Camera Operator - Summer 2015

SOC.ORG 路 SUMMER 2015 VOL. 24, NO. 3

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS

CAMERA OPERATOR 路 SUMMER 2015

Walking Dead Under the Dome HouseTerminator of Cards Genysis Fast andSOCFurious at NAB7 SOC Awards Review 1

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

CONTENTS 12

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

4 LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT 6 NEWS & NOTES

12 WALKING DEAD

Call for contributors

8 ESTABLISHING SHOT Stephen Campanelli, SOC 2015 SOC Camera Operator of the Year – Feature Film The Maze Runner Nominee

B:11.125”

T:10.875”

S:10.375”

44 SMOOTH OPERATOR

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Tips and Tricks from SOC Members “I Wish I’d Known that Earlier!”

– Part Two, David Emmerichs, SOC

46 HI TECH WITH JEFF Report on Lenses

52 INSIGHT Meet the Members

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CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

53 SOC ROSTER 55 AD INDEX 56 SHOOTING THE BREEZE

“Framing a Fan Favorite” Stephen Campbell, SOC 2015 SOC Camera Operator of the Year – Television Walking Dead Nominee

18 TERMINATOR GENISYS “He’s Back…”

George Billinger, SOC and Mitch Dubin, SOC 2008 SOC Camera Operator Lifetime Achievement Award honoree and 2013 Camera Operator of the Year – Feature Film Lincoln

26 UNDER THE DOME “And On the Set” Rick Davidson

36 SOC AT NAB Recap of SOC’s activities at NAB Las Vegas

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Society of Camera Operators Board of Governors OFFICERS President Mark August 1st Vice President Michael Scott 2nd Vice President Mitch Dubin 3rd Vice President Lisa Stacilauskas Recording Secretary Chris Taylor Treasurer Bill McClelland Sergeant-at-Arms Michael Frediani

BOARD MEMBERS Rochelle Brown Dan Coplan Rich Davis Twojay Dhillon David Emmerichs Eric Fletcher Tammy Fouts-Sandoval David Frederick Brad Greenspan John Hankammer Casey Hotchkiss Frank Kay Hugh Litfin Kenji Luster Tyler Phillips Chris Tufty Dan Turrett

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Awards Mark August Awards (Co-Chair) Bill McClelland Charities Chair Lisa Stacilauskas Communications Twojay Dhillon Constitution & By-Laws Stephen Silberkraus Corporate Liaison Bill McClelland COY Awards Rochelle Brown East Coast SOC Rep Bruce MacCallum Education and Mentor Hugh Litfin Historical Michael Frediani Historical (Co-Chair) Tammy Fouts Sandoval Membership Casey Hotchkiss Merchandising & Promo.

(Co-Chair) Brad Greenspan Merchandising & Promo.

(Co-Chair) Rochelle Brown Public Relations/Publicity Rich Davis Public Relations/Publicity (Co-Chair) Tammy Fouts Sandoval Publications Michael Frediani South Coast SOC Rep Heather Page Technical Standards David Emmerichs

CAMERA OPERATOR MAGAZINE Publications Chair Michael Frediani Managing Editor Kate McCallum Layout & Production Stephanie Cameron Director of Advertising Matt Price

CONTRIBUTORS George Billinger, SOC Stephen Campanelli, SOC Stephen Campbell, SOC Jeff Cree, SOC Rick Davidson David Emmerichs, SOC Mitch Dubin, SOC Michael Frediani, SOC Kristin Petrovich Kennedy Chris Taylor, SOC

PHOTOGRAPHY Claudette Barius Twojay Dhillon, SOC Mark Fellman Melinda Sue Gordon Brownie Harris Peter Lovino Albert Ortega Gene Page Michael Tackett Chris Taylor, SOC Robert Zuckerman

TO SUBSCRIBE

or for Subscription information questions: SOC.org or 818-382-7070

FOR ADVERTISING INFORMATION

Matt Price, Director of Advertising mattprice@soc.org 310-428-8071 For digital editions and back issues: SOC.org Camera Operator is a quarterly publication, published by the Society of Camera Operators.

STAFF AND CONSULTANTS SOC Operations Manager Heather Ritcheson Bookkeeper Michelle Cole Webmaster Rick Gerard Calligrapher Carrie Imai Business Consultant Kristin Petrovich Kennedy and Createasphere

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Is a registered trademark.

All rights reserved.

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

Emotional images for modern cameras

T2.0 CW Sonderoptic GmbH Wetzlar, Germany | Los Angeles, USA CAMERA OPERATOR 路 SUMMER 2015

www.cw-sonderoptic.com sales@cw-sonderoptic.com 3

Letter from President Dear SOC Members and Camera Operator Readers, As summer welcomes us, the SOC prepares for a lineup of events that will take us through the second half of the year. We will see many of you at Cine Gear Expo in early June where the SOC will be presenting a panel and exhibiting. Stop by the booth and say hello.

We are also in preparation for many new workshops and events, including our first SOC mixer in Atlanta. We look forward to meeting with our Southern members. For a full schedule of events log on to: SOC.org and click the events tab. This will be updated regularly.

You will also start to see a new and improved online presence of the Society and Camera Operator.

We are working diligently to rebuild the website to better serve our members with the SOC site, and we’ll be adding a Camera Operator magazine site to insure that the amazing content delivered in print will now be easily consumed online.

One of the reasons Camera Operator is so unique is that our members contribute the articles. As we say, “written by the members for the members,” I invite you to consider telling us about your own experiences, lessons and insights. We have a publishing team that can assist you, and thank you to all members that have already contributed.

Sincerely, Mark August, SOC SOC President

JUNE

• June 4 – 7 – Cine Gear SOC booth and panel • June 17 – eNewsletter sent • June 15 – SOC Student Camera Operator of the Year Awards submissions deadline • June 28 – Board of Governors meeting • June – Garrett Brown “Camera Movement” Seminar – date and location TBD

JULY

• July 16 – SOC Student Camera Operator of the Year Awards at Abel Cine Burbank, 6 – 9pm, screenings start promptly at 7:30pm • July 26 – Board of Governors meeting

AUGUST

• August 8 – eNewsletter sent • August 30 – Board of Governors meeting • August – Pedestal Workshop – date and location TBD

SEPTEMBER

• September 2 – eNewsletter sent • September 27 – Board of Governors meeting

• September 26 — 27 – Underwater Workshop – times and location TBD

OCTOBER

• October 12 – Camera Operator

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• October – Aerial Operator Workshop – date and location TBD

NOVEMBER • November 18 – eNewsletter sent • November – Board of Governors meeting – date TBD

DECEMBER • December – Holiday Party – details TBD

• December – Board of Governors meeting – date TBD

magazine mailed

• October 25 – (as of May 8, 2015)

Calendar

meeting

General Membership

Log on to SOC.ORG for a current calendar of events

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

F65

F55

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Meet the crew

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To learn more visit sony.com/35mm. * Sold separately. Requires Version 5.0 firmware. © 2015 Sony Electronics Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Features and specifications are subject to change without notice. Sony, CineAlta and the CineAlta logo are trademarks of Sony. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc. Avid and DNxHD are trademarks or registered trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and/or other Countries.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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News & Notes Magazine Updates

General Meeting @ ARRI

You’ve probably noticed that we’ve been updating Camera Operator with a new look and new departments. In the last issue we added a new column entitled “Smooth Operator” which will feature tips from the set by operators. We’ve also added a new department you’ll note on page 52 called “Insight” which will showcase three SOC members each issue.

We want you all to get to know each other.

Finally, Michael Frediani, SOC has been contributing to a department called “Shooting the Breeze,” which you’ll find on the last page.

“Shooting the Breeze” is a collection of interesting and iconic quotes from colleagues in the industry. Enjoy!

Our general membership meeting took place Sunday, April 26, 2015 at the ARRI creative space in Burbank. Fred Molina of ARRI welcomed everyone and then introduced a presentation featuring the ARRI ALEXA MINI, ALEXA SXT and ARRI’s Master Anamorphic Flare Sets. After having a chance to handle the cameras, Mark August, SOC President called the board meeting to order and members were able to experience the meeting and topics on the agenda. Discussions included nominations for the board, and nominees in attendance were introduced to the members.

Seeking Writers

Panasonic VariCam 35 SOC Event

Want to write an article for Camera Operator or have an idea for one…?

Camera Operator continues to serve as the foremost industry source of first person onthe-set articles for operators by operators and other members of the camera department. You have one of the most unique perspectives in the industry and we welcome submissions from camera operators, camera assistants, directors of photography, dolly grips, still photographers and others. This tradition will continue.

We are now accepting ideas for articles about your work on television and feature films, “Smooth Operator” articles addressing tips and anecdotes from your experiences on set and also your photo and bios for “Insights.”

If you are interested please contact Kate McCallum at kate@createasphere.com with your ideas.

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SOC.ORG Calendar We are pleased to announce new activities and updated calendar events on the soc.org site. Please log onto the home page and click the navigation button, Events. A monthly listing of all SOC events are presented.

The 2015 Student COY Awards The 2015 Student Camera Operator of the Year (COY) Awards are gearing up for the July 16 event. Able Cine is hosting at their Burbank facility. Doors open from 6 – 9pm with the screening starting at 7:30pm sharp. For further information, please contact Hugh Litfin, SOC at hughlitfin@gmail.com.

General Meeting @ ARRI

Panasonic hosted a half-day event for the SOC membership introducing the VariCam 35. Members were hosted to a breakfast and lunch, and the lead designer of the camera, Takahiro “Taka” Mitsui led the technical presentation. Doug Leighton, of Panasonic worked with members during the hands-on time, where the camera was put through its paces.

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

CAMERA OPERATOR 路 SUMMER 2015

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by Stephen Campanelli, SOC 2015 SOC Camera Operator of the Year Feature Film Nominee

Establishing Shot

On the set of American Sniper. Photo courtesy of Stephen Campanelli, SOC

Let me share with you the brief version of what I’ve been doing in the film industry for the last 25 years. I have always had a love for the cinema, the camera and what can be told through it. The words on the page of a script and the actors that read the lines and make those words come alive, all go into the camera and then up on the silver screen; THAT is what captured me as a young man.

When I was 12, I used to grab my parent’s super 8mm camera to make movies with my friends. I’d borrow ketchup from the fridge to make fake blood, etc.

I finally went to film school and graduated from Concordia University with a BFA. In film school I made a student film during my

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last year that went on to win first prize in the Canadian Student Film Festival.

I started at the very bottom of the camera department on my first film, Meat Balls III—I know, I know, but look what it did for Patrick Dempsey, he was in that movie!

I worked very hard with an undying dedication to my craft to be the best that I could be and moved up very quickly to become a camera operator. I bought a Steadicam in 1986 and quickly became one of the most sought after Steadicam operators in the country. I combined “A” camera operating and Steadicam back when no one was doing that because I wanted to be involved in all aspects of making the movie. From 1986 to 1994, I worked on

several feature films and TV movies including; Trial By Vengeance, Descending Angel, Stanley and Iris, The Freshman, And the Sea Will Tell, Blackmail, Look Who’s Talking Now and The Sea Wolf to name a few.

In 1994, I ended up doing a movie with Jack Green, ASC in China called The Amazing Panda Adventure. It was an exciting time in my life—as a boy I was a huge Clint Eastwood (recpient of the 2012 SOC Governors Award) fan, and even had a dog named Clint, so working with Jack was as close as I could get to working with Clint. I figured if I worked really hard and impressed Jack he would maybe mention my name to Clint.

Well, it was a really tough job, as we were at

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

CAMERA OPERATOR 路 SUMMER 2015

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10,000 foot altitude in northern China for almost three months, but we managed to survive and I guess I impressed Jack, as he did mention my name to Clint. A few months later I was standing in a cornfield in Iowa meeting my boyhood idol, Clint Eastwood on Bridges of Madison County. It was a dream come true––actually it surpassed my dream. I could not have imagined working with such a legend, yet I’ve been doing so for the last 20 years. I will have to give credit to my parents for always believing in me and supporting me, and telling me that anything is possible if you try hard enough and you put your mind and heart into it. Let it be know that I also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jack Green for making my dreams come true.

ators should make actors feel very comfortable so there can be a trust built among us.

20 years later I am still by Clint’s side having worked on his latest releases, Jersey Boys and American Sniper. To this day I still pinch myself that I’m working with him and I consider him my friend. Clint is very loyal, he always keeps the same crew and he has come to trust and confide in me in all aspects of filmmaking.

After over 17 years with Clint, I have stolen, uh, I mean learned many of his directing secrets. His efficiency on the set, his easy demeanor, his way of letting the actors do what they do best; ACT.

