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American Cinematographer 201301
American Cinematographer 201301
American Cinematographer 201301
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STAGE
12
STAGE
34
I N T R O D U C I N G
T H E
C A N O N
GO WHEREVER THE
STORY TAKES YOU.
C I N E M A
E O S
S Y S T E M
STAGE
STAGE
26
On Our Cover: Django ( Jamie Foxx), a former slave turned gunslinger, blazes a trail of
vengeance in Django Unchained, shot by Robert Richardson, ASC. (Photo by Andrew
Cooper, SMPSP, courtesy of The Weinstein Co.)
FEATURES
32
50
66
78
An Unlikely Hero
50
A Musical Revolution
Danny Cohen, BSC sets Victor Hugos saga to song
An Auteurs Angst
Jeff Cronenweth, ASC lends a variety of looks to Hitchcock,
dramatizing the directors travails on and off the set of Psycho
66
DEPARTMENTS
8
10
12
18
90
96
102
103
104
105
106
108
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: GE.com, Juice Train
Production Slate: Amour Promised Land
Post Focus: Restoring Sunset Blvd. 2012 HPA Awards
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Ken Lamkin, ASC
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Newton Thomas Sigel
78
J a n u a r y
2 0 1 3
V o l .
9 4 ,
N o .
Visit us online at
www.theasc.com
EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,
Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson
ART DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Gore
ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188
e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973
e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Scott Burnell
323-936-0672 FAX 323-936-9188
e-mail: sburnell@earthlink.net
CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Nepomuceno
323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973
e-mail: diella@ascmag.com
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 93rd year of publication, is published
monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international
Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood
office. Article Reprints: Requests for high-quality article reprints (or electronic reprints) should be made to
Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com.
Copyright 2013 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.
OFFICERS - 2012/2013
Stephen Lighthill
President
Daryn Okada
Vice President
Richard Crudo
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
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Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Steven Fierberg
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Stephen H. Burum
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael O'Shea
Robert Primes
Owen Roizman
Kees Van Oostrum
ALTERNATES
Ron Garcia
Julio Macat
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
8
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
We wish all of you a Happy New Year. We hope for peace and prosperity all over the world. This is a big January in the United States, as many
new faces have been elected and will be taking federal or state office this
month. Many of us watched the campaigns and elections closely and
noted the advances in polling and polling analysis.
Nate Silvers FiveThirtyEight blog in The New York Times was
quite informative. (The title comes from the total number of electoralcollege votes that can be cast: 538.) Silver made clear his methodology
as he gave new projections every day. Most readers were aware that hed
had a remarkable degree of accuracy in predicting the 2010 election
results. Ultimately, he had a near-perfect record of predicting 2012s
winners. That some candidates lost and were surprised by their losses
makes one wonder what information they were getting. If Silver could
predict the outcome of the election with a great degree of accuracy the
day before the election, why werent the candidates able to do so as
well? Simple: wishful thinking and assumption, the mother of all messups. Some candidates made assumptions about who would vote, and
many of those assumptions were wrong.
In cinematography you knew I would get back to cinematography we see lots of wishful thinking and mistaken assumptions, but what concerns us is the misinterpretation of numbers. When
discussing cameras, numbers have become a faddist sort of sloganeering
by the uninformed. We hear constant reference to 4K as the best
camera, but that might not be the case if the camera is 4K with 4:2:0
compression. And what exactly does 4K refer to: sensor size, individual recorded frame size, etc.? There is also frequent
reference to raw camera files, and many assume these files are uncompressed and unaltered. In fact, there are several
variations of raw that are processed and compressed. Manufacturers often clearly explain that a given raw file type is
compressed, but the uninformed chatter often does not take these various and reasonable compression schemes into
consideration. I say reasonable because as we make the welcome move toward 4K capture, we are going to be handling
enormous amounts of data, and well-made compression systems will be necessary.
In cinematography, what matters is the quality of the image. One camera might have better numbers, but the
image must serve the story and move it forward. The chatter about numbers distracts from the real purpose of images and
demeans the role of the cinematographer. Yes, we know our numbers, but numbers do not tell the whole story either in
elections or in storytelling.
Stephen Lighthill
ASC President
10
January 2013
American Cinematographer
F O R
Y O U
O N S I D E
R A T I O
BES T PIC T UR E
BES T C INE M ATOGR APH Y
WALLY PFISTER , A . S .C .
POTENT,
MASTERFUL FILMMAKING
K E N N E T H T U R A N,
WWW.WARNERBROS2012.COM
Short Takes
Bullet Train
By Alec Ernest
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: The
productions
F3 cameras
were mounted
with JDC
32mm 2x
anamorphic
lenses and
control boxes
rented from
Panavision
New York.
