Camera Operator Spring/Summer 1996

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Flying high at the 1st Annual SOC Crane &

The Operating Cameraman Magazine Volume 6, Number 1 Spring/Summer 1996

Can you identify these items?

Answer 011 page 47.

Contents of this issue: 3 5

SOC Web page Museum of the Moving Image

by Grant Loucks 10 Hand Cranking

by L. Sprague Anderson 20 Roster of the Society of Operating Cameramen, Spring 1996 21 SOC News and Notes: The First Hands-On Crane & Remote Head Seminar 30 A History of Hollywood's Aerial Cinematography

by Stan McClain, SOC

42

The Making of ...

A Panaflex Platinum Camera

by Michael Frediani, soc 49 More about Video Assist

by David L. Samuelson 52 Hollywood is Where You Find It

by Harvey Rubin, SOC 60 The Collaborators

by Michael Frediani, soc 64 Advertisers' Index 72 Protecting the Role of the Camera Operator: A Commentary

by Michael Negrin, ASC

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page 1

Digital Betacam• acqui ition offer new

extended dynamic range than film transfer .

picture quality and extend the shelf life of

creative options in television and movie

You get high production values at a

your television programming inve tment.

production. More and more director and

lower cost than shooting film. For indepen·

Program librarie are becoming broadca ter '

cinematographers are seeing for themselves that

dent ftlmmakers whose budgets dictate the use of

most valuable assets - and 4:2:2 Digital Betacam

hooting digital i a creative breakthrough - one

J6mm and uper 16mm ftlm , thi camcorder and

is the best source material for protecting them.

that can lend a unique style and look to their

portable camera/VTR combination offers new

It also gives you a cost-effective bridge from

projects. Use it for an entire program, or for

and innovative production values-at a lower cost

today's pose-production world of Becacam

hooting inserts to be used in conjunction with

than shooting ftlm . And 4:2:2 digital transferred

h 's clearer than ever that digital is here. And its

film . Either way, 4:2:2 digital origination gives

to 35mm film rivals the quality of J6mm and

name i

you detail you ju t can't capture on analog video.

uper 16mm blown up to 35mm for theatrical

Ri h colors, higher picture sharpness and a more

release. Digital master ensure the highest

1996 Son)· [lt'ctronics Inc. All nghts rc.scn·rd. Reproduction .m.~ rndt'marlu of Sony.

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T .J.

Eorroa

Michael Frediani P OST·PRODUCTION

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Douglas Knapp

ADVER11S c/SALES Bill Hines

CIR.ClJl.ATIO

Michael Little

Amanda Thompson

DEs1c & Pllooucno Lynn Lanning Double L Design. Glendale

PllnmNc

Katy O'Harra Gemini Graphics, Marina del Rey

ilis SociehJ has been established to advance tile Arts and Creative Co11tribution of tile Operating Ca111era111a11 (Second Cameraman, Camera Operator) i11 the Motio11 Picture and Video Industries. To foster a11d strive for Excellence, Artistic Perfection a11d Scientific Knowledge in all matters pertaining to Film a11d Video Photography.

TT ision, tile essential ingredient that we as

V Camera Operators use in our ~ work intrinsically bonds us to • children with vision problem . ~ Our organization contributes its I;. full support to tile Eye Care Clinic of tile Cllildrens Hospital of Los A11geles.

C ONTRIBUTORS

Copyright c 1996 by the Society of Operating Cameramen GD is a registered trademark.

All rights reserved.

SOCOmCERS

Michael Frediani . . . . . . . . . . President Ray de la Motte . . . . . . . Vice President Michael Genne . . . . . . . . Vice President Ray Stella. . . . . . . . . . . . . Vice President William Molina . . . . . . . . . . . Treasurer Wdliam Gahret . Membership C1ulinnan Michael Little .............. Secretary Bill Hines. . . . . . . . . . C.Orporate Liaison William Oark . . . . . . Seigeant-at-Arms David Robman • • . . . • • • . . • . . Publicity

L. Sprague Anderson Stan McClain Michael Frediani Michael egrin. ASC Grant Loucks Harvey Rubin David L. Samuelson

PHOTOGRAPHY

L. Sprague Anderson Michael Little Stan McClain Michael Frediani Bill Hines David Robman Harvey Rubin

CoVER PHOTo

Stan McClain behind the camera and Rick Shuster of Helinet piloting the helicopter.

(It doesn't really belong to the SCX:.)

Photo by Michael Frediani Biplane from Warner Bros' film Dive Bomber, 1941, starring Errol Flynn. Fred MacMurray and Ralph Bellamy.

Tire Operating C.mern111n Magazine i publilhed aemi-annually by the Society of Operating Cameramen. For advertising information and article submissions. pleeae contact: SCX:: Attn Bill Hines at PO Box2006, TolucaLalce,CA91610Phone(818)382-7070

B OARD OP GoVERNORS

••••••••••••••••••••• Subscril'tion Rates: USA $1 O/year; Outside USA $20/year

Howard Block Linwood Dunn. ASC Joe Epperson Steve Essig Dan Fetler Lance Fisher Thomas Fraser

Terry Harkin Douglas Knapp Allan Lum Li William Purdy D Harvey Rubin Amanda Thompson Bill Waldman

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Open

Pnnt

Frid

~

Check out the SOC on the World Wide Web. Articles, information ...

Visit us at these locations: http://www.soc.org/ or info@soc.org

Society of Operating Cameramen DocllnOrll Done

Pnge4

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

The Web Page for the Society of Operating Cameramen is designed and maintained by Art Adams, soc.

0

n a recent trip to London, I discovered that the history of Hollywood ha been preserved in a building on the South Bank Arts Complex under famed Waterloo Bridge. It is called the "Museum of the Moving Image."

This is the world's largest museum devoted to the history and the future of movies and television.

The Mus um is the work of two men: National Film Theater Controller Leslie Hardcastle and ational Film Archive Curator David Francis, along with British Film Institute Director Anthony Smith and Designer eil Potter. These gentlemen worked diligently for 20 years to trace the development of moving images starting thousand of years ago in the Far East and on to the development of the cinema and television. The mu eum opened in September 1988 after an expenditure of 12 million pounds - over 20 million dollars at today's exchange rate.

When you visit the museum allow a minimum of 2 hours to get the full impact of this spectacular exhibit.

BACKGROUND: Zogroscope and a View Optlque. 18th Century.

BEtow:

A child with a Zoetrope.

originated in Java and that were also known in ancient China are laid out in the be t of traditional museum styles, along with many hands-on devices. You get to handle artifacts, watch films and push buttons. When I was there, actors directed guests about and explained the various instruments =*>

Time Travel

One of the first exhibits you come to is a time machine that takes you back five thousand years to the earliest moving image. Shadow puppets that

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Pages

MOMI exhibit: The original MGM Lion first appeared with a film In 1928.

Photo from MOMI catalog, Š MOMI.

audience in December 1895. Besides the vintage instruments, which are the real stars of the museum, some of the star camera developers - including Englishmen: Williamson, Hepworth and Paul; Frenchmen: the Lumiere Brothers, Marey; Americans: Edison, Bell & Howell, and Mitchell-have their handcranked cameras on display. There are also mockups and stage sets that recreate the cinema of yesteryear-Paramount Pictures has an exhibit complete with art, makeup, scripts, costumes, sound and camera departments plus a sound stage with booms, cameras, camera trucks and stage lights.

Special features in the development of the moving image.

There are many mechanical and optical devices that will thrill even those with just a passing interest in filmmaking equipment: an 18thCentury magnifying glass for viewing engravings called a Zogroscope; a Thaumotrope Disc (circular cards with pictures on each side - a bird on one and a cage on the other; when you spin the threads attached to the cards, persistence of vision takes effect placing the bird in the cage); a photographic gun that shoots 12 pictures a second on a circular photographic glass plate and the Mutoscope, whose principle is animating sketches or photos by turning over pages bearing successive images. This was the beginning of the flip book that almost everyone has had a chance to try at one time or another.

sequence photography as well as by a meeting in Paris with Jules Marey (a developer of a glass plate sequence camera), which ent Thomas Edison and his lab chief, W.K.L. Dickson off and running in their quest to produce a motion picture camera.

During your trip through cinema history, you will find the Lumiere Brothers of Lyons, France, who showed their first film to a paying Children doing animation at the Museum Of Moving Images.

Photo Š MOMI

Major changes took place The transition from the optical toy and persistence of vision devices to projected motion pictures was made possible by George Eastman's development of the thin-based roll film and by Edison's knowledge of Edward Muybridge's Trotting Horse and other Page6

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

Be sure to see "Cinema and the Russian Revolution" which was propaganda disguised as entertainment displayed in a full size replica of a 1919 Russian railway car along with footage and extracts from Soviet silent films. There is even a complete Odeon movie house that you enter through a 1930's style theater lobby.

There is hands-on animation for children, where they sit around a large table and are taught how to make their own sketches. Aiter drawing a strip of pictures, they put these strips into a slotted cylinder (Zoetrope) to

The front entrance t o the Museum Of the Moving Image, South Bank, London . Photo Š MOMI

create the action. (See photos on pages and it was received a few miles away.