I’m also fortunate that Clint has the confidence in me to let me make big decisions, setting up certain shots and blockings, communicating to the actors describing to them what Clint is looking for, etc. Camera oper-

By looking through the eye of the camera all these years, I have seen so many things that a lot of people miss, the little nuances in the face, eyes and lips–we camera operators notice it all.

Camera operators should always bring with them a love of cinema, a love of telling a story, a love for the belief that something they will do on the set today can make people laugh and cry, or give someone a chance to escape their lives for a few hours. I have been so fortunate to work with so many people over the years and learn from the best and from the worst. Every day on set you can and should learn something new!

I have been very fortunate to have just finished my directorial debut of an action thriller called Momentum and I’m in Rio now directing my second movie called Rio Heat. I don’t know if I have given up camera operating yet, it is such a fun rewarding job—let’s see what happens.

Stephen Campanelli, SOC was a 2015 nominee for the SOC Camera Operator of the Year – Feature Film for his work on Maze Runner.

Additional Credits: Congo, Twister, The X-Files, The Relic, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Home Alone 3, The Patriot, The Think Red Line, End of Days, Romeo Must Die, Space Cowboys, Vanilla Sky, Mystic River, Letters from Iwo Jima, The Day the Earth Stood Still

On the set of Bridges of Madison County. Photo courtesy of Stephen Campanelli, SOC

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

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FRAMING A FAN FAVORITE The Walking Dead

by Stephen Campbell, SOC

Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee and Walkers.The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 16 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC ON COVER: Stephen Campbell and Walker. The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 16, BTS - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS 路 SOC.ORG

When I first watched the pilot episode of The Walking Dead, directed by Frank Darabont, I was drawn to the story, the acting and the whole concept of survival in a world so close to home that is ravaged by the zombie apocalypse. I was also intrigued by the cinematography —haunting, silent, and unnerving. I was hooked, along with my son Riley, and we became big fans of the show. Watching the show gave me the opportunity to study the way in which the story was told through the camera every week for the first three seasons. I carefully observed how the camera was placed, how it moved, and the lens choices, all of which were contributing to the way the audience experienced the story unfolding season to season.

HOW I LANDED This was my first introduction to Michael Satrazemis, the ‘A’ camera operator of the series for those first three seasons. I hadn’t met him, but I knew him from his work on the show. Then, as fate sometimes occurs in our industry, an opportunity arose where I was able to meet Michael at the start of Season 4. I operated some second unit days on the show, and then I moved to ‘C’ camera on first unit working for Michael, who is now one of the current DP’s as well as a director on the show. His passion and dedication as a filmmaker has proven that for a motivated camera operator who has excelled at his craft, the opportunities for advancement in our industry are many. We continue to emphasize that our main objective is to tell a great story by creating a great frame.

On my first day with Michael, and me as ‘C’ camera operator he asked me to set up a shot of a car turning down a country road and traveling past the camera. I could have put the camera anywhere. Standard legs, baby legs, hi-hat were all options. I chose to put the camera on a sandbag right on the ground, as low as possible with no pan or tilt. It was a locked frame with good foreground and lots

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

of trees and sky. We call these “Badlands” shots–after the movie. Mike and I hit it off from that moment.

I continued to shoot ‘C’ camera through Season 4 along with the 2nd unit and then on Season 5 I went from ‘B’ camera to ‘A’ camera halfway through the season.

As reflected by the vast number of people who watch the show, The Walking Dead story continues to get more interesting.

A TO Z ARRI TO ZOMBIES We shoot Kodak Super 16mm negative with Arriflex 416 Cameras. To be able to look through a finder and see what’s being photographed is still the most amazing experience as a camera operator. We maintain three cameras on the show along with a dedicated Steadicam body as well as an Arriflex High Speed SR. We shoot on prime lenses along with the occasional short zoom for Condor or remote head work. The Scorpio Head and the Alpha Head are used when we need Stabilization on the 30’ or 50’ Technocrane. The Carbon head is used with the Phoenix Crane for more basic crane work. We put remote heads to use on every episode depending on

the design of the shot. The tool we use the most has to be the Lambda head, or “Lammie” which allows the camera to be operated from low angles. Many of our frames are composed from the ground up as the design of the show dictates these “hero” angles. It is term we use a lot on the show to describe our characters. We “hero them up” by making them appear larger than life.

THE CREW The focus pullers on the series, David Galbraith, Bruce Robinson and Matt McGinn, continue to amaze with their stellar performances. The shots are always in focus! These are all passionate filmmakers who take a lot of pride in their work. Most of our night exterior work is shot at a T 2.0 using Kodak 7219 film stock. Working within these constraints with a lot of camera movement continues to prove how important the focus puller’s job is towards making any difficult shot a success.

Our Steadicam operators, Glenn Brown and Rob Carlson have gotten their share of moving shots in various environments. Moving through the woods was a large part of the scenario in Season 4 while Season 5 found us working in warehouses, hospitals and then

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WORKING WITH ACTORS

Stephen Campbell - The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 16 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC eventually the quaint, but brutal town of Alexandria. The brutality that exists within the walls is part of their human condition.

Penned inside with a constant threat from beyond the metal boundaries, there is a lack of trust and a need to survive at any cost.

Everyone has their own objective, nothing is sacred and lives are lost.

Michael has been a huge supporter of shooting on prime lenses as well as continuing to shoot on 16mm negative. It is the “look” of the show and we like to stretch the 16 x 9 frame using the corners and edges to tell the story. As the DP, Michael puts much of the emphasis on the composition of every frame.

A locked frame with no movement is many times more powerful than a shot that pans

and tilts. There are many episodic TV series that shoot two or three cameras on a set up in order to get the necessary coverage to create the proper edit. Time restraints and large page counts many times require that the master shot and close ups are all shot at the same time. Our goal on the show is to always treat our hero characters with “hero” close-ups. Choosing wider lenses to shoot much closer to the actors only allows one camera to shoot true single camera coverage.

This always gives the close-up a much more cinematic view. The field of view is wider, angled up and under the eyeline making our hero appear larger than life. This does justice to the comic book framing, and the powerful acting talent we are fortunate to work with.

“Stephen is a consummate professional.Whenever he steps behind the camera we are completely confident that he will get us the most compelling shot possible. He is a perfect fit for our show because he knows how to balance the demands of our grueling eight day shooting schedule with the creative, without compromising either. Stephen composes frames and captures performances on a profoundly artistic level, and we are truly fortunate to work with him on The Walking Dead.”

—Gale Anne Hurd, Executive Producer, Walking Dead, 2015 SOC Distinguished Service Award Recipient

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Working with such great actors like Andrew Lincoln, who plays the lead character, Rick Grimes, makes the operating experience much more compelling. To experience a performance through the lens like the ones that Andy has given on the show brings the operator to a heightened sense of awareness.

You are with that actor, moving the camera, continuously framing, composing, anticipating his movements, but at the same time witnessing his raw emotion, his gestures, and the subtle ways he finds his light at just the right moment during his dialogue. It’s a feeling that most operators can expound upon and it’s such a big part of what great cinematography is all about. The frame and composition that tells the story—it’s an actor’s stage.

THEY SHOOT ZOMBIES, DON’T THEY? We shoot zombies. This in itself has been quite the ride! Working with Greg Nicotero, a legend in the world of special effects makeup and design, has shown me that there is no limit to what the imagination can dream up. Greg Nicotero is also the most prolific director on the series as he has directed the most episodes thus far. Greg and his team have created inspired versions of what we call “walkers.” These “works of zombie art” surpass all others when it comes to the realistic potential that they bring to the show. The attention to detail is mind-boggling as that team continues to achieve new levels when it comes to zombie design and then zombie

FUN FACT Make-up designer and monster creator, Greg Nicotero plays the zombie that bites the character Amy on the arm. Nicotero says that he decided to play the zombie because he knew where to bite.

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

kills. The zombies ooze, they bleed, and they even gush, so we have to always be aware how much of those extra effects will be coming our way during a sequence. When we frame for a zombie kill we always leave room in the frame for a visual effect since a lot of the kills are done in post. We work closely with Visual Effects Supervisor, Victor Scalise when it comes to angle of impact and headroom. He puts his signature on every kill.

ZOMBIE OOZE One particularly challenging sequence took place during Season 5 in a show directed by David Boyd. Our heroes led by Rick travel to find supplies in a run-down and ravaged food supply building. As they enter, they notice that the food is in a flooded basement where there are trapped zombies floating on the water. These are waterlogged versions of

some decrepit-looking creatures. In order to shoot the scene we had to stand in four feet TECH ON SET: Kodak Super of water, handholding the cameras as our 16mm negat ive Three Arrifl team battles the walkers in order to get ex 416 Cam er as A dedicated to the food supplies. Of course we used Steadicam b ody Arriflex Hig camera protection for waterproofing, h Speed SR Mostly prim e lenses and and hand-held rain deflectors when occasionally zooms for C on short ondor or rem necessary. The characters fight off the ote head wo Scorpio Hea rk d and Alpha floating monsters, killing them one by Head on 30 ’ or 50’ Technocran one with kills to their skulls. Most of e Carbon head on the Phoen these were done in post except for two ix Crane Lambda hea d, or “Lamm kills that where practical. One of our ie” characters Bob is grabbed and pulled under water by a slimy, engorged walker. Bob is able to pull himself away and then he turns to hit the zombie. We cut the cameras and body fluids have changed consistency. the zombie effects team led by Jake GarHandholding the camera within five feet of ber brought in the torso puppet version of the action, I quickly found out what their this same walker. These walkers have been body fluids had become. As soon as David undead and swimming in this basement ooze for many months so of course their Boyd called “action!” and Bob started to

The Walking Dead shoots in various locations around Georgia. In the fiscal year 2014 alone, Georgia-lensed feature films and television productions generated an economic impact of $5.1 billion.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Sasha, Lawrence Gilliard Jr. as Bob Stookey, Josh McDermitt as Dr. Eugene Porter, Steven Yeun as Glenn Rhee, Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes and Chandler Riggs as Carl Grimes. The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 1 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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wail away at this puppet walker, all of the internal ooze exploded in my direction. This was a very creative blend of a milky-white, bile-like liquid. Our camera was protected, but I was right in the line of fire. My first baptism with white zombie ooze.

Working in the camera department on The Walking Dead under the visual leadership of Michael Satrazemis, along with storytellers like our showrunner, Scott Gimple, and all the creative technicians that collaborate on this series that audiences keep watching at record-breaking numbers each Sunday has been challenging as well as stimulating.

To sit in an audience and listen to them react to the show with such emotion allows us to say we’re doing something right—we are just telling good stories!

Left: Stephen Campbell - The Walking Dead, Season 5, Episode 16 - Photo Credit: Gene Page/AMC

Photo by Albert Ortega Stephen Campbell, SOC is currently busy in the Atlanta market where he’s beginning work on Season 6 of The Walking Dead for which he received a nomination by the SOC for Camera Operator of the Year Television. He recently completed Season 2 on AMC’s new series Halt and Catch Fire and was the additional operator/2nd unit DP on the feature, Endless Love.

He served as camera operator on two independent features, Unlimited, shot in El Paso, Texas and Frank Vs. God, starring Ian Cusick from Lost, which are now completing post-production. Stephen shot the feature To Write Love On Her Arms with Kat Dennings and was the ‘A’ camera operator on Monster which earned Charlize Theron the Oscar for Best Actress.

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

We have received many awards at Clairmont Camera; and the best one is having the privilege of working with you. For you bring us inspiration that fuels our dedication to our craft. Thank you! And keep it coming!

Denny Clairmont

CAMERA OPERATOR 路 SUMMER 2015

www.clairmont.com

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Terminator Genisys He’s Back

George Billinger, SOC and Mitch Dubin, SOC

Left to right: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Director, Alan Taylor on the set of Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

Terminator Genisys is the latest installation from the Terminator franchise. Directed

by Alan Taylor, it’s the fifth film in the series and features Arnold Schwarzenegger who reprises his classic role as The Terminator/T-800 Model 101.

Mitch Dubin, SOC “A” camera operator and George Billinger, SOC Steadicam and “B” camera operator have worked together on fourteen films. Terminator Genisys brought them together again and they offered to share their experience on the film and also provided insights into the dynamic between operators working together.

CO: HOW DID YOU BOTH GET HIRED TO WORK ON TERMINATOR GENISYS? MITCH: George had a previous working relationship with Director of Photography, Kramer Morgenthau. Kramer’s normal A camera operator was not available so George recommended me. I was interviewed

by Kramer and he made the decision to bring me on. I had never worked with Kramer or the Director, Alan Taylor. Filmmaking is complicated process, which requires a lot of teamwork. When you jump into a movie franchise that you’ve haven’t worked on previously it can further complicate the process. But thanks to the fact that George and I have worked together so often it all worked out great.

Filmmaking is a very collaborative process on many different levels. One of the most unique and special collaborations for a camera operator is the relationship that happens between the A and B camera operators. The A and B operators are true partners on the set.