Middle: The
cameras
protective
housings were
built by
rigging grip
T.J. Beatty.
Bottom: The
cramped
control room
on the train
housed a 17"
Sony
reference
monitor (left),
two Cinedeck
RX recorders
(right), paint
boxes and
FI+Z units.
14
January 2013
American Cinematographer
BE S T C IN E MAT O G R AP H Y
RODRIGO PRIETO,
ASC, AMC
WWW.WARNERBROS2012.COM
Top and middle: Two frame grabs illustrate the 3.55:1 aspect ratio of the unsqueezed
anamorphic footage. Bottom: Wonder helps rig the control room.
January 2013
Production Slate
Enduring Love
By Benjamin B
January 2013
Khondji: I proposed the idea to Michael. He was a little skeptical at first, but then he embraced the idea because he thought,
and rightfully so, that it would be easier for the actors because we
wouldnt have to reload as often. I was also able to light more with
practicals because you need less light overall with digital. That also
helped us.
I believe this was the first feature shot in ArriRaw, and we had
some problems because the de-Bayering process wasnt completely
finished yet. Our dailies werent sharp, and Michael was very frustrated by this. I always want to try things, I always want to go
forward, but Im going to let digital advance a little bit before I use
it again. All these digital cameras are wonderful, but theyre not
completely finished yet. In two or three years, digital will be incredible; after all, its already wonderful.
One problem I see with digital is a form of laziness on set.
Some filmmakers say they will create a negative with good waveforms and then determine everything else in post. I want to work
the opposite way. Of course, every film requires a different approach
to under- and overexposure, but, for example, I dont want to create
a good signal and then lower it in post. I prefer to underexpose
instead. Or, if a director asks me to shoot a film in a desert with a
completely overexposed image, Im ready to overexpose it, to fry the
sensor! (laughs) I want to give a real direction to the cinematography. Otherwise, what is our work about?
Amour is infused with a very strong realism, like so
much of Hanekes work.
Khondji: Michael has a desire for the true. Everything has to
be very true or real, words he uses all the time. My crew and I
adopted that vocabulary on the set; my gaffer, Thierry Baucheron,
American Cinematographer
Amour frame grabs and photo courtesy of Films du Losange and Sony Pictures Classics. Photo by Denis Manin.
Anne
(Emmanuelle
Riva) and her
husband,
Georges (JeanLouis
Trintignant),
enjoy an
evening at home
in a scene from
Amour.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
JOHN TOLL,
ASC
FR ANK GRIEBE
BEAUTIFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED
BY FRANK GRIEBE AND JOHN TOLL AND ELEGANTLY
JOE MORGENSTERN,
F O R S C R E E N I N G I N F O R M AT I O N , P L E A S E V I S I T W W W . WA R N E R B R O S 2 0 1 2 . C O M
CRAFTED.
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Director of photography Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC (center) and director Michael Haneke (third
from right) confer with their collaborators on the set.
January 2013
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa
Cooke S4, S5
BEST PICTURE
B E S T C I N E M AT O G R A P H Y
ANDREW LESNIE ACS, ASC
W W W . WA R N E R B R O S 2 0 1 2 . C O M
A Conscience Decision
By David Heuring
January 2013
Upon arriving
in a rural town
to pitch the
locals on a
fracking plan,
Steve Butler
(Matt Damon,
left) finds
retired
engineer Frank
Yates (Hal
Holbrook) to
be a very
tough sell.
Top: A farmer
(Scoot McNairy)
gives Butler the
cold shoulder.
Bottom: The
salesman enjoys
a warmer
welcome from
a local
schoolteacher
(Rosemarie
DeWitt) in the
town bar.
January 2013
They have their own unique characteristics, like out-of-focus highlights in the background that are not quite circular. In combination with the rich detail of the negative,
the lenses gave us an image thats just
amazing.
Sandgren notes that the pullprocessed material looks less grainy than
the material that was processed normally,
even at night, and he attributes that in part
to the increased resolution of the 4-perf
squeezed image. I didnt pull process the
American Cinematographer
the future
ahead of schedule
PMW-F5
PMW-F55
January 2013
TECHNICAL SPECS
Super 1.85:1
4-perf Super 35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite
Vantage Hawk V-Lite 1.3x
Fujifilm Eterna Vivid 250D 8546,
500 8547; F-64D 8522
Digital Intermediate
UltraStudio 3D
995
This still frame was pulled from 5k RED EPIC motion footage. Hitchcock 2012 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved. Not for sale or duplication.
www.red.com
2012 Red.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
OnceUponaTime
in the
32
South
January 2013
American Cinematographer
By Iain Stasukevich
|
Opposite: Django
(Jamie Foxx, right)
saddles up alongside
bounty hunter Dr.
