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The smallest camera makes the biggest images.
This still frame was pulled from 5k RED EPIC motion footage from Elysium 2013 CTMG. All rights reserved.
www.red.com
2012 Red.com, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Red One was like getting our hands on the future for
District
9. The Epic is a fantastic evolutionary leap forward. Its
compact form, image quality and resolution were a perfect
t for both the grittiness of future Los Angeles and the
pristine offworld landscapes of Elysium.
Trent Opaloch
was love at first sight, when my assistant Dean Friss introduced me to the Hollywood Black
ItMagic
filters. They made 22 episodes of Secret Circle look magical.
They were the first things I packed for Game of Thrones. I knew they would be the perfect
companions to the fabulous ARRI Alexa. These filters work great at softening and romanticizing
without the image ever looking un-sharp in day/night and interior/exterior shots.
At one point, I had a huge banquet scene in Game that was lit almost entirely with candles.
Hollywood Black Magic filters helped to spread and soften that candlelight beautifully
in a very natural way. In exteriors, they perfectly take the HD edge off the
signal and look just great on human skin. Its almost ineffable
they soften but never look soft. I just love them.
Thanks Schneider!
McLachlan Sees Thru Hollywood Black Magic
Robert McLachlan ASC, CSC has shot over

350 television episodes, 24 TV movies,
a dozen features and over 300 commercials.
He has earned four ASC nominations and
won nine CSC Awards.
He used the Hollywood Black Magic filters on

Secret Circle, Game Of Thrones, and for his current
work on the TNT series, King and Maxwell.

www.schneideroptics.com

The International Journal of Motion Imaging
On Our Cover: Max De Costa (Matt Damon) spearheads a revolt against Earths off-world
overlords in the sci-fi drama Elysium, shot by Trent Opaloch. (Photo by Stephanie
Blomkamp, courtesy of Sony Pictures.)
FEATURES
34
50
64
80
Worlds Apart
Trent Opaloch tells a futuristic tale of class warfare
for Elysium
50
Bangkok Dangerous
Larry Smith, BSC travels to Thailand on Only God Forgives
Pounding More Than Pints

Bill Pope, ASC shoots a wild booze-up for The Worlds End
American Mythology
Bradford Young illuminates Aint Them Bodies Saints
64
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
14
20
94
98
110
111
112
114
116
118
120
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
80
Short Takes: Exitmusic, White Noise
Production Slate: The Patience Stone LACMA Salutes Figueroa
Post Focus: Una Noche
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
In Memoriam: Geoffrey Erb, ASC
ASC Membership Roster
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Ron Fortunato
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
SEE AND HEAR MORE CINEMATOGRAPHY COVERAGE AT WWW.THEASC.COM
Paranormal investigator Lorraine Warren

(Vera Farmiga) attempts to keep a demonic
entity under wraps in the supernatural thriller
The Conjuring, shot by John Leonetti, ASC.
In an exclusive online podcast, cinematographer John Leonetti, ASC discusses the scares he helped generate for director
James Wans horror movie The Conjuring. Based on a true incident, the plot follows a husband-and-wife team of paranormal
investigators (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) as they attempt to exorcize the malevolent entities terrorizing a family.
Aravinnd Singh: Chris Isaak, Wicked Game. Jeff Ryan Carlson: Didos White Flag. I love
the color and I love the camera movement.
Michael Wheeler: The Beastie Boys, Sabotage.
Jeff Wilkins Jr.: Prodigy, Smack My Bitch
Up.
Francis Agyapong: Fitz and the Tantrums,
Money Grabber, and Gesaffelstein, Pursuit. David Blackburn: Ladytron, Ghosts.
David Joshua Smith: Dariusz Wolski, ASCs
photography in Janies Got a Gun (directed by
David Fincher) has haunted me for over 20
years.
Alan Meyer: Skrillex, First of the Year.
Mike Hall: R.E.M., Losing My Religion.

Mark Boggis: November Rain, by Guns N
Roses. The video feels truly epic in every way,
and for me symbolizes the pinnacle of musicvideo production in the late 80s and early
90s.
Michael Vargas: MIAs Bad Girls, Coldplays

Fix You, Jay-Zs On to the Next One, Lady
Gagas Born This Way, Kanye West and Jay-Zs
No Church in the Wild.
Jimi Jones: The Cranberries Linger, for its

deep blacks and striking contrasts.
Ryan Larason: Lindsey Stirling, Elements.
Esteban Dedalus Chaires Arciniega: Nine

Inch Nails, Closer; Lana del Rey, Ride and
Blue Jeans; Modeselektor, Shipwreck.
Martn Demmer: I really like The Shoes Time

to Dance, a very new one [done] in the style of
old narrative music videos.
Scotty Cook: The Chemical Brothers, Let Forever Be.
Rashawn Prince: Michael Jacksons Thriller
and Soundgardens Black Hole Sun.
Joshua Csehak: The White Stripes, Dead
Leaves and the Dirty Ground; Johnny Cash,
Hurt.
Jhannes Tryggvason: Pulp, This is Hardcore. Gorgeous cinematography in the classical
Hollywood style.
Angus Toorabitters: Dire Straits, Romeo and
Juliet and Madness, This Must Be Love.
Ruben Gza: Smashing Pumpkins, Ava Adore

James Winterflood: Chris Cunninghams Porand Moby, We Are All Made of Stars.
tishead video Only You is one of the best all
Wyatt House: Justin Timberlake, Suit & Tie.
time, isnt it? Majestically shot underwater and
Osvaldo Rivera: Karma Police by Radiohead,
hauntingly lit.
Alex Hill: All is Full of Love, Bjrk.
for its simple camera movement and composition.
David Holmes: Criminal, by Fiona Apple,
Seth Crosby: For [its] pure, original feel, Die
directed by Mark Romanek and shot by the late Antwoords Fatty Boom Boom.
Daniel Wiesendorf: Any videos by Tool or
Harris Savides, ASC. I do believe Romanek and
Modest Mouse, and Sigur Rs, Hopppolla.
Savides erotic, glamorous and, yes, slightly
Brad Baker: Duran Duran, New Moon on
seedy depiction of her in this video helped solidi- Monday.
Serious Grippage & Light: Rubber Johnny
fy her position as a major alternative icon of the
by Chris Cunningham and Aphex Twin.
1990s.
Matt Norman: Nine Inch Nails, The Perfect
Drug.
To read more replies, visit our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AmericanCinematographer
The Conjuring photo by Michael Tackett, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures; Leonetti photo courtesy of the cinematographer.
THIS MONTHS ONLINE QUESTION: What are the best-shot music videos youve seen?
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PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter
EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
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ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
PHOTO EDITOR Julie Sickel
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Iain Stasukevich,
Patricia Thomson
ART DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
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CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

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American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 93rd year of publication, is published
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American Society of Cinematographers

The 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.
OFFICERS - 2012/2013
Richard Crudo
President
Owen Roizman
Vice President
Kees Van Oostrum

Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael OShea
Lowell Peterson
Owen Roizman
Rodney Taylor
Haskell Wexler
ALTERNATES
Isidore Mankofsky
Kenneth Zunder
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Editors Note
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
10
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
This months focus on international production ranges far

and wide to cover movies that were made all over the globe
for a variety of budget levels. Neill Blomkamps sci-fi thriller
Elysium, shot in Canada and Mexico, details a future in
which Earths wealthiest citizens have disembarked to an
orbiting space station, leaving behind a working class that
struggles to survive on terra firma. The productions offworld scenes were completed on stages in Vancouver, while
most of the location work was captured in Mexico City.
My approach to filmmaking is to drop a viewer into the
middle of an environment and try to convey what that feels
like, cinematographer Trent Opaloch tells Douglas
Bankston (Worlds Apart, page 34). On this film, it came
down to a strong handheld feel on Earth, a very active, dynamic camera using C Series lenses
for their old-school contrast and flare characteristics; and more controlled camerawork,
including Steadicam and Technocrane, on Elysium, which we shot entirely with the E Series
for the higher contrast and better blacks.
Bangkok, Thailand, is the backdrop for Nicolas Winding Refns Only God Forgives, a
revenge drama that has divided viewers and critics while earning kudos for Larry Smith, BSC,
who brought a colorful palette to the seductively lurid settings, many of which were located
in red-light districts. [Most] of the wheeling and dealing takes place in locations that were
actually sex clubs, Smith told me in a Skype chat from Thailand (Bangkok Dangerous,
page 50). We went to all of these really seedy places gay clubs, heterosexual clubs, bars.
Most of them are actually very depressing, especially the hetero clubs. The gay clubs are a bit
more fun because theyre more theatrical.
Bill Pope, ASC and director Edgar Wright sought a much lighter tone for the opening
scenes of The Worlds End, which begins with a jaunty pub crawl but veers off toward an
apocalypse. What starts as a film about old friends in a small town suddenly becomes a
story about aliens taking over the town and replacing everyone with robots, Pope tells Iain
Stasukevich (Pounding More Than Pints, page 64). Helping to achieve this transition was
the projects second unit, whose action is detailed in a sidebar by cinematographer Jake
Polonsky (A 2nd-Unit Shooting Gallery, page 66).
Our international theme continues in Production Slate (page 20), which offers coverage of The Patience Stone (shot in Morocco and Afghanistan), and a preview of the Los
Angeles County Museum of Arts exhibit Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa, Art and
Film, which will open Sept. 22.
Back in the States, the distinctly American drama Aint Them Bodies Saints brought its
cinematographer, Bradford Young, the Excellence in Cinematography Award in the U.S.
Dramatic Competition at this years Sundance Film Festival. Young details his work in an
extensive Q&A with associate editor Jon Witmer (American Mythology, page 80).
Presidents Desk
During the late 1990s and the early part of this century, William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC, one
of our organizations great legends, would hold court at the Clubhouse and regale us
younger members with stories about what he called the great days of Hollywood. Occasionally, he would interrupt his tales of a time we could barely conceive of with amusing
snippets of editorial observation. One of those comments has stayed with me to this day:
I cant believe Ive spent my entire working life as an independent contractor. Considering that he was referencing a period of more than 50 years, I could only marvel at the feat.
Most of us have followed the exact same career trajectory.
But Billy was revealing something deeper with his remark, a much more profound
sentiment beyond a bemused nod to the passage of time. Perhaps it was his tone of voice
or the expression on his face, but I always interpreted it as a hint of gratitude.
Lets face it: Sincere expressions of gratitude in the everyday world have become as
difficult to find as a mainstream journalist without an agenda, and in the motion-picture
industry, such displays are essentially nonexistent. Sure, you can point to the teary theatrics
we see at the podium at many awards ceremonies each year, but most of those are so
transparent they barely warrant a second look. What Im referring to is a genuine, heartfelt expression of appreciation that is neither required nor expected. To deliver this most
fully, an individual must not only be self-aware, but also self-possessed, which rules out
Photo by Douglas Kirkland.
most of the denizens of Hollywood.

It also means looking beyond the immediate moment and acknowledging the fact that, to quote another of Billys pet
phrases, It aint all about you, baby. This must surely be the most unnerving string of words uttered in the history of the industry, the equivalent of verbal garlic to so many of the vampires we encounter in our work lives. Youve seen it plenty of times.
When someone starts to display a sense of entitlement, resentment is the natural response. None of that contributes to a healthy
collaborative atmosphere.
As freelancers, we know the balance between boom and bust is a tenuous one, subject to powers and circumstances
that are often mysterious and almost always beyond our control. At once exhilarating and infuriating, those influences are never
called more clearly to mind than when I attend an event at the ASC Clubhouse. Invariably, a moment comes when I look around
and take note of the other members present. What an amazing group! All of them are brilliant, enormously talented, the elite
of their field. A few are industry giants, some are current hot shots, and others fill out the middle of the pack. And, of course,
there are a few stragglers. A great deal of luck is needed to sustain a career in our business, and I suspect every one of us knows
it. Perhaps that explains the humility commonly witnessed in that room. In ways both subtle and overt, we acknowledge that
were fortunate to have come this far and are able to do what we do. (This, by the way, is not something unique to ASC
members. Ive noticed it among cinematographers of every stripe and from every corner of the world.)
Certainly, there are more things to be grateful for in life than the ability to work as a cinematographer. Indeed, its downright idiotic not to be thankful for a healthy day in a world in which an errant microbe can kill you. But there exists a different
tack. Rather than getting caught up in the mechanics or the aesthetics of what we do, why not concentrate more on the relationships we forge and the things we learn about ourselves while on the job? That way, as blessed as we are, gratitude can be
the only response.
Richard P. Crudo
ASC President
12
September 2013
American Cinematographer
DIE IN NEW ORLEANS - A music video

Artist: Richard Julian
Director/Cinematographer: Rick Kaplan
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Short Takes
Diving Toward Self-Discovery

By Jennifer Wolfe
The video for Exitmusics White Noise, directed by Monica

Perez and shot by James Laxton, is a strong performance-driven
piece that explores the songs themes of inner struggle and self-realization with visual metaphors that include reflections, physical
doubles and strong black-and-white contrast.
Perez was making her music-video debut with the project,
and she meticulously storyboarded it with Exitmusic, a.k.a. husbandand-wife team Aleksa Palladino and Devon Church, over a period of
several months. From the start, I was very interested in creating
something that matched their sound, says Perez. Their music is
very immersive and ethereal, kind of dark, but with an unusual,
sophisticated quality as well.
In the video, Palladino battles her inner demons in a moody
underwater sequence intercut with highly stylized footage shot on a
black theatrical set. Lens flares and other in-camera effects highlight
Palladinos struggle with her twinned selves against the stark background.
Monica had pretty specific ideas about the techniques she
wanted to use, Laxton recounts. She knew, for example, how she
wanted to light the underwater portion of the video. One of the
14
September 2013
things we talked about was that we definitely didnt want to have

any ripples of light on our subjects. We wanted to make this lighting feel more ethereal than naturalistic.
Laxton used an Arri Alexa EV outfitted with Zeiss Ultra Prime
lenses. Footage was recorded at 1920x1080p in ProRes 4:4:4 to SxS
cards. Considering that part of the video was going to be shot
underwater, the Alexa was the best choice, he asserts. We
wanted a great-looking image first and foremost, and we wanted a
format that would be flexible when we got into the grade and
visual-effects work; we knew the Alexas latitude and codec would
facilitate that. We also loved the soft, gentle way the camera
renders skin tones. And, finally, we needed to get the most out of
our time with the artists underwater. These were not professional
swimmers or aquatic performers, so we needed to make sure we
could maximize our time and capture as much material as possible.
The team found a suitable location at a Los Angeles swimming school that featured a belowground window that afforded a
view into the pool. Relying primarily on a submerged HydroFlex 5K
tungsten Fresnel to light the underwater action, which was shot
against a 20'x20' water solid hung by key grip Tyler Johnson, Laxton
kept the Alexa locked off behind the window as the artists
performed in the pool. The setup definitely posed more challenges
for the talent than it did for me, he laughs. I was literally stuck in
Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.
Singer Aleksa Palladino of Exitmusic hits the water in the video for White Noise.
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one spot, and that put a lot of pressure on

the talent to make sure they were in the
right area so we could grab their performance.
Laxton eschewed lens filtration,
concerned that extra glass would interfere
with the sharpness of the image. We did
change lenses a fair amount, he recalls.
Certain shots use a 16mm or a 20mm lens,
which was fun to play with because you
dont notice the [wide-angle] distortion as
much when youre shooting on a black
background. For the close-ups of hands, I
dont think we went any tighter than a
32mm or 35mm.
For a shot showing Church following
Palladino into the water, Laxton used the
deck alongside the pool to set up an array
of 5K softboxes to create reflections of
backlit ripples as the artists jumped in, and a
Source Four Leko to create a strong shaft of
light.
To carry the sense of a metaphysical
void beyond the pool, the filmmakers
utilized a black theatrical stage set hung
with windows and dressed with a few
chairs. The stage was large enough to
provide an initial palette, and from there it
was all about creating very distinct, sharp,
high-contrast imagery, Laxton says. We
used a lot of 5K Fresnels and just a little fill,
The video
finds Palladino
struggling toward
self-realization in a
limbo created on a
black theatrical
stage set, where a
physical double and
mirrored reflections
underscore the
songs themes.
Middle:
Cinematographer
James Laxton
frames a close-up
of Palladino
with an
Arri Alexa.
16
September 2013
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the 5K softboxes, and that gave us harsh

shadows and really delivered the tone
Monica was looking for. To help flare the
lens and create in-camera blooms of light
around Palladino, Laxton utilized a Tiffen
Ultra Contrast filter.
My gaffer, Marc Antoine Serou,
would walk around the set with a Leko,
trying different options to create flares on
the edges of the frame in the wide shot, and
even in some of the close-ups, Laxton
relates. All of that came from just being
very playful with the light.
Theres definitely a rawness to the
concept, the lighting and the camera style,
but at the same time theres a delicacy to it,
which helps to mirror the duality thats the
subject of the song, he continues. Theres
a roughness, a rawness, but we also made
sure to add some beauty light a 5K softbox with a 4-by-4 of 250 diffusion so our
artists looked their best. Its a bit of a balance
between those two worlds, but I think we
achieved it.
This project was definitely a departure from the other work Ive done, and
thats exactly what attracted me to it, says
Laxton, whose credits include the indies The
Myth of the American Sleepover and Medicine for Melancholy. (The latter was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for
Best Cinematography.)
White Noise was Laxtons first
foray into short-form work. Im very new
to this part of the business, but I really love
it, he says. Theres a great freedom to
shooting commercials and music videos that
I havent often found in features. White
Noise is a good example of that. All artists
look for challenges in our work, and this
was definitely a challenge.
Top: Devon
Church takes the
plunge in this
frame grab.
Middle: Church
confers with
director Monica
Perez. Bottom:
The crew sets up
at a Los Angeles
swim school.
18
September 2013
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A woman
(Golshifteh
Farahani) cares
for her
comatose
husband (Hamid
Djavadan) in
The Patience
Stone.
Hard Truths in Afghanistan

By Benjamin B
The Patience Stone, directed by Atiq Rahimi and shot by

Thierry Arbogast, AFC, takes place mostly in a room in Afghanistan
where an Afghan woman (played by Golshifteh Farahani) tends to
her comatose husband (Hamid Djavadan), who was wounded in
battle. She speaks freely to him as she couldnt before, gradually
revealing more and more of herself. Their time together is sometimes
interrupted: by their children, by the local mullah, by the war outside
and by visits to the womans aunt, who runs a brothel. We learn
about the wifes subjugation through a series of flashbacks, but the
film mainly shows her speaking to her unconscious husband, who
acts as a proverbial patience stone, a stone that receives ones
confessions and then breaks apart to offer deliverance.
The Patience Stone is Rahimis second film, and it is based on
his novel of the same name, which won the Prix Goncourt. Arbogast,
one of Europes leading cinematographers, is perhaps best known for
his collaborations with Luc Besson, including La Femme Nikita, The
Professional, The Fifth Element and The Lady. I read Atiqs novel and
thought it was wonderful I fell under its spell, says Arbogast. I
had lunch with him, told him I loved the story and described the kind
of lighting I could do for the film. I said, I know theres a small
budget, but I want to do this film. I really did everything I could to
get the job. I courted him!
AC recently spoke to Arbogast about his work with Rahimi.
20
September 2013
American Cinematographer: You mentioned this

project had a small budget. What was it, and how did you
organize the shoot?
Thierry Arbogast, AFC: I think the budget was 1.4 million.
We shot for 5 weeks, mostly in one neighborhood in Casablanca,
Morocco. The two main locations, the womans home and her
aunts house, were in the same complex, 100 meters apart. We also
shot in Kabul, Afghanistan, for half a week. We had a small crew: a
camera operator, four electricians, two grips, a camera assistant and
a digital-imaging technician.
How did you work with the director on set?
Arbogast: Atiq is a very refined person, and our collaboration was done in the optimal way. He would start a scene in
rehearsal alone with his actors, and then we would come in, and
hed say, This is how the scene is played. We reinterpreted that with
my operator, Saba Mazloum, and suggested how to film it, with
possible modifications. Atiq had some very precise ideas, and we
spoke constantly during the shoot about how to transition from one
sequence to another.
The film is widescreen. What technique did you use?
Arbogast: We shot with an Arri Alexa Plus using ProRes
4:4:4. We wanted a widescreen image, but the Alexa with a 4:3
sensor wasnt available yet, and I didnt want to crop the image, so
I decided to use Hawk V-Lite [1.3x] primes. Their semi-anamorphic
squeeze enables you to fill almost the entire 16:9 frame with a
2.40:1 image. I like the lenses; they dont create a hard image. This
The Patience Stone photo by Benoit Peverelli, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Frame grabs courtesy of Michael Gentile, The Film Production.
Production Slate
Cinematographer Thierry Arbogast, AFC supplemented the practical oil lamp visible in
these frame grabs with a dimmed and bounced 500-watt Fresnel, and used a 4K Fresnel
for the moonlight source.
was an intermediary solution to use most of

the sensor area.
Tell us about the crane shot that
appears early in the film, as the woman
leaves the house with her children.
Arbogast: We see them come out
of the house, and follow them to the courtyard door with the camera low. They disappear through a small door, and the camera
rises slowly above the wall to reveal a wide
shot of them walking in the street. Then,
there is an explosion, and a pickup truck
carrying militiamen drives by. What pleased
me was to start by seeing nothing and then
22
September 2013
to rediscover her and her kids in the city. It

was a nice way to introduce Kabul. I
suggested that shot to Atiq. Its actually my
homage to the crane move by Tonino Delli
Colli [AIC] in Sergio Leones Once Upon a
Time in the West where the camera rises
above the train station.
Was your technical approach
different in Afghanistan?
Arbogast: Yes. In Kabul we shot
with a Canon [EOS] 5D, because I didnt
want to risk using a bigger camera, which
would have required a crew, in the street.
Atiq and I decided to go with a 5D, and that
worried our editor, Herv de Luze, who was

concerned that it wouldnt match the Alexa.
Its true that the 5D image has strong
compression, but we used Technicolors
CineStyle Profile to soften it a little. Also
Saba, my operator, provided us with [an
anamorphically adapted still lens,] a 50mm
[T2.8] Nikon with an anamorphic Iscorama
projection lens mounted in front of it. This
particular Iscorama lens was semi-anamorphic; I think the squeeze was 1.5x. I closed
the stop down a little so it would be good
quality. That lens enabled us to do very beautiful wide shots of the woman walking in the
streets of Kabul. For the bird fights and other
scenes there, we used two 5Ds with Nikon
zooms, a 24-70mm [T2.8] and a 70-200mm
[T2.8], because we had to move quickly.
Is the 5D intercut with the Alexa?
Arbogast: Yes. For example, the
crane shot weve discussed was done with
the Alexa in Casablanca, and that cuts to a
shot following the woman and her children
with the 5D in the streets of Kabul. I defy the
viewer to see the difference.
How did you approach the bluewalled room where so much of the film
takes place?
Arbogast: I asked for a room with
northern exposure so it wouldnt get direct
sunlight, and, thanks to the assistant director, thats what I got. The location was an
abandoned complex, so we could add bullet
holes and break walls as the story
progressed. Through the corner windows in
the room, you can see the courtyard garden
and a bit of the street. The windows show a
real location, not a set, so when you see the
tank through the window, its real.
What was your lighting
approach?
Arbogast: I used an 18K HMI outside
as sunlight, and wed reposition the ray of
sunlight to indicate time of day. So, for
example, when the woman hides her
husband in the closet, the ray of light hit him
in the evening. I would also add a 12K and
4K with full or half diffusion and cross them
through the corner windows; the windows
formed a right angle, which allowed us to
cross the light easily. I rarely used a source
inside. Sometimes I used a poly bounce, and
once or twice we had to add a 575-watt
bounce on a poly. If the camera allows me to
capture [existing] light realistically, thats
These frame grabs illustrate some of the compositions inside a brothel. The mirror gave
us the opportunity to create frames that werent classical and also put two people in the
same frame, says Arbogast.
what I try to do first. In this location, the

association between interior and exterior
was very important because the day interiors
had a view of the garden. I liked making the
exteriors a little burned out, a little overexposed. The quality of this overexposure
interested me a lot, and the Alexa helped a
lot with that. Its dynamic range really served
this film.
What was the range between the
window and the inside?
Arbogast: I think I had between T11
and T16 outside, and I was shooting T4.5
and T5.6 inside. So, the outside was often
24
September 2013
overexposed by 3 to 312 stops. But it varied.

