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 32 Cold Case File
Harris Savides, ASC puts Thomson’s Viper through
its paces on Zodiac

52 Few Against Many

Larry Fong stages an epic battle in 480 B.C. for 300

66 Rear Projection Takes a Step Forward

Bill
Taylor, ASC explains how new technologies have
impacted an old trick
52
76 An Exacting Eye
Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC earns Society’s Presidents Award
90 Peak Screenings in Park City
Our annual roundup of standouts from the
Sundance Film Festival

8 Editor’s Note

On Our Cover:
12 Global Village
Robert
Graysmith 16 DVD Playback
Qake Gyllenhaal), an 20 Production Slate
editorial cartoonist
at the San Francisco no Short Takes
Chronicle, becomes 116 Post Focus
obsessed with catching
a serial killer in Zodiac, 124 New Products & Services
shot by Harris Savides, 134 Points East
ASC. (Photo by Merrick
Morton, SMPSI)
138 International Marketplace
courtesy of Paramount 140 Classified Ads & Ad Index
Pictures.)
100 ASC Membership Roster
142 Clubhouse News
144 ASC Close-Up

Visit us online at
www. the asc. com
 EDITORIAL

Cinesaddle EXECUTIVE EDITOR

SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K.

Stephen Pizzello
Bosley

The Perfect ASSOCIATE EDITOR

TECHNICAL EDITOR
Douglas Bankston
Christopher Probst

Camera Mount CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Benjamin B, Robert S. Birchard, John Calhoun, Bob Davis,

1. The Cinesaddle is easy
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Patricia Thomson, David E. Williams, Jon D. Witmer

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CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina

CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez

SHIPPING MANAGER Javier Ibanez

ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

Visit Cinekinetic’s website:
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www.cinekinetic.com ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Kim Weston

ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely

and view streamed video clips of the
ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Corey Clark
Cinesaddle in action.
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 88th year of publication, is published
CiN^KiNCTfC monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A.,
(800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344.
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Email: info@cinekinetic.eom postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA.
POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
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 The reviews are in

“It delivered some of the best video I’ve ever seen on a

prerecorded consumer format. Many shots are breathtaking.”

“The format offers by far the best film-based audio and

video I’ve yet experienced in my home theater.”

“I’d say
that HD DVD is a giant success....on our affordable
1080p bigscreen HDTV, the differences between the
first six HD DVD movies that were released and their DVD
counterparts were nothing short of astonishing...”

Being first to market was great, but being the best in the market is even better.
This isn’t someday. This is now. This is HD DVD.

www.thisishddvd.com

Microsoft HDiiiii. HEUT/t

 Shoot
smart
Save This month's special focus on digital technology
offers
effective
array of informative articles that serve as
an

yardsticks of progress.
Harris Savides, ASC gave Thomsons Viper Film-
Stream high-definition video camera a thorough
workout for David Fincher's Zodiac. In prep, Savides
pushed the camera's parameters "beyond what it
was capable of, in order to understand where it

would fail." Then, during the shoot, he was able to

exploit the Viper's unique characteristics to create a
compelling look for the film, an absorbing police
procedural that puts viewers in the shoes of the
investigators obsessed with catching an arrogant and
elusive serial killer. David E. Williams, a Zodiac buff
who hails from the San Francisco Bay area, covers all the angles with his comprehensive
piece on the production ("Cold Case File," page 32).
Dave also dug deep for his piece on 300, an epic that pits 300 Spartan troops
against a massive invading army of Persians in the year 480 B.C. ("Few Against Many,"
page 52). Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel and shot by Larry Fong, the film makes
elaborate use of digitally treated images and computer-generated backgrounds. "Frank's
book was the blueprint for the look of our film," Fong notes. "We were not just making a
film using his characters and story; we were specifically making a film out of his book,
so its style and compositions were integral to everything we were doing."

The indefatigable Mr. Williams has also contributed an enlightening profile of

..
indispensable... as necessary Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC, who recently received the Society's Presidents Award for his
as my exposure and colour exceptional contributions to the art and craft of filmmaking. The ASC's most senior
temperature meters.” member (having joined in 1951), Hirschfeld compiled more than 40 feature-film credits,
—
Russell Boyd acs. asc. including Fail-Safe, Young Frankenstein and My Favorite Year. As a partner in MPO
D.P.- Master and Commander
Videotronics, the world's largest commercial-production house in the 1950s and '60s, he
“... along the way I relied heavily on also helped start the careers of many notable cinematographers, including future ASC
the predictions of the program... luminaries Victor J. Kemper, Owen Roizman and Gordon Willis. These are just a few high¬
I’m very happy with the
lights from a truly remarkable career that provides the basis for an entertaining and finely
Sunpredictor™ and the results detailed article ("An Exacting Eye," page 76).
that I’m getting in remote areas
Another accomplished ASC member, visual-effects expert Bill Taylor, offers his
of China on the ‘Kite Runner’.
authoritative insights into new digital technologies that have impacted rear-projection
Keep up the good work!”
—

Roberto Schaefer asc.
“... I’ve tried several different
programs and there’s no question
that this is the best sun
prediction package that’s ever
been devised..”
—
techniques ("Rear Projection Takes a Step Forward," page 76). Taylor explains how digi¬
tal projectors and on-set color correction can now be used to create convincing hi-def
backgrounds for driving scenes shot onstage.
Finally, no April issue is complete without our annual roundup of artfully shot films
from the Sundance Film Festival ("Peak Screenings in Park City," page 90). In spotlighting
the work of six different cinematographers, senior editor Rachael Bosley and I were ably

Charles Lieberman d.p. abetted by contributing writers Patricia Thomson, Jay Holben and Jean Oppenheimer.
We will cover other exceptional entries from the fest as they are released in theaters
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“XDCAM HD is The New Betacam”
“The image that the PDW-F350 puts out is absolutely stunning/’ says director/cameraman Jody Eldred.
“XDCAM* HD is the new Betacam*.”

Eldred and Mark Falstad, both Emmy Award winners, took PDW-F350 camcorders to the ends of the
earth. Eldred went to Israel to shoot 1080/24P. Falstad went to Alaska to shoot the legendary Iditarod
sled dog race in both news-style 6oi and documentary-style 24P. Featured on Sony’s XDCAM HD Disc
Set, the results speak for themselves.
Falstad says, “We shot pictures that I never dreamed possible. For instance, in the middle of the night
with only
a hazy moon and no chance of making a picture, I simply turned on the Slow Shutter at 64
frame accumulation and we got the classic shot of a glowy tent in the mountains. And absolutely no
noise because I wasn't boosting gain. It was stunning!”
“To do time lapse, I put the camera on my tripod, easily set up the frame count on the LCD display and hit
the trigger. It was that fast. Overcranking at 60 frames per second, you can see slow motion of the dogs’
paws kicking up snow and the ears and tongues flying. And you can play it back immediately in the camera.
The PDW-F350 gives me a toolset that I never imagined having, especially at a price of s25,8oo [MSRP].”

It’s way too good.”

-Jody Eldred

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 Setting Noriko's Dinner Table
by Bob Davis
Kumiko, a.k.a. meal. The finale, a kind of Grand Guig-
Ueno54
nol family-therapy session, involves
(Tsugumi), is
wounded when very big butcher knives.
a "family Tanikawa shot the
logistically
gathering"
turns violent.
complex 160-minute feature in just two
weeks. "The crew was unusually small
no gaffer, no one specifically
—

assigned to lighting. I had only two

assistants, and the three of us set the
lights. That didn't create many prob¬
lems, though, because we didn't have a
lot of fixtures!"
Because of the project's low
budget, Tanikawa used MiniDV. "Crew
limits ruled out the Sony hi-def video
system. I pushed for Super 16mm, but
portability, ease of postproduction, and
content issues all pointed us to
MiniDV." He shot the picture on Pana¬
sonic's AG-DVX100B, capturing images
at 24p and in 16x9 with a 1.85:1 release

print in mind. Using a P+S Technik

■ llhen Japanese cinematographer
yjj Sohei Tanikawa first read the script
if for Noriko's Dinner
Table, Sion
Sono's followup to Suicide Club, he
"imagined something like a documen¬
suburban neighborhood to Tokyo in
hopes of meeting an Internet acquain¬
tance, Ueno54. Upon meeting her
acquaintance, whose real name is
Kumiko, she discovers that she manages
Mini35 Image Converter, he mounted an
Angenieux 25-250mm HR zoom and
several Zeiss Standard Speed primes on
the camera. "Because of problems
inherent to the camera, I couldn't close
its aperture very far when using the
adapter, so I typically shot wide open,"
he notes.
This
approach, combined with
the fact that Tanikawa prefers long
lenses, resulted in extremely shallow
depth of field and occasional soft focus.
"Even handheld, I don't like to use a
wide lens to help the focus or lessen the
effect of the shaky camera — that
would be cheating!" He risked addi¬
tional focus problems by fitting the lens
with a 1/4 Tiffen Black Pro-Mist filter to

AElerocvtsufrn.tesy
tary — a little rough, but kind of tender. anacting troupe that rents itself out to "soften the harsh edge" of the digital
At heart, Noriko's Dinner Table is about people who need an instant family for image.
family love and a confused girl's coming special occasions. Soon, Noriko and her Sono's shooting method required
of age." younger sister, Yuka, join the troupe. scenes be shot in continuous, free-
The girl is 17-year-old Noriko When their father tracks them down, he moving takes from various points of
(Kazue Fukiishi), who travels from her contrives to hire them to enact a family view; these were then edited for Phot s
12 April 2007
"I shoot with HMI
almost 99% of the
time, mostly because
of the efficiency,
the lack of heat and the
versatility of the units.”
Johnny Sharaf
Director of Photography

‘‘For the last five years

I've been asked, "What,
NOTUNGSTEN? and ha m <.no^T7P,
my answer has been
"HMI All the Time!”
Tony Zumbado
Director of Photography

ALL THE TIME

 her parents' house. "We liked that loca¬
tion because we could see the ocean

and the port from the hallway," says the

cinematographer. "We shot during
magic hour, with the overcast sky dimly
illuminating the whole port. For Yuka's
close-up, I bounced just a little light
onto her face. I didn't want her to stand
out too much. She's a little underex¬

posed, but I figured that if the audience

had to work to read her expression, the
shot might become more poignant."
Noriko's transformation from
repressed teen to confused-but-unfet-
tered individual is signaled visually
when she and Kumiko, lying on a bed of
lights, trade backstories. "We tried to
disguise Kazue's beauty until she joins
the family-rental service and is able to
survive on her own. We dressed her in
Above: emotional The small
impact rather than spatial lighting package baggy clothes, made her wear thick-
Cinematographer rimmed eyeglasses, and had her slouch.
Sohei Tanikawa continuity. Thus, the particulars of comprised a few 1K and 500-watt "I-
(right, with hand Tanikawa's camerawork largely define lamps"; some small, DC-powered fluo- Then, in this scene, we wanted to show
on chin) ponders the film's raw feel. "Shooting handheld rescents Tanikawa rigged himself; and a Noriko." Tanikawa
a new simply put a
his next setup.
Below: may be the best way to incorporate your couple of reflectors and white boards. couple of his homemade fluorescent
Tanikawa shot own feelings into the film," he submits. "Because MiniDV delivers particularly tubes under some white sheets and
the 160-minute "Even when I shoot close-ups, I like to flat images, I often tried to give shots informed the he was ready to
crew
feature in just include just a little of another actor's depth with color," he says. shoot. "Everybody looked surprised, but
two weeks.
shoulder or head. Then I start to feel like The Panasonic's gamma settings when we began shooting the two young
I'm in the movie myself, and my concern allowed Tanikawa to tweak each women rolling around on the diffused

becomes to absorb and respond to the setup's colors in camera. In the dark fluorescents, their softly lit faces were
inner world of the characters." cyber-cafe where Noriko arranges her beautiful." Supplementing the keylight
first meeting with Ueno54, for example, was a black light overhead. "My assis¬

Tanikawa introduced a faint tungsten tant held the tube above the actresses
base in front of the location's blue and opposite the camera, moving left or
green neon. "I modified the color right to counter my movement. The dark
temperature of the camera, shifting areas of their underlit faces took on a

everything a bit towards red. Then, in slight purple hue. A little magenta on
the foreground, I placed small, gelled, the typical Japanese woman's face
daylight-balanced fluorescents to simu¬ almost always works wonders."
late the cool light cast by computer The MiniDV footage was trans¬
monitors. ferred to high definition for the final
"However, the frontal light in grade, which Tanikawa supervised at
Noriko's close-up is in fact the light from Sony PCL in Tokyo. Yokocine D.I.A.
her monitor. To separate her from the transferred the graded files to 35mm via
background a bit, I aimed a diffused, Imagica's Kineco laser recorder. ■
slightly less red lamp at her hair. And to
show clearly the ominous symbols
reflected on her eyeglasses, I underex¬
posed her face as much as I thought I
could get away with."
More extreme underexposure
accompanies expressive images of 15-
year-old Yuka as she contemplates her
sister's fate from the outer corridor of

14 April 2007
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 palette that are visible on this disc. Supplements on disc two include
Discussions of Pandoras Box have "Looking for Lulu," an hour-long docu¬
tended to focus on the charismatic mentary from Turner Classic Movies that
Brooks, but she helped in no small
was provides a thorough overview of Brooks'
part by Pabst and Krampf, who framed, lit career; "Lulu in Berlin," a 48-minute film
and edited her in a manner that accentu¬ made in 1984 that contains an entertain¬
ated the most powerful components of ing interview with Brooks; and a new
her performance. Brooks is often just a five-minute interview with "Lulu in
bit brighter than her co-stars, with an Berlin" co-director Richard Leacock. Also
angelic glow that simultaneously draws featured is a new 30-minute interview
the viewer's eye to her and provides an with Pabst's son Michael, who touches
Pandoras Box(1929) ironic counterpoint to her status as on his father's technique and career but
1.33:1 (Full Frame) femme fatale. Krampf began as an assis¬ devotes a lot of time to Brooks. The prob¬
Dolby Digital 5.1,2.0 tant on the Expressionist landmark lem with these supplements is that there
The Criterion Collection, $39.95 Nosferatu and went on to shoot for is a great deal of overlap. The signifi¬
Alfred Hitchcock in the 1940s, but his cance of Brooks' work in Pandora's Box is
G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box is one richly layered cinematography in undeniable, but this package's emphasis
of the masterpieces of the silent era, a Pandora's Box is perhaps his finest work. on her at the expense of so many other
sophisticated exploration of desire that As film scholars Thomas aspects of the film is a bit disappointing.
still feels relevant in its attitudes toward Elsaesser and Mary Ann Doane note in Nevertheless, even if this isn't the "defin¬
eroticism and class. The film tells the their audio commentary on this disc, itive" edition one might expect from
story of a sexy showgirl, Lulu (Louise Lulu's dominance in the narrative is rein¬ Criterion, the luminous new transfer of
Brooks), whose magnetic charisma forced by camera placement and compo¬ the film makes it a worthwhile purchase.
empowers and then ultimately destroys sitions; she is often photographed in —

her. As the film follows Lulu from
lover to the next, power subtly shifts
from one character to another, and
passion eventually levels the playing
field.
Ironically, this modern film has
often seemed creaky due to poor presen¬
tation, particularly in truncated Ameri¬
can prints missing key intertitles and
shots. This Criterion Collection DVD
offers the definitive 133-minute cut, and
though the source elements exhibit
some scratches and are missing a few
frames, overall the transfer is a revela¬
tion. Cinematographer Gunther Krampf
created a marvelous sense of detail with
his lighting, and both the depth of his
long shots and the clarity of his close-
ups have been well preserved in this
transfer. Viewers who have only seen
Pandora's Box on murky VFIS tapes or
jittery 16mm prints are likely to be
stunned by the nuances in Krampf's
Jim Hemphill
one close-ups, a strategy that implies she
exists independent of the confines that
trap the men in her life. The filmmakers
also regularly frame her in passageways
that serve as visual indicators of her abil¬
ity to transgress boundaries. Aside from
these observations, Elsaesser and
Doane's narration isn't very illuminating;
they tend to overemphasize a handful of
theoretical concepts, and their academic
language fails to disguise that the
insights are rather superficial. Who's Afraid of Virginia
The best feature of this DVD is the Woolf? (1966)
ability to choose from among four sound¬ Special Edition
tracks: a composition in the German 1.85:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
cabaret tradition that gives the film a Dolby Digital Monaural
jauntier atmosphere; a piano improvisa¬ Warner Plome Video, $26.98
tion that makes it feel a bit more inti¬
mate; an orchestral piece by the late Peer It's nearly 2 a.m. on a crisp autumn
Baben that underscores the complexity of night when George (Richard Burton) and
the characters' emotions; and an addi¬ Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) stumble out of a
tional, more conventional orchestral faculty party and head to their home oni a
score. small college campus in New England.

16 April 2007
 MEMBER PORTRAIT

NEIL KREPELA ASC

was studying sculpture in

“J art

What hooked
school when I first
became interested in film.
me was the
experimental filmmaking that was
going on in San Francisco. This was
the early Seventies, and being the

starving artist that I was, I had to

build most of my own equipment.
American Cinematographer was
one
of my most valuable resources.
Each issue was a joy, especially
those that covered the rare visual-
effects films of the day. Boy, times
have changed!

“Today, I still look forward to the

arrival of AC, and I believe the
magazine speaks louder than ever
to today’s generation offilmmakers.

In this age where computers have

replaced the optical printer, the

animation stand and, in some

cases, the crafting the

camera,

image is truly the art of the director

ofphotography. There is no better
place to begin one’s understanding
of this art form than within the
pages of AC.”

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Far from sober, the couple banter while
pouring fresh drinks and cleaning up for
their guests; Martha has invited eager
new faculty member Nick (George
Segal) and his mousy wife, Honey
(Sandy Dennis), over for a nightcap.
When Nick and Honey arrive, interrupt¬
ing George and Martha's loud argument,
the hosts proceed to make false pleas¬
antries and glare at one another over
cocktails. As the liquor flows, it's clear
that this party will grow long and
uncomfortable, and before the night is
over, the savage and miserably unhappy
hosts will play several games with their
unsuspecting guests.
After Warner Bros, purchased the
film rights to Edward Albee's ground¬
breaking play Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf? in the early 1960s, producer/
screenwriter Ernest Lehman was given
control of the project. Warners hoped to
cast Bette Davis and James Mason as
Martha and George, but Lehman
insisted on Taylor and Burton, who were
at that time a real-life couple and a
tabloid sensation. Although she was
much younger than the character Albee
had written, a nervous Taylor agreed to
the challenge, with the stipulation that
New York theater director Mike Nichols
direct the picture.
Nichols, who had not directed a
film before, insisted Virginia Woolf be
shot in black-and-white for two reasons:
it fit the tone of
piece, and it would help
hide the heavy makeup designed to age
Taylor. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler,
ASC was brought on board to fashion
the stark, bold images needed to bring
the play to the screen. Shooting on loca¬
tion and onstage posed numerous chal¬
lenges for Wexler, who acknowledges in
an audio commentary on this disc that
he was occasionally unsure of himself,
and wanted to bring as much truth to the
images as possible. Crisply lit by practi-
cals and the ever-present moonlight that
flows from windows, the film's interiors
exhibit several different levels of blacks
and shadows from room to room. Wexler
worked closely with art director Richard
Sylbert to ensure that the sets would
provide ample ways in which to bounce
and position light. In his remarks on
disc, Wexler notes that he never wanted
the eye "to be bored" by the mono¬
chrome density in the interiors, and says
he enjoyed lighting each shot with rich
depth of field. Wexler won a well-
deserved Academy Award for his work
on the picture. (In addition to many other
honors, he received the ASC Lifetime
Achievement Award in 1993.)
Warner Home Video's newly
remastered, two-disc special edition of
Virginia Woolf is a clear improvement
over the single-disc DVD released in
1997. This anamorphically enhanced
transfer is uniformly crisp, cleanly realiz¬
ing Wexler's expressive monochrome
palette. The picture accuracy is excel¬
lent, with good contrast in interiors and
stunning clarity in exteriors. The monau¬
ral sound mix exhibits good tonality and
a solid bass range.
Fans of the film and first-time
viewers alike will be
impressed with the
generous supplements in this package.
Disc one presents the feature with two
commentary tracks. The first is Wexler's,
which originally appeared on the 1997
DVD, and the second is a new item,
discussion of the film by Nichols and
filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. Disc two
includes two new featurettes, the 20-
minute "A Daring Work of Raw Excel¬
lence" and the 10-minute "Too Shocking
for Its Time"; these include new inter¬
views with Wexler, Albee and others.
Also included is Dennis' screen test
(shot by Wexler); a choppy 1966 televi¬
sion interview with Nichols from NBC;
theatrical trailers for Taylor and Burton
vehicles; and an hour-long television
biography of Taylor.
Some 40 years after its creation,
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? remains
potent. The scathing, darkly comic
drama is one of the most important and
controversial pieces of American
theater, and this faithful film version is
classic example of how to adapt a stage
play for the screen. With this new DVD,
we are all once again invited for drinks
with "sad, sad, sad" George and
Martha.
—
Kenneth Sweeney
this
The Double Life of
Veronique A991)
1.66:1 (16x9 Enhanced)
Dolby Digital 2.0
The Criterion Collection, $39.95
The Criterion Collection contin¬
ues its tradition of excellence with this
edition of Krzysztof Kieslowski's The
Double Life of Veronique, a disc that
will please the director's fans and serve
as a fine introduction to his work for the
uninitiated. A pristine transfer, an
insightful commentary track, and multi¬
ple documentaries and interviews make
this a worthwhile purchase, and the
inclusion of rare Kieslowski short films
a makes it essential.
Double Life tells the story
of two
women, Polish singer Veronika and
French music teacher Veronique (both
played by Irene Jacob), who are identi¬
cal in appearance and share a psychic
bond, in spite of the fact that they've
never met. Both women are searching
for emotional fulfillment, and cine¬
matographer Slawomir Idziak, PSC
(Three Colors: Blue) visualizes this
quest through poetic images that
express the theme of doubling. The
movie explores the physical and spiri¬
tual connections that link human beings
to one another, and the filmmakers
treat this premise with an intimacy that
makes it powerful rather than preten¬
tious.
a Idziak and Kieslowski estab¬
lished a visual plan for the film as the
screenplay was being written, creating
a series of visual motifs that allow the
story to unfold more through images
than plot or dialogue. From the opening
POV shot of an upside-down Polish
American Cinematographer 17
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become an active participant in the doubling. The American ending is
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Double Life's
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its careful calibration of light, color that at one point Kieslowski wished to
and sound design, and this delicate release the movie with a different

Visualize balance has been impeccably

preserved on this transfer. The Dolby
ending for every Paris theater in which
it played! Both endings serve as fitting
Digital 2.0 sound mix reveals remark¬ finales to one of the great European

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the cinematographer discusses his
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featurette produced for this DVD.

35BL Gmlutton C Supplements also include conversa¬

tions with Jacob and Preisner.
The additional supplements
■v . B are true treasures for Kieslowski

16SR Gvolution LL_J fans. "1966-1988: Kieslowski, Polish

Filmmaker" is outstanding 30-
an

minute documentary that focuses on

the director's work up to and includ¬
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Camera & and provides a detailed account of
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Her remarks illuminate another of the
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AIC
disc'sspecial features, an alternate
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mandated by U.S. distributor Mira¬

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18
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 High Rollers in Vegas and Revolutionaries in Ireland
movers [two Mac 2000 moving lights],
but except for some of the practicals,
almost everything is controlled right
here."
Another key collaborator for
Newby has been production designer
Richard Toyon. On the show's original
stage, a warehouse-cum-soundstage in
Culver City, the two put their heads
together to work out the Montecito's
trademark indigo-and-gold color
scheme. (Newby reveals that this was
partially inspired by his son Franklin's
interest in Egypt.) Since then, Toyon has
had many opportunities to express his
color sensibility across the show's
flashy locales. As Newby explains,
In the Montecito A Winning Hand break, Newby was full of praise for the "Richard really loves rich colors — I call
Hotel and
by Jon D. Witmer crew that put in long hours between them Toyon colors. For instance, you'll
Casino, Ed
Deline (James seasons two and three to move into the go into somebody's apartment, and the
Caan, left), the John Newby, ASC considers new space."We had less than six walls will all be painted a burnt brown¬
casino's head of
himself a very lucky man. That might be weeks to pre-rig and build in a 30,000- ish-orange. He just goes for the guts.”
security, and his
daughter, a dangerous way to think around Sin square-foot space, which was a huge As Newby leads the way toward
Delinda (Molly City, but Newby, who shoots the NBC task," he noted. the retail wing of the casino set, he
Sims), enjoy series Las Vegas, has been on a roll. Last To expedite the work, Newby had
some of the
pauses to point out what he, Schlosser
nightly year he was nominated for an ASC production bring in his key grip, Benny and Beaird refer to in craftsmen's
entertainment Award for his work on the series, for the Beaird, and gaffer, Jack Schlosser, at the vernacular "sparkly stuff": textured-
as
with Ed's
episode "Everything Old Is You Again." start of construction so they could rig as glass panels louvers with a neon
on
second-in-
command, Created by Gary Scott Thompson, the set was being built. Taking a tube hidden on one end. Depending on
Danny McCoy Las Vegas recently wrapped its fourth moment between setups, Beaird and where the camera sits on the set, the
(Josh Duhamel). Schlosser point out some of the work
season, which was the third panels can be swung about on the

photographed by Newby. Set in the
fictional Montecito casino, the show
focuses on some of the establishment's
more glamorous employees and their
close kin, among them "Big" Ed Deline
(James Caan), the casino's head of secu¬
rity; his second-in-command, Danny
McCoy (Josh Duhamel); daughter
Delinda (Molly Sims); wife Jillian (Cheryl
Ladd); and a host of other beautiful
that went into getting the stage ready to
host the Montecito. "I helped design the
scaffolding," recollects Beaird, pointing
to the ceiling, "and it goes all the way
around so Jack can put a light anywhere
he wants." Schlosser adds, "We're
sitting around 7,000 amps on this set,
and the entire set is on a dimmer
system."
Operating the dimmer board from
ANJDroieSnacBkowhnwCuCbadftye.s,,y
louvers, adding subtle vertical strips of
color in the background. "Richard has a
terrific sensibility about materials'
potential to reflect or diffuse light," says
Newby. "And the hand-textured
surfaces, along with original wall
murals and painted glass provided by a
fantastic paint department, give our
casino more depth than is the norm for
broadcast television." These details,

bPVepahgouaytssl
people. his hideaway on the balcony that over¬ along with the practical lighting
A few months ago Newby invited looks the casino floor is lighting-console provided by slot machines and other
AC to Culver Studios, where Las Vegas operator Steve Tachera, who reports, built-in casino fixtures, mean "we never
has been occupying six soundstages for "We have 840-odd channels of control. have to light a background; it's already
the past two seasons. Over his lunch Some of those are swallowed up by the taken care of." Las

20 April 2007
IF THEY CAN WRITE IT,
YOU CAN SHOOT IT.

WOODS

SHOT
wooiis
ing through torch
THE MONK
of light is the t
The lone
shadows a"40
It casts
Iron* the

vampire #1
the wrong P3
you' v<
wrong
e little man
monk .

vampit®
3 vampires w* c hand -
He lifts the
circle him.
The light da

VAMPIKE »z
You*11 have to do natter than
that, weakling.

monk

a 3rd vampire, time

monk tnrows tne
h as it hits the vai
we follow the spii his robe
MONK drops
he bursts into f! Throwing knives, cx
amass covered in es. He slides a pa
sks of holy water . hand.
,ver knuckles over
MONK

like the only thing you-

iq on tonight is my fist

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 Above: The Newby is therefore able to pay blocking becomes more mobile, and different skin tones, and everybody in
Montecito's color attention to finessing the the cast has a different tendency to shift
even more Newby embraces such challenges. "We
scheme, realized
actors' lighting. "Their lighting is rooted always try to keep the camera moving one way or another in terms of green
by production
designer Richard in the script," he notes. "It's about who —

there's always at least a little bit of a and magenta as well as blue and red.
Toyon, hints at these people are. Do we want them to creep. And ideally, the directors keep Smoothing all of that out is a big job,
Egyptian roots.
look perfect, or less than perfect?" In the blocking in motion so we don't have and Tony also has to deal with the
Right:
Cinematographer both cases, he has some favorite tech¬ two people sitting and talking for three greenscreen composites, and they
John Newby,
niques. "First, I use almost no fill, and I pages." usually don't get [effects shots] till the
ASC lines up his
next shot. usually don't key with color on people's Newby and his crew have been last minute. The Riot team basically has
Below: With the faces unless there's a big reason for it. known to mount shots — with either a two eight-hour days per episode. It's a
casino set's pre¬ Even though that color might be there in Steadicam or a crane — that follow lot of pressure, but they're doing a great
rigged lighting
entirely on a reality, it's a distraction if it's played as actors along the second-story balcony, job for us."
dimmer system, frontal light. Also, I find that if you down staircase off the lobby, and all
a To evoke the glamorous side of
Newby often tells establish a neutral color, then you have the way across the casino floor. In such Las Vegas, the production often shoots
the directors
"there is no
a better reference for the colors all instances, Newby relies on Tony Smith, on location in some of the posh hotels in

place they can't around you, and those colors can pop who has been his colorist at Riot for the Marina del Rey and City of Industry.
stage a scene." even more." past three seasons, to smooth out some "We'll do pool scenes there, and well
Naturally, controlling the light of the rough edges. "It's not an easy shoot in some other bars and occasion¬
becomes more complicated as the show," notes Newby. "We have a lot of ally do some hallway scenes," says
Newby. "We'll also go downtown [in
Los Angeles] and play some back alleys,
finding the grittier side of L.A. to stand
in for the darker side of Las Vegas."
Other locations this season have
included the desert in Lancaster and
some rundown bungalows in Culver
City. "Our snazziest location, though, is
Jimmy Caan and Cheryl Ladd's house
out in Simi Valley. It's a big, fat mansion
that overlooks the whole valley."
With the show's myriad locales
and numerous directors, it follows that
Newby has adopted a stylistic melange
for Las Vegas, freely intermingling
Steadicam, handheld, dolly, and crane
work. "I don't want to get into a grind,"
he notes. "I hate to have a default
approach. >-