King Schultz
(Christoph Waltz) in
Django Unchained.
This page, top to
bottom: Plantation
owner Calvin Candie
(Leonardo DiCaprio)
poses an obstruction
to Djangos ambitions;
director Quentin
Tarantino eyeballs
a setup;
cinematographer
Robert Richardson,
ASC shares a direction
via headset.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
33
Right: Django
takes a dip in a
hot spring. Below:
Richardson rides
at the end of a
Grip Factory
Munich GF-16
crane to get a
shot of Foxx in
the water.
January 2013
him, which was not the case. The director is the one with the vision, and we
serve him or her. The only path to creating a great film is to support the director. Quentin is the master.
Bob always lines it up the way I
ask, and then I look through the
viewfinder and it sucks its not magical, the director concedes, chuckling.
Bob has very strong opinions, but he
doesnt editorialize. He just wants to
know whats in my head. Thats a crazy
amount of trust.
The filmmakers decided to shoot
anamorphic 2.40:1 and use the same
Panavision Primo lenses they had
chosen for Inglourious Basterds.
Tarantinos affection for wider focal
American Cinematographer
35
36
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: The Brittle Brothers ride toward their intended victims. Middle: The camera tracks alongside one of
the riders. Bottom: The 40'x40' moon box is further supported by two 12K HMI Pars, an ArriMax on a
125' Condor and two 15-light Bebee Night Lights on location at Big Sky Ranch.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
37
Top: Schultz
executes a bounty
kill in anticipation
of his reward.
Middle and
bottom: The crew
rigged charcoals
to control the
daylight ambience
around the
Western town.
38
January 2013
American Cinematographer
GOOD VIBRATIONS
THE NEW WIRELESS COMPACT UNIT WCU-4 WITH VIBRATING MARKERS AND ALERTS
www.arri.com/pca/wcu-4
40
January 2013
American Cinematographer
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42
January 2013
American Cinematographer
S4 Quality Deserves
the S4 Name
Now Its Official
T2.8
by Cooke
cookeoptics.com
44
January 2013
American Cinematographer
(310) 450-4365
FAX (310) 450-3079
www.samysdv.com
Cinema EOS
EOS C500
EOS C300
EOS C100
EF or PL Mount
Super 35mm-Size CMOS Sensor
EF Lens Mount for Broad Compatibility
HD-SDI Output, XLR Inputs
Canon XF Codec - 4:2:2 50 Mb/s MPEG-2
1920 x 1080i60 & True 24p Recording
4K and 3D ready
CN-E14.5 - 60mm T2.6 L for wide-angle capability
CN-E30 - 300mm T2.95 - 3.7 L for world-class zoom and telephoto focal length
CN-E15.5 - 47mm T2.8 L & CN-E30 -105mm T2.8 L for compact zoom flexibility
All zooms available in EF and PL-mount versions
24mm T1.5, 50mm T1.3 & 85mm T1.3 EF
Cinema Primes available
Top: Django
finds himself
surrounded after
events in
Candieland take a
violent turn.
Bottom, left and
right: Richardson
finds two frames
on Jackson.
January 2013
Trailing Foxx and Waltz, Richardson rides the GF-16 into the sunset.
48
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Anamorphic 35mm
Panaflex Millennium XL-2
Panavision Primo, E-Series
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219,
200D 5213
Digital Intermediate
49
An Unlikely
Hero
J.R.R.
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Opposite page:
Bilbo Baggins
(Martin Freeman)
races through his
rural Hobbit
homeland, the
Shire. This page,
top: The great
wizard Gandalf the
Grey (Ian
McKellen)
commiserates with
the royal elf
Galadriel (Cate
Blanchett). Bottom:
Cinematographer
Andrew Lesnie,
ASC, ACS lines up
a shot.
51
An Unlikely Hero
Top: Bilbo hosts a gathering in his cozy Hobbit-hole at Bag End. Middle: The dwarves in attendance
include Bombur (Stephen Hunter), Ori (Adam Brown), Dori (Mark Hadlow), Nori (Jed Brophy) and Gloin
(Peter Hambleton). Bottom: Freeman holds the door as director Peter Jackson discusses a scene with
Graham McTavish, who plays Dwalin.