The closer we got to the window, the more
I tried to diminish the overexposure, but it
was never less than 2 stops.
Tell us about your approach to
the brothel, the other principal location. The window is smaller there, and
the lighting is more chiseled. You also
use several mirror compositions.
Arbogast: Yes, and that was a way
to diversify the shots. Atiq and I spoke a lot
about how we wanted variations; we didnt
want to always come back to angle/reverse
angle. The mirror gave us the opportunity
to create frames that werent classical and

also put two people in the same frame.
Tell us about the two scenes you
sourced with an oil lamp.
Arbogast: It was the main source
for the scene in the cellar, where theyre
hiding from the battle outside, but each
time the door opens, some overexposed
cool daylight comes in. I love that; it adds a
little drama. The other scene is a moonlit
night interior in the blue room. I had
smoked part of the glass from the oil lamp
facing camera so the flame wouldnt flare
too much. In order to open up the shadows
a little bit, I added a 500-watt Fresnel
bounced off a poly and dimmed it 30
percent. When the oil lamp goes out, theres
just moonlight, a fully flooded 4K Fresnel
placed far outside to create a sharp shadow
on the wall through the lace curtain. Its
pretty simple.
What about the backlit love
scene in the yellow room?
Arbogast: That was also very
simple. I had a 12K Par send a very violent
ray of light into the room through a narrow
slit formed by two curtains, and then we
angled two 4Ks through that same slit
one on the left, one on the right to light
the sides of the room a little bit. Theres a
slight sheer in the slit to diffuse the light a
bit. The rest is a handheld poly for fill. The
scene had to be clair-obscur [chiaroscuro].
How does it feel to go from bigbudget films to a production like this
one?
Arbogast: I taught myself filmmaking at the age of 12 by shooting Super 8
and lighting with a household lamp, which
I angled, diffused and made work. So, the
idea of shooting a film with almost no
means does not pose any problem to me
on the contrary. Even when I do a big
movie, my lighting is very simple, its just
that the sources are bigger and I have access
to things like cherry pickers. But I can also
light with just an oil lamp.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Plus, Canon EOS 5D MKII
Hawk V-Lite, Iscorama, Nikon
LACMA to Celebrate Figueroa

By Jean Oppenheimer
Don Gabriel had the secret of the

universe in his hands, declares Gabriel
Beristain, ASC, AMC, BSC. He was a god
of cinematography. Beristain is talking
about the iconic Mexican director of
photography Gabriel Figueroa Mateos,
whose collaborations with Luis Buuel (The
Exterminating Angel, Los Olvidados), John
Huston (Night of the Iguana, Under the
Volcano), Emilio Fernndez (Mara Candelaria, La Perla) and John Ford (The Fugitive)
deeply influenced the way the directors
presented their stories.
Figueroa is the subject of the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art exhibit
Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa,
Art and Film, which will open Sept. 22 and
remain on view until Feb. 2, 2014. Britt
Salvesen, curator of LACMAs Wallis Annenberg Photography Department and the
prints and drawings department, and one
of two curators overseeing the exhibit,
concedes, It is a challenge to represent the
achievements and legacy of a cinematogra26
September 2013
pher in a museum context. Not only is the

cinematographers vision linked to that of
the directors with whom he or she collaborated, but the works of art are the
completed films as they were theatrically
presented, which we cant do in the
galleries. Any such exhibition must have a
counterpart in a screening series.
And Under the Mexican Sky most
certainly will. Bernardo Rondeau, LACMAs
assistant curator of film programs, has organized an ambitious lineup that includes
Figueroas collaborations with Buuel,
Huston and Ford; classic films from Mexican
cinemas golden age; a focus on contemporary Mexican films; and a 2012 documentary devoted to Figueroa, Emilio Maills
Miradas Mltiples (La Mquina Loca), which
features an array of the worlds top cinematographers, including Darius Khondji,
ASC, AFC; Vittorio Storaro, ASC, AIC;
Luciano Tovoli, ASC, AIC; Anthony Dod
Mantle, ASC, BSC, DFF; Christopher Doyle,
HKSC; Philippe Rousselot, ASC, AFC; Shoji
Ueda, JSC, and Raoul Coutard.
Figueroa, who died in 1997, is credited with helping to shape post-revolutionAmerican Cinematographer
Photography by Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Tom Dey and Gabriel Figueroa. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and American Cinematographer archives.
Gabriel Figueroa reviews light tests for the film Sonatas (1959), directed by Juan Antonio Bardem.
ary Mexicos sense of identity through his

visual presentation of the nations landscape, peoples and history. He also helped
establish a striking black-and-white
aesthetic through his use of deep focus and
infrared and other filters. Figueroa created
a very heroic Mexico in his films, asserts
Henner Hofmann, ASC, AMC, who directs
the Centro de Capacitacin Cinematogrfica in Mexico City. His images convey a
very brave, very solid country.
Rita Gonzalez, associate curator of
contemporary art at LACMA and co-curator of Under the Mexican Sky, concurs,
extolling the sympathetic, even romanticized way the cameraman presented the
laboring classes. She notes that similar
themes were being addressed in painting
and photography at that time, perhaps
most notably in the work of muralists Diego
Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose
Clemente Orozco, and the photos of
Manuel Alvarez Bravo. In addition to
befriending these artists, Figueroa was
influenced by them and, in turn, influenced
their work. In fact, the cinematographer
became known as the Fourth Muralist. At
that time, art and film worked hand-inhand to address social issues, trying to
reach a public that [had] different levels of
education, notes Gonzalez. Images were
considered educational tools, whether
dramatizing historical content or presenting
moral lessons about being a good citizen.
All of these things were playing out in
Figueroas films, especially the ones he
made with Emilio El Indio Fernndez.
Figueroa was born in 1907, three
years before the start of the Mexican Revolution. Orphaned at a young age, he grew
up in Mexico City, where he studied painting and the violin before entering the film
industry as a stills photographer. He picked
up his first movie camera in 1933, and his
first job was as one of several camera operators on Howard Hawks Viva Villa!, which
was shooting exteriors in Mexico under
James Wong Howe, ASC. Two years later,
in 1935, Figueroa received a Mexican
government scholarship to study for one
year in Hollywood, where Gregg Toland,
ASC took the young man under his wing.
Tolands famous use of deep focus became
a major influence on Figueroas own work.
Returning to Mexico, Figueroa
served as a camera operator for American

expatriate cinematographer Jack Draper
before becoming a director of photography
in his own right on All en el Rancho
Grande (1936). Over his 50-year career, he
shot more than 200 films, winning seven
Ariels (Mexicos equivalent to the Academy
Award). He also earned an Oscar nomination for his work on John Hustons blackand-white The Night of the Iguana (1964).
Although Figueroa did shoot color
during the latter part of his career, his real
legacy is his black-and-white work, and
that is the main emphasis in our exhibition,
reports Salvesen. The exhibit will include
frame-grab enlargements from the cameramans 25-film collaboration with Fernndez,
hundreds of unit-photography stills showing him at work on a variety of projects,
posters and lobby cards.
Miradas Mltiples, the documentary
by Maill, traces Figueroas career and illuminates not only his influences, but also the
substantial influence he exerted on cinematographers around the world. Several
montages, organized by subject and edited
specifically for the LACMA exhibit by Maill,
will show clip sequences of faces, eyes,
soldiers and landscapes.
Among Figueroas primary influences was an artist known as Dr. Atl (a.k.a.
Gerardo Murillo), who specialized in volcanoes and other landscapes, and who developed a curving perspective that Figueroa
incorporated into his camerawork. According to Salvesen, Figueroa also took inspiration from art history from Goya, German
Expressionism and film noir and studied
Leonardo da Vinci for lessons in perspective
constructions of space and atmospheric
color.
Hofmann cites stills photographer
Henri Cartier-Bresson as another inspiration,
and suggests that Figueroas work was also
strongly influenced by Russian filmmakers
Sergei Eisenstein and Eduard Tiss, who
came to Mexico in 1932 to make Que Viva
Mexico! (co-directed by Grigori Aleksandrov), a film that lost its funding and was
never completed. Tiss was one of the
most wonderful cinematographers on the
planet, maintains Hofmann. He came to
Mexico with all these black-and-white filters
[he used to create] images inspired by
German Expressionism. And Figueroa,
Above: This frame

grab from
Enamorada (1946)
shows the eyes of
Mara Flix
(Beatriz Peafiel).
Middle: Figueroa
took this still on
the set of
Enimigos (1934),
when working for
cinematographer
Alex Phillips.
Bottom: Macario
(Ignacio Lpez
Tarso, right)
confronts Death
(ngel Lucero) in
Macario (1959).
28
September 2013
Top left: Figueroa

(in hat) with
director John
Huston (in white
shirt) on the set
of Night of the
Iguana (1964).
Top right:
Figueroa holds a
diminishing glass,
a gift from John
Ford, used to
convert a 25mm
lens to 20mm for
landscapes.
Bottom: A frame
grab from The
Pearl (1945).
who spent time on the set, watched and

absorbed it all.
It was Figueroas own genius with
filters that gave his landscapes their majesty.
Massive cumulus clouds, rain-swollen and
dark as burnt charcoal, tower above windswept plains as one or more human figures
traverse the land. Infrared filters turn the
black-and-white images into an ocean of
gray and silvery tones, while the combination of deep focus, wide-angle lenses and
low camera placement creates an unconventional perspective in which figures dominate the scene even as they are swallowed
up by the surrounding sky and earth. Film
critics at the Venice Film Festival dubbed
them Figueroa skies. And his use of long
stationary shots only contributed to the
poetic effect.
Beristain, whose father, Luis Beris30
September 2013
tain, appeared in several films shot by

Figueroa, recalls meeting Figueroa late in
the great mans life and spending hours
discussing filters with him. He had a treasure box of filters, and when I met him, he
opened that little box and talked about the
ways he combined them for his black-andwhite work. He told me that I should study
the Mexican engravers, like Leopoldo
Mndez. Mndezs compositions were
amazing, and you can see their influence in
Don Gabriels films: very strong, beautifully
filtered backgrounds of sky or ocean, and
strong foregrounds [featuring] one or more
people.
Although Figueroas use of filters
was a hallmark of his style, the only way
you could work with filters the way he did
was if you also had a tremendous control of
the camera and a very strong relationship
with your director, continues Beristain.

Figueroas real power was his persuasive
capacity, his ability to convince a director of
the power of the images. Emilio Fernndez
was not an easy man; he was a gigantic
figure [in the Mexican film industry]. To be
able to persuade him that those strong
compositions were so valuable and so
important shows the incredible power of
Gabriel Figueroa.
Figueroas 25 films with Fernndez,
which included Mara Candelaria, La Perla,
Bugambilia, Las Abandonadas and Pueblerina, helped to put both men on the map.
The two filmmakers invented an idea of
rural Mexico that did not actually exist, but
the striking landscapes, textured skies and
heroic images of the indigenous people
helped create a new image of the nation in
the aftermath of the revolution. The shadows and the skies and the cactus look
perfect I dont think CGI could look any
better! says Hofman. With a laugh, he
adds, I have never seen cactus like that in
real life, only in the films of Figueroa.
Figueroas talent was recognized
around the world. Mara Candelaria won
the Grand Prize at the 1946 Cannes Film
Festival, and Figueroa won the festivals
cinematography prize for his work on that
picture and on The Three Musketeers
(1942). He twice won cinematography
honors at the Venice Film Festival, for La
Perla (The Pearl, 1947) and La Malquerida
(1949). In 1977, Mexico honored Figueroa
with the National Arts Prize, and in 1995,
the ASC honored him with its International
Award (AC March 95).
For more information on the
LACMA exhibit and screening series, visit
www.lacma.org.
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Worlds Apart
Elysium, shot by Trent Opaloch

in Canada and Mexico, dramatizes a
sci-fi future of haves and have-nots.
By Douglas Bankston
|
34
September 2013
rent Opaloch waited two years to shoot the sci-fi film

Elysium, his second feature collaboration with director
Neill Blomkamp. The pair made their feature debut
together on District 9 (AC Sept. 09), and following its
success, which included an Oscar nomination for Best
Picture, Opaloch was offered all kinds of terrible alien
exploitation films, he says. Every time Id get a potential
project, Id run it by Neill, and he always said Elysium was
right around the corner.
Making a feature is a big deal for me, especially at this
stage in my career, he continues. As I considered all those
offers, I was hyper-aware of the question, Is this the second
Photos by Kimberly French and Stephanie

Blomkamp, courtesy of Sony Pictures.
Opposite page: Max De Costa (Matt Damon, left) prepares to fight off Kruger (Sharlto Copley) in a scene
from Elysium. This page, top: Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster) leads the anti-immigration department for
Elysium, a utopian space station for the wealthy. Bottom: Damon takes a break with director Neill
Blomkamp (middle) and cinematographer Trent Opaloch (right).
movie I want to do? None of them

grabbed my attention like Elysium. So,
while Blomkamp continued to develop
the project, Opaloch waited, and in the
meantime he shot commercials around
the world for such clients as Nike,
Adidas and Gatorade, as well as a 35mm
anamorphic long-form promo for the
video game Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.
Opaloch grew up along the coast
of Lake Superior in Thunder Bay,
Ontario, and one might assume that
loading 16mm mags for his stepfather, a

nature photographer, sparked his interest in cinematography, but that wasnt
the case. I didnt enjoy it because there
was nothing cinematic about it, he
remarks during a day off from shooting
his third feature, Captain America: The
Winter Soldier. It was just chasing
animals around in the wild. Id be out in
the woods for days, and I just wanted to
hang out with my friends and play in
bands.
www.theasc.com
Filmmaking did interest him,

though, and he attended a two-year
filmmaking program at Confederation
College in his hometown, setting his
sights on editing. Gradually, though, he
became a go-to cinematographer for
student films. I moved to Vancouver
after I graduated and tried to get into
postproduction, but there were just no
opportunities, so I bummed around as
an AC and shot casting sessions for
eight mind-numbing months
September 2013
35
Worlds Apart
Top: De Costa
repairs a robot on
the factory
assembly line.
Middle: A
reformed car thief,
De Costa endures
the wait at the
probation office
on Earth. Bottom:
De Costa meets
with two members
of a resistance
movement, Julio
(Diego Luna, left)
and Spider
(Wagner Moura).
anything to pay the bills, he says.

An after-school practicum at
Clairmont Camera in Vancouver led to
a job there, and Denny and Terry
Clairmont allowed Opaloch to use gear
to shoot shorts, music videos and fake
commercials. They started out lending
him Eyemos and Arri 2-Cs, and when
those came back in one piece, they
provided Arri 35-3s. Monday through
Friday Id be on the floor with professional camera crews and getting advice
from them, and then Id shoot on
Saturdays and Sundays, Opaloch
recalls. That was a neat way for me to
find my legs.
Blomkamp had moved to
Vancouver from Johannesburg, South
Africa, and was working as an animator
and 3-D modeler at Rainmaker Studios.
He and Opaloch met on Blomkamps
first music video, and the two immediately hit it off, leading to many other
collaborations. Impressed by one of their
short films, Peter Jackson handed
Blomkamp the directorial reins to the
big-budget feature Halo, and the fresh
director brought Opaloch aboard to
shoot it. It was such a leap from everything we had done, Opaloch remarks.
Blomkamp moved to New
Zealand to begin prep, but before
36
September 2013
Top: Sandro
(Jose Pablo
Cantillo, left)
preps for De
Costas
exoskeleton
surgery. Middle:
The crew works
in the set
between shots,
with Damons
prosthetic body
replica visible in
the foreground.
Bottom: These
behind-thescenes shots
show the
prosthetic head
used for the
surgery scene.
Opaloch could follow, Halo came crashing to a halt for budgetary reasons.
Jacksons wife and producing partner,
Fran Walsh, suggested revisiting one of
Blomkamps short films, Alive in Joburg,
which became District 9. I didnt know
how to wrap my head around the $180
million Halo, recalls Opaloch, but
when it turned into a $30 million film, I
figured, Okay, this is like shooting a big
short. It was such a relief!
Making District 9 was so enjoyable that Opaloch didnt mind waiting
for Elysium, which finally went into
production in 2011. In the film, which
is set in the year 2154, Elysium is the
name of an enormous space station
orbiting Earth that houses a resort-like,
www.theasc.com
September 2013
37
Worlds Apart
Right: The
Elysium control
room was built
onstage in
Vancouver.
Below:
Opaloch
employed a
Technocrane
with a Libra
Head to
quickly get the
camera into
position on the
large set. The
production
used Christie
14K DLP
projectors to
create
feedback from
monitor
screens.
tropical utopia where the elite are served

by robots and have their ailments cured
by exclusive technological innovations.
The working classes live on Earth,
which has devolved into a worldwide
shantytown. One of the unfortunates
slaving away on an assembly line is Max
De Costa (Matt Damon), and when he
learns he has a terminal illness, he
38
September 2013
decides he will do anything to gain

access to Elysium, where a cure exists. A
burgeoning resistance movement
embraces Max, seeing in him an opportunity to tip the balance of equality, and
provides him with a bionic exoskeleton
of immense power. But Elysiums antiimmigration enforcer, Rhodes ( Jodie
Foster), will stop at nothing to prevent
an unauthorized intrusion into paradise.