22 April 2007
 WORKAHOLIC

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 "It's
huge casino, but we
a
always want it to seem bigger," he
continues. "We want to be able to
surprise the audience and give them a
view they haven't seen before. I tell the
directors when we're in the casino set
that there is no place they can't stage
scene."
Newby's camera package from
Panavision Hollywood comprises a
Platinum (A camera) and a Millennium
XL (B-camera/Steadicam); the former is
operated by Allen Easton, the latter by
Ross Judd. As is typical of most televi¬
sion work, Newby rolls both cameras
simultaneously as often as possible.
When a single-camera scenario
presents itself, says Judd, "I've got
great support. For instance, during a
Steadicam shot Allen will help me get
cables and anything else that shouldn't
be there out of the frame. It's great
when a camera crew works together
like this one does." Newby adds, "Allen
has been with this show since season
two, and his diplomatic relations with
the cast, as well as his sense of compo¬
sition, camera movement and two-
camera coordination, have made him
an invaluable part of my team." (That
team includes A-camera 1st and 2nd
ACs Tony Martin and Brandon
Margulies, respectively; B-camera 1st
and 2nd ACs Matt Brewer and Dale
Vance, respectively; and loader Sean
Mennie.)
For the past two seasons, the
production has made regular use of two
Movie Tech cranes, a 30' Phoenix and a
13' Felix, both equipped with a Hot
Gears remote head. "We use those two
cranes in
[the casino] every other day,"
says Beaird.
Rounding out the camera pack¬
age, Newby has two sets of Panavision
zooms, 11:1 and 4:1, as well as a set of
Zeiss Ultra Speed primes. "One of my
goals with this show has been to get
more toward a wider angle or a longer
lens to help us avoid getting stuck in
the middle of the lens range. The long-
lens work in the casino also helps sell
the impression that there are a lot more
people there."
In front of the lens, Newby often
24 April 2007
a
Damien (Cillian Murphy, left) and Teddy (Padraic Delaney) are brothers who join a guerrilla
war against the British in 1920s Ireland in The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
places a bit of diffusion — Black Diffu¬ Irish Blood
sion, Tiffen Soft/FX or White Pro-Mist. by Jean Oppenheimer
"The Black Diffusion kind of bites into
the bright colors and gives me a little Barry Ackroyd, BSC was a
more texture while letting me read teenager living in the north of England
those colors, but with some actors I when he saw Ken Loach's 1969 film
don't want the added contrast that Kes. Shot by Chris Menges, ASC, BSC,
comes with it, so I might use a Soft/FX the bleakly realistic film about a trou¬
instead. With the White Pro-Mist, I bled boy and his pet kestrel inspired
don't like the lights to hit the lens, Ackroyd to pursue a career in filmmak¬
whereas with the Black Diffusion I can ing. Later, when Ackroyd began shoot¬
get hit pretty hard and it doesn't read as ing documentaries, Menges became a
much. No matter what I use, it's always mentor. By then Menges and Loach had
subtle. I prefer to let the lighting quality worked together for more than a
determine the softness of the look, as decade, developing a naturalistic style
opposed to letting a filter overwhelm in which the camera served as a sympa¬
the image." thetic observer of the events unfolding
TIFairkCset.
Newby uses Kodak Vision2 before it.
Expression 500T 5229 for interiors, When Menges began to focus
Vision2 250D 5205 for day exteriors, on directing, Loach tapped Ackroyd. "I
bSJBBthoapaaochrksrueytlfste,sy
and Vision2 500T 5218 for blue- and had made only one small film for Chan¬
greenscreen work and the occasional nel 4 and was almost a blank slate,"
night exterior. He films the show in 3- recalls Ackroyd, speaking by phone
perf Super 35mm in the 16x9 aspect from his home in London. "Ken chooses
ratio. actors who come without a lot of
Summing up his work on Las baggage, and I think [my inexperience]
Vegas, he muses, "You're always shoot¬ was appealing to him. He wanted
ing a schedule, and you can't forget somebody like myself to train."
that. And a cinematographer is nothing The project was Riff-Raff.
by himself. With a good combination of Fifteen years and 12 films later, the two
craftspeople around you, anything is
possible. I've been very lucky."
men are still working together. Their
latest collaboration is the period drama
The Wind That Shakes the Barley, TWhinadt
The
Congratulations
£h TO ALL THE 2006 ASC AWARD NOMINEES AND WINNERS

EPISODIC TELEVISION DAVID MOXNESS, CSC ARROW—Smollville

EAGLE EGILSSON Darkroom—CSI: Miami

NATHAN HOPE Killer—CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

BILL ROE, ASC What If They Find Him—Day Break

GALE TATTERSALL Meaning—House M.D.

TELEVISION MOVIE JOHN STOKES, ACS UMNEY'S LAST CASE—

MINISERIES episode of Nightmares and Dreamscapes:
PILOT from the Stories of Stephen King
THOMAS DEL RUTH, ASC Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip

ADAM KANE Heroes

WALT LLOYD, ASC The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines

BILL ROE, ASC Day Break

FEATURE FILM EMMANUEL LUBEZKI, ASC, AMC CHILDREN OF MEN

DICK POPE, BSC The Illusionist

ROBERT RICHARDSON, ASC The Good Shepherd

DEAN SEMLER, ASC, ACS Apocalypto
VILMOS ZSIGMOND, ASC The Black Dahlia

ALLEN DAVIAU, ASC LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

MICHAEL BALLHAUS, ASC INTERNATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

RON HOWARD BOARD OF GOVERNORS AWARD

GERALD HIRSCHFELD, ASC PRESIDENTS AWARD

DONALD M. MORGAN, ASC TELEVISION CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

www.panavision.com
 From left: Sean
(Mairtin de
Cogain), Ned
(Shane Nott),
Sir John
(Roger Allan),
Francis
(Kiernan
Hegarty),
Congo (Martin
Lucey)and
Damien head
out into the
countryside.
which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes
and earned Ackroyd the European Cine¬
matographer Award in 2006. Set in
County Cork in the early 1920s, the film
concerns the nascent Irish Republican
Army's guerrilla war against the British
government and the bitter civil conflict
that erupted among the revolutionaries
in the wake of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Cillian Murphy and Padraic Delaney
portray brothers who fight alongside
one another but then split over whether
Ireland should accept the truce.
"Ken's style can be summed up
quite simply: the camera stays still and
the story comes to it," says Ackroyd. It's
a style that does not waver from project
to project. The films are shot — and
edited — in sequence. With few excep¬
tions, everything is filmed on location, in
very long takes, with the camera at eye
level. If someone sits at a table, for
example, the camera remains in the
same spot but gazes down at the indi¬
vidual at a 45-degree angle.
Only key crewmembers read the
script; the actors are given their lines on
the day, and there is no rehearsal. As
with real life, says Ackroyd, "the char¬
acters don't know what will happen
tomorrow."
The cinematographer, who does
his own operating, used a Moviecam
26 April 2007
Compact and Moviecam SL to film
Wind. Most scenes were shot with
single camera. "The Compact is a great
workhorse — lightweight, sturdy and
simple," he says. His camera package,
which came from Arri Munich, was
rounded out by Zeiss Ultra Primes.
"There is never a shot that's wider than
your fieldof vision," he notes. "We carry
everything from a 40mm to a 200mm,
but we tend to stick to five lenses:
65mm, 85mm, 100mm, 135mm and
180mm. No matter how small the inte¬
rior, you only see the detail because the
camera pans around it."
The camera pans, but it never
dollies. "It's not always the people talk¬
ing who are doing the important thing
—
it might be the people listening," he
says. "I won't pan when somebody else
talks unless there is a turn of the head or
a twitch of the eye
[to motivate it]. If you
react to what's happening at the
moment, you'll get it right."
Eschewing filtration apart from
the occasional ND, Ackroyd shot the
picture on two Fuji Eterna emulsions,
500T 8573 and 250D 8563. He used NDs
to bring exteriors down to a T5.6; he
prefers to shoot interiors at around T2.8.
"Fuji has a density I like, and it grades
well," he notes. (The film was timed
photochemically at Deluxe London.)
For night exteriors, Ackroyd
a prefers to create small pools of soft light
rather than a big moonlit feel. "I tend to
go for quiet, soft light, but I also like to
keep the light directional, which sounds
contradictory. I want to give the light
shape but keep it soft. The result is that
it feels natural but also sometimes
slightly underlit, because there are no
hard shadows or edges."
Whenever possible, he uses
practical sources or builds his sources
into the set architecture. On Wind, he
had his place single Kino Flo tubes
crew
inside 4"-diameter downpipes cut into
lengths of 41 and 21 and partially cut
away to expose half the tube. The
lengths were sprayed white on the
inside and capped. "That gave us a
directional source that could be hidden
inside the scene," says Ackroyd.
For one night exterior, when the
rebels blow the door off the police
station, the crew built a 10x101 softbox,
"a white linen box with a 6K tungsten
light in it that overall ambi¬
gave us an
ence," he says. "We then rigged some
2K Zaps [a.k.a. Zips] or Kino Flos on
lamp posts or fixed them on walls. The
soft, ambient light and the small down
lights illuminate the scene and guide
your eye."
In the 1920s, only wealthy Irish
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 police cells where the IRA members were
held was always low, so low it's impossi¬
ble to tell whether it's day or night. "The
cells were crowded with prisoners, and it
would have been hard to see things, so I
underexposed the 8573 by 11/^ to 2 stops
to get just enough light for exposure."

By keeping the geography and

position of the sun in mind, the filmmak¬
ers were able to film most day exteriors

without any movie lights. "You plan the

sequence and the way you shoot it like a
sundial: you just follow the sun, always
keeping [the subject] backlit," Ackroyd
notes.
For
day interiors, he relied on
window light: 6K HMIs going through ]A
silk. "I tried to keep it soft so you could
From left:
Teddy, had electricity in their homes, so the your vision in Ken's films, you don't see and feel the source of the light but
Steady Boy film's not be sure whether it was sunlight. You
(Aidan O'Hare)
night-interior lighting was moti¬ usually see the floor or ceilings, so lights
and Damien vated by gaslight, candles and firelight. can be hidden on the floor around the should never be distracted by what's
take aim. "A plain lightbulb inside a lantern and a scene." The peatfires used at the time outside the window, anyway. You want to
flicker generator can create a soft cast don't produce roaring flames, so focus on the characters."
of light around the room, suggesting Ackroyd chose to suggest their pres¬ Because Loach shoots in
candle- or firelight," says Ackroyd. "And ence offscreen rather than show them. sequence, the production often returns to
because the lens is always longer than The light inside the basement a given location several times. According

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to Ackroyd, that's a good thing. "When Director of
you go back, it's a different day, maybe photography
weeks later, so you get a different feel, Barry Ackroyd,
BSC (left) and
different light. You don't have to struggle director Ken
[to change the] lighting because you just Loach line up a
shot on
enhance what's there on that day. Essen¬
location.
tially, it's about trying to go with nature."
Loach and Ackroyd never use
video playback, nor do they watch
dailies. They depended on Deluxe color
timer Clive Noakes and editor Jonathan
Morris, both in London, to let them know
if anything was out of order. "We do
takes that long, sometimes more
are

than 10 minutes, and by staggering two

cameras we never have to halt the
action to reload," recounts Ackroyd.
"That way the actors don't have to break
their flow. I introduced that concept to
Paul Greengrass and we used it on
United 93 [see AC June '06]."
Loach shoots his films all
Europe and occasionally beyond, and
Ackroyd usually can only take along his
focus puller, Carl Hudson. On Wind the
rest of the crew was split between Irish
and German players, whom Ackroyd
describes as "superb — and funny,
too."
Ackroyd and Loach have worked
together for so long that they rarely
over need to confer. When asked if he and
Loach had any specific visual references
in mind for Wind, Ackroyd replies, "The
only visual reference Ken has ever
offered me was a postcard he gave me
many years ago. It was of a Spanish
painting that showed an artist and his
subject; the subject sat by a window
and the artist was standing at his easel.
[The POV] was at the artist's eye level, a
45-degree angle. Ken said to me, 'There
you have it. That's what it's all about.' I
consider it a great privilege to be the
observer." ■

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29
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The Perfect Digital Solution... we’re used to and yield the results we
Arri’s new Digital Camera combines the familiar features of film
D-20
cameras with state-of-the-art digital image capturing technology. The net expect from them. I use the Revolution
result is a camera that “feels” like what most DPs, operators and focus- lens quite a bit, and it’s able to perform
pullers are used to, while providing a data-rich stream of digital imagery. to its full potential with the D-20. Using
Clairmont Camera compliments the D-20 with a huge selection of lenses probe lenses with other cameras has
and a robust engineering station that’s matched to production needs. been limiting, and the selection of Primes
Cinematographer Bengt Jan Jonsson and Digital Imaging Technician and Zooms is much smaller.”

(DIT) Michele De Lorimier share their experiences with the D-20 and
De LORIMIER: “The D-20 has two
Clairmont Camera.
completely independent 4:4:4 or 4:2:2
JONSSON: ”1 first saw the D-20 in Arri’s De LORIMIER: “The D-20 has been very
HDSDI output pairs. This allows for
booth at the Cine Gear Expo last year and well received by crews because it
additional recording possibilities. On a
behaves more like a film camera than the
knew immediately that I had to try it.
recent shoot we used two SRW-1
When I asked the rep when the D-20 HD systems they have worked with. It’s
recorders and did two simultaneous
would be available, he said that Clairmont almost a transparent transition because
versions of the entire job. One was REC
Camera had just taken the first U.S. the lenses, filters, and accessories are all
709 and the other a partial raw mode.
shipment. I pulled out my cell phone, the ones with which they are familiar.”
We were able to send off in the editor’s
called them, and arranged for a test shoot JONSSON: “The first feature of the D-20 direction color correct tapes for
the following Monday in preparation for that really caught my attention was the downconversion/dailies, and off to the
an upcoming ad. The test gave me the size of the CMOS sensor chip. Because visual effects house went the log mode
confidence I needed to recommend the
the sensor has the same proportions as version. After ingest at visual effects, the
system for the commercial. Needless to a 35mm frame it can use all the lenses log mode tapes were preserved as
say, I was most impressed. Based on my
masters for the final tape-to-tape. The
experiences I have tried to integrate the
D-20 also has a CVBS output, giving a
D-20 into digital jobs whenever possible.”
downconverted NTSC/PAL signal with just
one frame delay for distribution on the
set. I have found this to be quite helpful.”

MICHELE De LORIMIER
could well be one of the busiest DITs
in the industry, as her mastery of
digital technology and familiarity with
a wide range of equipment keeps her

traveling to shoots around the globe.

Her experiences with the Arri D-20
and Clairmont’s support staff speak
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and the bottom line.
JONSSON: “I also like the D-20’s optical

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frame area. Also there’s a real time NTSC

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De LORIMIER: “From reliable cables to

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 Harris Savides, ASC and director David Fincher plumb
the depths of human obsession with Zodiac.

by David E.Williams

Unit photography by Merrick Morton, SMPSP

Area newspapers, including the San hate-filled manifesto. In all, he would

San Francisco Bay Area of Francisco Chronicle; each contained communicate with such letters and

Most people remember the

to a

unfolded
the late 1960s for “flower
power” and the Summer of
Love. But

close,
in
a
the
as the decade
grim nightmare
came

counterculture
part
warned
of a complex cipher. The writer
that

messages were
page
on
unless his coded
printed on the front
of each publication, “I will go
a kill
rampage.” A followup letter
codes on more than 20 occasions.
One front-line observer to the

unfolding story was Chronicle edito¬

mecca. On the night of December soon arrived at the newspaper.
20, 1968, two teens in the San Opening with the sentence “This is
Francisco-adjacent town of Benicia the Zodiac speaking,” the missive
were brutally slain by a lone detailed the particulars of both
gunman. At midnight on July 4, crimes. The killer had given himself
1969, another young couple was a name and stated his purpose: to
attacked in nearby Vallejo. On July taunt and terrify. The three-part
rial cartoonist Robert Graysmith,
who began investigating the case
after it became clear that harried law-
enforcement officials —
hampered
by jurisdictional regulations,
misleading evidence, and the emer¬
gence of more than 2,500 suspects —
were
powerless to unmask the killer.
In 1986, Graysmith published his

31, cryptic letters arrived at three Bay cipher was soon solved, revealing a true-crime book Zodiac, which
 connected disparate clues for the first Opposite: Armed
with a high-
time and presented theories on the powered
killer’s identity. This book formed flashlight and
the basis of the recently released film, pistol, the Zodiac
strikes. This
photographed by Harris Savides, page, top:
ASC for director David Fincher. Parked off Lake
In the Herman Road,
film, Graysmith (Jake
Mike Mageau
Gyllenhaal), SFPD inspectors Dave (Lee Norris) and
Toschi and Bill Armstrong (Mark Darlene Ferren
Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards, (Ciara Hughes)
become the
respectively), and Chronicle reporter killer's targets.
Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) are Below: Director
sucked into the Zodiac’s vortex. All David Fincher
lines up a shot
four try to manage their growing
on location in
obsession with the case, but soon Northern
find their lives California.
inextricably inter¬
twined with that of a madman. The
case remains unsolved to this day.
“I grew up on the East Coast,
so I’d never heard of the Zodiac
before this
project,” says Savides, a
New York native who had previously
collaborated with Fincher on

commercials and the features Seven

(as an additional photographer; see
AC Oct. ’95), and The Game (AC
Sept. ’97). “I loved the Zodiac script,
but I was concerned about the
amount of non-cinematic informa¬
tion that had to be conveyed
onscreen. There was so much expo-

Paicrcotumuroerfstne.sy
Phot s
American Cinematographer 33
 Cold Case File
Right: In the San
Francisco
Chronicle
newsroom,

reporter Paul
Avery (Robert
Downey Jr., left)
and editorial
cartoonist Robert
Graysmith (Jake
Gyllenhaal)
discuss the
Zodiac's latest
crime. Below:
The two consult
with an editor.
Harris Savides,
ASC lit the vast
newsroom set
primarily with
overhead
fluorescent
practicals,
relying on
strategically
placed bounce
cards and
ceiling-bounced
lamps for fill.

sition, just people talking on the A native of the Bay Area who enough work on Seven to not redo
phone or having conversations. It has distinct memories of the Zodiac that [style]. Part of the approach on
was difficult to imagine how it could events, Fincher was not interested in Zodiac was to make it look mundane
be done in a visual way. I told David repeating any of the techniques that enough for people to accept that
we had to figure out ways to make he and Darius Khondji, ASC, AFC what they’re watching is the truth.
these scenes interesting and cine¬ had used on Seven, a fictional serial- We didn’t want to hype anything or

matic, but our solution was the killer drama. “It was our hope not to design anything to be seductive.” To
opposite: to simply have faith in the be another oneof those movies,” says that end, the action in Zodiac is
material and present it truthfully.” Fincher. “Fiarris and I had done presented objectively, with the
camera impassively documenting

each scene. Savides notes, “It was

hard to be
subjective with this story,
in part because of the amount of
information we were trying to
present, and because we never
wanted to ‘become’ Zodiac. We never

wanted that through-the-eyes-of-

the-killer perspective. This movie is
more about the men who spent a
better portion of their lives trying to
uncover the truth about who Zodiac
was. So
introducing that kind of
subjective viewpoint would have
been a cheap trick to garner atten¬
tion.” Fincher concurs, “That would
have turned the story into a first-
person-shooter video game. We
didn’t want to make the sort of
movie that serial killers would want

34 April 2007
 To suggest the
passage of time
—

the story
unfolds over

more than 10
years — the
Chronicle
newsroom set

was repainted
and redressed
several times.
Left: Graysmith
takes a call.
Below: The
cartoonist
studies one of
the Zodiac's
cryptic ciphers.

to own. Instead, we were interested in

a
Dragnet style: ‘Just the facts,
ma’am.’”
Zodiac was captured with
Thomson’s Viper FilmStream high-
definition (HD) video cameras,

making it one of the first Hollywood

features shot with the uncom-

pressed-HD-to-drive digital-acquisi¬
tion system. To find out how this

process would affect his job on

the set, Fincher first used the Viper
on a series of commercial shoots.
“[The concern] was mostly about
workflow and how going to
we were

ingest the data,” says the director. “It

was also about getting used to watch¬

ing things through a 32-inch LCD

HD monitor and being able to direct
from that. The image is kind of flat
and green, but it offers an immediacy
that allows you to hone and shape
the image. And it’s all in real time, so
when you’ve shot the shot, you know
you have it.”
Unlike Fincher, Savides had
limited experience with the Viper
before shooting began. “My first use
of it was on a Motorola commercial
that David and I shot just before we

American Cinematographer 35
Cold Case File

Concerned for started Zodiache says. “The deci¬ safe parameters — that’s not a test. I exposed — all the extremes I would
Avery's safety sion to use the Viper on didn’t get into all the minute details do in testing any new film stock.”
while the Zodiac was
not mine, but I embraced the chal¬ of theViper to the extent that David Another test involved two models,
reporter follows
up on a lenge. I jumped onboard while did, because it was just an insane one dressed in white and standing
mysterious lead, of information, and I’m not
Graysmith and
David was working with Thomson amount against a black background and
Melanie (Chloe and The Camera House on the data¬ that guy. I was more concerned with another dressed in black against a
Sevigny) spend storage issues. He wanted the camera how the camera would perform white background. Savides lit them
much of their
to be more film-production friendly under the conditions we’d be shoot¬ with an array of key-to-fill ratios and
first date trying
to track so the studio would be more ing in. I just knew that the process photographed each setup with vary¬
him down. comfortable about involved shooting uncompressed
using the system ing exposures.
on a project with this kind of budget. RAW files, and that in the end, I’d be The cinematographer filmed
He also worked on designing the working with Technicolor to get the out all of his test footage; one version

day-to-day tapeless workflow that image out to film. We took our tests was uncorrected, and the other was

would take our images through the all the way through our workflow to graded by Stephen
colorist
post process and protect our digital release print, allowing us to shape the Nakamura at Technicolor
Digital
negative. David was instrumental in look of the movie before we initiated Intermediates (TDI). The footage
was then taken to the release-print
doing all of that.” principal photography.
To familiarize himself and his “During the tests, I did as stage and projected onscreen in the
crew with the
Viper, Savides many things ‘wrong’ as I possibly 600-seat theater at the Directors
conducted designed “to push it
tests could. I went against everything I Guild of America in West

beyond what it was capable of in was

supposed to do with the camera. Hollywood. “That’s a pretty big
order to understand where it would The first test was all about hard light, screen, and I was quite impressed by

fail,” he says. “You can’t fully use with a subject backlit by the sun, what I saw,” Savides recalls. “I don’t
something if you just work within grossly overexposed and then under¬ think anybody in the room had seen

36 April 2007
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Cold Case File

Above: The the umbilical cord to the recorder, or

Chronicle staff
debates what to
the need for digital-imaging techni¬
a

do with the cian just so you can turn the camera

latest Zodiac
on. But someone’s got to start using
communique.
these systems to help make them
Right: A-camera
operator Kim better, and, of course, film has its
Marks and
camera
problems, too. Nothing is perfect.
assistant Sarah
But what is the net gain of shooting
Remetch line up digitally? So far, from my perspective,
a shot of
any benefit of using digital cameras
Downey.
lies in postproduction, not produc¬
tion. In the future, I see smaller,
better cameras; fewer crewmembers
needed to service them; and a
method of production that’s freer
and less encumbered by technology.
what the Viper and the DI process perform as well with overexposure as But that’s not the situation right now.
could do with those kinds of extreme it did in low-light situations. To gain “The Zeiss DigiPrime lenses

images on a screen that size; demos
are
usually done with very carefully
controlled, perfectly shot images on
relatively small screens, but this
approximated the size of a good
theater anywhere in the world. The
more control, I could have dumbed we used were fantastic,” Savides
the process down, lit everything very continues. “They’re made for the
flat and gone into the post suite and 2/3-inch chips used in digital cine¬
played around with the RAW files, matography, so they’re supposedly
similar to what is going on in digital optically superior to normal lenses. I
still photography now. In the end, I can’t attest to that, but I was

screening was a great indicator of was happy with the images we were impressed. I especially liked the [6-
what the camera could do. I was getting with our RAW files at TDI 24mm and 17-112mm] zooms in
impressed, but I was still concerned with Stephen Nakamura.” terms of their
clarity and light-gath¬
about the Viper in terms of the A few other aspects of the ering ability. They performed well
contrast it could deal with and espe¬ Viper were of immediate concern to wide open.”

cially the shoulder, because it did not Savides. “I didn’t like the viewfinder, Savides is known for working

38 April 2007
 C
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 Cold Case File
San Francisco
Police inspector
Dave Toschi
(Mark Ruffalo,
left) learns that
flamboyant
attorney Melvin
Belli (Brian
Cox)has
received a

bloody swatch
of clothing
taken from
Zodiac victim
Paul Stine.

ground to go soft — like if Jake was

sitting in a restaurant booth and the
fabric of the booth was taking the
attention away from him — we’d
determine the depth of field and just
focus some distance ahead of Jake, so
his face would be at the outer edge of

what was sharp. We did that pretty

often. The DigiPrimes’ added depth
of field was just something we had to
get used to, but I certainly prefer
reducing depth rather than having
too little to play with.” He adds that

the Viper’s ability to employ an Arri

follow-focus and other standard
attachments also made his jobeasier.
“But another thinghad to pay
we
at low light levels, and the Viper’s compression, and we weren’t attention to was the back-focusing
increased depth of field was an addi¬ entirely sure what our post process mechanism on the DigiPrimes,
tional reason to remain at the was going to be, so capturing a clean, which needed checking whenever we
bottom of the lens. “That was one full-resolution image and protecting changed lenses or went from inside
way to reduce depth of field, so we’d it was vital. The only filtration we to outside. Temperature also affects

often use NDs and shoot wide open used were NDs and a Lee 20 CC it.”
whenever possible,” he says. He magenta filter to compensate for the For Blauvelt, who has exten¬
didn’t any onboard camera
use green bias of the RAW files.” sive experience with film cameras,
adjustment to help in the effort. “As Chris Blauvelt, Savides’ 1st the operation of the Viper “was a bit
I understand it, that would be AC, notes, “We also
played the focus of a mystery at times, because it’s an
defeating the whole point of shoot¬ toadjust where our focal range was electronic thing that has no moving
ing 4:4:4. Any kind of manipulation carrying. In scenarios where we parts. If there’s a problem of some
would have created some level of wanted to let a distracting back¬ sort, you turn it off to reboot it, and

40 April 2007
 THE 200UPR
when you turn it back on, it magi¬
cally works. I felt I had to have a lot of
cibachrome photo — you’re taken
right out of the story. I wanted to give
DUAL CHANNEL
faith in our technical support, which the image a patina, to remove the ON-CAMERA
was a little unnerving. But on the newness. However, that vivid, hyper-

whole, the Vipers ran great and we real quality may also work to bring a UHF RECEIVER!
got the job done.” psychological tension to the surface, A dual 63-channel receiver,
Addressing his overall experi¬ since we have these characters
allowing you to record the voices
ence with the Viper, Savides offers, “I searching and trying to see some¬ of 2 subjects simultaneously!
would advise anyone thinking of thing that’s just beyond their vision.
With the Viper, the audience will see Available in the
following complete
using it to test it for his specific
system configurations:
more than what
project, just as he should any camera. they normally see in
a movie literally, the pores on
My ideal would be for Thomson to —

come up with a modular version of people’s faces and every hair on their 200UPR receiver plus
the Viper with different imaging-chip heads so it 2 10BT bodypacks with
—
may have an almost
EX-503 lavalier mics.
sets, one set for highlights and one for immersive effect. Your eye can search
the toe, just as we can choose differ¬ the frame as all this information, the
ent film stocks for different situa¬ facts of the at you.”
case, come
tions. There is no all-around film “Harris
initially thought the
200UPR receiver plus
stock, so how can we single
expect a image looked a little ‘plastic-y,’ but I 1 10BT and 1 10HT
digital camera to do everything?” thought that helped us,” says Fincher. handheld mic.
Asked if the imperative on “The slight video effect is more
Zodiac was to make the digital images synonymous with the nightly news
look “like film,” Savides replies, “That than 35mm anamorphic is, and I
was in
my mind’s eye, but I don’t liked the idea of having that patina
200UPR receiver plus 1
know if I’m necessarily right. Should on the faces. Also, we didn’t need to 10BT and 1 51XT plug-in
a movie look like film or like some¬ use makeup the same way; we could transmitter.