52
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Elrond (Hugo Weaving), Gandalf, Bilbo and Balin (Ken Stott)
confer in the Elven outpost of Rivendell. Bottom: Gandalf (far left) stops for some rest during his journey
with Ori, Oin (John Callen, behind tree branch), Dori, Kili (Aidan Turner), Bifur (William Kircher), Bilbo,
Dwalin and Gloin.
instant sync sign-off at the data-wrangler station. 48 fps doubled the chances
for things to go wrong, but shooting 1
petabyte [1,000,000 GB] of footage is a
testament to both the cameras and the
system setup, says Daley.
Achieving wireless rig control
over and above the competing din of
on-set wireless systems including
location sound, second-unit feed, lighting, Internet and Prestons required a
custom-created RS-422 controller.
This allowed utilization of the
www.theasc.com
53
An Unlikely Hero
Gollum, a Stoor-hobbit of the River-folk, eventually loses the One Ring to Bilbo during their
famous Riddle Game. He was played once again by Andy Serkis, shown at far right in his
performance-capture suit.
January 2013
An Unlikely Hero
Top: CG technology was used to create trolls William, Tom and Bert (performed by Peter Hambleton,
Mark Hadlow and William Kircher), who fancy a spit-roasted feast. Bottom: A view of the set on a
greenscreen stage.
between takes to describe the key difference between 24-fps 3-D and 48-fps
3-D: [With 24-fps 3-D,] the convergence point is usually on the subject, but
the viewer remains aware of the environment in the background and foreground, and the brain subconsciously
attempts to fuse these two images
together while viewing the focused
subject. This is a major reason for
discomfort. By contrast, the smooth
motion-effect of 48-fps 3-D provides
for a much more comfortable and
56
January 2013
An Unlikely Hero
January 2013
An Unlikely Hero
Top: Bilbo takes in the sights along his path. Bottom: Middle-Earth sculptures adorn a greenscreen stage.
January 2013
An Unlikely Hero
Top: The crew sets
up a complex
move. Middle:
Bilbo makes his
way across a
rickety bridge.
Bottom: The
bridge setting
onstage.
January 2013
American Cinematographer
An Unlikely Hero
64
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
3-D Digital Capture
Red Epic M
Zeiss Ultra Prime,
Angenieux Optimo
LED Con
Conversion
nversion Filter
Filte
Tungsten
622
624
626
628
Full Digital
LED CT
TO
Seven Eighths
Digital LED CTO
Three Quarter
Digital LED CTO
www.leelters.com
65
A Musical
Revolution
66
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Photos by Laurie Sparham and James Fisher. All images courtesy of Universal Pictures.
Opposite: Inspector
Javert (Russell Crowe)
rides through Paris in Les
Misrables, directed by
Tom Hooper. This page,
top and middle: Jean
Valjean (Hugh Jackman)
takes pity on Fantine
(Anne Hathaway) and
her daughter, Cosette
(Amanda Seyfried).
Bottom:
Cinematographer Danny
Cohen, BSC keeps his
balance while taking a
meter reading in the
Parisian sewer set.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
67
A Musical Revolution
Top: Early in the film, an imprisoned Valjean endures his sentence of hard labor. Bottom: The sequence
was filmed in a dry dock in Portsmouth.
January 2013
www.theasc.com
January 2013
69
A Musical Revolution
because a lot of our locations had great
ceilings. Why throw that away?
So it came down to digital vs.
3-perf Super 35mm. In the end, we
decided that for a period film, the sharpness of digital was not ideal, Cohen
says. We could have done something
about that in post, but our release date
had already been set, and there wasnt a
huge amount of time [for post]. The
more we could do in-camera, the better.
So film was the best option.
Hooper agrees that speed and
economy were key considerations, but
notes, The other reason I chose film is
that it matters hugely to me that I have
latitude in the capture. On location, I
didnt want to deal with digital burntout skies, and in candlelit situations, I
didnt want the flames clipping out.
Cohen used four Kodak film
stocks: Vision2 50D 5201 and Vision3
250D 5207 for day exteriors on location,
Vision3 200T 5213 for night exteriors
on location and some studio day exteriors, and Vision3 500T 5219 for most
studio work. Production started with an
Arricam Studio as the A camera and
Arricam Lites as the B and C cameras,
but as the shoot progressed, the Acamera operator often switched to the
Lite as well. Handheld is just easier
with the LT, Cohen observes. On top
of that, when three camerapeople are
working in a small space, they can fit
easier if theyve all got the cameras on
their shoulders. He adds that the movie
has its share of Steadicam, dolly and
crane shots, and a number of complicated setups, such as the opening
sequence, shot in a Portsmouth dry
dock, which involved a hydroscope
crane and underwater camerawork.