All of the productions stage work
was shot in Vancouver, and the majority
of the earthbound location work was
shot in Mexico City, in one of the
worlds largest landfills. Principal
photography lasted 78 days, with an
additional five days of reduced-unit
shooting.
The filmmakers chose to shoot
with Red Epics in 5K anamorphic
mode (3296x2700 pixels), recording to
128GB SSD Redmags. The image was
unsqueezed 2:1 for on-set monitoring.
(A couple of bullet-time shots were
achieved with a rig comprising two
Epics and 23 Canon EOS 5D MKIIs;
these were used at 23.98 fps
1920x1080.) The Epics were fitted with
a mix of Panavision C Series, E Series
and G Series anamorphic lenses. A
small set of C Series Flare anamorphics,
which have been stripped of the lenselement coatings, were used to shoot
some flashback sequences.
Opaloch shoots with anamorphic
lenses whenever possible, even on
commercials and other projects destined
for television. For cinematic story-
This diagram details the lighting approach to the control-room set.
www.theasc.com
September 2013
39
Worlds Apart
Top: The
filmmakers
capture Wagner
Moura (seated) at
a monitor station
back on Earth.
Bottom: The
production filmed
earthbound
exteriors on
location in
Mexico City.
telling, Im really drawn to that anamorphic look, he says. Its the glass, the
optics. It is such a subtle effect in the
out-of-focus highlights or the shift in
focusing.
My approach to filmmaking is to
drop a viewer into the middle of an
environment and try to convey what
that feels like, he continues. Its not a
perfect look that feels coordinated or
presentational. On this film, it came
40
September 2013
down to a strong handheld feel on

Earth, a very active, dynamic camera
using C Series lenses for their oldschool contrast and flare characteristics;
and more controlled camerawork,
including Steadicam and Technocrane,
on Elysium, which we shot entirely
with the E Series for the higher contrast
and better blacks.
Opaloch did resort to spherical
lenses at times, mainly when dropping
the Epic to 2K resolution, which was

necessary for the highest frame rates,
and for aerial photography and plate
work shot in 4K. At that time, the
maximum frame rate for 5K capture
was 96 fps; therefore, any shot filmed
below that frame rate was through an
anamorphic lens, and any shot above,
up to 300 fps, was through a spherical
Primo prime. We used spherical
Panavision Primo 11:1 and 3:1 zooms
and Nikkor 200mm and 300mm lenses
for long-lens work because their rearanamorphic equivalents did not deliver
the sharpness and resolution required by
digital capture, Opaloch adds. For aerials, he adjusted the camera pixel count
to the largest possible before lens
vignetting appeared.
Opalochs crew included his
regular commercial team, key grip Finn
King and gaffer Chris Rumak. On
commercials you are thrown different
challenges every day, whereas on a
feature you can be on a set for days or
weeks at a time at a more relaxed pace,
notes Opaloch. We had a great time,
and Chris and Finn just knocked it out
of the park. Additional crew included
A-camera/Steadicam operator Dean
Heselden, A-camera 1st AC Taylor

Matheson, B-camera operator Steve
Maier and B-camera 1st AC Mark
Cohen.
The aesthetic for Elysium was
intended to resemble luxuriant travel
photography. An oceanfront mansion in
west Vancouver served as the location
for Rhodes home, and it is shown off in
a long Steadicam shot during a party
scene. The shot follows Foster from one
side of the house, where she meets some
guests, down through multiple levels
and to a rear pool area. Opaloch
explains, We had an extensive bluescreen behind the pool, and it was one of
the more challenging bluescreens Finn
and his guys did because they had to
build all the truss work and anchor the
screen so we could shoot it at both high
and low tide. They had to install a
ballast system to keep it all secure. The
bluescreen also happened to be right on
top of our actors, so we worked out the
angles to get maximum sun exposure.
We needed extensive scaffolding to keep
it stable. The problem with that location
was that we were looking down into the
ocean, so we were getting all these specular reflections coming back into the
scene that wouldnt make sense in the
final composition, once all the CG
terrain was added in the background.
Another challenge at the location
was building up the interior ambience to
match the exterior sunlight. This was
accomplished by squeezing two 2.4K
HMI lighting balloons tight into the
ceiling inside, and by cheating with iris
pulls, says Opaloch. Outside, Foster
was placed in open shade from overheads and hit with a large, soft key; this
was initially a 20'x20' UltraBounce
return from the sun, and then, as natural
light faded, an 18K Fresnel double
diffused through full silk.
Almost all interiors were shot
onstage in Vancouver. When we had
the room, we would shoot through 20bys of diffused light right up to the
mattebox to really wrap the light around
the subjects, says Opaloch. Most
Elysium exteriors were filmed in west
Vancouver in the southlands, by the
Top: Rhodes sits

atop her perch in
the Elysium
control room.
Middle: Rhodes
observes a
restrained De
Costa. Bottom:
The crew readies
another take on
the set.
www.theasc.com
September 2013
41
Worlds Apart
Top: A-camera/Steadicam operator Dean Heselden and 1st AC Taylor Matheson film Damon on the move. Bottom left: Frey (Alice Braga),
a childhood friend of De Costas, lays her sick daughter (Emma Tremblay) on the Med Pod inside an Elysium mansion. Bottom right: Kruger
confronts Frey in her home on Earth.
airport and by a large golf course.

Vancouver in the summer is so lush
and green, its like our version of
Hawaii, says Opaloch.
Perhaps the trickiest lighting
challenge rested within a soundstage in
the massive Elysium control room,
where Rhodes oversees innumerable
diagnostic screens and technicians from
a perch high above the floor. The filmmakers put multiple cameras into play
42
September 2013
in the set and, in an unusual move for

them, employed a Technocrane with a
Libra Head. I have an aversion to big
sweeping crane shots, Opaloch says,
but sometimes a 50-foot Techno was
the only way to get the camera into
position.
Blomkamp wanted feedback
from all the screens and monitors to
reflect upon all the actors and the set.
High-powered Christie 14K DLP
projectors perched on scissor lifts served

this purpose. The catch was that the set
had been given a semigloss treatment,
notes Opaloch. We had three cameras
on it, and when we changed angles, A
camera looked great, B camera didnt see
the projector effect at all because of the
angle of approach, and C camera looked
so over-the-top it was almost like a
music video. A better way to shoot that
set would have been with a single
Worlds Apart
To accommodate
some of the
more destructive
action, the
production recreated part of
the oceanfront
mansion that
served as
Rhodes home.
camera, covering all the angles and

setting the projectors to that. We ended
up using two different projectors that
were in sync but offset for the camera
angles.
Compounding the problem was
that there were different facets kicking
off at crazy angles, he continues. It was
a challenge to get lights where we
needed them to light the different facets
and the environment so the actors didnt
look like floating heads! The biggest
problem was, for example, a medium
shot of Jodie up in the birds nest. Shes
at the top of this space looking down on
everybody, and her surroundings have
all these upward-angled facets that are
kicking up. Because it was just specular
reflection that we were using, I had to
have a highlight at the exact angle to see
that facet, which was against a black
background as well. We used little
channels of LED tape, which wound up
being our go-to detail light for the
Elysium environment.
Principal photography occurred
about two years before LED lighting
really took off, but Rumak managed to
track down spools of dimmable LED
tape lighting in Warm White and Cool
White. The filmmakers opted for the
44
September 2013
Worlds Apart
A rig comprising
two Red Epics and
23 Canon 5Ds was
used to create
bullet-time effects
for a climactic
fight scene on a
moving gantry.
latter because it suited their sciencefiction lighting scheme better. It was a

little green, Rumak points out, but on
camera it just blew out behind Plexiglas
when incorporated into the set build,
and we didnt light actors with it. We
only used it to light reflections and kicks
on walls. (Over the course of production, Rumak used about 5,000' of the
Cool White LED tape.)
The control rooms main light
sources were two 20'x30' articulating
truss frames packed with Kino Flo
46
September 2013
daylight Image 85s hanging overhead

and layered with double diffusion and
Light Tools soft directional grid.
Double Bobbinet was used to reduce
the curse of white reflective values while
helping to create an even softer source.
It was gimbaled, and when we got into
Jodies coverage, we could bring it down
and play it as a big soft source for her
close-ups. It was the softest, creamiest,
wrappiest source we could get. We had
two of them, key and fill. For the wider
shots, wed move it up into the roof and
use it as toplight.
Tucked away throughout the set
to enhance its architecture were dimmable 4-bank daylight Kino Flo Tegras
and dimmable Color Kinetics IW
Blasts, daylight-balanced LED sources
from Phillips. Opaloch, who had almost
200 of the fixtures on hand, used the
extremely bright sources as a colored
flashing backlight on various actors.
We also found that by stringing 12 of
them together, we were able to create a
realistic-looking decay of an explosion,
notes Rumak.
With so many sources on the set,
Rumak had everything wired through
DMX and controlled through a lighting
console; there were as many as 450 looks
and 200 separate lighting effects. We
needed a DMX-controlled set to get
through all the script pages we had,
says Opaloch. The challenge was
getting the light where we needed it
without limiting the scope of the other
cameras. We could just dial the background up or down, and that capability
got us out of a lot of trouble.
Another unique Elysium set is
the scanner room, which is bathed in
ultraviolet light. Thats where Rhodes
and John Carlyle (William Fichtner),
Heselden hovers above the action.
the head of ArmorDyne, discuss details

pertaining to a potential coup without
fear of surveillance. Raw UV light is
really tough to work with it illuminates stuff you cant see with the naked
eye, and its not at all aesthetically pleasing, remarks Opaloch. The directive
from Neill was a UV look. He likes
extreme close-ups with long lenses
bottom lip to eyebrow and that can be
tough to pull off if you cant get a soft
wrap in there. In shooting tests, we
found a balance that gave us a UV look
without threatening to destroy these
actors careers. We had blue light mixed
with a little colored light and actual UV
light, which gave us just enough of a pop
with the white of the actors eyes and
teeth.
On Earth, the lighting was more
of a mixed bag. Opaloch tried to minimize incandescent sources, figuring
incandescent technology will have been
phased out by 2154. Overhead fluorescents served as the older lights, and the
newer lights were LED-based. On
Elysium, we played the LEDs as oncamera sources, and that worked very
well in those environments, says
Opaloch. But on Earth, we tucked them
away and only used them off camera.
Worlds Apart
The crew
prepares to
shoot De
Costas car
onstage.
Outdoors, he let the hot sun go.

It was fitting to have a harsher feel to
the sunlight in those environments, he
observes. We werent flying big overheads or anything like that.
When Rhodes perceives the
threat Max poses, she activates a vicious
bounty hunter, Kruger (Sharlto
Copley), who visits Maxs love interest
(played by Alice Braga). That scene
was interesting in that Alice and her
48
little girl had to look great in an otherwise terrible environment, Opaloch

says. Even though its in a garbage
heap, we wanted their home to have a
warm, inviting feel, as though its
protected from all the terrible stuff
going on outside the door. We played an
18K Fresnel with CTS through a set
window on Alice, and when Kruger
comes to the door looking for Max,
shes standing in a beautiful hot back-
light, while hes hit with hard frontal

sunlight. That was one of those scenes
where it all worked out well.
Kruger, who is also outfitted with
a powerful exoskeleton, finally catches
up with Max on Elysium, where they
battle it out on a moving gantry.
Opaloch and Rumak used moving
lights, primarily automated daylight
Vari-Lite VL3000s, to suggest the
machinerys motion. We had them
circling the set, so no matter where
Matt and Sharlto were, there was a
backlight on them, says Rumak. They
were so punchy that they knocked down
any blue spill from the bluescreens,
which were lit with [Kino Flo] Image
85s. We soft-keyed the actors but had
hard edges on them. Lighting on the
gantry itself was much like industrial
streetlighting; the art department made
fixtures that contained LEDs.
A smaller gantry leads Max into
the protocol room, a white chamber
that has pink vegetation hanging from
the middle of the ceiling and a glass

floor offering a view of Earth. The
challenge was to light to provide shape
and contrast inside an all-white room,
says Rumak. With the tops of the
perimeter walls angled toward the
center of the room, and the massive
computer and pink vegetation encompassing the center, there wasnt much
open ceiling to work with. We silked the
open gaps between the center circle and
perimeter walls and put Image 85s
above that, along the edges, to make it
feel as though the light was coming
from the walls inward. We didnt want it
to get too toppy. We then shaped by
adding more localized lights with
honeycomb directional hard grids on
Menace arms.
To suggest the films two worlds
colliding, when Max breaks into
Elysium we started blending our lenses
and went a little more handheld, says
Opaloch. When we got into battle
sequences or hand-to-hand combat, we
needed to loosen it up and get inside the

action.
During shooting, digital-imaging technician Brian Broz backed up all
SSDs to on-set RAID arrays and then
sent the original Redmags to
Technicolor Vancouver, which handled
dailies and LTO backup. Opaloch and
Rhodes would do a basic color correction in Redcine X to wide, medium and
close-up frame grabs and send those
with the data.
Colorist Andrea Chlebak
handled the final color timing at Digital
Film Central in Vancouver. The facility
built a linear OpenEXR architecture so
she could grade using the same native
files as the visual-effects facilities.
(Image Engine Design served as lead.)
The DFC team also built custom
ACES look LUTs, not just transform
LUTs for visual effects to preview grade
decisions. Texture, frame rate, noise and
contrast were matched for plates before
they were handed off to the visual-
effects team, and as a result, few

completed mattes from visual effects
were needed to complete the grade. I
was out of the country on another
project during most of the timing, so I
was only able to sit in on a handful of
sessions with Neill, says Opaloch.
ACES was quite new at the time, and
it became part of our workflow after the
timing had already begun. I know the
post team and everyone at Image
Engine was happy with the results.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Red Epic, Canon EOS 5D MKII
Panavision C Series, E Series,
G Series, C Series Flare,
Primo; Nikkor
Bangkok
Dangerous
Larry Smith, BSC reteams with
director Nicolas Winding Refn on
an atmospheric revenge thriller shot
in Thailand.
By Stephen Pizzello
|
wo years after winning Best Director at the Cannes Film

Festival for Drive (AC Oct. 11), Nicolas Winding Refn
found himself buffeted by gales of controversy that
greeted his next Cannes entry, the abstract and ultraviolent Only God Forgives. Its great to be the Sex Pistols of
cinema, Refn quips. Polarization means you actually made a
difference.
50
September 2013
A moody, existential drama that favors ambience over

conventional narrative and dialogue, God begins with the
murder of a teenaged prostitute in one of Bangkoks seedy redlight districts. Justice is swiftly meted out when police corner
the killer, Billy (Tom Burke), and force the girls father to exact
his own bloody revenge. The cop in charge, Chang (Vithaya
Pansringarm), blames the incident squarely on the father and,
in a pitiless show of state-sanctioned power, severs the mans
hand with a samurai sword.
News of the killing soon reaches Billys brother, Julian
(Ryan Gosling), a stoic drug smuggler who operates out of a
kickboxing gym. Julian knows better than to confront Chang,
who rules his territory with an ironclad code of vengeance, but
his caution is mocked by his domineering mother, Crystal
(Kristin Scott Thomas), whose emasculating tirades spur him
to seek retribution. What follows is a mesmerizing game of
cat-and-mouse, as Julian and Chang circle ever closer to a
showdown.
Unit photography by Kapong Shi Komporiphan. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Radius-TWC.
Much of the movies dreamlike

pull stems from its deliberate pacing,
eerie imagery and dynamic musical score
(by Cliff Martinez). Minimal dialogue
and the use of silence or music automatically forces the audience to pay more
attention, Refn contends. Ive made
three films that have very little dialogue;
the idea is that sound and music become
much more active storytelling elements.
If dialogue is logic, sound and music
penetrate purely to the heart.
Refns dedication of the film to
avant-garde filmmaker Alejandro
Jodorowsky further reflects his intent,
and he cites Richard Kerns sadomasochistic short film The Evil
Cameraman (1990) as another influence.
The Evil Cameraman is both terrifying
and erotic, because its about a man tying
up women in his apartment, and its set
to a soundtrack of very strange music and
sounds, Refn observes. Its a fetish
construction, very raw and real, but its
also like a dream because what happens
is so uncomfortable, bizarre and weird
that it brings many subliminal images
into the viewers mind.
Refn says Only God Forgives intentionally reflects the language of hypnotism, a sensation he likens to Bangkok
itself. Everything in the movie is slowed
down, and we were living that feeling
while shooting in Bangkok. The heat is
really intense there because the humidity
is so high; it feels like youre in some kind
of strange underwater world. Its very
intoxicating and weird.
Helping to capture that atmosphere was cinematographer Larry
Smith, BSC, who began his collaboration with Refn on the feature Fear X
(2003). Since then, the two have
reteamed on the telefilm Miss Marple:
Nemesis and the feature Bronson (AC Oct.
09). Refn notes that Smiths skill set was
ideal for Only God Forgives, which
involved budgetary constraints and locations that presented logistical challenges.
Larry is a very fast cameraman, and hes
also very good at using practicals
thats one of his great strengths, he
attests. Many of the locations in
Bangkok had no windows, so we really
Opposite page: Julian

(Ryan Gosling) uses a
Thai boxing club as a
front for a drugsmuggling operation.
This page, top to
bottom: Remorseless
police supervisor
Chang (Vithaya
Pansringarm)
prepares to mete out
a punishment;
Gordon (Gordon
Brown, left) and Billy
(Tom Burke) observe
a kickboxing bout;
Crystal (Kristin Scott
Thomas) arrives
at her hotel after
Billys death.
www.theasc.com
September 2013
51
Bangkok Dangerous
Top:
Cinematographer
Larry Smith, BSC
used a variety of
color gels and
low-budget
lighting fixtures
to lend the
movie its
ominous
ambience.
Bottom: Chang
confronts the
father of a
murdered
prostitute.
could only work with practicals. Larry

can also read a location very quickly. We
couldnt afford to alter very much at a lot
of our locations, and others were so ideal
we didnt need to alter them at all. I
traded most of the production-design
budget for shooting days. Shooting at
night usually means youre working
about 50 percent slower.
By day Bangkok is grand, pulsing, loud and insane its like a mixture
of New York, London and Los Angeles,
continues the director. At night its an
alternate universe where logic and the
supernatural walk hand-in-hand. This
movie became an existential journey for
everyone. Larry and I spent a lot of time
52
September 2013
discussing various interpretations of the

story and the images, which have a lot of
double meanings. Those discussions can
take hours, so to allow for that kind of
back-and-forth, I needed to work with
someone very fast and very precise.
Smith confesses that Refns more
abstruse concepts sometimes led to head
scratching. Ryan Gosling and I had our
own discussions about the story and
what the movie was really about, and we
did a lot of joking back-and-forth about
what our understanding of it was!
Nicolas plans some shots, but hes always
ready to try a new path if he sees something interesting happening on the set,
so the film kept evolving as we went
along. In my view, its really a horror film

with minimal dialogue.
Although Smith brought a few key
crewmembers from the United Kingdom,
most of the movies technicians were local
hires. We worked with three crews most
of the time because we were using three
cameras: two Arri Alexas [Plus] and
Ryans Red Epic, he says. We met some
of the guys during prep, but others I knew
from commercials Id shot elsewhere in
Thailand. The camera crews there are
fantastic. Theyre very good technicians
who work very hard and keep very quiet,
and they love working on international
projects.
I hadnt actually shot in Bangkok
before, but Id been there many times,
Smith continues. Because the backdrop
of the movie is the drug trade, I felt
strongly that most of it should be shot at
night. Bangkok really comes to life at
night; it becomes a very rich visual backdrop with all the neon lights and color.
We shot about 8 weeks of nights. It was
very hot and very demanding. Nicolas
likes to shoot in strict continuity [story
order], which meant we spent a lot of
hours in traffic traveling to and from locations. This movie was really all about finding the right locations.
Most of those locations were in the
red-light districts of Nana Plaza, Soi
Top: In a
hallucinatory
sequence, Crystal
appears in Billys
loft bedroom
above the
boxing gym.
Bottom: Director
Nicolas Winding
Refn (seated at
left), Gosling and
actress Yayaying
Rhatha Phongam
discuss the next
take. Smith lit
the bedroom
set with
practical lamps
augmented with
small, red-gelled
accent lights
rigged above
the bed and
elsewhere in
the room.
Cowboy and Patpong. Apart from the

scenes in Julians boxing club, all of the
wheeling and dealing takes place in locations that were actually sex clubs, Smith
reveals. We went to all of these really
seedy places gay clubs, heterosexual
clubs, bars. Most of them are actually very
depressing, especially the hetero clubs. A
lot of older guys travel to Bangkok from
other countries to spend time with young
Thai girls. The gay clubs are a bit more
fun because theyre more theatrical.
Smiths economical approach to
lighting was inspired partly by his budget
(I never had one, he cracks), and partly
by the fact that he could readily exploit
the surreal existing lighting in Bangkok.
Truth be told, I didnt need that much of
a budget, he maintains. I just went to
the local market and bought lots of Cool
White and Warm White fluorescents
right off the racks, including clip-on fluorescents we could run off a battery. I also
picked up rolls of LED lights in different
colors. For the nighttime street scenes, I
was mostly using available light. When
we found ourselves in a dark alleyway, I
could just clip up a fluorescent somewhere. If we were in a really dark nightclub, I used a combination of LEDs and
Dedos.
I did add some extra light for the

scene when Julian finally confronts
Chang on the street. I think I used some
Amber gel on a 1K to make it look like
a streetlight; to make that less obvious, I
just broke up the light through a tree or
a bit of dingle. For bigger scenes, I added
a couple of 1Ks or maybe a 2K, but that
was really it. The only time I used any
kind of film light was for Kristin Scott
Thomas entrance scene at the hotel,
where I used a couple of 18Ks through
the windows, and for a couple of day
scenes in Changs home.
The movie begins with a striking
www.theasc.com
tableau that introduces Julians boxing

club as a main setting. The location was
the Muay Thai Institute, a boxing venue
located next to the Rangsit boxing
stadium in Bangkoks northeastern
suburb. The institute is a very famous
place, but its also very rundown, very
dirty and hot, hot, hot, Smith details.
It went underwater during the floods
two years ago, so its filled with mosquitoes. In addition to the main gym area,
we used a lot of the upstairs rooms and
corridors, adapting them to serve as
Julians living quarters.
Visually, it was very interesting in
September 2013
53
Bangkok Dangerous
Top: For a tense dinner

scene in which Julian
introduces Mai to his
mother, Smith exploited
the restaurants existing
background fixtures and
bounced an overhead
Dedolight off the
tablecloth to lend a
glow to the actors
faces. Middle: After the
unpleasant dinner,
Julian bullies Mai in an
alleyway, forcing her to
strip off the dress he
bought for the occasion.
Bottom: Smiths
multicolored lighting
lends a seductively
sinister mood to a bar
encounter between
Crystal, Gordon and
another of her sons
henchmen, Byron
(Byron Gibson).
some ways but very boring in others.