thing else? It’s subjective. The Viper easily [use Shake in post to] fix
does give the images an almost microphones coming into picture;
hyper-real quality that might work and we did hundreds of TV-monitor
for this particular film. However, I composites [with bluescreen]. All
also tried to go against that look a bit that stuff was easier than it would
because Zodiac is a period film, and have been if we’d shot on film. I
the audience has some impression of think the ‘waxiness’ Harris describes
what [the Seventies] looked like.” The and the problems with the Viper —
colors, tones and designs of that like having so much daylight coming
Or, you can order the individual components
separately to make your own system.
Other features of the 200UPR:
•
High gain antennas with BNC connectors
•
Separate on/off and freq.
selectors for each channel

period — as documented in the into the lens that it prevented us •

Compatible with all
from actually making an image — Azden 51,41, and
photography of Stephen Shore and
10 series transmitters
William Eggleston — “became our came to support what we were doing
•
Mini-to-mini and
bible. We specifically referenced with this particular film. It feels like a
mini-to-dual-XLR
Shore’s work from the early news report, not a Hollywood cables included
Seventies, which was more naturally movie.” •
Camera shoe-mount
lit. We also worked from a lot of In the end, says Savides, “I lit
photos in the actual Zodiac police Zodiac just as I would any feature I’ve
files. shot on film. Where the
light comes
“To my eye,
the Viper’s digital from and how you model it doesn’t
images have a synthetic quality that is change because you’re using a differ¬
at odds with what we were trying to ent camera. But the sensitivity of the

do,” Savides continues. “It’s hard to Viper and how you can learn to light
put an audience in a darkened theater by eye was interesting. Once I got
and ‘reality’ for them, because
screen used to it, I rarely used meters and
the whole thing is a falsehood. But if got used to looking at the image on
you have a synthetic image like the those high-end monitors. The ^jAZDEINT
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 Cold Case File
Right:
Cooperating
police
investigators
(from left) Jack
Mulanax (Elias
Koteas), Bill
Armstrong
(Anthony
Edwards) and
Toschi confront
their prime
suspect, Arthur
Leigh Allen
(John Carroll
Lynch). Below:
Savides inspects
a target.

tative of what we were

getting, so I how to read it to get what you want.” idea of creative restraint. You can’t
had to mentally adjust for the differ¬ Savides strove to achieve the try to dazzle the audience while
ence based on our tests. I’d liken it to desired look in camera, as opposed characters are
talking, so you can’t
using a Hazeltine monitor to adjust to saving that work for the DI suite. have the camera
spinning around
printer lights — you’re not looking “On this movie, I think that was the them. In fact, we rarely moved the
at a true image, but a representa¬ right thing to do. We were looking camera and never used a Steadicam
tional one, and you have to learn for naturalism. This goes back to the or tried to create any artificial
pizzazz. What for? Are we trying to
show how clever we are, or are we

trying to tell a story? The audience

has to listen, and that’s a conun¬
drum: you’re trying to be visually
interesting without obscuring the
information the audience needs to

absorb. There’s even a sort of visual

banality that’s appropriate to the
story; what the investigators are
doing is tough, banal work, not what
you generally see in the movies.
Nevertheless, after day 30, I was
asking myself if we were on the right
path! I was worried our approach
could result in a boring movie, but
we
just had to have faith in the script
and the dogma we’d designed.”
Zodiac opens with grand
images of Fourth of July celebrations
and then cuts to a long, voyeuristic

tracking shot filmed from a car

cruising through a dimly lit subur-

42 April 2007
ban neighborhood. Punctuating the approaches. We that the driver is
see used another 2K on a boom arm and
mundane milieu are celebratory Darlene Ferren (Ciara Hughes), his brought it in closer and lower. For a
barbecues, children playing and companion for the night. They drive little fill, I had another light bounced
backyard pyrotechnics. This shot to an isolated lover’s lane and park. into a Griffolyn in front of the car

quickly establishes how night will be “As is the case in those kinds of and then a balloon flying overhead,
depicted in Zodiac, as the shadows places, the lighting came primarily just to camera left, to provide some
are dark but retain immense detail. from a light pole we put up on low ambience through the trees.
Even the illumination of single
a camera right, topped with an open- Finally, way down the road that ran
match lighting cigarette is enough
a faced 2K Blonde,” says Savides. “That across the background, we set up a

to reveal far more. “The lighting of motivated everything. For the closer 1 OK in a Condor to suggest another
that tracking shot was quite simple,” shots of the two inside the car, we streetlight some distance away,
says Savides. “A lot of it amounted to
asking the people in the neighbor¬
hood to leave their lights on, but we
did light some of the houses if we THALES
didn’t like the practical that were
there. We used fixtures I like to call
‘covered wagons’: batten strips with
porcelain sockets and bulbs covered
with chicken wire and then muslin
or tracing paper. We also put some
lights in the backyards, either
bounced or direct. The lighting was
also checkerboarded along the
street. We basically lit every house

and then, while doing trial runs,

started turning lights off depending
on what looked
iApC'yC
good. Finally, there
was a 20K in a Condor at the end of
the run, on camera left, sidelighting
the whole scene and giving it an
edge.”
“Harris is all about natural¬
ism,” says chief lighting technician IL—A Optimo HD Cine Style Lens
Chris Strong. “Nothing looks lit, and Superior film optics for uideo production
how it registers to your eye on set is «
Higher resolution than typical HD video lenses across
exactly how it looks onscreen. Some the focal range
people try to do this by simply using ■ Fast aperture speed of T1,6, no ramping
practical, but I don’t think that «
Impressive contrast and color reproduction
works, because by the time you get a
■ No breathing
good stop that source will be totally
blown out. Harris uses motivation
■ 327° focus rotation with over 25 witness marks

and direction to make the lighting

■
Rugged mechanical design for precise tracking
and focus
invisible.” Savides adds, “I used to be
much more selfish earlier in my
■ The same proven optics as the famous
career — it was all about me and my
"Optimo" film lenses

lighting! I was just interested in

making something look great, but I
see now that it’s about what’s best for
the story.”
The
perspective of the track¬
ing shot remains a mystery until the
car stops and a
skinny teen, Mike
Mageau (Lee Norris), eagerly images
973.812.3858 •angenieux.com 43
Cold Case File
Toschi and
Armstrong
discuss the
case. Savides
sought a visual
style that would
reflect the
mundane reality
of police work.
"What these
men are doing
is tough, banal
work," he notes.
"That said, after
day 30 I was
asking myself if
we were on the
right path!"

hitting the trees.” to his car, but after hearing Mageau Angeles in the Terminal Annex
The couple is interrupted by a moan in agony, he returns and fires building, under the guidance of
car that pulls up behind their vehi¬ two more rounds into each victim. production designer Donald
cle, blinding them with its head¬ The action moves to the Graham Burt and art director Keith
lights. A dark figure carrying a Chronicle offices, where Graysmith, P. Cunningham. “Because the set was
powerful flashlight approaches. toiling on his daily editorial cartoon, so vast and some of the shots we

Assuming it’s a police officer, the two observes as the Zodiac makes his wanted quite wide, we needed
were

reach for their IDs. Suddenly, five initial threats the press
and, by
to to light it primarily with hanging
gunshots ring out, severely wound¬ extension, the public. The news¬ practicals, using very little fill,” says
ing the teens. The gunman retreats room set was built in downtown Los Savides. “Don supplied us with fluo¬
rescent fixtures that gave us a
bounced-light quality and some
diffused direct light. We used Cool
White tubes and then had some

controlleddaylight coming through

the windows, augmented by HMIs.”
Strong adds, “We had some huge
windows on the south and west sides
of the room, and in order to control
the daylight our riggers built a large
tent over the south windows, and we
put in some 18Ks. Because we were
shooting in winter, the sun never
really got very hard on the western
exposure, so we just used some NDs
to balance things and then added

some lamps when it got dark.”

“With the Viper, low-angle

shots aimed right up into the fluo-

44 April 2007
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 Cold Case File
spot on the Viper.” Part of the solu¬
tion was to position show cards

below the actors or bounce addi¬

tional light into the ceiling closer to
the cameras. “That got something
back into their faces,” says Savides,
“but we had to keep it simple,
because we had to keep moving and
[the light] had to feel ambient. It
couldn’t be directional, so we were
limited in what we could do.”
The naturalistic look Fincher
and Savides had in mind enabled the
cinematographer to dispense with
unmotivated cosmetic lighting and
focus on lighting the environments.
“That’s something I’ve been doing
much more of recently. Earlier in my
career, I spent a lot more time on
cosmetic lighting, but now I prefer to
motivate the lighting of the actors
Above: A rescents were tough,” notes Savides. stop down a bit — while staying true based on the room they’re in. We
Chronicle “The exist in spaces that are lit; you don’t
difficulty was in controlling the to my sources and also keeping
secretary opens a
look and not letting those sources fixtures clear in the wider shots. It suddenly get special lighting when
letter from the
killer. Below: The overexpose. We were shooting with was a weird, frustrating balancing you walk into a room. That’s my take
production's post multiple cameras, so I had to figure act. Incidentally, it would have been on
reality in lighting, and I start from
workflow.
out how to beef up the exposure much easier to do if we’d been shoot¬ there.”
around the actors —
allowing me to ing on film — the shoulder is a weak Northeast of San Francisco, the

Zodiac Editorial Workflow — Post Dailies

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native .dpx DVCProHDt 080/23.98 and Gallery XML-Pro

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46 April 2007
 Congratulations
sun-drenched landscape surround¬ Fincher. “They have a lot of restric¬
ing Lake Berryessa provided the tions, especially on night shooting,
Zodiac with an unlikely hunting and especially in the Presidio Heights
ground. But on September 27, 1969, area,where we were. And filming a
clad in black and wearing an execu¬ movie about the city’s most famous
tioner’s hood, he bound and stabbed unsolved homicide proved almost David Fincher’s
a young couple, Cecilia Shepherd impossible. The city didn’t really
(Pell James) and Bryan Hartnall want us there, and the homeowners
(Patrick Scott Lewis). This chilling on that street definitely didn’t want
sequence was shot on a small island us there, so it wasn’t feasible to shoot
at Lake Berryessa, and staging it

proved difficult; the production had

the scene on

The solution
location.”
was to shoot
ZODIAC
to bring in several full-grown trees enough material on location to set
and other greenery to properly dress the scene and then re-create the
the area. “That was our first week of intersection elsewhere. Savides
shooting, wanted to keep the
so we explains, “While shooting in San
The First Major
crew
very small,” recalls Savides. Francisco, we established the scene

“Also, a large crew can quickly with a wide shot looking up the
Motion Picture
destroy a natural setting like that. It street to the corner where the cab
was

crew
pretty much just camera and
and a few nets and diffusion
pulls up,
and then the
then we cut
rest of the
into the cab,
scene was
using the
frames to control the
daylight. The filmed on an outdoor set at Downey
placement of the camera is different Studios in Los Angeles. We basically
in this scene, however: it’s close to the built the street, sidewalk, corner and ALL-DATA
ground as the people are being the facades of the two houses. We
stabbed. Most of the rest of the then put up a huge bluescreen and WORKFLOW
picture is shot almost tableau-style.” inserted the rest of the city in post.”

Savides
No fan of
admits
screen

that
violence, After the production wrapped at the from
he found location, a team from Digital
Zodiacs subject matter troubling. “I Domain arrived to shoot panoramic
sometimes asked myself why I was images of the area; these were later
there or why I even chose to work on stitched together to create a 360°

5. two
the project. Sometimes you don’t backdrop for the scene.
know how graphic something is “That was originally going to
going to be, and you wonder if it be a simple scene done with a
could have been done in a different locked-off camera, but at the last
or less gratuitous way. But this film minute I decided it should all be
isn’t about titillation exploitation;
or done handheld,” says Fincher. “This
it’strying to represent a story in a is the only time we show an investi¬
realistic way, and the story involves gation of a crime scene, so I wanted with
murder.” the audience be
right there, walk¬
to

One incident
particularly tricky to re-create
that proved
was
ing through it with Toschi and
Armstrong. I also wanted to have as
Digital
the Zodiac’s murder of taxi driver
Paul Stine (Charles Schneider) at the
much of it as possible in real time.
But as the scene became more
Cinematography
corner of Washington and
Cherry complicated, it called for more by
streets in San Francisco. This was one effects work: CG cars, CG police
of the few Zodiac killings to be motorcycles, and all this matte work
observed by eyewitnesses, three in the background. And it was pretty
successful.”
Harris Savides, ASC
teenagers in a nearby house. They
immediately called the police, but “The bluescreen was about
the killer escaped the ensuing 50-by-100 feet, and we shot there for
manhunt. “San Francisco is a notori¬ about three nights,” recalls Strong.
www. stwo-co rp. co m
ously difficult place to shoot,” says “Because only the extremely wide
 Cold Case File
Dolly grip
Michael Brennan
facilitates a shot
of
Graysmith
racing to meet
Toschi. Savides
seldom used
unmotivated
camera

movement in
Zodiac; he
preferred to rely
on simple,

proscenium-style
compositions in
order to focus
viewers' attention
on the flurry of
information
delivered in the
dialogue.

establishing shot was done in San “We have shots of the detectives sharpening, but something else. I
Francisco, we didn’t have to closely looking at the watch, followed by think itplays into the clarity we were
match any location lighting. point-of-view shots of everybody. trying to build into the cinematog¬
Basically, our streetlights were our The camera sequentially becomes raphy, in that it makes you study the
sources and we just followed that. everybody’s individual perspective. image more intently. This new vivid¬
We put a 2K Blonde on aCondor It’s a subtle thing, but it adds ness enhances this scene because it
and created a big pool of light over immensely to the anxiety level of the draws your eye even further into the
the cab.” Fincher adds, “Aside from scene without us having to resort to drama. It’s unnerving and interest¬
the lighting on the bluescreen, I more camera movement or quick ing.” This digital sharpening and
think the rest of the lighting was just cutting.” Fincher notes, “I talked a lot noise-reduction work “was done
afew of those 2Ks, our streetlights. to our actors about how the camera with John Lowry at DTS Digital
Harris was shooting a little under, at would be used in this scene. I said, Images,” says Fincher. “It consisted of
about a T1.4 with a T1.6
prime, so ‘Were going to be watching you as some up-rezzing of the 1920x1080

we really kept that feeling of night.” you go through your realization anamorphic images from the Viper,
After securing some leads, process.’ I didn’t want them to have which we’d squeezed slightly to a
Toschi, Armstrong and Vallejo Police pre-decided anything about Allen. I 2.35:1 frame. By interpolating sub¬

investigator Jack Mulanax (Elias just wanted the information to pile pixel image information from multi¬
Koteas) confront their prime up and for people to come to their ple frames before and after each
suspect, Arthur Leigh Allen (John own conclusion that Toschi and individual frame, DTS was able to
Carroll Lynch), at the factory where Armstrong were hot on the right able toup-rez and slightly sharpen
he works. As the officers question trail.” the footage. HD is inherently a bit
Allen, he takes control of the situa¬ After screening a nearly soft, and this helped it look a little
tion, taunting them with oblique finished cut of the picture, Savides more like film.” (Ed. Note: More
admissions about bloody knives and observed that Fincher had intro¬ information on this process
will be
flashing his wristwatch, an expensive duced degree of definition-adjust¬
a published in next month’s Post
timepiece made by the Swiss manu¬ ment to the interrogation scene. “It Focus section.)
facturer Zodiac. “This is the only was kind of strange to my eye at first, Though one might suspect a
scene in which the camera becomes but David might be right on the digital feature would exploit the
truly subjective,” Savides points out. money,” he says. “It’s not exactly endless possibilities offered by the

48 April 2007
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James Mathers: Cinematographer, Digital Cinema Society

 Cold Case File
Savides adjusts was very pleased. David has a great
a soft source.
eye, and Stephen is an amazing
colorist.”
Nakamura, who several
months earlier had graded the
Genesis HD feature Superman
Returns with Newton Thomas Sigel,
ASC (AC July ’06), notes, “The Viper
and Genesis are different cameras,

but there are similarities that came

out in the tests we did in prep.

Probably the most important thing
was for Harris to understand where
you lose detail in the highlights and
the blacks, because once you go over
the edge in either direction, there’s
no way to come back. But because
be made. We controlled the Harris shot everything with such
DI approached
suite, Zodiac was not ment to

this way. “In prep, I did a lot of contrast and did some color correc¬ care, that was never an issue. There’s
tion, but after that in the tremendous amount of range at
preliminary work in terms of what we were a

the data would look like after it had zone. I wasshooting American
away our disposal in the DI suite when
gone all the way to a release print,” Gangster in New York by the time you shoot on film, but having a
says Savides. “By the time we got to David and Stephen Nakamura good, thick negative, a solid image, is
the DI, we had most of our look started working at TDI, but they sent important. You have to do the same
down, so there wasn’t a lot of adjust¬ me some material to look at, and I thing with digital formats. Although

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 the Viper captures uncompressed color correction, very few Windows, have preferred it if the police had
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I’ve seen footage shot with other films, and the credit for that goes to [arbitrarily]. You just have to hope
systems with far less resolution that Harris.” Savides notes that the audience is involved in the char¬
has much more dynamic range Technicolor timer David Orr acters and the story and
was
willing to go
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“In the DI, David’s desire was understands film and has worked
to maintain the level of naturalism with [Fincher] on several projects,
that Harris captured on the set,” including The Game, so he’s attuned
continues Nakamura, who also to David’s eye for detail. He did a
worked with Fincher on The Game, demo for us with some of our test

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Room (AC March ’02). “David likes tally at 4K, and there was absolutely TECHNICAL SPECS
darkness, he likes the toe of the film, no difference.”
went further in that direction For 2.37:1
so we Savides, Zodiacs incon¬
than other directors clusive
High-Definition Video
might. That ending is almost a breath of
makes the daylight scenes seem fresh air. “I like the fact that audience Thomson/Grass Valley Viper
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does. Zodiac really required basic wryly, “The studio certainly would

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 Director of photography Larry Fong revisits the Battle of
Thermopylae for the action-packed 300.
by David E. Williams

Persians with 300 of his loyal sol¬ “Frank’s book was the blue¬
been synonymous with “aus¬ diers. Led by Xerxes (Rodrigo print for the look of our film,” says

Ihe word “Spartan” has long

tere,” but the feature 300, replete
with ferocious action, arresting

imagery and a gripping story of

self-sacrifice, could well change that
association. Based on the graphic
Santoro), the Persians number some
800,000 men, and if Leonidas’ men
failto stop them at the narrow

coastal passage of Thermopylae, all

of Greece could be lost. A classic
300 director of photography Larry

Fong. “We were not just making a

film using his characters and story,
we were specifically making a film

out of his book, so its style and

novel by author Frank Miller and study in asymmetrical warfare, the compositions were integral to
artist Lynn Varley, the film, set in 480 story was previously brought to the everything we were doing. But we
B.C., depicts the heroics of Spartan screen in the 1962 film The 300 took license when necessary and

king Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who Spartans, which was a primary also took advantage of what we
battles a massive invading army of inspiration for Miller. could do on the big screen.” Miller

52 April 2007
 notes, “Movies are an extension of
illustration that adds the dimen¬
sions of time, space and movement
to color and composition, so there
are major differences in what you
can do visually, but the story and
characters are what it’s really about.
I’m just happy 300 has been made by
people who are as excited about
those things as I am, and that they
embraced all the storytelling tools of
filmmaking.”
Miller, whose graphic novel
Sin City was brought to the screen
by Robert Rodriguez in 2005, joined
300 as a consultant. Although both
Sin City and 300 made elaborate use
of digitally treated images and com¬
puter-generated (CG) backgrounds,
Snyder gave him a smooth entry
into the project’s complex digital
production path, which included
roughly 1,300 visual-effects shots.
“I’ve known Zack since we both
went to film school at the Art Center
College of Design in Pasadena in the
late 1980s,” says Fong. “We did a lot
of projects together there, mostly
Super 8 movies, and Zack was
always very ambitious. For a World
War I movie we did, he got permis¬
sion from a neighbor to use his
backyard as a location and immedi¬
ately got a Bobcat out there and
started digging trenches. It was like
he was making Paths ofGlory'. That’s
something I love about Zack: if he’s
going to do something, he’s going to

bSTPBWiacehcraoktouidnusesyrft.e.sy
Miller notes that the pictures “are
very different stylistically. Sin City is
largely black-and-white with some
use of specific color, whereas 300 has
a limited palette but is full color, and
has a much richer, more detailed
look all around. I co-directed Sin
City [with Rodriguez], but was very
happy to stay on the sidelines with
300 and learn from what they were
go all the way.”
After leaving Art Center, Fong
and Snyder began working on
music videos and commercials,
often together. In 2004, both of
them had breakthroughs, Fong with
the hit series Lost (see AC Feb. ’05) determine what illustrations would Opposite: King
and Leonidas (Gerard
Snyder with the horror remake be matched exactly in the film in Butler) leads his
Dawn of the Dead. “300 became our terms of lighting and composition.
Spartan soldiers
opportunity to work on a feature Fong explains, “Zack started flagging into battle. This

doing.” together, and I was very excited by certain pages as ‘Frank frames,’ page, above:
Cinematographer

fragamrnabdes
Fong was unfamiliar with the that prospect,” says Fong, who meaning they had to be in the Larry Fong (right)
events depicted in 300 before he earned an ASC Award nomination movie. The surrounding shots and director
came aboard to shoot the for his work the Lost Zack Snyder
picture, on
pilot. might not exactly match up, but discuss their
but his long friendship and previous One of the first steps was to those hero images were absolutely
Phot s collaborations with director Zack break down Miller’s book and necessary. Also, Frank used a lot of
framing amid a
pile of Persian
"dead." Left: In a

flashback
sequence, the
young Leonidas
(Tyler Max
Neitzel) squares
off against a
fearsome wolf.

American Cinematographer 53
Few Against Many
Right: Heavily
armed Persian
soldiers
charge, led by
King Xerxes.
Below: The
god-like Xerxes
(Rodrigo
Santoro)
inspires his
troops with a
call to arms.

silhouette imagery in the book, so give us some flexibility [in post]. employ extensive virtual landscapes
we had to decide whether we were “I should note, too, that and set extensions, requiring Fong

although people will see the film to make great use of bluescreen.
going to commit to that exactly;
often Zack and [visual-effects super¬ and say it looks exactly like the “Even if we’d had all the money in

visor] Chris Watts would look at [a comic book, those illustrations were the world, we couldn’t have built the
silhouette shot] on the set and either done in watercolor —
they’re very things in Frank’s book,” he says.
approve it or say, ‘Maybe we should graphic and stark. They don’t have “And even if we’d shot on real loca¬
have a little fill light in there so we the realistic look of, say, Frank tions, we would have had to do a lot
can decide later.’ As it turned out, I Frazetta oil paintings. But they did of digital work to re-create Frank’s
had to devise a lighting plan that absolutely drive the look of the film world. The skies, for example, need¬
would allow us to often go in sever¬ in terms of compositions; that ed that painterly, surreal look that
al different directions within each allowed [production designer] Jim we could never have found in real

setup, in part because the final look Bissell, [costume designer] Michael life. So we embraced our CG world
of the film and how we would Wilkinson, and me to concentrate and never worried about
trying to
achieve it in post weren’t nailed on
lighting, colors and textures. The fool the audience into thinking it
down until later in production. The film is a close interpretation, espe¬ was real.” Fong chuckles at the

look evolvedduring tests, and, thank
God, we’d built in enough leeway to
cially in spirit.”
It was a given that 300 would
memory of Snyder’s enthusiasm for
this approach: “Throughout prep,
Zack kept joking that we all had to
‘drink the Kool-Aid’ and sign onto
this vision of his. He really seduced
everyone with it, and he had to,
because at first it was so different
many people didn’t understand it,
including me.”
Though Fong and Snyder
were impressed by Sin City, which

was shot on high-definition (HD)

video, “we both knew HD wasn’t

going to work for 300,” says Fong.
“The primary problem was the
amount of slow motion we wanted
to throughout our film. We
use

looked at some digital systems that

can be used for high-speed work,

54 April 2007
but Depicting the
they didn’t offer exactly what we
Spartans' effort
wanted. Also, Zack and I really to drive
wanted to work on film. Even Persians off a

cliff and into

though 300 is full of CGI, it’s also a the sea, this
period piece, and we like the texture sequence
film brings to the image. The studio illustrates a

so-called
had some concerns — the expense
"Frank frame"
of film stock, processing and scan¬ —

an

ning — but they supported the illustration from

Frank Miller's
decision.”
graphic novel
As for deciding how “virtual” that the
they would go, Fong explains, filmmakers
decided to
“Zack’s mantra was, ‘If it’s close
replicate
enough to touch, it has to be real.’ actors. I don’t think our actors ever duction’s primary workspace, Fong exactly.
That meant Jim Bissell and his crew had perform opposite tennis balls
to arrived to find that large, custom, Clockwise from

had to build extensive sets, and sticks within overhead lighting rigs that had been top left: the
on a
360-degree blue- original artwork
often only the deep backgrounds screen stage.” constructed for a previous project, from the book;
and skies would be CGI. With the Seeking an affordable space The Day After Tomorrow, were still filming onstage
with stunt
exception of battle sequences,
our that would suit their needs, the film¬ available for use. From the begin¬
performers; a
which were largely shot against makers traveled to Montreal in July ning, he knew he wanted to photo¬ rough
bluescreen, we always had sets to 2005 to inspect Ice Storm Studios. graph 300 using an overall toplight composite
created by Fong
keep our orientation and help the After this was secured as the pro¬ approach: “It’s a look Zack and I to approximate
the look he
intended; and
the final image.

American Cinematographer 55
Few Against Many

Top: Leonidas fact, that affected a few shots where

bids farewell to
we were a daylight
trying to create
Queen Gorgo
look but couldn’t get our fixtures
(Lena Headey)
and his son. The back far enough to create the right
distant
shadows. We were fortunate for the
background and
skies in this most part, but there were some com¬
shot are digital promises as well.” All the sets were
enhancements, built on risers, allowing the blue-
but production
designer Jim
screen to hang beyond the edge of
Bissell and his the stage and conceal its lighting.
team carried out
Though Fong had to create
Snyder's
mandate that day and night looks for almost every
"anything that set, “we only had these few stages fit¬
could be
ted with our overhead bays, and
touched"should
be built for real, both like, and it can really speed up light throughout sets and easily budgetary restrictions prevented us
including this production and look great if used increase illumination for high-speed from stopping to change out or gel
wheat field. For
properly. It thrilled me that we could work. “We were constantly fluctuat¬ all the lights inside them for a moon¬
Fong, such "day
exteriors" recycle some of the lighting from ing between 24-100 fps, which lit look and then change back again
proved difficult, Day After Tomorrow, because we essentially quadruples the lighting for warm daylight. The solution was
as he had
didn’t have the money to build any¬ budget,” he notes. “So finding those to put up huge Vi CTB silks, so
limited throw
distance for his thing like that from scratch our¬ overhead rigs and using them as the everything was slightly blue from the
"sun" source. selves. Also, I was very lucky to get basis for our system was a huge head beginning, putting us right in the
Bottom: In a
Jean Courteau as my gaffer — he start.” middle of the color-temperature
stylized moonlit
scene, Leonidas had worked on Day After Tomorrow, He adds that the toplight zone. For a daylight look, we’d just

confides in so he knew the setup very well.” He
Gorgo. adds that his Montreal
crew mem¬
bers, including operator Daniel
Suave, 1st AC Christian Lemay and
go warmer in the timing, and for
approach was mandated by “the size
of the stages, the size of our sets, and
night we’d go cooler. Another thing
our need to run bluescreen around differentiating the two looks was the
everything. Our sets were often built color of our backlight and how it

key grip Alain Masse, were “extreme¬ within 10 feet of the studio walls, related to the overall illumination,
ly professional and prepared.” and we also had to have space on
the which we could also adjust to create

The lighting bays were also stage floor for all the Kino Flos the feeling of dusk, overcast skies or
completely dimmer-controlled, uplighting our bluescreens. There full sun.

allowing Fong the flexibility to sculpt wasn’t a lot of room to work with; in “For instance, in one sequence

56 April 2007
REM I ADEFARASIN, BSC RUSS ALSOBROOK, ASC PETER ANDERSON. ASC HOWARD ANDERSON HI, ASC i IOWA RI
ANDERSON JR.. ASC MICHAEL BALLHAUS, ASC DION BEEBE, AsCCKCS BILL BENNETT. ASC GABRIEL BERI STAIN, ASC , BSC
LARRY BRIDGES JONATHAN BROWN STEPHEN II. BUKU.V . SC BILL BUTLER. ASC BOBBY BYRNE. ASC RUSSEL I
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CHRIS MANLEY S i I V1 M sJfcs ‘" IHIk ^ '
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 Few Against Many
Right: Leonidas
and his front¬
line troops were
flesh-and-blood,
but the more

distant ranks
were often
filled with
synthespian
recruits. Below:
A Technocrane
proved
invaluable to
Fong, who often
used its
telescoping arm
as a substitute
for dolly work.

