyframe animators thatadded all the fine details to tie theseelements together, including facialexpressions and hand movements(which weren’t recorded by mo-capsensors), clothes and props, and the all-important final rendering, whichwrapped the hard black-and-white noirlighting effects around the animatedmodels.

“The scenes we worked fromwere kind of naked, all gray with nolights and no textures,” recalls Zaitoun.“In order to edit it well, we tried to giveour rushes an approximation of the finalshading in order to avoid some problemsthat might arise in rendering the movie’sparticular graphical style. We tried toanticipate some lighting problems andcheat when necessary. For instance, inone sequence we put a crowd in thedark so some final rendering time couldbe saved.”

Keyframe animation directorPierre Avon supervised these finishingtouches, working with a team of 12Maya artists who received each editedsequence one week after Zaitoun andTosi had finished it. “We’d start as soonas the editing was approved by Christ-ian so we wouldn’t waste time animat-ing things that would be offscreen,”says Avon. “Except for the eye move-ments, we created all the facial expres-sions, lip-sync and hand movementsfrom scratch, using the video referencefootage as a guide. But no rotoscopingwas done.”

TLFeBOOK

Renaissance was transferred to35mm by London’s Moving Picture Co.,and Technicolor London generated theIN, IP anwer print and overseas releaseprints.

The team agrees that the mo-capprocess, though technically arduous,pays off in terms of creative choices.“Because of all this technology, you findthat you can’t separate the artistic prob-lems from the technical problems —they’re always blended together,” notesVolckman. “You have to be very presentthrough the whole process, closelyconcentrating all the time. But once youknow how to manage the tools, all thatlimits you is your own imagination.”

AJA’s DPXtoQT Translator Streamlines2K DPX, Cineon Workflowsby Jay Holben

Developed by Kodak in 1992,Cineon was designed as an early film-digitizing system complete with a scan-ner, drives, workstations, proprietarycompositing software and a filmrecorder. It was intended to be an end-to-end solution for 2K and 4K digital filmproduction; the system was first put tothe test on the 1993 restoration and re-release of Walt Disney’s Snow Whiteand the Seven Dwarves.

Although the system in itsentirety has long since been renderedobsolete, the Cineon file format hasbecome an industry standard. An RGBbitmap file (extension .cin), Cineon wascreated to represent the full densityrange of scanned film images. It is notintended to be a presentation or endformat (like JPEG or TIFF), but rather anintermediate format to maintain imageinformation from the film negativethrough the digital process and back outto the new film negative. The Cineon fileassumes a gamma of 1.0 so that anynegative can be reproduced on therecorder, retaining the original nega-tive’s gamma. Most of the time, Cineondata is stored in log format, whichdirectly corresponds to the density ofthe original negative. Each channel (R,G, B) is 10 bits in a 32-bit package (2 bits

are unused). It can accommodate arange of film-frame sizes and resolu-tions up to VistaVision. The sampling of1024 values is scaled so that each of thecode values from 0-1023 represents adensity difference of 0.002, which totalsa density range of 2.046 — the equiva-lent to an exposure range of around2,570:1, or about 11.3 stops of latituderange.

SMPTE developed a “generic”form of the Cineon file format with Digi-tal Picture Exchange, or DPX (extension.dpx). It is nearly identical to Cineon buthas more user-friendly header informa-tion (metadata). DPX files can often belinear as well as log. The DPX file head-ers are flexible, allowing variable imageheaders to accommodate the needs ofdifferent media, whereas the Cineon fileformat is targeted to digital film. Thesetwo file formats are the de facto stan-dard for visual-effects work with digi-tized film files.

To present the amount of infor-mation necessary, the Cineon or DPX fileis very large. Each file represents oneframe of scanned negative, and each 2K(2048x1556 pixels Academy frame size)Cineon or DPX file can easily be over12.5MB per frame. Visual-effects artiststypically work with these files on aframe-by-frame basis, or at most on ashot-by-shot basis, and are not neces-sarily overwhelmed by the volume offiles in a sequence.

Editors, on the other hand, workwith whole sequences of shots on soft-ware platforms that cannot deal with aCineon file sequence with ease. FinalCut Pro cannot import Cineon files at allunless first translated via a third-partyprogram to an FCP recognized format.(However, Avid’s 64-bit-supported DSNitris can conform and finish using 2KCineon/DPX files either natively at fullresolution or by high-definition proxy,with the ability to switch instantlybetween the two.) Playing back asequence in real time with potentiallythousands of sequential Cineon or DPXfiles is incredibly taxing on hard drives,even for the fastest and most robustsystems, because 2K DPX or Cineonfiles can require data-transfer rates of

89

TLFeBOOK

up to 300MB per second (12.5MB perframe x 24 frames per second).

AJA, the maker of Kona videocards, has developed a solution for thisproblem that is especially aimed at FinalCut Pro editors who need to work withCineon or DPX files: DPXtoQT Translator. DPXtoQT Translator is a software solu-tion that incorporates a QuickTime (thenative working format for Final Cut Pro)“wrapper” around a sequence ofCineon/DPX files to create a QuickTime“reference movie.” This puts the

Cineon/DPX files into QuickTime formatwithout altering the files, compressingthem or writing any new information.

A reference movie is merely afile of pointers that refer back to theoriginal source material, wherever it isstored. When a reference movie iscreated, it does not alter the originalmedia files at all; it just “points” thesoftware to where those original filesreside and gives the software clues forhow to deal with that material. Thisformat was created to make very smallQuickTime movies that act like fullQuickTime renders, but in a fraction ofthe file size. The main difference is thatthe reference movie cannot be sepa-rated from the original material (i.e.,moved to another system), or the point-ers will point to nothing.

AJA has capitalized on thisconcept to create QuickTime reference“wrappers” for bulk Cineon and DPXfiles in the Macintosh environment. Thereference movie can then be importedinto an application like Final Cut Pro or

AJA’s Kona TV and played out to HD orSD monitors simultaneously as an HDcrop of the 2K Cineon/DPX material andan SD down-conversion.

Without the AJA system, if aMac editor wants to work with a Cineon(.cin) or DPX (.dpx) file sequence, he hasto rely on the effectiveness of the inter-nal graphics card. Most of the time, evenwith the fastest hard drive, this tech-nique rarely works because the graphicscards simply can’t play back the massivedata in real time. Also, many Mac appli-cations use QuickTime exclusively with-out any way to directly import Cineon orDPX files. (Apple Shake and Adobe AfterEffects can import native .cin/.dpx files.)The alternative is to work with down-converted proxies rather than the realfiles, and it adds a considerable amountof time to the workflow to render thoseproxies. With the QuickTime wrappers,an editor can play 2K Cineon/DPX filesdirectly on the Final Cut Pro timeline. Inaddition, with the AJA Kona 3 card, the2K QuickTime reference movie can be

90

TLFeBOOK

exported directly to a 2K projector forreview in full resolution without requir-ing additional rendering.

Utilizing the AJA system withsufficiently fast hard drives and theKona 3 card, an editor can watch Cineonor DPX files on any available HD or SDmonitor — or even both simultaneously— at the full real-time frame rate. Inaddition, he can create real-time HDcrop and SD down-conversion dailies viaHD-SDI or SD-SDI outputs and compo-nent (or composite) connections fromthe AJA Kona 3 hardware. For facilitiestasked with making SD or HD screenercopies of 2K material, this method issure to be a timesaver.

(For PC users, there is less needfor QuickTime reference movies becauseCineon and DPX files can be importeddirectly via the Kona’s PC counterpart,the Xena2Ke card, and are seen by PCapplications as a single file, as thoughthey are in a sequential series.)

The software can also work inreverse, creating a DPX or Cineon file

sequence from a 2K QuickTime movie(QTtoDPX), or it can create a fullyrendered QuickTime 2K movie that canbe moved away from the original DPX orCineon files to another system. In all, it’sa more manageable and efficient systemof data wrangling.

The AJA Kona 3 V2 upgradebrings about the 2K resolution videosupport. Additionally, Kona 3 V2 willaddress users’ needs with support forhardware-based 1080-to-720 or 720-to-1080 cross-conversion, further stream-lining dailies and deliverables creation atbroadcast picture quality in real time.

2K telecine to the Kona 3 simul-taneously creates 2K DPX files and 2KQuickTime reference movies. Materialcan then be played out at 2K via HSDL(High-Speed Data Link). Furthermore,Kona 3 V2 allows 2K files to be viewedon HD 1080 24p-supported video moni-tors, and this 1080 HD playout can alsobe down-converted to SD in real time.

Other new features of Kona 3 V2include 16-channel embedded digital

audio — allowing for full support of allaudio channels on HD tape formats, suchas HDCam SR — and 96kHz AES audio.

Kona 3 is priced at $2,990, andowners of Kona 3 can download the V2software from AJA’s Web site at no cost.

For more information, visitwww.aja.com.