We are the extra set of eyes for each other.

We are the ones that watch each other’s back. We are the shoulder to lean on after a hard day, the sympathetic ear to vent to.

We understand each other, and the trials and tribulations of our unique craft, better than anyone else.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

I remember on Saving Private Ryan, Chris Haarhoff (SOC) and I shared a car and driver to and from set. Everyday we would commiserate about the difficulties of the day as well as compare notes about our work. I realized that only two operators could have the conversation we were having. We were the only two people that truly understood the issues we dealt with every day. Although it took me a few years later to understand— this is the very foundation of the SOC. George Billinger and I have this same relationship. Two partners on the set.

GEORGE: I first met Kramer on the Jon Favreau movie, Chef. I was recommended to Kramer for additional photography on the film. We also worked together on a proof of concept piece at Fox. That led to being invited to do Terminator Genisys.

CO: WHEN DID YOU AND MITCH FIRST WORK TOGETHER? GEORGE: We first met working with director of photography Seamus McGarvey on Along Came Polly. The first Spielberg film we did together was The Terminal.

When Mitch did The Avengers with Seamus McGarvey he brought me with him. We both subscribe to a shared visual language

on set and have learned to work efficiently as a team.

The relationship between the A camera operator and B operator is an important one. It gives us the opportunity to place two cameras in situations that typically might only be covered with a single camera. Like any relationship in the camera department you develop strong shorthand after working together on numerous films.

MITCH: When you work regularly with the B operator you understand and share similar instincts and timings. There have been a couple movies that we’ve worked on where that really paid off. On a TV pilot, The Handler, we were using two cameras handheld. We were shooting in a very small room back to back. Because of the shot I knew George was going to have to pan into me and sure enough George did a vicious whip pan right.

I literally ducked (like a boxer dodging a right hook) as George’s camera swept across my head. I then stood up as if nothing happened and continued the shot. It was only after we cut that I told George he almost killed me. We had a good laugh. The only ones that really know what we go through to make a shot are George and I. GEORGE: I respect and pay attention to Mitch’s instincts. For example, if I’m on a

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stand-alone Steadicam shot Mitch is another set of eyes that I trust to give me an objective view of my work. It’s invaluable as things are developing in real time for an operator to have another POV. MITCH: Yes, as everyone is looking at the shot from their own perspective. The director is watching the acting, the DP is watching lighting, and the sound person is listening to the recording. The only one watching out for the operator is another operator. Sometimes you miss things, so when you have a partner you trust, you feel more confident and willing to take more chances.

There’s also the difference between the A camera shots and the B camera shots. The A shot is more of the master, wider, bigger shot—the shot that is in charge of furthering the storytelling of the image. The B camera shot can also find another way to tell the story, but it needs to be done with a subtlety that does not compromise the master shot.

GEORGE: Yes, we have to do it without invading the A camera doctrine but compli-

ment and do it seamlessly. It’s all about the need to make a great story. It’s like music.

We’re both playing the same piece of music but on a different instrument.

MITCH: A lot of attention gets placed on A camera but the B camera often has a more critical shot with less support. Unless the B camera operator is paying attention shots sometimes get lost. They’ve got to be quick on their feet and really pay attention.

GEORGE: Yes, we’re both responsible for what we’re delivering but doing it as a collective effort can make the work more impactful. We can have shots that work well together as rehearsed, but if those shots don’t work out as planned we have to be able to improvise in the moment.

MITCH: With certain groups, like with Steven Speilberg, we try to keep the same crew together. If I’m working with a new director of photography they will often ask me if I have a B camera operator I like to work with. I always ask for George.

GEORGE: And I referred Mitch to Kramer.

MITCH: The first day on the set of Terminator Genisys was much easier knowing George was there, but I had to learn the specific language of the director, the DP, and in this particular project, the producers who also had a strong voice in the look and style of the film.

The first day we started out with simple stuff.

We shot handheld on stage in a gimbaled Brinks armored truck. The movie required

MITCH: If my shot is falling apart, George may be able to get into position to pick it up.

If it’s a TV series that continues over a number of season this type of teamwork happens, but in features it’s more rare.

extensive night exteriors as we shot in and

GEORGE: It’s more rare to be teamed up with same person.

Los Angeles so all the departments worked

around New Orleans.

GEORGE: And we finished in San Francisco.

MITCH: The movie story all takes place in together to give the locations an LA feel.

Melinda Sue Gordon was a 2007 SOC Still Photographer Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree.

Left to right: Jai Courtney and Emilia Clarke are filmed by A Camera Operator, Mitch Dubin on the set of Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

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GEORGE: I worked on Terminator Salvation with Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut so this was my second Terminator. The whole opening does a nice job setting up the tone of the first Terminator.

MITCH: We matched it shot to shot. And– Arnold is back.

GEORGE: Yes, Arnold is back in iconic form. He brings all the great one-liners back to the franchise.

CO: CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE CREW, HOW YOU ALL WORKED TOGETHER, AND INTERACTED? GEORGE: Kramer and Alan Taylor had previously worked together on Game of Thrones.

MITCH: Yes, quality television. They worked together on Thor: The Dark World which led to them doing Terminator Genisys. Some directors are great with writing, acting, editorial, camera and some do all or combinations of it all. Alan was very precise about what he wanted from the camera but also very thoughtful about what he want-

ed from the cuts and he appreciated everyone’s work. Alan was challenged as it was a TECH ON SET: reboot of the franchise. He had to stay ARRI Alexa XT cameras true to the original franchise feel yet Panavision C and E series bring it into a contemporary style. The anamorphic lenses camera department’s job is to support Libra Head the director and give them what they GPI Pro Sys tem Steadic need. The director sets tone for the am ChilliPepper HD transmit ters & receiv language he wants to create for the ChilliPepper ers lightweight Steadicam movie. Not all directors care about sy st em Moviebird cr anes camera. Alan is very precise and with Chapman d ollies Kramer had a good collaborative spirit.

They worked well together.

GEORGE: Kramer had a big part on determining the placement of the camera and they both compared notes on designing shots.

MITCH: Kramer had his hands full with lots of huge sets with lots of lighting.

GEORGE: Yes, Kramer brought a great feel to the sets by using interactive lighting design that we were able to incorporate into our compositions. Alan had specific ideas about how the camera should move. Kramer was responsible for executing the ideas and

choosing the type of technical set up needed to realize the scene.

MITCH: Richie Masino was the A camera first assistant. His job was very demanding because of all the action sequences. We shot anamorphic. I love anamorphic but it puts a lot more pressure on the camera assistant because of the longer lenses and less depth of field. Liam Sinnott was the A camera second assistant. Both Richie and Liam did a

Left to right: A Camera Operator, Mitch Dubin and Director, Alan Taylor on the set of Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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view of his camera. So we’d get two different styles of shooting but we’d be doing it together making the most out of the coverage.

MITCH: The camera operators have a very important relationship with the actors and we communicate with them all the time.

We’re the person closest to them. We’re their first audience. The actors were all great and easy to work with. An important aspect of the camera operator’s job is to have a good working relationship with the actors.

B Camera/Steadicam Operator George Billinger on the set of Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

fantastic job. Through all the difficulties of shooting Terminator Genisys we all shared a lot of laughs.

GEORGE: I was fortunate to work with First Assistant Camera, John Kairis and Second Assistant, “Walrus” Howard who both work extensively with Director, Michael Bay. They were tremendous and very supportive.

MITCH: We had a really great crew. Brad Rea was my dolly grip. Brad won the SOC Mobile Camera Platform Operator Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013. I had worked with Brad quite a few times but hadn’t worked with him in years so it was great to team up with him again. Brad has a great attitude and is hysterically funny.

CO: CAN YOU SPEAK ABOUT SOME OF THE PRODUCTION CHALLENGES AND TECHNIQUES YOU USED? GEORGE: We had a very complex chase sequence involving numerous helicopters. We had two helicopters on the set on gimbals.

Mitch would be outside the helicopter on the MovieBird Crane shooting and I’d be inside the helicopter with the actors out of the

GEORGE: We have to be able to work both sides, behind and in front of the lens, making actors as comfortable and secure as possible. It’s vital to the integrity of their performance. I think this is one of the most important aspects of operating a camera.

Mitch and I got very close to the actors because we worked in a lot of very confined sets. We all became comfortable working shoulder to shoulder, literally.

MITCH: Especially when you do a lot of handheld.

GEORGE: We had a big scene shooting an interior of a school bus and spent a great deal of time in the bus. We were both handholding our cameras and became very intimate

Left to right: B Camera/Steadicam Operator George Billinger shooting a scene with Jai Courtney and Byung-hun Lee on the set of Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Photo credit: Melinda Sue Gordon © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

GEORGE: My Dolly Grip, Dwayne Barr has exceptional skills and had previously worked with Brad. Everyone functioned great as a team. In fact, Dwayne and I went on to work together on the film The Finest Hours after Terminator. And I also want to acknowledge our Loader, John Hoffler, the Data Manager, Chad Taylor, and the DIT, Ryan Kunkleman who did great work on set.

MITCH: When A camera was on the MovieBird crane it required three sets of hands.

If Dwayne wasn’t busy he would always help.

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

with the actors. It was a very complex sequence. Mitch and I had to make sure that neither one of us were in each other’s frames.

We came up with some interesting methods to solve that problem. To keep myself out of Mitch’s frame I would get on my knees between the bench seats and operate from a handheld monitor while I held the camera barely visible over the tops of the seats.

As this movie had extensive VFX we both had to work closely with the VFX supervisor Janek Sirrs who we’d worked together with before on The Avengers. As operators–we had to come up with plans to facilitate the VFX requirements for each shot as well.

MITCH: As a camera operator one of the things we have to do is concentrate diligently on the frame. At the same time you have to be very open and spontaneous. It’s a very Zen process. By concentrating so diligently you become very open. It’s what makes operating so great, but when they say “check the gate!” the shot goes completely out of

my head. I call it shooting amnesia. I move on to the next shot. I sit in dailies and can’t remember shooting what we are watching on the screen.

CO: HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE STYLE OF TERMINATOR GENISYS? HOW HAS IT CHANGED OR STAYED THE SAME SINCE THE FRANCHISE LAUNCHED? DESCRIBE TECHNIQUES YOU USE TO ACHIEVE THE STYLE? MITCH: They were working to reboot the franchise so they had a pre-determined look with a modern-day approach. We shot with the Alexa digital camera. The cameras and anamorphic lenses came from Panavision.

The new OLED Electronic viewfinder that Panavision has developed is the best digital viewfinder I have used. It has grain, like an old fashioned ground glass. It felt like I was viewing through a Platinum film camera.

GEORGE: We did some of the iconic Terminator shots with Arnold when he comes

Photo by Claudette Barius Mitch Dubin, SOC started his career working as a postproduction PA on Apocalypse Now at Zoetrope Studios in San Francisco. During the additional photography of The Black Stallion and Apocalypse Now he realized working on the set, behind the camera, was where he wanted to be. Thirty years later he has been the camera operator on over eighty feature films, including fourteen films as the A camera operator for Steven Spielberg. Mitch has been fortunate to have worked on some great films with exceptionally talented crews.

Mitch Dubin, SOC was awarded SOC Lifetime Achievement Award Camera Operator in 2008 and Camera Operator of the Year Feature Film for Lincoln in 2013.

T1 MAY 12, 1984

T2 JUNE 8, 1995

T3 JULY 24, 2004

T4 2019

A T-800 Terminator arrives from the future to kill Sarah Connor. Kyle Reese also arrives, to protect her.

Reese and Connor destroy the Terminator, but Reese dies, having impregnated Connor. Terminator parts are found by Cyberdyne.

A T-1000 arrives from the future to kill John Connor. A T-800 reprogrammed by the future John Connor also arrives, to protect him. The T-1000 is destroyed, Cyberdyne is blown up, the T-800 is melted down and Judgment Day is averted. Or is it?

A T-X arrives from the future to kill Kate Brewster and John Connor’s wouldbe lieutenants. A T-800 reprogrammed by the future Brewster also arrives, to protect John Connor from nuclear annihilation, as Judgment Day has only been postponed. Brewster and Connor reconnect.

During the war against Skynet, Resistance fighter John Connor encounters the mysterious Marcus Wright, kicking off the events of Terminator Salvation.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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into very close proximity with the famous sawed-off shotgun. We made use of classic low-angle frames with a moving camera to accentuate his character’s imposing presence.

MITCH: In all the Terminator films there’s a lot of gunfire. It’s hard to work around all that gunfire. Even thought it’s not real, it’s still dangerous and you need to protect yourselves. It’s loud and you have to wear ear protection.

GEORGE: They use big, heavy caliber weapons. In fact, I’d like to thank and acknowledge our outstanding Armorer, Harry Lu for always keeping Mitch and me safe.