Leonidas and his men march out
Sparta through a wheat field, and
that’splayed in full sun. We left the
cool toplight and added a very
strong backlight that was basically
neutral, straight tungsten; the later
timing adjustment in overall
warmth warmed up the backlight
even more,
creating a very golden,
of sunlit look in those highlights. This down the hall from mine,” the cine¬
approach meant we had to change matographer jokes. “We talked a lot
gels on just a few lamps rather than about the concept art and the color
all of them, which saved a lot of scheme he’d come up with for
time.” Sparta. We couldn’t afford to shoot
With six weeks to prep for the [all tests] on film, so in some cases I
60-day shoot, Fong began camera took digital stills and then used
tests in coordination with Bissell. Photoshop to approximate the
“Thank God Jim’s office was just movie’s final look, which we called
‘The Crush’ clipped highlights
—

and crushed shadows. I didn’t know

exactly how our post process would

work or how the movie would look,
and that’s not aposition any cine¬
matographer wants to be in.”
Throughout the shoot, Fong used
Apple’s iPhoto to catalog and anno¬
tate his stills; this helped him com¬

municate lighting and camera

details to the second unit when nec¬

essary. He did “Crush” tests for

almost every other department as
well, including hair, makeup and
props.
Shooting in Super 35mm
with Panavision and Arriflex cam¬

erasand Primo lenses, Fong tested

Kodak and Fuji film stocks and
found that Kodak Vision2
Expression 500T 5229 “worked best
for underexposure. That was
important, because I knew I was

58 April 2007
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 Few Against Many
Top: A brave
Spartan leaps
into battle to
a Persian
slay
leader. Middle:
In a scene that
demanded an

extensive
partial set, a
cloaked priest
leads Leonidas
up a mountain
to consult the
oracle before
the battle.
Bottom: Fong
checks his light
while setting a
low-angle shot
of Xerxes.
Visible are the
overhead soft-
light bays
draped with
CTB and the
additional blue going to be in situations where I
didn’t have enough light, specifical¬
panels brought
in to facilitate
ly during high-speed work. We also
compositing. liked the stock’s grain structure —
we didn’t
shy away from film grain
at all. We ended up shooting the

whole picture on 5229, processing it

normally.
“We didn’t take all of our tests
to the print stage, because there was
so much work to be done on the
image before that step that it would
have been pointless,” he adds. The
project’s digital intermediate (DI)
was carried out at
Company 3 with
colorist Stefan Sonnenfeld. “Zack
and I have worked with Stefan for
many years, since he was a tape
operator at The Post Group many
years ago,” notes Fong.
One of the key elements to
test was the fabric used for the
Spartan warriors’ red robes. This
material “slowly fades in intensity as
the army is worn down in battle,”
explains Fong. He tried to accompa¬
ny each test shot with both a gray
card and color chart. “It’s hard toget
those in, even on a commercial,” he
notes, “but we had a color chart on
every roll of film we shot on 300.
That was essential, given the work
that was going to be done. We need¬
ed that reference to remain consis¬
tent.”
One concern during testing

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 Alongside the was how Fong’s toplight approach capes,” explains Fong. “When the the final work, Grant had to turn
elevated stage
would work with the armor head- finished greenscreen test images over our
style guide, this Photoshop
floor, Snyder
checks out the gear worn by Leonidas and his were
projected on the big screen, we manifesto, so they could get the
three-camera rig men. “ [Actor] Gerry Butler was very noticed a weird color fringing, and images just right.”
built to achieve
concerned about that, because his we couldn’t
quite figure out what the After Leonidas and his men
the synthetic
"zooms" used in eyes were an important part of problem was. Bluescreen worked take their defensive position at
several of his performance,” says Fong. much better.” Thermopylae — choke-
a narrow
300's battle
“Furthermore, the eye shadows The positioning of the point with a towering cliff on one
sequences.
were made morepronounced by Spartans in every composition was side and the roiling Mediterranean
Comprising
three Arri the high-contrast ‘Crush’ look. So a also a concern. “We wanted to Sea on the other — 300
vividly
435ES cameras
lot of our tests had to do with eye- always present the men in an epic depicts their bloody clashes with
equipped with
different focal- lights; we often had a small Kino way,” says Fong. “In a way it remind¬ wave after wave of Persian fighters.

length lenses, tube on a stand or held by someone, ed us of the Pageant of the Masters “For the battle scenes, we often
the rig employed
or a bounce fill created
by a source at the Laguna Beach Festival of had regular and high-speed units
a prism to allow

each to focus on going into a 4-by. Sometimes we’d Arts.” In this annual event, costumed running simultaneously and then
the same focal just position several of those players are arranged behind a large moved in for high-speed work
point. In post, bounces around the set, with their
the filmmakers
picture frame to mimic famous on
very specific action, like a guy
determined the positions corresponding to the eye¬ works of art. “That became a kind of flying through the air with a
moment they lines. In the end we used a variety of shorthand for Zack and me, an huge sword,” says Fong. “We used
wanted the zoom
methods, and it was difficult to keep inside joke,” says Fong. “We’d look at a lot of Arri 435ES and 235 bodies
effect to happen,
and then the eyelight look consistent, espe¬ a shot and say, ‘Yeah, that’s so for [high-speed work], with Zack
digitally cially in battle scenes, when a per¬ Pageant of the Masters!”’ usually operating the 235. Some
morphed former might be 20 feet away from As visual-effects art director directors might have pushed [that
between the
three takes to [the source]. We sometimes used a Grant Freckelton continued to work] off to second unit, but Zack
achieve the little rig that got dubbed the ‘Fong develop the final look of “The lived for it. Fie also likes weird
effect.
light’: a 2K bouncing into an Crush” during production, “it frame rates, so instead of 48, 72 and
attached 4-by-4 headboard on the became more
contrasty, more 96 fps, might run instead at 50,
we
same stand. We spent more time on monochromatic, somewhat desatu- 75 and 100 fps. We used a Photo-
eyelights on 300 than I have on any rated,” recalls Fong, “ft also became a Sonics ER for really high-speed stuff,
other project!” very complicated process, using a lot up to 360 fps.”
Preproduction
tests also of Photoshop steps that even I didn’t Early in the Spartans’ first bat¬
revealed that bluescreen would understand. So by the time we had tle, Leonidas charges ahead of his
work better than greenscreen.“The to turn over the process to all the comrades, using a long spear and
problem was the red in the Spartan effects houses that were going to do broadsword to slay a series of

62 April 2007
oncoming foes the camera tracks
as splitter took a lot of light out of it, at time and energy we were saving,
along with him and records the least half a stop. So the underexpo¬ production quickly agreed to keep it
action in extreme slow motion. At on for a much
sure
range of 5229 was really longer time,” says
specific split-second points in this pushed, but because of our camera Fong. “It became invaluable toward
solo assault Leonidas’ blade lop¬
— tests I was confident about what I the end, in part because all the sets

ping off someone’s head, for exam¬ would get.” were elevated;
laying track would
ple — the camera zooms in, cap¬ Aiding in the filming of kinet¬ have been difficult, so we saved a lot
tures the bloody moment, and ic battle sequences was a 30' of time by just leaning in with the
zooms back out, the actor and the Technocrane. “We originally bud¬ crane and using the extending arm
camera perfectly in sync. Fong geted the Techno for a few days, but to get shots that we would have oth¬
smiles when asked how this was when it became clear how much erwise done with a dolly. We also did
accomplished. “That’s one of the
most complicated things we did

photographically, but Zack had used

a technique on an earlier project that

actually made it pretty simple to exe¬

cute.”
The telescoping effect was
achieved with a multi-camera
rig
that simultaneously photographed
the action with three different focal-
length lenses; in post, the specific
“zoom” points were chosen, and the
filmmakers could digitally shift
between the perspectives. “Three
Arri 435ES cameras were mounted
on the same head,” explains Fong.
“Two top, shooting down
were on

into beamsplitter, and one was

a

positioned to shoot right through

the beamsplitter. All three were in
the same lens axis but using three
different lenses — wide, medium
and tight. In post, we could decide
exactly when and where to rack in to
a close-up on Leonidas. It’s basically

a CG ‘morph’ zoom. Of course, peo¬

ple have created artificial zooms in

post before, but they always pick up
grain and other artifacts. With this
system, you can find those precise
moments in the action to highlight.

The rig was very heavy and cumber¬

some, but the result was fantastic.”
The cinematographer notes
that it would have been preferable to
interlock the three cameras — creat¬

ing frame-to-frame continuity

between them — but it wasn’t nec¬

essary because the synthetic zoom

concealed any perceptible jitter.
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exposed, because not only were we
shooting at 100 fps, but the beam¬

63
Few Against Many
Leaning on the ed as a
giant figure who looms over
three-camera
Leonidas. However, even at 6'2",
rig, Fong takes
a breather Santoro did not stand so tall over

between Butler. “Chris Watts figured out how

battles.
much bigger Xerxes was supposed to
be, and we created proper eyelines
for Gerry and Rodrigo,” says Fong.
“We then positioned them apart —
but in the same frame against
—

bluescreen and they did the scene.

Later, in post, they would be reposi¬
tioned however was necessary, with

Rodrigo scaled up, matching the

eyelines.”
When feasible, Fong took full
advantage of the fact that 300 would
be heavily massaged in post. He
saved time on set by planning to
eliminate unwanted spill with a
a
surprising number of close-ups After the Spartans ruthlessly quick Power Windows fix, or digital¬
with the Techno, which I was a little repel several waves of Persian attack¬ ly erase lamps left in shot. “If we
worried about at first. And, thanks ers, Leonidas and Xerxes meet under could save 30 minutes of production
to Chris Watts, we were able to use a flag of truce to discuss their time with a five-minute fix in post,
the Steadicam whenever we want¬ options. As in the comic, the ornate¬ we’d do it every time. It wasn’t about
ed.” ly decorated Persian leader is depict¬ being lazy or sloppy, it was about

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using all the tools at hand to work scene as we would any
other — it are things you can’t control. You
smarter. For instance, had
we some was a
night scene, so we had very adapt and find new ways of doing
low-angle shots of Xerxes on a very soft, cool highlights — and Zack things. On 300, we had complete
ornate throne looking right over the decided to go handheld once we got control despite some limitations,
edge of our wraparound bluescreen further into the scene. He likes to and that’s almost scarier.” ■
and up into our lighting bays. operate and often does on commer¬
Instead of setting up a new blue- cials. He wanted to be spontaneous,
screen for the shot, we quickly improvisational and just capture the
attached sections of blue card to energy of the scene. It was a closed
stands like flags, just to cover those set, so I was the only other person
edges. It was down and dirty, but it there, and I handheld a little TECHNICAL SPECS
worked.” Chimera softbox. We had set the
2.40:1
Though the filmmakers backlight, a moon-glow effect, so I Super 35mm
employed every tool at their dispos¬ was just
adding a tiny bit of fill. I
al for battle sequences, an intimate, never even used my meter. In a way, Panaflex Platinum, Gold II;
Arri 435ES, 235; Photo-Sonics ER
pre-conflict encounter between it was like our
early music-video
Leonidas and his queen, Gorgo days together!” Primo lenses
(Lena Headey), made them get back Fong smiles when asked to
to basics. “Lovemaking scenes are compare his experience on 300 to Kodak Vision2
always interesting to shoot, because his assignment on Lost. “It was going Expression 500T 5229
you have to be careful,” says Fong. from one extreme to the other. We
“The actors are in a very vulnerable were
always at the mercy of the ele¬ Digital Intermediate
position, and you have to respect ments while filming Lost on location
Printed on
that. You also want them to look in Hawaii, but there’s a certain Zen Kodak Vision Premier 2393
beautiful. So we lit the basics of the mindset that takes over when there

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65
 Rear Projection
Tates a Step
Forward

I he first
New cinematographer to use
digital projectors and on-set a video
image in lieu of tradi¬
color correction put a better image on tional rear projection was prob¬

the rear-projection screen. ably George Spiro Dibie, ASC,

on the sitcom Growing Pains,

around 1986. He put a giant-screen

rear-projection TV console behind
by Bill Taylor, ASC the rear window of a Volkswagen

66 April 2007
 Opposite: The
rear-projection
setup Bill Taylor,
ASC used on

Georgia Rule.
Cinematographer
Karl Walter
Lindenlaub, ASC,
BVK created
ambience and
key light with
Chimeras aimed
through the car
windows.
This page: 10'-
wide projection
is far enough
away to simplify
keeping set
lighting off the
screen. Front-
and backlights
are egg-crated
Chimera
Lightbanks.
Operated hard
down-light is
just visible in the
upper right.

and played back video backgrounds runs two

projectors on screens at to the film digital camera that is
or

shot in Paris, while shooting the 30-degree angles, with the join hid¬ re-photographing the projected
combined image with a video cam¬ den by a roof pillar. Each projected image. (There is usually a significant
era
synced with the projector. The frame is usually 6'-8' wide. With this cost advantage over green- or blue-

resolution of the NTSC projection setup they can, for example, pan screen
compositing.) Color print
was adequate because it did not fill continuously as a car on the screens film is designed for viewing, with
the screen and was not the focal apparently passes the car on the high contrast and color saturation, ft
point of the shot. stage. Charters says there are two would be a poor choice for re-pho-
The most extensive use of limitations to the system: the crew tography, were there a choice! (No
digital real projection to date can be must play focus so that the relative¬ one has ever made an unmasked
seen in the series 24, shot color
by Rodney ly low-res images on the screen are print film designed for copy¬
Charters, ASC, CSC. All car-interior not in focus, and the LCD projectors
ing; it would look something like
running shots, and a few other shots do not produce particularly good Ektachrome Original.)
as well, are digital rear projection. blacks. In the past, we got the best
Because of the show’s tight budget Peter Collister, ASC was likely results by shooting the background
and schedule, Charters’ crew shoots the firstcinematographer to use hi- plates in 8-perf VistaVision, and
the backgrounds on 25 fps PAL DV def (HD) rear projection in a fea¬ then flashing and pull-processing
tape using an array of four MiniDV ture, on Surviving Christmas (2003); the original negative, which pushed
cameras on the By using
camera car. he also used it later on Meet Tad some of the shadow detail
up the toe
multiple cameras, they avoid multi¬ Hamilton. In both movies, back¬ of the H8cD curve and flattened the
ple runs. They run synced time code grounds originated film.
on contrast overall. The
prints made
on all cameras, which makes it Collister commented that changing from that negative were also flashed
straightforward to sync the projec¬ setups was very fast, and he thought to push highlight detail up off the

TBaocyiluorfrte.sy
tors onstage. (The LCD projectors the results were equal to, if not bet¬ toe of the print curve. When time
need not be synced to the film cam¬ ter than, film rear projection. allowed, we wedge-tested each scene
era.) The primary quality advan¬ for color and density, re-pho-
Charters currently uses tage digital rear projection has over tographed the tests on the process
12,000-lumen EIKI industrial LCD its film equivalent is that the color
Phot s projectors. The production often scale can be manipulated to match
screen, and chose the best exposure
for the final full-length prints.

American Cinematographer 67
Rear
Lindenlaub used
Projection Takes a Step Forward
egg-crated
Chimeras left
and right at the
rear and front to
light the actor,
while overhead
hard light
moved during
the shot.

The resultant color was

always thought of as a stack of 2-D tables. time on the stage.
Lindenlaub had
a compromise. Though processing Values between the ones in the table previously done digital rear projec¬
and printing could get the contrast are interpolated, so the more values tion with a 4K projector in Europe,
of color print film under control, in the table, the more accurate the so he knew that very good results

there was a serious mismatch with result. The values in an LUT can be were possible.

the real-world foreground color
space that contributed to the
“process” look: slightly green skies,
brownish foliage, poor highlight
detail, and so forth.
Not even an HD
image can
equal the resolution of VistaVision,
but color reproduction is another
matter. The extremely precise color
control available through look-up
tables (LUTs) has the potential to
tailor the color of a digitally project¬
ed image to closely complement the
response of the taking camera,
whether digital or film. (An LUT is a
quick method of translating one set
of values into another, where the
derived by empirical test or by calcu¬
lation, or any combination that
achieves the desired result. In the
digital world, LUTs translate the
numerical color values of a given
pixel on a film scan into the correct
values for the same pixel displayed
on a monitor, or recorded onto
film.)
In the past,
when transferring
images for digital rear projection
onto tape, it has been difficult to
color-time the image at the telecine
step to anticipate the effects of the
lamphouse color temperature, the
projector, the lens and stage lighting
on the projected image. Making a
I went to Joshua Pines, direc¬
tor of
imaging R&D at Technicolor,
with the problem. He immediately
suggested a solution based on his
work creating the Digital Printer
Light for cinematographers. The
answer was to telecine the back¬
ground film in HD in a log color
space similar to the Kodak Cineon
format, so that the image on D-5
tape contained the full range of tone
and color present on the original
negative. The resultant, very flat-
appearing image could be fed
through a color-converter comput¬
er onstage, applying the appropriate
LUT to expand the image back to

relationship between them is too best-guess transfer (or several trans¬ linear values approximating the

complex to be represented by a fers) and adjusting the image with range of tone and color in the orig¬
“smooth” mathematical function. A secondary color correction on the inal scene.

chartrelating temperature to date
and time of dayis a common exam¬
ple of a two-dimensional LUT,
whereas a chart with three axes,
as one relating temperature to date,
time and altitude, is a three-dimen¬
sional LUT. A 3-D table
can
stage was not always satisfactory. The Thomson Grass Valley
When Karl Walter LUTher color-space converter was
Lindenlaub, ASC, BVK asked me to the perfect choice for on-set color
such set upthe rear-projection work for control; it is small, portable and can
Garry Marshall’s film Georgia Rule, I employ nearly any kind of user
wanted to have full control of the interface. Its original application
be was to preview and calibrate the dis-
projected image in our hands, in real

68 April 2007
 with Above and
play of a film image on an HD dis¬ interfaces for the LUTher for
er-type specular highlights can easily
below: Blacks in
play or digital-projection system. In computer screens, but it’s hard to exceed the 10-plus stops of dynamic the projection
this way, a colorist and cinematogra¬ beat the simultaneous nine axes of range that can be recorded on a are fogged by
control that the trackball device per¬ color negative (a brightness range reflection of the
pher could accurately preview on a
dashboard, a
monitor what audiences will see in a mits.) greater than 210, or 1024:1), color realistic effect.
theater or on a
display while watch¬ To make the effects of the print stock can, fortunately, only This shot is the

ing broadcast TV or a DVD. trackballs more intuitive, and to reproduce 7 or 8 stops, or a ratio of focal-length
cheat Taylor
The LUTher box is a 1-U make it easy to stay out
of video clip¬ 256:1. (That’s why early digital color
describes, and
rack-mount device that in this ping, we put an HD waveform mon¬ systems could get an acceptable the only split-
itor in the chain. Once arrived at, the result even though limited to 8-bit focus shot in the
application was installed between
sequence. (The
the D-5 playback deck and the digi¬ LUTs could be saved internally for color. There was little leeway for
frame above is a
tal projector, a Christie CP2000 with instant recall or further modifica¬ changing printer lights, however.) video capture
a 20,000-lumen lamphouse from tion. The best DLP projectors, such as the from the tap,

Whereas courtesy of
American High Definition in Van a
day-exterior scene CP2000, are capable of an outstand-
Lindenlaub.)
Nuys, California. Onstage, the
Luther was controlled by a Tangent
Devices CP-200BK, a programma¬
ble three-trackball color-corrector

panel. Pines has set up the three

trackballsto be instantly switchable

between the usual telecine functions

of Lift, Gain and Gamma to a

straight RGB offset simulating

changing printer lights, very familiar
to cinematographers. Each adjust¬

ment in any mode progressively

modifies an LUT in the LUTher to

achieve the desired color reproduc¬
tion. Should the panel be discon¬
nected, the LUTher locks on the cur¬
rent setting. (Pines and his associates
have also written conventional slid¬

American Cinematographer 69
Rear Projection Takes a Step Forward
Playback
equipment
onstage. In the
background is
the D-5 deck,
the LUTher box
and monitor. In
the mid-ground
are waveform
monitors, and in
the foreground,
a trackball
control panel.

ing ANSI contrast ratio of 500:1, of the bright projector lens seen a projected image of this pho¬

meaning the actual brightness range through the screen. The more distant tographed chart to match the real
of a checkerboard image on screen, the screen is from the projector, the thing on the stage, we would be a
including the complicated internal smaller the hot spot, and, usually, long way to achieving the goal.
light path combining three DLP the less center to edge illumination As the combined image (p. 72,

images and the projection lens. falloff. No technique exists to elimi¬ top photo) shows, with a calculated
So with care, we can put an nate the hot spot in high-transmis¬ LUT and successive adjustments,

image on the screen that will look sion screens without harming the first by eye and then with a Nikon
close to reality on the final print or quality of the projected image. D2X digital still camera, it is possible
video display. The product of many decades to get very close. The results dis¬

(Incidentally, our tests of experience in translucent-screen played on Lindenlaub’s Kodak

showed that it was not necessary to fabrication, Stewart Filmscreens Look Management System-calibrat¬
sync the and the playback
camera Aeroview screen material is an excel¬ ed monitor closely matched the final
deck —the projector gets its frame lent choice for this application. A result on film.
rate from the deck as—
long as both 12'-wide projected white light was In the setup shown, the pro¬
were set to 24 fps. When the play¬
remarkably uniform with the pro¬ jected image is the lower one; the
back speed was even slightly off, jector just 20' behind the Aeroview same chart array is held on C-stands

color phasing was very apparent screen. We ran the projector 50' in the foreground and lit with tung¬
across the screen. For the future, from the screen for the actual shoot. sten fixtures filtered towards daylight

syncing the deck and the camera
might be good insurance.)
Of course, the rear-projection
screen must be uniform (free from
blotchiness). Then there is a delicate
balancing act between the transmis¬
sion (brightness) of the screen and
The slight left-to-right color cast is
an artifact of the DLP
projector.
In practice, the chart array
(p.72, bottom photo), shown in
front of its rear-projected image,
includes a good slice of the values
normally encountered in day-exteri¬
balance with Full CTB. With finer
adjustment of the LUT, it might be
possible to get the match even closer.
The 4:2:2 bandwidth limits of D-5
tape may be a factor. Exposure is f5.6
at Vso second; the chart is too close to
the lens for a split focus to carry.

the degree to which it diffuses the or

photography. A spotmeter set at This result was achieved on an

image. A very bright, more trans¬ ASA 200 measured the Kodak white otherwise dark stage. Because the
missive screen will show the “hot card at £22.8 and the black-velvet point is to have a car with actors in it
spot” typical of rear projection. The patch at f2.81/3 — nearly 8 stops of in the foreground, the classic chal¬
hot spot is actually the diffuse image brightness range. If we could adjust lenge remains to light the fore-

70 April 2007
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PA. AC 4/07
 Rear Projection Takes a Step Forward
Right: In both Super 35mm format), so we used
frames, the
the same shoot the compos¬
lens to
projected
ite. A 35mm lens will just cover a
image is at the
bottom. When lO'-wide projected image with the
the projector screen 17' from the camera. Side
color
shots were no problem. (See photos
temperature is
dialed around on
pages 66 and 67.)
to tungsten But for the “hood mount”
balance, it
loses shots, in order to cover the actors in
significant the front seat, the rear bumper of
brightness our Mercedes sedan touched the
range.
Below: Chart screen! (No cutaway “process bod¬
array in the ies” are available for $80,000 cars.)
foreground is
positioned in
Although we did not see any part of
front of the the Mercedes aft of the rear window,
rearscreen. there was no way to light the shot.
The image on With the image expanded to
the screen is
the same chart 12' wide, it just possible. (See
was

photographed photo on 68.) Egg-crated

page
in daylight
Chimera Lightbanks really help;
on location.
these are great soft sources that are
reasonably controllable. In addition
to key and fill, Lindenlaub put a

small, hard fixture overhead on a

boom arm, aimed nearly straight
down at the dashboard and the

steering wheel, and swung it in and

out as the road turned — to great
effect. Because a front windscreen

typically acts like a 45-degree mirror,

ground while spilling the least possi¬ tography, the screen must be as close it took careful handling to keep the
ble amount of light on the screen. to the camera as possible, but the down light out of the shot.
That’s why frontlight in the plate is a closer the screen, the harder it is to Because most of the shots
bad idea in process shots — but it’s keep spill light off it. All the art and were contained inside the car, it was

usually a bad idea, anyway! craft of the cinematographer, gaffer a

relatively simple matter to flag off
Here another classic rear-pro¬ and grip team must be brought to the set lighting. Black Duvatyn on
jection balancing act returns. To hold bear on this work. all the car surfaces that the camera

the background reasonably in focus, The background was shot didn’t see and on the floor killed
typical of actual day-exterior pho¬ with a 35mm focal-length lens (in most of the reflections. In the end,
theonly light fogging the rear-screen
image was the reflection of the dash¬
board in the windshield (in the shots
looking forward), and the reflection
of the rear deck (in the rear window
in the shots looking back). Since
these reflecting surfaces were on
camera, there was nothing to be

done; in any case, the result was real¬

istic. (See photos on page 69.)

Although we had an f5.6 stop

on the screen, Lindenlaub overex¬

posed the projection to get a good-

looking balance with his foreground
lighting, reducing the depth of field

72 April 2007
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 Rear Projection Takes
accordingly. Even overexposed, we
had reasonably good blacks in the
projection. We would have wel¬
comed an even brighter image to
hold depth of field, but the CP2000
is currently the brightest HD projec¬
tor available.
While we can now
better
put
color on the process screen than at
any time in the past, the resolution
of the 2K DLP chip is marginal
when it fills the screen. The Sony 4K
projector that Lindenlaub used in
Europe (on Black Book; AC March
’07) is just rolling out in the States,
but that begs the question of 4K
telecine transfers and 4K playback.
Although it is not particularly
convenient to light the set at daylight
balance, when the projection is
adjusted to tungsten balance, it loses
dynamic range. Note that the pro¬
jected image lacks good blacks in the
Tungsten vs. Daylight test shown at
the top of page 72.
SEE CHIMERA’S NEW
INNOVATIONS AT
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a Step Forward
As I mentioned before, the
brightest digital projectors don’t yet
match film rear-projection equip¬
ment. (Lamphouse power doesn’t
affect the DLP contrast range, just
brightness.) In the future, we might
superimpose stacked projectors; the
keystoning controls in theater pro¬
jectors like the CP2000 should make
it fairly simple to align the images.
Multiple projector setups in the film
world date back to the Triple Head
rear projectors used at Warner Bros,
and Paramount from 1938 onward,
and the Laced Process technique
(images stripped together side by
side) used at MGM in the 1950s.
The limits of any projection
technique still apply to digital rear
projection:
Very wide shots are poor can¬
didates for rear projection. As the
screen image needed becomes
big¬
ger, brightness is reduced propor¬
tional to the area of the projection.
NAB 0?
fUlMM EDA
888.444.1812
(A 14' image, about 200 square feet,
isone stop dimmer than a 10'
image,
100 square feet.) We used one
18mm plate for Georgia Rule (page
69) by cheating the lens on the stage
camera to 21mm, shooting forward
from the back seat, with a 16'-wide
image on the screen. The cheat
worked because there was not
enough of the car visible in the fore¬
ground to betray its perspective. For
very wide shots, green- or blue-
screen is the
way to go; in fact, it’s
probably the best choice for any shot
where audience attention will be on
the background image.
Foreground and background
subject matter in the plate will, of
course, be on the same plane (the
screen plane) when re-pho¬
tographed. If the screen is out of
focus, some pleasing depth-of-field
effects in passing objects will be lost.
(This is could be an argument for
using an aperture and focus in plate
www.chimeralighting.com
photography similar to those to be
used onstage, as opposed to the
usual practice of shooting plates in
focus.)
Obviously, the sync of fore¬
ground to background action is
built into the composite and can’t be
easily adjusted in post. The upside is
that the actor can see what’s hap¬
pening on the plate (perhaps with
the help of an off-camera mirror)
and time his actions accordingly.
High and low angles are diffi¬
cult to do with projection, although
the projector beam can be folded
with a mirror to keep the equipment
out of the permanents or a pit.
Although it’s a big timesaver
to shoot front and side plates simul¬
taneously on the camera car (or
even six plates simultaneously, as we
did on The Fast and the Furious), the
side plates will generally look too
fast for the typical dialogue scene.
The traditional practice of discount¬
III ■ THe ART OF LIGHT
Tel: 818-238-1220
ing the car speed of the side plates to
60 percent of the forward speed still
applies; even so, close foreground
bushes and the like may still whip by
disconcertingly fast. When the sub¬
ject matter permits, and it’s not nec¬
essary to sync the projections, the
frame rates can be varied according¬
ly in multi-camera rigs.
A windshield-reflection plate
shot straight up can be projected on
a second, horizontal screen above
the car, but because of glass curva¬
ture, that screen might need to be
quite wide, adding to the lighting
challenge. On Georgia Rule, we had
cloudless skies and no trees over¬
head, so we did not use a windshield
reflection.
For dialogue scenes, it’s
important to avoid jarring bumps
in the background photography,
which really be duplicated or
cannot
synchronized onstage. Unless the
roads on which the plates are shot
LEE Filters
www.leefiltersusa.com
are
glass-smooth, a stabilizer, such as
the Libra Head, is very desirable.
The background has a limited
brightness range compared to the
foreground, so print timing range is
reduced.
Finally, it goes without saying
that the foreground and background
cameras should match in lens focal
length, lens height and lens angle!
The author thanks David
Stump, ASC for invaluable advice,
and Adi Gil of American High
Definition in Van Nuys, California,
for loaning equipment for testing. For
more information on rear-projection
techniques, see the American
Cinematographer Manual. ■
r/ mm WI
"JT 7
■
75
 An

ASC, whose father, Sol, worked as

Hirschfeld’s operator, and who later

gained his first experience with them
as a camera assistant.
“Jerry was a
perfectionist and relentless on the
set. I learned a lot from him.”
When Roizman, a member of
the ASC Awards Committee,
informed Hirschfeld of the Society
honor, “I couldn’t believe I’d heard
Gerald Hirschfeld, ASC earns
correctly,” recalls Hirschfeld. “I
the Society’s Presidents Award for deeply appreciate the honor, and I
also appreciate everything the ASC
exemplary contributions to his craft. has done for me through the years.”
And it has been many years —

by David E. Williams Hirschfeld is today the ASC’s most

senior member, having joined in
It is therefore fitting that 1951.
£ £ JM| inematographer,” “inno- peers.
■ ■ ■ ■ vator” and “teacher” Hirschfeld recently received the ASC
are
During his long career,

ARoSizmCa.n,
all titles that can be used Presidents Award, an honor reserved Hirschfeld compiled more than 40
■ to describe Gerald for individuals who have made feature-film credits, including Fail-
VP Hirschfeld, ASC, who exceptional contributions to Safe (1964); The Incident (1967);

76
throughout his
excelled
to
at
career has not only
his craft but also chosen
share what he has learned with his
advancing the art and craft of film¬
making. “Jerry is the consummate
professional,” says Owen Roizman,
Goodbye, Columbus (1969); Diary of
a Mad
Housewife (1969); Cotton
Comes to Harlem (1970); Young Owen
byPhot
April 2007
 Top: A youthful
Gerald
Hirschfeld, ASC
serves from
directly behind
the camera

whilefilming at
theSignal Corps
Photographic
Center in New
York. Middle:
The young
cameraman

poses. Bottom
(from left): On
Okinawa in April
1945, Hirschfeld,
screenwriter
Claude Binyon,
and
cinematographer
Bill Birch pose
with their
"weapons": Bell
& Howell
Eyemos.