5 and 6.) When they leave, they keep You'll see the original Baird television their picture strips. This is take-home equipment handsomely displayed. By value that these children will always the way, the building that housed his remember. All of this is done in the lab is still standing albeit an Italian shadow of a spectacular mural of Bugs restaurant complete with a plaque on Bunny drawn by none other than the wall dedicated to Baird's work.

Lots of fun, this Museum of Chuck Jones.

Just as the museum devotes its Moving Images. The Hollywood film space to the evolution of the moving factory is well repr sented with wonpicture industry, it gives similar treat- derful exhibits of special effects - a ment to the chronology of TV. "Seeing full scale Western town and many by wireless" is what the London Times examples of well-known directors, called John Logie Baird's first televi- cinematographers, writers and of sion broadcast in 1929. Like the first course, the film stars: Chaplin, Garbo, 35rnrn hand-crank film cameras, Baird's Bogart, Gable, Monroe.

You'll probably wonder, as I did, TV apparatus was crude but it worked.

He transmitted a 30-line picture from why our cousins from across the sea his lab in the Soho district of London have the good sense to document and

Spring/Summer 1996

preserve an art form that may very well be entering the biggest change since Thomas Edison - and we in Hollywood have not. The British cinema has always lived economically in the shadows of Hollywood but their contribution to the preservation of the art of filmmaking is worldclass and without equal. Be sure to visit the Museum of the Moving Image on your next trip to England. ~CÂŁ

Grant Loucks is the CEO of Alan Gordon Enterprises and has been a contributing author to this magazine. See "The Big Blue Machine " article in the Winter '93 edition o/The Operating Cameraman.

The Operating Cameraman

Page 7

•

By L. Sprague Anderson While the scene was being photographed, Mr. Sennett noticed that the cameraman w as cranking very slowly. When asked why, he explained that the company didn't have much money; the film cost four cents afoot; and he was trying to be economical.

Virgil E. Miller Page 10

The Operating Cameraman

T:

e JN-4 Jenny biplane banks and wheels in th thin winter air 1000 f t above th rugged California t rrain. Cam raman orman De Vol ha b n airborne for over an hour with pilot Dick Grace; they've just finished making aerial hot of a pecially constructed cabin et on the ground b low for th Tom Mix film The Forest Rnnger. 1 Now D Vol hunches behind hi Akeley in the op n r ar c ckpit of the fragile hip, cranking out a few more feet of film before they tum back for civilization. He shiver in the chill blast of the prop wa h.

Suddenly the bitter br z di away; the propeller kicks and pin wheels to a stop. A contact point ha burned ou t in the engine. Th plan lo airspeed and no sov rintoa t ep, rapid glide. Aft r a few mom nts, the pilot realizes ther ' no chance of regaining power. "We'r going in!" say Grace over his hould r, and in the unnatural silence, he clearly hears De Vol' cool reply, "Let' er fall." 2 Still turning hi hand crank at two turns per second, the cameraman looks

Spring/Summer 1996

down over the cockpit's edge; he can see the plane's expanding shadow skipping over the inhospitable country ide below. Quickly he adjusts the mount to bring th shadow into his finder. He concentrates on keeping his cranking on tempo. (One-and-twoand-one-and-two .. .) They'r fift n miles from th nea rest airstrip and falling fas t. The shot is pectaculartwo m n dropping to de truction.

His cent r of gravity is changing ra pidly now and he shifts his balance in the lurching cockpit, trying toke p the mov men ts of his right hand steady.

(One-and-two-and-) In his finder, the black smudge on the sunl it slop is lea ping up to meet them, far too fast.

Wi th hi fr e hand, he adjusts the camra a smoothly as he can to hold the image in the frame. At some point, De Vol realize the plane can't possibly urvive the coming impact. Does his heart bea t qui cker? Do his fingers tighten on th handle as he turns?

The plan lams into the ground, bury ing its ngine in the earth; th cowlings fl y into the air; the wings collap e. De Vol and Grace stagger fr e of th wr ckage. It takes them a few minutes to r alize that they ar miraculously unhurt.

A they r join the crew, everyon is amazed at their good fortune. But the real astonishment and admiration com s when they see the film from

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De Vol's camera. All during that fateful plunge-which looked certain to end in maiming or a violent deathDe Vol's pres ur on the camera crank remained ab olutely steady, and the sp ed of his arm never wavered from the beginning of the shot until the moment he braced himself for the crash. The film i a silent testament to his courage, as well as a dramatic illustration of a cameraman' ability to master his most fundamental kill-hand-cranking.

Theyeari 1923.0n0ctober6, 1927, The Jazz Singer will open in ew York City, and everything will change. But until then, hand-cranking remains an absolutely indispensable camera skill.

Electric motor drives are available, but batteries are bulky, and stable llOV power is non-existent on location.

Even in hazardous situations, most cameramen prefer to crank by hand.

Delivered by the hand of an experienced operator, the crank's action is the only completely reliable motive power there is. He can carry it in his pocket; it never needs batteries or winding; never "shorts"; weighs only a few ounce ; is ready to operate in an instant; and allows him constantly to monitor the camera speed.

This last point is important. In 1923, no one i even fantasizing about microchip spe d controls. They don't have to: hand-cranking allows the cameraman total awarene s and control over the pacing of the scene, which h can spe d up or slow down at will.

If ome activity in front of th camera i taking too much time, he only needs to low hi crank, and when shown, th action will "zip" by on the screen.

Dick Grace and cameraman Norman De Vol with Akeley Camera In the crashed airplane they rode to the ground while De Vol took the first onboard motion picture footage of a genuine airplane crash.

Let's say our star, Lance Gold fleece, intends to put on a display of fancy swordsmanship. He walks across the et at normal rate, draws his sword with a flourish, and then (as the operator slows his crank) execute a rapid eries of thrusts, parries and ripostes with the blade. His sword man hip completed, he heathes his weapon (the operator now returns to normal rate) and exits before the awed eyes of the watching crowd. When th positive of this sc ne is projected, Lance's dexterity will b greatly enhanced by the accelerated rate of his performance during tho e crucial econds. o one will uspect the helping hand of the cameraman.

In practice, however, this s lective

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variation in cranking speed is one of the most delicate tricks in the cameraman's repertoire; it's a skill that can be execut d reliably u ually only after many thousand twirls of the crank. What makes it such an enviable trick is the need to keep the exposure constant while altering the frame rate and consequently the shutter speed. If the scene suddenly brightens by half a stop or more during the swordplay, then returns to normal, the trick is exposed--or, rather, it's over-exposed .

To prevent this, the operator must compensate for the changing xposure as he changes his cranking speed, either by simultaneously decreasing the angle of the dissolving hutter or by simultaneously decrea ing the stop. Most profes ional cameras make some provision for changing the shutter opening or the stop or both from th back of the camera, and this-plus th opera tor's skill-makes the trick possible. Although it looks simple, many a cameraman can attest to the hours and days he spent when he first t out to develop his cranking technique. "First breaking in, my trouble was in cranking the camera," remembers Rollie Totheroh, Charlie Chaplin's cameraman for 38 years. "As a rule, for comedy it was 14 frames a second, and sometimes you drop to 12 frames a

econd, for instance if somebody's running away from the camera and you wanted to speed it up. The cameraman regulated everything!" 3 The two ingredients of proper cranking are unifonnihj and correct speed sense, and they can only b acquired with experience over time. How much time depends on the individual; it took the author a month, practicing an hour or so a day with a Bell &

•••••••••••••••••••••

just as the singer learns breathing control, the cameraman learns cranking control.

hand. With a less forgiving camera, it probably would have taken longer, but he has no way of knowing whether his example is typical. It's a fact that ome would-be cameramen never mastered the nece sary moothness of technique, no matter how much they practiced .

This all make cranking ound like a very daunting proce , but for most it's as easy as breathing, and it b comes just as automatic and simple to regulate. Just as the singer learns breathing control, the cameraman learns cranking control. Of the two, the inger's voice will be far more taxed during a typical day than the cameraman' cranking arm.

Uniformity

••••••••••••••••••••• Howell Standard, before he gained nough confidence to walk onto a movie et and simultaneously expo e film and control the tripod head by

When a neophyte operator first tum the crank of his camera, he often starts by using his ntire arm, holding the wrist rigid and pumping the arm at the elbow and shoulder on each revolution, like the driving rods of a locomotive, or he'll start his turning motion at the elbow and transfer the power with his lower arm. With the whole arm being

acted on by gravity, he quickly discovers a natural tendency to increase sp ed on the downstroke as the arm drops and slow on the up troke a he lifts it again. This cau s fluctuation in the pace and exposure of the cene being taken, mo t clearly een as a "pulsing" of the overall light level at half second intervals. It's a very unplea ant effect.