He’s a great guy and one of the best armorers in Hollywood.

Photo courtesy of George Billinger George Billinger, SOC began his career as a camera intern at Warner Bros. on an Academy of Television Arts and Sciences cinematography scholarship. Early in his career he met the late James Crabe, ASC who got Billinger his first feature film job operating on the movie North Shore for which Billinger shot the surfing photography. For the last 20 years he’s worked on such notable films as; Ray, The Avengers, Master and Commander, The Soloist, Twilight, and many more.

He’s been fortunate to work with Janusz Kaminski on numerous movies including; Indiana Jones, Lincoln, War of the Worlds and The Terminal with Kaminski, and Steven Spielberg.

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MITCH: I’m convinced it’s louder in front of a gun then behind it.

GEORGE: Along with gunfire we had numerous complex explosions that we had to coordinate with the special effects team. We had to pay attention! You don’t want to have to do these twice. Coordinating all this between the camera department, stunts, and the special effects team takes diligence, safety and protection. It requires good technique, good instincts, and you can’t get nervous.

MITCH: When you’re doing a shot that you only have one take to get it right, it puts a lot of pressure on the operator.

GEORGE: There were a lot of shots that required very specific timing. For example, when John Connor and Kyle Reese attacked Skynet headquarters we were in front of them with the Steadicam mounted on an all-terrain vehicle. We lead the actors through a series of fire bombs and bullet hits so we had to be at the right place and time our marks perfectly or we’d risk missing the effects, or even worse–putting the actors at risk for getting injured.

MITCH: One of the most important things for a camera operator is being confident in yourself and your ability. If you start to second-guess yourself you’ll get paralyzed and you won’t be able to execute the shot. You really have to believe in yourself and know you are the best person to get the job done.

GEORGE: I always want to make sure that my coverage blends into the A camera.

Whether we’re doing Steadicam, handheld, or dolly, it’s needs to be seamless and have the same flow.

MITCH: George is such a good Steadicam operator that many times I’ve been credited for a great dolly shot that was actually a Steadicam shot.

CO: WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE ON SET? MITCH: When you talk to an operator about equipment it’s actually secondary–our job is about those four lines of the frame.

The cameras and lenses came from Panavision in Woodland Hills. They were great and their equipment was the best. The cranes and Libra Head came from ProCam Rentals. Brian Breithaupt was always there whenever we had any problems. His cranes were always top notch. He would go out of his way to make sure we had everything we needed.

John Philion was our Libra Tech. The Libra Head is a fantastic piece of equipment but it is very important to have a good tech with the stabilized head. John is always my first choice when we use the Libra Head. He is also a good operator and I often put him on the third wheel (roll axis) during a shot.

GEORGE: Manolo Rojas (SOC) and I recently formed a company together called ChilliPepper Labs to create customized production technology. Manolo is a genius designer and developer, and a brilliant Steadicam operator. We used our custom HD wireless transmitters and our handheld monitors on set. ChilliPepper Labs also supplied a beta prototype carbon fiber, lightweight Steadicam running rig, which I used for shooting several scenes. It gave Kramer and Alan a different tool with which to tell the story as it gives the shots a distinct energy.

The primary Steadicam I’ve used for over 20 plus years is the GPI Pro-System, which has never let me down. Without question, it’s my favorite and the best, period.

The title “Genisys” refers to “SYS”, a computer term referring to the “System” or critical files that the system depends on to function properly, as well as “genesis”, a beginning or start (in context, the core of the story hinges on time-travel to where the war begins).

Right: Series T-800 Robot in Terminator Genisys from Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions.

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures © 2015 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

CO: IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THE FILM? GEORGE: I really appreciated working on the film. I had a great relationship with Arnold and enjoyed being around him. He’s a tremendous guy and watching him bring the role to life was awesome. In fact, we did a fight scene together where Arnold was actually physically grabbing the Steadicam and me to enact his fight with the T-1000. That’s something you don’t get to do every day.

And it didn’t hurt.

The producers David Ellison and Dana Goldberg are taking the franchise to the next level. They’re the keepers of the flame through Skydance Productions.

MITCH: Big action, big effects, historically important. It was a great project. It was a privilege to be part of the legacy of the Terminator movies.

GEORGE: The movie has a great sense of scale. I had lots of responsibility and big shoes to fill, especially doing it with Arnold revisiting the franchise. He IS the Terminator. It’s our responsibility to keep it intact and keep it new. People want it to be familiar and they want it to be contemporary, yet different.

CO: WHAT DID YOU DO AFTER THE MOVIE WRAPPED? MITCH: I went off to do a Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg film in NYC and Berlin.

Bridge of Spies is a period piece that takes place during the cold war. Good script and

good acting. No action or visual effects. It was a very different project than Terminator Genisys. I’m now working on another Speilberg film in Vancouver. Lot’s of cutting edge technology with motion capture and visual effects, but I can’t talk about it.

GEORGE: I just completed a Disney movie called The Finest Hours with Director of Photography, Javier Aguirresarobe, ASC. It’s a period drama set in 1952 about the largest rescue in the history of the Coast Guard.

Paramount has greenlit two sequels to this film before it even opens, because regardless of how well or poor it does at the box office, all film rights to the Terminator franchise are set to revert back to James Cameron in the year 2019.

After finding himself in a new time-line, Kyle Reese teams up with John Connor’s mother Sarah and an aging terminator to try and stop the one thing that the future fears, “Judgement Day.” Terminator Genisys features Arnold Schwarzenegger who’s back as the Terminator/T-800 Model 101. The film is scheduled for release by Paramount Pictures on July 1, 2015.

“Hasta la vista, baby...”

Under the Dome And on the Set Rick Davidson

Trapped, Season 3, Under the Dome with Mike Vogel and Rachelle Lafevre. Photo by Brownie Harris.

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Under the Dome is a CBS television drama series based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel of the same name. It tells the story of Chester’s Mill, a small town suddenly and inexplicably sealed off from the rest of the world by an enormous transparent dome. The inhabitants struggle to survive with resources running low as their search for answers to what the barrier is and where it came from continues. The post-apocalyptic conditions intensify while the residents must decide who to rally behind as new faces emerge to battle for the town’s trust and allegiance. With survival hanging in the balance, can the residents of Chester’s Mill work together to protect their uncertain future?

Source: CBS

SERIES BACKGROUND I’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on this series since it launched as a summer premiere in 2013. Under the Dome is produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Amblin Television.

Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, Neal Baer, Justin Falvey, Darryl Frank and Stacey Snider are executive producers.

When the Director of Photography, Cort Fey, ASC came to town for Season 1 of Under the Dome I met with him, he talked to a couple people I had worked with before and I got the job. I’ve been with the show since Season 1 and it’s fun to be part of the first season of a series because you get to help establish the look of the show.

The series is shot in Wilmington, North Carolina and we’re now in our third season which is premiering June 25, 2015.

SEASON STYLES Each season, the show’s been staffed with a different DP, which has been interesting and keeps things fresh. Cort Fey established the

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

look of the show. Cort likes a low, creeping master that skims the floor or floats over a set piece, so we used the Cartoni Lambda Head quite a bit. Cort used Glimmer Glass filters and sometimes a set of uncoated Cooke prime lenses to create flares and increase highlights. Using these techniques and technology were ways to create a sense of eerie weirdness, which is a stylistic feel of the show.

ON THE ROAD Cort also likes to keep things simple for the driving scenes. We never used an insert car or lights. I would get in the backseat with the director and we would do ‘French Overs’ on the actors in the front seats. It added a sense of realism to the scenes and looked great.

Cort said there was usually enough light bouncing around in the car, and the Alexa could handle the brighter backgrounds.

David Geddes, ASC was our Season 2 DP. We had a lot of new sets that season and quite a bit of the scenes took place in a series of caves and tunnels that were new to the show. David was able to put his stamp on those locations and his shooting style was

more traditional. After a marking rehearsal we would get together with the director and come up with a plan. David would say, “Make it so.” He was more of an English style DP so he would then work with our amazing gaffer Tommy Sullivan on the lighting, and our talented B camera operator Bo Webb and I would work with the director and the stand-ins to set up the shots. If the location for the next day was going to be in the tunnels it was important to get a good night’s sleep. There would only be room for one camera and it would be all Steadicam.

Luckily we are blessed with a series of experienced directors like Jack Bender and Peter Leto who knew what they needed and were economical in their coverage. Our talented cast has made everyone’s job easier by being prepared and open to suggestions that will help make the blocking work for camera.

Filter-wise we used BPMs and NDs during Season 2.

FROM THE DP I spoke with David Geddes, who was our DP on Season 2. This is what he had to share about his experiences on Under the Dome, “I had watched the first season of Under

27

the Dome thinking ‘this is very cool Steven King sci-fi.’ At the time I was working on a Bad Robot project called Almost Human and couple of days after wrap Jack Bender (executive producer on Under The Dome) called to see if I would be interested in shooting Season 2. Jack and I had worked together on a number of projects but our schedules hadn’t matched up for far too long. I was more than grateful to team up again.”

David also shared his techniques to achieve the look and feel he brought to the series, “While working on Fringe (another Bad Robot project) I discovered that matching the Arri Alexa with the older Panavision Primo lenses offered a more rounded texture and analog feel without filtration, lending a look that is more filmic than digital. I brought

that look to Under the Dome. The efficiency from technological advances helped achieve image attributes and production value that approach feature quality on a television schedule and budget. Everyone has large LCD or LED television screens at home to watch $200 million feature films. I find that people expect the same level of quality from a television production. They can’t possibly realize the time and money it took to achieve that look. A single scene in an action feature can take as many days to shoot as we have for an entire episode. I try to manage that conflict using every tool and trick of the trade to bring the story to life.”

I had not worked with him before but had heard he was a character and that his crews loved him. When I met with him for the first time the first thing he said to me was, “I like a quiet set, I like to work fast and I don’t like to f#$k! around.” Alright then. Walt is very hands-on. The most hands-on DP I have worked with. He really cares about every

ADVENTURES WITH WALT LLOYD, ASC

asked how this series is different than other

Walt Lloyd, ASC came in as our Season 3 DP.

phy is that all shows are unique and different.

shot, whether it’s a master, lighting one of our more mature actresses, or an insert. He meters everything and doesn’t have a DIT or a tent.

Walt shared this, “Shooting Under the Dome does bring it’s unique challenges. I am often shows or films that I have shot. My philoso-

Season 3. Mike Vogel springs into action. Photo by Brownie Harris.

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“I like a quiet set, I like to work fast and I don’t like to f#$k! around.”

—Walt Lloyd, ASC Director of Photography, Under the Dome Season 3. Walt Loyd with B Camera/2nd AC, Will Cooper and Rick Davidson. Photo by Brownie Harris.

“I was attracted to Under the Dome primarily because I was excited about the story and the potential it held. It had a Steven King pedigree and a very strong creative producing team with Jack Bender and the team at Amblin/Dreamworks; Stacey Snider, Justin Falvey, and Darryl Frank. I liked that this incredible and strange sci-fi event was happening in a world that is often idealized–small town America–and revealed all the drama that lurked under the surface.

My guiding concept for the show was to keep the outlandish sci-fi core rooted in a very down to earth and real style. I always felt that if I framed these bizarre events in a container that the audience found familiar, I could add weight to the theme and tone of the show. I embraced what I called an “Indie Feature” look–naturalistic, sometimes rough and flarey, softer shadows. In the pilot, the Director, Niels Oplev, and I strove to create sequences that were

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

built from storytelling shots rather than master shots and coverage.

When the sci-fi bits showed up, I always tried to present those elements without fanfare or emphasis. As the show continued, things in Chester’s Mill got more and more desperate. I pushed the style over the arc of the first season to support that tone. I made the show darker, we added smoke to many scenes, and started hitting the lenses with a lot of flare light.

I really enjoyed my season of Under The Dome. The team I worked with in Wilmington were some of the best filmmakers I have had the pleasure to collaborate with. Every script presented fantastic visual challenges and lots of opportunity for visual storytelling. Plus it’s always very satisfying to work on a show where the producers and directors love what you’re doing and the audience loves the show!” —Director of Photography, Cort Fey, ASC

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I never thought that as a lighting cameraman I should have a signature look. I wasn’t formally trained to be a cinematographer and I did not go to film school. I am a story person and I think that the story dictates the look of the project. My hope is that anyone can look at my reel and say everything looks different, like different people shot the different films.

Under the Dome is unique in a way that took some adjusting for me. I always like to use windows as the main source of light but on this project it is imperative since there is no power under the dome.

the cocoon room where crystals and tendrils on the walls are the source. There are unique challenges in just about every episode. All in all, I try to keep it visually stimulating, appropriate and believable. And ultimately, although it can be difficult to accomplish after a long, hard week, I want everyone to have fun. Everyone is working hard and contributing creatively and physically for very long hours so I try to keep it light on the set and enjoy myself and my co-workers company. After all, they are my family for half the year.”