New Allies in PostSince our recent report on

Creative Bridge’s Mobile Digital Lab &Theater (Post Focus, June ’06), the firmhas partnered with Gamma & Density.The two companies recently completed“pre-post” on the independent film Pie &Burger with director of photography JimO’Keefe and director Clare Sera. CreativeBridge’s Jeff Olm and Brian Gaffneyoversaw the 4:4:4 pre-post workflow anddelivery of color-corrected dailies usingGamma & Density’s 3cP system. ■

91

TLFeBOOK

92 September 2006

Contour Reality Capture by David E. Williams

Computer-animated feature filmsinvolve the cinematography disciplinesof composition, lighting and angles, andnow even depth of field is being used togreat effect. However, with rare excep-tions, virtual cinematography is aspecialty performed by those alreadyworking in that sphere, and not onewhere traditional directors of photogra-phy have had much opportunity to bringtheir talents into play. Unfortunately,asking a cinematographer to stay on asa paid post collaborator on visual-effects-heavy films is an infrequent

request at best. A keen eye for visual aesthetics

and storytelling can make the most ofthe real and virtual filmmaking worlds,but the divide between them is crossedby only the flimsiest of technologicaland methodological bridges. One ismarker-based motion capture, whichrecords the movement of a humansubject as a series of dots. Originallydeveloped for applications such assports medicine, mo-cap preciselytracks human skeletal motion by form-ing a 3-D stick figure of lines connectedbetween the dots. But any onscreencharacter must be far more than amoving stick figure, so although mo-cap

requires actors and a sense of spaceand timing, the collection of mo-capdata alone is not considered cine-matography; instead, it is used as astarting point. But the keyframe-anima-tion process required to flesh that stickfigure out into a realistic character isexpensive and time consuming. And inthe case of creating CG humans, it is atechnique that many believe has notrealized its full potential. (Film criticsoften deride the resultant avatars as“lifeless” and “zombie-like.”)

However, the Contour RealityCapture System, which was introducedat this year’s Siggraph convention, maynot only help bridge the traditional and

New Products & Services

In the ContourReality System,

the actor iscaptured by two

arrays ofsynchronized

digital camerasand lit by

customizedfluorescent

lamps that strobe90 to 120 times

per second,beyond the

threshold ofhuman

perception.

TLFeBOOK

virtual filmmaking worlds, but alsobreathe genuine life into “synthespian”performers. The system, a proprietaryapparatus developed and now offeredby the San Francisco mo-cap studioMova, employs two synchronizedcamera systems to simultaneouslycapture 3-D geometric and full-colorvisual information of the subject. Thesetwo sets of data are later combined toresult in a high-definition, volumetric,digital representation of the action thatcan be later imported, modified, manip-ulated or retargeted to a CG characterusing off-the-shelf animation software.

“Production tools exist today thatgive a director complete photorealisticcontrol of every object within the 3-Dvolume of a scene, including cameraposition, composition, lighting, charac-ters and props,” says Steve Perlman,founder and CEO of the Palo Alto-basedRearden Companies, which owns and

American Cinematographer 93

Preparing aperformer for aContour capturesession requiresjust a fewminutes ofphosphorescentmakeupapplication. TheFDA-approvedphosphorescentmakeup can bemixed with basemakeup toprovide naturalskin color.

TLFeBOOK

operates Mova. “But while we havepowerful 3-D ‘editing’ tools, what welack is a practical 3-D ‘camera’ that canshoot a live scene volumetrically withproduction-level quality. That’s whereContour Reality Capture fits in. It’s avolumetric cinematography system thatcaptures all of the visible surfaces of ascene in 3-D.”

Mova was founded in 2004 byRearden to provide 3-D mo-cap servicesusing its Vicon MX-40 marker-basedsystem, and the company’s creditsinclude the video games The Godfather,From Russia With Love and Eragon.Mova’s sister company, Ice BlinkStudios, which Perlman co-foundedwith Doug Chiang (production designeron The Polar Express), also is closelytied to mo-cap production, havingprovided visual effects and art directionfor Sony Pictures’ Monster House andWarner Bros.’ upcoming Beowulf.

The chief architect behindContour, Perlman is the holder of morethan 60 patents pertaining to multime-dia and communications technologies.

during post.”Traditionally, human skeletal

dynamics have been recorded and repre-sented in the form of mo-cap data,which is later combined with digitalskin, hair and clothing. Although thisprocess is well suited for capturingskeletal motion for CG characters, itcaptures only the barest clues of themotion of deformable surfaces, such asa human face, where we typically seethe finer points of an actor’s perfor-mance. Using conventional mo-cap torecord the subtleties of a smile orfurrowed brow is akin to the actorperforming while wrapped in a head-to-toe latex suit, with their expressiveeyes, fine facial characteristics andnuanced surface textures largely erased.

Conversely, Contour instanta-neously records an entire human perfor-mance — simultaneously capturingskeletal movement as well as high-defi-nition surface physical characteristics interms of 3-D surface geometry, color andlighting — and literally “imports” thisperformance into the digital realm, all in

He first attracted notice as a keyresearcher at Apple Computer, wherehe led multimedia initiatives, includingthe development of QuickTime, in thelate 1980s. He is perhaps best knownfor founding WebTV Networks, whichwas acquired by Microsoft in 1997 andhas since evolved into Microsoft’s IPTVtechnology.

What exactly is “volumetric cine-matography?” Perlman explains, “Weall got a sneak preview of it in TheMatrix, when Trinity [played by Carrie-Ann Moss] froze in mid-jump and thecamera view spun around her. Despitehaving a large ring of cameras surround-ing Moss, the camera motion waslimited to a single path while the entirescene was frozen. Contour allows forthe same level of realism achieved inthat shot, but with the entire scene inmotion, with complete flexibility ofcamera position, and with full controlover lighting and compositing. And ifthe actress doesn’t quite achieve thedesired pose in her jump, you can useContour to reposition her limbs in 3-D

94 September 2006

Preparing to filmwith Contour.

The customfluorescent

lamps serve toboth recharge

thephosphorescent

makeup andprovide

dramatic subjectlighting.

TLFeBOOK

ingenious transportability

TLFeBOOK

a single real-time pass.Contour records the image with

high-resolution digital cameras, and thesubject may be lit for any desired effect— for instance, to match a previouslydetermined background or setting. Thecameras can be run from a standard 24fps up to 120 fps, allowing for thecapture of fast action or the creation ofslow-motion effects. The geometric

information is recorded by an array ofgrayscale digital cameras — no lessthan two and as many as hundreds —with each photographing the perform-ers from a slightly different angle. Thevisual information is recorded by asmaller array of color digital cameras— no less than one and as many asdozens — also photographing theperformers from a variety of angles.

An array of digital cameras captures the actor’s image at 24-120 fps. The cameras arepositioned to capture the actor from a variety of angles, enabling determination of thesurface geometry with extreme precision.

96

TLFeBOOK

MA IN FILM STUDIES MFA IN FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCING MFA IN SCREENWRITINGMFA IN PRODUCTION DESIGNMFA IN FILM PRODUCTION: Cinematography • Directing • Editing • Sound Design

CHAPMAN UNIVERSITYTHE DODGE COLLEGE OF FILM & MEDIA ARTSOne University Drive, Orange, CA 92866

Just a heartbeat from Hollywood.

800-746-0379 • 714-997-6765FTV.CHAPMAN.EDUROBERT BASSETT, DEAN

Film has the power to make us laugh or cry, to challengedearly held beliefs or to put forth new concepts. If youdream of telling your story, expressing your passions orbringing life to your ideas through film, the GraduateConservatory of Motion Pictures at Chapman University hasthe highly accomplished faculty mentors, intensely hands-oncurriculum and resources to help you reach your goals.

Learn more. Call us. Visit us online.

John Badham/DIRECTORSaturday Night Fever, WarGames

David Ward/WRITER/DIRECTORSleepless in Seattle, The Sting

Dezso Magyar/ARTISTIC DIRECTORNo Secrets, Summer

Alexandra Rose/PRODUCERNorma Rae, Frankie and Johnny

Larry Paull/PRODUCTION DESIGNERBack to the Future, Blade Runner

Paul Seydor/EDITORWhite Men Can’t Jump, Barbershop II

Bill Dill/CINEMATOGRAPHERDancing in September, The Five Heartbeats

Chapman University is accredited by and is a member of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

97

Contour is used on a light-tightsoundstage lit by custom stroboscopicfluorescent lamps that illuminate thesubject with white visible lights andblack lights that are synced with bothcamera systems. Typically strobing at90 times per second, the flashing effectis invisible to the human eye, whichperceives the scene as normally lit. Thevisual-camera shutters open each1/180th of a second and capture infor-mation while the fluorescent lightsflash on (these are the “lit frames”). Thegeometry-camera shutters open each1/180th of a second while the fluores-cent lights flash off and the soundstageis in pitch darkness (the “dark frames”).And what these geometry cameras seein pitch darkness is the most interestingpart of the Contour system.

A special, FDA-approved,hypoallergenic phosphorescent makeup(similar to the glow-in-the-dark makeupsold in Halloween stores) is applied inrandom patterns onto everything in thescene that is to be captured, includingan actor’s lips and nostrils and right upto the edge of the eyes. Charged duringeach “lit” frame, the phosphor emits arandom-pattern afterglow during the“dark” frames. These patterns arecaptured by each geometry camerafrom a different angle and then fed intoa small array of computers. Thecomputers correlate the randompatterns seen by the cameras fromdifferent angles and triangulatebetween the cameras, producing a 3-Dmodel of every surface visible in thescene during that frame. Anything thatis not covered by the phosphorescentcoating is not captured.