The fir t step in eliminating this problem is to r duce the overall arm movements, o that you have much less mass to lift against gravity on each turn. Hold the shoulder still, keep the forearm nearly motionle s, and rotate the crank by turning the hand round the wrist, rather than the forearm round the elbow. In this way, only the hand itself is making any large movement, and it's far easier to keep the rotation smooth. In doing so, you'll find yourself holding your elbow up and to the side, with the forearm aligning itself naturally along a line extending straight out from the crank shaft; this position may seem awkward and overly fatiguing at first, but the improvement will quickly become evident on the screen. This ~>

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Cameraman Jim Pusch slows his crank and simultaneously draws back the shutter lever to keep the exposure uniform. The oversized lever (very convenient) Is patterned after the one used by Al Gllks.

a ume you have room to take the de cribed position, that you're not jammed up against a wall or wedged in om oth r peculiar space. Even in the great outdoors, you never know wh n you might have to change your cranking tyle at short notice. Steve Smith Jr. vividly remembers a quick change in strategy while filming the

destruction of the "Arabella" during the making of Captain Blood: "!twas a shot that caug/1t at the throat of even the oldest cameraman. If he did not get the stuff it was lo t. There could be no retake the next day on any of it. When the 169-foot boat went to the bottom that was the end. No oneJailed. But with the terrific explosion that ended the life of that stately old timer of the sea came a rain ofwood and bits of iron that made the most hardened of the crew seek shelter under the tripods and crank with an off-set elbow movement. A slip here would have been all too costly, or the failure to operate properly would have resulted in ruin. "4 Another point in pa sing: you can grip the crank handle any way that feel s comfortable, though if you follow the above advice, you'll probably be holding it with just your fingertips to allow the wrist freedom to turn. However you hold it, don' t squeeze (too tiring), but be sure you have firm contact or you may Io e your grip on the handle during the take and find your elf chasing the crank and trying to grab it again as it spins. Not only do s this spoil the shot, but nothing looks quite as silly as a grown p r on stabbing at a spinning crank with his fingertip , trying to get his finger around it and hoping against hope that no one has noticed .

A removable crank make po sible another source of embarrassment: inadvertently pulling the crank free

Jim demonstrates a good starting position. Notice the forearm Is nearly still.

Page 14

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

from the shaft and spinning it in the air while the camera runs down to a stop. This is slightly less humiliating than lo ing your grip, because it looks for just an in tant like it might be an equipm nt failure. ( o such luck.)

You can fin e tune the regularity of your movements by listening to the sound of your camera as you crank. It' easy to pick out relatively small change in sp d by noting the rising and falling tone of the camera in action. An empty ca mera is harder to crank smoothly than a loaded one, o practice with a dummy roll of film. You should ke p at it until you can detect only the slighte t rhythm or cycle in the hum of the machine.

Correct Speed Sense In addition to being extremely regular

in action, it's important to hold your overall cranking speed within fairly narrow margin , except where you're striving for an effect.

Studi have shown that every individual marks time at a different internal tempo. Where asked to count seconds, some will count 50 to the mi.nut , some will count 70; very few people have uch a perfect time en e that they count to 60 in a 60 second period . Each p rson, however, is quite accurate to hi or her own time sense.

Stand a variety of people behind moving picture cameras and ask them to make two turns to the second, and they will quickly fall out of sync with one another, each cranking at a different rat that he perceives to be two turns per econd.

An experiment will quickly giv you a sense of how far the speed of your cranking departs from the tandard. Zero the footage counter on your camera and crank for exactly thirty seconds at a rate that you believe to b two turn per econd. Stop the cam ra and s how much footage ha b en r corded on the counter-if your cranking i right on, the counter will read thirty f t.

Even if you're way off thi mark when you tart, it's possible tor train your elf gradually until you're hitting rea onably do e to the magic one foot per econd rate. The author was more than 10% off when he ~>

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fir t tried this exerci e, but by dint of prolonged practice, he reduced his error to a consistent two feet in sixty, an error of just over 3%. Looked at another way, this amounts to a deviation of one frame every two seconds, entirely satisfactory for any ilent film work (esp cially since silent projectors were commonly hand-cranked or r gulated by rheostat).

literally spinning that crank!...

"Now I dared not change speed; none of it would match. I continued my fa t clip. Fortunately, the dan ce ended shortly.

"I rationalized what had happened: The new camera was ••••••••••••••••••••• strange; quieter than I had been used to, thesoundofthegears unfamiliar. "5 Luckily for Mr. Walker, the director was impressed by the resulting slowmotion effect and assumed that he'd intended that all along. Actually, Mr. Walkerwasas surprised as every••••••••••••••••••••• one else that his To settle themselves on the proper fast cranking had tempo and stay there, most camera- caused this slow- "Look, Ma! No cables!" The author lines up a shot for his men had a song that they rehearsed in motion; it was "a film "An Old Vice." their heads as they cranked. One well- fact little known known cameraman liked the "Anvil in those days." ing a smooth rate on the camera at the Chorus," making two turns for each What happ ns if the director has same time you're cranking your gear honk! of the anvil. The author pres- ordered the customary violin and piano head in the opposite direction at varyently cranks to a more contemporary to play mood music during the taking ing speeds for a pan or a tilt-that tune, the theme from the "Addams of the scenes, or if some other insistent should humble you again pretty fast.

Family" TV show, which keeps him rhythm is pounding at you as you Clerc, in his classic Photography: Theon; right on the mark, and which on some crank? You have to detach your mind and Practice, makes a remark that is days is a peculiarly satisfying way of from the conflicting sound, be aware very much to the point: of it, but not respond to it. It's a sure keeping things in perspective.

In general, the camera is supported If you crank 24 after cranking 16 test of your skill: to be able to crank with the left hand while the right hand for a while, the camera seems to be steadily while another steady beat, turns the handle, that is, unless the left roaring along-in fact, you have to slightly off-tempo, washes over you. hand is employed in adjusting the push your elf to get up to speed. The Even veteran cameramen sometimes panoramic head or the swing around a "Skater's Waltz" was a popular tune to struggled with this mental exercise. horizontal axis, both of which operations hum at three turns per second.

Victor Milner had the exceedingly rare are better done by an assistant.7 Gradually, you' ll become familiar opportunity to film the Hopi Indian In touching on this fundamental with the pitch of your camera's whir snake dance, and it was all he could do issue, for once Mr. Clerc misstates when it's running at speed, and hold- to crank the shot successfully: himself. Look at any picture of a silent ing speed by ear will become second All the Indians on the reservation were crew at work; you'll never see a nature. This can lead you into trouble, in attendance at the dance, but only four- cameraman cranking his camera while though, if you switch to a different teen took an active part in the ceremony. his assistant pans and tilts, making make of camera. Famed cameraman The fourteen , led by a chief, began a chant framing decisions. In fact, you'll seldom Joseph Walker discovered this on his so wild and wonderful that Mr. Milner see an assistant at the camera during first professional assignment in 1913: declared it almost hypnotized him, and he shooting. Very occasionally, where "I glanced at my hand on the camera had to look away into the landscape three hands are essential, the assistant crank; with a sickening thud I realized I frequently to keep steady. 6 will be found cranking the camera while was breaking the cardinal rule I'd been When you' re starting to feel cocky the cameraman performs pans, tilts or practicing all these months- my hand was about your cranking skills, try crank- performs other operations, but the far

The author presently cranks to a more contemporary tune, the theme from the "Addams Family" TV show.

Page 16

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

I

more common practice was for the cameraman to assume entire re ponsibility for the functions of his camera during a take. This is oner ason that for most of the silent period the camera didn't often change it point of view during a shot. When it did, it made sense for the cameraman to surrender the camera crank to his assistant and devote himself to the far more critical operation of changing the frame. After all, anyone could turn a crank. In fact, the term "crank turner" or "crank winder" was u ed as an insult to refer to operators who had no knowledge or talent with their camera beyond their ability to act a a motor.

The reliance on a static camera was a major ae thetic attitude through mo t of the Teens and Twenties. Even big-budget features from those years often have only two or three camera moves during the entire unfolding of the story, and where a move doe occur,it'su uallya truckingshot, tak n off the back of a vehicle. Le often, you' ll ee traight pan or a straight tilt-nothing that requires turning both tripod handles at the same time.

In spite of these limitations, there's

nothing econd-rate about the camera work in Sparrows (one pan in the entire film) or The Phantom of the Opera (one hand-held hot and one pan to follow

•••••••••••••••••••••

Where action demanded rapid adjustments or oblique moves, they'd bring in an Akeley specialist.

• • ••••••••••••• • ••• •• an overturning carriage) or Broken Blossoms (one trucking hot).

We' d b forcing the point if we a urned that the pr fer nee for static etups wa dictat d or even greatly influenced by the combination of cranked cameras and cranked tripod heads. After all, if dir ctors had begun

clamoring for their cameras to move more freely, the technology would quickly adjust-a indeed happened in the last couple of years that silents were made, with the adoption of the "free head ." It's more likely that directors and cameramen were sati fied with their tied-down shots until they aw the imaginative, fluid pictures coming out of the Europ an market.

If they wanted movement, they could al ways get slow move by putting on an assistant or running the camera with a motor. Where action demanded rapid adjustments or oblique moves they'd bring in an Akeley specialist, who could track the action olo while he hand-cranked his unique camera, hewing still to th unwritten rule "one camera-one man."

Post-Silent Cameras That You Can Turn By Hand If you don't have an old Univer al around the hou e, you may have to find your elf a later model camera that let you do the driving. Be t bets among st udio cameras are th ~> Mitch ll Standard, C,

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and GC models; after all these years, they still have their crankshaft in the center of the right side, though you may have to clear a lot of motors out of the way to get at it. A Mitchell crank may be harder to find than the camera itself, and a Bell & Howell crank won't work (even though it looks lik it hould). A le s commonly available camera is the 2709, e pecially in unmodified condition, but even if they ' ve been heavily hacked for special effects use, they usually retain their crank haft and necessary innards. MitcheUs have been evaporating and ballooning in price in recent years. Bell & Howells are cheaper, but till ell for everal thousand dollars. A $400 Mitchell is as rare as a good $200 car, but it' b en known to happen.