This is a great opportunity to make the main locations very dramatic and contrasty. It is fun to see how far I can push this. There are many scenes in the tunnels in the dome and we try to make the major source of light either the flashlights or lanterns that the characters are carrying. That is until they arrive at

Rachelle Lefevre, our lead actress had this to say, “I think the thing I’ve noticed the most is the different working styles of the DPs. TECH ON SET: It’s like watching a different painter try Season 1 Cor t Fey went w to achieve something similar than the ith West Coast Camer a for our pack ag e. painter that came before him but in Season 2 DP David Gedd es and Seaso n 3 DP Wal a completely different manner.” t Lloyd have both gone w ith Panavisio We use thre n. e Alexa Plus bodies, one of dedicated to which is the Steadica m and we co We carry an mpose in 16 x9.

Enlouva cran e with a thre Aero head an eax is d a Chapman Hustler and Peewee are our dollies o f choice.

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On many shows operating the B camera can be much trickier than operating the A camera. Many times you have to sell the shot to the DP, make sure it works for his lighting and that the shot doesn’t infringe on the A camera. We were lucky to have had Bo Webb on B camera Seasons 1 and 2, and Mike Repeta this season. Mike always finds a shot he likes during rehearsal. Then he runs it by Walt. We don’t put the two cameras side by side and do sizes. We like to find two interesting shots then do a tighter size. Walt’s filters

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

of choice are the Mitchell A, IRNDs and a

working with Patrick and Grg. I had become

1/4 Black Pro Mist for the ladies.

lazy about keeping an eye on focus because

THE FREEDOM OF STEADICAM

these guys nail it take after take. “Working with Walt has been a good experience for me,” says Grg. “He’s a pretty

We’ve been doing more Steadicam this season. Walt uses the Steadicam not because he thinks it saves time, but because he feels it gives more freedom to the actors and director. Sometimes a director gets a last minute inspiration and the blocking changes. Or the actors want to do something different on take two and the marks change. Nobody likes watching the grips having to relay track because the shot’s not working. Especially the grips.

I have been fortunate to have had two of the best ACs in the business on my camera, Patrick Borowiak and Grg Magidow. I realized recently, while working on a different project that I had learned a bad habit from

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

brusk, no nonsense DP who likes to work old school with metering his light, shooting it like it’s film and not relying on a DIT. He has a dry sense of humor that takes a while to get but as long as we are all getting the job done we can get him to crack a smile.

This show has already been established

TECH ON SET:

Season 3 lens package from Panavision: Panavision

Primo Zoom s: two Prim o 111s, one Prim o 19-90, on e P ri m o 3-1. Prim Primes: 10m o m, 14.5mm, 17.5mm, 21 mm, 27mm, 35mm, 40m m, 50mm, 7 5mm, 100m m, 135mm, 150mm. On e Angenieu x 15mm-40 mm zoom, two Angenie ux 28mm-7 6mms zoom s, one Angenieux 45mm -12 0 mm zoom .

and has a good flow to it since most of the cast and crew have been here for two seasons. I like how the cast and crew all take their jobs seriously but realize we aren’t reinventing the wheel so to speak.”

Page30: Season 3, actors Mike Vogel, Colin Ford, John Elvis, and Boom Operator, Matt Fann. Photo by Brownie Harris.

Get Tips from the Set on page 32.

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Tips from the Set Rick Davidson I’m sure most all of you are already aware of these, but maybe a few of them will be helpful to some of the younger guys and gals coming up.

I remember years ago Bill Barber said to me, “ I wish there was a pill you could take that would give you the knowledge that you could only learn through years of experience.” Of course there isn’t a magic pill and the only way you can become good at what you do is by working on set. I was told that if you learned something new today then it was a good day. I think for what we do, being able to problem-solve on the set is your most important asset. When something’s not working you can rely on your experience on other shows where a similar problem came up and say, “This is how we fixed it.”

I went to a Q&A at Panavision a few years back. Peter Rosenfeld, SOC was one of the guys answering questions. I remember him saying that he always wears a Comtek when he’s working. He said it really helped him get in sync with actors. And he’s right. The better you can hear what the actors are saying the more you will know about what they are going to do in a scene. You’ll know that after a certain line they will stand up or that you need to pan to another character. What’s also great in these days of endless rolling takes is that many times you will hear the director when he comes on set to give the actors notes. Sometimes the director gets so caught up in the scene that they’ll tell the actor to do something different in the next take but forget to tell the operator.

I’m sure all of you have been on a show where the DP wants the entire camera department to be on radio with him or her. I’ve found it’s very helpful being able to communicate with them without the DP having to come out of the tent or you having to find them at video village. And again, during these endless rolling takes the director may give the DP a note to change up the shot on the next take and he’ll pass that on to you. It does get tricky when you are

Season 1 in the underground bunker with actress Britt Robertson, Camera Operator Bo Webb, and Rick Davidson go hand held. Photo by Michael Tackett.

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

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wearing a Comtek, a radio and an intercom headset to talk to the crane guys. We need a third ear!

When you land a show be sure to get a script and a schedule, talk to the DP and director if possible about special equipment that you may have to plan for. How do they want to shoot that running scene in the woods? Will there be Steadicam used in the big rain scene? Two axis or three axis head for the crane days. You just have to be able to get the shot the director wants on the day.

If you’re day playing on a show that you haven’t been on before and don’t know the DP, check with the regular operator about what kind of framing they like. Is it one of those shows where they want the camera to be always moving? If you come up with an idea for a shot should you try and sell it to the DP or just stand by and wait for instructions?

An operator buddy of mine, Andy Graham taught me a trick a few years ago about whip pans. He said he was on a show once where he was on a long lens and had to whip between the actors. The director didn’t go for the whip off/whip on idea because it was in the middle of the scene. Andy said he blew the first two takes and the DP came over and said “try this”. They put a C-stand next to the lens and tied

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a piece of sash cord from the stand to the iris rod. That made the sash go tight where it landed on the second actor. He practiced a couple and nailed take three. If you have a newer set of Hot Gears you can also program your start and stop positions, then just adjust the speed of the pan.

If you have to do one of those tricky shots where the actor runs at the camera and jumps over it and keeps running and you have to do a 180 degree tilt to keep him in frame then the Cartoni Lambda head works well for that. And if you are on a slider on the deck and want to get a bit lower than a regular head would get you the Lambda is good for that too.

One of the hardest positions to fill on a crew is a skilled dolly grip with a can-do attitude. A guy who knows the framing you and the DP like and finds that frame without you having to say anything is priceless.

As soon as the camera is up try and point it at the set. So many guys are lighting through the monitor now so they want to see an image as soon as camera is up. It’s like DP Terry Stacey likes to say, “Do you mind pointing the camera at something interesting?”

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

Take time to befriend your script supervisor. Keep them apprised of which printed takes were best for camera. Many of them will put that in the notes and in some cases this could influence which take the editor ends up using. Sometimes I’ve found that our best take wasn’t one that the director wanted printed. So find the right time to talk to the director and explain to them what you loved about that take. Usually they are happy to circle that one too.

And lastly, be kind to your PAs and interns. You may be working for them in five years.

Page 34: Season 1 Director of Photography, Cort Fey, ASC with Season 1 VFX Coordinator, Stephan Fleet, Seasons 1 and 2 A Camera/1st AC, Patrick Borowiak, A Camera/Dolly Grip, Scott Frye, and Rick Davidson.

Photo by Michael Tackett.

In 1994, Under the Dome Executive Producer, Stephen Speilberg was the recipient of the SOC Governors Award

Rick Davidson graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Broadcast Journalism. It was there that he discovered his love for camera operating. Rick worked as a news photographer and ran around with a Betacam on his shoulder shooting everything from football games to earthquakes for eight years before moving to Los Angeles where he discovered the Photo by Peter Lovino Steadicam. He spent a few years working on Roger Corman movies and music videos before landing his first A camera/Steadicam position on Malcolm in the Middle. Since then Rick has worked on features and television and has been on Under the Dome since Season 1.

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SOC at NAB

by Kristin Petrovich Kennedy · Photos by Twojay Dhillon, SOC

Chapman Leonard Miniscope on the NAB show floor. Credit...

The SOC traveled to Las Vegas in mid-April to attend NAB, the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual trade show. The NAB Show hosts close to 100,000 attendees, over 1,500 exhibitors, and is one of the most important international gatherings for content creators, broadcasters and entertainment technology manufacturers. New areas of focus for the show this year were the drone pavilions plus the virtual and augmented-reality exhibits.

Additionally, 4K flourished with all the new camera and gear that supports production.

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SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

The SOC attended the 2015 NAB show in order to fulfill specific objectives, which were primarily to educate the large contingency of attendees and participants about the SOC’s mission and programs.

Additional objectives were to expand Camera Operator magazine’s subscriber base, and to build on and increase corporate membership.

Lofty objectives for sure, yet accomplished through the dedication of our ever-present contingent to present and participate in several activities while furthering the SOC’s international footprint.

Representing the SOC were Mark August, SOC, Michael Frediani, SOC, Bill McClelland, SOC, Dave Frederick, SOC, Eric Fletcher, SOC, and Nicholas Davidoff, SOC. Additionally, Pete Romano, ASC joined the Monday panel. More on the panel later in this article.

The SOC attendees got hands-on experience with the new JVC 4K camera and met with Dave Walton, Assistant Vice President, Marketing Communications, and Craig Yanagi, Manager, Marketing and Brand Strategy, Professional Video Division. The new JVC 4K camera which is the flagship camera for the 4KCAM product line, the GY-LS300, is designed for cinematographers, documentarians, and broadcast production. It features JVC’s 4K Super 35 CMOS sensor and an industry standard Micro Four Thirds lens mount. JVC’s unique Variable Scan Mapping technology electronically adapts the active area of the Super 35 sensor to provide native support of PL and EF mount lenses. As a result, using third-party lens adapters, the camera provides almost limitless lens options.

Monday, the first day on the exhibit floor, the SOC contingency kicked off with an interview that was live-streamed at Teradek’s studio on the floor. Members were interviewed about the history of the SOC, special events and their favorite projects. Also discussed was the essential position of operators on the set. The video of the interview is on www.soc.org.

The group next met with the founder and CEO of Kinotehnik,Tonis Liivamagi who unveiled the world’s first and most compact bi-color, variable beam, smart LED Fresnel light, the Practilite 602. They also met Elizabetta Cartoni, who is celebrating Cartoni’s 80 years of success with their commitment to serving production through professional camera support systems.

Monday’s schedule continued with an aggressive meet-and-greet lineup. The SOC’s business consultant, Kristin Petrovich Kennedy, arranged a series of strategic meetings. The purpose of the meetings was to engage SOC members in attendance with current SOC Corporate Members, introduce several new technology companies of the SOC Corporate benefits, and to promote Camera Operator magazine.

Many of the meet-and-greets consisted of high-level introductions, private tours and demos of technology. The companies showed up in force and greeted the SOC with a spirit of great partnership and respect.

Some of the highlights of the meet-and-greets consisted of: Joachim Zell, VP Imaging Science, Technical Director EFILM, Deluxe, who introduced members to their onset solutions, walked the group through their technology and performed demos.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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All in all Monday’s meet-and-greets included: MTI, Canon, Deluxe, JVC, Kinotehnik, Cartoni and Manios Digital. The fast and furious day wrapped with SOC Corporate Member Tiffen.

Bill McClelland, SOC said, “The meetings that were pre-scheduled with technology companies allowed us to experience VIP treatment and attention from the leadership of those corporations who needed to better understand the importance and influence of the SOC. Having served as the Corporate Membership Liaison and currently as Treasurer, these relationships are important for the SOC to foster.”

Dave Frederick, SOC stated, “I was impressed with the capacity crowd we had at our panel presentation and discussion. The audience was eager to see and hear how we accomplished our work, and were thrilled to escape the pervasive “technology” show of NAB for awhile to experience the creative people-aspect of the craft.”

After the panel, the group rushed off to their next scheduled commitment, the SOC Mixer. The SOC hosted an invitation only mixer at Gordon Ramsey’s Grill and Pub at Caesar’s Palace. Digital Bolex and Filmtools whose representatives were also in attendance generously sponsored the evening’s event. The mixer was a huge success with over 75 guests in attendance nearly spilling out of the venue. Many Active members, Student members, and Corporate members, not to mention potential Corporate members, were all in attendance. The event was a success and brought together members and supporters so that they could all share a drink and catch up on industry news. It was acknowledged by many in attendance that the SOC Mixer was “a must-do” at future NABs. Winding down a long and productive day, members attended press events and other industry parties.

Tuesday’s schedule kicked off bright and early with a meet-and-greet scheduled in Chapman Leonard’s booth where the owners of the company gave members personal demonstrations of their new products.