Using 1.3-megapixel cameras,Contour can reconstruct the 3-D surfaceof a human face with better thansubmillimeter precision, resulting in ahigh-resolution 3-D mesh in excess of100,000 polygons. This is more thanenough resolution to pick up the shapeand motion of wrinkles and nostrilflares. In comparison, the faces in themo-cap feature Beowulf were capturedwith fewer than 200 polygons using amarker-based system, and it was thenup to a post team to synthetically create

TLFeBOOK

skin tones. The performer’s eyes andteeth — not covered by the makeup —can be tracked optically.

After a Contour mo-cap shoot,the surface geometry and the visualimage are “reconstructed” overnight(each frame currently takes less than 60seconds to compute), resulting in a high-res, full-motion, naturalistic 3-D repre-sentation of the subject, which can thenbe easily manipulated with such anima-tion programs as Autodesk’s Maya, 3dsMax and MotionBuilder, or Avid Softim-age’s XSI and Face Robot. “We’vedesigned Contour to work with as manytools as possible,” notes Perlman. “Infact, there’s a $250 piece of softwarecalled Poser that is used to pose 3-Dcharacters, and we’ve been droppingdata right out of Contour and into Poserwithout a hitch.”

During the four-year develop-ment of Contour, the use of phosphores-cent makeup arose as a novel solutionto a distinct dilemma. “We knew wehad to have something that could take a

relatively smooth surface and give us atexture that we could grab hold of andtrack,” says Perlman. “The hard thing isthat we’re often dealing with actresseswho invest a lot of time and energy intomaking their skin perfectly smooth. If it’sperfectly smooth, then there’s no way todetermine the shape of the face. So wetried several different things.

“We first tried putting blackpaint on the face and capturing thereflection of light on the surface. But welearned that when you’re dealing withreflected light, each camera is going tosee the reflection differently, dependingon its point of view of the surface. That’swhy marker-based capture usesretroflective markers — they reflectback to the point of the light source. Soas the character moves, you see a nicebright spot on the camera because thelights are around the camera lenses. Ifyou use reflection as opposed toretroflection, you get all screwed up,because as the character moves, anyhighlights at the point of reflection

all the details in the faces.Contour’s resolution is so far in

excess of what is needed to achievephoto-realistic results that in manyapplications, lower-resolution meshes(e.g., 1,000-2,000 polygons) are prefer-able. To this end, Contour offers afeature that allows users to retrospec-tively select only the points on the facewhere polygon vertices are required fortheir specific application, whether it befor high-resolution feature-film use or avideo-game character. The system willthen produce a lower-resolution meshthat precisely tracks these verticesthrough the performance from frame toframe. This also allows a single capturedperformance to be stored as a perma-nent asset that can be repurposed anynumber of times, saving both talent andproduction expenses.

The phosphorescent makeup ismostly invisible under normal lightingconditions, so by combining the phos-phor with appropriate base makeup,filmmakers can achieve almost natural

98 September 2006

The five stagesof the Contour

process: 1) videoof a live

performance iscaptured during

each “lit”interval; 2) a

phosphorescentimage is

captured duringeach

subsequent“dark” interval;3) data from thephosphorescentimages is used

to constructhigh-resolution

3-D surfacegeometry of the

actor; 4) toprovide an onset

preview,textured

geometry iscreated by

applying the liveperformance

image onto the3-D surface; 5)

finally, a vertextracking mesh is

generated toallow animators

and effectsartists to

retrospectivelydefine the

vertices theyneed to track.

TLFeBOOK

move, making it look like the face ismoving around even if it isn’t. So wecouldn’t get reliable results. One solu-tion was to use extremely flat lighting,where you put the subject in a lock-down situation and use reflector boardsall around to eliminate highlights. Youcan get good capture results by doingthat, but it’s just not practical when youhave actors walking around and youneed dramatic lighting. They may sweatand have shiny spots on their faces andso forth.”

Perlman and his team thenconsidered using retroreflective paint,“which is used for things like highway-safety signs. But it’s not safe to applythat stuff to human skin, and also, itdoesn’t deform. Retroreflective painthas tiny glass beads in it that reflectlight back to the source. First of all, thiswould be dangerous to ingest or get inyour eye, and second, the paints arereally rigid once they dry because of theglass beads. We needed somethingthat would stretch and move with theskin. We also tried ultraviolet paints tosee if we could get a good capture. Itwould work in controlled situations, butit wouldn’t work easily and efficiently ina typical production situation.

“By that point, we were runningMova, and we were extremely sensitiveto the costs and challenges associatedwith production. So we started lookingat phosphorescent pigments and thenotion of flashing the lights on and off.This was based on knowledge I’dgained when I designed large-screenmonitors for Apple and researched thehuman visual system’s threshold forflicker perception. You’re much moresensitive to flicker perception in yourperipheral vision than in your foveal[center-view] vision. Large monitorshave more of their area in your periph-eral vision, so running large monitors at60Hz, which is where Apple wasrunning their small monitors, wouldcreate an annoying flicker in the cornerof your eye. So we started testing moni-tors, running them at up to 80 or 90Hz,and I was able to determine at whatpoint humans stop seeing flicker.

“Twenty years later, we were

SKIRTDOWN

WWW.FINNLIGHT.COM

TOPLIGHT

310-456-9464Sales&

RentalFinnLight

™ BrighterSofterLighterFaster

The 6k par overhead softlight with 5 timesthe output of a spacelight (50fc vs 10fc@25'). Wide coverage as soft as you likewith your choice of diffusion in 2 separatedframes. One Toplight can replace 5 space-lights in many applications.

TOPLIGHT™

FIXTURESimple, lightweight (43-lbs.), fast to hang. One TOPLIGHTcan replace 5 Spacelights in many applications.

Patents: US 6,106,125 US 6,588,912 B1 US 6,719434 B1 GB 2368633 CA 2,343,470 Other U.S. and Int'l Patents Pending

99

TLFeBOOK

able to apply that knowledge to thestrobing lights we use for Contour,making them flash on and off at a ratethat is imperceptible to the human eye.Lo and behold, we can sync the camera-array system so that the shutters areonly open when the lights are dark andonly see the phosphor of the makeup.Because phosphor is emissive ratherthan reflective or retroflective, we canget a clean read without highlights orshadows.”

Of the lighting setup used withContour, Perlman says, “The black lightsdo a good job of charging the phosphorin the makeup and are largely invisibleto the RGB-color cameras used tocapture the visual image of the subject.The lighting units are modified Kino Flomotion-picture fixtures fitted with bothblack-light and white-light tubes. Eachholds four tubes, and we tend to mixthem up to even out the illumination.Black lights are also placed all aroundthe stage to evenly illuminate andcharge the phosphor. The white lightsare placed however you want to light

the subject from the standpoint ofbeauty lighting. For example, if youwant the subject to be in a half-lightshadow, you would have the combinedwhite and black lights on the illumi-nated side, and only black lights on the“dark” side. So the white light definesthe normal, visible lighting, while theblacklights are there strictly to evenlycharge up the phosphor. All the lightsstrobe during the capture process, withthe phosphor glowing during the darkphases. This is all done in a darkenedstudio. Also, there is a key differencebetween fluorescence, the glowing illu-mination that occurs when phosphor isexposed to light, and phosphorescence,which is the afterglow. We’re relyingon phosphorescence.”

Perlman notes that because theraised reference markers placed on theperformer’s face for traditional mo-capwork are slightly offset from thesurface of the skin, the resulting data isnot always a precise representation ofhow that surface moves. By having therandom phosphorescent patterns

applied directly on the skin, Contourcaptures the geometry of the surfaceitself. By combining this detailed infor-mation with skeletal motion, Contour canalso be used in conjunction with amarker-based system, allowing filmmak-ers to use the best of both technologies.

The only special requirementplaced on the performer is that he or shemust wear the phosphorescent makeup,which is mixed with a standard base andapplied with a sponge like regularmakeup. The subject must not touch orotherwise disturb the makeup once it isapplied. Although a “smudge” will notalter the surface geometry as perceivedby Contour, it will result in a discontinuityof any retrospectively tracked vertex thatfalls within the smudge. The systemwould continue to capture the perfor-mance with full 3-D resolution, but somepost cleanup of the data would be neces-sary to link the pre-smudge vertex loca-tion with the post-smudge vertex loca-tion. Some post tweaking might also beneeded for tracking vertices in areas ofvery high surface deformation, such as

TLFeBOOK

around the lips and eyes. (Movaexpects that future versions of Contourwill automate more of this process.)

Contour allows for multipleactors to be captured simultaneously,allowing for complex group scenes. Theperformers’ hand movements andgestures can also be captured. Contourrelies on the ability of its cameras tohave an unobstructed view of a givensurface; if a hand is holding an objectand only the outer surface of the handis visible to the cameras, then Contourwill only be able to reconstruct theouter surface.

Contour was designed to offerusers on-set creative control that isclose to what they expect with tradi-tional cinematography. Although it typi-cally takes an overnight render toreconstruct a full-resolution capturesession, the system provides a low-respreview version of the finished 3-Dreconstruction image that can bequickly generated on-set, allowing thecinematographer to properly light thesubject for a desired effect and the

director to check the performance.Reducing the amount of time required tocreate full-resolution imagery is simply amatter of applying more computingpower to the processing. Full-resolutionimages in real time on set are possiblewith Contour today at a cost that couldbe justified by a large-scale production,but within a few years, given the steadyadvance of computing power, it will bewithin the reach of more modestproduction budgets.