(Once.)

Bell & Howell Eyemo (35mm) and Fil mos (16mm) were always old with cranks; they can be used to drive the camera forward at any p ed, but first you have to run down the spring completely and lock on the m chanism. The cranks are short (the Eyemo crank is 1%-, half the ideal 3- Jength of the 2709 crank) and there's no flywheel in these cameras, so you may have

wound Bolex is as crank-worthy now the camera. But in my spare hours, I'd as it ever was. Cranking a Bo lex isn't as crank it, see what made it tick. It fun as it should be, because even the fascinated me." 8 ~'£ longer crank i very short, but the Bo lex governor provjdes stability, ame as the Bell & Howells. Š 1996 by L. Sprague Anderson. Sprague There are other 16mm spring- became interested in silent film methods wou nd cameras that physically while he was teaching a course at the San permit you to crank them, but with Francisco Art Institute on the history of mo t of them it's an exercise in drudgery film technology. This article is part of a that you'd only try in an emergency- book he's preparing on 1920s production when the electric motor's dead, and techniques. He presently works at Pacific you know the shot's going to be longer Video Resources in San Francisco. His than the spring can handle. I don' t work number is (415) 864-5679. promise you' ll love hand-cranking these littler guy , but try it with one of NOTES 1 the big machines and you'll be hooked Farmer, James H.: Broken Wings: for good. Ask Stanley Cortez about Hollywood 's Air Crashes. Pictorial the lure of cranking; he was first Histories Publ. Co.; Missoula, Mont., drawn into cinematography when he 1984; page 6. This book gives the stopped on a ew York str t to admire cameraman's name as "Devoe," but the artistic cranking style of a Pathe at least two American Cinematographer news cameraman. "[On my fir t job in magazines have it as De Vol. 2 Hollywood], I wasn' tsupposed to touch "Films Own Shadow as Plane Falls," by Dan Clark, ASC. American Cinematographer; Dec. 1923; page 7,8.

3 "Roland H. Totheroh Interviewed."

Film Culture, Spring 1972, pg. 242.

4 "Pictorial Side of 'Captain Blood'," by Steve Smith, Jr., ASC. American Cinematograph er, 5:6; September, 1924; page 20.

5 Walker, Joseph & Juanita: The Light on Her Face. ASC; Hollywood, z z 1984; page 50.

Ci Ci w w 6 a: a: "The Lost Snake u.. u.. w 0 ....

Dance," American Cin> 0 0 ematographer; Oct. 15, z .:..: 0 ::> 1921; page 13.

0 b > 7 :c Clerc, L.P.: Photograa. .... phy Theory and Practice.

New York: Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons, Ltd.; LonTO SEE THE COMPLETE LINE OF don: Henry Greenwood JACKETS, SHIRTS, HATS & BELT BUCKLES & Co., Ltd., 1930; page 535.

WRITE TO: 8 Higham: Hollywood Society of Operating Cameramen Cameramen : Sources of Light. Garland PublishPO Box 2006 ing, Inc.; New York and Toluca Lake, CA 91610 London, 1970 (1986 ); pages 100-101.

SOC WEAR

a

harder time cranking moothly than you would with a Pathe Studio or a Mitchell. However, the governor prevents you from exceeding the speed t on the expo ure dial, which help a lot. Set the gov rnor to 16 fps and you' ll be able to crank lower than that, but no fa ter.

The first Bo Iexes were old in the 1930s with a crank about twice as long a the type provided today, and at that time the instruction manual gave directions on handcranking; nowadays the only use suggested for the crank is rewinding for effects , but the spring-

Page 18

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Th e Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

Robert Carmichael Louis Chanatry Joe Chess Jr ACTIVE CHARTER Julian Chojnacki Parker Bartlett Dana Chri tiaansen Paul Ba ta Tom Connole Michael Benson John A Coro Bob Bergdahl Ivan Craig Howard Block Richard Cullis Jerry Callaway Michael L Culp Mike Chevalier Edward Dadulak Steve Conant Rocky Danielson Sam Drummy Ray de la Motte Joe Epperson David Diano Ron Francis Troy Dick Bill Gahret Glenn Di Vincenzo Peter Hapke Sean Doyle Bill Hines Alexis DuPont Wayne Kennan, AS David Elkins Bob Keys David Emmerichs Norm Langley Steve Es ig Ed Morey James Etheridg Lee Nakahara Jerome Fauci Jay Nefcy Michael Ferris Rik Nervik Kenneth Ferro Leigh Nichol on Bruce Finn John Nogle Lance Fisher Dan Norris Howard Ford David owell Thomas Fraser Wayne O rr David Fred rick Chris Schwi bert Michael Frediani Michael Scott Michael Richard Frift Hal Shiffman Kirk Gardner Roger Smith Jag Gaynor Mike St Hilaire Rusty Geller Ray St Ila Michael Genne Carol Sunflower Wayne G tchell Jo Valentine Allen Gonzales Edward Ventura John Goode John Gutierrez ACTIVE Anette Haellmigk Art Adams Dennis Hall Bret Allen Terry Harkin D r k M Allen Chris Hayes Aldo Antonelli Sean Higgin Ted A hton Jr Ronald High Bill A man Gary Hoffman Dan Auerbach J ffrey Hoffman Paul Babin Joachim Hoffmann hristopher J Baffa Robert Chapman Horne Vincent Baldino Ca ey Hotchkis G rard Banale Gary Huddle ton St wart Barbee Philip Hurn Tom Barron Levie Isaacks Guy Bee Michael A John on Ri hard Benda Michael Jones Bob Berry David Judy Al B ttcher Michael Karp George Billinger Ill John Kiser Joe Blaisdell Douglas H Knapp James Blanford Dan Kneece P ter Bonilla Kris Krosskove David Boyd Robert La Bonge Billy Bragg Brian Lataille Garrett Brown Henry Lebo Robin Buerki Mark Levin

Page 20

Michael Little George Loomis Allan Lum Li Gregory Lundsgaard Kenji Luster Braden Lutz James Mann Richa rd Mason Stan McClain Don M Cuaig Ron M cManus Robert L Mehnert Mike M inardus Anastas N Michos Robert Mills William Molina Joseph Montgomery Lawrence P Moody Christopher Moon Jeff Moore Robert Moore Denis M oran Donald Morea Don Muirhead Michael Negrin, ASC Chuck Nicklin Randy Nolen Tamas P Nyerges William O'Drobinak Philip 0 tiker Russel I Ofria Lucio Olivieri David Parri h Aaron Pazanti Robert Peebles Mike Pierce Ronald Precious Robert Presley William Purdy II Bernard Reill y Herb Roberts Randall Robin on David Robman Andy Romanoff Peter Rosenfeld Harvey Rubin Jam Ruh Frank Ruttencutter Seigo Sakamoto Richard J Schaefer Steven Schoedsack Chuck Schuman Philip Schwartz Floris Sijbesma Guy Skinner Michael D Smith Sandy Spooner Stephen St John Scott E Steele Michael Stramisky David Stump Brian Sweeney James H Sweeney GeneTalvin Amanda Thompson Richard Tied mann

The Operating Cameraman

John Toll, ASC GeorgiaTornai Packard Daniel Turrett Pern II Tyus Robert Ulland Paul D Varrieur Ron Vidor Bill Waldman Victoria Walker David W est Bill Williams Elizabeth Ziegler

John Newby Owen Marsh Richard Nezvadovitz Bob Marta David Paone Michael McClary Andrew Parke Emmanuel Metaxas Norman Parker King Nicholson Jetson Pfoutz Ernie Reed Ted Polmanski Arnold Rich Serge Poupis Sam Rosen Richard Rawlings Jr, ASC Jim Saper Bill Reiter Lou Schwartz Parker Roe Phil Stern Marvin Rush, ASC David Sutton Richard Salvatore SvenWalnum ASSOCIATE Carl M artin Schumacher, Sr Gary Armstrong Bob aman CORPORATE Eugene Ashbrook George W Singer Jr AFFILIATES Chuck Barbee Jan Sluchak ARRIFLEX CORPORATIO Mitchell Block Owen Stephens Bill Russell Joseph Calloway Kevin J Stolpe CHAPMAN/ LEONARD Bruce Cardozo John Teal STUDIO EQUIPMENT Kirk Chiswell Roy H Wagner, ASC Charles J Huen rgardt Jeff Clark Brian Watkins Leonard T Chapman Greg Colli r H askell Wexler, ASC DELUXE LABORATORIES Richard Crudo Shaun Wheeler Richard L Thomas Egor Davidoff TonyYarl tt Ron Koch Christopher Dawson Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC EASTMAN KODAK James A Dennett COMPA Y Ronald Deveaux HONORARY Curtis E Jones George Spiro Dibie, ASC Stephanie B nson John L Ma on Kevin Downey Capt Jacques-Yves Cou teau FUJI PHOTO FILM Gary Eckert Bruce Doering USA, INC Mi hael E obosa William A Fraker, ASC H A "H ap" Parker Robert Feller Ron Kell y JL FISHER COMPA y Dan Fetler Wesley Lambert James L Fish r, Jr Gerald Perry Jerry Lewis Dennis Knopf Finnerman, ASC M ATIHEWS STUDIO A Linn Murphree MD John Flinn Il l, ASC David Myers ELECTRONICS, IN Mark Forman Jay Roth EF "Bob" Netlmann Peter Frintrup Steven Spielberg O'Co OR Steve Gainer Frank Stanley, ASC ENGINEER! G LABS Richard Garbutt George Toscas Joel John on James Garvey Ono NEMENZ Harvey Genkins RETIRED INTERNATIONAL, INC Bernie Abramson Norman Glasser Karl Kresser Jeff Goldenberg Rupert Ben on Jr PA AVISION Vee Bodrero INTERNATIONAL, INC Wayne Goldwyn Bud Gray Don Burch Tracy Langan Wynn Hammer Phil Caplan PHOTO-SONI S, INC Bruce Catlin John Hi ll onrad Kiel Gary Holt Bill Clark PRECISION CAMERA Dick Colean Gregory Irwin SUPPORTS, I C Chris I hii Cliff Concialdi Rick F Gunter Steven Jackman Jim Connell SHOTMAKER DOLLIES & Douglas Kirkland Don Cropp r CRANES IN lyde " Bud" Kr mp Ill Linwood Dunn, ASC Derek Church George La Fountai ne, ASC Mike Ferra SONY ELECTRON! S, INC Stevan Larner, ASC Jerry Fuller Jeff Cree John LeBlanc Ralph Gerling TECHNICOLOR, I C Alan J Levi Jerry Good Adam Chuck Dr Ell n M atsumoto Gil Haimson VICTOR DUNCAN, I C Nick Mclean, Sr Lutz Hapke Frank Marasco John McPherson John Hussey Cha rles Minsky Bill Johnson Karin Modlin David Kurland Gary Moore Josep h Longo Sol Negrin, ASC Steve Lyd eek er