There were a lot of fluorescents in the
gym, and I started by adding red gels to
those fixtures to see what it would look
like. As a backing, we had a big screen
with a graphic on it; I lit that with the
same red gels I used on the fluorescents. I
built the ambience up with the odd
Dedolight placed here and there, like if I
wanted a red kick behind someone. I also
used little red lights beneath the seating
areas in the crowd. As my one big
toplight, I used a very strange hard light
that was already there it was like an
energy-saving mercury-vapor light with a
parabolic reflector. I bought another
couple of those at the market because I
liked the hard shadows that fixture
created. I think we used 150-watt clear
bulbs in them to let the parabolic reflectors do what we saw the boxing-light
doing.
Other than that, I added various
little kicks for the close-ups, which I lit
mostly by eye. I just did what I felt looked
interesting, or worked to enhance whatever visual elements I saw in the background. I brought loads of colored gels
with me from England. Im very spontaneous in my approach, which is rather
ironic given that I worked so closely with
Stanley Kubrick [as chief electrician on
Barry Lyndon, gaffer on The Shining and
54
September 2013
Top: An LED
rope light adds
a background
accent to
Julians booth as
he watches Mai
perform a
striptease in a
club. Middle
and bottom:
Julian attacks a
customer whose
attitude irks
him, and then
drags him into a
hellish-looking
hallway.
cinematographer on Eyes Wide Shut]. He

and I were really chalk and cheese in
terms of our approach to things. I prefer
to be very spontaneous and quick,
whereas Stanleys approach was laborious
and test-oriented.
Because Only God Forgives was
Smiths first digital feature, he hoped to
conduct extensive camera tests prior to
the shoot, but he found himself
hamstrung by circumstances beyond his
control. We didnt test one frame of
footage because we just didnt have the
time, he says. I wanted to test the
cameras to death so I could truly understand digital [capture and workflow], but
a lot of the camera equipment came from
Sweden because of our financing arrangement, and it didnt arrive until three or
four days before we had to start shooting.
Ive now shot three movies on digital, so
Ive got a firm handle on it, but if you
havent used this kind of equipment
before and you dont understand it, you
can run into a lot of problems.
One advantage of digital capture,
he says, was that we were able to shoot
quickly and shoot a hell of a lot of footage
we just ran our three cameras all the
time. In general, I prefer to use one [brand
of ] camera all the way through the workwww.theasc.com
September 2013
55
Bangkok Dangerous
Top: Smith used
red-gelled
fluorescent
fixtures as
background
accents in the
boxing gym.
Middle: Chang
and Julian
square off.
Bottom: Refn
and Scott
Thomas
rehearse
another setup in
the gym.
flow, because you can run into problems in

post if youre mixing different cameras.
We used the Alexa for 70 to 80 percent of
the work, and we used the Epic to grab
additional shots, including overhead
angles for the kickboxing scenes. There is
a lot of humidity in Bangkok, but these
modern digital cameras are very well built,
and we had no problems with them.
Asked whether the digital cameras
afforded him more range for night shots
or dark interiors, he replies, You do get
a bit more nighttime exposure, but I
wouldnt say its a lot more. You can get
the same look on film if you put the right
lights in the right places.
Smith chose softer lenses to mitigate the sharpness of the digital image.
When I shoot digital, I always use Cooke
S4s, he says. The look of digital is so
hard, fierce and unforgiving that you have
to use softer lenses, and Cookes are probably the softest. With digital, any little
nose shadow can turn into a nightmare.
Alexa footage was captured in
ProRes 4:4:4:4 Log C and recorded to
SxS cards. Epic footage was recorded in
5K full frame (5120x2700). The Reds
deBayer settings were mostly camera
settings except for gamma, which were set
to RedLogFilm. Smith tailored the look
by adjusting the Alexas color-temperature
settings: When I wanted a warm look, Id
56
September 2013
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Prototype shown - production model may differ.
Bangkok Dangerous
Top: A fierce
graphic, lit
from behind
with redgelled
fluorescents,
provides the
backdrop for
the climactic
fight scene.
Middle: Refn
(white shirt)
and two
crewmembers
dolly in on the
action.
Bottom: An
overmatched
Julian lies
battered on
the floor.
dial it up to 5,600K, and when I wanted a

cool look, Id dial it down to 3,200K. A lot
of the time Id shoot in the middle at
4,300K. One of the pluses of working
with digital is that you can dial in a look
and see it right there on the monitor.
A lot of modern directors dont
really understand how what theyre seeing
on a monitor will translate to a bigger
screen, but Nicolas isnt like that, he adds.
To ensure that he and his collaborators get an idea of how their footage will
look on larger screens, Smith now travels
with a high-end digital projector and a
12'x8' screen to project dailies. These days
its the only way I can see rushes, he says.
Using this system allows me to see the
things Im really looking for. For example,
is the focus off on the big screen? Because
in six months time, when were looking at
that footage in a post house during the DI,
the director may say, Hey, its out of focus,
and hes not going to remember that you
warned him about that on set. Thats especially true if youre shooting at night with
very low light. No matter how many times
youve shot that way, you want to see that
the focus puller understands that he has
very little depth, or that the lighting actually works.
Cinematographers are really handcuffed nowadays, he laments. These new
58
September 2013
Bill Frakes
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Directing for All Platforms
owadays movies have to work on a

screen the size of a stadium and on
an iPhone. Filmmakers cannot just
visualize for one venue; we have to
think about all the possible ways our
films will be seen. A movies life in the
cinemas is limited to, if youre lucky,
eight weeks. After that, your movie is
only in a digital format; thats where
everything is meant to go.
I know certain people disagree
with me about this, but I do believe the
iPhone is an incredible way to watch
storytelling. Because I watch entertainment in the cinema and on my
iPhone, my iPad and my television, I
am constantly reminded that whatever
I do needs to work across multiple
platforms. I think that opens a lot
more possibilities. When your work
has so many different ways of being
exposed, you can allow yourself to be
much more experimental, because if
something doesnt work in one venue,
its going to work in another. Theres
no set arena now. To really know a
movie, you should experience it across
multiple platforms.
Thanks to the digital revolution
and increased accessibility through
things like video on demand, the
whole world is now our audience. We
are constantly being told that the audience doesnt care for certain kinds of
60
September 2013
films anymore, that times have

changed, but thats not true. On the
contrary, the interest in alternative or
specialized cinema or artsploitation, which is what I do is enormous.
People go to the cinema not to
see movies, but to see a specific movie.
If you want to watch just any movie,
you turn on the television, and there
are hundreds of channels that will
show you a movie, any movie. But
people go to the cinema for the same
reason they go to the theater: Its a
conscious decision to enjoy something
in a specific kind of way. But now, you
can also enjoy it in the comfort of your
own home. That gives us options, it
gives us choices, and it also gives the
distributors a financial upside that
makes it possible for these films to
survive in the market. If our films
were limited to a theatrical run, a lot
of us would die out.
Cannes was odd this year,
because everything in the festival is
now projected as DCP. I was sitting in
the Palais, thinking, God, were all
dressed in tuxedos, and were looking
at a giant television screen. I realized
celluloid really is part of the past now.
This is the future: one gigantic television screen.
Nicolas Winding Refn
Bangkok Dangerous
formats let us see what were shooting very

quickly, but somehow, on most movies,
were still working with one hand tied
behind our back!
Drawbacks aside, Smith produced
striking results by exploiting the existing
lighting at several locations, including a
famous restaurant called the China
House. There, the filmmakers staged a
memorable encounter between Julian, an
exotic dancer posing as his girlfriend, and
Julians mother, who verbally flays her
dinner companions. That scene was lit
almost entirely with practicals, says
Smith. All the nook lights in the wall
behind them were already there as part of
the restaurants dcor; I just supplemented
the ambient light with various small
fixtures. I placed some Dedos very high
over the table so they would hit the white
tablecloth and create a bit of a glow
beneath the actors faces. I also added a bit
of light to the entrance where they come
in, just to give that moment a little lift.
In one squirm-inducing sequence,
Chang and his henchmen stalk into a
karaoke bar and interrupt a party of
teenaged girls to brutally interrogate one
of Julians business associates, Byron
(Byron Gibson). After ordering the girls
to close their eyes, Chang proceeds to
torture Byron with steel skewers, turning
him into a human pincushion. We shot
that in Chinatown, in a gay karaoke sex
club we transformed to suit our needs,
Smith recalls. We shot a whole night of
that guy screaming, with lots of close-ups
of those chopsticks going into his thighs,
hands, eyes and ears. I actually questioned
the logic of it I said to Nicolas, Look,
this guy would probably die of fear or
shock once you put those things through
his thighs and hands. Hed definitely be
dead by the time you reached his ears. But
hey, its a movie, so you can do what you
want! It was quite harrowing to shoot all
that. My wife and kids were actually visiting the set when we shot that scene. My
kids thought it was alright, but my wife
felt it was all a bit much!
At various intervals throughout the
movie, Chang is shown singing karaoke to
an audience of his impassive officers at a
small nightclub, where low angles show
Bangkok Dangerous
Chang draws
his sword
after catching
up with
Crystal.
off a ceiling festooned with paper

lanterns. The ceiling in that place was a
bit boring, and the production designer,
Beth Mickle, thought those small
lanterns would add some visual interest,
Smith recalls. For some shots we turned
them on to provide a low glow, and for
others we kept them off. They were
more a part of the set design. The rest of
the lighting for that space was provided
62
mainly by LEDs, plus the spotlight on

Chang.
The crew headed back to the
kickboxing gym to shoot the climactic
showdown between Chang and Julian,
who finds himself overmatched by the
older mans martial-arts prowess. That
sequence was mainly about coverage,
says Smith. We shot mostly from static
positions, capturing every angle and
swapping out lenses on all three cameras.

The cameras dont move that often in this
picture. We did do some very slow tracking
shots for the fight and some other scenes.
We laid a lot of track, sometimes up to 100
feet, and it was always in frame. We had to
take it out in post.
Theres a sense of excitement in
tracking shots, which can be used to
mechanically emphasize action, exposition
or other elements of the storytelling, says
Refn. Im also a huge fan of the zoom,
which I usually use to say more about the
psychology of the characters. In this movie,
we used zooms to push Chang away from
everyone else, to set him apart as this
godlike figure. He takes on mythic proportions, especially during the climax, when
we visually equate him to the martial-arts
statue thats visible behind Julian.
We didnt use any handheld camera
on this show, and Nicolas doesnt really like
Steadicam, notes Smith. He finds any
little movement [of the frame] disorienting. We only used Steadicam for a couple
of shots after the big restaurant shootout,

when Chang is chasing one of his wouldbe assassins down the street. But overall,
there wasnt much shot choreography on
this picture. As much as possible, Nicolas
likes to do shots with static cameras, and
thats fair enough, because you dont need
to move the camera just for the sake of it.
Theres nothing worse than seeing
constant camera movement for absolutely
no reason. Move when you need to move
is my philosophy.
When the final grade for Only God
Forgives commenced at Nordisk Film
Short Cut in Denmark, Smith was working on another project. Refn graded the
picture with colorist Thomas Therchilsen,
working in Autodesks Lustre 2012 color
corrector. All grading was done from 10bit HD DPX Log C files transcoded in
Smoke from either the original Alexa Log
C ProRes files or from the Epics 5K .r3ds,
which utilized the cameras original metadata settings and a RedLogFilm gamma
setting. In addition to delivering a DCP,
After
wrapping
Only God
Forgives,
Smith stayed
in Bangkok to
direct the
crime thriller
Trafficker.
the graded files were also filmed out at

2K on an Arrilaser 2 to Kodak 2254
intermediate stock, and prints were
made on Kodak Vision Premier 2393.
Additional reporting for this article
was done by Jon D. Witmer.
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa, Red Epic
Cooke S4
63
Pounding More
Than
Pints
64
September 2013
In The Worlds End,

Bill Pope, ASC and director
Edgar Wright take viewers on a
bender that goes way off the rails.
By Iain Stasukevich
|
Unit photography by Laurie Sparham, courtesy of Focus Features. Additonal photos courtesy of Jake Polonsky. Lighting diagram by John Colley.
Opposite: Five
friends share a
drink in their
hometown in a
scene from The
Worlds End. This
page, left: Gary
(Simon Pegg) holds
up a map of The
Golden Mile, a
pub crawl he
and his friends
attempted in
their youth.
Middle: Sam
(Rosamund Pike)
and her brother,
Oliver (Martin
Freeman). Bottom:
Director Edgar
Wright (left),
cinematographer
Bill Pope, ASC
(center) and Pegg
review a scene
on set.
t first glance, The Worlds End

appears to be a charming English
comedy about five 40-something
friends coming together in their
old hometown to revisit their youthful
glory days. Led by Gary King (Simon
Pegg), the men (also played by Paddy
Considine, Martin Freeman, Nick Frost
and Eddie Marsan) plan to accomplish
The Golden Mile, hitting 12 pubs in
one night and imbibing a pint at each.
The setup allows just enough time for
the characters and the audience to feel
nostalgic before making a sharp turn off
Memory Lane and into left field.
What starts as a film about old friends
in a small town suddenly becomes a
story about aliens taking over the town
and replacing everyone with robots,
says Bill Pope, ASC. Once they realize
whats going on, Gary and his friends
have to fight aliens while continuing
their pub crawl, which they think gives
them a safe cover.
The Worlds End is Popes second
collaboration with director Edgar
Wright, and he says their bond was
immediate on the first, Scott Pilgrim vs.
the World (AC Aug. 10). Edgar and I
have a similar sensibility I just know
where hes coming from, says the cinematographer.
We have similar tastes in
www.theasc.com
September 2013
65
A 2nd-Unit Shooting Gallery
s a small car speeds down an icy

road at night, followed by a huge
tracking vehicle laden with Dinos and a
150K generator, Im hanging off the
back of a Cheyenne wondering if its
possible for it to get any colder. Its the
first time Ive ever had the problem of
the tracking vehicles exhaust swirling
into frame the camera is rigged as
low to the road as we can safely manage,
and the temperature is dropping fast.
The driver of the so-called Plasma
Truck is doing a superb job, but even he
is beginning to look a little worried
about how long we can go on shooting.
The second unit is hard at work
on Edgar Wrights The Worlds End, and
this particular sequence caps the climax:
An enormous explosion chases our
heroes clapped-out old car down
narrow country lanes at thunderous
speed, as though heralding the end of
the world.
66
September 2013
Tonight represents the culmination of

many conversations about how to
achieve the effect of a huge plasma
wave that explodes after our heroes
showdown with the Blanks, who have
taken over the world. The effect of the
Plasma Truck will later be combined
with CGI by Double Negative to create
the giant plasma explosion.
The Blanks are not human, and,
in fact, they shatter into pieces when
hit, spurting blue goop instead of blood.
Much of the second units work has
involved shooting elements of the
Blanks heads and other body parts
being smashed, popped off or mangled.
A supporting cast of amputees helped
create believable shots of limbs being
removed, and a few greenscreen days
were needed to generate the elements
of flying goop that the visual-effects
team will add to the stunt scenes.
We had a lot of fun shooting
material for the films prologue, which

introduces viewers to the five main
characters as they leave school in the
1990s. To give the prologue and flashbacks a home-movie feel, Edgar and
Bill Pope, ASC elected to shoot on
16mm and distress the footage incamera as much as possible. They had
Panavision attach a handle to an Arri
16SR-2 so we could literally handcrank the camera and achieve all the
exposure variation and speed unevenness we desired.
The main unit had a pre-shoot
during which they tackled the majority
of the prologue, but there remained a
number of elements for us to shoot on
sets that were being created for the
present-day part of the film. Typically,
these sets would be swiftly redressed at
lunch or at either end of the day so we
could grab a few shots with the
teenaged actors playing younger
versions of the main characters. One
thing I quickly discovered with the
hand-cranked Arri was that you really
couldnt vary it too much. In our era of
crystal sync and electronic cameras, we
are used to extremely precise and accurate frame rates. The footage we
achieved with the hand-cranked
camera had a lovely loose feel, and it
didnt seem to matter how inaccurate
the cranking was. In fact, Bill and
Edgar were keen to push the exposure
variations as far as possible.
Second unit can cover a wide
variety of tasks, among them shooting
inserts, working in tandem with main
unit, working entirely separately with
the main cast, and filming stunts. The
Worlds End involved a mixture of all
these. One thing that set this job apart
was the attention Edgar paid to everything we did, and his desire to be
present when we shot whenever possible. Watching his collaboration with
Bill Pope, production designer Marcus
Rowland, editor Paul Machliss and
visual-effects
supervisor
Frazer
Churchill was both a real pleasure and
an education.
Jake Polonsky
Left (from left):

Oliver, Steven
(Paddy
Considine), Andy
(Nick Frost) and
Peter (Eddie
Marsan) await
Garys arrival.
Middle: The
friends walk the
streets of their
hometown.
Bottom: The crew
films Pegg on
location.
movies, says Wright, and I especially

like working with Bill because he always
sees the bigger picture.
The two most important visual
references for Worlds End were Shaun of
the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the first two
films in Wrights Three Flavors:
Cornetto trilogy. (Cornetto is a brand
of ice cream referenced in all of the
films.) Both of those movies were shot
on 35mm in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, and
I didnt want Worlds End to look or feel
any different, says Wright. So, I was
quite adamant about shooting film.
For the lighthearted beginning of
the story, Pope shot 3-perf Super 35mm
and aimed for a naturalistic look. It
looks more real than most American
buddy movies, which tend to look very
lit, he says. Once the alien menace is
discovered, he adopted a more graphic
lighting style and switched to anamorphic lenses. Panavision provided two
Panaflex Millennium XLs that could
shoot both 3-perf and 4-perf, as well as
a 4-perf PanArri 235.
The lens package included an
unusual find, thanks to Panavision optical engineer Dan Sasaki. Not long after
Pope selected a range of C Series, E
Series, G Series and Close Focus Primo
anamorphics to use on the show, Sasaki
unearthed some old B Series lenses at
the Woodland Hills location that hadnt
www.theasc.com
September 2013
67
The friends
realize partway
through their
pub crawl that
something is
amiss in
Newton Haven.
even been catalogued. Their glass

elements were marred with fungus, and
their mechanisms had seized with
disuse, but Sasaki was able to force the
movements on two primes and a 4595mm (T4) zoom lens and shoot some
tests with an Arri Alexa. When Pope
saw the results, he was astonished. The
coatings are so old the flares are bodacious, he recalls. Each lens has its own
68
September 2013
unique aberrations and flare color. The

edges of the frame are nicely out of
focus.
Sasaki deconstructed several sets
of B Series and used the cleanest
elements to create a new set of primes:
35mm (T2.5), 40mm (T2.8), 50mm
(T2.5), 75mm (T2.8) and 100mm
(T2.8). He also provided Pope with a
55mm B Series Macro and an entirely
new 28mm B Series lens.

For the shows spherical work,
Pope chose Primo T1.9 and Zeiss
Distagon T1.3 primes, a 4:1 (17.575mm) T2.3 Primo Zoom and a 12:1
Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm T2.8
zoom. Because of speed differences
among all the lenses, he shot most of
Worlds End at T2.8, occasionally stopping down to T4. T2.8 is usually my
target stop, because I want to control
where the viewers eye goes without
killing the camera assistants, he says.
When youre working fast, too many
mistakes happen at T1.4.
Pope and Wright worked at
breakneck speed to complete Scott
Pilgrim in 104 days, sometimes logging
200 setups in a week, and although
Worlds End was a relatively smaller
production, the crew had a similarly
ambitious 12-week schedule that
involved location and stage work,
extensive night shooting and lots of
action. In light of this, Pope appreciated
Wrights habit of planning each day
down to the last detail. Edgar is the
most prepared director Ive ever met,
he notes. I got a shot list every night,
The men find

themselves
roughed up and
out on the street
when the night
doesnt go as
planned. Night
exteriors were
shot in
Letchworth,
where Pope let
the existing
metal-halide and
sodium-vapor
units play in the
background of
certain shots.
and it matched all the storyboards. He

knows exactly how hes going to shoot a
scene before we even get on set. There is
less discovery [that way], but we move
quickly. On the first day, we did 30
setups, and we maintained that pace for
the entire production.
When youre trying to make
something ambitious on a set schedule,
you cant just go onto set and find
70
September 2013
things, observes Wright. He notes that

because of the careful planning, he was
able to add additional angles and schedule pickups as production and editing
proceeded concurrently.
Most of the picture was shot on
location in the English towns of
Welwyn Garden City and Letchworth
Garden City, which stood in for the
fictional town of Newton Haven, with
some additional days in London and at