Frankenstein (1974); Two-Minute Born and raised in New York

Warning (1976); Neighbors (1981); City, Hirschfeld was an avid movie¬

My Favorite Year (1982), and To Be goer as a boy and developed an early
or Not To Be (1983). Also interest in photography. “My sister
important
is his pioneering work in commer¬ gave me a home developing kit, so I
cials, an art form that was in part started making my own pictures,”

perfected by his partnership in MPO he says. With her help, he later

Videotronics, which was the world’s began working as an assistant to a
largest commercials-production still photographer in the fashion
house in the 1950s and ’60s. An industry, all the while continuing to
incubator for new talents, the com¬ teach himself everything he could

pany nurtured many cinematogra¬ about his profession. “There were

phers, including future ASC mem¬
bers Roizman, Gordon Willis and
Victor J.
Kemper.
Hirschfeld also spent time as a
filmmaker in residence at the
International Film 8c Television
Workshops in Maine, and authored
the popular textbook Image Control:
Motion Picture and Video Camera
Filters and Lab Techniques. His other
writings include numerous articles
for American Cinematographer
detailing what he had learned on his
latest productions and highlighting
new equipment and techniques.
no film schools in those
days, so I
was
always looking for new books,
new information. I was
pretty much
self-taught. By going to the movies,
I gradually learned the photograph¬
ic styles of all the top Hollywood
cameramen, and I could walk into a
picture that was halfway over and
immediately know who’d shot it. At
the time, cinematographers each
had very distinctive styles that rarely
changed from picture to picture.”
In early 1942, at the age of 19,
Hirschfeld enlisted in the Army. The
technically minded recruit was orig-

American Cinematographer 77
An Exacting Eye
Right: trees in the background. It was very
Hirschfeld
checks his stop
contrasty, so I suggested we reduce
while shooting
that contrast to balance the scene.

the whimsical Leo smiled and said, ‘How would

TV show
you do that?’ I explained that we
Johnny Jupiter
in the 1950s.
could use ND filters and open up
Below: the lens. He’d never heard of that,
Hirschfeld
but we tried it and it worked. Leo
(third from left)
stands next to
was
impressed. Working in New
his mentor, Leo York, we had limited equipment and
Tover, ASC, and had
while
resources to improvise a lot
of stuff. We couldn’t repaint a build¬
celebrating
with the team ing to balance a shot like they might
from Guilty in Hollywood; we had to figure out
Bystander
how to do it in the camera.”
(1950).
During the war, Hirschfeld
went on assignment to Hollywood

and Okinawa. After his discharge, he

continued to do work for the Signal
Corps while shooting freelance
inally selected toserve in a radar- ice as a still
photographer and came commercials. “It was funny, but after
surveillance unit, but was later out a cinematographer.” I got out of the Army I actually had
transferred to the
Signal Corps Tover became Hirschfeld’s to get a draft lottery number,” he

Photographic Center in Long Island mentor. “I started carrying bat¬

out remembers. “I’d never had one!”

City, New York. There he learned the teries and

keeping the camera Hirschfeld earned his first
craft of cinematography while reports as a second assistant,” he feature credit with the low-budget
working on training films and short says. “Then, after working for Leo crime film C-Man (1949), directed
entertainment movies for the on a few pictures, I became a camera by Joseph Lerner and shot in just 11
troops, serving alongside ASC mem¬ operator. I think he appreciated the days. He and Lerner re-teamed for
bers Leo Tover and Stanley Cortez. fact that I really cared — I practiced the equally hard-boiled Guilty
“I’d never seen a motion-picture operating every moment I could. Bystander (1950). “And I never
camera before, but I knew process¬ “On one picture, we were looked back,” says Hirschfeld, whose

ing, composition, exposure and shooting a day exterior with a big credits soon included the influential

lighting,” he says. “I entered the serv¬ white church that had tall green documentary With These Hands
(1950) and the children’s TV series
Johnny Jupiter (1953).
In 1955, it seemed
Hirschfeld’s career was about to

change dramatically, as he was

offered the opportunity to shoot 12
Angry Men for Sidney Lumet. “It
was the week before the Academy

Awards, but then Boris Kaufman

[ASC] won the Oscar for On the
Waterfront, and the powers-that-be
on 12 Angry Men asked, ‘Why are we

hiring Gerald Hirschfeld when we

can hire the
Academy Award win¬
ner?’ It so upset me that I said, ‘To
hell with features.’”
Disappointed, Hirschfeld
concentrated on commercials. “I
started working at MPO

78 April 2007
Videotronics as a freelancer, and white reference on television; if the the stuff. “Jerry kicked me out of the Aided by operator
actor’s face the Sol Roizman (far
they liked my work. It was a great was
lightest object in company and forbade me to work
left) and 1st AC
training ground because we encoun¬ the frame, it would end up looking there until I got more experience,”
Tony Brooke
tered so many varied situations. We like chalk. Knowing that, I always recalls Roizman. “So I did, and I (pulling tape),
had limited equipment and were credit Jerry with inspiring me to Hirschfeld checks
put something lighter in the scene to
his frame during
often working in available light. I serve as the white reference. I also work harder and do better.” the production of
was soon the busiest freelance cam¬ knew TV images didn’t dig into the In 1963, Lumet hired a commercial in
in New York shadows like film did, Hirschfeld shoot Fail-Safe, which the early 1960s.
eraman
City. After a so I lit accord¬ to

while, I was written into the contract ingly.” details thechilling scenario of a way¬
that the ad agencies turned over to MPO soon made Hirschfeld a ward B-52 bomber accidentally

producers. They said, ‘If you win the vice president. “We built six sound- ordered to bomb Moscow, and the
bid on this, we want you to use Jerry stages in the middle of Manhattan in attempts of the U.S. president
Hirschfeld.’” the middle of the ad agencies,” he (Henry Fonda) to prevent a nuclear
Part of Hirschfeld’s success recalls. “We had probably a dozen Armageddon. Hirschfeld wrote
was due to his desire
fully master
to full-time camera crews and the best about the experience in the August
his craft. “In those days, you had to film facility in which to explore new 1963 issue of AC: “The story
understand how film images trans¬ techniques.” Hirschfeld’s crew often demanded stark
photographic
a

lated to TV. I was an avid reader of included operator Sol Roizman, approach. After much thought, I
the SMPTE Journal and technical who soon got son Owen some free¬ decided all the feature characters
books. I learned that because of the lance assistant work at MPO. should be filmed in extreme low-key

exposure system being used, the However, after

observing the light but the sets should be pho¬
lightest-toned object recorded on a younger Roizman on the job, tographed normally. An example is a
frame of film would become the Hirschfeld wasn’t convinced he had scene in which the
president is in his

American Cinematographer 79
An Exacting Eye
Right:
Hirschfeld lines
up a shoton the
Cold War
thriller Fail-Safe
while his 1st
AC, future ASC
member Owen
Roizman, peeks
into the cockpit.
Below: Shooting
on location in
Manhattan,
Hirschfeld sets
his frame and
Roizman assists
while director
Sidney Lumet
makes a point.

craft are projected on wall-sized dis¬

plays. It was up to Hirschfeld to cre¬

ate the live, on-set effect of these
oversized displays, and rearscreen
projection was out of the question
because there wasn’t enough dis¬
tance for the proper throw. “To top

things off, Lumet told me to be pre¬

pared to make 360-degree pans on
this set, which meant no lights could
be on floor stands,” wrote
Hirschfeld.
“The solution was to use front
projection on a flat matte screen, but
that meant keeping the actors and
mike boom out of the projector
beam to prevent their shadows from

ruining the effect. Using a scale ruler,

bomb shelter; the room is lighted included 1st AC Owen Roizman and a
protractor, and lens and projection
relatively bright but he and his operator Al Taffett, one of the field charts, I came up with the
translator appear in semi-silhou¬ biggest also one of the simplest
was answer. The cast would have to stay
ette.” He noted that he believed Fail- to solve —
provided one was ready at least 16' from the screen and the

Safe marked the “first time a feature to approach the dilemma from a projector would have to be elevated
film was
photographed without the completely new angle. Much of the 35' above the stage floor, beaming
use of a
single fill light on a face.” drama takes place in the Strategic down to the screen. With these facts
Although Fail-Safe offered Air Command operations center, a and figures in mind, the set was
numerous photographic challenges futuristic bunker in which maps of designed and constructed.”
to Hirschfeld and his crew, which the world and radar images of air¬ The bulk of Hirschfeld’s light-

80 April 2007
ing was incorporated into the set, the same
way. Writing the book be cinematographers is a relatively
with just a few fixtures overhead. Image Control came about through new
thing,” he continues. “When I
However, given that the projectors my teaching. Using filters and shoot¬ was just
starting out, in the 1940s,
were
only delivering about 9 foot- ing in available light were two things many cinematographers were very
candles of light to the “display” the students always wanted to know protective of their techniques. They
screens, the cinematographer was more about, and there was no practi¬ would never tell you exactly how
forced to illuminate the rest of the cal book on
using filters, so I wrote something was done. But the ASC
scene at low levels to properly
very one. and American Cinematographer
balance the image. Tests revealed that “You have to understand that helped change that, and that exam¬
push-processing his stock would this attitude of sharing information ple has been copied throughout the
allow him to shoot at a stop of f4, the and teaching young people how to industry.” >-
speed of his slowest lens, a 10:1
Angenieux zoom he needed to dra¬
matically pull back from close-ups of
“radar” images to wide shots of the
entire room. “The result [of the lab
process] so enhances the photogra¬
phy that special processing was used
throughout the production, except
for a few exterior scenes,” he wrote.
Asked
today about his work¬
ing relationship with Lumet,
Hirschfeld says, “I liked working
with Sidney. He came from TV, and
he knew how he was going to cut the
film and put it together, because in
live TV you do that on the spot. He
could tell me that he wanted to dolly
from here to there with a 50mm lens.
I was to do the
lighting and he would
design the shots.” The two men
would work together again on the
1972 film Child’s Play, a horror yarn 'AlVff:'’
set in a Catholic school.
Hirschfeld’s article on Fail-
Safe was not the last time his byline
appeared in AC. In June 1965, he
detailed the function and usefulness
of the A-500 Luminance Analyzer. In I ■ ;<:
,•' '*•

November 1967, he
thoughtfully
described the photographic dilem¬
mas
posed by the advent of color TV.
Faced with unique shooting
demands on the sci-fi feature Tlte
Ultimate Warrior (1975), Hirschfeld
teamed with Technicolor to employ a
Road to Metropolis
new latensification-enhancement
process, the use of which he wrote
about in August 1975. “I started
teaching cinematography pretty early
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81
An Exacting Eye tion, train car and other vital set passengers — was mounted atop a
pieces. “My approach to this film heavy-duty rotating platform and
was to strive for the most realistic could be easily pivoted to get the
style of photography possible. Tests correct axis between Hirschfeld’s
were made in black-and-white and camera and his
rear-projection sys¬
then in muted color. No matter how tem. And, despite the somewhat
subdued the color of clothing, shaky and grainy plate photography,
props, and even the actors’ faces the effect worked perfectly. “I antici¬
with pale makeup, the color seemed pated that the dirty car windows
to be a distraction from the overall would hide a multitude of photo¬
somber effect we wished to achieve. graphic sins,” he wrote. “They did.”
It was therefore decided to film the One of Hirschfeld’s first

picture in black-and-white.” Hollywood features was Mel

Using force development to Brooks’ comedy Young Frankenstein
increase contrast also gave (1974), which stars Gene Wilder as
Hirschfeld some added stop,
allow¬ Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, who

ing him to pullan f4 on 80-ASA attempts to re-create his grandfa¬

Double-X stock with just 30 foot- ther’s experiments. “Mel was a real
candles. For lower-light conditions, prankster,” recalls the cinematogra¬
he employed Tri-X, giving him an pher. “When I went in to interview
f2.3 at just 5 foot-candles, and for with him, he started picking apart

extremely dark situations (such as my photography in Diary of a Mad

long shots of subway cars running Housewife. He said, ‘I noticed you
along tracks) he employed a super¬ had some problems on location
fast fb.95 lens. “If you can see it, I with the gels on the windows,
can photograph it,” he told Peerce. because I saw a flicker there.’ I said,
Given that 80 percent of the ‘You saw a flicker?’ He played it
film takes place in a speeding sub¬ down, saying, ‘Yeah, but I know how
way car, it was a given that the tough that is to do.’ I told him that
extensive filming within it would be was very interesting because we

done using rear-projected back¬ weren’t on location — it was a stu¬

grounds and interactive lighting to dio, and there weren’t any gels on
suggest movement. However, the windows. He laughed it off but then
filmmakers were denied permission started picking on other things. I
to photograph the necessary back¬ said, ‘If you’re going to just put my
ground plates aboard actual trains. feet to the fire, there’s no point in my
“I threw away the rule book and being here.” I was about ready to
During filming of Hirschfeld’s next feature was shot all the background material walk when Gene [Wilder] said, ‘Mel,
the 1967 thriller Arriflex
The Incident (1967), an incendiary with an camera, handheld stop kidding him!’ Mel was just
The Incident,
drama directed by Larry Peerce. and hidden in a cardboard box,” pulling my leg to see how I’d react.”
Hirschfeld's
camera is Based harrowing true story, the
on a Hirschfeld wrote, noting that using Young Frankenstein is beloved
wedged into picture begins as two vicious hoods available light forced him to use the for its graphic monochrome pho¬
position for a somewhat grainy Tri-X stock. “I
take in a New (Martin Sheen and Tony Musante) tography, an ode to the horror films
York subway-car commandeer a crowded New York depended on the rocking move¬ of the 1930s and ’40s, but Hirschfeld
replica. City subway car loaded with passen¬ ment of our subway car set to hide notes that he initially reluctant
was
Rearscreen
projection, gers, using fear to control their cap¬ any jiggle of the background film. to go with that look. “It was not my
clever lighting tives. “Obviously, the Transit My assistant and I rode back and decision to shoot it in black-and-
and the white, and Mel also had to fight with
Authority of New York was not forth, pressing the carton against
judicious
happy about having a film of this the car window as we pulled in and the studio about that. He told them,
shaking of the
stage resulted in type made,” Hirschfeld wrote in the out of stations.” The duo was caught ‘Either we do it in black-and-white
the illusion of and ejected three times over four don’t do it.’ Mel and Gene
movement.
May ’68 issue of AC. The Authority’s or we

refusal to cooperate, as well as prac¬ nights of clandestine photography. arranged for me to screen the origi¬
tical considerations, forced the pro¬ The stagebound train-car set nal Frankenstein and Bride of
duction to build its own subway sta¬ —

weighing 7,000 pounds without Frankenstein to remind me of their

82 April 2007
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 An Exacting Eye
Right:
Appropriately
dressed for the
poolside
location,
Hirschfeld k f
checks his
Tj
framing while
shooting the
1969 comedy
Goodbye,
Columbus,
directed by Larry
Peerce (wearing
hat). Seated on
the rail to
Hirschfeld's left
is camera

operator Enrique
"Ricky" Bravo.
The operator
worked with
Hirschfeld on

seven features,
including the
1969 comedy
Mastermind
(below), which
Hirschfeld (right)
and Bravo
(behind camera)
shot on location
in Japan.

look. The problem was how to re¬ You showed me Frankenstein and them I would try several things that
create that look with different lens¬ Bride of Frankenstein, and that’s night, and the next day they could
es, different film stocks and differ¬ what I’m giving you.’ Mel said, tell me which they liked best.”
ent lights than they had used in ‘That’s not what we want. We want Specifically, Hirschfeld fur¬
1932. At the end of the first week of to satirize that look. We want it to be ther exaggerated the backlight and
shooting, Mel and Gene told me more than that.’ I
pointed out that dispensed with midtones through
they were not happy with the look. I nobody had told me that, and Gene force processing to help create high-
said, ‘What are you talking about? acknowledged that was true. I told contrast hilarity. “At the next day’s

dailies, they said, ‘This is more like

it!’ Then the next sequence came

up, and they liked that even better.

Halfway through the picture, Mel
said to me, ‘Jerry, I’m glad I didn’t
fire you four weeks ago.’ I thought,
‘Mel, you’re lucky I didn’t quit,’ but I
didn’t say that!”
During prep, Hirschfeld
worked with makeup artist William
Tuttle to give the Monster (Peter

Boyle) the proper “dead” look by

using a green makeup that would
appear pasty white in black-and-
white. However, his emulsion was

far more sensitive to that hue than

normal flesh tones, demanding that
Hirschfeld carefully control his
lighting and exposure of the charac¬
ter. “Since all good monsters have

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 An Exacting Eye

brings his creature to life. Thanks

to electrical-effects expert Ken
Strickfaden, who had worked on the
Dr. Frederick Von 1931 Frankenstein, the ghoulish
Frankenstein
workshop buzzed and hummed
(Gene Wilder)
with props used on that film as well
brings his
monster (Peter as new
designs. As Hirschfeld wrote,
Boyle) to life in “The climax of this electric circus’
the classic
occurs when Dr. Frankenstein
comedy Young
Frankenstein stands on an
operating platform
(1974). Hirschfeld with the Monster’s prone body and
and director Mel
is hoisted by his assistants ... by
Brooks (far right)
formed a strong chains through the laboratory roof
working into the face of a tremendous light¬
relationship on
the picture. ning storm.”
Bottom: Donning safety goggles,
Hirschfeld Frankenstein calls for Igor to switch
(center)
on the lab machines,
celebrates his activating a
mother's 80th massive electrode through which
birthday on the
life-giving voltage will flow into the
set, aided by
Monster. “This effect was created on
(from left)
Brooks, producer the elevated castle-roof set,” wrote
Michael Hirschfeld. “The special-effects
Gruskoff, actress
Madeline Kahn team, on cue, started throwing
and Wilder. switches and an arc startedjump
to

from the electrode, positioned right

over the Monster, a mere 2 feet from
Gene. It started growing in power
and size until 500,000 volts were

crackling through the air!”

Young Frankenstein was a
massive hit, and Hirschfeld and
Brooks, friends to this day, later re¬
larger-than-normal frontal lobes, not too easy to do, but the look was teamed on the period comedy To Be
ours was no exception,” Hirschfeld Not To Be
right.” or (1983). Wilder also
wrote in AC (July ’74). “In order to Production
designer Dale brought Hirschfeld aboard to shoot
bring out those protuberances and Hennesy also created something the Hollywood send-up The World’s
throw the eyes into monstrous shad¬ monstrous with his sets for Greatest Lover (1977). “Gene had
ows, his key light was kept very high, Frankenstein’s castle, especially the asked lot of questions on Young
me a

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86 April 2007
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 An Exacting Eye
Filming the 1976 Hirschfeld. To that end, he
thriller Two-
designed
Minute an apparatus incorporating a real
Warning, rifle scope that could be attached to
Hirschfeld
the front of the camera and swung
(background,
left) and up into position by an assistant in
director Larry the midst of a subjective shot. The
Peerce look on
clever device magnified the subject
while on

location at the and also had crosshair markings,

Los Angeles creating the illusion of the sniper’s
Memorial
view. However, given the light loss
Coliseum. The
action unfolds created by the placement of the
as a deranged
scope in front of the lens and the
sniper terrorizes shift in magnification, another assis¬
a crowd of
football fans. tant had to simultaneously pull
Hirschfeld and focus and stop precisely as the rig
Peerce also
teamed for The
was
swung into place. “There were
Incident; three people working for each of
Goodbye, those shots,” says Hirschfeld. “The
Columbus
era placement, and I could tell he and John Cassavetes) track a operator [Owen Marsh] was really
(1969); The Bell
Jar (1979); Why was
preparing himself to direct,” deranged sniper who is terrorizing on the spot. In the first scene we shot

Would I Lie? recalls Hirschfeld. 90,000 football fans in the Los with it, two people on bicycles are
(1980) and The In 1976, Hirschfeld and the sniper’s targets, and they were
Neon
Angeles Memorial Coliseum. “I
Empire
Peerce collaborated on the thriller wanted to photograph the point of easily a quarter-mile away from the
(1989).
Two-Minute Warning, in which view of the sniper as he lifts up and camera position. He was
supposed
police detectives (Charlton Heston looks through his rifle’s scope,” says to put the crosshairs on one of the

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people’s shoulders, but on the first
take they ended up on the actor’s
behind instead. So we did it over.”
Hirschfeld’s drive for perfec¬
tion cemented his reputation not
only as a top-notch cinematograph¬
er, but also as one of the toughest to
work for. “I was pretty tough, that’s
true,” he says today. “But it was only
because I was always trying to push
“One of the first things I did during
prep was ask the director, ‘What do
you see regarding the look of the
film?’ Sometimes they had a picture
or a
painting we could use as a refer¬
ence. On [the 1989 TV movie] The
Neon Empire, Larry Peerce said, ‘I
can’t tell you the look I want, but I
want it to feel hot.’ Some directors
would say, ‘Why don’t you come up

myself, to learn and be a better cine¬ with something, and we’ll talk about

matographer, and I expected the it?’ The director’s job

is mainly to get
same work ethic from everyone the best performance out of the
around me.” He recalls working with actors. I enjoyed working on a pic¬

actor Yul Brenner on The Ultimate ture when I wasn’t given too much

Warrior: “I’d heard horror stories information. That put the ball in my
about Yul and how hard he could be court and made me feel even more

on crews, so I asked him about it. He responsible to do the very best I

said, ‘Yes, I am, if they don’t know could.” ■
how to do their jobs correctly.’ Yul
and I became very good friends on
that picture.”
Building a strong creative On location for the Western Doc (1971)— concerning the exploits
ofWyatt Earp and Doc Holliday — Hirschfeld (front, left) strikes a
relationship with his director was confident pose with director Frank Perry. In the background are
always a priority for Hirschfeld. operator Enrique Bravo (left) and 1st AC Alec Hirschfeld.

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89
 Sundance ’07 offers an array of indie projects
with potent visuals.

by Rachael K. Bosley, Jay Holben, Jean Oppenheimer, Stephen Pizzello and Patricia Thomson

family; Passos won her award for Dawn Hudson; and National Public
Benoit Debie and Brazilian Send A Bullet (Manda Bala), a doc¬ Radio correspondent Elvis Mitchell.

Belgian cinematographer
cinematographer
Passos, ABC won

matography prizes at this

year’s Sundance Film Festival — a
testament, perhaps, to the event’s
Heloisa
the cine¬
umentary

Dramatic
The
about pervasive
tion in Brazil.
corrup¬

jury for the festival’s

Competition lacked a cin¬
ematographer for the first time in
The jury for the Documen¬
tary Competition comprised film¬
makers Alan Berliner, Lewis Erskine,
Lauren Greenfield, Julia Reichert
and Carlos Sandoval.

global reach. Debie actually won his quite a few years. Its members were AC caught up with Debie,
prize for a U.S. production, Joshua, filmmakers Sarah Polley, Catherine Passos, and four other cinematogra¬
which focuses on a diabolical child’s Flardwicke and Pamela Martin; phers who created some of the festi¬
efforts to reconfigure his immediate Film Independent executive director val’s
most memorable images.