c

Spring/Summer 1996

SOC's First Hands-On Crane and Remote Head Seminar January 27, 1996 was an hjstoric day in the six teen year history of the Society of Operating Cameramen. Under an overcast ky and cool temperatures the Soci ty provided the opportunity for hundreds of camera op rators, director of photography and camera assistants to get their hands on almost every type of crane or remote head avajlable. Everyone had a chance to test their skills on shots designed by este med di.rectors of photography while utilizing the Warner Bro . backlot t of ER and Lois & Clark.

It all began last year when camera operator Michael Frediaru added his own bit of illumination on the set of Weird Science as he had a sudden flash of in piration. Present for this bit of m ntal Jjghtningwas cinematographer Rick Gunter, who had stopped by for a vi it. Gunter photographs th eries Beverly Hills 90210 and owns Preci ion Camera Supports, which distributes the Enlouva Crane. When Frediaru suggest d it might be to everyone's b nefit if Gunt r held an open hous for th SOC to farruliarize members with hi crane, the entire crew burst into a pontaneous round of cheering and applau e! ... WeU, notreally, butitwas a really good idea nonetheles .

Unfortunately even good ideas mu t awaH their turn. Showbiz Expo '95 intervened and the 1995 Society of Operating Cameramen's Lifetime Acruevement Awards Banquet, no mere trifle, was in the planning stages. In the rrudst of this hurricane of activity, SOC members Tom "Frisby" Fraser and Bill

Waldman fought their way to the eye of the storm and offered their assistance to Frediaru at Expo, for any future events. Thus, a serrunar was born.

The trio took the town by storm . Rick G u nter qukkly agreed to showcase his cranes. Rus ell Ofria SOC of Advanced Camera Systernsoffered to demonstrate his Bodycam, and Andy Romanoff SOC volunte red to attend with a Louma Crane in tow. (The Louma Crane won the SOC's Technical Achievement Award in 1995.)

So began our journey, destined to take us to a very "remote" place. A choice location was paramount to the success of the seminar.

Did we say paramount? We meant Warner Bros., specifically their backlot. In August 1995, Ed Clare con- .____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ __. tacted WB Studio Facilities and requested space on the lot for the seminar. The catch: August is an. extremely hot month in the San Fernando Valley and it was wisely decided to try to obtain a soundstage for the event in order to avoid decreasing the ranks of the SOC by sunstroke. It was a brilliant, cunning plan but for the fact that Hollywood exp rienced one of its busi-

Spring/Summer 1996

est seasons ever and there wasn't a vacant studio soundstage to be found.

Time marched on and our intrepid hero s never gave up hope. Seminars such as this were theSOC'scaJlingand rru sion. To give up was unthinkable.

Energie were temporarily diverted toward other events, such as the Fall I Wint r issue of =*>

The Operating Cameraman

Page 21

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Operating Cameraman Magazine and the upcoming Awards Banquet. OctoberandNovembersaw Frediani, Fraser, Waldman and now Terry Harken soc once again searching for a space big enough to hold a growing number of cranes and several hundred people.

Disney, Universal and even Pepperdine University were contacted, but none could spare the space for the event.

Finally, after much effort Warner Bros. agreed to let the SOC use their back.lot.

The extra time obtained by scheduling the event after the holidays allowed Harkin, Clare, Fraser and Waldman to add substantially to the list of vendors committed to attend. As

the event grew invitations were extended not only to SOC members but to members of the International Photographers Guild (IA TSE Local 659), Studio Grips (IATSE Local 80) and the American Society of Cinematographers.

Directors of photography Robert Primes ASC (1995 Emmy winner, My Antonia), Marvin Rush ASC (Star Trek Voyager), Chuck Minsky (Kazaam) and Richard Walden (Dream On) volunteered to serve as instructors. Many experienced SOC members and others devoted their time and experience towards making the seminar an educational tour de force: Paul Babin (Congo), Guy Bee (ER), Joe Chess (Star Trek), Ray de la Motte

Spring/Summer 1996

(Maverick), Anette Haellmigk (Total Recall), Chris Hayes (Little Princess), Norm Langley (Color Purple), Fred Smith (Last Action Hero) and Ray Stella Uurassic Park).

This event would not have been possible without the tremendous efforts of our key grip I crane operators: Albert Ramos (Coalminer's Daughter), Ted Rhodes (Beetlejuice), Chuck Schray (Batman Returns), Dan Smith (Angels in the Outfield) and Paul Threlkeld (Kazaam) and all of the other dedicated men and women who muscled crane arms around all day.

The event was opened by seminar co-chairman Terry Harkin, who introduced SOC president Michael Frediani, who in turn welcomed the large crowd gathered at the base of the enormous Warner Bros courthouse facade. "Some of the equipment assembled here has been around for years because it's the best in the business," Frediani declared.

"Equipment that may be new to many of you is destined to take us to new cinematic heights and will be with us well into the 21st century!" Frediani concluded by stating, "The whole idea for this event is to =*>

The Operating Cameraman

Page 23

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offer all of you the opportunity to gain more knowledge of the tools of our trade. The keywords for today are knowledge, camaraderie and SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY." George Spiro Dibie ASC president of the International Photographers Guild congratulated the SOC for putting on an event of such magnitude and asked that the equipment suppliers offer regular workshops so that grip and camera crews could learn to use their equipment more effectively.

Concluded Dibie, "You'll get your equipment back in good shape if you just show us how to use it properly. If we know how to use it we can push our production managers to rent it and then we can work with it comfortably whenitarrive .ltwillmakemoremoney for you in the long run."

Ed Clare, president of PERA had this to say: "In 1996 we are seeing the twentieth anniversary of the film Bound for Glory, shot by Haskell Wexler ASC who won an Academy Award for his efforts. That film marked the first comm rcial use of the Steadicamâ&#x201E;˘. The change that the Steadicam brought to the industry are still with us today.

Remember the scene where Garrett Brown SOC started a shot high on a crane, rode it to the ground, stepped off and walked through the crowd?

Well, in the intervening twenty years many of the devices that you see her today have been developed.

"My point," stated Clare, "is that

the development of this technology is an ongoing collaborative effort between equipment v ndor , directors of photography, camera operators, assistants, grips and many technicians. So onbehalfoftho e vendors I would like to thank all of you for your efforts, for your comments, your criticisms and your suggestions. Keep up the good work, because we need you to keep our ind us try moving forward. Additionally I would like to thank the SOC, because without their efforts we would not be here today."

Bill Hines, SOC member and corporate liaison took the stage and presented a plaque to Richard L. Thomas and Ron Koch of Deluxe Laboratories, one of the Society's newest corporate affiliates.

Thomas stated, "Deluxe is proud to be associated with the Society of Operating Cameramen. We have a long history, over 75 years, of working with cameramen and camera operators. We hope that in the future the SOC will be able to hold a seminar a tour newly updated facilities.

Thank you v ry much for the honor."

Terry Harkin reminded the crowd that there was a 14-page information packet available to all participants outlining safety measures compiled during recent years by the Industry Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee. The packet covers everything from animal handling and stunts to pyrotechnic sp cia1effects and insert car guidelines. Harkin noted Spring/Summer 1996

that nowhere could he find safety information regarding cranes, particularly crane I insert car combinations and he expressed hope that workshop participants might contribute recommendation in this area.

Harkin spoke of the enthusiasm during the planning meetings of our lead cinematographer I instructors Marvin Rush, Bob Primes, Chuck Minsky and others. "It's made us really remember what got us to come here from all over the world; to work with some of the greatest engineers and their innovations every day. It has been very inspiring. Ironically, I have probably worked on this lot more than any other in Hollywood in the past twenty years and it is where I have come closest to being severely injured during a scene.