Elstree Studios. Early on, Wright
recognized the benefit of having an
American cinematographer shoot a
film set in a reasonably ordinary
British town, he says. I knew Bill
might see things that British cameramen wouldnt. In fact, he credits Pope
with recommending Welwyn and
Letchworth, which Wright had initially
written off. They didnt have many
pubs, but Bill liked the pre-war topography, which is very consistent. A lot of
the buildings are only a couple of stories
tall, and that provided some nice sight
lines for 2.40:1.
For some of the pubs required for
The Golden Mile, production
designer Marcus Rowland converted
other locations, such as cinemas and
restaurants, into bars. The last three
pubs, which appear as the confrontation
with the aliens reaches its dramatic
peak, were built at Elstree, where the
filmmakers could move walls and floors
and set pyro.
When the main characters arrive
in Newton Haven, its daytime, and
everything is quiet and peaceful. The
Top: A prosthetic head is poised for launch into one of the pub toilets via an air cannon. Middle: Stunt
coordinator Adam Kirley readies the prop head in front of a greenscreen. Bottom: This dummy was used
in the film as one of the smashed alien robots.
72
September 2013
filmmakers kept the camera moves

steady, using dollies, Steadicam or a
crane, and worked with available light
when possible, striving for a natural,
sunny feel. There could be no hint of
the craziness thats to come, says gaffer
John Colley.
Because he was shooting tungsten-balanced negatives (Kodak
Vision3 200T 5217 and 500T 5219),
Pope used 85 filters for day exteriors. He
eschewed corrective camera filtration
indoors, he says, opting to mix color
temperatures on set and dial in a happy
medium in post. Book-light key lights
were created by bouncing 2K and 5K
tungsten Fresnels off UltraBounce and
through 12'x12' muslin. 18K Arrimax
HMIs corrected with 18 CTS were
used for background window sources.
When available light wasnt
enough, day exteriors were augmented
with bounced 6K and 12K HMI Pars
through or off 12'x12' muslin or
UltraBounce frames, with 18K HMIs
adding splashes of sunshine to the background. For walk-and-talks with all five
men in frame, Pope used 18Ks bouncing off 20'x20' muslin or UltraBounce
frames for fill.
A lot of our outdoor lighting
choices werent necessarily creative
they were motivated by the weather we
had to put up with, says Colley. Wed
be shooting a scene in London, and over
a single 12-hour period wed get
sunshine, clouds and rain. Principal
photography took place in the fall and
winter of 2012, which featured some of
the United Kingdoms worst weather in
recent memory, but the filmmakers
adapted by doing separate takes in the
sun, rain and under clouds. When the
production exhausted its supply of cover
sets and had to work in the rain, the
camera would come in for close-ups.
Key grip David Maund and his crew
would set up a clear Rosco 20'x20'
Shower Curtain, which in turn was
sheeted with a 20'x20' Grid Cloth to
dampen the sound of the rain. Wide
shots were taken during breaks in the
weather. We were able to get away with
quite a few close-ups and medium
Right: This lighting

diagram shows the
setup in The
Beehive, a set
constructed at
Elstree Studios.
Bottom left: Sam
and Steven fight
off the alien
robots in the
Beehive set .
Bottom right: Gary
and Sam face a
bizarre threat on
The Two Headed
Dogss back patio,
which was dressed
with strings of
100-watt globes.
shots, recalls Colley. Wed bounce in

some fill or highlight the background to
match the sun wed seen in the previous
take. If you keep all of your lights in
close and youre not backlighting the
rain, you dont see any of it behind the
actors.
For every pub Gary and his
74
September 2013
friends visit, a corresponding flashback,

set in the 1990s, was shot with a handcranked Arri 16SR-2. (Zeiss Distagon
primes, a Zeiss Vario Sonnar 12120mm zoom and a Canon 7-63mm
zoom were used for this work.) A
handle was attached to the inching
knob of the camera, allowing Pope or
2nd-unit director of photography Jake

Polonsky to manually control the film
speed. They overcranked and undercranked, shooting close to 24 fps but
never spot on. Flash frames were
created by starting and stopping the
camera. Its like watching a silent film,
or a distant memory, says Pope. My
exposure was off most of the time, and

the image is grainy and eroded.
The fourth pub visited, The
Cross Hands, marks a turning point in
the story and in the visual approach.
When a gang of robot teenagers accosts
the five friends in the mens room,
intense hand-to-hand combat breaks
out in close quarters. This was one of the
sets built at Elstree, and it was designed
with flyaway walls, but the filmmakers
avoided using them in order to create a
sense of entrapment. The action was
filmed under practical fluorescent
fixtures, with A-camera operator Vince
McGahon handholding a PanArri 235
When you're trying

to make something
ambitious on a set
schedule, you cant
just go into the set
and find things.
loaded with 200' magazines. The
minute they start fighting, we go
completely handheld, says Pope.
All of the fight sequences
were choreographed by stunt coordinator/2nd-unit director Brad Allan, who
videotaped rehearsals under Wrights
direction. Pope wanted to match the
intensity of those videos. In the fight in
the mens room, the camera is essentially
the other stuntman in the scene, the
cinematographer notes. Vince had to
bob and weave his way through the
middle of the swinging, punching,
diving and sliding actors, and he had to
do it incredibly quickly. It was great fun
for us all both in planning and execution. A great deal of rehearsal, pre-planning and pre-shooting go into a stunt
sequence like that one; its a good example of how much work is done before-
hand on a simple low-budget movie.

As the pub crawl progresses,
the camerawork reflects the characters increasing intoxication. Maund
describes one mount, a halo, that
allowed for a camera movement somewhere between handheld and studio
mode: Its basically a Magliner inner
tube sandwiched between two metal
plates and secured with bungee cords.
Theres a Ronford Baker quick-release
plate on the bottom that clicks into an

OConnor base, and one in the top
where you click in the head. You can put
big zooms on it and use the PeeWee or
the Fisher 10 dolly and still get an edgy
feel.
Night scenes in Newton Haven
were filmed in Letchworth, where Pope
took advantage of the existing street
lights to help ground the storys fantastic elements in reality. We were able to
Right: A halo of
lights was
positioned over
a rotating
process platform
to simulate the
alien base in a
climactic scene.
Below: Andy,
Gary and Steven
discover the
aliens secret
base in The
Worlds End
pub.
use a lot of industrial sources in our

scenes, says Colley. Youll see 400-watt
and 500-watt metal-halide and sodiumvapor industrial lights in the background
of certain shots. They did a great job of
providing a 1-stop-under base that we
76
September 2013
augmented with 20Ks [gelled with]

CTS on cherry pickers. Lee High
Pressure Sodium filters were used to
correct the practical sodium-vapor units
to tungsten.
The robots were photographed
with starker angles and anamorphic

lenses, and their blazing blue eyes and
mouths were created with a mix of practical and visual effects. We wanted to
do as much of the effect in-camera as we
could, so we had all the extras in the
mid-ground and background wear
high-powered blue LED glasses and
blue LED mouthpieces, says Pope.
Special-effects
supervisor
Chris
Reynolds and his crew made the glasses
with high-intensity LEDs in each lens;
the lights were powered by a battery
concealed in the actors wardrobe.
Double Negative visual-effects supervisor Frazer Churchill had the anamorphic lenses mapped so his team could
faithfully render lens flares for the actors
close-ups. Whenever Pope needed an
additional flare in the shot, he or
another crewmember would stand just
out of frame and aim a pair of LED
glasses at the lens.
They were an incredibly bright
source and hard to look at with the
naked eye, Colley remarks. A-camera
T g T
1st AC Tim Battersby adds, The
LEDs produced such strong flares in the
B Series anamorphics, particularly the
50mm, that they completely whited out
the video tap on the camera and made it
difficult for Vince to see the actors [in
the viewfinder] at times. But after seeing
the first rushes, we knew we would be
okay.
In the pub called The Two
Headed Dog, Gary and an old flame,
Sam (Rosamund Pike), do battle with
female twins who unite to form a
twisted robot combatant. The
confrontation takes place on the pubs
back patio, which the art department
dressed with strings of 100-watt light
bulbs, 20 bulbs to a strand, for a total
output of 15K. Each strand was run
through a dimmer and dimmed to
approximately 60 percent. Pope accentuated the scenes action and dialogue
with bulb festoons hung on large
battens. Colley recalls, We made five or
six battens with 10 to 12 festoons each,
and then mounted them to C-stands
and placed them just out of shot to
continue the look [established by the
practicals]. We dimmed them down to
50 percent with no diffusion, and they
looked great.
For the brawl at The Beehive, a
free-for-all involving about 50 people,
the production built a set on Elstrees
Stage 8. The scene took almost a week
to film, not including second-unit stunts
and effects. Pope turned once more to
Allans videotaped stunt rehearsals, this
time to help plan an elaborate set of
lighting cues. Rowlands crew installed
practical wall lights around the set interior and hung chandeliers from the ceiling, all of which were augmented with
2.5K tungsten Molebeam Zip lights.
General fill was provided by eight
modular Finn Lights, each containing
six 1K Par cans, behind panels of Lee
129 Heavy Frost and ND.6. We turned
our lights off and on in the middle of a
shot, says Pope. Thered be a strong
backlight in one direction, and when the
camera panned away, that light would
go off and a new backlight would come
up. Of course, its a lot easier to work

^<
W>D
*19/56'4&#/'26'/$'4EGgEKXFNEG$116*EETLF
Wright, Pope and 1st AD Jack Ravenscroft on location in England.
that way when you know where everyone is going to be.

When Gary pours himself a pint
at the last pub, The Worlds End, the tap
activates a secret platform in the floor,
78
and the bar drops down into the aliens

secret base. The bar set was built on an
elevated stage at Elstree, but the base
itself was filmed at a Thames pumping
station in East London. The four-story
cylindrical station was lit entirely from

above with a circular rig of 54 1K Par
cans gelled with Lee 117 Steel Blue.
Augmenting that are actors wearing
blue LED eyeglasses, and an 8'x4' voiceactivated blue/white LED panel that
pulses whenever the robot leaders
disembodied voice is heard. (This prerecorded dialogue was patched through a
GrandMa lighting desk.) The Par-can
rig was skirted with 20'x20' teasers, and
the off-camera floors and walls were
draped with Duvatyn for negative fill.
The scene culminates with a fantastic
display of pyrotechnics and smoke, to
which Pope added the effects of Atomic
3000 strobes and two 70K Lightning
Strikes.
Gary and company barely
manage to escape the inferno that
engulfs The Worlds End, and after
executing a 180-degree spin-out in
Garys car accomplished on camera
by spinning the vehicle on a rotating
process platform they must outrun
an enormous fireball that explodes from

the alien base. To create the effect of the
fireball bearing down on the car, Popes
crew rigged a truck with three Wendy
Lights, an Arri T24 tungsten Fresnel,
and 10 Six-Light Mini-Brutes all gelled
with Rosco Sunset Red and powered by
a 2,000-amp generator. With lightingdesk operator Andrew Mountain riding
shotgun, the Plasma Truck chases
Garys car, casting a blazing crimson
glow on everything in its path. The
trucks headlights were covered, so when
we finished at the end of the night, the
driver had to keep all the lights on so he
could find his way back to base, Colley
says with a laugh. From a distance, you
could see this massive red glow moving
down the country lane.
The productions negative was
processed at Technicolor London, and
footage was scanned nearby at Deluxe
Laboratories, which provided dailies.
The final grade was performed at
Company 3, with Pope working with
colorist Stephen Nakamura in Santa

Monica, and Wright working from
Popes color bible with colorist Adam
Glasman in London, where the grade
was finalized. The look of the film is
quite natural and beautiful, and the
great thing about Bills work is that its
already there in the negative, says
Wright. Even his one-lights look
amazing.
Pope says Wrights singular dedication to the craft inspired everyone on
the crew to do his or her best. A lot of
the crew had never worked with Edgar
before, and I could see their excitement
build as they got to know him, he says.
When he steps up to bat, he doesnt
settle for anything less than a home
run.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
35mm and 16mm
Panaflex Millennium XL;
PanArri 235; Arri 16SR-2
Panavision B Series, C Series,
E Series, G Series, Primo;
Angenieux Optimo;
Zeiss Distagon, Vario Sonnar;
Canon
Kodak Vision3 500T
5219/7219, 200T 5217
Digital Intermediate
Think LEE
ZZZOHHOWHUVFRP
79
American
Mythology
Bradford Young crafts a nuanced
look for the Southern drama
Aint Them Bodies Saints.
By Jon D. Witmer
|
ob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie

(Rooney Mara) are in love. Theyre also outlaws, and not
long into the feature Aint Them Bodies Saints, they are
pinned down in an old cabin in the Texas hills. Taking
fire, Ruth shoots back and wounds a deputy, Patrick Wheeler
(Ben Foster). Bob takes the fall for the shooting and the
crime spree, and while hes behind bars, Ruth gives birth to
their daughter. Four years later, Bob escapes from jail and sets
off toward Ruth and toward a confrontation with the
spoils of his shadowed past.
80
September 2013
Aint Them Bodies Saints was directed and written by

David Lowery and shot by Bradford Young. For his work on
both this film and Mother of George (AC April 13), Young
won the Excellence in Cinematography Award in the U.S.
Dramatic Competition at this years Sundance Film Festival.
(He also won the Sundance honor in 2011, for Pariah. See
AC April 11.)
AC caught up with Young by phone to discuss his work
on Lowerys film.
American Cinematographer: Despite the title card
that says This was in Texas, the story feels like it isnt tied
to one specific place.
Bradford Young: Its allegory. Its a fable. Its mythology. It doesnt really matter if it is or isnt true. One reason
David and I really connected is that we both come from the
South, where we have great storytelling models sitting by
the fire, or whatever it may be, while an elder tells a story. In
this movie, the attention to space and character as a real thing
wasnt as important as how it made you feel. Even the time
period is never explicitly mentioned. Our frame of reference
Unit photography by Steve Dietl. Frame grabs and photos courtesy of IFC Films.
Opposite: Ruth
Guthrie (Rooney
Mara) and Bob
Muldoon (Casey
Affleck) find their
crime spree at an
end in Aint Them
Bodies Saints. This
page, top: The
lovers share a
moment before
their final heist.
Middle: Ruth
receives a letter
from Bob. Bottom:
Cinematographer
Bradford Young
(right) studies the
light as camera
operator David Isern
(center) and 1st AC
Joe Anderson line
up a frame.
was very loose, late 70s or early 80s. Its

really all about, Once upon a time in
Texas, this thing happened maybe.
[Laughs.]
How did you and David come
to collaborate on this project?
Young: I knew the producers, Jay
[Van Hoy] and Lars [Knudsen] from
Parts and Labor. We made Mother of
George together. I read Davids script,
he and I had a Skype conversation, and
that was it. We were already referencing
the same films, and we had similar
thoughts about where we thought
Saints could go visually. David is also a
cinematographer and an editor, so hes
very in tune with those things. Before I
got on, he and the producers had
already decided to shoot on film.
What were some of your references for the films look?
Young: We looked at McCabe &
Mrs. Miller and Heavens Gate. We both
think Heavens Gate is an American
masterpiece not just visually, but also
politically; its one of the most progressive films made in the last 50 years. We
also both love the cinematography of
Agns Godard [AFC]. Theres a calm
to her work in 35 Shots of Rum that we
thought might work for Saints. We had
a lot of common ground about the way
we feel films should speak to audiences.
www.theasc.com
September 2013
81
American Mythology
Top and middle:

These frame
grabs illustrate
Youngs
approach to
shooting inside
Ruths house,
where he lit
almost entirely
with practical
fixtures that
often appear in
frame. Bottom:
Young considers
a setup for a
day interior.
What did you test during prep?

Young: My schedule for prep was
three weeks, and I did two days of testing and one day of nailing down the
look at Cineworks, where [colorist]
82
September 2013
Bradley Greer helped me hone in on

what we wanted the film to look like.
We had a small budget, so I couldnt
really do any photochemical work I
couldnt push, pull, skip bleach or
anything like that. But I had all of that

in mind for the look of the film. I had
some formulas to try out with the testing. It was really about underexposure:
How many stops of underexposure can
I [get away with] on the negative before
the image falls apart? Theres a sweet
spot before the image decays too much.
I wanted to create a veil, like a shroud of
burlap over the image. We also
described the look as something we
shot through a bottle of bourbon.
[Laughs.] It almost feels like that.
There is an overall impression of
warmth, but there are points of
contrast, too, such as the cyan feel
when Bob is in prison. There are also
moments with pure white light, as
when Ruth gives birth.
Young: We wanted that scene to
be clean, to feel very crispy and resolved,
and we had a bunch of light pumping
on Ruth. I had a great opportunity to
work with [gaffer] Christian Epps. He
and I basically came up with a set of
rules. We wanted to use older tools to
confirm the period look. We were staying away from HMIs and fluorescents;
we were primarily only going to use
tungsten. Theres a difference between a
filament that vibrates and a filament
that burns, and we were into the idea of
something burning. Tungsten felt very
natural. It gave the film a base of pure
white light, and through things like
underexposure or whatever the light was
pushing through, it would get warmer.
Left: Bob arrives

at Ruths house.
For this close-up,
Affleck was lit
from above by a
sodium-vapor
unit on a Condor;
his eyelight was
provided by a
bounced 1K, and
60-watt tungsten
practicals
illuminated the
background.
Below: A
crewmember
works one of the
productions
sodium vapors.
We see lamps and other practicals in the frame for most interiors.
How much of your exposure actually
came from the practicals?
Young: The only time we had a
bunch of film fixtures in the room was
during the birthing scene. Other than
that, we were lighting through windows
or with practicals in the room. With
one exception, everything in Ruths
house was lit only by the practicals you
see in frame. I capped every lamp with
a piece of blackwrap, and sometimes we
used Streaks N Tips [black spray] on
the bulbs. Theres an early morning
scene, when Patrick shows up to tell
Ruth that Bob has escaped from jail,
where we had a China ball because it
was just too hard to shape the practical
in the ceiling without it becoming really
intrusive. Thats the only time we ever
hung a light [in Ruths house] that
wasnt in frame. Jade Healy, our production designer, and Malgosia Turzanska,
our costume designer, were so incredible
we didnt really have to do a lot. But we
did add quite a bit of negative fill so I
could really control the light. We spent
a lot of our time shaping light with
bounces, toppers, bottomers and lots of
black on ceilings. We always added
negative fill to the wall that wasnt in
frame.
Were any of the interiors built
onstage?
Young: Everything was a practical location. It took us a long time to
www.theasc.com
September 2013
83
American Mythology
Top and middle: In these frame grabs, Bob visits Skerritt (Keith Carradine, middle) after escaping from
prison. Young employed clip lights to supplement the tungsten practicals in Skerritts store.
Bottom: The crew readies a tracking shot outside the store.
84
September 2013
find a spot that we liked for Ruths

house, and we used that location for the
exterior and interior. For the house
where Skerritt [Keith Carradine] lives,
next door to Ruths, we shot the doorway scene at the exterior house, but we
used a different interior for the shot of
him looking at Ruths letter.
In addition to shooting on film,
was the decision to frame in 2.40:1
made early on?
Young: Definitely, and there was
no science behind it. This is a film about
landscapes, so it just needed it. We didnt
need height, and actually, in some
instances height would have gotten us
into trouble because we were trying to
keep a lot of modern things out of the
frame. But its not only about topography as landscape; its about the body and
the face as landscape. Its a film in which
people are so expressive, yearning, missing things and missing other people.
There are a few shots where
Ruth is right in the middle of the
frame, which feels appropriate because
shes the center the other characters
revolve around and gravitate toward.
Did you and David work with storyboards or shot lists?
Young: We had basic ideas about
how we wanted to execute things, but
we didnt really need storyboards, and if
there was a shot list, it was really just so
the Teamsters would know where to put
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American Mythology
Top and middle:
Scenes in the
bar run by
Sweetie (Nate
Parker, top
right) were lit
with a
combination of
overhead Zip
lights and
practical
tungsten
globes. Bottom
(from left):
Gaffer Christian
Epps and Young
watch as
director David
Lowery
discusses the
scene with
Affleck.
the truck. It was a lot of blocking with

the actors and seeing where the camera
belonged. There was a lot of workshopping, which was beautiful to watch
because David is so good with actors.
He gave them a lot of room to do their
thing, but when he needed [something
specific], he would tell them, It needs to
be this way. I felt it was important that
we guide the audience to always keep
their eyes on Ruth. She is such a strong
character, and I didnt want us to throw
her off balance [with the framing],
because she never really is off balance.
My tendency is to set somebody on
either side of the crosshairs, but it felt
like we had to anchor her, and setting
her in the middle of the frame did that.
Thats also part of the reason why I shot
with a shallow depth-of-field. I wanted
to keep the audiences focus on her.
Rooney lights about a stop over what
your meter reads, so I always kept her at
a T1.4 for day interiors; I kept her about
a stop under even what my glass could
handle, and I exposed around a T2 or
T2.8. Shes a light form!
What lenses did you use?
Young: I had a set of Cooke S4s
and a set of Arri Master Primes.
Everything before the birth of the baby
86
September 2013
American Mythology
From top: Headlights visible behind Affleck were created with Par cans mounted on a pickup truck; the
Par cans hit the lens directly, flaring the image; the cinematographer exposed more for the exterior than
the interior of the car for a scene in which Bob carjacks Will (Rami Malek); both Malek and Affleck were
keyed with 5Ks that were gelled and silked so the light would feel wispy, says Young.
88
September 2013
was shot with Master Primes, and

everything after that was shot with
Cookes. I also kept a [Tiffen] Low
Contrast 1 in front of the lens, and
when I wanted to go hardcore, Id use a
2. The 50mm was our workhorse, and
we used the 40mm if we wanted to go a
little wider, especially for Steadicam
work. We had two Arricam Lites from
Arri CSC, and our camera operator,
David Isern, also operated Steadicam.
We had 28 days of principal photography in Shreveport, and we did about
five days of pickups in central Texas. I
operated on the pickups, and for that we
got a Millennium XL, a Platinum and
Primo primes from Panavision Dallas.
What film stocks did you
choose?
Young: Kodak Vision3 500T
5219 [for interiors and night exteriors]
and 250D 5207 [for day exteriors]. I
rated both at the specified ASA, and I
underexposed by slapping an ND in
front of the lens and just ignoring it. For
day and night interiors we always used
an ND.3, and for day exteriors we went
between ND.6 and ND.9, depending
on the scene. Most nights I couldnt
sleep because I felt like I probably went
too far! If I wanted to underexpose
something by 2 stops, Id tell [1st AC]
Joe Anderson to put an ND.6 in front
of the lens, and hed say, Remember,
youve got to go ND.9. Even when I
tried to jump ship, he and Christian
would keep me on the boat!
Joe is also credited as the
second-unit cinematographer. What
did his work in that role entail?
Young: He got all the beautiful
shots of cars, like the shot at dusk where
Bob gets to the crossroads and decides
to go right, and the shot when Patricks
police car is off in the distance with that
beautiful backlit dusk. Joe is not assisting much now; hes shooting a lot more.
Im very grateful he was able to help out.
Sam Ellison, our second AC, is also an
incredible collaborator. He also came to
help out the homies.
In the night scene of Bob and
Ruth in the truck, waiting for a heist to
go down, theres a beautiful color
American Mythology
Top: After being

pursued into a
stream, Bob
confronts his
attacker. Middle
and bottom: The
crew films the
scene, which
Young kept in
backlight using
an 8K cube
balloon.
contrast with a warm key and a cooler

fill. How did you light that?
Young: The idea was that we
were mixing sodium vapor and mercury
vapor as our two sources. We used a
400-watt sodium-vapor lamp through
the front windshield, and we cut it up
like crazy. For the cyan light coming
through the back, I had a 5K gelled with
Plus Green and CTB right above the
car on a Condor. We tweaked the colors
later to make them feel a little more
orange and blue. Thats the scene that
has the heaviest strokes in terms of
lighting because we wanted it to feel a
little over-the-top. I used the Master
Primes, and I didnt underexpose at all,
so the blacks are a lot sharper.
As long as were talking about
people in cars, how did you shoot the
night scene in which Bob is driving his
truck and approaching headlights pass
by him, then turn around and follow
him?
Young: All of that was on a
process trailer. To light Bob, we used a
1K straight onto a bounce card and cut
up so it fell right on him and sort of
caressed the window. I didnt want him
floating in black, so we had to also make
it subtle on the truck. For the car that
hits him with the headlights, we rigged
two Par cans on a pickup with a little
putt-putt generator in the back. We had
to mount the lights because the truck
was too low when we had Bobs truck
up on the process trailer. Once we raised
the Par cans, they were right at Bobs eye
90
September 2013
The production utilized an 8K sausage

balloon for a night exterior outside an old
cabin where Bob hides from the law.
level. Those Par cans were at full blast;

when they hit the lens, we would almost
lose the image for a couple of seconds. It
fits that scene because hes so paranoid.
For the daytime driving scene in
which Bob carjacks Will [Rami
Malek], were you supplementing the
daylight inside the car?
Young: We tabled off a 12-by-12
solid that basically extended over the
whole car, and I pumped in 5Ks gelled
with Full Blue and pushed through Full
Grid or silks, so the light was super soft,
almost wispy. We used the word wispy
a lot. You felt it but you didnt really see
it. That was an important idea for that
scene. I wanted to make the car very
subdued so that you can see the faces,
but theyre almost silhouetted against
landscape. I had just enough light to get
their eyes or wrap around the cheekbones. I had one [light] on Casey and
one on Rami, and I leaned more toward
exposing for the landscape than exposing for the car.
In the store that Skerritt runs,
bare tungsten bulbs hang from the
ceiling and daylight comes in through
the front windows. Did you have big
units outside to serve as sunlight?
Young: No. Any daylight you see
in the store is what was available. The
sun stayed behind us the whole day, so
when we were looking out the front, we
werent getting direct sun. I used