Contour can also be adapted foruse on any moving camera platform,even a Steadicam or Helmetcam, givingthe user great creative latitude.

The system can even be used tocapture the geometry and textures oftextiles in motion. Clothing is time-consuming and difficult to faithfullysimulate with CG animation techniques,but Contour can capture a garment’sexact geometry, motion and textureonce it has been treated with a phos-phor-based dye. Rather than donningthe form-fitting Lycra suits necessary formarker-based mo-cap work, actors can

be costumed for their characters, andContour will capture the fabric’s motionand the actor’s motion simultaneously.

Perlman also foresees usingContour in conjunction with traditionalstop-motion animation. “You just mixthe phosphor in with the material beingused, such as clay or silicone,” heexplains. “The Corpse Bride was donewith puppets made of silicone overmetal armatures, while Wallace &Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbitwas done with modeling clay. Youwould mix the phosphor in at a low-enough density that you wouldn’tnotice it under normal stage lighting —you’d just see the normal colors of thesilicone or the clay. But when you turnoff the lights, it will glow, and becausethe phosphor is just a powder that ismixed in, there will be a random patternto it.

“A complex shot like Wallaceand Gromit driving through people’sgardens in a car is very expensive,because it contains so many differentobjects that must all be animated,” he

TLFeBOOK

continues. “You also have a motion-controlled camera that’s following theaction. All this is very difficult to coordi-nate and execute. An alternative mightbe shooting the scene with Contour andbreaking it into components on separatesets, lighting and animating them asyou would normally, and then combiningthe images and rendering them in 3-Don a hi-def monitor for viewing.Because it’s now a digital version of thephysical puppets, you would be able tocomposite characters and elementstogether using a tool like Maya for eval-uation. In this case, Contour could beused to replace a motion-controlledcamera, because once the digital infor-mation was captured, you would havefull freedom of motion in 3-D; you couldzoom in, pull back or fly through the air.And if you have a character that flies,rather than being forced to suspend thecharacter with some sort of harness,you could just put it on a separate setand position it on the ground in the posi-tion you want it to be in when it’s flying.

“Also, if you wanted to reducethe audience’s perception of the strob-ing effect of stop-motion animation —or not, if that’s part of your artisticexpression — you could just turn onmotion blur in your 3-D package andinstantly turn stop-motion into go-motion. So we think Contour could alsodramatically lower the cost of stop-motion animation and afford a lot morecreative control.

“In the parlance of computergraphics, Contour is the first technologyto successfully cross the ‘UncannyValley,’ a perceptual zone where a CGface looks almost photo-real, but notquite photo-real. Such images aredisturbing to the human visual systembecause our brain thinks it’s seeing aface with some defect. Humans don’thave that reaction to caricatures, suchas cartoon faces, because we knowthey aren’t real. But as faces approachphoto-real, either you are spot-on, oryou have something worse than a cari-cature. Contour will give you a spot-on

photo-real face. Then you can focus yourenergy on what you should be worryingabout: making a great movie or videogame.”

For more information and to viewdemos, visit www.movapodcast.com.

Kelly HiDef Depth-of-Field CalculatorThe Guild of British Camera

Technicians‘ HiDef Depth-of-FieldCalculator (produced in association withPanavision Europe) is specificallydesigned for the new dedicated cameralenses used for shooting high-definitionvideo for big-screen cinema. Withscales for 16x9, 1.85:1 and 2.40:1anamorphic and spherical digital-cinema projection, the Kelly HiDefCalculator has the same formatting asearlier Kellys but with a much finer opti-cal circles-of-confusion standard —4/10,000in. — employed for use withHD CCDs.

The HiDef Depth-of-Field Calcu-lator is produced by motion-picture tech-

102

TLFeBOOK

nicians for camera technicians in filmand television and is designed to fit intoa back pocket.

With Imperial scales on one sideand Metric on the other, the calculatorwill yield at-a-glance depth-of-field andhyperfocal-distance properties for anylens size set at any aperture — invalu-able for factoring in distances and avail-able aperture settings when workingout accurate split- or deep-focus shots.

The Kelly HiDef Calculator is abeneficial tool because in things to dowith focus, any perceived depth of fieldis a factor of image magnification. Eye-focusing through the camera, or by

reference to a monitor, does not give anaccurate picture of what will be seen ona large screen, where that same imagewill be blown up to several thousandtimes its original size.

The HiDef Depth-of-Field Calcu-lator has scales for 5mm, 7mm, 10mm,14mm, 20mm, 35mm, 40mm, 50mm,75mm and 100mm HD lenses.

The HiDef Depth-of-Field Calcu-lator retails for £29.99/C= 43 plus£2.50/C=3.55 p&p. Price includes U.K.VAT. To order, call the GBCT, 011-41(0)20 8813 1999 or E-mailadmin@gbct.org. ■

www.denz-deniz.comwww.denz-deniz.comSee you at (Booth 3C10)CINEC Munich

video industry

Products for thefor the

motion picture

andand

103

ERRATUMThe Panasonic AG-HVX200

article that appeared in the Juneissue needs two clarifications:

The AG-DVX100 wasmentioned as a “revolutionary high-definition (HD) camera, bringing true24p acquisition ….” Though theDVX100 does record in 24p, it is astandard-definition camera. TheHVX200 is the HD camera.

According to Panasonic tech-nical literature, the HVX200’s 4.2-55mm Leica Dicomar Wide-AngleLens is the 35mm equivalent to 32-423mm. However, when we testedit side by side against 35mm cinelenses at Otto Nemenz rental house,the Leica’s cine focal-length equiva-lent was more in the range of 20-240mm.

TLFeBOOK

Among the hundreds of film festivalsaround the globe, Cinematographer’sDay at the Bangkok International

Film Festival is one of the few events tooffer an in-depth tribute to the art ofcinematography. The event wasconceived in 1999 by Luciano Tovoli,ASC, AIC and was part of the PalmSprings Film Festival. Over time, Cine-matographer’s Day stretched to severaldays of screenings and seminars, and in2003, the event became part of theBangkok festival.

Cinematographer’s Day is coordi-nated by David Kaminsky, M.D., a doctorwith a passion for cinema, and cine-matographer Frederic Goodich, aninstructor at the American Film Institute.After holding the event in Bangkok forthree years, the duo is weighingwhether to move Cinemaotgrapher’sDay back to California. They hope tocontribute profits from the proceedingsto the ASC’s educational and buildingfunds.

Over three intensive days inBangkok last February, Cinematogra-pher’s Day events comprised screeningsand colloquia on the themes of cameramotion, Asian cinematography, and digi-tal film restoration. Anthony DodMantle, DFF, BSC; Christopher Doyle,HKSC; Jeong-hun Jeong; PierreLhomme, AFC; Donald McAlpine, ASC,ACS; and Masaharu “Shoji” Ueda, JSCwere among the participants. The occa-sion prompted conversations in English,French, Thai, Japanese and Korean thatsometimes went late into the evening.As Goodich notes, Cinematographer’sDay facilitates a warm camaraderiebetween filmmakers from differentcultures. For example, Doyle and DodMantle discovered a shared experienceas expatriates; Doyle is an Australianwho made a name for himself in HongKong cinema, while Dod Mantle is anEnglishman who relocated to Denmarkand became a key figure in the Dogme95movement.

104 September 2006

At Cinematographer’s Day, Doylesaid he believes the current renaissancein Asian cinema is due in part to sheeryouthfulness. “There are more uncon-ventional approaches in Asian films thanin Western films simply because there isless experience of conventionalapproaches. Don’t forget that it is also ayounger film community. On my films,I’m the oldest guy on the set — even theproducers are younger than I am! At thesame time, many people in Thailandknow the French New Wave [films] backto back.”

Each year, Cinematographer’sDay honors an individual cinematogra-pher. This year, there was a tribute toDod Mantle, and director Thomas Vinter-berg came along to participate. The cine-matographer and director are friendsand neighbors who have worked on fourfeatures together, including the ground-breaking digital-video (DV) featureFesten (a.k.a. The Celebration), It’s AllAbout Love (see AC April ’03) and DearWendy (AC Oct. ’05). The low-res DVcameras used in Festen worked well forits “home movie” feel, Super 35mmbrought out the lush romanticism in It’sAll About Love, and high-definition (HD)video created some real challenges onDear Wendy. When asked about shoot-ing HD, the digital pioneers had asurprising response. “Actually,” saysVinterberg, “we both really hate shoot-ing HD, but we can’t afford anythingelse. Denmark is a small country.” DodMantle added: “I consider HD to be abrutal medium, in particular whendepicting human skin. It’s very hard towork with as opposed to film, which islike velvet. So I used traditional methodsto create a diffusion and softness thatHD seriously lacks. I also kept the flares,

Postcards from an International Celebration of Cinematographyby Benjamin B

Filmmakers’ Forum

The inventor of theSteadicam, ASC

associate memberGarrett Brown,

trips the lightfantastic at

Cinematographer’sDay in Bangkok.

Pho

tos

cou

rtes

y of

Fred

eric

Goo

dich

an

d B

enja

min

B.

TLFeBOOK

aberrations and other faults of the oldZeiss Standard Speed lenses we used.”