"The shot was very simple," recalled Harkin, "one that you've seen played out a hundred times before.

Two cowboys ride into town, tie their horses to the hitching post and walk into the saloon. In the script it states that this takes place on July 4th and the

director, unbeknownst to anybody, decided that it would be nice to see fireworks reflected in the saloon window.

Well, nobody told the horses and nobody told the crew! It was pretty scary, to say the least, seeing those horses drag the front of that saloon down the ~> street with the The Operating Cameraman

Page 25

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camera and the crew scattering to afety! We must never forget that even with the best crews and the b st equipment we can Jose it all in a minute if we don't emphasize safety."

Fred Smith, one of the most highly re pected feature film operators in the industry picked up on the need to develop safety procedures wh n using cranes on moving vehicles. Smith wa nearly killed during a shot on The Last Action Hero and spoke of the necessity of "staying highly focu ed on what'sgoingonaround you at all times.

Don't assume that nothing bad can happen to you."

Don Cropper, a camera a sistant on the film The Twilight Zone tated, "It i our job, whether we are in the camera, grip or production departments to give the director what he wants.

That' our goal. That's our purpose.

But on some occasions, particularly wh n working with certain cond unit dir ctors, the director want too much. In that wanting, safety can b j opardized. I have known camera p op le who died because a car pushed them over a cliff. Rodney Mitchell died during an insert car accident on The Dukes of Hazzard. It is up to u to speak up if we think we are in danger and torefu etodosomethingthatput u in jeopardy. Sometimes you've got to walk away."

Key grip Chuck Schray took the microphone and noted that "a good grip always looks high. That a pp Ii s to

everybody today.

When you see the front of the arm move, don't forget that there is a back endofthatarm that swings as well and that's the part that weighs the most.

It's also the part thathurtsthemo t.

So be aware," cautioned Schray "because these things don't top on a dime when you want them to."

Bob Primes closed out the opening statements by recalling a tricky commercial sunset shot that he had accomplished some years ago. It involved

two cars passing each other, one at high speed to empha ize the advantage of its particular brand of ga oline.

"We were shooting on a crane arm

Spring/Summer 1996

from an in ert car. We had thre cars abr ast and we had to get the timing just right so that as one car pas d the other car the crane was in the right position. Well, it took a lot of coordination and ynchronization and finally the light was just right. I was up on the crane operating the camera when uddenly th camera moved in the wrong direction; the framing was thrown completely off and the camera was not where it was upposed to be. I was very up et about this. It took o long to get this shot just right and it wa ruined! I turned to the dolly grip, about to say something like, 'What the hell is going on?' and he just pointed back down th road to a truck that was parked on the shoulder. buring the hot he wa watching both end of the crane arm, not just the front. The back end of the crane arm would have smashed into that truck. He told me that if he had done that shot as planned, I would have been killed! We must remember that the dolly grip i th pilot of the crane. He's got the re ponsibili ty, he's the chief and he's in charge of our safety."

Prime then encouraged the crowd to take part with enthu ia m. "Thi i a chance to learn more about crane in one day than you could possibly learn in any other way." With that the assembled crowd moved eagerly to the di ff rent stations to try their hands on the various equipment available.

Chuck Minsky explained to a group of operators and a sistants that ometime a shot just doesn't work a laid out. This et-up involved a Chapman crane with a mounted Lenny arm starting at ground level =*>

The Operating Cameraman

Page 27

on the far side of a wrought iron fence in a courtyard. As the stand-ins walk d across the courtyard and out the gate the Lenny arm was rai ed up and over the fence. Th operator had to follow the tand-in from above, ending on a wide shot of the courthouse squar .

Fir t attempts created fru tration for ome operators.

"Especially with a doubt -arm etup, you have to get your fac out of the monitor and walk over to talk to the two grip on the boom arm . You n d to communicate carefully with them. They need to tell you exactly when they are starting their arm movement and you need to watch what tho e arm are doing. With two arm moving, you mu t remember that you have more than one axis to work with.

It change thing a lot."

All th equipment in the world won't do you any good unless you have omething to shoot. A large group of professional s tand-in , kater , tuntm n and even doo-wap inger volunt red theirtirneascompo itional element . t one end of the treet, a Shotmaker insert car with attached cran gave operator a chance to track rid r on hor eback.

Simon Jayce of Technocrane had hi popular equipment et up directly over th entrance to the Metropolis Subway. Operators were able to deign laborate moves that started atthe bottom of the stairs below ground level and nded twenty feet in the air on the oppo ite ide of the street. You could ee the excitement on the faces of the op rator a they successfully com-

Page 28

The Operating Cameraman

pleted their complicated moves. Mike Ferra SOC demonstrat d his Ferraflex Minicam sy tern nearby. "Ferra has taken Eyemo camera and done fan-

tastic, wonderful things with them," noted operator Robert Kositchek. He and as istant Maricella Ramirez took turns practicing shot in everal of th Ferraflex's different configuration .

Andy Romanoff of Louma Crane brought two AKeLA cranes and et them up next to the EL train set us d by the hit eries ER. The 85' cranes were put through their paces by many eager participants who had previously only dreamt of trying this new technology.

Romanoff explained to Rus ian DP Yasha Sklansky that the AKeLA Crane could b et up in two hours by two Loumat ch .H addedthathi Louma Crane could be t up and cameraready in one hour flat! Even long-time SOC member and two-time Academy Award-winning cinematographer John Toll AS admitted that "There is

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equipment here that I have never had the chance to u eon a set."

Jim Weatherill, former UPM and now with Precision Camera Supports, tated that thi event should be a mu t for working production manager .

"They could e all of this equipment first hand and see its potential. More importantly, they can ask the peopl directly re ponsible for setting up and using thisequipmentwhat kind of time i actually required to get it running.

Thi way they will have a better gra p of the tools available to them with time v . co ts factored in."

Bill Weaver and Marya nn e Schwartz of Weaver /Steadman d i played their equipment and remarked that thi event was superior to many trade hows they have attended in past year . Schwartz noted, "The atmoph re here is very relaxed and we are actua 1ly able to show our equ ipm en tin a setting conducive to real life productions: The backJot." SimonJayceagreed by adding, "The SOCha devi edaneventwherebythe equipment vendors know exactly who is attending this event: the people who intend to use it on the set."

All tho attending gave this event an enthu ia tic "thumbs-up" review.

A Andy Romanoff told Frediani, "You guys have put together a fir t-clas event. ow you have to do it again next year!"

At the conclusion of the event Bob Prime summed up the entire affair by tating to the erninar organizing committe , "This is the greatest event in the hi tory of the SOC."

members), Clairmont Camera, Bims & Sawyer and Hollywood Camera .

Cranes & Remote Heads were supplied by SOC Corporate Affiliate Members Chapman-Leonard Studio Equipment, JL Fisher Inc., Precision Camera Supports and Shotmaker Dollies & Cranes.

Other vendor included Geo Film Group, Innovision, Louma Crane, Stanton Video Services, Summit Crane, Swiss Crane, Technocrane Ltd., Telescoping Crane Co., Tyler Camera Systems and Weaver /Steadman Co. SOC Corporate Affiliate Matthews Studio Electronic provided additional equipment, as did Advanced Camera Systems, Cinema Product , Equipment Broker, Ferra Camera Mounts, and PRO Camera System (G orge Paddock).

David Ander on, Greg Burns and Janet icholson, dancer I stand-ins from The Faculty; Leland Sun from M.A.S.H.; Bobbi Bate and Valerie Jean Miller, formerTracey U/lman dancer ;andPatty Walsh from Weird Science each acted as stand-ins very expertly.

Scott Blackwood's crew from Stunts Unheard Of came in, as did R.J. Frost and D nnis & Gidget Reese from the Stuntmen Corporation.

Model Lina&Lilly Hu("TheHu's") bravely donned their roller-blades.

Singing cowboys Mike Mahony and Brantley Kearn performed Bob

Wills classics during a mornin g country & western sequence.

In the afternoon the music segued to the 'a cappela' doo-wap singing of "Jon Do" for a imulated rock video.

On the ou th side ofEmba y Park a Shotmaker insert car with its crane attach d gave operators a chance to track champion rodeo riders Kermit Samples and Dale Gibson as they 'high-tailed it out of town.'

Thanks al o go out to SOC volunteer David Rob man, Harvey Genkins, Howie Block, Michael Litt] , Lance Fisher, Steve Essig, Dan Fetler, Jo Epper on, Bill Gahret, Bill Hine , and medics "Big Mike" Escobo a along with Linda Draves.

We hope to take what we have learned from this event (maybe make a profit next time) and expand upon it in 1997, making it the premier event of its kind for all industry members. The list of attendees will include not only tho crew members on the et, but tho e people in the production office who have the desire to learn about the most up-to-date equipment in the world. ~CE SOC members Michael Frediani, Art Adams and Terry Harkin contributed to the writingofthisarticle. Photos by David Robman, Bill Hines & Mic/me/ Little.

Credits W would I ike to give sp cial thank to Gary Credle of Warner Bros. and to Danny Kahn for allowing us to employ th ir fabulous facilitie . Additionally the event would not have b n po sible without the generous time and effort of many volunteers as well a the equipment vendors and supplier : Video a is t was provid d by Cog well Video Services, Wolf Seeburg, Location Sound Services and Hollywood Rentals.