Overall, though, handheld
cameras and wide lenses were judged to
serve the narrative best. I didnt want to
abstract the characters from their environments when they were singing,
Hooper explains. So we generally shot
close-ups on shorter prime lenses the
25mm, 27mm or 32mm. A full range
of Arri/Zeiss Master Primes was
employed, as were 17-80mm and 24290mm Angenieux Optimo zooms. But
Top: When
Fantines
coworkers
discover she has
an illegitimate
child, they
demand she be
thrown out of the
factory in disgrace.
Middle:
A-camera/
Steadicam
operator Zac
Nicholson frames
the action as Acamera 1st AC
Peter Byrne (in
plaid shirt) keeps
it in focus. Bottom:
Fantine reflects on
her tragic position
in the song I
Dreamed a
Dream.
70
January 2013
American Cinematographer
A Musical Revolution
Above: The
Greenwich Naval
College doubled for
the Place de la
Bastille. Right:
Nicholson and Byrne
show off some of
the period garb
they wore in case
they were caught
in another
cameras frame.
January 2013
Top image courtesy of Double Negative and Universal Pictures. Bottom photo courtesy of Zac Nicholson.
A Musical Revolution
Top: Hooper surveys a scene on the massive T stage at Pinewood Studios; behind him, Cohen checks
the light on a fallen soldier. Bottom: A crane arm extends down the stagebound street to capture an
angle during the storming-of-the-barricades sequence.
January 2013
Andree Martin
VP Technical Services
www.clairmont.com
A Musical Revolution
Cohen takes
stock of the set
on T stage. It
was built
diagonally
across the
studio and went
all the way up
to the ceiling,
he explains. It
was redressed
for different
periods and lit
for every
possible lighting
situation.
76
TECHNICAL SPECS
Super 1.85:1
3-perf Super 35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite
Arri/Zeiss Master Prime,
Angenieux Optimo
Kodak Vision2 50D 5201;
Vision3 250D 5207,
200T 5213, 500T 5219
Digital Intermediate
77
An Auteurs
Angst
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Opposite page:
Legendary
director Alfred
Hitchcock
(Anthony
Hopkins)
addresses
viewers during
the opening
scene of
Hitchcock. This
page, top:
Director Sacha
Gervasi and
Hopkins analyze
the Master of
Suspense.
Bottom: Jeff
Cronenweth,
ASC (wearing
glasses) eyes a
setup while
camera operator
Dan
McDonough
checks the
frame.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
79
An Auteurs Angst
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Top: As crewmembers dress a Bates Motel interior set, Hopkins chats with Scarlett Johansson
(portraying Janet Leigh) and James DArcy (as Anthony Perkins). Middle: Johansson and Jessica
Biel (playing Vera Miles) rehearse as Cronenweth (reflected in mirror) observes. Bottom: Water
heaters and a crane-mounted remote head were employed to re-create the filming of Psychos
infamous shower scene.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
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82
January 2013
American Cinematographer
An Auteurs Angst
Top: As Hitchcocks
stresses mount, his
dreams are invaded
by serial killer Ed
Gein (Michael
Wincott), the
real-life model for
Norman Bates.
Bottom left:
Hopkins and the
crew shoot scenes
in the Hitchcock
bedroom set built
on a Red Studios
soundstage in
Hollywood. Bottom
right: A bank of
fluorescents
illuminates a shot
of Gein in
Hitchcocks
bathroom.
83
An Auteurs Angst
We also had some makeup mirrors and
smaller practical fixtures in the background to give some texture.
When Hitch comes to the
shower and starts working with the
knife, I used a covered wagon on the
floor to uplight him a bit. We used
[covered wagons] several times on this
show; theyre correct for the period,
they have the right kind of color and
tone, and theyre very convenient, especially in small locations. They also have
a great feel.
Hitchcocks shooting schedule was
divided among practical locations in
Pasadena, Altadena and Beverly Hills
and sets built at Red Studios in
Hollywood. Additionally, two movie
theaters in downtown Los Angeles
were tapped for scenes involving movie
premieres; the Orpheum stood in for
the theater that hosted the Chicago
premiere of North by Northwest, a scene
featured at the beginning of Hitchcock,
and the Palace Theatre served as the
host of Psychos L.A. premiere.