90 April 2007
 Joshua
Cinematographer:
Benoit Debie
Director: George Ratliff

Parents’ worst fears are chill¬

ingly realized in Joshua, a nerve-jan¬
gling drama that earned Benoit
Debie this year’s Excellence in
Cinematography prize in Sun¬
dance’s Dramatic Competition.
All seems well when we first
meet the Cairns, prosperous
Manhattanites who enjoy all the
city’s perks. Sam (Sam Rockwell) is a
Wall Street broker at the top of his
game, which allows his wife, Abby
(Vera Farmiga), to serve as a stay-at-
home mom in the couple’s luxuri¬
ous apartment near Central Park. 21,” notes Debie, now 40. “In the George was very interesting,” Debie Opposite: Joshua
Their precocious son, Joshua (Jacob submits. “Because of his documen¬ (Jacob Kogan)
beginning, I was more interested in assesses some
Kogan), is a piano prodigy who still photography than movies. I was tary background, he can adapt very home-movie
attends a posh private school. But fascinated by things like the ambi¬ quickly to things that happen during footage of his
when Abby gives birth to a baby girl, ence of the city at night or at dawn. a shoot. That was tormented
good, because we mother (Vera
a
strange tension descends on the But after that, I began to learn about shot the film in just 25 days! If we
Farmiga) in a
household. The infant bawls at all cinema.” didn’t have time to shoot everything scene from
we had planned for a Joshua. This
hours, sending Abby into an emo¬ Evidently, Debie was a quick day, he was able
page: The boy's
tional tailspin. As Sam tries to cope, study. After graduating from IAD, he to change course very quickly. It was
father (Sam
he begins to notice that Joshua’s logged two years as a camera assis¬ also a nice partnership in other ways. Rockwell)
tant before advancing to the rank of Some directors don’t like to have becomes
increasingly odd behavior seems a

linked to a series of unsettling inci¬ director of photography on televi¬

increasingly
huge cooperation with the cine¬ concerned about
dents, including the sudden death of sion shows for French channel Canal matographer, but he was very atten¬ his son's actions
the family dog. After Abby suffers a Plus and tive and interested in what I had in the wake of a
Belgian channel RTL TVI. to

bSLDSFPAeeiacoprocaTocthsuntrluiiOygxrdfntts..esy
new sibling's
nervous breakdown, Sam is forced During that period, he shot some say.” birth.
to confront the situation head-on, short films that drew the attention of Debie impressed with the
was

with horrifying consequences. provocative French director Gaspar film’s script, but had some practical
For Debie, the Sundance prize Noe, who subsequently hired Debie concerns about the material. “I have
was a welcome addition to his to help him shoot the controversial two children of my own, so I could
Eurocentric resume. A native of 2002 feature Irreversible (see AC really relate to this type of story.
Belgium, he earned the 2004 Best April ’03). Debie he was excited
says FFowever, I thought it would be a dif¬
Cinematography Award at the to start his career with
an envelope¬ ficult film to make unless they found
Stockholm Film Festival for the fea¬ pushing director on a daring picture. a very
good kid to play Joshua. It’s not
ture Innocence, and was nominated “It was not an easy project, but it was easy to find really good child actors.
for Joseph Plateau Award (Best
a
my type of movie,” he asserts. “I def¬ Fortunately, Jacob is very talented; he
Belgian Cinematography) for the initely like that kind of edgy look learned fast and was very precise
thriller Calvaire (a.k.a. The Ordeal). and director.” about everything to do with his char¬
“I’m really upbeat about the Joshua also offered Debie the acter. He didn’t play the piano when

Sundance award,” he enthuses. “I’ve opportunity to create a distinctive he was cast in the role, but he took

Whilden,
worked mainly in Europe, so it’s nice visual style with an adventurous some lessons, and within a few weeks
to win prize in the U.S.”
a partner. The film’s director, George he could actually play the main
song

bJophoyts
The cinematographer learned Ratliff, is a former documentary that’s featured in the movie. That
his craft at the Institut des Arts de filmmaker whose appreciation for allowed us always show his hands
to

Diffusion (IAD) in Belgium. “I French thrillers led him to Debie’s on the keys.”
Joshua began my studies there when I was work. “My collaboration with To give Joshua an ominous

American Cinematographer 91
Peak Screenings in Park City
Joshua director used a lot of blue, with pictures of
of photography fish on the walls. To enhance that
Benoit Debie,
pictured at work aquarium feel, I thought about using
on another some black light, and I did some tests

project. during prep. It was a nice look, and to

justify it I put a small black light in
the glass box containing Joshua’s pet
guinea pig.”
For a key scene in which

Joshua sabotages his own perform¬

ance during a piano recital at school,

Debie had to confront the ultimate

cinematographer’s nightmare: a
large, empty space with entirely white
walls. “The piano recital was shot at a
real school near Central Park, but the
presence, the filmmakers often kept In fact, nearly all of Debie’s auditorium was not so nice. It was

Kogan stationary in the frame, loom¬ lighting for the apartment’s main difficult to think of
good way to
a

ing in either the foreground or back¬ rooms was generated by fixtures light that sequence. On the day of the
ground; at other times, they would positioned outside the windows. “It shoot, I decided to use reddish light
position him behind objects or peo¬ was a huge dance outside with all of and keep things very dark so you

ple so he could pop into view with¬ this equipment. For the living-room wouldn’t see that much of the actual
out warning. “George wanted the boy scenes, wehad to see Manhattan out¬ setting. I didn’t light the walls, and to
to look a bit like a mummy,” Debie side the windows, so we used a big light the piano on the stage I used
offers. “Sometimes I add an eyelight TransLite that we lit separately. three or four overhead Source Four
to a main character, but in this I
case Between the TransLite and the win¬ Lekos gelled with Primary Red.”
didn’t because we wanted to make dow, we had huge white bounce to
a Debie shot Joshua in the stan¬
Joshua appear mysterious and carry the other lighting into the dard 1.85:1 format, using an Arri
malevolent.” room. To generate that illumination, 535B equipped with Zeiss Ultra
Most of the movie is set in the we’d use either a 6K or 12K Cinepar Primes and, occasionally, an
Cairns’ apartment, which appears to FIMI. Even the lighting for the close- Angenieux Optimo zoom. The
be in the heart of Manhattan. The ups was generated mainly from out¬ Cairns’ home movies were actually
location actually an old house in
was side. The bounce material was never shot by Rockwell with a consumer-
Queens. “The art department that close to the actors because I grade DV camera owned by Ratliff.
changed all the walls and everything don’t like to light frontally; I prefer to “George initially asked me to shoot
else, so it was more like working in a light actors from the side or the back. that stuff, but I decided to let Sam do
studio,” notes Debie. In order to facil¬ I used the light from outside [for it to create a more authentic home-
itate the look he had in mind, Debie close-ups] as well, to maintain the movie look,” Debie reveals. “To me
worked closely with the show’s pro¬ same direction and good contrast. that was
interesting, because
more

duction designer, Roshelle Berliner. “My approach to daytime Sam was

acting with Vera and shoot¬
“It’s always really important to me to scenes in the master bedroom was
ing at the same time. It seemed more
work with the production designer to similar — indirect light off a big natural.”
find the best colors for everything — white or silver bounce. I never used Debie employed Kodak
the walls, the floor, and sometimes anything else inside the rooms. For Vision2 500T 5218 for interiors and
even theceiling, because I occasional¬ night scenes in the bedroom, I tried Vision2 250D 5205 for exteriors. To
ly like to bounce light off the ceiling. to create a yellowish, sodium look by further enhance the film’s look in
On Joshua, the ceilings were usually using an uncorrected sodium light. I post, Debie huddled with color timer
white, but I asked Roshelle to keep often use uncorrected sodium for Kenny Becker at Deluxe Laboratories
the walls a very dark and glossy street scenes as well because I like to in Fiollywood. The show’s modest

green. The main hallway we used was keep the real color of the bulbs.” budget precluded the use of a digital
so shiny it became like a big mirror, Debie fashioned a more styl¬ intermediate, the two opted to
so
which allowed me to light it with ized look for Joshua’s bedroom. gradually increase contrast photo-
reflections coming from windows in “Roshelle suggested we make his chemically, applying Deluxe’s propri¬
the rooms along the hall.” room look like an aquarium, so we
etary silver-retention processes to the

92 April 2007
 P+S TECHNIK®
Professional Cine Equipment Manufacture
positive print. Becker explains, “The tion that saturates the Brazilian capi¬
negative was shot and developed tal of Sao Paulo, and the trickle-

normally, but when we made the down effect it has on the country as a
prints, reels 1 and 2 were treated nor¬ whole.
mally; reels 3 and 4 were done with Shot by Heloisa Passos, ABC,
the ACE process, which desaturates
the colors and boosts the contrast
level; and reels 5 and 6 treated
the film opens on a frog farm, which
turns out to be the base of a massive Visualize
were money-laundering operation run by
with the CCE process, which takes
that look even further. ACE affects
one of the country’s most powerful
and corrupt politicians. Interviewees
your dreams
the blacks and the shadows, and by include kidnapping victims, kidnap¬
Visit us at NAB 2007
the time you get to CCE, you’ve pers, and the doctors behind the booth no. C8828D
opened up the whites and the blacks, hottest new cosmetic-surgery trend
creating a more monochromatic in Sao Paulo: ear reconstruction for
look. In terms of the enhancement, it kidnap victims who’ve had their ears
was
basically a progression from 0 cut off.
35BL &Vo(utlOfl
percent to 50 percent to 100 percent. Send a Bullet was directed by
Normally the silver gets washed out first-timer Jason Kohn, who was a
of the prints, but we can leave it in research assistant on Errol Morris’
there to boost the blacks. It’s a grad¬ Academy Award-winning documen¬ 16SR Gvolutf’on
ual progression, so it’s nothing view¬ tary The Fog of War. “When Jason
ers can
put their fingers on.” Debie first came to me, he had so many dif¬
adds, “When we watched reels 1 and ferent ideas he wanted to cover, and
6 back to back, we could really see the we had no idea how they would all fit Cine accessories
difference in the look, but over the together,”
says Passos, who lives and
course of the movie you don’t notice works in Brazil. “For me, this movie
the change. I find the look of 5218 a was one big puzzle. It’s a very impor¬ Camera &
bit soft, and it’s difficult to maintain tant film about
justice, impunity, the Magazine Service
strong blacks. With the processes we contrast between rich and poor, kid¬

used, I could change that, so that napping, corruption, and, of course,

©&p)®f7’scope
stock was a good choice for this violence.”
movie; it allowed me to maintain a Passos began studying pho¬
softer, more colorful look at the tography at age 18. “I had a small
beginning and then adjust the look black-and-white lab in the bathroom
as the of my
story progressed. Of course, it parents’ house. I was the rebel
was
important to keep those process¬ in my family, and photography was mini35
es in mind
during the shoot, because my way of discovering the world.”
I had to adjust my approach on the After working as a lighting designer
set. I made some adjustments to my for theater productions in her home¬
lighting to tweak the contrast a bit.” town of Curitiba, she participated in
pro35
Joshua will be theatrically a
cinematography workshop and
released by Fox Searchlight. began working as a camera assistant.
Stephen Pizzello
—

Seven years later, she earned the rank 5 KRTE R*

of cinematographer. Send a Bullet is
Send a Bullet (Manda Bala) her second feature documentary.

Cinematographer: Passos learned of the project at

Heloisa Passos, ABC a social occasion. “I met Jason’s =i krteR
EB C CD R E
Director: fason Kohn father at a party in Sao Paulo,” she
recalls. “He told me his son was com¬

Winner of the Excellence in ing to Brazil to shoot a documentary liieiBBcam

Cinematography Award and the on political
corruption, and I said I HS-1
Grand Jury Prize in the documen¬ was very interested in
working on it.
tary category, Send a Bullet (Manda Two months later, Jason contacted
Bala) chronicles the political corrup¬ me, and we met at my house. We
www.pstechnik.de
 Peak Screenings in Park City watt Pocket Par HMIs, and, on a day-
play basis, 1200- and 2500-watt HMI
Pars. She also carried an assortment

of mirrors and reflectors. Her crew

consisted of two camera assistants

and an electrician most of the time.
For larger setups involving a crane or
camera car, she had a second electri¬
cian and two grips, and she also had a
Steadicam (operated by Fabio
Porcelli) for one day.
“My main challenge was to
adapt myself to the conditions of each
location to get the best images we
could,” she explains. “I believe that’s
necessary in order to get good docu¬
Above: A frame found that we shared a lot of affini¬ 16mm with anamorphic lenses. The mentary images. I was always work¬
from Send a

Bullet (Manda
ties painters, contemporary art,
—
support I had from [Brazilian post ing to see the beautiful compositions
and even books. We just hit it off.” house] Teleimage was so important in each situation, and I had to impro¬
Bala) illustrates
one of the The filmmakers shot Send a at that time; together we determined vise to create a visual style that would
documentary's Bullet five years, how to crop and get the ideal aspect help make the story more interesting
narrative
over whenever
financing permitted; the total shoot ratio, and they also transferred some than actual reality. I love to do this. In
threads: a frog
farm used time was about seven weeks. In the test footage to 35mm for me.” each place we shoot, I try to discover
for money the most cinematic way to cover that
first phase of production, in 2002, Budget constraints in the third
laundering.
Below: The film's Passos and Kohn decided to shoot in and final phase of shooting made situation. That’s my style, and I do my
cinematographer, anamorphic 16mm, using an Arri anamorphic lenses an impossibility, best to follow my intuition.
Heloisa Passos, “On Send
16SR-3. “During preproduction, we so that portion was shot in Super a Bullet, we were
ABC.
saw Caspar Noe’s film I Stand Alone, 16mm with 35mm Zeiss Ultra Prime always mixing natural daylight with
our film
and Jason and I both loved the aspect lenses, composed for the favored lighting, and I worked to cre¬
ratio,” says the cinematographer, 2.70:1 ratio of 16mm
aspect ate a simple yet elegant style for the

who notes that she and Kohn want¬ anamorphic. (16mm has a camera film,” she continues. “Of course, the
ed to avoid giving their project a aperture of .404" x .295", which with challenge came as we lost daylight
verite feel. “We did some research a 2xanamorphic lens creates an and had to balance out the look with¬
and found they’d shot 16mm
out aspect ratio of 2.74:1. Super 16mm out unnecessarily interrupting the
anamorphic, and Jason told me we has a camera aperture of .493" x interviews. My electrician and I
could get special [Millennium] .292", creating a super-wide anamor¬ would work very fast to refine the

anamorphic lenses for 16mm from phic aspect ratio of 3.38:1.) In the look and keep shooting.”
end, the filmmakers decided to crop One example of her dynamic

bJFPFKordaiaplocsme/hImoyugtrf.t.esy
Joe Dunton Cameras in England. We
started the film that way, and for the the Super 16mm anamorphic and lighting style is a sequence set in the
second phase of production, after spherical Super 16mm (1.69:1) operating room where a cosmetic
testing, I decided to shoot in Super footage to match the anamorphic surgeon is performing an ear recon¬
16mm, resulting in a final aspect struction. “When we first entered the
ratio of 2.70:1. “The 2.70:1 ratio room, I had it bright,” recalls Passos. “I
works very nicely with two people in measured all the room lights and
the same frame,” notes Passos. “For decided to use the Cool White tubes
most of the interviews, we were able in the room, plus two Wall-O-Lites
to put the interviewer and the trans¬ during the beginning of the proce¬
lator in the same frame.” dure and the administering of the
Passos carried a small lighting anesthesia. As soon as the surgery

fBragumleebt
package and usually lit interiors to started, I decided to go starker. The
match the ambient daylight. Her doctor switched off the room lights,
gear consisted of two 4' 4-bank Kino so I turned off the Kino Flos and shot

only by the light of the surgery lamp.

Seand
Flos, two Kino Flo Wall-O-Lites, one
400-watt Dedo HMI, two Arri 125- I got a very beautiful result shooting

94 April 2007
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Peak Screenings in Park City
with Kodak [Vision2 500T] 7218 — Red Road played by the same actor, and all three
the black is so black. Before we got into Cinematographer: films would be set in Glasgow.
this situation, Jason and I had been Robbie Ryan There were also some technical

discussing the Renaissance painters,
and we achieved a look very close to
that! We definitely got a very impres¬
sive sequence out of it.” (She shot
other portions of the film on Eastman
EXR 50D 7245, Vision 250D 7246
Vision2 250D 7205.)
The production occasionally
put Passos, Kohn and crew in harms
way. In the slums of Sao Paulo, the
team interviewed one of Brazil’s polit¬
Director: Andrea Arnold
“In Britain, you can
be filmed
300 times day by closed-circuit TV
a
[CCTV] cameras,” says Robbie Ryan,
and director of photography on Red
Road, a film that uses the surveillance
apparatus as a key story element.
Indeed, no other country has such a
pervasive network of CCTV cameras
—
specifications. Zentropa would pro¬
vide lighting, sound and camera
equipment, which meant the cine¬
matographers would have no say
about format or camera. Ryan recalls
that because Red Road would be his
first HD feature, he “wanted to try out
the different cameras, especially Arris
D20 and Panavision’s Genesis, but I
was told no.”Zentropa provided a

ically motivated kidnappers. “The
room was about 3 meters square with
a large window, through which we
could see a sea of roofs in the favela
[slum],” says the cinematographer. For
safety’s sake, they pared the crew down
to Passos, Kohn, a producer and a
there are about 300,000 of them Sony HDW-750. “At the end of the
in the U.K. “Britain has embraced day it worked out beneficially, because
surveillance cameras to appease peo¬ Zentropa has made quite a lot of films
ple’s fear of crime,” says Ryan, a long¬ with that camera equipment, and
time London resident. “It’s a double- they’ve gotten the mechanics of it
edged sword. A lot of crimes are down,” says Ryan. A Zentropa techni¬
solved a lot quicker, but it also feeds cal adviser spent two days helping the
the paranoia.” crew set up and provided a memory

loader. Passos lit the scene herself with Red Road tells the story of card that adjusted all the camera’s sys¬
her two of the 125-watt Pocket Pars. Jackie (Kate Dickie), a quiet, aloof tems. “I was in his hands,” says Ryan.

After the interview, “we went down woman who works for a surveillance “He showed me the menus, and told
the street with thekidnapper and firm in Glasgow. Day after day, she me to remember this and that.”
shared a beer,” says Passos. “He doesn’t sits before a bank of monitors watch¬ Beyond this, Arnold and Ryan
normally go outside during the day ing the goings-on around Red Road, had total control of thepicture’s visu¬
because he is a wanted man. When we a low-income housing project, and al design. “Andrea wanted two worlds:
were
walking the streets, someone alerting police whenever there’s sus¬ one was the surveillance cameras, and
must have seen him and
recognized picious or violent activity. One day, the other wasJackie’s world from
him.” After returning to the kidnap¬ she recognizes a man whom she’d Jackie’s point of view,” says Ryan. The
per’s house, they saw on his security thought was in prison. She begins latter mandated a lot of over-the-
monitors that police had pulled up in compulsively tracking his activities, shoulder shots. “We stuck to one or

front of the building. “There was very both through CCTV and in person. two lenses all the time —
usually an
high danger for the crew to be associ¬ She gradually inserts herself into his 18mm and a 35mm — because it was
ated with the kidnapper,” says Passos. life, pursuing a course of vengeance very much as Jackie would perceive it.
Luckily, the police did not raid the that remains mysterious until the This was a device, but it’s also a very

building, and soon left the area with¬ film’s denouement. pure way of looking at something.” It
out further incident. “After they left, Red Road is the first of three also helped the filmmakers keep to
we stayed another hour at the house, hi-def (HD) video features to come their 30-day schedule. “By choosing
and we were very scared that we would out of the Advance
Party, a partner¬ this style, you’ve got what you need,
run into the police on our way back.” ship between Lars von Trier’s and you don’t have to cover it in other
Postproduction for Send a Zentropa in Denmark and Sigma ways,” he notes.
Bullet was done at Goldcrest in New Films in Glasgow. All three projects To Ryan’s relief, he could use
York. The footagescanned at 3K
was are
by first-time feature directors and Zeiss Distagon primes, thanks to a
on an Arriscan and
sub-sampled to 2K producers. Red Road director Andrea P+S Technik adapter provided by
10-bit log DPX frames. The final Arnold first collaborated with Ryan Zentropa. This allowed him to
color-correction was done on a on
Wasp, her Oscar-winning short achieve shallow, film-like depth of
Quantel iQ with Pablo by colorist film. Like the Dogma95 films pro¬ field. “I thought HD would be a
John Dowdell. The 1080p 23.98 D-5 duced by Zentropa, the Advance harsher format, but luckily, with the
master was converted to 1080i Party projects had to follow certain lens adapter, everything clicked into
HDCam for digital projection at rules: each director was given seven place,” he says. Another feature he
Sundance. characters to incorporate into his used to his advantage was the
—

Jay Holben script, each character would be adapter’s variable aperture. “It helps

96 April 2007
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 Peak Screenings in Park City
Near right: A
CCTV operator
(Kate Dickie)
takes a

dangerous path
when she enters
a subject's life
in Red Road.
Far right: One
of the CCTV
cameras

captures
cinematographer
Robbie Ryan as
he films Dickie.

was more than just story—I tried to

use it also as a way of reflecting
Jackie’s emotional state. Because we
were always filming the footage off
you to do fades within the camera in a rowdy soccer games, for instance). the monitors, it degraded a little any¬

way that’s so subtle you don’t notice
them. It was useful for shots like when
Jackie is at the flat and goes over to the
window to look at the view. Normally,
the window would be blown out, but
because there’s another aperture ring I
could
change exposure. It’s subtle; you
think your eye is just getting used to
the light.”
The CCTV universe posed the
Mounted on a long periscope in way, but we experimented with film¬
unmarked casing, the CCTV camera ing some of it a few times so it
could swivel and zoom. Ryan degraded a little more. This was
manned the joystick inside the van, especially true with the close-ups,
with Arnold providing a play-by- which had a painterly quality when
play of the characters’ thoughts. For filmed and re-filmed.”
Ryan, the electronic joystick was For the final
phase, in order to
essential to realistically reproducing make it appear as though Jackie was
surveillance footage. “The motion following people from one screen to
has a jerkiness to it, and it’s hard to another in real time, the filmmakers

greatest technical challenges. This replicate that electronic feel [by had to edit the CCTV footage and
footage was shot first because the hand],” he says. The remote setup create tapes specifically for each of
characters had to watch it and react to also impacted the actors’ work; “For the 27 monitors, which were linked
it.Originally, the filmmakers imag¬ them, it was almost like theater, to a bank of Beta decks. Then, when
ined Ryan would climb to the top of a because they didn’t know where the a scene with Jackie was shot, a tech-
ladder with a normal video camera to camera was. We could have been nician-cum-runner had to switch on

shoot the surveillance footage. anywhere from 20 feet to 200 feet all theplayback units on cue. “It was
Instead, they were able to use an actu¬ away, and they didn’t know whether quite a technical feat,” says Ryan.
al CCTV camera provided by a the camera was panning, or whether “Just rewinding the tapes and mak¬
Glasgow security company. “Those it was even on.” ing sure the actor was watching the
cameras are really high-powered — Recording footage in the field right monitor at the right time was
you can zoom from the top of an was
just the first step. Ryan and time-consuming. And we had only
office tower almost into somebody’s Arnold wanted to degrade the sur¬ five days to shoot that whole CCTV
wristwatch on the street 20 floors veillance material in order to height¬ sequence. It was quite tight with all

TFHaiolocmrrtunsfnel.sy,y
below,” says Ryan. “I thought the en the differences between it and the the people in that small room, so it

image would be really grainy black-
and-white, the usual way CCTV is
shown in films, but the images actual¬
ly have very good color, are very high-
quality, and work well in really low
main footage. Step two was to re-film got a little tense.” Fortunately,
all the CCTV rushes using the HD Arnold knew it was essential to
camcorder. Filming off a CCTV include all 26 monitors only in one
monitor and recording onto Beta, establishing shot. “They realized it
Ryan would often zoom into the would be crazy to continue this for

light — better than anything I’ve ever monitor by as much as 70 percent, long,” says Ryan. “After that, we see
seen. It’s almost like an infrared image, picking up details that Jackie would maybe six or 10 screens at once.”

bRophaoytds
but with full color.” intently study as part of the scene. Watching the DVD rushes
To position the Ryan
camera, Sometimes he used diopters to fur¬ after the security-office scenes came
used the van that the
security firm ther magnify parts of the image. together, “I began to think, ‘This
Arnold notes, “The CCTV footage could work,”’ recalls Ryan. “You’re Red
keeps as a backup mobile unit (during

98 April 2007
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 Peak Screenings in Park City
fascinated by Jackie watching the we
dolly and started
got rid of the peratures so it would feel as real as
screen and her reactions to it.” Like getting into handheld, and when possible. For example, in the shot
Sophie’s world got really crazy I was where Jihah’s in the deli and Sophie’s
Arnold, Ryan had been transfixed the
first time he visited a real
monitoring running full-speed down the street outside, following him, our interior
station and people go about their
saw after the actors with the camera on lighting was a mix of standard fluo-
rescents gelled with a bit of green
business onscreen, unaware they were my shoulder.I was really glad to have
second operator, Albino Marsetti, and a bit of blue and tungsten ICino
being watched. “For me, the closest a

to share the load.” An Arricam Flos gelled with Lee 242 [Tungsten
parallel is Rear Window, but in that
film the main character was just look¬ Studio was used for most of the to Fluorescent 4300°K], and then we
shoot. “We started off with the also had the daylight outside, and a
ing out onto his backyard, whereas
Jackie has the whole of Glasgow. [Arricam] Lite, but in small locations little skip coming in from the
sun

the sound adamant that he front via headboard to help light the
Watching that gets very addictive. man was

When I realized that, I knew we’d be could hear it — I

was using Fuji rest of the store. There are four dif¬
[Eterna 400T 8583], which is typical¬ ferent color temperatures in that one
okay.”
—

Patricia Thomson ly louder in the Lite for some reason frame. That sort of thing freaks the
—

so we switched to the Studio. color timer out completely, but it

Never Forever “The Eterna has a smoothness feels very natural.”

Cinematographer:
Matthew Clark
Director: Gina Kim
A naturalistic, intimate feel
FVNKJainloaocgmi-mwxnuwos3dfrt.ke,sy
that worked well for the combina¬ It took several weeks to find
tion of Vera’s, David’s and Jung- the film’s two key locations: Sophie’s
woo’s skin tones,” he continues. “We house and Jihah’s apartment. “Gina
knew we wanted push [the stock]
to and I talked a lot about how we
was toget some grain, but we didn’t want coulduse space to help tell the story,”

the goal on Gina Kim’s Never Forever, any extra contrast. By pushing a low- saysClark. “We wanted to be able to
which con stock one stop, we were able to move throughout the house and the
depicts a housewife’s emotion¬
al awakening in the arms of a near maintain the smoothness we want¬ apartment to establish those spaces,
ed. Pushing also added a little and wanted to make creative use
stranger. Set in New York City, the
we

warmth to the highlights and a little of doorways and other frames with¬
story follows Sophie (Vera Farmiga),
who secretly hires a young Korean, cyan to the shadows. We wanted to in the [1.85:1] frame.” The house

bFoprheovyts
Jihah (Jung-woo Ha), to impregnate mix some lighting and make the film was found in Brooklyn, the apart¬
her after her attempts to conceive a feel very open, very natural. ment in Chinatown. “The apart¬

child with her Korean-American hus¬ “I didn’t want this to be a per¬ ment was a third-floor walkup on
band, Andrew (David Mclnnis), fail. fect 3200°K- or 5600°K-balanced Henry Street, and as soon as Gina
Sophie and Jihah rendezvous in his film — I wanted to mix color tem¬ and I saw it we knew it was the Never
tiny Chinatown apartment, and their
perfunctory sexual encounters even¬
tually lead to genuine intimacy; by the
time Sophie becomes pregnant, she
and Jihah are in love. “It’s a very sim¬
ple story, one that could have slipped
over the line and become too melo¬
dramatic, so we knew we had to make
it feel very immediate for the audi¬
ence,” says cinematographer Matthew
Clark. “We needed to establish a sense

of intimacy and make the audience a

part of it.”
Clark’s operating skills, which
In her he has honed on a number of East
comfortable
suburban home,
Coast productions over the years,
Sophie (Vera
were integral to this approach. “We
Farmiga) started off with a more stationary
contemplates the camera to suggest the stagnant feel of
unusual direction
her life is taking Sophie’s life with Andrew,” he recalls.
in Never Forever. “But after the first week of shooting

100 April 2007

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Peak Screenings in Park City
Never Forever
director of
photography
Matthew Clark
(left) and gaffer
Jason Valez
plan their
strategy in the
tiny Chinatown
apartment that
served as a key
location.
place,” Clark. “The producers
says
were concerned that
we might not
have the time and space we needed to
do what we needed to do there, and
they talked about building [an apart¬
ment set], but on a low-budget film
there’s something about a built set that
doesn’t really do it. We felt everything
needed to be organic, even though it
would take some sacrifices. Our goal
was to step back and let the actors do
their thing.”
During prep, Clark and gaffer
Jason Valez spent time in the locations
“just watching how the light hap¬
pened, and figuring out how to bring
it up just enough that we could shoot
it,” says the cinematographer. “We shot
the whole movie at a T2.8. My focus
puller, George Hennah, was a god¬
send.”
Jihah’s apartment, the crew
In
positioned two 6Ks on a Condor out¬
side the window, one keying through
the window and the other bouncing
around inside for fill. “Inside, we used
afew Kino Flos [for day scenes] or
China balls [for night],” adds Clark.
On one occasion, the Condor was out
of commission during filming of a day
scene, one of Sophie and Jihah’s early
sexual encounters. “On a 25-day
schedule you can’t stop shooting, and
it just so happened that the sun was
out and hitting the windows at that
moment,” recalls Clark. “I asked Gina
if we could move Jihah’s bed a little
closer to the window so we couldkeep
going, and she said sure. Without the
102 April 2007
and let the rest of us grow into it, too.”
The Zeiss Superspeed lenses
Clark used on the show were man¬
dated by the budget — he would have
preferred the newer and more expen¬
sive Cooke S4s — but he soon found
ways to take advantage of their
unique characteristics. “Superspeeds
are slightly soft and flare a bit, and
sometimes I was able to use that,
especially in the scene where Sophie
and Jihah really make love for the first
time. We were on a long lens, and it
was a very tight shot and as they fin¬
ished she looked up at the sky out the
6Ks there’s a little less
sparkle, but window and I dropped down low and
that look really sets that scene.” the light flared the lens. It just felt
The large, two-story house right.
Sophie shares with Andrew posed a “You can’t make every frame of
different set of challenges. “It was a film beautiful or you get tired of it, I
huge and full of white walls, and we think,” he concludes. “What’s exciting
were constantly trying to cheat our is when that beauty comes from the
way into seeing six rooms at a time,” story and the actors and the film feels
says Clark. “We’d bring light in from beautiful as a whole, even though
outside, create sun skips on the each frame might not be beautiful.
ground, that sort of thing. A 4K at On Never Forever I felt like everything
full spot hitting the floor just out of was evolving in front of us, and we
frame fills up a room in a way that just plugged in where we would fit.”
feels very natural, like sun’s coming —
Rachael K. Bosley
through the window, and a spot
overhead just raking an area of the War/Dance
ceiling can create a natural sort of Cinematographer: Sean Fine
fall-off. When the time came to film Directors: Sean and
Sophie playing the piano, we just Andrea Nix Fine
happened to get a little sun streak in
the room at the right time. There War/Dance was one of the
were a lot of happy accidents on this most ravishingly visual films in the
film!” documentary competition at
One of the pleasures of work¬ Sundance this year, so much so that
ing with Kim, he adds, was that she some festivalgoers wondered if it were
was eager to make the most of them. possible for a film about war sur¬
“Gina had copious notes about what vivors to be too beautiful.
she wanted, but when we got to the Scheduled for release this fall,
locations she didn’t hold onto them War/Dance shot on hi-def (HD)
was
too much — her notes and story¬ video with 24p Panasonic VariCam.
a
boards were a jumping-off point. The cinematographer was Sean Fine,
Directors who don’t have a lot of who also co-directed the picture with
experience are often very tied to his wife and production partner,
those things, sometimes to the point Andrea Nix Fine. The story concerns
where they’ll warp a scene to get that three children Dominic, Nancy
—
shot they’ve been thinking about for and Rose — who live in the Patongo
two years. Gina held onto her ideas displacement camp deep inside rebel
but allowed the specifics to change. territory in northern Uganda. All
She was able to grow into the film three children had family members
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 Peak Screenings in Park City
Top: Young slaughtered by the Lord’s Resistance
inhabitants of a
Army or were themselves abducted
Uganda refugee
to fill the rebel ranks. The film fol¬
camp practice
for a dance lows their effortto leave the refugee
competition in a
scene from
camp for the first time in order to
War/Dance. compete in Uganda’s National
Bottom: Music Competition.
Cinematographer/ As its title
co-director Sean
suggests,
Fine and Dominic, War/Dance interweaves two
a former child threads. Making conscious deci¬
a
soldier who is
sion not to make an overtly political
one of the
film’s subjects. film, the Fines eschew outside
experts and academics, and instead
look at the 20-year-old civil war

through the eyes of children who

experienced it. Dominic, Nancy and
Rose recount their experiences gaz¬
ing straight at the camera, and these pretty, that we must have staged camera ready, and then, with a
intimate interviews are intercut things,” says Fine. “That hurt, 420mm lens, rack focus as the truck
with stylized, slow-motion footage because I pride myself on working was
coming at me at 40 mph. I take
of the children standing at the scene fast, on being there at the moment a lot ofpride in capturing those
of their respective traumas. “We something happens. Despite the real moments.” Nix Fine adds, “It’s
wanted to have something that felt dangers of filming in a refugee camp unfortunate that the visual language
like you were inside their head, but in a war zone, I still had to get the of documentaries has become so

also witnessing it with them as they story. My training in other war zones restrictive that you almost start to
witnessed it again,” explains Nix and extreme environments has question the reality of something if
Fine. given methe ability to capture somebody knows how to compose a
The second thread follows moments as they happen. shot. There are reasons we chose our

the children asthey prepare for the “As documentarians, it’s our visual style. Our mission was to
National Music Competition, an job to capture reality,” he continues. make the biggest impact, and we do
annual event where 20,000 schools “For instance, the first shot is a truck that through how Sean shoots.”