Camera movement was a leitmo-tif throughout Cinematographer’s Day.Gene Kelly’s widow, Patricia Ward Kelly,regaled the audience with film excerptsof her husband’s choreography and danc-ing, topped by a screening of An Ameri-can in Paris. McAlpine showed a verydifferent approach to dance with anexcerpt from the more recent musicalMoulin Rouge, which he shot for directorBaz Luhrmann (AC June ’01).

Kelly stressed that her husband’sdirectorial approach involved a framethat respected the dancer’s entire body,with very few cuts. “Gene would say thatif you’re shooting dance, there’s a veryspecific place where the camera needsto be. Some cinematographers would trysomething imaginative — put thecamera on the floor, for example — andGene would say, ‘No, put it straight up,shoot straight on, full figure. If you shootfrom below, the body is distorted.’ Genecalled the camera ‘the one-eyedmonster’ because it has no peripheralvision. Sometimes on public-televisiondance presentations, the camera pullsback to encompass the entire stage, andGene would say that if you’ve lost thebody and the kinetic force, you get adancer that looks like a nail file. Genewouldn’t allow zoom lenses on camerasbecause it would enable the cameramanto alter the frame. He would conceiveevery cut, every turn.” She added that herhusband would not permit multiplecameras because he suspected it wouldfacilitate other edits. “Gene didn’t wantproducers and others determining howthe scene would be put together. Heedited in the can.”

McAlpine explained that theMoulin Rouge process was the oppositeof Kelly’s approach, involving multiplecameras and angles and extensive edit-ing of more than 200 hours of footage.“When we shot Moulin Rouge, the musi-cal was a dead genre. We had to shootfor younger audiences who were notsteeped in the cinema that we camefrom. Editors tell me that if you shootconventionally and put together twoshots, kids today are so visually literate

that they’ll know what the next fiveshots will be.”

Another approach to multiplecameras, and to camera motion, waspresented by Ueda, who shot four filmsfor director Akira Kurosawa, includingRan, an adaptation of King Lear. Uedanoted that Kurosawa shunned cameramotion because he believed movingshould be the attribute of the actor.“Kurosawa-san didn’t want the camerato do the acting, so he always put thecamera in one place and waited for theright moment to capture the picture.”

Kurosawa often used multiplecameras, not to provide editing options,but to avoid having to shoot the sameperformance many times. The directorwould position as many as six camerasto catch the action from differentvantages. “Kurosawa and I were old-fashioned,” said Ueda. “We didn’t liketo look at monitors and shoot shortshots of different angles, so we wouldspend a lot of time rehearsing, and onceeveryone knew what they were doing,Kurosawa-san put his trust in thecameramen and we would shoot in oneday what would normally take severaldays or a week.” The Japanese cine-matographer added that with enoughpreparation, “the first take is usually thebest take, because the crew and actorsare enthusiastic and filled with power.”

Jeong presented an excerpt fromthe violent and provocative Korean filmSympathy for Lady Vengeance. Heexplained that the film begins with afairly static camera that becomes beau-tifully agitated as the tale of twisted

revenge unfolds.Dod Mantle shared his experi-

ences with the rapid, handheld move-ment on his latest films with Lars vonTrier. The director was outfitted with ajerry-rigged backpack equipped with ahigh hook, upon which was suspendedan HD camera that von Trier wouldswing around quickly, sometimes quiteerratically. “On Dogville [AC May ’04]and Manderlay, Lars was at a period inhis creative life where he wanted topoint the camera rather than frame it. Iended up shooting 40 percent of thefilms trying to think like him, which isalmost schizophrenic. But if you make ajourney like that, you can’t do it halfway,because you’ll end up with somethingmediocre. You have to go there even ifyou get the vegetables thrown at youafterwards, and I’ve had a lot of vegeta-bles thrown at me!”

Who better to continue thediscussion on camera movement thanASC associate member Garrett Brown?Brown has the unique distinction of

Left: Enjoying the festivities are AFI graduateEd Button; Jeong-hun Jeong;Shoji Ueda, JSC;and DonaldMcAlpine, ASC,ACS. Below:Cinematographer’sDay honoreeAnthony DodMantle, DFF, BSC(left) pals aroundwith good friendChristopher Doyle,HKSC.

American Cinematographer 105

TLFeBOOK

adding a word to the vocabulary ofcinema: Steadicam. The multi-talentedBrown invented the camera supportsystem in the Seventies, operated it onbreakthrough films like The Shining, andwent on to train a generation ofSteadicam operators.

In Bangkok, Brown gave a

wonderful illustrated presentation,starting with archival footage of his firsttests of the prototype Steadicam, whichhe captured while running throughfields after his wife. He also offered anincisive analysis of a beautifully choreo-graphed Steadicam sequence, operatedby Larry McConkey, from Carlito’s Way.Brown railed against arbitrarySteadicam moves, citing an examplefrom a famous TV show set in a hospi-tal. He distinguished a handheld cameraplaced on the shoulder from theSteadicam: “There’s a great differencebetween the camera in the hand and onthe shoulder. The shoulder gives you avery predictable eye level, which is aconvention of its own. There’s a miscon-ception about the Steadicam; it’s notjust a stabilizer, it’s also a way of hold-ing the camera that provides a certainamount of freedom in relation to yourbody. I cherish the second part morethan the first. The stability was the easypart, and learning what to do with thecamera in your hand at the end of your

arm was the difficult part. The questionis, ‘How do you interact with the cameraif it’s in your hand?’”

Lhomme recalled that “theSteadicam came to us like a dream. Wecould shoot in a way that we could notimagine using handheld. With fastaction, handheld introduces a brutalitythat is an accidental result of shootinghandheld.” McAlpine added that “ifthere’s some kind of fight and you wantto be right in there, in close, then hand-held’s really the correct way to do it. Ifsomeone punches into a lens, it looksgood. If he’s punching into a Steadicam,it looks too good!”

Many cinematographers outsideof the United States are accustomed todoing their own camera operating. Tothem, the introduction of a Steadicamshot means another operator on the set.Dod Mantle said, “One of the hardestthings for me is having a Steadicamoperator and not getting something. It’shardest when you can see and feel whatyou want to shoot, but you can’t put your

106

The event’sorganizers,

FredericGoodich (left)

and DavidKaminsky, M.D.

TLFeBOOK

finger on it. It’s like a painter workingvery hard, and at the end of the day thebrush slides and he gets something. I’mnot saying the operator can’t get that,but very often in shooting a film, thereare moments when you see thingsothers don’t. Of course, if I were work-ing with Garrett, he would probably readmy mind and know me better than Iknow myself.” Doyle added, “Until youtrust the integrity of the person whooperates the camera, it’s difficult to letgo.”

“Many movies ago,” notedMcAlpine, “I had to give up the wheelsto someone else, the camera operator.But I fooled myself into believing thatthis loss is a reward, because it givesme time to contemplate the battle. To adegree, I’ve always regardedmoviemaking as a battle. The operatoris at the front line. Now the films I’minvolved in are so complex that it’sanother game altogether, and I do haveto stand on the hill and just watchpeople die.”

After the laughter died down,Kaminsky shared a quote from RichardCrudo, ASC, who noted that cinematog-raphy is about “image creation” ratherthan “image capture.” In response tothat, Lhomme recalled that his mentor,Ghislain Cloquet, ASC, AFC, told him,“You can play with the cards the direc-tor deals you. What you can bring to thefilm is totally dependent on the direc-

tor’s mind and needs. Some directorsdon’t need you, they need a machine.They just want to see the action and thecamera has to follow it. If they ask noth-ing, you can do very little. If they ask alot, you give a lot. So if you love whatyou do, if you love cinema, you try towork with directors who ask a lot. Themore they ask, the better you feel.” ■

Gatheringtogether for agroup shot are(from left):McAlpine;Ronald Boulletof Eclair Labs;Pierre Lhomme,AFC; Kaminsky;Dod Mantle; aThai interpreter;Doyle; ThomasVinterberg;Jeong; Ueda;and Goodich.

TLFeBOOK

“At the end of the analog era, it’sgreat to have 16mm film,” saysdirector of photography Russell

Lee Fine, whose latest feature, Sherry-baby, followed the Super 16mm-digitalintermediate (DI)-35mm path that hasbecome increasingly popular in the indie

world. “Film technology is so good nowthat you can shoot the smaller negative,do your scan, and it looks better than alot of 35mm films did 10 years ago.”

As a character-driven, naturalisticdrama, Sherrybaby benefited both fromthe compact size of the Super 16 camera

Points East

108 September 2006

and from the DI, which permitted sometimesaving shortcuts on set. In the film,Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Sherry, asingle mother and recovering heroinaddict who is released from prison andtries to start life anew with her youngdaughter. Although Sherry is initiallyoptimistic, reality soon intervenes in theform of claustrophobic halfway houses,bleak job prospects, and relatives whoare reluctant to trust her with her ownchild.

While developing the script,director/writer Laurie Collyer exten-sively researched the lives of ex-conmothers and how they adapt to familyand society upon their release fromprison. In addition to getting theemotional details right, Collyer aimedfor realism on the technical side. Sherrybaby was shot entirely on practi-cal locations in New Jersey. “I wantedthe film to be dominated by the perfor-mances,” says Collyer. “I didn’t want itto be over-the-top in terms of style, orone of those shaky handheld movies.”