The production utilized a house
off Bellagio Road in Beverly Hills for
many scenes set in the Hitchcocks
home, making use of the kitchen,
breakfast nook and study. (The
bedroom and bathroom were both
constructed onstage.) The study was
an old-school, mahogany room with
lots of shelves and a big, mahogany
desk, says Cronenweth. Night scenes
in there were really a challenge. I had to
be careful not to overlight the actors but
still bring all that dark wood out of the
blackness. That particular palette
presents so much contrast, and we
werent onstage, where I could have just
brought in large, soft sources.
I also strangled myself a little bit
by always trying to combine several
shots into one, which makes lighting
more difficult, he adds. I ended up
using covered wagons for wider shots or
shots that had a lot of movement. We
tucked them high against the ceiling,
and we used practicals as accents
around the room. Then, I tried to clean
up the close-ups when I could.
After collaborating with Light
A lighting
diagram
illustrates the
crews approach
to a scene that
replicates the
rear-projection
process used for
Janet Leighs
driving sequences
in Psycho.
84
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Introducing
The Cineex ELITE
An Auteurs Angst
Iron Digital on both The Girl with the
Dragon Tattoo and The Social Network
(AC Oct. 10), Cronenweth advocated
working with the facility again on
Hitchcock. Light Irons involvement
started with providing the production
with the Pix dailies system and a Lily
Pad on-set color-correction cart
equipped with ColorFronts Express
Dailies software. The Lily Pad was
manned by DIT/colorist Brandon
Lippard. We set looks together for
each scene, and that encoded information would follow through to editorial
and all the way into the final grade,
says Cronenweth. Between the Lily
Pad and Pix, I knew the executives at
Fox Searchlight and [co-producer]
Montecito [Picture Co.] were seeing
dailies properly. Thats always a relief.
Pix is another amazing piece of
technology, he enthuses. It allows me
a lot more control over how I see my
images. I watched dailies every day with
[gaffer] Harold Skinner and [camera
operators] Peter Rosenfeld and Dan
McDonough, but we did it on our own
time. I use my laptop. Ive had it for
years, and its my litmus test for
whether things are working; if something is off, I can tell immediately.
When youre looking at dailies in some
random screening room, you never
really know what youre seeing. How
many footlamberts is the projection? Is
the projector lens good and clean? Ten
different screening rooms can show 10
different images. With Pix, everyone
was seeing our dailies in a consistent
form, and that really helped ease the
executives minds.
Light Irons involvement continued into post, when Cronenweth
reteamed with Social Network and
Dragon Tattoo colorist Ian Vertovec for
Hitchcocks final grade. We were
initially scheduled for a 10-day session,
but we wound up going 15, he recalls.
A good half of that time was spent
matching skin tones, smoothing out
prosthetics and makeup, and fixing
some things that might not have been
so challenging on a bigger movie. Items
that were not of the period, unwanted
Top: Hitchcock
attempts to save
potentially
controversial Psycho
scenes while
negotiating with
Geoffrey Shurlock
(Kurtwood Smith),
administrator of the
Motion Picture
Production Code.
Middle: Shurlock and
studio executives are
dismayed by a rough
version of Psycho.
Bottom: The married
collaborators finesse
their final cut.
86
January 2013
American Cinematographer
An Auteurs Angst
TECHNICAL SPECS
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January 2013
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Post Focus
When Sunset Blvd. was released on Aug. 10, 1950, Paramount Pictures touted it as another motion-picture masterpiece
from director Billy Wilder and the most unusual motion picture
in many years. Audiences were urged to come out to see the
film that reaches a new milestone of dramatic daring. The movie
tells the story of Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson), a 50-year-old
silent-screen star who has been shunted aside by the advent of
sound and ageism on the part of Hollywood producers, and who
takes up with a man, Joe Gillis (William Holden), 20 years younger
than she.
Sunset Blvd. has indeed become an iconic picture, but the
film itself the original nitrate camera negative survived just
over a decade before it was lost or destroyed. The best surviving
film elements on Sunset Blvd. are a dupe negative and a fine-grain
master positive, both made in 1965, says Andrea Kalas, vice president of archives at Paramount Pictures. Strangely, these
elements were not generated from the same source material, and
there are different issues and anomalies in each.
Although Paramount digitally restored Sunset Blvd. only a
decade ago, the studio decided to revisit the picture with the
latest 4K tools at Technicolor Hollywood. As we approached the
100th anniversary of Paramount, says Kalas, we felt this was
90
January 2013
not only an iconic film, but also one that offered a vivid and
historic portrait of Paramounts Hollywood studio, with footage
shot all over the lot. We also wanted to revisit the imagery of the
films cinematographer, John Seitz, ASC.