compete. The camp’s school is the [full of kids] coming toward you, When Shine Global commis¬
clear underdog, and is competing out of focus. That
organically came sioned War/Dance —
part of the
for the first time. The competition from me looking in the rear-view nonprofit’s effort to raise awareness
forms the film’s narrative arc, but mirror and seeing that truck in the about child abuse and exploitation
Fine’s intimate camerawork gives it dust behind us, then jumping out, around the world —
shooting on
an added dimension, showing the having maybe 20 seconds to get my FID was a given, and Fine chose

process of healing that gets under¬

way as the kids joyfully throw them¬
selves into the music.

bSGSJFwolhopociansnhtuayeiefrkt.e.sy
There is natural beauty and
artful framing throughout
War/Dance: in the wide shots of

Uganda’s mountains swaddled in

mists; in the close-ups of Dominic’s
hammering xylophone mallets; in
low-angle shots of government sol¬
diers silhouetted against a stormy

sky; and in slow-motion images of

the Bwola tribal dance, an intoxicat¬

phots
ing swirl of white feathers, ebony
skin and brightly colored beads.
“We heard some criticism [at
Sundance] that the film looked too
War/Dnce
104 April 2007
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Peak Screenings in
Panasonic’s AJ-HDC27 VariCam
because “I’ve found it to be a very
good documentary camera. It han¬
dles contrast very well, and shooting
in Africa, with dark-black skin
against hot skies a lot of the time, I
needed that latitude. [Sony’s]
CineAlta has a filmic look, too, but I
don’t think it’s
forgiving.
as
Shooting the VariCam feels very
close to filming Super 16mm; the
color spectrum is amazing. Also,
because we were on a tight budget
and cutting on Final Cut Pro, the
VariCam allowed us to digitize and
cut the film at full resolution.”
Fine also liked the fact that
the VariCam accommodates frame
rates of 4-60 fps. When shooting
slow motion, he almost always went
to 60 fps. “In fact, I wish the camera
could go to 120 fps.” Typically, he
used slow motion
suggest height¬
to
ened emotion, mostly during the
children’s wartime recollections and
the tribal-dance contest. “I love slow
motion, how even a gaze can mean a
thousand times more.” Fine says his
predilection for the technique was
probably influenced by his many
documentaries for National
Geographic. “To actually shoot
something [on HD] that looks like
slow motion in film — that’s
some,” he says.
Fine usedunique lens pack¬
a competition, Nancy’s mother decid¬
age, owing in part to his family his¬
tory. His wide lens was a standard
Fujinon HD 13x (4.5-59mm) cine-
style zoom. He also used two Nikon
lenses from the 1970s that were a gift
from his grandfather, Nate Fine, a
photographer and cinematograph¬
er.
Using a Century adapter, Fine
could mount his grandfather’s
Nikon 300mm f4.5 ED and Nikon
180mm f2.8 ED manual-focus lens¬
es.
“They have a filmic look,” he
notes. “The trick is, follow-focus is
one
way on my HD lenses, and it’s
completely the opposite way on the
Nikon lenses!”
Fine’s parents, Paul and Holly
Fine, also had an influence
106 April 2007
Park City
War/Dance; they were documentary
filmmakers who did many projects
for CBS News, 60 Minutes and other
news outlets. “A lot of my style
comes from watching my dad,” says
Fine. “My parents made amazing
documentaries, including a three-
hour special on violence in America.
They got close to people, got to
know them.” That approach is
echoed in War/Dance. “I’m big on
shooting eyes and expressions,” says
Fine. His wife adds, “When I’m in
the editing room, one of the things I
love about Sean’s shooting is how he
covers our characters — he loves to
shoot very close to his subjects. You’d
think it would be disruptive, but it
never is, and that’s because of the
relationship he builds.” For Fine,
smaller digital cameras don’t neces¬
sary possess an advantage in this
regard. “People say they’re good for
intimacy, but I don’t think the cam¬
era has anything to do with being
intimate. It’s the person behind the
camera and how he or she treats
subject.”
Fine’s rapportwith his sub¬
jects is evident during War/Dances
rawest moment, when Nancy visits
her father’s grave for the first time,
four years after he was hacked to
awe¬ death by rebels and buried on the
spot by Nancy’s mother. Before the
ed it was time to visit the grave and
get his blessing. “It was such a private
and emotional moment I ques¬
tioned whether I should turn
camera on,” admits Fine. “But I also
felt like it was the
only time we were
actually going to see how this war
affected this child. It’s very raw and
very real.” Later, Nancy’s mother
thanked Fine for filming there, say¬
ing it was an important moment to
share. “Nancy’s scene at her father’s
grave sums up the entire war to me,”
he says. “She’s a little girl begging her
dad not to be dead and to
back.”
—
Patricia Thomson
on
Angel-A
Cinematographer:
Thierry Arbogast, AFC
Director: Luc Besson
The premises are almost identi¬
cal, but Angel-A, the latest collabora¬
tion between director Luc Besson and
cinematographer Thierry Arbogast,
AFC, is a long way from It’s A
Wonderful Life. In Angel-A, the down-
on-his-luck hero is a physically unim¬
posing petty criminal named Andre
(Jamel Debbouze), who, unable to pay
off a series of debts, has decided to end
it all. Poised on Paris’ Alexandre III
Bridge, ready to fling himself into the
Seine, Andre feels compelled to put his
suicide on hold in order to rescue a
statuesque blonde (Rie Rasmussen)
who has jumped first. Once back on
land, “Angela” offers to help pull Andre
out of the hole into which he has dug
himself. Her methods prove a far cry
from those practiced by Clarence, the
good-hearted angel trying to earn his
the wings in Frank Capra’s holiday classic.
From the beginning, Besson
envisaged Angel-A in black-and-white.
After testing monochrome emulsions,
Arbogast decided to shoot the picture
on color stock and pull out the color
in a digital intermediate. “During test¬
ing, I found the black-and-white
stocks hadn’t really evolved as well as
color films had in terms of grain, con¬
trast and latitude,” he says in an e-mail
exchange with AC (translated by
Christian Abomnes).
the “I used three Kodak Vision2
stocks: 50D [5201], 250D [5205] and
500T [5218]; I overexposed very
slightly, rating the 5201 at 40 ASA and
the 5205 at 200 ASA, to make sure I
got a nice, thick negative. Those choic¬
es, together with a digital intermediate
[DI], allowed me to achieve a ‘finer’
look than would have been possible
with a black-and-white stock.”
Arbogast filmed Angel-A in
come Super 35mm, which has been Besson’s
preferred format since The Fifth
Element (see AC May ’97). Until they
made that picture, Arbogast and
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Peak Screenings in Park City
A criminal in getting coverage. It is a preference
(Jamel
Debbouze) is
Arbogast shares. “I find the primes
can appear a little dry for close-ups,”
assisted by a
heavenly he muses. “There is something more
creature (Rie
Rasmussen) in
flattering and supple about zooms.”
the French film
Besson’s affection for Paris
Angel-A. recallsWoody Allen’s love affair with
New York City, so it isn’t too
surprising to learn that Manhattan
and Stardust Memories, two of
Allen’s black-and-white pictures,
were the primary references for

Clasic.
Angel-A's look. Arbogast wanted to

Besson always shot anamorphic, but
the extensive digital effects in Fifth
Element persuaded them to try
(from Technovision Paris)
prised an Arricam Studio, an
Arricam Lite, a complete set of
CEPSuicoaocrtunurperfdts.eysy
achieve a style somewhere between
Manhattan’s crisp, contrasty images
and Stardust Memories slightly soft¬
com¬ er feel. He credits the Cooke S4s with
helping him get the softness he
wanted.

Super 35mm, and Arbogast says
Besson was so pleased with the flexi¬
bility and image quality of the for¬
mat that he has never gone back to
Cooke S4 prime lenses, and two The Paris depicted in Angel-A
Angenieux zooms (Optimo 17- isnearly devoid of people and traffic,
80mm and 25-250mm). The cine¬ the way one might see it just as the

anamorphic.
Arbogast’s camera package
matographer notes that Besson, who
operates the camera, likes zooms
because of the freedom they give him
sun is rising and spreading light

across the city. The filmmakers pur¬

posely scheduled the shoot for July Angel-Aphots

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and August, when many Parisians ratelighting into the sets.
leave town for their annual vaca¬
Angel-A was filmed in
tions, and throughout the shoot the sequence and involved real locations
production began filming at 5 a.m., and studio work. Weather created a

stopped at 10 a.m., and then picked few problems. The sequence in front
up again at night. “The light at sun¬ of the Sacre Coeur had to be finished
rise is beautifully soft and low, with in the studio, with the close-ups shot
the sky serving as a great softbox,” in front of a
greenscreen. Once the
notes Arbogast. “Plus, we wanted to weather improved, Arbogast went
catch Paris at its quietest, and we back and shot the background
were able to
get permission to film plates. “When you watch the film,
on the
city’s many bridges at that you’d never know,” he declares.
hour.” A scene in a cafe also alternat¬ One example comes toward the end Angel-A
“I ed between the real location and the of the film, when cinematographer
hardly ever use lights on Angela has Andre Thierry
exteriors,” he continues, “unless I stage. “First we filmed the reverse gaze into a mirror and try to focus on Arbogast, AFC.
have to balance very strong lights on shots of the actors in the studio, and the good in himself. The single-shot
the actors. I mainly use polyboards then we shot the wider shots a few scene, in which the camera does a
to create fill on exteriors, and I never days later in the actual restaurant. It slow half-circle around Andre’s back,
use diffusion on
any of Luc’s films was a
strange way to shoot, but I had ending up where the mirror would
because he doesn’t like it.” scouted the location beforehand and be, lasts nearly three minutes, allow¬
Arbogast’s lighting package took care so that it all matched.” ing the full emotion of the moment
mainly consisted of large and small Although most of Besson’s to play out quietly but effectively.

HMIs, Kino Flos and incandescent films feature quick tempos and a fast —

Jean Oppenheimer
fixtures. He worked with production editing style, many long scenes in
designer Jacques Bufnoir to incorpo¬ Angel-A play out without any cuts.

OSCAR® 2004 to Horst Burbulla for the

invention and continuing development of the
Technocrane telescoping camera crane.

01' 18"

4.0
 A Student Film With Plenty of Heart
by Elina Shatkin

and the woman he loves (Sophia

Holman), and then battles his commu¬
nity to try to win them all back. Narrated
in a deadpan style and set in a mythical
version of mid-century America, Death
to the Tinman was shot on black-and-
white 16mm (1.33:1) in an expressionis¬
ts, handheld style that incorporates live
action, rear projection and do-it-yourself
computer effects.
Director Ray Tintori and cine¬
matographer Rob Leitzell met as
students at Wesleyan University in
Connecticut. Leitzell, who had experi¬
ence as a photographer but not as a

cinematographer, wound up shooting

Tintori's first short film, Jettison Your
Loved Ones, which played at Slam-
dance in 2006. The style and filmmaking
techniques of that project, which was
Above: Bill (Jeff "reveals" the origins of the familiar Tin shot with a Beaulieu camera at 18-20
Delauter), who is
destined to
become the
Tinman, kisses
The Short Film Jury at the 2007
Sundance Film Festival awarded
honorable mention to Death to the
Tinman in
an

recognition of the scrappy,

Woodsman character from The Wizard
ofOz. Loosely based on the 12th book in
L. Frank Baum's Oz series, the film tells
fps, served as a test run for Death to the
Tinman, Tintori's thesis project.
The duo initially planned to shoot
his love, Jane the story Tinman at 18-20 fps, but after the first
low-budget techniques that went into of a cursed lumberjack (Jeff
(Sophia Holman).
Below: Paul the making of it. The 12-minute short Delauter) who loses his limbs, his heart few days of production, they discovered
(Marvin lllman) that shooting at that frame rate with the
helps Bill more precisely controlled Arri 16SR-2
become the
Tinman but
made the action look much too fast.
eventually "Maintaining the momentum of the
betrays him. movie was very important to us, but we

realized we couldn't shoot at 18 fps,"

says Leitzell. Instead, they ended up
shooting the bulk of the film at 21 fps to
help give the Tinman character's move¬
ments a jerky feel — "and also because

LRTReiinatoztabldr.y
the actor, Lee Pender, couldn't walk that
fast with the costume on!" adds
Leitzell.
Death to the Tinman was filmed
over eight days, two of which were lost

ocufrtesy
to the frame-rate problem. The film
contains more than 250 cuts, which
meant the bare-bones crew was
20 to 30 setups per
doing
day. In addition to Phot s
110 April 2007
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 Top: Bill tries serving as cinematographer, Leitzell
his new arms
was often the de facto grip, production
on for size.
Middle: The designer and PA. "We had five to 10
Tinman (played minutes to set up each shot," he says.
by Lee Pender) "Almost everything that made it into the
dabbles with
fire. Bottom: movie was shot on the first take,
Jane meets up because had very
we little money for
with her
film stock."
metallic love.
This approach was facilitated by
the extensive planning done by the
director and cinematographer. Tintori
relates, "Rob and I do visual research
together, and I storyboard meticulously.
We then go over the storyboards and
revise them together. On the day of the
shoot, Rob lights everything while I pick
the frames and operate the handheld
camera. In this way, we can move very
fast, and I always know when I have the
take I need. Since we had no monitor
and no playback, having my own eye to
the viewfinder was essential." With the
exception of a POV shot of a plane
crash, this is how the duo shot Death to
the Tinman.
Shooting on Kodak Plus-X 64D
7231, Leitzell often used a deep red
filter on the lens to heighten contrast. "I
used the red filter whenever we were

outside. It cut 2 stops from every image,

but it did some wonderful things to
skies, and I loved the way it bleached
out Caucasian skin.” Because the filter
box only worked with prime lenses,
Leitzell never used zoom. Instead, he
used two lenses on loan from the
school: 9.5mm and 25mm Zeiss primes.
Leitzell and Tintori took their
inspiration from silent movies suchas
M and The Passion of Joan of Arc, and
from the photography of Ralph Eugene
Meatyard, Sally Mann, Bart Parker and
Larry Clark, among others. "For this
movie, I could do without realism in
lighting," says Leitzell. "It was really
more about creating strong, graphic
imagery. The world we depicted isn't
realistic, so we used a lot of little
touches that ultimately placed the
artfulness of the image above all other
standards of believability."
The challenge was creating such
an expressionistic look on a tiny budget.

"Our lighting kit changed from day to

day, depending on what equipment we

112 April 2007

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 For a POV shot "We had very specific needs for that
of aplane
scene," he recalls. "I wanted make the
crashing,
director of organ pipes behind the preacher pop by
photography having an interesting pattern in the
Rob Leitzell
background." To achieve this, he
wrapped a $200 borrowed two 1K Fresnels and placed
camcorder in
Styrofoam and them on the ground, pointing up, on the
crashed it into right and left sides of the organ.
trees and Because there was no time to rig C-
telephone
stands, grips were stationed in each of
poles.
the chapel's balconies, where they
handheld 1K or 2K units aimed at the
actor's face.
For a reverse shot of the Tinman
before his transformation, Leitzell
created a backlit shot of the congre¬
could check out from the school," recalls but no silks and
only two flags, Leitzell gants' heads by pointing a 2K at their
Leitzell. "On a good day we had two 2Ks bounced light off anything he could: faces while Tintori stood at the rear of
and two 1 Ks, and once in awhile we had walls, old Styrofoam boards and stick- the church filming the backs of their
a Kino Flo. At many of our locations on mirrors. heads. "We had a lot of setups that

[such as a semi-abandoned warehouse One of the most complex lighting worked like that," says Leitzell. "Ray
that served as the Tinman's home], it setups involved a scene where the town and I are very good friends, and we've
was hard to get power rigged, and we preacher rallies his flock. Shot in a worked together enough that we feed
didn't have a generator, so at least a campus chapel where the crew had off each other and communicate easily."
few shots were lit
by our cars' head¬ almost no time to set up, Leitzellhad The rear projection also proved
lights." Armed with plenty of C-stands few lights and a large area to cover. challenging, but it gave Tintori and

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 Leitzell opportunity to let their imag¬
an tall to stand up completely vertically, so but I think it took me two full weeks to
inations take flight. The duo spent we had to wedge it up against the wall do it," he notes. Afterwards, he used a
weeks scouring online databases for a bit," Leitzell says. "We had only a 16mm Bolex to shoot the images frame
archival public-domain footage from old couple of feet on either side of the by frame off a computer monitor.
movies, pulling the most graphic and screen to place lights and flags." Death to the Tinman is available
striking images they could find. For The film's other major effects for download on iTunespart of a
as

example, one of the characters was shot was a POV shot of an airplane that recent agreement between Apple and
supposed to work in a slaughterhouse, the Tinman's inventor friend, Bill, the Sundance Festival. ■
but they couldn't find usable slaughter¬ attempts to fly but crashes. Leitzell
house footage, so they substituted wrapped a $200 camcorder in packing-
footage of gears and machines turning. box Styrofoam, attached it to a pole and
For another sequence where the two ran through fields, crashing the camera

leads are lying on a bed and kissing,
Leitzell used footage from an old Edison
lightbulb commercial. "You can't see the
bulb because the actors' heads
blocking it," he notes. "All you see are
the lines radiating from behind their
heads. We were just trying to find ways
to convey the scene's energy and
emotion visually."
To shoot the rear projection,
Tintori rented a 15'x20' screen
6,000-lumen DLP projector; these were
set upin the largest room of a student
dorm near campus. "The screen was too
into trees and telephone poles. "I find
the aesthetic and imagery of green-
screen and keying to be a letdown,
are especially if it's done less than
perfectly," says Leitzell. "Throwing the
camera into trees assured me a fantas¬
tic shot, because even the flaws and
tears in the image are really stunningly
beautiful." In post, the footage was
processed in Shake, where motion
and a tracking was used to stabilize the
image, and Leitzell then rotoscoped the
background into each individual frame.
"That shot is maybe 3]A seconds long,
To have your short-form project
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 While starring
in Inland
Empires film
within a film.
On High in Blue
Tomorrows,
actress Nikki
Grace (Laura
Dern) and her
co-star, Devon
Berk (Justin
Theroux), begin
to experience
strange and
disorienting
interludes.

Lynch Goes Digital with Dern, who also starred in two of Photoshop overlay he could use in Final
Inland Empire Lynch's 35mm productions, Blue Velvet Cut Pro. David went through and
by Noah Kadner and Wild At Heart, says the chief differ¬ reframed each shot for 1.85 and then
ence between working with the director output the movie in sections onto DV
Inland Empire represents on a film shoot and working with him on tapes."
writer/director David Lynch's first foray a digital shoot had to do with pacing: These tapes were up-converted
into digital video (DV) for theatrical "We were shooting constantly [on Inland to 16x9 24p HD through a Snell &
release. The movie's nonlinear plot Empire]. There were no large lights to put Wilcox Alchemist Platinum and laid off

comprises a series of bizarre and loosely up, and we had no need to wait between to D-5. "With 60i footage, you've got 60
connected vignettes that take place in a setups for coverage, because David was real fields," notes Broderson. "Every
number of settings, including Los Ange¬ holding the camcorder — he could cover field is adjacent to the next andthey all
les, where an actress (Laura Dern) strug¬ an entire scene in 20 minutes or an hour. have motion. So if you just remove the

gles to play a film role that may be The luxury was an incredible shorthand extra frames, you get an obvious stutter,

cursed; Lodz, Poland, where nefarious on the set. There was never any down¬ and if you just blend them all together,
characters abound; and a theatrical time." you get a very soft look. The Alchemist
living-room set populated by a family of To convert his
original NTSC stan¬ uses a sophisticated motion algorithm

people with human bodies and rabbit dard-definition footage into a suitable to make everything look smooth in 24p."

heads. theatrical format, Lynch collaborated An online HD conform was

Lynch shot Inland Empire himself, with Michael Broderson, a post-work- completed from the D-5 tapes on an

Absocpuhroudtraft.sesy
usinga Sony PD-150 in 29.97/60i NTSC, flow specialist at FotoKem. "David came Avid DS Nitris, using Lynch's DV tapes
and edited it with Apple's Final Cut Pro. to us about a year before he did his final as a guide track, along with EDLs from

The project was originally intended to be
a 4x3
presentation on his subscription-
based Web site, but as shooting contin¬
ued over a period of three years, he
post," recalls Broderson. "He made a his edit. "Everything was captured
reticule for his PD-150, so he was fram¬ nonlinear with the Nitris," says Broder¬
ing at 1.85 as he shot, but putting it on son. "Within that environment, we did a
the Internet at 4x3. I asked him if he lot of fixes, like motion stabilizing and

EInmlapnirde
changed his mind and began to format wanted side mattes, but he preferred paintboxing, along with the editing. The
the movie for a 1.85:1 theatrical presen¬ [the footage] be cropped to 1.85. So I ability to do that is a big advantage over
tation. figured out the dimensions and created a a linear online system." The final Nitris

116 April 2007

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 conform was output to Sony HDCam SR
tapes.
The color correction was

completed tape-to-tape in a da Vinci 2K

suite by FotoKem colorist George Koran.
"David made the decision to do a tape-to-
tape correction rather than a digital inter¬
mediate [Dl]," says Koran. "He comes
from the film telecine world, so he's used
to the terminology; he knows what to ask
for and what we can do. We tried a lot of
different looks and densities. David let
me play with colors, and I would come up
with suggestions. For example, on the
Poland sequences, we went for a heavy
Tobacco-filter look, almost a rust color.
We also applied some grads to darken
the top portion of the frame."
Koran worked with Lynch to
Top: During a achieve striking style for the sequences
a
limbo-like
reverie, Nikki involving the rabbit-head family. "We
watches a created a cyan-greenish look on the walls
roomful of
of that set," he says. "We did some
hookers do the
"Loco-Motion" Power Windows and darkened the back¬
amid a burst of ground walls the rabbit actors would
so
blinding light. stand out in the
Middle: A
more foreground. For a
scene involving a living-room couch and a
mysterious
visitor (Grace female rabbit who is ironing, David
Zabriski) to wanted to play some shots with more
Nikki's home
gives the actress contrast, so we worked on the densities.
an ominous For a sequence where Lauras character
warning about goes down into a basement, we created
the movie role
she's landed. an almostskip-bleach/desaturated look.
Bottom: Director/ David really gave us lots of great-looking
cinematographer scenes to work with."
David Lynch
frames a scene
Koran used a Teranex box to
with a enhance the image quality from the HD
Sony PD-150. up-conversion. "In my suite, I can program
the Teranex from shot to shot, adjusting
the sensitivity of the noise reduction and
changing the aperture to increase the
sharpness. We're also able to smooth out
the inherent grain of DV, but you have to
be careful to avoid artifacts. You can

easily go too far with sharpening, and

then it starts to look artificial. We created
a pretty good group of presets for the
movie during our initial tests."
Inland Empire was recorded to
35mm on Arrilaser recorders from two
HDCam SR tapes at 1920x1080. "First,
we took the final tapes into our Dl suite

and applied a custom look-up table [LUT]

that was designed to make HD material

look right on film,” explains Broderson.

118 April 2007

"In the Dl suite, we could screen digitally
* AEROHEAD
—

with the LUT applied — using a Digi¬
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record it with the Arri and look at the film
version. David watched the digital and
film
projections, and he thought the match
was spot-on." The final output was made
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projected on a full-size screen for the first
time. I was really impressed with how
well it translated."
Following its theatrical run, Lynch
will release Inland Empire on DVD, using
the HDCam SR tapes as his master.

Milagro Post Goes with

the Flow
by Jon D. Witmer

In the commercial world, color

correcting in the nonlinear, random-
access, digital-intermediate (Dl) environ¬
ment has taken a bit longer to catch on
than it has in mainstream feature produc¬
tions, particularly outside of New York
and Los Angeles. However, Milagro Post,
based in Southfield, Michigan, recently
had a chance to tout its Dl workflow in a

series of spots celebrating the redesigned

Chevrolet Silverado, named by Motor
Trend magazine as the 2007 Truck of the
Year.
Now in its fourth year of operation, SOC Award

Milagro Post was founded by President

Michael Suggs and Vice-President/Sales
Director Chad Cooper, in partnership with Super PeeWee IV
Fuji Gold Medal
Ron Rose Productions. Suggs and colorist
Rick Linger recently spoke with AC about
the spots for Chevy and the particulars of
Emmy Award
Milagro's workflow.
Over the past year, Milagro has
installed a Quantel Pablo on iQ 2K color-
correction suite and a Thomson Spirit 2K Hustler IV
Academy Award

film scanner, which, combined with Grass

Valleys Bones platform, form the founda¬
tion of the company's film-style Dl work- Oner Award

flow. "The Grass Valley Spirit 2K Datacine LA(888) 883*6559 TX (888) 758.4826 FL (888) 337-8243
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119
 Michigan's by scanning and storing the film negative
Milagro Post as 2K digital data files," says Suggs. "The
put its digital
workflow to the
data conform from the Spirit allows our
test on a series colorists to grade an entire project at 2K
of commercials resolution in the proper sequence with
for the new

Chevrolet
heads and tails, all cut to audio. That was
Silverado notpossible before."
pickup. As the facility upgraded its hard¬
ware and software, Unger was
welcomed into the fold, and he notes that
"within two months of getting [the Dl
grading suite] up and running, we took on
a number of spots for clients such as

Chevrolet, Bush's Beans, HDTV, Dodge

and Ford."
The Campbell Ewald ad agency
—

with producers Mark Hall and Eric

Dreschel, art director Chris Gorski, and
writer Jim Feltz — handle
regional
advertising for Chevrolet throughout the
United States. In coordinating multiple
shoots for the Silverado series — which
at presstime totaled 17 ads, all of which
passed through Milagro s pipeline — the
agency enlisted multiple production
companies and eight directors. Shot
mostly on 35mm, the spots wended their
way through Milagro's workflow as the
cinematographers, directors and produc¬
ers regularly conferred with the post

house. "Sometimes they'll come out here

to supervise and confab on ideas and

looks," explains Unger, "but it's often

done over their networks. We'll send e-

mails back and forth and post the spots

as we work on them."

After surveying the available hard¬

ware and software, the Milagro crew
decided to build their workflow around
the Spirit, Bones and Pablo. Suggs notes,
"I've sat on Quantel products since the

early Nineties, so I was familiar with their

legacy equipment and their Henry and
Editbox platforms. With Milagro, I saw an
opportunity to change things up, but it
didn't take me much time at all to decide
to stick with Quantel. That choice was
based largely on Quantel's eQ, which fit
well into business model."