Following was the Panasonic event where members got a personal tour of Panasonic’s technology from Stephen Milley, National Sales Manager ProVideo. Stephen brought special attention to the VariCam 35, their jewel at the NAB show.

The team moved en masse to Sony, where they met John Studdert, Vice President Sales and Marketing, Professional Solutions Americas, Sony, and received a private tour of the booth from Dan Perry, NAO Production Manager, Director DMPC, Professional Solutions of America, Sony, and the recent recipient of the SOC’s 2015 Lifetime Achievement President’s Award.

After wrapping up the last Monday meet-and-greet the team moved to a theater in the North Hall to present the SOC’s popular panel “How’d You Get That Shot?” to over two-hundred and fifty attendees. Panelists Michael Frediani, SOC, Dave Fredericks, SOC, Nicholas Davidoff, SOC, Bill McClelland, SOC, Eric Fletcher, SOC, and Pete Romano, ASC showed footage from some of their prized projects and walked the audience through the techniques, gear and challenges of the productions. President Mark August moderated the interactive 90-minute session and robust Q&A. The panelists were gracious and forthcoming with their knowledge and experiences—the enthusiastic audience remained deeply engaged, asking great questions throughout the panel discussions.

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Across the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center the group met with Thom Calabro, Director of Marketing and Product Development for the Optical Division of FUJIFILM and Chuck Lee, Technical Manager and Western Region Manager of FUJIFILM who are long time Corporate Members and supporters of the SOC. Thom walked the group through their latest lenses, the new 4K Ultra HD Series. Both the UA80x9 field lens and UA22x8 portable zoom lens have optical performance compatible with 4K 2/3-inch broadcast cameras. These Ultra HD lenses were developed in response to the market demand for 4K optics that will work with 2/3-inch broadcast cameras for a variety of sports and entertainment productions.

Tuesday evening festivities included the SONY’s Supporters Party with live entertainment from the still rockin’ group The Bangles and closed out with AJA’s infamous NAB party.

Dave Frederick stated, “Being one of the long time officers and board member of the SOC has enabled me to see and appreciate the progress the SOC has been making lately towards getting ourselves more positive recognition and value in our production community. By making the effort to interact with our present and future business partners at NAB, the SOC is really showing great commitment, strength and positive relationship synergy with them.”

A special thanks goes to Twojay Dhillon, SOC for using his still photography expertise to document NAB, Jessica Jurgen, SOC who stepped in to production manage, George Leon of FilmCast for shooting Monday’s panel and Steve Essig, SOC for shooting Tuesday’s panel.

The meet-and-greets concluded with Blackmagic’s President, Dan May giving the group a hands-on personalized tour of the Blackmagic technology. Blackmagic showcased many innovative new products.

The URSA sensor and the Micro Cinema camera caught the eyes of those on the tour. The URSA 4.6 sensor is a new high performance 4.6K sensor for the URSA high-end digital film cameras. The super 35 image sensor features high resolution of 4608 x 2592 at 120 frames per second and an extremely wide 15 stops of dynamic range for images that perhaps rival those shot on traditional 35mm film.

Also, the Blackmagic Micro Cinema camera is a miniaturized super 16mm professional digital film camera with a revolutionary new expansion port that lets the operator use PWM and S.Bus model airplane remote controls to operate the camera wirelessly for capturing action anywhere.

The SOC presented a second panel of “How’d You Get That Shot?” on Tuesday afternoon to again, a full theater. The speakers and footage varied from Monday with a more focused discussion on each of the projects from Frediani, Frederick, and McClelland, with August moderating. Tuesday’s panel once again delivered, and an engaged and appreciative audience applauded and stayed afterwards for oneon-one time with the SOC panelists. Videos of both panels will be posted on www.soc.org soon. Audiences attending both panels were introduced to the Camera Operator magazine and given “limited time” free digital subscription cards.

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Tips and Tricks from SOC Members

Smooth Operator

I Wish I’d Known that Earlier! – Part Two David Emmerichs, SOC especially if the director just asked you to widen out after you’ve already given the crew the boundaries of the shot. So get up off your butt and walk the set, frequently. Things change all the time, even between takes.

REFLECTIONS ON REFLECTIONS Look for reflections. It’s always a heart-stopper when you think you’re good to go and someone at the monitor watching the first take says, “What’s that back there?” and you realize you forgot to check the reflections in the storefront across the street and you can see all the equipment carts. The grips will not look kindly upon you as they rush to set up that 12x20 black that they could have put up half an hour ago when they were sitting around checking their Facebook pages.

KEEPING THE ELECTRICIANS HAPPY

What the well-dressed action camera operator is wearing these days. Photo by Robert Zuckerman.

In the previous issue (Spring 2015) I wrote that the most important piece of advice I have for new operators is to pay attention at all times. I learned this the hard way. When I started I thought I was doing my job pretty well, but I made avoidable and embarrassing mistakes from time to time. The reason why I made the mistakes almost never varied. It was because I hadn’t paid close enough attention to something. A strict DP I worked for pointed this out to me very publicly and very loudly one day and I swore from then on I would concentrate on everything happening on set, in every department, all the time. To this day, if I feel my attention wandering, I imagine he

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is looking over my shoulder and about to rip me apart in front of the crew.

I learned that if I wasn’t at the camera it had better be because I was walking the set looking for things I’m not supposed to photograph.

Cable runs, sandbags, C-stand legs, the flag you thought was a picture on a background wall. This is especially important when you’re doing crane shots. It’s easy to get caught up in the cool move you’re doing, or the fun banter of the crane crew, and then realize as you’re about to roll that you’re seeing the edge of the generator in the deep background, or a light stand, or layout board on the floor, or any number of things that sneak into your frame,

Have the second team walk through the scene and look for reflections and light kicks in doors that have to open or close in the shot. And be very careful about what you see behind those opened doors. Is there a set piece back there or are you looking at a blank stage wall? If it’s dark behind the door you might think you can get away with it, until the lighting cue you forgot about kicks in and a burst of light shows everyone the piles of cable and the electrical distribution boxes sitting there. The electricians will not look kindly upon you as they rush to move all the gear they could have moved fifteen minutes ago when they were checking their Instagram stream.

ATTENTION TO DETAIL I sometimes get cynical looks from crew members when I ask them to move things

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

that are probably not going to be a problem, but experience has taught me that the temporary inconvenience far outweighs the embarrassment and delay of discovering you’ve left something in a shot that shouldn’t be there.

DIALOGUE AND PANNING CUES Okay, you finally nailed the wide master and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself. Now it’s time to put on the Steadicam for the tracking version of the ’walk and talk’ you’ve been shooting, and the director wants you to put on a tight lens and do panning singles during the take. Uh oh, were you paying attention to the dialogue while you were shooting the wide shot? I know I’ve had that sinking feeling in my stomach more than once as I realized I had no idea when the panning cues were coming and I’m trying to memorize three pages of sides in the five minutes while the lights

I could go on and on because there is so much more to pay attention to. The position of the furniture as you cheat it around a room, details of the make-up, hair, and wardrobe of the actors, etc. But I think you get the idea by now. Put your cellphone away and keep your eyes open.

PAYING ATTENTION TO PAYING ATTENTION I would imagine that any veterans reading this would admit that some if not all of these things have caught them off guard from time to time, even after many years of experience.

We’re human and we make mistakes. But the best thing you can do for yourself while you’re building your reputation as a camera operator is pay attention. The better you pay attention to everything going on around you, the fewer mistakes you will make.

Completely mistake-free days are rare, but they sure feel good when they happen.

Photo courtesy of Mark Fellman David Emmerichs, SOC, has been operating A camera and Steadicam for the past 17 years and B camera and Steadicam for several years before that. The exact number doesn’t matter. He has paid a lot of attention. Some of his film credits include: The Accountant, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Avatar, Transformers, and The Green Mile.

are being tweaked.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

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Jeff Cree, SOC

Hi Tech with Jeff

Latest Introductions in Lens Technology for the Cinema Market During the past few years the NAB and IBC shows have been the main introduction platforms for all of the major lens manufacturers. These new products came from around the world, with the key introductions coming from Japan, Germany and England. The demand for these lenses was created by the explosion of new electronic cameras using PL mounts and sporting super 35mm or larger size image sensors. Every corner of the market saw new introductions, low cost, compact and high performance primes. Compact and full size premiere zooms hit the market; some from manufacturers who were known to the broadcast market but were new to the world of PL. But to me the biggest news was the amount of new anamorphic primes and zooms that were introduced and are now being delivered. But this year at NAB introductions were minimal compared to the past 5 years as the manufacturers seem more focused on delivering their past introductions or expanding the new families of zooms and primes from the last few years. As always my NAB 2015 was focused on the construction and operation of the Band Pro Film

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& Digital booth but I was able to venture out prior to and during the show to look specifically at lenses—here are some insights from my limited tour of the show:

LEICA (CW SONDEROPTIC) I will start with the easiest of the manufacturers for me as part of my normal day job which is to interface with this factory, CW Sonderoptic, the home of the Leica Summilux-C and Summicron-C primes, on a daily basis.

The Leica Summilux-C lenses are limited production, high-performance T1.4 Primes that recently received the Oscar for Scientific and Technical Award for optical designer Iain Neil and mechanical designer Andre de Winter. Until now the widest lens in the set was an 18mm and the longest was the 100m. Although the expansion of this set has been rumored for some time it is finally happening.

The current set of ten primes has been expanded to twelve lenses with introduction of the 16mm and 135mm Summilux-C primes.

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

As with the other lenses in this family Otto Nemenz has received the first of these lenses but these new additions will be available to the open market by early summer.

The Leica Summicron-C lenses have also had an addition to the original set of six lenses. All of these additional lenses are T2.0 as are the originals in the set. The new focal lengths are the 21mm, 29mm and 135mm. Although the physical length of the lenses may vary the iris and focus gears all maintain the same position and spacing. This is true between the two sets of lenses, the Summilux-C and Summicron-C. Although slightly off topic, Leica Camera has introduced a Leica M camera with a PL adapter. The adapter uses an integral base plate that attaches to the M mount and the baseplate of the camera to support the weight of the heavier PL mount lens. The camera shoots stills or video making it a great addition to the kit for those who want to use it as a director’s finder or a location scout tool.

Cooke also announced a new Anamorphic/I zoom lens. Like the Anamorphic/I primes the zooms will be a front anamorphic design.

Cooke Chairman, Les Zellan, only indicated that the zooms would be in the tradition of the Cooke 5:1 and 10:1 zooms of the past.

Further information will follow with other announcements for this family of lenses, expected at CineGear Expo.

Cooke also announced that Zeiss will be incorporating the /I technology in future designs. Considering that Zeiss has its own LDS system this is interesting news. The /I system has won over many manufacturers in recent years including Canon which launched the Cine-Servo 50-1000mm lens at NAB featuring the /I system.

At NAB Cooke also showed their family of Cooke 5/I, S4/I and the increasingly popular Mini S4/I lenses.

ZEISS

COOKE OPTICS

Zeiss showed their whole family of lenses at NAB including the Otus high-end SLR lenses and Loxia E-mount full frame lenses.

The latter may be of interest to those that have purchased or are looking at the Sony line of E-Mount cameras. I have tested the Zeiss E-Mount with very good results.

The Zeiss/Arri Master Anamorphic lenses, as with all anamorphic lenses it seems these days, were getting considerable attention from the attendees although they have been around a while. The other Zeiss/Arri lenses the Master Primes and Ultra Primes really had nothing new so they were just there for the viewing.

What seemed to be getting the attention were the Compact Primes Cooke’s introduction of the Anamorphic/I primes last year was one of the big stories of the year. Not only are they delivering the first five of the set (32mm, 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm), they have introduced and are scheduled to ship two additional lenses to the set with the addition of the 25mm and 135mm. 180mm and 300mm primes will be added to this family later this year. This set of 2x anamorphic lenses has proved to be fast and sharp, but to me the limited breathing of these lenses was the biggest surprise when reviewing these lenses compared to the older anamorphic designs I had experienced.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

and Zooms. The CP.2 family has become very strong in the entry level of PL primes. The CP.2 family of primes has interchangeable mounts that make them very versatile and the cover a very large image circle. Zeiss is finally filling the backorders for the wide CZ.2 zoom the 15-30mm. The family of compact zooms has become very popular due to their compact size and according to Zeiss 4K performance. This aspect of the lens I have not been able to test so we will take Zeiss’s word on this for now. Like the CP.2 these lenses will cover a full frame still image circle making them popular with the modified DSLR market and the Red Epic Dragon market.

47

ANGENIEUX

The Premier line of 4K lenses are now a family of four lenses that cover from 14 to 400mm with T stops ranging from T2.0 to T2.8.