According to Laura Thornburg, Paramounts executive
director of restoration and preservation for archives, the restoration team consulted an original 1950 print in the Library of
Congress, as well as some other surviving 1950 print sources, to
get a feel for what Seitz was trying to achieve.
Tom Burton, executive director of restoration for
Technicolor Creative Services, says the Library of Congress print
provided the cornerstone for the look of this restoration. Unlike
some projects, where we have to cobble together the picture
from many sources, Sunset Blvd. was relatively straightforward,
with most of the image coming from the dupe neg. We only
resorted to the fine-grain in the transition scenes between the
golf course and Schwabs there was significant damage to
the dupe negative in that area and even a missing frame. The
scans from the fine-grain matched quite well in grain and image
quality.
The actual work took about four months, he continues.
Danny Albano was the lead restoration artist, and he supervised
the image-repair work done by the rest of the team. Our goal was
to get back to how the film looked on the screen the day it was
released. The repairs were rather subtle in the sense that there
American Cinematographer
Above left: An enlargement of a pre-restoration frame from Sunset Blvd. exhibits multiple vertical scratches and printed-in dirt.
Right: The restored frame in full.
92
January 2013
Top: HPA
President Leon
Silverman takes a
call while hosting
the 7th Annual
HPA Awards.
Middle: Peter
Moss, ASC, ACS
(left) and Bill
Bennett, ASC
presented the
awards for
Outstanding Color
Grading. Bottom:
Siggy Ferstl (left)
won the colorgrading award in
the commercial
category, and Joe
Finley won in the
television
category.
Ray Dolby, recipient of the Charles S. Schwartz Award, is flanked by his son, David Dolby (left),
and Walter Murch, ACE.
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January 2013
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to:
newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
RCR sees itself as a complement to rental houses where filmmakers might go for a film or digital camera for use on the same
production. Rather than a one-stop-shop paradigm, it can be two
stops now, says Shane. We can pack up our gear and deliver it to
Panavision, Otto Nemenz, Clairmont, wherever the customer wants
so they can prep their entire package at once.
For the cameras back end, RCR offers Convergent Design
Gemini 4:4:4 and Codex Digital Onboard S and Vault recording
options. On the front end, the company is investing in what it calls
its Vintage Glass Department. When you use an older piece of
glass with lower contrast, it takes away the [digital images] hypercrisp quality, and it starts to look a lot more like film, says Shane.
Weve taken Leica R mounts and engineered them to have EOS
mounts; we have old Cooke Panchros; and weve re-housed Kowas
so a camera assistant can work with them on a C300, C500 or
1D C.
RCR has been working with Duclos Lenses and other fabricators to re-house and cine-modify many of these vintage lenses for
use with digital systems in a configuration that will be familiar to
camera assistants. Edwards enthuses, Were taking old glass that
has been sitting in warehouses, giving it a breath of new life and
repurposing it for a new market.
RCRs new facility also affords ample space for educational
events. Were trying to educate cinematographers and their crews
on how to use this hybrid multi-camera approach, says Shane. Part
of the trick, notes Edwards, is removing all the time you would
otherwise spend flipping a camera body from a studio to a
Steadicam configuration, for example. Take all that time out of the
day by having multiple cameras in multiple configurations always
ready to go, and you can start adding setups.
Through RCRs educational initiatives, Edwards continues,
were building a team of camera assistants and other filmmakers
who are out there working and are not afraid of rapidly evolving
technology. Were constantly encountering people who have been
let down by DSLRs on other jobs, and theyre afraid to use one
again. So they come here to be educated in an immersive environment.
RCR has also launched an internship program. Participants
work behind the scenes and on the prep floor in the rental house,
learning to set up and care for the cameras and accessories and
gaining practical experience for working on set. Additionally, interns
are involved with test shoots and taken out on actual productions.
Our interns are hungry, says Edwards. Theyre sponges. Theyre
motivated. They want to learn. What better environment for them
to learn in?
Revolution Cinema Rentals, 1102 Arroyo St., San Fernando,
Calif., 91340. For more information, visit the companys website,
www.revolutioncinemarentals.com.
American Cinematographer
SPECIALTY
PRODUCTS
editorial and real-time color grading. Flame
Premium 2013 streamlines complex tasks
and improves speed with a new creative
workspace, top-level editorial timeline integration and an enhanced GPU pipeline.
As an integral tool for the highestquality visual effects for film and television,
Flame has been used on numerous Super
Bowl commercials, top-rated TV shows,
and blockbuster movies from Titanic to The
Avengers, says Marc Petit, senior vice president of Autodesk Media & Entertainment.