Camera weregenerouslysuppli d

by Panavi ion and Otto emenz International (SOC Corporate Affiliate

President Michael Frediani, Treasurer Bill Molina, Past President Randy Robinson and Corporate Liaison Bill Hines are a few of the many volunteers who staffed the SOC booth at ShowBiz Expo June 1995 in Los Angeles.

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page 29

erial cinematography traces its roots back to the Civil War. In 1863, an inventor from

/

Philadelphia named Thadeus Lowe especially here in Los Angeles. Airdeveloped a portable hydrogen gas field sprouted up everywhere, and plant. He u d the gas to inflate his with Hollywood's new motion picture newly de igned hydrogen baUoons and industry p r onally took his idea of supplying taking the Union Army with aerial reconnais- root, ance platform to President Lincoln. aviaThe Yankees oon had an advantage tion over the Confederate Army as they was could raise the e balloons several em hundred feet quickly by means of a braced t ther, pot the Confederates, and by many nd Mor e coded mes ages to their top producupport below. The Army also found er and directors.

Cecil B. DeMille that the balloon were valuable for the was one of Hollyu e of charting the terrain, and with wood's gen ral the newly invented photographic camera, aerial mapping wa invented. aviation pioneer .

In 190 a film titled The Count of In 1917 he bought a Monte Cristo began wrecked production in "Canu ck" Chicago in Canada and and finhad it hipped i hed in here and re tored to Southern flying condition. With Califorthis plane he became comnia. The petent and later spent time climate was in the US Air Service a a pilot. a major factor After the war he bui It his fir t in this decision, airfield at Crescent Blvd (now and from 1910 through 1920 Fairfax Ave) and Melro e. He then movie moguls such as bought two more Canuck and six Samuel Goldwyn, Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. JN-4Ds Gennie ). Busine increased a he added equipment and in late Griffith, Adolph 1918 he formed the Mercury Aviation Zukor and Company (which is still in existence Harry today as a company that provides hanCohn arrived gars and fuel ervices for corporate here to enjoy aircraft) and established DeMille Field Jlj the perfect hoot- #2 on the north side of Wilshire Blvd. ~ ing climate. By 1920 and the west sid of Crescent (Fairfax).

InAugu tof1920, DeMill bought / Hollywood was established a the motion picture his first factory new plane (JL-6) from Junkers, and it was delivered by famed capital of the world.

In the roaring '20 aviation came alive, WWI ace Eddie Rickenbacker to

Page30

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

to DeMille Field #2.

InMay1921 that plane flew its first scheduled flight for Mercury from L.A. to San Di go.

The public was not yet ready to embrace the idea of using aircraft for erious traveling and his airline n ver becam a viable business.

DeMille added his last airfield in Altadena in 1922, now the ight of the Altadena Country Club-aviation was alive and living in L.A. Busines man Sid Chaplin came to Hollywood in 1919 to manage his brother Charle . Being well financed, he xplored the struggling aeronautical industry and founded the Sid Chaplin Aircraft Company along with Emory Rogers at the Wilshire Airport.

As with many busines es during those days, their company grew rapidly and they establish d th first succ ssful regular service between Wilmington and Avalon with a Curtis "Seagull" flying boat. The company enjoyed a fouryearexi tence. In 1923 the Wil hire Airportwaspurcha edand ubdivided.

Rog rsboughtChaplinoutandop n d the Roger Airport at the outh east corn r of Western and El Segundo.

The Venice airport wa probably the most popular for the movie pilots and aerial stuntmen. Tho e who called Venice home included pilots Frank Clark, Dick Grace, Omar Locklear, Art Gobel, and Franty Nichols. One of the

Cecil B. DeMille at DeMille Field No. 2 Cecil B. DeMille Trust

more prominent movie pilot and stunt group called themselves the "Thirteen Black Cat ." Organized in 1925, they et the tandard for aerial stunt .

One requirement for memb r hip was that the member's name must contain 13 letters. If the letter of his name did not add up to 13, h was given names such as "Franty" ichols, "Bon" MacDougall and "Spider" Matlock. All of these pilots and stuntmen often doubled as the first aerial cameramen in Hollywood.

In 1929, since so many would-b pilot were attempting and getting work, th nucleusoftheaviator form d a union called "The Associated Motion Picture Pilots." Pancho Barnes (whose maiden name was Florence Lowe; she was the granddaughter of Thad us Lowe) was its first president and th y would meet at her home locat don the bard r of Pa adena and San Marino.

Some of the charter members included Pancho, Frank Clarke, Ira Reed, Boots Le Boutillier, Dick Grace, Al Wilson, and Dick Rinaldi. They set pricing and were able to keep producers from seeking le ser qualified pilots.

Barn s, an accomplished aviatrix with everal aviation r cords to her name, eventually founded The Happy Bottom Riding Club in 1937. Her club which included a bar, restaurant, bedroom , table , flying school, and airtrip wa located in the Mojave De ert n ar Muroc Dry Lake where the US Army Flight Test Center began experim nting with new high sp ed aircraft.

That t t center came to be known as

Edwards Air Force Base and it was there where legendary pilots Chuck Yeager, Tony Levier, Scott Crossfield, and Pete Everest claimed their stakes in aviation fame .

Her character and club were depicted in the legendary aviation film The Right Stuff and later in the MOW Pancho in 1921. Courtesy: Barnes wi.th Valerie Bertine Iii playing the role of Pancho.

Former MGM owner and film producer Kirk Kerkorian learn d to fly at Pancho's school.

The aerial cinematographer of the twenties was usually a tunt man or fellow pilot and ther ar few records that indicate otherwise. Their work was limited to pictures that featured aircraft dog fighting or a rial tunt equences. Their quipm ntu uallyconsi ted of a hand-h Id, hand cranked camera until the modern spring wound and motorized cameras were invented.

As today, th re were many hard mounted cameras and ther were some WWI waist gunner turr ts modified for camera u .

Despite the lack of credit given to aerial cameramen, one of the most famous cinematographers who shot aerials was Harry Perry. In the 1927 aerial epic and first film to win an Academy Award for best picture, Wings, Perry created ome of the most spectacular aerial footage that is still considered to be best "combat" footage even by today's standards. Wings was directed byWilLiam Wellman and Some of the Thirteen Black Cats'stunts and rates: Crash ship into trees or houses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 1200.00 Loop with man standing on center section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150.00 Change airplane to train . . . . . . . . 150.00 Blow up plane in mid air, pilot chutes out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 500.00 Loop with man on each wing, landing up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 450.00

Spring/Summer 1996

starred Oara Bow and Charles "Buddy" Rogers. Dick Grace performed many of the live on-screen era he . In the film, they actually dropped live bombs over a "town." The bombardier' p rspective of the bombs dropping and hitting their targets added a reali m that would be hard to match even with today's computer generated imaging technology.

Stunt pilot Dick Grace sp cializ d

logo of Mercury Aviation

in controlled crashes. He is credited withmorethanfortydeliberatecra h for motion pictures. He had a superstition that the crash must be mad at 11:45 A.M. and those made at any other time would result in injury. He was one of the few who died of old age.

While Wings was wrapping up another pie was in pre-production.

Howard Hugh s' Hells Angels b came the motion picture that set new standards for large budget aviation shows.

Hughes sent aeronautical expert all over the world with ca h in hand to purcha e planes for his film. He oon had at his command the largest fleet of aircraft ev r assembled except by governments. More than 50 WWI aircraft were purcha ed and brought back to flying condition. He then hired over a hundred pilots including all of Hollywood' foremost stunt pilots.

Frank Clark was the chief pilot, Frank Tomick was chief camera-ship pilot, Harry Perry was the aerial unit DP and E. Burton Ste ne & ~>

The Operating Cameraman

Page 31

Ha rry Pe rry in the rear cockpi t of a Ma rtin Bomber w hich was used as a came ra plane during the filming of the Osca rwinning

Wings.

Courtesy: Ha rry Perry

Elmer Dyer were the assistants. Clarke was noted for his daring stunts in the air; many of the thrilling wing-walking and plane changing stunts originated with Clarke while at the Venice Airport where he learned to fly in 1918.

Hughes leased several hundred acres in the San Fernando Valley and built a base of operations that was photographed as an allied base. The airfield came to be known as Caddo Field and later as Lo Angele Metropo litan Airport. It's now known as Van Nuys Airport. Over the hill in Chat worth an exact replica of a German Airfield where German ace Baron Von Richthofen based from was built. Hughes spent three years and close to two million dollars in creating the biggest war picture ever made, all in true Howard Hughes fashion.

Elmer Dyer emerged as an aerial cameraman in his own right. Through th '40 and '50s there was rarely a picture that didn't have hi name attached to it.

MGM's 1938 epic Test Pilot starred Clark Gable, Sp ncerTracy, Myrna Loy and Lionel Barrymore. Victor Fleming directed. ltstartsoutwith Gable's character attempting a transcontinental peed record. Later he enters the Thomp on Trophy Air Race in Cleveland, Ohio. Actual footage was shot during the race, and on the day after a mock race was created using ome of the actual race pilots. Gable was then hired to test fly the new YB-17; the Flying Fortress. The Army Air Corps, eager to impre s Congress with their

Page 32

The Operating Cameraman

new state of the art long range bomber, the B-17, participated in the film by supplying all twelve of the prototypes for the director's use. Within a few years, those very planes saw action in WWII. Paul Mantz, after only even years as a Hollywood aviator, was the chief pilot for the aerial filming unit.