Although large in size I consider these some of the best zooms on the market.

CANON

NAB was the first showing of the second anamorphic zoom for Angenieux, the 30-72mm. The original 56-152mm has been shipping and being used but adding the wide companion will increase the appeal. These are 2x anamorphic lenses that are fairly compact in size, both fall in the 5 pound category. They come standard as PL mounts but PV is available on request. Unlike the other offering from other manufacturers that I have mentioned these are rear anamorphic designs. This design creates minimal distortion and virtually no breathing.

FUJINON

Canon has been providing quality PL and EF Mount zooms for some time. They basically have four families of Cine lenses. EF Mount primes, full size zooms available in PL or EF Mounts, compact zooms in EF or PL Mount, and the new Cine-Servo EF or PL Zooms.

The Cine–Servo 17 to 120 zoom was introduced last NAB and has become very popular as it is a little wider and a little longer than the competition. This is an ENG style PL lens with handheld servo that is compatible with cameras using the /I system or have a 12 pin lens port. If you have neither , you can power the lens servo using 12 Pin Hirose female connector cable but you lose auto iris capability.

This lens is also available in EF mount.

Fujinon has filled a need for those remote truck customers that are going to 4K with cameras such as Sony’s HDC-4K. These cameras and lenses are based on the 2/3” format like the previous HDC HD cameras.

The UA22X8BERD is a 22X zoom for handheld cameras providing a range from 8 to 176mm and has a 2X extender built in which extends the focal length to 16 to 352mm. The normal aperture is f1.8.

The studio camera or cameras in buildup kits can use the box lens of this family, the A80X9BESM. This 50lb. giant will provide focal lengths from 9 to 720mm, or if using the 2X extender it can go out to 1440mm.

Fujinon began the cine servo line of PL lenses with the Cabrio which is now a three lens family of lenses that cover 14mm to 300mm.

48

The new addition to this family is a big lens that will require lens support to use on most current cameras. It is the Cine-Servo 50 to 1000mm lens. Like its little brother it has a full servo system in the grip and comes in PL or EF mounts.

SCHNEIDER OPTICS Schneider Optics Cine Xenar III primes lenses are priced reasonably while providing a high level of performance. These lenses are available in PL or EF Mounts and come as a set of six ranging from 18mm to 95mm. All of these lenses fall between T2.0 and T2.2 and are very telecentric which makes them perform well with today’s electronic cameras. The image circle is 31.5mm which makes them good for most of the current super 35mm based cameras.

Due to the increasing size of image sensors used by some of today’s camera manufacturers Schneider has introduced and are delivering their line of Xenon FF prime lenses. These lenses provide a full 45mm image circle to cover the full frame image sensors of the

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

Photo by Deborah Clark

DSLR cameras such as the Canon 5D or Nikon D800. The Xenon FF lenses are fully 4K capable and are available in Nikon F, Canon EF and PL mounts. Current focal lengths range from 18mm to 100mm as a set of six lenses and all are T2.1.

This is a brief synopsis of what I was able to see at this year’s NAB with the current market for lenses. I did see a large increase in companies providing rehoused photographic lenses but I did not have room to cover this group of products. As always fill free to contact me if you have questions on the products featured in this article.

NEW A great way to connect with the legacy or share the spirit of the SOC. Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Cree Jeffrey Cree, SOC, Vice President Technical Services, Band Pro Film and Digital Inc. Jeffrey Cree is a multiple Emmy Award-winning Video Recordist/Cameraman with 17 years experience at ABC Television Network as a member of the engineering unit prior to moving to Sony Electronics. Jeff worked primarily with the product marketing and management groups of Sony with his focus being Acquisition Systems. Since joining Band Pro Jeff has continued to provide input to the product development groups at Sony and other manufactures on current and upcoming products. Contact Jeff at jeff.cree@bandpro.com.

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

Browse our online store to see the inventory of T-shirts, hats, pins, and more...

SOC.org 49

by Chris Taylor, SOC

We Shot In Your House

This is a poem I wrote years ago on a notepad in my front box.

We Shot In Your House

It seems that our dolly rolled over a wire and started a small electrical fire.

We shot in your house, I hope you don’t mind.

I know that you said not to go in that room, but some of us had to escape from the fumes.

We shot in your house, your dog is now blind.

We used a bathroom for make-up and hair, but I was told that the blood stains were already there.

We broke a few dishes, made a hole in the wall.

We scratched the wood floor all the way down the hall.

We unplugged the fridge, it was a problem for sound.

Watch out for the hole we dug in the ground.

A chair was destroyed, the actor’s real fat.

Sorry, we don’t have insurance for that.

Your house is messed up and that really sucks, but that’s why we gave you ten thousand bucks.

We don’t really care that you’re pissed and irate, I just went to dailies and the footage looks great.

—Chris “C.T.” Taylor, SOC

We killed all your grass and damaged some trees.

Your neighbors are pissed.

Your daughters’ a tease.

We shot with some rats, not all have been found.

We unplugged your phones, another problem for sound.

We must hear the actor, the lines are profound.

Photo courtesy of Chris Taylor Chris “CT” Taylor, SOC came up through the ranks of the camera department and has been a member of Local 600 since 1999 of which he is an alternate to the national executive board. Chris has worked on such projects as; Heroes, American Horror Story, Mixology, Awkward and is currently working on TNT’s Murder In the First.

He also proudly serves on the board of governors for the SOC.

Illustration by Jim MacQuarrie/Color by Netharts.

50

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

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Insight DAN COPLAN, SOC What is your most memorable day in the industry?

Being asked if I wanted to take over the piloting controls of a DC-4 airplane on the way back from a shoot. I’m not a pilot but I flew that damn plane anyway!

What was one of your most challenging shot or challenging day in the industry?

Steadicam on an escalator following an actor and having to step off while keeping shot stable with no rehearsal.

Photo courtesy of Dan Coplan

Credits: NFL Total Access, Sinatra: Dark Star, Fear Factor, multiple commercials, Miss Universe

CHRISTOPHER BAFFA, ASC, SOC What would be the most important improvement you would like to see in our industry?

A return of production to Los Angeles.

What is your most memorable day in the industry?

After photographing Running With Scissors, which starred the amazing Annette Bening, I had the opportunity to meet her legendary husband, Warren Beatty. His words regarding my work on the film were quite kind, and so created a truly memorable and prideful moment.

Credits: Nip/Tuck (pilot and series), Glee (pilot and series), American Horror Story (pilot), Running With Scissors, Crossbones (series)

Photo courtesy of Christopher Baffa

BILL McCLELLAND, SOC What was one of your most challenging shot or challenging day in the industry?

I think that one of my most challenging days was a 3 minute oner for a film called Director’s Cut. This shot involved a crane step off and crane step on and involved a number of practical explosions which all had to go off in camera. I only had one take to get it right.

We rehearsed for many hours and in the end nailed the shot.

Credits: Displacement, Directors Cut, Mercenaries, Holiday Road Trip, Android Cop Photo courtesy of Bill McClelland

52

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

SOC ROSTER CHARTER MEMBER Lou Barlia Parker Bartlett Paul Basta Michael Benson Stephanie Benson Rupert Benson Jr. Bob Bergdahl Howard Block Donald R. Burch Jerry G. Callaway David Calloway Philip Caplan Mike Chevalier Bill Clark Dick Colean Steve Conant Jim Connell Rick Cosko Jack Courtland Elliot Davis Sam Drummy Joe Epperson Michael Ferra Ron Francis William Jay Gahret Jim Glennon Ray Gonzales Jerry Good Jack Green, ASC Gil Haimson Peter Hapke Lutz Hapke Bill Hines Jim Hoover Bill Howard John Huneck Wayne Kennan, ASC Bob Keys Gary Kibbe David Kurland Norm Langley Thomas Laughridge Steve Lydecker Brice Mack III Joe Marquette Jr. Owen Marsh Bob Marta Bob McBride Ed Morey Tom Munshower Fred Murphy Al Myers Lee Nakahara Jay Nefcy Rik Nervik Leigh Nicholson King Nicholson John G. Nogle Dan Norris Skip Norton David B. Nowell, ASC Wayne Orr Richard Price Ernie Reed Arnold Rich Randall Robinson

Parker Roe Sam Rosen Peter Salim Lou Schwartz Chris Schwiebert Michael Scott Bob Seaman Hal Shiffman Roger Smith Fred Smith Michael St. Hilaire Ray Stella Joe Steuben John C. Stevens Carol Sunflower Bill Swearingen Joseph F. Valentine Ron Vidor Sven Walnum

ACTIVE MEMBER Peter Abraham Jonathan S. Abrams Michael R. Alba Derek M. Allen Bret Allen Jack Anderson Colin Anderson Kevin W. Andrews Francois Archambault Joseph Arena Will Arnot Ted Ashton Jr. Mark August Grayson Grant Austin Daniel Ayers Paul Babin Christopher Baffa Lonn Bailey James Baldanza Jerry Banales Christopher Banting Jeff Barklage Angel Barroeta Gary H. Baum Jonathan Beattie John James Beattie Guy Norman Bee Tim Bellen Nils Benson George M. Bianchini George Billinger Howard H. Bingham Michel Bisson Bonnie S. Blake Jason Blount Bob C. Boccaccio John Boyd Katie Boyum Kevin D. Braband Gerard Brigante Hilaire Brosio Garrett Brown Kenny Brown Pete Brown Scott Browner

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

Stephen Buckingham Robin Buerki Gary Bush Stephen S. Campanelli J. Christopher Campbell Stephen Campbell Susan A. Campbell Jose A. Cardenas Peter Cavaciuti Dave Chameides Lou Chanatry Joe Chess Jr. Jeffrey R. Clark Anthony Cobbs Craig Cockerill Steven Cohen Marcis Cole Kris A. Conde Andrew Glenn Conder Michael Condon Brown Cooper Dan Coplan Luke Cormack Javier A. Costa Richard J. Cottrell Jeff Cree Rod Crombie Richard Crow Jeff L. Crumbley Richard A. Cullis Grant Culwell Joseph C. D’Alessandro Nicholas Davidoff Markus Davids Richard W. Davis Mark G. Dawson Andrew A. Dean Michael S. Dean Kris Andrew Denton Joel Deutsch Don Devine Kenny Dezendorf Twojay Dhillon David E. Diano Troy DickAlfeo Dixon Matthew I. Doll Rick Drapkin Scott C. Dropkin Mitch Dubin Simon Duggan, ACS Louis R. Duskin Allen D. Easton William Eichler Jason Ellson David Emmerichs Kevin J. Emmons Ramon Engle Steve Essig Brant S. Fagan Diane L. Farrell Dianne Teresa Farrington Jesse Michael Feldman Michael Ferris George Feucht James Anthony Firios Dick Fisher Lance Fisher Aaron Fitzgerald Eric Fletcher

Michael Flueck Houman Forough Felix Forrest Ian Forsyth Steve G. Fracol Keith Francis Nick Franco Tom “Frisby” Fraser David J. Frederick Michael Frediani Michael A. Freeman Brian Freesh Steven French Dan Frenkel Mick Froehlich Jeff Fry Paul M. Gardner David Gasperik Rusty Geller Michael Germond William Gierhart Laurie K. Gilbert Harvey Glen Mark Goellnicht Daniel Gold David Enrique Goldman Allen Gonzales Robert Gorelick Afton M. Grant Bruce Alan Greene Chad Griepentrog David Allen Grove Robert Guernsey Pedro Guimaraes John C. Gunselman Chris C. Haarhoff Jess Haas Geoffrey K. Haley John Hankammer Tim Harland Joshua Harrison Kent Harvey Chris Hayes David Haylock Nikk Hearn-Sutton Dawn J. Henry Alan Hereford Steven F. Heuer Kevin Hewitt Jamie Hitchcock Abe Holtz Jerry Holway Paul Horn Casey Hotchkiss Colin Hudson Frederick Iannone Dave Isern Christopher Ivins Eugene W. Jackson III Jerry M. Jacob Francis G. James Alec Jarnagin Gary Jay Simon Jayes Steven Jones Christopher D. Jones Jacques Jouffret John H. Joyce David Judy

Mark Jungjohann David C. Kanehann Mark Karavite Adam T. Keith David Kimelman Dan Kneece Rory Robert Knepp David T. Knox Robert Kositchek Bud Kremp Kris Krosskove Per Larsson Jeff Latonero Eric Leach Sergio Leandro da Silva Richard Leible Sarah Levy Jimmy W. Lindsey Abigail Linne Hugh C. Litfin Patrick Longman George Loomis Jessica L. Lopez David Luckenbach Greg Lundsgaard Kenji Luster Bruce MacCallum Rob Macey Vincent C. Mack Paul S. Magee David Mahlmann Giuseppe Malpasso Kim Marks Jared G. Marshall Cedric Martin Johnny Martin Philip J. Martinez Parris Mayhew Bill McClelland David B. McGill Michael P. McGowan Christopher T.J. McGuire Aaron Medick Alan Mehlbrech Hilda Mercado Olivier Merckx Jack Messitt Mike Mickens Duane Mieliwocki Marc A. Miller Andrew Mitchell William Molina Raphy Molinary Machado Lawrence P. Moody Mark Emery Moore Josh Morton Manolo Rojas Moscopulos Jeff Muhlstock Michael James Mulvey Scott T. Mumford Sean Murray Dale Myrand Leo J. Napolitano Robert Newcomb Julye Newlin William R. Nielsen, Jr. Kurt Nolen Randy Nolen Austin Nordell