UltraBounce for a little more control
and a little more contrast; we just repositioned it at times to give us a little
more pump. All the bulbs you see hanging from the ceiling lit the wide shots.
For the close-ups, it became very
complicated to control the bare bulbs
because of all the shadows, which
werent very pleasant. [The light] wasnt
punchy enough. We tried to use China
balls, but then [the actors] just seemed
too beautiful. So we ended up using clip
lights with silver hoods from Home
Depot, and we clipped gels to the front.
For all the close-up work with Casey
and Keith at the cash register, we
shaped the light with a clip light on a
C-stand. If you saw a picture of it, youd
say, Cmon, guys, get it together!
[Laughs.]
How did you approach Sweeties
bar? It has an almost subterranean
feel.
Young: I had two soft lights, 1K
and 2K Zip lights, coming back toward
camera from what was supposed to be
the front door. One was over the door
and one was over the cigarette-vending
machine. There was also an old-school
practical fixture on the shelf above the
bar; we put a brown paper bag over it to
make the light really warm, and we also
put a brown paper bag in front of one of
the Zip lights. We also had a practical
bulb over the jukebox, bulbs over the
pool table, and a bulb on the wall at the
door. Over the tables, we rigged some
household floodlights so the tables
could pick up a little bit. Once Casey
sits, hes hit by the Zip light, and I had
a little bounce just off camera. For Nate
[Parker], we had to bring the light in
closer and cut it up. The light expires on
Nates face really quickly, but with
Casey it just wraps and keeps going.
What lights did you have
outside Ruths house to light her as she
walks to Skerritts to deliver her letter?
Young: I had two sodium vapors
in the package, a 400-watt and a 1,000watt. When she walks to Skerritts, she
walks through a pool of light from the
1,000-watt sodium vapor on a Crank91
American Mythology
From left: 1st

AD Tomas
Dutch Dekaj,
Young, Lowery,
Anderson, Epps
and Isern find
an angle on
location,
shooting into
the lateafternoon sun.
O-Vator, skirted with Duvatyn. As she

gets closer to Skerritts yard, just out of
frame, I had the 400-watt coming at
her, all cut up and flagged off, with nets
on the house side of the fixture so [the
house] wouldnt be totally black. There
was also a [tungsten practical] bulb on
the porch. That was it.
Theres another night exterior at
92
Ruths, when Bob gets out of his truck

and steps into the yard and into frontlight as he looks into the house. He
gets back into the truck in silhouette,
as though a dark shroud has come over
him.
Young: In the close-up of him
looking in the window, there are two 60watt bulbs over his shoulder from the
house across the street. Above the truck

we put the 1,000-watt sodium vapor on
a Condor, hanging the bucket over the
middle of the yard. We teased that light
so it didnt really hit the truck precisely,
and thats how we got that clean silhouette of Bob. We opened up one side of
the sodium vapor to let it leak onto the
house, and we had the 400-watt
[sodium vapor] pushing through a tree,
so we got a little bit of that tree-branch
pattern on the house. I also had a 60watt practical on Ruths porch. For
[Afflecks] close-up, he walks into focus
and gets those two little pops in his
eyes, and that was a 1K bounced into a
beadboard and scrimmed down to
make it really wispy.
A much larger night-exterior
sequence includes a shootout at the
cabin where Bob has been hiding, a
chase down into a stream, and another
confrontation next to his truck. How
did you light those exteriors?
Young: We were lucky we got
balloons on those days. We had an 8K

sausage and an 8K cube at the stream
lighting the whole scene. I had the cube
over the fight, and the sausage was in
the deep background. We skirted the
balloons except for the camera side, and
we skirted with a double net, so it didnt
kill all the light on the trees. The net
knocked everything down all the way to
the water, which was getting most of the
light. We had a lot of smoke, too, which
helped a lot; we could put people in
silhouette against it. We also had an 8K
sausage at the cabin and at the truck. At
the truck, all that we augmented were
the headlights that hit Bear [Charles
Baker]. Those were actually Par cans.
With all the balloon work and with
the whole film, really everything is
pretty much backlit. We always made
sure the balloon was behind the action,
never directly above it. We were always
shooting into it.
You did the final grade with Joe
Gawler, a collaborator on Pariah.
What did that work entail?

Young: Id sent Joe a look book
with photographs that I thought spoke
to the film, and by the time I got in the
room with him, he had already set up a
look-up table that was really amazing. It
took a lot of the pinch off the transfer,
which was very sharp. He set it up so
Ruth had that beautiful, creamy look to
her skin. We also wanted the environment to feel a little like a subdued cyan,
and hed already done that. We spent
most of our time just figuring out how
hard we wanted to build those blacks.
Joe is a pure collaborator whom I take a
lot of guidance from. There are
moments when I dont say anything
because Im just watching him do his
thing. Once you get him in that zone,
hes invested, and I was excited that he
was excited about this film and what we
were able to do with it.
American history has such a
contentious relationship with African
Americans, so much so that it has
always clouded my view of this place we

call home. Shooting Saints reminded
me how beautiful, topographically, this
country is, and that this imperfect society cannot trump the resilience of space
and individual character.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
3-perf Super 35mm
Arricam Lite; Panaflex
Millennium XL, Platinum
Cooke S4, Arri Master Prime,
Panavision Primo
Kodak Vision3 250D 5207,
500T 5219
Digital Intermediate
93
Post Focus
Views from Cuba

By Iain Blair
Dealing with post can be tricky for cinematographers even

when they have full access to state-of-the-art facilities and technology. Now imagine shooting a feature in a Third World country
with intermittent power, spotty phone and Internet coverage,
and little if any technical and logistical support. This was the situation for British-born cinematographer Trevor Forrest on Una
Noche, an independent film shot entirely on location in Cuba,
and which won the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival Award for Best
Cinematography. It was the most challenging project Ive ever
done, and Ive shot four features in languages I dont even
speak! says Forrest.
Written and directed by Lucy Mulloy, Una Noche tells the
story of three Cuban kids who dream of escaping the island for
a better life in Miami, Fla. What the film shows is the reality of
Havana today, and by chance, Id been on holiday in Cuba in
2008, the year before we shot this, Forrest recalls. As usual, I
took tons of photographs, so when Lucy contacted me about her
film, I was able to send her dozens of pictures of all the locations
Id visited. He notes that he took the photos on 35mm with his
94
September 2013
Nikon FM2, so we already knew what we could get [at those

sites] on Kodak negative with natural daylight.
Forrest shot the picture entirely handheld with a
Moviecam SL and Zeiss Super Speed primes (provided by Arri
Media in London). We shot on short ends, second runs and leftover stock from other shoots, he says. It was a mix of Vision2
50D [5201], 200T [5217] and 250D [5205] and Vision3 500T
[5219], which was still being tested, and which became our
favorite stock for night work.
Deluxe Laboratories in Toronto processed the productions
footage, which was flown out on Air Cubanas once-a-week trip
to Toronto every Wednesday. Colorist Ryan Ruskay would then
scan the footage at 2K and put a one light on the rushes. I had
already sent Ryan my Cuba holiday pictures as references, notes
Forrest. He sent me TIFF files to review, and I managed to get a
dial-up Internet connection in one room at our hotel so I could
download them, which took me about three hours each time.
Gradually, I built up a collection of 70-80 stills, and I could send
them back to Ryan after Id worked on them a bit in Photoshop,
helped by a matching grayscale. So, we were able to get a rough
idea of how we were doing, and Ryan could make recommendations as to extra grain or exposure and so on.
Frame grabs courtesy of IFC Films.
Raul (Dariel Arrechaga) during a moment of reflection in a scene from Una Noche.
Top: The friends cool down with a swim. Bottom: Elio (Javier Nez Florin) and Raul paddle
in the hope of making it to Miami, while Elios twin sister, Lila (Anailn de la Ra de la Torre),
joins them for the journey.
Getting that feedback just once a

week was definitely frustrating, admits
Forrest, but it was our lifeline, and had I
not taken all those stills on my holiday, it
would have been far more difficult. They
basically served as our main visual reference.
Forrest also had to be absolutely
religious about putting a grayscale and a
color chart on every scene. As it was a
low-budget film, I knew there would be
very little time, or no time at all, for the
final grade, because I was living in
England and Lucy was posting it in New
York [at Company 3], he explains. Its a
tradition thats probably dying now, as its
not easy to put a grayscale on every scene
with files being recorded separately. Your
analog control of what comes out the
other end often has no checkpoints,
because that process has been isolated.
Fortunately, he adds, Ruskay had
a great relationship with the New York

team, and he made sure the color notes
were passed on, so the workflow went
smoothly. That shows the importance of
having at least one person who understands your intent involved in post all the
way through. Ryan knew all the rushes
because we had discussed them at
length. I was very happy with the results,
even though I didnt get to finish my work
in the traditional way.
During production, Forrest dialed
in a color shift himself with filtration, and
he also used some custom yellow filters
made by a friend in Mumbai. It was a
way of getting as close to the final look as
possible in-camera. Wed change the
filter depending on what stock we were
pairing it with.
Ultimately, the entire post process
stretched over two years, mostly because
the project was originally conceived as a
95
These frame grabs show the contrast of lighting in the film as day turns to night.
short film Mulloys thesis project at

New York University but was expanded
to feature length when the director was
able to raise additional financing. After
the 2009 shoot, Mulloy spent eight
months editing (with editor Cindy Lee)
and shooting additional footage (with
cinematographer Schlomo Godder), and

the following year, she returned to Cuba
and spent nine months recording music
for the soundtrack.
Despite the unconventional post
process, and thanks to the great work
of the colorists, Una Noche looks and
feels exactly how Lucy and I wanted it

to, says Forrest. Many Cubans who
have seen the film have paid us the greatest compliment of all, saying it made
them feel like they had been back in their
homeland for 93 minutes.
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The highly anticipated

10th Edition of the
American Cinematographer Manual
is now available!
Known as the lmmakers bible for several
generations, this invaluable resource is more
comprehensive than ever moving into digital
image capture. The 10th AC Manual was edited
by Michael Goi, ASC, a former president of the
Society. He is a key speaker on technology and
the history of cinema.
Completely re-imagined to reect the sweeping
technological changes our industry has
experienced since the last edition, the 10th AC
Manual is vibrant and essential reading, as well
as an invaluable eld resource. Subjects include:
6" x 9", Full Color

Hardbound edition 998 pages
Two-Volume Paperback
Volume One 500 pages
Volume Two 566 pages
iPad ebook
Kindle ebook
Digital capture and workow terminology

The explosion of prosumer cameras in
professional use
Previsualization
3-D capture
LED lighting
The Academy Color Encoding Specication
(ACES)
Digital camera prep
and more!
The AC Manual is available in a hardbound
edition, iPad and Kindle editions, and a twovolume print-on-demand paperback.
www.theasc.com
New Products & Services
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.
After expanding the Oberhaching campus in 1999, Panther

moved into a completely new facility in 2001. The following year,
Panther Broadcast was founded to better support the video industry; Erich Fitzs son, Andy (pictured with Erich), supervised the new
range of products released under the Panther Broadcast banner. The
companys product offerings have also included the Galaxy Crane,
the Foxy Advanced Crane, the Trixy Remote Head, the Twister Dolly,
the PixyPlus Crane, and a line of tripods and fluid heads.
In 2011, Panther sold its rental operations to Arri and the
Bavaria Studio Group. In 2012, Andy Fitz bought all of his familys
shares in the company, and he is currently the single shareholder in
Panther GmbH.
For additional information, visit www.panther.tv
Panther Celebrates 30th Anniversary

Germany-based dolly and crane manufacturer Panther
GmbH is celebrating its 30th year in business. The companys origins
can be traced to the early 1970s, when Erich Fitz (pictured below,
right) started a small, customer-service-oriented rental company that
soon found itself developing a lightweight dolly to accommodate
shooting aboard a ship. The first computer-controlled electromechanical dolly prototype was finished in 1982, and it was christened the Panther after its smooth, silent operation was compared
with the movements of that animal. The next year, the second prototype dolly was put to use in Munichs Bavaria Studios for the feature
The NeverEnding Story, shot by Jost Vacano, ASC, BVK (pictured
above, right).
Fitz officially founded Panther GmbH in 1986. In addition to
producing and selling its own support systems, the company continued to nurture a rental division. Four years later, the company established a new headquarters in
Oberhaching, near Munich,
Germany, and expanded its product offerings with the Pegasus
crane and other innovations. Also
in 1990, the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences recognized the Super Panther dolly
with a Scientific and Engineering
Award. In the years since, the
company has also received such
accolades as a Golden Frog from
Camerimage, the Camera
Support System of the Year
award from the Digitalstudio
Industry Leadership Awards, and
multiple Cinec awards.
98
September 2013
Freakshow Showcases Mini Converters

Freakshow HD has announced a new line of four 3G
HD/SD-SDI mini converters: the Mini 1x2 Re-Clocking D.A., the Battery Powered A/B Switch, the
Battery Powered 1x3 Re-Clocking D.A. and the
Analog-to-SDI Converter.
These mini converters were
born out of our years of on-set experience as video-assist operators, says
Alex Cacciarellli, Freakshows chief
technical officer. They handle specific
tasks that no other products address in
such a cost-effective way. Each one takes an
innovative approach to connecting 3G/HD/SD-SDI devices in the field
or the studio at a very aggressive price point.
The Mini 1x2 bridges the gap for professional cameras and
devices with just one 3G/HD/SD-SDI output. Small and compact, it is
unobtrusive and can extend cable lengths up to 350'. It features 536-volt DC operation, an AC adaptor, a locking power connector,
and an internal power and 3G/HD/SD-SDI confidence LED.
The Battery Powered A/B Switch has the ability to select
between two inputs and distribute the signal to one output for up
to 160 hours of continuous battery operation, which solves the
problem of having two sources and only one input. Rechargeable
and cost-effective, it includes an internal lithium-polymer battery
rated for a minimum of 500 charge cycles. The device accepts both
analog composite NTSC/PAL and 3G/HD/SD-SDI signals, can operate
and charge while connected to external 12-36-volt DC power,
features low battery, fully charged and source indicators, and
includes an AC adaptor.
The Battery Powered 1x3 Re-Clocking D.A. features a
rechargeable, internal lithium-polymer battery, rated for a minimum
of 500 charge cycles, with up to seven hours of continuous use.
Other features include 12-36-volt DC operation, a locking power
connector, an internal 3G/HD/SD-SDI and

power confidence LED, low battery/fully
charged indication and an AC adaptor. The
1x3 re-clocking D.A. can extend cable runs
up to 350'.
The Analog-to-SDI Converter allows
any NTSC or PAL signal to be efficiently
converted to an SD-SDI signal. Its features
include auto selection between NTSC or PAL
standards, a locking power connector, an
internal signal and power confidence LED,
5-36-volt DC operation and an AC adaptor.
For additional information, visit
www.freakshowhd.com.
Cavision Redesigns
Directors Viewfinder
Cavision Enterprises Ltd. has introduced the VFRW-11X rotating directors
viewfinder. This redesigned product features
common formats, including Anamorphic,
Super 35mm, 35mm, 16mm, Super 16mm,
1", ", 13" and ", as well as full-frame
DSLR, APS-C and digital cinema formats.
The new design utilizes a window to display
only the format currently in use, making it
quicker and easier to check the format
setting.
The VFRW-11X boasts an increased
number of focal-length markings for greater
accuracy and ease of use. Additionally, the
eyepiece component offers a diopter adjustment. The viewfinder can also be used as a
quick format converter; users can change
the format setting while keeping the zoom
ring in place, allowing them to quickly
determine the equivalent focal length in a
different format.
Cavision has also introduced a
mini version of the next-generation directors viewfinder; the VFTW-11X is extremely
compact and lightweight but still provides a
large viewing size. The company offers a
hard case for both viewfinders.
www.cavision.com.
such as Black Frost.

www.schneideroptics.com.
Clairmont, Schneider Filter

Alexa In-Camera
Schneider Optics has begun manufacturing and distributing an in-camera filter
system developed by Clairmont Camera for
Arris Alexa camera systems. Working closely
with Schneider, Clairmont Cameras Andree
Martin and Alan Albert designed custom
assemblies that hold interchangeable Schneider filters in front of the Alexas CMOS
sensor assembly.
The In-Camera Filter Kit includes a
specially designed magnetic filter holder that
replaces the light baffle in the Alexa camera.
Once in place, the assembly allows secure
mounting and precise positioning of the
specially manufactured, ultra-precision
Schneider filters. With the new system, users
can change the filters in a few minutes.
When no filtering is desired, a clear filter can
be used to precisely maintain focus. All filters
for the system are high-efficiency, multi-layer
coated to minimize flare and ghosting.
One of the things cinematographers
appreciate most about the Arri Alexa is the
excellent light sensitivity, says ASC associate
Denny Clairmont, CEO of Clairmont
Camera. Working at higher ISO ratings can
lead to lots of ND if you want to shoot wide
open.
The standard In-Camera Filter Kit
consists of an in-camera filter holder with
cover ring, all required shims, a filter installation tool, and seven mounted Schneider
Ultra Precision Multi-Coated In-Camera
Filters: Clear, IRND .3, .6, .9, 1.2, 1.5 and 1.8.
The kit will interface with most PL lenses, but
is not compatible with Zeiss T2.1 16mm,
24mm or 32mm; Arri Macro 16mm, 24mm
or 32mm; or Cooke Series II and III 18mm,
25mm or 32mm. Lens extenders may also
interfere with the kits filters.
The Alexa In-Camera Filter Kit is also
available without filters, so users may buy
only the filters desired. Schneider Optics
anticipates adding other filters to fit the kit,
100
Tiffen Creates Film Looks with

Satin, Black Satin Filters
The Tiffen Co. is now shipping Satin
and Black Satin Film Looks MPTV filters in
4"x4", 4"x5.65" and 6.6"x6.6" sizes. These
Film Looks filters were developed for use with
modern digital camera systems.
Optical filter development is the
cornerstone of The Tiffen Co., and our new
line of integrated Tiffen filters, which includes
Film Looks, exemplifies the forward-thinking
innovation behind our commitment to
continued research and development, says
ASC associate Steve Tiffen, president and
CEO of The Tiffen Co. This year, we celebrate 75 years of filter engineering excellence, and it gives me great pleasure to cross
this milestone by expanding the Tiffen filter
product offerings yet again. We look forward
to seeing the tremendous images the creative
world will make with the new line of Tiffen
MPTV filters, including the new Satin and
Black Satin looks.
Tiffens Satin and Black Satin filters

offer subtle softening to fine details, with
minimal signs of filtration. The combination
of mild halation and delicate optical softening elements adds a gentle glow to highlights
and moderates contrast. Satins produce a
cleaner, muted diffusion compared to Black
Satins, which produce a warmer, grainier
feel. Both filter types have been designed to
offer fine control over user images by maintaining an apparent clear, in-focus image.
The filters are made from water-white glass
and are available in , 1, 2 and 3 grades.
www.tiffen.com.
Cooke Expands in U.K.