PMiooclasgurtrft.esy
our

Pablo's 2K capability notwith¬

standing, few eyebrows shot up
a
outside of the company when Milagro
installed a Spirit 2K film scanner; some
wondered whether
necessary for a
a

company
2K workflow
that focused
was

on
Phot s
120 April 2007
 **w

PRODUCTION
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Meet the 2007 Board of Directors, enjoy refreshments and get reacquainted with the

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Panasonic
 Justin
ming interface utilizing Linux-based soft¬
Skotarczyk
mans the Spirit
ware and featuring a host of what Grass
2K film scanner. Valley calls "application modules." These
optional applications include the appro¬
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Bones can be connected to a stor¬

age area network (SAN) and supports

most industry-standard file types. In this

capacity, as a transfer engine employed

TV spots. But now, a year after integrat¬ load. "This year alone we probably did a to control the Spirit and move the

ing the scanner, Suggs dismisses the
doubters. "Even if you end up going back
to a standard-definition version, the
thing to focus on is our workflow. Plus,
the Spirit scans, along with the color¬
grading capabilities of Pablo, noticeably
improve the overall product and the final
look of our work." Unger says he appre¬
ciates the Spirits 24-fps scanning capa¬
million and a half feet of film," he
observes. "I can see us eventually enter¬
ing a 4K world, and we've put ourselves
in position to take that step. With the
Spirit, all we have to do is make a
simple software change to make it a 4K
scanner." With a laugh, Suggs adds, "It's
not cheap, but it's simple!"
Grass Valley's Bones platform
scanned images from the scanner to the
SAN, the Bones platform has proven its
value for Milagro.
Suggs provides an overview of
the process used on the Silverado spots:
"Dailies were shipped to our Avid
editors, who logged and digitized all the
footage and began creating stories based
on scripts and storyboards given to us at

bility, which facilitates a heavy work¬ boasts an open application program¬ the beginning of the project. As the cuts

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122
made it through Colorist Rick
the approval process, an
EDL was generated by the Avid and
Ungar tweaks
one of the
punched into the Bones computer, which spots using
runs the Spirit. We did a list conversion Quantel's Pablo
color-correction
from 29.97 to 24 fps, told the Bones what
system.
film roll was up on the Spirit, set a basic
color grade on it, and then let the Bones
take over, fetching the correct scenes for
us with a predetermined number of

handles and scanning them at 24 fps at

2K.
"As the film was scanned to our

SAN," he continues," the same EDL was

brought intoour iQ, where we did a
network conform of those film scans. put up totally different grades for shots. gro's approach better suits the film itself,
With the data
pipe we have between our By originating in 2K, we can provide which only needs to make one pass
SAN and our iQ, the iQ is able to pull whatever deliverables the client is look¬ through the Spirit before being stored
scenes across the network almost in real ing for, even if he wants 2K files to go away. "Although you might not spend
time — it's about 22 fps at 2K resolution. back to a film release — which we're less time in your session," says Suggs,
Rick was then able to take that currently doing for one of the Chevy "you will absolutely come out with more
conformed piece and have everything in spots." versions and more options to choose
context, with all of the scenes where Having all of the scanned footage from. Having the film scanning as a sepa¬
they were supposed to be in sequence." available for random access on the rate step in the workflow makes better

Unger adds, "Working with random- network's SAN (which offers about 64 use of everyone's time, and the clients

access, nonlinear color-correction allows terabytes of storage space) saves Unger love that. Rick is able to make them look
me to jump all around the timeline and a great deal of time. Additionally, Mila- like heroes to their bosses." ■

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Above: The Red Red Readies 4K Camera
One 4K digital
by Noah Kadner
motion-picture
camera body
weighs only 8 Red Digital Cinema is poised to
pounds. release its first product, the Red One 4K
Opposite page:
A frame from digital motion-picture camera, which
Red demo was unveiled last year at NAB. The
footage. camera will retail for a base price of
$17,500. Writing in an online forum,
Red founder Jim Jannard said, "Our
goal was to build that had
a camera
more features and a smaller price tag
than anything else on the market. As
time went on, we met milestones and
[posted] footage. The industry now
wants to see if we can make the finish
line."
When Red offered the $17,500
camera body to customers who were
willing to put down a refundable
deposit of $1,000, the company
received more than 1,400 deposits and
capped reservations shortly thereafter.
Company spokesman Ted Schilowitz
explains the philosophy behind the Red
One and the reservations strategy:
"High-end digital still have
cameras
reached a fundamental point where
they're on par with or have eclipsed the
quality of 35mm. We wanted to do the
same with the motion-picture camera.
124 April 2007
Red is fresh to the world and in
camera
the unique position to not have to
protect existing markets. We are
focused on delivering a product to all
those bold people around the world
who have made a reservation and
taken the ride with us."
Red's
proprietary Mysterium
CMOS-based image sensor clocks in at
12 megapixels, providing a native reso¬
lution of 4520x2540, which it then
down-samples to 4K. The sensor is the
same width as a Super 35mm film
frame, allowing the use of cinema
lenses without the need for a focal-
length conversion ratio. The Red One
weighs approximately 8 pounds and
comes equipped with an Arri PL lens
mount, promising compatibility with
existing 16mm and 35mm cinema
lenses. Red also makes its own optics,
with initial offerings of a 300mm prime
and an 18-85mm zoom (priced at
$4,995 and $9,500, respectively).
"There are a lot of great PL-mount
lenses out there already, but [their cost
is such that they are] a rental item for
our customers," notes Schilowitz. "We
wanted to offer lens options at a
purchase price that makes sense for
them." Red also plans optional
adapters to enable the use of some
still-camera lenses, such as Nikkors.
Red One is designed for easy
customization, with a series of stain¬
less-steel mounting points along the
body for attaching accessories. Taking
advantage of these mounts are the Red-
Rail and Red-Cage. Red-Rail is a sliding
shoulder-mount-type unit that allows
the camera's weight to remain balanced
as accessories are added and removed.
The Red-Cage surrounds the body with
a protective metal cage to allow for
crane mounting and other heavy-duty
operations. Red envisions a thriving
third-party accessory market in addition
to its own offerings.
Red One records to three
primary formats: uncompressed 4.5K
via an optional optical port, RedCode
RAW at 4K and 2K, and RedCode RGB
4:4:4 at 1080p and 720p. The camera
can capture at 24p and at variable
frame rates from 1-60 fps at 4K, and up
to 120 fps at 2K, by windowing off part
of the sensor to keep data rates
manageable. RedCode RAW at 4K runs
at around 27MB/second and is the
format the camera's creators believe is
the best trade-off between image qual¬
ity and storage requirements.
Graeme Nattress, Red's chief
software developer, that
notes
RedCode RAW codec allows imagery to
be manipulated as a digital negative
well beyond the typical limitations of
compressed footage. "We're coming
from a high-end digital-still-camera
mentality," he says. "I've always shot
RAW with my digital SLR. We wanted
to extrapolate that workflow to moving
images. You can put off critical color-
correction decisions until after the
shoot, when you will have a nice moni¬
tor, ample time and the best environ¬
ment. With other codecs, you've got to
really nail it in camera because their
compression doesn't have the latitude
we do." Jarred Land, Red's "Fire Chief,"
 SOLUTIONS FOR
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adds, "Shooting RedCode RAW has
another advantage, in that as we
improve the codec, your images [that
are] already in the can will continue to
improve even after you've shot them,
simply by reprocessing the RAW files."
RedCode RAW and RedCode
RGB are wavelet-based,opposed to
as
the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT)
compression used by digital video, Digi-
Beta, DVCPro HD and HDCam. Put
simply, DCT functions by dividing an
image up into blocks, whereas
wavelets represent the entire image as
a series of increasing frequency func¬
tions. Wavelet techniques are also used
by the JPEG 2000 and Cineform codecs,
renowned for their image quality and
suitability to moving-picture compres¬
sion.
Stuart English, Red's
"Workflow Wizard," describes the
benefits of wavelet compression: "As
you starve a traditional codec of bits,
you get macro blocking and edge noise,
which the human eye is very good at
detecting. With wavelets, the overall
image goes softer as the bit-rate is
reduced, which is more pleasing to the
eye. At 4K 24p, our compression ratio is
around 12:1, which sounds aggressive,
but we have much finer granularity in
our data coming from such high resolu¬
tion, so we can compress it harder."
When asked why other cameras rely on
DCT overwavelets, English offers, "The
industry logic is to keep developing and
refining if you're already invested in
DCT codecs. There's also less choice of
compression chips in the wavelet
domain because it's newer. But we're
takinga fresh start, and we're not
committed to a previous codec, so
wavelets work well for us."
Red One records to onboard
Flash- and eSATA-based Red-Drives. The
Red-Drive is a 320GB hard-drive unit,
capable of holding over two hours of 4K DIGITAL
RedCode RAW footage with 4-channel TRANSMITTER
24-bit/48kHz audio. Once production is WITH MPEGS
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complete, the 4K footage is processed
TL-.
with the included RedCine telecine soft¬
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ware, which runs on Mac OS X and
Windows XP. RedCine performs a de¬ ► Transmissionprocess DVB-T
mosaic of the RAW sensor data and
► Delay of only 2 frames
lead profiles it, applying a custom look-up
table. The footage can then be color- ► Videosignal in studioquality
corrected and down-converted to the ► Interference free signal from
desired editorial format and resolution, the camera in motion
including 480p DV, 720p, DVCPro HD, to the portable receiver
1080p, 10-bit uncompressed 4:2:2,2K or
4K DPX and TIFF.
Footage can be imported into
almost any nonlinear editing system for
offline or online editing, depending on
whether a project is destined to finish in
hi-def eventually go out to film. Once
or
Precision-Engineering Denz
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125
 Antics Previsualization
Software
by lain Stasukevich

Today's filmmakers have a lot of

Red's 300mm online. From the 4K online,
footage can
zoom lens.
^ presented digitally at 4K or 2K or
recorded to 35mm film.
Long-term storage of 4K
footage becomes a matter of efficient
data management during production
and post. While any data-storage
device is compatible with Red, English
sees several emerging technologies
with potential, including Blu-ray and
Advanced Intelligent Tape (AIT). "Blu-
ray is highly portable with inexpensive
media," says English. "AIT-5 uses 8mm
tape media in a compact drive. For
to shooting 35mm film,” says
Schilowitz. "It needed to function first
as the highest-quality digital-still-
camera sensor, and then be able to
capture 4K at up to 60 fps. We accom¬
plished that goal and demonstrated 4K
over the past six months at screenings
in Europe and the States." Nattress
points out that the company's driving
philosophy goes beyond the technical:
"The key is not the camera, it's the
quality of people who can use it. If
paintbrushes cost a million dollars,
you'd have three painters in the world
options when it comes to planning a
motion-picture shoot using off-the-shelf
previsualization software. Consumer-
oriented 3-D programs such as Frame-
Forge and Poser offer affordable and
user-friendly previz alternatives to
professional suites such as 3ds Max and
Maya. For some, the pumped-up story¬
boarding products are not quite thor¬
ough enough to convey complex ideas
and action, while complicated 3-D
animation programs and their ilk might
seem like overkill.
Antics V2 falls somewhere in
between these extremes. It lacks the
polished, fine-tuned feel of FrameForge,
but Antics is almost as versatile and
intricate as the most powerful 3-D
animation tools; its learning curve might
be difficult enough to bring a casual user
to the brink of frustration, but it's not so
challenging that a patient user can't
easily master it over a long afternoon.
That's an amazing feat, considering that
Antics employs full-on 3-D animation.
Blocking and camera movements
are played out in real time, so what you

about $60, you get a 400-gigabyte and not much artwork to choose from. see is less like a comic book and more

tape with an approximately real-time If anyone can afford to be an artist, like video-game scene. Music, effects
a

transfer rate for 24p 4K RedCode RAW you're going to see a lot more creativ¬ and dialogue can be added. Approxi¬
footage. We're on the lookout for a. ity." mately 19 actors are available in V2,
model with an eSATA or Ethernet inter¬ Red expects to ship the first with a somewhat uneven mixture of
face to allow us to more efficiently production cameras to customers this males (six) and females (four) of varying
move all that data." spring. Jannard says the company's ethnicities and ages. Your 3-D actors
DavidStump, ASC put the Red approach to showing the development can even crudely lip-sync to their lines,

prototype through its paces in Decem¬ process step by step was key: "We further adding to the feeling that you're
ber. "I shot a series of over and under made the decision from day one to do actually making a movie instead of just
a middle stop,"
grayscale charts lit for this project upside-down, inside-out planning one out.
he recalls. "I also shot a series of and backwards from the rest of the Here's how a sequence is assem¬
greenscreen tests to see the viability industry. Once we got going, it became bled in Antics:
of Red's camera for visual effects. I easier to keep the doors open, given First, previz artist will
a user or
think it's probably a 101/2- to 11-stop the tremendously positive response. construct the set of a given scene using
sensor in terms of latitude, and it's very We have learned so much in a short a hierarchy of rooms. These rooms can

quiet in the blacks. I was very happy time from the contributions of our look like an outdoor park and cover as
with the performance at that early soon-to-be customers that I'mglad we much space as a city block, complete
stage, and the camera has come a long chose thispath." with realistic lighting and other environ¬
way since then." Red Digital Cinema, (949) 206- mental effects like rain or fog, or they
"Our first major challenge was 7900, E-mail: 4K@red.com, Web site: can be as small as a broom closet.
creating a sensor that does what it www.red.com. Once the world has been built,
needs to do to be a viable alternative there are hundreds of props, vehicles,

126 March 2007

landscapes and architectural elements
that can be added to enhance the real¬
ism of a scene. The selection goes
far
beyond what similar software programs
offer, and an updated library of addi¬
tional content packs will soon be avail¬
able; this will include a range of new
characters and props.
Next, virtual actors can be
dropped into a scene, and using a time¬
line very similar to that of a nonlinear
editing system, you can record and edit
all your actors' blocking down to the
twitch of a pinky finger. This is the most
detail-oriented and time-consuming
aspect of Antics V2. There are also a lot
of pre-built animations that can be
Whatever the gear you can Find it here.
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our gear, your vision.
clicks. There's even nifty follow-
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camera option that can be flipped 180-

degrees to mimic a body mount. (Think

Harvey Keitel in the bar scene at the
beginning of Mean Streets.)
After the actors run through their
scenes and the cameras roll, all that's
left is to render thecompleted scene and
output it to an AVI file. (At this time, this
is the only output video format Antics
makes available.)
"The product has different
strengths for different parts of the
production process," says Fred Medina,
U.S. sales manager for Antics Technolo¬
gies. "For the cinematographer in partic¬
ular, there are tons of capabilities." He
adds that filmmakers will find the soft¬
ware particularly helpful for blocking out
complicated shots involving multiple
cameras or a large number of setups.

Rodney Charters, ASC, CSC has been

using the software on the TV series 24,
and has pushed the Antics V2 develop¬
ers to include more support for large

outdoor sets, according to Medina.

Significant emphasis is placed on
making conditions on your Antics set
hew as closely to real-world conditions
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www.hydroflex.com can pick any focal length from wide that enables grasp-and-carry poses to
angle to telephoto. Almost any aspect be created for any prop.
ratio is available to frame your scene, One long-term objective for
and future versions of the software will Antics developers is to allow customers
go so far as to include specific camera to create and share content and down¬

JEM bodies, lenses and camera-support gear

like dollies and Developers are
cranes.
load custom 3-D models from
content provider. "Initially we assumed
an online

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out a top-view diagram for the gaffer explains Medina. "That meant opening
and key grip. up the application for users to create
With Antics' next big release, a their own modifications."
number of crucial updates will be on Though fully functional, Antics
view. Continuing its support of the PC, V2 feels a bit like a work in progress —
Antics will be fully compatible with something Medina attributes to its
Microsoft's new Vista platform. Also, open-architecture nature. "We want to
many functions that now require several make the product accessible to every
complicated steps to complete will be facet of production, from writers to art
automated. Other updates will include directors to storyboard artists to cine¬
the ability to output project files in matographers," he says. "Antics is
QuickTime as fully rendered scenes or about accelerating the flow of creative
sequences of images with full preserva¬ ideas."
tion of the alpha-channel information; Antics
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133
 A Southern Thriller Relocates to New York
by John Calhoun
Ro (Halle Berry),
a journalist,
flirts with an ad

executive
(Bruce Willis)
while working
undercover at
his agency in a
scene from
Perfect
Stranger, a
thriller that was

originally set in
New Orleans
but was

rewritten to suit
Manhattan.

production, saw the biggest blizzard in "These characters are shadowy, hiding

In 2005, cinematographer Anastas

Michos, ASC was all set to scout loca¬
tions in New Orleans for Perfect
Stranger, a thriller set in the Big Easy.
New York

Then Hurricane Katrina hit, effectively
taking the location off the table for the
foreseeable future. The film was quickly
comfortable
history. But by that time,
Michos and his collaborators
working within a new,
were
behind their alter egos online," he says.
"The film draws very definitive conclu¬
sions about right and wrong, so one can
considerably cooler palette. "New York express that visually. I was riding a fine
in the wintertime is not just physically line of how dark to go; if you make a film
cold," says the cinematographer, who is too stylized, I think you tend to distance

rewritten to unfold in New York, but based in the city. "If you look at the spec¬ the audience. And working with some¬
Michos explains that making the switch trum around you, we tend to dress in one as stunning as Halle, I certainly

wasn't just a matter of changing street darker clothing and cooler tones. That didn't want her to disappear into the
names. "It was quite a turnaround, added a somberness to the film that was shadows!"
because we really had to rethink the very appropriate." Still, given the thriller framework,

imagery," he says of himself, director
James Foley, and production designer
Bill Groom. "New Orleans has a distinct
patina. After the rewrite, we all got back
together again and reformulated our
approach; we took our sultry New
Orleans plot and transposed it to winter¬
Perfect Stranger tells the story of
an investigative reporter, Ro (Halle
Berry), who goes undercover on the
Internet looking for leads in a friend's
murder. Suspecting a charming ad exec¬
utive (Bruce Willis) of being connected
to the crime, she starts an online flirta¬
SPWiceoctutruehnrfst.eys,
Michos went with a relatively shadowy
look, generally providing warm accents
to an overall cool palette. (He shot the
picture on Kodak Vision2 500T 5218.) "In
Foley's vernacular, this is the concept of
'hot fudge' — that means in these
darker kinds of films, there should

134
time New York."
And it wasn't
just any winter.
February 2006, smack in the middle of
tion with him and gains a position
even

in his agency. Michos believed the

movie should not be overly stylized.
always be a contrapuntal statement
within the frame," he
keep that up
explains. "I tried to
even in exteriors, to intro- Bary
byPhot s
April 2007
duce a warmer color to
really pull the
cools out. On many of the night exteri¬
ors, you'll see an accent of a sodium-

vapor look, a yellow lamp or something

that slashes across the frame."
Because Perfect
Stranger was a
last-minute addition to the New York
production slate, none of the city's major
stages were available, so the ad agency
set was created 23 stories up in the
rebuilt 7 World Trade Center. "It was a

270-degree, south-facing view," Michos

says, "so we were dealing with the I T
changing quality and intensity of the
light, and the fact that night came early. LITHIUM
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Visual Products
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"One of our difficulties while we were in
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Even though the script might say 'day
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the workday we'd turn it into a 'night
interior.' Between the windows of our
set being 2 stops dark and losing the
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Another major set, Ro's apart¬
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New Yorkers, we're very adept at build¬
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warehouses and depots and things of
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builtright up to the perms, he somehow
always managed to get the light in the
right spot. He and his guys are very
talented."
Michos says the exterior-shoot¬
ing breakdown was about 50-50 day
and night, and the production lavished
special care on certain night scenes.
Four or five blocks around the sweeping
overpass on West 125th Street were
lit up for a driving sequence. "Andy
came up with a novel way to light

the underpass," he says. "Normally we

The set for Ro's Side's Ansonia building. "Bill designed it
Upper West Side
with a moving camera in mind. Pat
apartment was
built in a Capone, our camera operator, was able
Brooklyn to dolly through hallways and shoot
warehouse.
from one room to the next through open
doorways and pass-throughs in the
kitchen, and he did a great job. Bill also
gave us lots of restoration glass that
lent just
the right amount of distortion."
Day and night backdrops were used
outside the set's windows, which,
following the Ansonia model, were
large and plentiful. "Our gaffer, Andy
Day, had his hands full on that stage,"
would've used several big units as
raking back-/sidelight under the bridge,
but I thought that would look too
conventional for our film. I wanted to do
some sort of architectural
lighting. Andy
wedged about a hundred Par cans
between the bridge trusses, and that
gave the underpass a much more
polished look." They then shot the car
using Doggicam's Power Slide rig. "We
mounted it in front of the car, sticking
out about 12 feet," he says. "Bruce

136
 Willis was driving Halle Berry on a free Director of
drive, and I wanted to see the car and photography
Anastas Michos,
the entirebridge behind them." Overall, ASC lines up
Foley wanted to avoid iconic New York a shot.

sights and photograph the city in a

matter-of-fact manner. "When you're
doing a film in Manhattan, you're
always straddling the line between
what's been photographed a million
times and the tucked-away spots that
New Yorkers tend to know, but the
general film audience doesn't. You still
have to find a place that says you're in
New York."
Michos says that perhaps the
biggest challenge of Perfect Stranger,
which he shot in Super 35mm (using
Panaflex Platinums and Primo lenses), it can go 2 or 3 stops darker, and we close-ups." Given the ubiquity of
had nothing to do with filming in New fixed a lot of that in the Dl. But aesthet¬ computers in today's world, this issue
York. "The main difficulty was trying to ically speaking, because of the has been plaguing filmmakers for some
make a film that deals with people talk¬ computer's two-dimensionality, we had time, but "I don't know anyone who's
ing to each other on the Internet, and to come up with a way to punctuate the dealt with it brilliantly yet. I don't have
treating the computer as a character. shots, and the only thing I could think of the answer, but I think we gave the film
There are technical issues, like the changing was image size. So we used a defined look. And if we keep the audi¬

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 THE CINEMATOGRAPHER

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FOR SALE: Used Cameras,
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140 April 2007


New ASC Member
Underwater director of
photogra¬
phy and HydroFlex founder Pete
Romano, ASC has come aboard the
Society's roster of active members.
Romano's interest in photography
was sparked soon after high school,
when he took a job in the catalog-print¬
ing industry. Pursuing his newfound
passion with night classes at Boston
College, Romano soon enlisted in the
navy, where he entered the photo-school
program and got his feet wet with
motion-picture photography.
After leaving the service,
Romano attended machining school,
then found gainful employment as an
assistant and operator to a number of
underwater cinematographers. His
machining know-how coalesced with his
experience as an assistant, and Romano
soon had his hands full designing and
updating his employers' equipment.
Then, when he was hired to photograph
an underwater commercial at a local
swimming pool, his frustrations with the
gear at hand resulted in his creation of a
custom housing for the Cinema Products
16mm Gizmo camera, and HydroFlex
was born.
As
HydroFlex has grown and
expanded its product line, Romano has
compiled an impressive list of credits as
an underwater director of photography,
including Jaws: The Revenge, The
Abyss (for which Romano received an
AMPAS Technical Achievement Award
for co-developing the SeaPar 1200-watt
underwater HMI), Alien: Resurrection,
Amistad, The Life Aquatic With Steve
Zissou, Pearl Harbor and The Island,
among many others.
Honors Romano has received
over the years include a 1979 Emmy for
additional photography on the series
Mysteries of the Sea; a 1995 Technical
Achievement Award from the Society of
Camera Operators for the HydroFlex 35-
3 housing system; a 2001 AMPAS
award for the development of the
Remote AquaCam; and a shared 2002
Excellence in Cinematography award
from the Association of Independent
Commercial Producers for his work on a
Pocari spot.
New Associate Members
Industry veteran Cary Clayton,
who has had his hands in nearly every
aspect of image acquisition over the
years, has joined the ASC as an associ¬
ate member.
After
getting started in the film
business by shooting skiing films in the
1960s, Clayton branched out, first with
medical films and soon thereafter with
concert films. Clayton shifted to the
technical side of the business in the
1970s, when he took positions with the
Hervic Corp., Colortran and O'Connor
Engineering. Toward the end of the
decade, he started his own consulting
firm.
Since the 1980s, Clayton has
worked with IMC (a division of Photo-
Sonics), lectured on image acquisition
and camera support, enjoyed a brief
return to O'Connor, and started a busi¬
ness-development consulting company.
In 2002, he joined J.L. Fisher, Inc., as a
vice president.
Debbie Kennard, who has
worked with the ASC since 2004, has
joined the Society as an associate
member. She produced and curated the
first ASC Photo Collection Show, which
was held at Focus Films and has since
been on display at EFilm and the Acad¬
emy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences. Along with Isidore Mankofsky,
ASC, Kennard co-chairs the Society's
Photographic Committee.
Currently, Kennard is producing a
series of educational lighting DVDs for
the ASC. When she isn't volunteering
her time for the Society, she works for
Universal Studios as a production
controller on episodic-television
projects.
BAFTA Honors Lubezki
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC,
AMC recently won a British Academy of
Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award
for his cinematography on Children of
Men (see AC Dec. '06). Other BAFTA
nominees in the cinematography cate¬
gory for 2006 were Rodrigo Prieto,
ASC, AMC, for Babel (AC Nov. '06);
Guillermo Navarro, ASC, for Pan's
Labyrinth (AC Jan. '07); Phil Meheux,
BSC, for Casino Royale (AC Dec. '06);
and Barry Ackroyd, BSC, for United
93(ACJune '06).
—
Jon D. Witmer
 CINE GEAR I
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June 22 8 23, 2007
Master Class Seminars
June 24, 2007
Location
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Los Angeles, California

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—EXPO .CINEGE
A Tribute to the Visual Art of Film
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impres¬
sion on you?
Great Expectations. I was at King Edward VII preparatory school, and we
were studying the book. In my opinion, the picture was almost better
than Charles Dickens' novel. Guy Green, BSC won an Oscar for his work.
I subsequently worked with him on The Sea of Sand, which he directed,
and some years later, we met up again at an ASC dinner and reminisced
for a long time.

Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire?

Geoff Unsworth, BSC, a very talented, understanding and gentle man.
He greatly inspired me when I was at a young and impressionable age.
I worked with him on a number of pictures at Pinewood Studios, includ¬
ing A Night to Remember. He was the first to help me think of film, light,
shade, and especially what not to light, let it go,' he used to say. 'You'll
be surprised.'
What sparked interest in photography?
your
I have looked at 100-year-old photographs that are as alive now as they
were when the shutter clicked. Chemical photography is tactile, and
various people can use the same materials and get totally different
results. This is what separates the men from the boys. The thinkers can
create a subtler image than more commercial users.
on me because I was young, innovative, energetic and able to withstand
120°F out in the world's oldest desert. I was probably transfixed by the
gorgeous Julie Edge!
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?
Sometimes gratification comes in strange guises. For me, it is being asked
to do the next picture because they liked my work on the last.
Have you made any memorable blunders?
Everyone does sooner or later. When I was a focus puller, I worked with a
director of photography who shall remain nameless, who insisted that if
we moved any distance, I should take the mag off the camera. Well, one

day I put the mag back on the Mitchell and didn't lace up. We shot half a
Where did you train and/or study? roll before the penny dropped. Not my best day.
In my youth I probably had some illusions of grandeur, and began as an
architecture student. Sadly, my father passed away, so I got a temporary What is the best professional advice you've ever received?
job in the lab at Killarney Film Studios to get my mother and me over a 'There are never any problems, only solutions.'
rough patch. One day, whilst I was printing copies of the J. Arthur Rank
picture The Sea Shall Not Have Them, the studio needed a loader on a What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
feature that was in production, and pressed me into service. Forty or so I have directed features and have lately read some very suitable material.
years later, I am still out here, striving to make the ultimate film. In terms of current inspirational material, [fellow ASC member] Vilmos
Zsigmond's work in The Black Dahlia is a good example of film noir.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
Battleship Potemkin and films of that era impressed me very much. How Do you have any favorite genres, or genres that you would like to
could they create such dynamic images in 1905 and earlier, when we try?
were producing such ordinary material 60 years later? Then there was I have always been a Western fan and in search of a Western needing a
Billy Bitzer, an energetic thinker who was the first to use so many tech¬ new look. I believe that in Gallow Walker, shot by Henner Hofmann, ASC,
niques that are staples of our work today. we have achieved this. I am very good at low-key, moody lighting and
would like to apply it to a psychological drama or a good period mystery.
What are some of your
key artistic influences?
Watching the world go by. There's so much going on out there. There will If you weren't a cinematographer, what might you be doing
always be a time when you have to delve down into your subconscious instead?
to find a different way of handling a sequence or devising an unusual I'd be an architect or a mechanical engineer.
look. It all depends on how you see an ordinary event and then translate
it to film. Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member¬
ship?
How did you get your first break in the business? Time obscures the vision a little, but the names that come to mind are Eric
I did not break into the business, I tripped and fell, and rather
like a duck¬ Horvitch and David Millin.
ling takes to water, I swam. Life can be kind. My first decent break came
with the Hammer House of Horror. Michael Carreras had seen some of How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
my earlier pictures and decided to have me shoot Creatures the World The ASC is a prestigious society. I have made many lasting friends
most

Forgot in Namibia, with Don Chaffey directing. They probably locked in there, and the ASC has helped me feel a much more recognized person in
the industry worldwide. ■
144 April 2007
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ON :IL i\
XAVIER PEREZ GROBET

"I got my first Super 8 camera when I was 11

years old and started experimenting with
things like stop motion and perspective. It has
always been my dream to be a moviemaker.
Cinematography is a visual language that is
global. Each film has its own language with
endless possibilities, but you have to create it
together with a director who is willing to
experiment. You start from scratch at the
beginning of every film looking for ways to
push yourself a little bit further. You have to be
ready to shoot when unexpected things happen.
Magic happens when you capture those
moments. There are films that are pure

entertainment, but there are also films that

stay with you forever. I don't think anything
compares to a great film that has soul."

Xavier Perez Grobet earned Silver Ariel

Award nominations for Best Cinematography

in Mexico for La Mujer de Benjamin, Sin
remitente, Esmeralda De noche vienes and Sexo
pudor y lagrimas, and an Independent Spirit
Award nomination for Before Night Falls. His
credits include The Woodsman, Nine Lives,
Nacho Libre and Music and Lyrics.

[All these films were shot on Kodak motion picture film.]

For an extended interview with Xavier Perez Grobet,

visit www.kodak.com/go/onfilm.

To order Kodak motion picture film,

call (800) 621 -film.
www.kodak.com/go/motion
© Eastman Kodak Company, 2007.
Photography: © 2007 Douglas Kirkland

Kodak