William O’Drobinak Mark D. O’Kane Michael D. Off James Olcovich Andrew William Oliver John Orland Rafael Ortiz-Guzman Brian Osmond Georgia Tornai Packard Heather Page Nick Paige Curtis E. Pair Victor J. Pancerev Andrew Parke Patrick J. Pask Christopher T Paul Paul C. Peddinghaus Douglas Pellegrino John Perry George Peters Matthew A. Petrosky Jonathan F. Phillips Alan Pierce Theo Pingarelli Jens Piotrowski Joseph Piscitelli Robert Presley Louis Puli Ryan Purcell Elizabeth Radley Yavir Ramawtar Juan M. Ramos James B. Reid George Richmond Ari Robbins Alicia Robbins Peter Robertson Brooks Robinson David Robman Eric Roizman Peter Rosenfeld Andrew Rowlands Dave Rutherford P. Scott Sakamoto Sanjay Sami David M. Sammons Joel San Juan Bry Thomas Sanders Martin Schaer Ron Schlaeger Mark Schlicher Mark Schmidt Vadim Schulz David Jean Schweitzer Fabrizio Sciarra Brian Scott Brian David Scott Benjamin Semanoff Barnaby Shapiro David Shawl Osvaldo Silvera Jr. Jamie Silverstein Teddy Smith Needham B. Smith III Dean Robert Smollar John Sosenko Mark Sparrough Benjamin Xavier Spek Sandy Spooner

53

Lisa L. Stacilauskas Robert Starling Meagan Stockemer Thomas N Stork Michael R. Stumpf David L. Svenson Ian S. Takahashi Peter Taylor Christopher Taylor Paul Taylor Paige Thomas David James Thompson Richard Tiedemann John Toll David Roy Tondeur Remi Tournois Neil C. Toussaint Jamie Trent Bryan Trieb Michael Tsimperopoulos Chris Tufty Dan Turrett Brian Tweedt Joseph Urbanczyk Matt Valentine Dale Vance, Jr. Paul D. Varrieur Ron Veto Andrew Voegeli Stefan von Bjorn Rob Vuona Bill Waldman Michael J. Walker Timothy N. Walker Gareth Ward Adam S. Ward Gretchen Warthen Aiken Weiss Dale A West Robert Whitaker Mande Whitaker Kit Whitmore Ken Willinger Chad Wilson Dana D. Winseman R.L. Wise David A. Wolf Bill Woodbridge Ian D. Woolston-Smith Peter C. Xiques Santiago Yniguez Brian Young Chad Zellmer

ASSOCIATE MEMBER Christine Adams David S. Adelstein Brook Aitken Jamie Alac Ana M. Amortegui Philip Anderson Andrew B. Ansnick Jillian H. Arnold Scott Auerbach Jacob Avignone Ryan Vogel Baker Tyson Banks Josh Barrett Stephen Blanor Jeffrey D. Bollman Peter Bonilla Jean-Paul Bonneau

54

Massimo Bordonaro David Boyd Rochelle Brown Donald Brownlow Clyde E. Bryan Neal Bryant Sasha D. Burdett Anthony Q. Caldwell Jordan Cantu Bruce Cardozo Jack Carpenter Marc Casey Damian Church Gregory Paul Collier Mack Collins Gabriel Paul Copeland Gareth Paul Cox Richard P. Crudo Anthony DeemerEnrique Xavier Del Rio Galindo William B. Demeritt, III Ronald E. Deveaux Jorge Devotto Keith Dunkerley Brian James Dzyak Christopher Ekstein David T. Eubank Allen Farst Thomas Cole Fedak Nicholas A. Federoff Paul Ferrazzi Kristin Fieldhouse John C. Flinn III, ASC Mark Forman Tammy Fouts-Sandoval Bryan Fowler Jerry Franck Fred M. Frintrup Nicole Fuchs Hiroyuki Fukuda Hank Gifford Michael Goi Wayne Goldwyn Al Gonzalez John M. Goodner Nikki Gray Brad Greenspan David V. Gregory George Eric Griffith David E. Grober Robert Guthrie W. Adam Habib Bob Hall James Hammond Anthony Hardwick John Hart Anthony P. Hettinger John M. Hill, Jr. David Hirschmann Alex Hodge Scott Hoffman Chris Horvath Rachel A. Hudson Carrie Imai Toshiyuki Imai Andrew A. Irvine Gregory Irwin Quenell Jones Lacey Joy Henry Bourne Joy IV Brett Juskalian David Kane Timothy Kane Brandon Kapelow

Frank Kay Alan Kelly Kevin N. Kemp Mark H. Killian Douglas Kirkland Adam Kirschhoffer Robert La Bonge Laurence Langton Jose-Pablo Larrea Dr. Thomas Lee Aaron Leong Alan J Levi Mark Levin Howard Levine Justin Liang Adrian Licciardi Stuart T. Lillas Eamon Long Gordon Lonsdale Jasmine Lord Christopher Lymberis Dominik Mainl Jose del Carmen Martinez Nicole Jannai Martinez James Mathers Jim R. Matlosz Colin P. McDonald Marcus Allen McDougald Mike McEveety Jonathan Miller K. Adriana ModlinLiebrecht Matthew C. Mosher Matthew C. Mosher Jekaterina Most Navid John Namazi Natasha Narkiewicz Jimmy Negron Michael Nelson Micah Newman Dennis Noack Russell C. Nordstedt Casey Burke Norton Crescenzo G.P. Notarile, ASC Bonnie Osborne Jarrod Oswald Paul Overacker Justin Painter Kim Palmer Larry Mole Parker Steven D. Parker Jeremy Parsons Michael J Perez Florencia Perez-Cardenal Mark W. Petersen Jon Philion Tyler Phillips W. S. Pivetta Ted Polmanski Robert Primes, ASC Barnabas J. Prontnicki Joe Prudente Delia Quinonez Liz Radley Richard Rawlings Jr., ASC Marcia Reed Bill Reiter Elizabeth Reynolds Lawrence M. Ribeiro Andy Romero Tim Rook Peter J. Rooney Sam Rosenthal

Jordi Ruiz Maso Kish Sadhvani Danny Salazar Steve Saxon Carl Martin Schumacher, Sr. Christian Sebaldt, ASC Christopher Seehase Stephen Silberkraus Charles A. Simons Michael Skor Jan Sluchak Dan Smarg Robert F. Smith Brian Sowell Don Spiro Owen Stephens Aymae Sulick Jeremy Sultan Tara Summers Andy Sydney Tiffany Taira Rick Taylor John Twesten Caitlin Rae Tyler Daniel Urbain Jose Val Bal Sandra Valde Thomas Valko Satya Vanii Benjamin Verhulst Breanna Villani W. Thomas Wall Justin Watson Alex White Tim Wu Tim Yoder Scot Zimmerman Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC

CORPORATE Abelcine AJA Video Systems Inc. Arri, Inc. Band Pro Film & Video Bertone Visuals LLC Birns & Sawyer, Inc. Blackmagic Design Canon, USA Inc. Carl Zeiss Microimaging, Inc. Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment Cineverse Clairmont Camera Filmtools Inc Fujifilm/Fujinon Geo Film Group, Inc. Glidecam Industries Inc. History For Hire JL Fisher Inc. Keslow Camera Mark Bender & Associates Matthews Studio Equipment Panavision Schneider Optics Sony Electronics Teradek, LLC Thales Angenieux The Vitec Group Tiffen

EDUCATOR Ralph Watkins

HONORARY John Bailey, ASC Tilman Buettner James Burrows Alexander Calzatti Trevor Coop Roger Corman Dean Cundey, ASC Bruce Doering Clint Eastwood Tom Hatten Ron Howard Ron Kelley Kathleen KennedyMarshall Jerry Lewis Larry McConkey A. Linn Murphree M.D. Diana Penilla Steven Spielberg Robert A. Torres George Toscas Roy H. Wagner, ASC Haskell Wexler, ASC

RETIRED MEMBER Aldo Antonelli Gary Olyn Armstrong Tom Barron Al Bettcher James Blanford Bruce Catlin Ivan Craig George Spiro Dibie Robert M. Feller Jerry Fuller Anthony Gaudioz Wynn Hammer Ken Hilmer Gary Holt Robert C. Horne Douglas H. Knapp Heather MacKenzie James Mann Stan McClain Michael McClary Ron McManus Mike Meinardus Emmanuel Metaxas Robert “Bob” Moore Sol Negrin David L. Parrish Aaron Pazanti Andy Romanoff Frank Ruttencutter Richard Salvatore Chuck Schuman Philip D. Schwartz Guy Skinner George B. Stephenson Joseph N. Tawil

Jessie Estella Brickley Mary Brown Terrence Laron Burke Stewart Cantrell Richard Castaneda Quaid Cde Baca Nick Centera Petr Cikhart Pascal Combes-Knoke Grace Craig Sabrina Cullen Laura DiFiglio Annor Doeman Timothy James Dolan David Duesterberg Kyran Ford Michael A. Garcia Joshua Gary Jonathan Goldberg Christian T. Hall Kiyana Hancock Rita Hansen Tobias Winde Harbo Tyler Harmon-Townsend Donovan Hennberg-Verity Carolyn Scott Hunt Preston Lane Jeter Timothy Kang Crystal Kelley Jeff Kulig Zachary Leazer Ari Linn Amy Linsamouth Matt Maio Reginald I. Masingale Megan McCarthy Sophie Meneses Alexander L. Moeckler Jeff-Steven Arevalo Mojica Fabian Montes Moira Morel Benjamin Kirk Nielsen Dennis Noack George Ohan Lorenzo Pace Connor Pollard Karina Prieto Macias Jessida Putkaew Tiye Rose-Hood Emil Schonstrom Alexandra Schwartz Davin Swade Stanley Megaera Stephens Michael Street Jesse Vielleux Jenise Louise Whitehead Christina Wolf Anthony Worley Roana Alyssa Wullinger Dennis Zanatta Botai Zhong Roster current as of May 15, 2015.

STUDENT

Veronica Aberham Bandar Almutairi Nathan James Bachmann Ziryab Ben Brahem

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

AD INDEX AJA 33 www.aja.com

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Chapman-Leonard Studio Equip. Inc. www.chapmanleonard.com

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Matthews Studio Equipment www.msegrip.com

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CW Sonderoptic www.cw-sonderoptic.com

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Glidecam Industries, Inc. www.glidecam.com

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Sony Electronics www.sony.com/35mm

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FUJINON www.fujinon.com

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CAMERA CAMERAOPERATOR OPERATOR ·· WINTER SUMMER2015 2015

American HorrorFast Story:andSOC Freak Furious atShow NAB7 SOC AwardsBirdman Review 11

SOC.ORG · SPRING 2015

SOC.ORG · SUMMER 2015

SOCIETY OF CAMERAWINTER OPERATORS SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS 2015 VOL. 24, NO. 1

CAMERA OPERATOR · SUMMER 2015

House of Cards CAMERA OPERATOR · SPRING 2015

Visit issuu.com/cameraoperators to view issues on your desktop and mobile devices.

Fast andFurious Furious77 SOC SOCAwards AwardsReview Review 1

55

Edited by Michael Frediani, SOC

Shooting the Breeze

“ When

there is no room left in hell, the dead will walk the earth. ”

— Peter, Dawn of the Dead (1978)

“ In

space no one can hear you scream. ”

— Alien (1979)

“ I am your number one fan. There is nothing to worry about. You are going to be just fine. I am your number one fan. ” —Annie Wilkes, Misery (1990)

“ No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel! ” — Tatum, Scream (1996)

To avoid fainting, keep repeating “It's only a movie...”

—The Last House on the Left (1972)

“ It's not human, and it's got an axe! ” —The Prey (1980) 56

Trapped in time.

Surrounded by evil.

Low on gas. ”

“

— Army of Darkness (1992)

“ Be

afraid.Be very afraid. ”

—Seth Brundle, The Fly (1986)

“ We don't need a

stretcher in there.

We need a mop! ” —Ambulance crew member, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti."

— Hannibal

Lecter,

Silence of the Lambs (1991) SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS · SOC.ORG

The moment when a zoom becomes your prime.

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