Cooke Optics has announced that it
will extend its factory and workforce in
Leicester, England, to accommodate the
growing demand for its hand-crafted lenses.
A growing order book for Cookes
new range of Anamorphic/i lenses, as well as
continuing demand for the miniS4/i, 5/i and
S4/i ranges, have necessitated the factory
expansion. Cooke will add 300 square
meters, which will house more assembly and
projection facilities as well as an R&D laboratory. A 10-percent increase in the workforce
is also anticipated.
As the digital-camera revolution
continues, people want the best PL lenses to
tell their stories, says ASC associate Les
Zellan, chairman and owner of Cooke
Optics. Were gratified by the demand for
our lenses, particularly the recent interest
that our Anamorphic/i lenses have garnered,
and have taken these measures to increase
production while maintaining our high standards. Our lenses are all individually handmade in Leicester by a very skillful workforce,
and our customers appreciate the time and
effort that goes into making every lens as
perfect as it can be.
www.cookeoptics.com.
Congo Films Opens
Panama Rental House
Congo Films has opened a rental
house in Panama. Congo Films Panama
offers customers in Central America and the
Caribbean a one-stop rental location for
cameras and accessories, grip equipment,
lighting and electrical gear, and transportation. The camera inventory includes the Arri
Alexa XT Plus and M, the Red Epic and the
Sony F55. In-stock lenses include Cooke 5/i,
S4/i and MiniS4; Arri/Zeiss Master Primes and
Ultra Primes; and Angenieux Optimo zooms.
The facilitys grip offerings include
cranes, jibs, doorway dollies, J.L. Fisher
102
September 2013
dollies, the SuperTechno ST-30, stabilized

heads, aerial mounts and more. On the
lighting front, Congo Films Panama offers
a wide variety of fixtures from Luminys
Systems, Arri, Kino Flo, Dedolight, MoleRichardson, K5600 and more.
Congo Films will host an Open
House at the Panama facility on Oct. 10.
To RSVP, write to panama@congofilms.tv.
www.congofilms.tv.
Sim Digital Acquires
PS Production Services
Sim Digital, a supplier of digital
production equipment and post services,
has acquired PS Production Services Ltd.,
one of Canadas largest rental houses for
lighting, grip, generators, digital cameras
and dolly equipment.
Founded by the late Doug Dales in
1972, PS Production Services serves U.S.
and Canadian motion-picture and television productions through offices in
Toronto, Vancouver and Halifax, and has
more than 130 employees. Since Dales
death in 2010, the company has built on
his legacy and continued to grow.
Doug was someone I very much
admired and respected, says Rob Sim,
president and CEO of Sim Digital. Both of
our companies came from humble beginnings and through hard work and constant
dedication, we were able to successfully
grow them into what they are today. Our
cultures are very similar, so when this
opportunity presented itself, I couldnt
think of two companies that better
complemented one another. That thought
was echoed by our management team,
who worked diligently to see Sim and PS
come together.
Through this acquisition, SIM Digital
gains additional resources, a strong
regional sales network, and experienced
staff. Integration with SIMs Canadian
facilities will begin immediately.
The acquisition of PS Production
Services follows Sims recent acquisition of
Bling Digital, a U.S. and Canadian specialist in postproduction technologies and
workflows, and Master Key Finishing, a Los
Angeles postproduction facility.
www.simdigital.com.
Cinelabs Finalizes Bucks

Media Acquisition
Cinelabs International, a European
provider of film laboratory services, has
completed its acquisition of Bucks Media
Services in London. The acquisition will build
on the existing operations of Cinelab Romania and Cinelab Greece, which were
acquired from Kodak in 2012.
The addition of this operation is an
essential stage in our European strategy,
says Rodrigo Ruiz-Tarazona, CEO of
Cinelabs International. We can now
provide a Europe-wide, high-quality, reliable
film service. The London business is staffed
by an excellent team of people who care
about their clients, and we are looking
forward to establishing the Cinelab name as
a center of excellence for everyone passionate about film.
The operation currently provides
color and black-and-white negative and
print processing, but immediate priorities
include increasing capacity and developing
both film- and digital-dailies services and
on-location services. The operation will
continue to support film, commercial and
television clients as well as content owners
who wish to preserve and restore their film
and media archives.
www.bucks.co.uk.
Prime Focus Plants Roots
In Beijing
Prime Focus Ltd. has opened a new
office in Beijing, China. The move will bring
the Prime Focus group of companies full
array of services including visual effects,
3-D conversion, animation via its Prime
Focus World subsidiary, technology and
media management solutions via its Prime
Focus Technologies subsidiary, and overall
production and postproduction services
offered within the larger Prime Focus group
to China.
We are enthusiastic about the
shared opportunities our expansion into
China brings, says Namit Malhotra,
founder of Prime Focus. We have always
recognized the advantages that globalization coupled with intense localization
brings, and have evolved our business strategy accordingly. I look forward to offering our full suite of creative and technology
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10,000 Films Have Been

Launched at AFM
Get Your Piece of the Action!
NOVEMBER 6-13, 2013 / SANTA MONICA

2,000+ NEW FILMS & PROJECTS
Register at www.AmericanFilmMarket.com
services to the Chinese market.

In addition to the Beijing office,
Prime Focus maintains offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, New York, London and
Mumbai. Prime Focus expects to open the
Beijing location later this year.
www.primefocusltd.com.
Vision Research Grows

Phantom Miro Line
Vision Research is expanding its line
of Phantom Miro cameras to include a
rugged-body series. The Phantom Miro RSeries, the third member of the Phantom
Miro family, is designed for applications in
harsh environments where the camera must
survive high shock and vibration, as well as
a broad range of operating temperatures.
The Miro R-Series comprises the same four
performance levels available in the other
Miro body styles: 110, 310, 120 and 320S.
The Miro R-series is ideal for applications such as automotive crash tests, highspeed sleds and explosives research. As with
the other Miro models, the R-Series has an
external rechargeable battery and the CineFlash non-volatile data-storage system. It
includes flexible tools for both qualitative
and quantitative analysis and is Phantom
RCU compatible
Other key features of the Miro RSeries include 100G shock, -4 to 122
degrees Fahrenheit operating temperature,
zero to 50,000-foot operational altitude,
continuous recording, auto-exposure,
image-based auto trigger, multi-cine acquisition and Gb Ethernet.
www.visionresearch.com.
Sony Unveils PMW-300 XDCam
Sony has introduced the PMW-300
XDCam, a semi-shoulder-mount camcorder
that combines the benefits of "-type
104
September 2013
Exmor Full HD 3CMOS sensor technology

with 50Mbps HD recording at MPEG
HD422. The PMW-300 is designed for
production professionals who require a flexible camcorder that adapts easily to a range
of commercial shooting environments.
We are continually advancing our
XDCam HD422 technology based on
customer feedback and the constantly
changing needs of the production community, says Tatsuro Kurachi, director of product marketing, Professional Solutions of
America, Sony Electronics. This newest
camcorder delivers the incredible flexibility
and high-end recording capabilities pro
shooters at every level of production need,
combined with very specific ergonomic and
performance enhancements. The PMW300 is a true workhorse camcorder.
The PMW-300 boasts high light
sensitivity and low image noise to deliver
clear, high-resolution images even when
shooting in low-light conditions. The
camcorder also includes Sonys advanced
signal processing technology to suppress
noise effectively and create noticeably
clearer images. Additionally, the
camcorders high bit rate ensures quality
capture of fast-moving objects, while its
chroma-subsampling feature is ideal for a
wide range of video-encoding areas such as
visual effects and greenscreen applications.
The PMW-300 features the same
EX-mount interchangeable lens system as
Sonys PMW-EX3 for compatibility with "
and 23" lenses. The camcorder comes with
a 14x zoom lens featuring a focus ring for
quick switching between auto and manual
focus. The camcorder also features an HDresolution 3.5" color LCD viewfinder for
precise focusing. Time code and genlock
interfaces as well as an 8-pin remote
connector give users added flexibility in
multi-camera setups and 3-D configurations. HD-SD/SDI and HDMI outputs let
users connect the camcorder to broadcast
infrastructures and to compatible consumer
devices.
The semi-shoulder design has a
rotary handgrip for more comfortable
recording over long periods of time, and
the camcorders durable magnesium body
is designed to withstand even the harshest
production environments. The PMW-300
also allows users to record on Sonys profesAmerican Cinematographer
sional SxS memory card, as well as SD,

Memory Stick and XQD cards.
www.sony.com.
OConnor Supports Sony F5, F55

OConnor, part of Vitec Videocom,
offers camera support and lens accessories
compatible with Sonys F5 and F55 4K
cameras.
The F5 and F55 share the same
camera-body form factor, weighing less
than 5 pounds. When outfitted minimally
with a simple prime lens and viewfinder, the
cameras will remain under 10 pounds,
within the range of OConnors 1030D and
1030Ds fluid heads. When users take
advantage of the Sony cameras modular
designs, the two heads can quickly adjust
the counterbalance to account for the addition of optional viewfinders, recorders and
batteries, with payload range to spare.
When the F5 and F55 are fully builtup with large zoom lenses and full-size cinestyle accessories, OConnors 2575D fluid
head, with its maximum payload of 90
pounds, can take over. Should the demands
of the shoot require a quick stripping down
of the F5 or F55, there is no need to switch
to another fluid head.
OConnors Cine Follow Focus-1
provides professional lens control for the
F5/F55 in larger setups. As a double-sided
studio unit, OConnors follow focus is ideal
for large-diameter lenses, and protects the
users equipment investment by ensuring
compatibility with optical systems now and
into the future. The CFF-1 integrates well
with existing accessories such as whips,
gears and cranks.
OConnors Universal Baseplate is
ideal for smaller 15mm LWS cine setups that
2013
NEW YORK CITY

Cine Gear Expo 2013 - New York City
Exhibits, Seminars, Networking
September 27, 3:00pm - 8:00pm
September 28, 11:00am - 5:00pm
Location:
Metropolitan Pavilion
125 West 18th Street
New York, NY 10011
www.cinegearexpo.com
involve a range of accessories. The sturdy

camera platform is engineered to allow
optical axis centering of the lens to the
correct rod measurement. It also has the
ability to interface with standard studio
bridge plates for setups where large and
weighty zoom lenses require solid support.
OConnors O-Focus Dual Mini delivers advantages for both the F5 and F55 in
smaller setups. The compact, double-sided
direct drive follow-focus unit comes in a
Cine Set configuration that utilizes the CFF1 Studio Handwheel to yield a transmission
ratio well suited for cine lenses with an
expanded focus scale.
The O-Box WM 2-stage mattebox,
with integrated handgrip interfaces, can be
used in a professional setup. Users can also
add the O-Grip handles to complete the
package.
www.ocon.com.
Hot Rod Distributes Relentless

Defy Stabilizers
Relentless, Inc. has unveiled a new
addition to its Defy family of camera-stabilizing products. The G5, a more capable
version of the G2 custom handheld stabilized platform system, is designed for a
camera and lens with a combined weight of
5 pounds or less.
The Defy family of stabilizers are
totally unique in that they are not a hodgepodge of off-the-shelf components, says
Illya Friedman, president of Hot Rod
Cameras, the distributor for the Defy family
of stabilizers. Defy is a wholly original
system, designed for this purpose from the
ground up. It uses non-slip lightweight
106
September 2013
hexagonal carbon-fiber tubes and American-made CNC aluminum components,

which are unlike anything else. The design
is simple, lightweight and elegant. Its unrivaled as a DSLR-sized camera stabilizer.
The Defy G5 is scalable and quickly
adaptable to various cameras and lenses.
The G5 is priced at $3,200.
www.defygimbal.com and www.hotrod
cameras.com.
Sachtler Expands Support
Offerings
Sachtler, part of Vitec Videocom, has
introduced the 75mm Ace L fluid head as
part of its Ace family of camera-support
systems.
With a payload range of 0 to 13.2
pounds, the 75mm Ace L fluid head is
appropriate for video-enabled DSLR and
lightweight HDV camcorders as well as
heavier setups with additional camera
accessories. The fluid head with the SA drag
damping system is available in a choice of
two different tripod system configurations,
one with a mid-level spreader, and the
second with TT 75/2 legs for the greatest
height range.
Sachtler has also unveiled its TT 75/2
CF 75mm tripod and ENG 75/2 D HD
tripod. The TT 75/2 CF utilizes three-section
single carbon fiber tubes. It offers an extensive height range, from as low as 10.6" to
as high as 67.3". In addition to working
with the Ace L, it is also available as a
system with Sachtlers FSB 6 and FSB 8 fluid
heads. The tripod comes with footpads and
retractable spikes. The ENG
75/2 D HD tripod features a
wider tube diameter than standard tripods, providing solid
stability for high payloads of
up to 77 pounds. The 75mm
system incorporates the
fast-action clamp from the
100mm range. The tripod
is available as a system
with Sachtlers FSB 6
and FSB 8 fluid heads.
For additional
information, visit
www.sachtler.com.
Innovision Moves with

Portable Polly Dolly
Innovision Optics is now distributing
Pollysystems portable Polly dolly system, a
compact and flexible solution for smooth
tracking shots.
The Polly features a flywheel gear
made of high-grade steel that simultaneously accumulates kinetic energy and stabilizes movement; a scale on the flywheel
enables precise stop-motion dolly shots.
Capable of ultra-slow and precise tracking
shots, the Polly engine moves the camera
smoothly on flat surfaces or track. Additionally, the Polly-Arm allows the camera
position to be extended in all directions; the
Arm rotates and is adjustable both vertically
and horizontally.
www.innovisionoptics.com.
Vacion Tracks Camera Moves

Vacion has introduced the CineLite
and CineLite Ultra camera-tracking systems,
which are designed for use with
smartphones or lightweight digital
cameras. Equipped with a mobile-phone
mount and easy to transport in a backpack,
the systems can move a camera from left to
right or take shots that pan up and down.
Vacion is also taking advance orders
for its CineTrack and CineTough hardanodized rail-and-carriage units, which are
designed to meet the exacting demands
of on-location professional video
production. Both products, manufactured in the U.K. using German technology, incorporate a self-lubricating
bearing system to ensure the
durable carriage will not stick or jam.

All Vacion products are upgradable,
allowing customers to build upon their
investments rather than having to buy a
completely new system in order to take
advantage of design innovations and other
improvements.
www.vacion.com.
MovieTech Rolls Out Alpha Dolly
MovieTech has introduced the Alpha
Dolly. This light, compact and highly flexible
dolly combines the traditional dolly
concepts of an electromechanical column
and hydraulic arm with characteristics of a
pedestal.
The Alpha Dolly uses three 14.4-volt,
10-amp lithium-ion batteries to move the
column, which can bear payloads of 80-100
kg (176-220 pounds). The Alpha also allows
for very low shooting positions without the
need of a supplementary adapter, with a
column lift of 710mm (28") at its lowest
point. The seating position at the column is
equivalent to that of familiar hydraulic-liftarm dollies; through seat arm adapters
available in different lengths and
a new telescopic
seat arm, the seating position may be
adjusted in height.
The camera operator
may also rotate with
the column thanks to
the integrated 360degree rotation
system.
The Alpha
Dolly comes in
a complete basic
setup and the system is compatible with
many of the standard MovieTech accessories.
www.movietech.de.
Telemetrics Enables
Remote Control
Telemetrics has introduced the
Remote Camera Control System, which
provides a flexible architecture for a wide
range of networked or standalone cameraautomation applications. The System
includes the Robotic Camera Control Panel,

Camera Shader Panel and Enterprise Database Control Software.
The Robotic Camera Control Panel
supports RS-232 and Ethernet transmission
with unlimited control locations and
features a touch-screen graphical user inter-
face for ROP controls, a joystick for trim

controls (pan, tilt, zoom, etc.) and a special
assignable knob control.
The Camera Shader Panel offers a
convenient and flexible solution for
remotely matching multiple automated
cameras. It features intuitive controls and a
touch-screen interface, and supports
control for iris, master pedestal and shading
as well as CCU functions including master
gain, white gain, black level, gamma knee,
masking and test bars. Additional controls
support environmental functions and auxiliary devices.

The Enterprise Database Control
Software provides enterprise-level camera
control utilizing an SQL database with
configurable access control. It also offers
remote access to all settings and functionality from any networked control location.
www.telemetricsinc.com.
Anton/Bauer Provides
Fast Charge
Anton/Bauer, part of Vitec Videocom, has released the PowerCharger 3000
InterActive series, which includes three
chargers: FastCharger Quad with Wi-Fi,
FastCharger Quad and FastCharger Dual
with Wi-Fi. The entire series builds on
Anton/Bauers PowerCharger 2000 and TSeries chargers, combining their features to
create the companys most innovative line
of simultaneous two- and four-position fast
chargers. The PowerCharger 3000 units
feature a 300-watt (Quad) or 150-watt
(Dual) power supply, allowing them to
108
safely and reliably charge Logic Series

batteries in the shortest time possible.
The FastCharger Quad with Wi-Fi
features LCD and Wi-Fi communications,
and it offers four-position simultaneous
charging, with 100-240-volt AC, 50/60Hz
wide-range input. It includes field-upgradable software via USB or Wi-Fi. The
FastCharger Quad also offers full-power
four-position simultaneous charging, but
without the LCD and Wi-Fi, making it a
well-suited economical option for rental
facilities or environments where diagnostics
arent required.
The FastCharger Dual with Wi-Fi is a
two-position charger suited for the owneroperator or smaller production houses with
a lower quantity of batteries to manage. Its
small footprint allows the charger to stay on
a desk or shelf without taking up valuable
space, while still offering diagnostic information. It offers 100-240-volt AC, 50/60Hz
wide range input and field upgradable software via USB or Wi-Fi.
Each charger in the PowerCharger
3000 series includes the Maxx II Warranty,
with the opportunity to secure an additional
one-year warranty when a charger is registered online. The Wi-Fi-enabled chargers
come with Anton/Bauers latest AB-BMS
software. The user can connect the charger
via USB or Wi-Fi to a PC running Microsoft
Windows to get expanded battery/charger
information.
www.antonbauer.com.
Digital Vision Updates
Nucoda, Phoenix
Digital Vision has released the
Nucoda 2013 color-grading product line, as
well as the latest version of Phoenix restoration software.

New features and enhancements in
Nucoda 2013 include expansion and refinement of the ACES workflow, as well as integration with Cortex Dailies from MTI, which
allows for complex data to be shared
between Nucoda and Cortex, including
CDL, LUT and camera raw settings. Other
new features include an updated DVO
Stereo fix tool and updated stereo tools,
including two new Warping tools as well as
a De-Warper to fix lens distortion.
The latest Phoenix restoration software release includes tools to fix chromatic
aberration, Y/C alignment issues and a color
component Align tool. There is also an addition of a 9-point and 4-point warper.
www.digitalvision.se.
Ambient Generates Time Code
Ambient Clockit has introduced the
Tiny Lockit, a time-code generator and
receiver. Tiny Lockit is an accurate, temperature-compensating time-code generator
that, except for the sync signal output,

comprises the full functionality of the original Lockit, including Ambient Clockit
Network support, metadata transfer and
logging. The Tiny Lockit can be used to send
the cameras time code to a recorder,
providing the stability of an Ambient Clockit
Generator with the flexibility of a wireless
time-code system, without the fear of wireless dropouts.
The device offers a variable timecode output level for recording time code
on an audio track, allowing users to
synchronize even small non-time-code-
capable cameras such as DSLRs or smartphones. Also, when users connect the Tiny
Lockit to a PC or Mac, it will be recognized
immediately as an Audio/Midi device.
Additional features of the Tiny Lockit
include Midi Timecode Interface with
MTC/LTC conversion, drift of less than one
frame per day, universal frame-rate support,
easily readable OLED display, conversion
between LTC and MTC via a USB, a robust
machined and anodized Aluminum body,
and a built-in antenna.
The Tiny Lockit works for 12 hours
on 2 AAA batteries and weighs approximately 118 grams.
www.ambient.de.
109
www.danadolly.com
International Marketplace
Butter Smooth.....Completely Silent
((623)
623) 5561-6490
61-66490
110
September 2013
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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Call 440.647.4999
www.theasc.com
SERVICES AVAILABLE
STUCK? BLOCKED?
Give me 30 minutes (at no cost to you):
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Call: 626-674-7999 e-mail: 37887392@qq.com
September 2013
111
Advertisers Index
Abel Cine Tech 57
AC 108, 110
Adorama 17, 71
AFM 103
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 29
Anton/Bauer, Inc. 49
Arri 19
ASC 97
AZGrip 110
Backstage Equipment, Inc.
91
Band Pro Film & Digital 7
Barger-Lite 8
Birns & Sawyer 110
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 11
Cammate Systems 8
Canon USA Video 13
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 23
Cavision Enterprises 73
Chapman/Leonard Studio
Equipment Inc. 85
Chimera 59
Cinebags Inc. 111
Cine Gear Expo 105
Cinematography
Electronics 99
Cinekinetic 110
Codex Digital Ltd. 45
Congo Films S.A. 87
Content & Communications
World 113
Convergent Design 69
Cooke Optics 9
112
Duclos Lenses 8
DV Expo 119
Eastman Kodak 40a-l, C4
EFD USA, Inc. 21
Estudio Capital 107
Film Gear (International), Ltd.
47
Filmotechnic USA 48
Filmtools 100
Glidecam Industries 61
Grip Factory Munich/GFM 77
Hasselblad Bron, Inc. 25
Hertz Corporation C3
Huesca Film Office/HUFO 99
Ovide Broadcast Services 6

P+S Technik Feinmechanik
Gmbh 110
Panther Gmbh 92
PC&E 78
PED Denz 77
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 110
Pro8mm 110
Radiant Images 112
Red Digital Cinema C2Reflex Technologies, LLC 89
J.L. Fisher 63
Samys DV & Edit 31

Schneider Optics 2,
Servicevision USA 96
Super16, Inc. 111
K5600 43
Kino Flo 93
Technicolor 15
Thales Angenieux 32-33
LDI 115
Lee Filters 79
Lights! Action! Co. 111
Linoptek 110
LitePanels 5
Willys Widgets 110