“We didn’t want Sherrybaby tobe beautiful,” says Fine, whose creditsinclude the features O, The Grey Zone(see AC Oct. ’02) and the televisionseries The Wire. “We didn’t go forbeauty lighting or trying to make Maggielook great. We wanted to have a grittylook that would feel plausible and real-istic. We didn’t want to make it look likea documentary, but rather an enhancedversion of documentary reality. Thereare some handheld, follow-the-charac-ter moments, and others when thecamera pulls back and you see someoneframed through a doorway very nicely.Some things are a bit more artful, espe-cially when Sherry’s on the street.”

Fine shot the picture with an Arri 16SR-3 mounted with a Zeiss

Shaping a New Life Against the Oddsby Patricia Thomson

Above: Sherry(Maggie

Gyllenhaal) hitsthe pavement insearch of a jobin Sherrybaby,

which was shoton location in

New Jersey.Below: Sherry

attempts toreconnect with

her youngdaughter after

serving time fora drug-related

offense.

Sher

ryba

by p

hoto

s by

Mac

all P

olay

,cou

rtes

y of

IFC

Film

s.P

hoto

on

pag

e 11

0 by

Pau

l Sch

iral

di,c

ourt

esy

ofR

uss

ell L

ee F

ine.

TLFeBOOK

Filmmakingdevelop package f inance license distribute acquire

Starts HereTM

The 27TH American Film Market® / November 1- 8, 2006 / Santa Monica, California www.americanfilmmarket.com

TLFeBOOK

110

11-110mm zoom or Zeiss Superspeedprimes. “There are no dolly moves,”notes the cinematographer. “Wewanted it feel like either the camerawas on sticks, or the character wasdriving it handheld. That’s a fairly uniquestrategy.”

Because of the story’s sombertone, the filmmakers hoped to shoot in

fall or winter, but principal photographywas scheduled for summer 2004 whenfinancing came through. Toning downthe brilliance of summer’s colors wasone of Fine’s tasks. “One characteristicof new film stocks is that most of themare very colorful,” he observes. “Eventhe ones Kodak bills as ‘less saturated’are still very intense when you get into

the video world.” Except for a few nightscenes that were filmed on KodakVision2 500T 7218, he used Vision 200T7274. “74 is not a low-color stock, butafter testing it, we knew we could selec-tively reduce the color palette.”

During the final color correction,which was carried out at Goldcrest inNew York, Fine sought a contrasty,desaturated look. “We didn’t want toomuch green in the foliage or the reds topop out in the skin tones; we took it alldown. Then we isolated the shadowareas and allowed them fall to black verysharply. We wanted the image to havean almost black-and-white quality.”

When shooting low-budgetprojects such as Sherrybaby, Fine tries toclear his calendar before preproductionofficially begins. “I usually have threeweeks of prep on a movie like this, but Itry to give myself a couple of extraweeks because directors get very busy.They’re casting and having to answerquestions all day long, so my time withthem is limited. I scheduled meetings

Sherrybabydirector of

photographyRussell Lee Finetakes a break on

the set ofanother project,

the televisionseries The Wire.

TLFeBOOK

111

with Laurie about five weeks out, andwe went through every scene. I wantedto know what she thought was theimportant part of the scene: Is it thelittle girl? Sherry’s mood? Is it the factthat she’s in a strange, new world?Once Laurie identified the importantpart of the scene, we’d discuss visualideas.”

The rough shot list developedduring these meetings was refined aslocations were secured. Fine wasinvolved in the scouts and posted all ofhis stills on a Web site so his collabora-tors could see them. In addition, heposted images pertaining to framing,shot angles, and even details ofcontemporary dress. “The costumedesigner was in Brooklyn, the produc-tion designer was in Manhattan, andwe were in New Jersey,” he explains.“This way, we could all look at the samething.” He adds that he found the Website useful for “vague storyboarding.”For example, he mapped out shots atthe Newark bus terminal, where Sherry

arrives in the first scene. “I’d shot digi-tal stills of those angles inside andoutside, and Laurie and I would refer tothose when we discussed ideas forshots. Once you have that image in yourmind, you remember it later on.”

A more flexible approach wasneeded for scenes with 7-year-oldactress Ryan Simpkins, who playsSherry’s daughter. “A second handheldcamera was key, because she wasn’tgoing to match from take to take,” saysFine. “Fortunately, it played into thestory — we wanted to feel thestrangeness between her and hermother.” For Collyer, the handheld workin these scenes adds a subtleemotional dimension: “It really createsan unsettled feeling. You get the sensethat with Sherry and her daughter,you’re on shaky ground.”

Naturalism extended to thelighting as well. “I tend to be a mini-malist when it’s called for,” says Fine,“so for day interiors, I’d just use a bigsource outside, usually a 12K through

bleached muslin. That would create ageneral amount of key light, and I wouldlet fill fall where it wanted to. Thiswasn’t a movie where we were relight-ing for the close-ups; we weren’t tryingto glamorize the characters. Often Iwouldn’t add eyelights or do things Iwould normally do in a typical dramaticsituation. I let those things go, lightingrules be damned.”

In the end, says Fine, he’spleased with the film’s rough edges,which are in sync with the story. “If Ihad to do it over again,” he says, “I’dmake it even funkier.” ■

TLFeBOOK

International Marketplace

112

TLFeBOOK

113

TLFeBOOK

Advertiser’s IndexAC 16a-b, 97Alan Gordon Enterprises 113American Film Market 109Arri 13ASC Press 99

Backstage Equipment, Inc. 6Band Pro Film & Digital 5Barger-Baglite 47Basson 16Birns & Sawyer 69Bron-Kobold 87Burrell Enterprises 112

Cavision Enterprises 6Chapman/Leonard Studio

Equipment Inc. 47Chapman University 97Chesapeake Camera 17Chimera 58Christy’s Editorial Supply 113Cinebags 112Cinegate GMBH 113Cine Gear Expo 115Cinekinetic 8Cinema Vision 112Cinematography

Electronics 17Cine Power International 4Cinequipt 87Clairmont Film & Digital 7Cooke 30 Coptervision 59

Dalsa 81Doggicam 19

Eastman Kodak C2-1, 15, 31, C4EFD, USA Inc. 77

Film Emporium, Inc. 112Filmtools 75Finnlight 99Fletcher Chicago 107Flying-Cam 6Fuji Motion Picture 9Full Sail 21

Gamma & Density 57George Paddock 85Gekko Technology 88Gillard Industries, Inc. 112Glidecam Industries 23Go-Easy Lighting Inc. 106

Hand Held Films 112Highway 350 Corporation 112Hybrid Cases 112Hydroflex 117

Isaia & Company 75

JBK Cinequipt 112JEM 117J.L. Fisher, Inc. 55

K 5600, Inc. 43Kino Flo 48

Laffoux Solutions, Inc. 112Lights! Action! Company 112Lighttools 102London Film School 16Los Angeles Film School 25

MAT Spec. Remote Camera 65Media Distributors 83Microdolly Hollywood 113Mole-Richardson 91Moviola 113MP&E 112

New York Foundations 45New York Cine Equipment 119New York Film Academy 67

Otto Nemenz 79

P+S Technik C3Panasonic Broadcast

27Panther GMBH 45, 95PED Denz 103, 113Pille Filmgeraeteverleigh 112Professional Sound 89Pro8mm 113

Sachtler 41Samy’s DV & Edit 49Schneider Optics/Century 2Service Vision 76Sharp Shooter 96Sim Video 73SMS Productions, Inc. 113Sony Electronics, Inc. 10-11Stanton Video Services 99Ste-Man, Inc. 82Super16 Inc. 112Sydney Film School 57

T8 Technology Company 68Technocrane S.R.O. 100-101Tiffen 29Transvideo 90

Ultra Camera Mounts 112

VF Gadgets, Inc. 113Videocraft Equipment 113Visual Products, Inc. 17

Welch Integrated 111Willy’s Widgets 112www.theasc.com 89, 113

ZGC, Inc. 30, C3Zinio 97

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Arri Super 16mm SR2 Camera, 11-110 zoom, primes, acc. and support.Cooke 18-100, 25-250, 300mm Nikkor, Zeiss 14mm, Dutch Heads,Weaver Steadman and more. Personal gear and Boutique NM Rentalcloseout. (505)982-4959 See at: www.wardrussell.com

Large Dolly and Crane Selection: Egripment, Elemack, Lt. Wt. Jibs andmore. Including remote camera cranes 25’+ height with remote head.For details call Visual Products, Inc. (440) 647-4999.

USED EQUIPMENT. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENTCOMPANY. (888) 869-9998.

Arriflex SR3 Package- Canon Zooms, Century & Zeiss Primes, CEI& much more 215-353-0543, bscdp@earthlink.net.

Mint 16mm and 35mm cameras, lenses, accessories, support at greatprices – www.gallusproductions.com.

PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. USED EQUIP-MENT. (888) 869-9998.

The Visual Products ads you see here are just a sample of the thou-sands of motion picture items we have available. All equipmentcomes with a money-back guarantee! Check out our continuouslyupdated complete list online at www.visualproducts.com or call usat (440) 647-4999.

8,000 USED ITEMS. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY.(888) 869-9998.

Cooke 18-100mm T3 PL Mount fully serviced w/case $11,800.00. CallVisual Products, Inc. (440) 647-4999.

BUY-SELL-CONSIGN-TRADE. 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE. CALLBILL REITER. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. (972)869-9990.