Flame artists are often called upon to do
everything. With changes to the industry,
they required an evolved toolset that would
allow them to oversee entire projects. The
Flame 20th Anniversary Edition is that
tool.
Flame Premium 2013 brings core
postproduction tools into a unified creative
environment where a full editorial timeline
is now closely linked to the popular Flame
Desktop, Batch and Action. The redesigned
workflow also features improved access to
media and a new task-based workflow
with one-click access to the main finishing
tasks and creative tools.
The redesigned timeline allows
artists to more easily work within the timelines context. Artists can now build timelines from scratch or match an offline cut
without leaving the desktop. With this new
integration, artists can more easily accomplish editorial tasks and move seamlessly
between creative and editorial functions.
Flame Premium 2013 also features a
re-engineered GPU/CPU processing pipeline
for faster compositing and visual-effects
development in Batch and Action. Additionally, the 20th Anniversary Edition adds
native support for the 16-bit, 4K-capable
Sony F65 digital cinema camera format,
using the necessary color transforms to
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98
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Anton/Bauer
Builds Confidence
with Direct VU
Building upon the success of its ABHDRF 5.8 GHz COFDM RF system,
Anton/Bauer, part of Vitec Videocom, a
Vitec Group Company, has introduced the
AB Direct VU COFDM diversity
receiver/monitor. The result of a collaboration between Anton/Bauer and Vitec Group
sister company Integrated Microwave Technologies, LLC, the AB Direct VU offers a
compact, portable system that includes a
handheld monitor and receiver, all powered
using Anton/Bauer Gold Mounts and
batteries.
The AB Direct VU displays COFDM
video transmissions using an internal 9"
16:9-format screen. The bright, high-resolution (1200-NIT), 1080i HD LCD screen
makes the unit suitable for a variety of uses,
including ENG/EFP, sporting events and cine
production. The high-bright LCD screen is
easy to read in daylight. The unit also
features a simple-to-use menu-driven interface.
Combining ease of operation with
MPEG-2/MPEG-4 auto-detect decoding, the
AB Direct VU can receive up to 12 camera
positions and send video over Ethernet to
remote software or hardware decoders as
well as stream shots live over the Internet via
IP. This allows multiple remote viewers to
monitor the same video simultaneously. The
receiver/monitor also features audio
connections as well as two speakers. The
bandwidth is customizable between channels 6, 7 and 8.
For advanced functions such as
changing frequency plans or unit naming, a
user-friendly administration software package is included. The administration software
package allows users to configure and store
up to 16 custom preset configurations.
These values can then be locked in place,
January 2013
American Cinematographer
International Marketplace
102
January 2013
American Cinematographer
CLASSIFIED AD RATES
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold
face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad
and advertisers name can be set in capitals without extra
charge. No agency commission or discounts on classified
advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA,
Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send
ad to Classified Advertising, American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX
(323) 876-4973. Deadline for payment and copy must be in
the office by 15th of second month preceding publication.
Subject matter is limited to items and services pertaining
to filmmaking and video production. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount
per ad: $45
CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE
Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds
at the ASC web site.
Internet ads are seen around the world at the
same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you
can appear both online and in print.
For
more
information
please
visit
www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: classifieds@theasc.com.
Classifieds
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www.theasc.com
January 2013
103
Advertisers Index
16x9, Inc. 102
3ality Technica 55
Eastman Kodak C4
EFD USA, Inc. 61
AC 76
Adorama 41, 71
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 47
Alan Gordon Enterprises 103
Arri 39
AZGrip 102
Film Gear 99
Filmotechnic USA 77
Filmtools 93
Fox Searchlight Pictures
17, 21
Kino Flo 48
Lee Filters 65
Lights! Action! Co. 103
Manios Optical 102
Matthews Studio
Equipment/MSE 102
M. M. Mukhi & Sons 103
Movie Tech AG 102, 103
NAB 95
New York Film Academy 87
Oppenheimer Camera Prod.
97, 102
Panther Gmbh 93
Paramount Pictures 5
Pille Film Gmbh 102
Pro8mm 102
104
In Memoriam
105
Clubhouse News
January 2013
American Cinematographer
Left to right:
Peter Deming,
ASC; John
Schwartzman,
ASC; Claudio
Miranda, ASC;
Robert Elswit,
ASC.
www.theasc.com
January 2013
107
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
There was no single film that wowed me it was the medium. As
a child, seeing Lawrence Of Arabia (1962),
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and even The
5,000 Fingers Of Dr. T. (1953) were mystical
experiences.
108
January 2013
American Cinematographer
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