Welch Integrated 109
www.theasc.com 101, 111,
114
Maccam 95
Manios Optical 110
Matthews Studio
Equipment/MSE 100
M.M. Mukhi & Sons 111
Movcam 27
Movie Tech AG 110, 111
NBC Universal 75
Nevada Film Commission 62
Next Shot 99
Nila, Inc. 47
In Memoriam
Geoffrey Erb, ASC, 1945-2013
Emmy-nominated director of
photography Geoffrey F. Erb, ASC died on
June 20 at the age of 67.
Erb was born on Dec. 28, 1945, in
Floral Park, N.Y., to George and Dorothy
Erb. He attended Southampton College,
and from 1967-69, he served in the U.S.
Navy aboard the USS Intrepid. Following his
honorable discharge, he took a job at
General Camera Co. in New York, launching
his career in the film business. He joined the
camera union (then Local 644, now Local
600) in 1974 as a first assistant cameraman.
In that capacity, he worked with cinematographer Alan Metzger on numerous
commercials; features, including Voices; and
telefilms, including The Deadliest Season
and Dream House. He also worked
frequently with David Quaid, ASC, his uncle.
In 1985, Erb moved up to cinematographer on the series The Equalizer,
taking over for Metzger after Metzger
began directing. In 1986, Erb was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on
the series. He stayed with the show until it
concluded in 1989.
114
Erb then shot a series of

two-hour Kojak specials and the
series Under Cover. For director
Metzger, he photographed the
telefilms Eye for an Eye, Exclusive, The Jury of One, The Black
Widow Murders, Roommates,
New Eden, For My Daughters
Honor, A Father for Brittany and
Carriers. His credits also included
the pilots for Law & Order, The
Keys, Deadline and The Gray
Area, as well as the series The
Cosby Mysteries and Central
Park West.
Erb became an active
member of the ASC on Aug. 31,
1995, after being proposed for
membership by Quaid, Gerald
Hirschfeld, Fred Schuler and Sol
Negrin. He went on to shoot the
series Undercover, The Burning
Zone and Law & Order: Special
Victims Unit, and the feature Table One.
Over the course of his career, Erb
also served as second-unit cinematographer
on episodes of Hart to Hart and NYPD Blue,
and he provided additional photography for
the features Cape Fear (1991) and A Bronx
Tale. In 2006, he began teaching at New
York Universitys Maurice Kanbar Institute of
Film & Television, and he did so until 2012,
when illness forced him to retire.
Erb was active in the cam-era union,
and he served for a number of years on its
National Executive Board. Local 600
presented him with the Billy Bitzer Lifetime
Award in 2002, and in June 2013, the
National Executive Board presented him
with an Honorary Gold Lifetime Membership Card.
Erb is survived by his wife, Patricia;
daughters, Michelle and Meredith; and
grandchildren, Caleb, Lily and Alexa.
Jon D. Witmer
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American Society of Cinematographers Roster

OFFICERS 2013-14
Richard Crudo,
President
Owen Roizman,
Vice President
Kees Van Oostrum,
Vice President
Lowell Peterson,
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper,
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich,
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky,
Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS
OF THE BOARD
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael OShea
Lowell Peterson
Owen Roizman
Rodney Taylor
Haskell Wexler
ALTERNATES
Isidore Mankofsky
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Sol Negrin
116
September 2013
ACTIVE MEMBERS
Thomas Ackerman
Lance Acord
Marshall Adams
Javier Aguirresarobe
Lloyd Ahern II
Russ Alsobrook
Howard A. Anderson III
Howard A. Anderson Jr.
James Anderson
Peter Anderson
Tony Askins
Christopher Baffa
James Bagdonas
King Baggot
John Bailey
Florian Ballhaus
Michael Ballhaus
Andrzej Bartkowiak
John Bartley
Bojan Bazelli
Frank Beascoechea
Affonso Beato
Mat Beck
Dion Beebe
Bill Bennett
Andres Berenguer
Carl Berger
Gabriel Beristain
Steven Bernstein
Ross Berryman
Josh Bleibtreu
Oliver Bokelberg
Michael Bonvillain
Richard Bowen
David Boyd
Russell Boyd
Uta Breisewitz
Jonathan Brown
Don Burgess
Stephen H. Burum
Bill Butler
Frank B. Byers
Bobby Byrne
Patrick Cady
Antonio Calvache
Paul Cameron
Russell P. Carpenter
James L. Carter
Alan Caso
Vanja ernjul
Michael Chapman
Rodney Charters
Enrique Chediak
Christopher Chomyn
James A. Chressanthis
T.C. Christensen
Joan Churchill
Curtis Clark
Peter L. Collister
Jack Cooperman
Jack Couffer
Vincent G. Cox
Jeff Cronenweth
Richard Crudo
Dean R. Cundey
Stefan Czapsky
David Darby
Allen Daviau
Roger Deakins
Jan DeBont
Thomas Del Ruth
Bruno Delbonnel
Peter Deming
Jim Denault
Caleb Deschanel
Ron Dexter
Craig Di Bona
George Spiro Dibie
Ernest Dickerson
Billy Dickson
Bill Dill
Anthony Dod Mantle
Stuart Dryburgh
Bert Dunk
Lex DuPont
John Dykstra
Richard Edlund
Eagle Egilsson
Frederick Elmes
Robert Elswit
Scott Farrar
Jon Fauer
Don E. FauntLeRoy
Gerald Feil
Cort Fey
Steven Fierberg
Mauro Fiore
John C. Flinn III
Anna Foerster
Larry Fong
Ron Fortunato
Jonathan Freeman
Tak Fujimoto
Alex Funke
Steve Gainer
Robert Gantz
Ron Garcia
David Geddes
Dejan Georgevich
Michael Goi
Stephen Goldblatt
Paul Goldsmith
Frederic Goodich
Victor Goss
Jack Green
Adam Greenberg
Robbie Greenberg
Xavier Grobet
Alexander Gruszynski
Changwei Gu
Rick Gunter
Rob Hahn
Gerald Hirschfeld
Henner Hofmann
Adam Holender
Ernie Holzman
John C. Hora
Tom Houghton
Gil Hubbs
Shane Hurlbut
Tom Hurwitz
Judy Irola
Mark Irwin
Levie Isaacks
Peter James
Johnny E. Jensen
Matthew Jensen
Jon Joffin
Frank Johnson
Shelly Johnson
Jeffrey Jur
Adam Kane
Stephen M. Katz
Ken Kelsch
Victor J. Kemper
Wayne Kennan
Francis Kenny
Glenn Kershaw
Darius Khondji
Gary Kibbe
Jan Kiesser
Jeffrey L. Kimball
Adam Kimmel
Alar Kivilo
David Klein
Richard Kline
George Koblasa
Fred J. Koenekamp
Lajos Koltai
Pete Kozachik
Neil Krepela
Willy Kurant
Ellen M. Kuras
George La Fountaine
Edward Lachman
Jacek Laskus
Denis Lenoir
John R. Leonetti
Matthew Leonetti
Andrew Lesnie
Peter Levy
Matthew Libatique
Charlie Lieberman
Stephen Lighthill
John Lindley
Robert F. Liu
Walt Lloyd
Bruce Logan
Gordon Lonsdale
Emmanuel Lubezki
Julio G. Macat
Glen MacPherson
Paul Maibaum
Constantine Makris
Denis Maloney
Isidore Mankofsky
Christopher Manley
Michael D. Margulies
Barry Markowitz
Steve Mason
Clark Mathis
Don McAlpine
Don McCuaig
Michael McDonough
Seamus McGarvey
Robert McLachlan
Geary McLeod
Greg McMurry
Steve McNutt
Terry K. Meade
Suki Medencevic
Chris Menges
Rexford Metz
Anastas Michos
David Miller
Douglas Milsome
Dan Mindel
Charles Minsky
Claudio Miranda
George Mooradian
Reed Morano
Donald A. Morgan
Donald M. Morgan
Kramer Morgenthau
Peter Moss
M. David Mullen
Dennis Muren
Fred Murphy
Hiro Narita
Guillermo Navarro
Michael B. Negrin
Sol Negrin
Bill Neil
Alex Nepomniaschy
John Newby
Yuri Neyman
Sam Nicholson
Crescenzo Notarile
David B. Nowell
Rene Ohashi
Daryn Okada
Thomas Olgeirsson
Woody Omens
Miroslav Ondricek
Michael D. OShea
Vince Pace
Anthony Palmieri
Phedon Papamichael
Daniel Pearl
Edward J. Pei
James Pergola
Dave Perkal
S E P T E M B E R
Lowell Peterson
Wally Pfister
Bill Pope
Steven Poster
Tom Priestley Jr.
Rodrigo Prieto
Robert Primes
Frank Prinzi
Cynthia Pusheck
Richard Quinlan
Declan Quinn
Earl Rath
Richard Rawlings Jr.
Frank Raymond
Tami Reiker
Robert Richardson
Anthony B. Richmond
Tom Richmond
Bill Roe
Owen Roizman
Pete Romano
Charles Rosher Jr.
Giuseppe Rotunno
Philippe Rousselot
Juan Ruiz-Anchia
Marvin Rush
Paul Ryan
Eric Saarinen
Alik Sakharov
Mikael Salomon
Paul Sarossy
Roberto Schaefer
Tobias Schliessler
Aaron Schneider
Nancy Schreiber
Fred Schuler
John Schwartzman
John Seale
Christian Sebaldt
Dean Semler
Ben Seresin
Eduardo Serra
Steven Shaw
Lawrence Sher
Richard Shore
Newton Thomas Sigel
Steven V. Silver
John Simmons
Sandi Sissel
Santosh Sivan
Bradley B. Six
Michael Slovis
Dennis L. Smith
Roland Ozzie Smith
Reed Smoot
Bing Sokolsky
Peter Sova
Dante Spinotti
Terry Stacey
Eric Steelberg
Ueli Steiger
2 0 1 3
Peter Stein
Tom Stern
Robert M. Stevens
David Stockton
Rogier Stoffers
Vittorio Storaro
Harry Stradling Jr.
David Stump
Tim Suhrstedt
Peter Suschitzky
Jonathan Taylor
Rodney Taylor
William Taylor
Don Thorin Sr.
Romeo Tirone
John Toll
Mario Tosi
Salvatore Totino
Luciano Tovoli
Jost Vacano
Theo van de Sande
Eric van Haren Noman
Kees van Oostrum
Checco Varese
Ron Vargas
Mark Vargo
Amelia Vincent
William Wages
Roy H. Wagner
Mandy Walker
Michael Watkins
Michael Weaver
William Billy Webb
Jonathan West
Haskell Wexler
Jack Whitman
Gordon Willis
Dariusz Wolski
Ralph Woolsey
Peter Wunstorf
Robert Yeoman
Richard Yuricich
Jerzy Zielinski
Vilmos Zsigmond
Kenneth Zunder
ASSOCIATE MEMBERS
Pete Abel
Rich Abel
Alan Albert
Richard Aschman
Kay Baker
Joseph J. Ball
Amnon Band
Carly M. Barber
Craig Barron
Thomas M. Barron
Larry Barton
Wolfgang Baumler
Bob Beitcher
Mark Bender
Bruce Berke
Bob Bianco
Steven A. Blakely
Jill Bogdanowicz
Mitchell Bogdanowicz
Michael Bravin
Simon Broad
William Brodersen
Garrett Brown
Ronald D. Burdett
Reid Burns
Vincent Carabello
Jim Carter
Leonard Chapman
Mark Chiolis
Denny Clairmont
Adam Clark
Cary Clayton
Dave Cole
Michael Condon
Grover Crisp
Peter Crithary
Daniel Curry
Marc Dando
Ross Danielson
Carlos D. DeMattos
Gary Demos
Mato Der Avanessian
Kevin Dillon
David Dodson
Judith Doherty
Peter Doyle
Cyril Drabinsky
Jesse Dylan
Jonathan Erland
Ray Feeney
William Feightner
Phil Feiner
Jimmy Fisher
Scott Fleischer
Thomas Fletcher
Claude Gagnon
Salvatore Giarratano
Richard B. Glickman
John A. Gresch
Jim Hannafin
Bill Hansard Jr.
Lisa Harp
Richard Hart
Robert Harvey
Michael Hatzer
Josh Haynie
Charles Herzfeld
Larry Hezzelwood
Frieder Hochheim
Bob Hoffman
Vinny Hogan
Cliff Hsui
Robert C. Hummel
Roy Isaia
Jim Jannard
www.theasc.com
George Joblove
Joel Johnson
John Johnston
Mike Kanfer
Marker Karahadian
Frank Kay
Debbie Kennard
Glenn Kennel
Milton Keslow
Robert Keslow
Douglas Kirkland
Mark Kirkland
Timothy J. Knapp
Franz Kraus
Karl Kresser
Chet Kucinski
Chuck Lee
Doug Leighton
Lou Levinson
Suzanne Lezotte
Grant Loucks
Howard Lukk
Andy Maltz
Steven E. Manios Jr.
Steven E. Manios Sr.
Chris Mankofsky
Peter Martin
Robert Mastronardi
Joe Matza
Albert Mayer Jr.
Bill McDonald
Karen McHugh
Andy McIntyre
Stan Miller
Walter H. Mills
George Milton
Mike Mimaki
Michael Morelli
Dash Morrison
Nolan Murdock
Dan Muscarella
Iain A. Neil
Otto Nemenz
Ernst Nettmann
Tony Ngai
Mickel Niehenke
Jeff Okun
Marty Oppenheimer
Walt Ordway
Ahmad Ouri
Michael Parker
Dhanendra Patel
Elliot Peck
Kristin Petrovich
Ed Phillips
Nick Phillips
Joshua Pines
Carl Porcello
Sherri Potter
Howard Preston
Sarah Priestnall
David Pringle
Phil Radin
David Reisner
Christopher Reyna
Colin Ritchie
Eric G. Rodli
Domenic Rom
Andy Romanoff
Frederic Rose
Daniel Rosen
Dana Ross
Bill Russell
Kish Sadhvani
David Samuelson
Steve Schklair
Peter K. Schnitzler
Walter Schonfeld
Wayne Schulman
Juergen Schwinzer
Steven Scott
Alec Shapiro
Don Shapiro
Milton R. Shefter
Leon Silverman
Garrett Smith
Timothy E. Smith
Kimberly Snyder
Stefan Sonnenfeld
John L. Sprung
Joseph N. Tawil
Ira Tiffen
Steve Tiffen
Arthur Tostado
Jeffrey Treanor
Bill Turner
Stephan Ukas-Bradley
Mark Van Horne
Richard Vetter
Dedo Weigert
Evans Wetmore
Franz Wieser
Beverly Wood
Jan Yarbrough
Hoyt Yeatman
Irwin M. Young
Michael Zacharia
Bob Zahn
Nazir Zaidi
Michael Zakula
Les Zellan
HONORARY MEMBERS
Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr.
Col. Michael Collins
Bob Fisher
David MacDonald
Cpt. Bruce McCandless II
Larry Parker
D. Brian Spruill
Marek Zydowicz
September 2013
117
Clubhouse News
Society Welcomes Cernjul,

Pusheck
Vanja Cernjul, ASC, HFS was born
in Croatia. He received his first degree in
cinematography from the Academy of
Dramatic Arts at the University of Zagreb in
1991, the same year that war erupted in his
country. Immediately after graduation, Cernjul began shooting combat footage for news
outlets such as the BBC, CNN and NBC.
After documenting the war for close to four
years, he immigrated to New York and
enrolled in the graduate film program at
New York Universitys Tisch School of the
Arts.
118
September 2013
Harp Named Associate

New ASC associate member Lisa
Harp, vice president and general manager of
Panavision Hollywood, has worked in the
motion-picture industry for 23 years. Born in
Bakersfield, Calif., she graduated from California Polytechnic University with a degree in
communications. She began her career as a
marketing assistant at Panavision in 1990. In
her current position, she oversees the

marketing, maintenance and rental of
cameras, lenses and workflow systems. Harp
was also instrumental in developing Panavisions New Filmmakers Program in Hollywood.
Deakins Awarded Royal Honor
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC recently
became the first cinematographer to be
named a Commander of the Order of the
British Empire. He was among the honorees
on Queen Elizabeth IIs 2013 Birthday Honors
List. The Order of the British Empire recognizes distinguished service to the arts and
sciences, public services outside the civil
service, and work with charitable organizations. British nationals can be nominated by
anyone in the United Kingdom, and the
honor is awarded on the advice of the Cabinet Office.
Members Invited to Join Academy
Six ASC members were recently
invited to join the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences: Jonathan Freeman, Reed Morano, Alex Nepomniaschy, Christian Sebaldt, Ben Seresin and
Checco Varese. These individuals are
among the best filmmakers working in the
industry today, Academy President Hawk
Koch said in a prepared statement. Their
talent and creativity have captured the imagination of audiences worldwide, and I am
proud to welcome each of them to the
Academy.
Lachman Honored in Provincetown, Joins Lincoln Center Board
Edward Lachman, ASC was recently
honored with the Faith Hubley Career
Achievement Award in Provincetown for his
work on such films as True Stories, Far from
Heaven and Erin Brockovich. He has also
been selected to serve on the advisory board
for the new Filmmaker-in-Residence initiative
from the Film Society of Lincoln Center and
Jaeger-LeCoultre.
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.
Top: Vanja Cernjul, ASC, HFS.

Bottom: Cynthia Pushek, ASC.
Cernjul has since shot more than 18

features, and he has received numerous accolades, including the Stockholm International
Film Festival Best Cinematography Award for
Rain, and the Avignon/New York Film Festival
Kodak Vision Award for The Photographer.
He was nominated for an ASC Award for the
series Bored to Death, and he has earned two
Emmy nominations, for the series 30 Rock
and Nurse Jackie. His recent credits include
the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black and
the features Violet & Daisy and The English
Teacher.
Cynthia Pusheck, ASC grew up in
Rockford, Ill., and upon moving to Chicago,
she stumbled into an introductory film class at
Columbia College and fell in love with cinematography. She graduated with a bachelors
degree in film production and began working
as a camera assistant in the Chicago area.
After working as a loader on Field of
Dreams, Pusheck moved to Los Angeles. She
worked as a second camera assistant on
commercials, music videos, TV projects and
feature films; her latter credits include Patriot
Games, White Fang and Hook. While working her way up to first camera assistant, she
started specializing in underwater camerawork, assisting Pete Romano on such films as
Waterworld, Free Willy and Saving Private
Ryan.
In 1995, Pusheck enrolled in the cinematography program at the American Film
Institute. Her credits as a director of photography include the features Loving Annabelle
and Three Days of Rain, and the TV shows
Close To Home, Brothers and Sisters and
Revenge.
Close-up
Ron Fortunato, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
La Strada (1954), which my grandmother was watching in Italian on
TV. I must have been 7 or 8, and I was fascinated by it. Several years
later, I saw Knife in the Water (1962) on PBS. There was no DVR in
those days, so I had to make sure I was home to watch it every time
they replayed it. I must have seen it 10 times!
was miserable, but Gary and I had a good laugh about it, and he
took the moment to tell me that the film looked and felt better than
he had imagined it in his head. I was on a high for days after that.
Also, getting to shoot for Sidney Lumet for 10 years was a dream
come true. He was one of my idols growing up.
Have you made any memorable blunders?
After being a camera assistant in Germany for
several years, I got a chance to take over a film
that Jrgen had to leave for another project.
Maximillian Schell was the star, and one day he
suggested I shoot his POV at 32 fps to give the
scene a slightly dreamy effect. The director and I
loved the idea. It was early in the days of HMIs.
Need I say more? The lab called early the next
day. The director couldnt have been more
gracious, however. He said, The reshoot will be
even better!
Which cinematographers, past or present, do

you most admire?
Boris Kaufman, ASC, for his stunning black-andwhite work with Lumet and Kazan; Owen Roizman, ASC, because The French Connection was
years ahead of its time; Gil Taylor, BSC, for his
intense work on early Polanski films; and, of
course, Gordon Willis, ASC, for The Godfather,
which, in my opinion, changed everything!
What sparked your interest in photography?
My sister was married to a New York photographer in the late 1960s. Downtown New York was
quite a scene, and I was seduced by it! At the
same time, my interest in movies was growing,
and the title director of photography jumped out
at me. I knew that was what I wanted to do.
What is the best professional advice youve

ever received?
Were all replaceable.
What recent books, films or artworks have
inspired you?
House of Cards on Netflix. Also, John Cohens photos of Kentucky
and of Bob Dylan.
Where did you train and/or study?

State University of New York at Purchase.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
German cinematographer Jrgen Jrges, BVK took me on as a
camera assistant, and I worked with him on many movies. He was
very generous in sharing his knowledge.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
I love still photographers Lee Friedlander, Robert Frank, Irving Penn
and Walker Evans.
How did you get your first break in the business?
I was 22 and looking for work in Europe, too nave to realize how
difficult it would be. I walked into a production office in Munich, and
a producer there said he knew Jrgen Jrges was looking for an
assistant. Jrgen and I met, and he hired me on the spot. I was not
as qualified as I let on, but I gave it my best!
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
I was shooting Nil by Mouth in South London with Gary Oldman
directing. One very cold day about two weeks into the shoot, we
were doing a rain effect for a scene, and Gary and I both got soaked
we were probably the only ones not wearing great rain gear. It
120
September 2013
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to

try?
Id love to shoot a psychological thriller without any violence, just
tension!
If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
instead?
Id be a chef or a musician.
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
membership?
Bob Primes, Sol Negrin and Gerald Perry Finnerman.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
The invitation to join the ASC was a vote of confidence from my
peers. It gave me an enormous boost. Living in New York limits my
exposure to ASC events, but when we do have an event here, its
almost daunting to be surrounded by colleagues with such talent
and energy for our craft.
Tall, skinny model-type.

Makes a scene on any set.
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