Moviecam Magazines for sale. Call Visual Products, Inc. (440) 647-4999.

NEED USED EQUIPMENT? PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENTCOMPANY. (888) 869-9998. www.ProVideoFilm.com.

Lighting, Lighting and More Lighting...HMI and Tungsten. Best pricesanywhere. Far too many to list. Call with your requirements. CallVisual Products, Inc. (440) 647-4999.

VISUAL PRODUCTS-LARGEST SELECTION OF USED MOTIONPICTURE EQUIPMENT, 16MM, SUPER 16, and 35MM. AATONTO ZEISS. WARRANTY ON ALL EQUIPMENT. PH (440) 647-4999.OR FAX (440) 647-4998 OR VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT: www.visualproducts.com.

HUGE LIST OF USED EQUIPMENT ONLINE: www.visualproducts.com.

114

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

STEADICAM used & new equipment. Arms, vests, sleds. Visitour website at www.steadyrig.com to view our range of prod-ucts.

WANTED

WANTED STEADICAM’S AND ACCESSORIES. dw@whitehouseav.com or 805-498-1658.

CASH FOR YOUR EQUIPMENT NOW! MOTION PICTUREEQUIPMENT 16MM OR 35MM WANTED: CAMERAS,LENSES, TRIPODS, DOLLIES, CRANES, LIGHTING, EDIT-ING. VISUAL PRODUCTS, INC. PH (440) 647-4999 OR FAXLIST TO (440) 647-4998.

SERVICES AVAILABLE

Film Financing Secrets. Easy system attracts Movie Angels,Investors, Lenders, Free Grants. www.secretsofraisingmoneyforyourmovie.com. 323-960-5550

STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL ANDUPDATES. QUICK TURNAROUND. ROBERT LUNA (323)938-5659.

RATES

All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or allcapitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad and advertiser’s namecan be set in capitals without extra charge. No agency commission ordiscounts on classified advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER.VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send ad toClassified Advertising, American Cinematographer, P.O. Box2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Deadline forpayment and copy must be in the office by 15th of second monthpreceding publication. Subject matter is limited to items and servicespertaining to filmmaking and video production. Words used are subjectto magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad: $45

CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINEAds may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds atthe ASC web site.

Internet ads are seen around the world at the samegreat rate as in print, or for slightly more you can appearboth online and in print.

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

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

WORLD’S SUPERMARKET OF USED MOTION PICTUREEQUIPMENT VISUAL PRODUCTS, INC. CALL (440) 647-4999.

New and Used Steadicam equipment www.whitehousesteadisales.com or call 805-498-1658.

PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. providfilm@aol.com.

Arriflex 35 BL1, BL4 and BL4S, and Evolution Camera Packagesfor sale. Call Visual Products, Inc. (440) 647-4999.

Camera/Projector Manuals Hard-to-find, out-of-printwww.hollywoodmanuals.com.

Sachtler, Cartoni and Ronford fluidheads available fully servicedat Visual Products, Inc. (440)647-4999

GLIDECAM SCHOOL. West Coast headquarters 323-466-3561/ contactus@alangordon.com

USED EQUIPMENT. PRO VIDEO & FILM EQUIPMENTCOMPANY. (888) 869-9998, providfilm@aol.com.www.ProVideoFilm.com.

Moviecam SL camera package with 3 lightweight 400’ maga-zines, video assist, spare board, and misc. Call Visual Productsfor great price. (440) 647-4999.

Classifieds

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK

American Society of Cinematographers RosterOFFICERS – 2006-’07Daryn Okada,

President

Michael Goi,Vice President

William A. Fraker,Vice President

Caleb Deschanel,Vice President

Victor J. Kemper,Treasurer

Michael Negrin,Secretary

John Hora,Sergeant-at-Arms

MEMBERSOF THE BOARDCurtis ClarkCaleb DeschanelGeorge Spiro DibieRichard EdlundWilliam A. FrakerMichael GoiFrancis KennyIsidore MankofskyDaryn OkadaWoody OmensNancy SchreiberJohn TollKees Van OostrumRoy WagnerHaskell Wexler

ALTERNATESRobert Primes

Victor J. Kemper

Laszlo Kovacs

John Hora

Stephen Lighthill

Victor DuncanBert DunkJohn DykstraRichard EdlundFrederick ElmesRobert ElswitGeoffrey ErbJon FauerDon E. FauntLeRoyGerald FeilSteven FierbergGerald Perry FinnermanMauro FioreJohn C. Flinn IIIRon FortunatoWilliam A. FrakerTak FujimotoAlex FunkeSteve GainerRon GarciaJames M. GlennonMichael GoiStephen GoldblattPaul GoldsmithVictor GossJack GreenAdam GreenbergRobbie GreenbergAlexander GruszynskiChangwei GuRick GunterRob HahnGerald HirschfeldHenner HofmannAdam HolenderErnie HolzmanJohn C. HoraGil HubbsMichel HugoJudy IrolaMark IrwinLevie IsaacksAndrew JacksonPeter JamesJohnny E. JensenRobert C. JessupTorben JohnkeFrank JohnsonShelly JohnsonJeffrey JurWilliam K. JurgensenStephen M. KatzKen KelschVictor J. KemperWayne KennanFrancis KennyGlenn KershawDarius KhondjiGary KibbeJan KeisserJeffrey L. KimballAlar KiviloRichard KlineGeorge KoblasaFred J. Koenekamp

Daniel PearlEdward J. PeiJames PergolaDon PetermanLowell PetersonWally PfisterAlex PhillipsClifford PolandGene PolitoBill PopeSteven PosterTom Priestley Jr.Rodrigo PrietoRobert PrimesFrank PrinziRichard QuinlanDeclan QuinnEarl RathRichard Rawlings Jr.Frank RaymondTami ReikerGayne RescherMarc ReshovskyRobert RichardsonAnthony B. RichmondBill RoeOwen RoizmanCharles Rosher Jr.Giuseppe RotunnoPhilippe RousselotJuan Ruiz-AnchiaMarvin RushPaul RyanEric SaarinenAlik SakharovMikael SalomonHarris SavidesRoberto SchaeferAaron SchneiderNancy SchreiberFred SchulerJohn SchwartzmanJohn SealeChristian SebaldtDean SemlerEduardo SerraSteven ShawRichard ShoreNewton Thomas SigelJohn SimmonsSandi SisselBradley B. SixDennis L. SmithRoland “Ozzie” SmithReed SmootBing SokolskyPeter SovaWilliam SpencerDante SpinottiRobert SteadmanUeli SteigerPeter SteinRobert M. StevensVittorio StoraroHarry Stradling Jr.

Lajos KoltaiLaszlo KovacsNeil KrepelaWilly KurantEllen M. KurasGeorge La FountaineEdward LachmanKen LamkinJacek LaskusAndrew LaszloDenis LenoirJohn R. LeonettiMatthew LeonettiAndrew LesniePeter LevyMatthew LibatiqueStephen LighthillKarl Walter LindenlaubJohn LindleyRobert F. LiuWalt LloydBruce LoganEmmanuel LubezkiJulio G. MacatGlen MacPhersonConstantine MakrisKarl MalkamesIsidore MankofskyMichael D. MarguliesBarry MarkowitzVincent MartinelliSteve MasonDon McAlpineDon McCuaigRobert McLachlanGreg McMurryJohn McPhersonTerry K. MeadeChris MengesRexford MetzAnastas MichosDouglas MilsomeCharles MinskyRichard MooreDonald A. MorganDonald M. MorganM. David MullenDennis MurenFred MurphyHiro NaritaGuillermo NavarroMichael B. NegrinSol NegrinBill NeilAlex NepomniaschyJohn NewbyDavid B. NowellSven NykvistRene OhashiDaryn OkadaWoody OmensMiroslav OndricekMichael D. O’SheaAnthony PalmieriPhedon Papamichael

ACTIVE MEMBERSThomas AckermanLance AcordLloyd Ahern IIHerbert AlpertRuss AlsobrookHoward A. Anderson IIIHoward A. Anderson Jr.James AndersonPeter AndersonTony AskinsCharles AustinJames BagdonasKing BaggotJohn BaileyMichael BallhausAndrzej BartkowiakJohn BartleyFrank BeascoecheaAffonso BeatoMat BeckDion BeebeBill BennettAndres BerenguerCarl BergerGabriel BeristainSteven BernsteinRoss BerrymanMichael BonvillainRichard BowenDavid BoydRussell BoydDon BurgessStephen H. BurumWilmer C. ButlerFrank B. ByersBobby ByrneRussell P. CarpenterJames L. CarterAlan CasoMichael ChapmanRodney ChartersJames A. ChressanthisJoan ChurchillCurtis ClarkPeter L. CollisterJack CoopermanJack CoufferVincent G. CoxJeff CronenwethRichard CrudoDean R. CundeyStefan CzapskyAllen DaviauRoger DeakinsJan DeBontThomas Del RuthPeter DemingCaleb DeschanelRon DexterGeorge Spiro DibieCraig Di BonaErnest DickersonBilly DicksonBill Dill

116 September 2006

TLFeBOOK

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 6

David StumpTim SuhrstedtPeter SuschitzkyAlfred TaylorJonathan TaylorWilliam TaylorDon ThorinJohn TollMario TosiLuciano TovoliJost VacanoTheo Van de SandeEric Van Haren NomanKees Van OostrumRon VargasMark VargoAmelia VincentWilliam WagesRoy H. WagnerRic WaiteMichael WatkinsJonathan WestHaskell WexlerJack WhitmanGordon WillisDariusz WolskiRalph WoolseyPeter WunstorfRobert YeomanRichard YuricichJerzy ZielinskiVilmos ZsigmondKenneth Zunder

ASSOCIATE MEMBERSAlan AlbertRichard AschmanVolker BahnemannJoseph J. BallCarly M. BarberCraig BarronThomas M. BarronLarry BartonBob BeitcherBruce BerkeJohn BickfordSteven A. BlakelyMitchell BogdanowiczJack BonuraWilliam BrodersenGarrett BrownRonald D. BurdettReid BurnsVincent CarabelloJim CarterLeonard ChapmanDenny ClairmontEmory M. CohenSean CoughlinRobert B. CreamerGrover CrispDaniel CurryCarlos D. DeMattosGary DemosRichard DiBona

117

Kevin DillonDavid DodsonJudith DohertyDon DonigiCyril DrabinskyJesse DylanRaymond EmeritzJonathan ErlandJohn FarrandRay FeeneyPhil FeinerJimmy FisherScott FleischerSteve GarfinkelSalvatore GiarratanoRichard B. GlickmanJohn A. GreschJim HannafinWilliam HansardBill Hansard, Jr.Richard HartRoman I. HarteRobert HarveyDon HendersonCharles HerzfeldLarry HezzelwoodBob HoffmanFrieder HochheimRobert C. HummelRoy IsaiaGeorge JobloveJohn JohnstonCurtis JonesFrank KayMilton KeslowRobert KeslowLarry KingenDouglas KirklandTimothy J. KnappRon KochKarl KresserLou LevinsonSuzanne LezotteGrant LoucksAndy MaltzSteven E. ManiosJoe MatzaAlbert L. Mayer, Sr.Albert Mayer, Jr.Andy McIntyreStan MillerWalter H. MillsGeorge MiltonMike MimakiRami MinaTak MiyagishimaMichael MorelliDash MorrisonNolan MurdockMark W. MurphyDan MuscarellaF. Jack NaporIain A. NeilOtto NemenzErnst Nettmann

Mickel NiehenkeMarty OppenheimerLarry ParkerMichael ParkerWarren ParkerDoug PentekEd PhillipsNick PhillipsJerry PierceJoshua PinesCarl PorcelloHoward PrestonDavid PringlePhil RadinChristopher ReynaFrank J. Ricotta Sr.Colin RitchieEric G. RodliAndy RomanoffDaniel RosenDana RossBill RussellKish SadhvaniDavid SamuelsonPeter K. SchnitzlerWalter SchonfeldJuergen SchwinzerRonald ScottSteven ScottDon ShapiroMilton R. ShefterLeon SilvermanGarrett SmithJohn L. SprungJoseph N. TawilIra TiffenNat TiffenArthur TostadoAnn TurnerMark Van HorneRichard VetterJoe ViolanteDedo WeigertFranz WeiserEvans WetmoreBeverly WoodJan YarbroughHoyt YeatmanIrwin M. YoungBob ZahnNazir ZaidiMichael ZakulaLes Zellan

HONORARY MEMBERSCol. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.Neil A. ArmstrongCol. Michael CollinsBob FisherCpt. Bruce McCandless IIDavid MacDonaldBarbara PrevedelDr. Roderick T. RyanBud StoneRichard F. Walsh

5335 McCo n n e l l A v e n u eL o s A n g e l e s , CA 9 0 0 6 6

Tel: 31 0/301-8187 Fax: 310/821-9886www.hyd ro f l ex . c om

A new generation

A new generation

thatreally rocks

& rolls.

thatreally rocks

& rolls.HydroFlexHydroHead.

Now available with a third axis for even more range of motion.

TLFeBOOK

July Strictly SocialThe oppressive triple-digit heat

dampened the shirts but not the spirits ofASC members, associate members andguests at the July Strictly Social event.While the barbecue and drinks flowed,attendees talked shop and traded produc-tion stories in the relaxed setting of the ASCClubhouse lawn. Held monthly and open tomembers and guests, Strictly Socials are agreat way to reconnect and catch up withcomrades, both old and new. �

118 September 2006

Zaidi and AC in IndiaASC associate member Nasir J.

Zaidi of Spectra Cine traveled toMumbai (formerly Bombay), India, inMay for the Cinema India 2006 Expo. Hespent three days in the American Cine-matographer booth meeting numerousBollywood filmmakers and even thepresident of the Nigerian Society ofCinematographers. Zaidi noted thatsome of the concerns raised by our coun-terparts in the East were long workinghours and no control over the final qual-ity of the work. Sound familiar?

Clubhouse News

1

2 3

654

7 8 9 10

1. Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; AC Circulation Director Saul Molina; and Bogen’s Wayne Schulman; 2. Mrs. Larry Parker and Mankofsky; 3. William A. Fraker, ASC; Richard Crudo, ASC; Laszlo Kovacs, ASC; and Technicolor’s Bob Hoffman; 4. Eric Rodli from Eastman Kodak talks with ASC Events Coordinator Patty Armacost; 5. Mike Morelli from Eastman Kodak with Armacost; 6. David Mullen, ASC with Denis Lenoir, ASC;7. Gil Hubbs, ASC with George Spiro Dibie, ASC; 8. Daniel Pearl, ASC, Don Henderson from Eastman Kodak; a guest; and Mankofsky; 9. Molinaand Schulman; 10. Cory Eisner serves dinner to Mullen; Donald M. Morgan, ASC; and Kovacs.

Stri

ctly

Soc

ial p

hoto

s by

Mar

k B

ende

r.

Nasir J. Zaidi(right) hangs outin the AC booth

at the CinemaIndia 2006 Expo.

TLFeBOOK

New York production works…Come see how

New York Cine & DigitalEquipment Show

October 10-11, 2006 Opening night cocktail reception, 6-8 PM

The Metropolitan Pavilion

125 West 18th Street

New York City

REGISTER N W!www.NYCDES.com

Where Industry professionals can see thefuture of New York production now

The latest in film, video and HD cameras, lighting,sound, camera support and post production

Seminars that will translate technologyinto technique

TLFeBOOK

When you were a child, what film made the strongest impres-sion on you?When I was 4 or 5 years old, I saw a black-and-white Disney short thatterrorized me. Later, I saw La belle et la bête [Beauty and the Beast] byJean Cocteau, which enchanted me at the time and still does today.

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire?Past: Edward Tissé; Eugène Shuftan; Gregg Toland, ASC; Henri Alekan,AFC; Katsuo Miyagawa, and Gianni di Venanzo. Present: Néstor Almén-dros, ASC (I cannot put his name in the “past”); Bob Richardson, ASC;Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC; Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC; Cesar Charlone,ABC; Bruno Nuytten; Jean François Robin; Huai-en Chen, and all theothers, because I’m always amazed by other cinematographers’ workand don’t understand how they do it.

What sparked your interest in photography?La belle et la bête, photographed by Henri Alekan.

Where did you train and/or study?The Vaugirard film school in Paris.

Who were your early teachers or mentors?Néstor Alméndros, for whom I worked as a loader and a 1st AC. Evenduring the most apparently banal conversation with Néstor, you’d learnmore about cinematography than you could through years in a filmschool.

What are some of your key artistic influences?The paintings of Pierro della Francesca; the photographic works ofSarah Moon; German Expressionism; the paintings of the French 18th-century school (actually, everything in the Louvre, which I visited everySunday for years, religiously); Marivaux’s La Dispute on stage, directedby Patrice Chereau; and films by Sergeï Eisenstein, Fritz Lang, KenjiMizoguchi, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman and so many others ….

How did you get your first break in the business?A young director called Guy Gilles. I helped Guy shoot a short directedby a friend of his, and Guy subsequently asked me to shoot his follow-ing features.

What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?A very simple shot of an actor wearing a brown shirt against a wall thatwas the same color. In that moment, I realized I could get away withnot using any backlight.

Have you made any memorable blunders?Many. The thing about blunders is that they are all very memorable. Thebiggest, though, was signing on to shoot X-Men 3.

What’s the best professional advice you’ve ever received?One piece of advice I gave myself was not to follow any rules. Another,from Jean-Jacques Annaud, is, ‘Always wear the appropriate shoeson set.’

What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?The book Europe Central, by William T. Vollmann. (If it did not influencemy work, it did influence my musical taste). Also, the film version ofThe Constant Gardener, directed by Fernando Meirelles.

Do you have any favorite genres, or genres that you would liketo try?I always wanted to shoot a film noir, and I’m doing one right now. Somaybe a Western?

If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doinginstead?If I had any talent, I might have been a piano player in a bar, a painter,an engraver, a cabinetmaker, a gardener, or a grip — almost anythingexcept a career in the meat industry or the military.

Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-ship?John Bailey, Willy Kurant, Steven Poster and Vilmos Zsigmond.

How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?Meeting colleagues through the ASC is the same as breathing life intoan inert body; it rekindles the passion one has for one’s work. Andthat’s on top of the fantastic amount of information the ASC shareswith the film community. ■

ASC CLOSE-UP

120 September 2006

Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC

Ph

oto

by F

ran

çois

Du

ham

el,S

MP

SP.

TLFeBOOK

TLFeBOOK