Mantz and Dyer teamed up many times in the years to come on pre and post WWII era aviation films including Flight Command for MGM and I Wanted Wings for Paramount, both shot in 1940. They worked on three films in 1941, Dive Bomber and Captains of the

Clouds for Warner Bros. and Keep 'Em Flying for Universal for which Joe Valentine's (SOC) father wa the DP. The last picture Mantz and Dyer worked on before reporting for active duty in the Army Air Corps was Warner Bros Air Force, released in 1943. USAAC WWI vet Howard Hawks dir cted and James Wong Howe was the DP. Mantz and Dyer used everal aircraft a platforms for their job including a Lockheed Orion, Stin on Model A and a Boeing 100.

For the next fifteen years ther were few advancements in aerial photography even though there were everal major aviation-theme films made each year. The aerial cameramen's assignments were pretty much exclusive to tho e aviation-related post WWII films and by today's standards the cinematography was limited in style and technique. It was to be the introduction of the civilian helicopter that changed aerial cinematography. In 1957 a TV show called Whirlybirds introduced the helicopter to the public. The two Bell 47's and later a Bell J2 were flown by Bob Gilbreth and Harry Hauss, and all of the camera work was hand-held with an Arri 2B. Later in the early '60s the TV hows Highway Patrol and Rip Cord featured more ~>

The original "Thirtee n Black Cats." From the left standing: Sam Greenwald, Bon Mac Dougal a nd Art Goebel. Ke neling from the left : Fronty Nichols a nd Al Johnson. Sitting fro m the left: Paul Richte r, He rb McClelland a nd Spider Matlock. Courtesy: Je rry Phillips

Spring/Summer 1996

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Tyler however did have the ad- ta! Mount and shoot straight forward vantage back then with his newly or back. This, thefust "OutsideMount," developed Tyler Major Mount. worked perfectly for the chase seTyler, who came up through quences and added realism to the acthe tudio system, got the idea of tion . In addition to Tallman, Jones trying to isolate vibration while brought in Art Scholl, a national chamviewing the aerial credits on West pion aerobatics pilot. Scholl with an SideStonJin 1961. They were shaky impressive list of credits to his name yet he knew that there had to be a after that film was later killed while way to create smooth footage from working on Top Gun. Also brought in helicopters. Within a year he put was the legendary Clay Lacy, with his his new prototype mount to use Lear Jets and Continental Camera's onJohnSturges' Satan Bug.Shortly Astrovision System. If you haven' t seen thereafter he began production Capricorn One, rent a copy. It's a classic on his mounts and made them aerial adventure film and a fine disavailable to anyone who had the play of David Butler's work. inclination to use them. The SociToday John Stevens and David ety of Operating Cameramen recog- Butler are still working as much as Pa ul Mantz (left) w ith Elmer Dyer on Air Force nized Tyler's accomplish-ments ever, despite the recent influx of gyro and awarded him the coveted SOC mount tech I operators. hand-held camera work from helicop- Technical Achievement Award in 1993.

Rexford Metz ASC emerged as one ters. Pilots Harry Hauss and J. David Two of the first to use Tyler's of today's leading aerial cameramen; Jones recalled working with Elmer Dyer mounts were John Stevens and David in those early days, and it was around Butler. The camera of choice was the then when Elmer retired.

Mitchell Mark II because of its pin During the '60s Mantz joined up registered movement. Additionally with pilot Frank Tallman and created its heavy weight added stability to Tallmantz Aviation, based at Orange the mount.

County Airport. Mantz met his fate on Stevens, already a DP, worked the 1966 film Flight of the Phoenix, when with Tyler in the developmental a makeshift plane crashed on takeoff, years of the Major Mount and shot killing him instantly. the second unit and aerials on Ice Frank Tallman emerged as the lead- Station Zebra and Grand Prix. Over ing movie pilot with several big pic- the years some of his assistants intures to his name that included It's A cluded Don Morgan ASC, Don BurFrank Clarke as Lt. von Bruen in Hell's Angels.

Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Catch 22, gess ASC, and Steve Shaw.

The Great Waldo Pepper, The Black Sheep David Butler started out as Courtesy: Jerry Phillips Squadron TV series, and Capricorn One. Tyler's assistant and moved up to Frank died on a routine ferry flight operator in 1966. Some of his aerial while crossing the mountains near adventures with pilot David Jones in- he flew with pilot Jim Gavin on most of Palm Springs in 1980. clude the Batman TV series, Gypsy Moths, his earlier work. Some of the films on Prior to utilizing helicopters as Tora! Tora! Tora!, Planet of the Apes, which he was either 2nd unit and/or camera platforms, aerial shots were Hello Dolly, King Kong, Apocalypse Now, aerial DP include Close Encounters of always on the move, with no ability to Capricorn One and The Final Countdown. the Third Kind, Airport 75, 77 and 79, start a "dolly" move nor end with one. Most of David's assistants went on to The Gauntlet, Dirty Harry, The Eiger The helicopter allowed directors and become aerial cameramen including Sanction, Racketeer, On Golden Pond cameramen to design crane shots as Rexford Metz ASC, Don Morgan ASC, and Courage Under Fire. Metz utilizes they would for ground cameras but on Frank Holgate, David owellsoc, and the Tyler Major Mount, Gyro phere, a much largerscale.Oneshotthatstood myself.

Wescam, Astrovision, and Vectorvision out in its day was elson Tyler's In 1978 David Butler and David as some of his aerial tools. He is also do e up ofBarbara Streisand's face and Jones brough t in some of the top pilots accomp lished in underwater and pulled up and away while she stood for Peter Hyams' film Capricorn One. visual effects cinematography. upon the bridge of a tug boat on the FrankTallmandoubledasTellySavalas Frank Holgate is another who was Hudson River for the film Funny Girl. in a Stearman which eluded govern- a product of the Tyler school of the '60s This shot which ended the film set the ment helicopters th rou gh Redrock and early '70s. He became very popustandard for all aerial cameramen; Canyon. Bu tler asked me to build a lar by shooting the aerial sequences for those who could not achieve similar platform that would enable him to sit one of the most spectacular helicopter abilities were 'weeded out of the pack.' outside a Hughes 500 with a Continen- chase films ever exposed ~>

Page 34

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

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on film: Birds of Prey. A helicopter TV reporter played by David Janssen witnesses a robbery where the bad guys used a helicopter for their getaway.

This 1973 film is a "must see" for anyone studying the art of aerial camera work. Some of his other work includes Blue Thunder, Diamonds Are Forever, Terminal Velocity, Drop Zone, The Tuskeegee Airmen, and Dumbo Drop.

In the late '70s David Nowell who earlier had assisted Metz and Butler, began operating the Continental Mounts and the Astrovision. He worked with pilot Rick Holly most often until Holly died while working on Runaway

Gold Monkey on the days we weren't working on Magnum. We then went on to another Bellisario project, Airwolf which lasted three seasons. This four year association with Jones and producer Don Bellisario laid the foundation for my career as an aerial cinematographer.

Because of the multitude of aircraft used on Airwolf (sometimes up to ten helicopters)Jones introduced even more pilots into the industry. They include Mike Tamboro, Dirk Vahle, Kevin La Rosa, Rick Shuster, Peter McKernan Jr. and Alan Purwin among others.

Train in 1986. Nowell then began working with Holly's protege Bobby Z. Some of Nowell's aerial unit work can be seen on The Blues Brothers, Airport '79, The Great Santini, Jurassic Park and Outbreak. David's loyalty and trust in Bobby Z have not waivered over the years since Holly's death, and their teamwork is in constant demand.

I took the step from assistant to operator on the '82-'83 season of Magnum P.l., thanks to pilot David Jones.

For six months we lived in Hawaii and worked on Don Bellisario' s Tales of the

Jones recently completed Twister with Ron Goodman as the aerial DP and Courage Under Fire with Rexford Metz ASC and he's currently prepping Con Air. Hauss is still focusing his talent on short term commercial productions. Another veteran pilot, Chuck Tamboro, has flown on The Terminator films, Die Hard I & II and True Lies to name a few . Pilot Jim Gavin has ties with Clint Eastwood and flew Metz's cameras on most of his films since The Gauntlet in 1977. Metz and Gavin also contributed their talents on all of the

Page 36

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

Airport films, Foul Play, Forever Young and many others.

More Camera Mount Vendors In the' 60s up in Canada Westinghouse

developed a gyro stabilized 35mm mount for a military contract. Its chief designer Knox Leavitt bought the rights to the project and formed Istec, with the 35mm Wescam as its product. The "ball mount" was four feet in diameter and weighed far more than today's version. KTLA had a Wescam made for a cumbersome video camera and it covered such historical events as the Baldwin Hills Dam when it overflowed and gave way, and the 1966 Watts riots.

KTLA sold it to KNBC. It was demolished in a fatal helicopter crash piloted by the famous cold war U2 spy plane pilot Francis Gary Powers in 1976.

Two of the first feature films the 35mm system worked on were Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969 and Tora! Tora ! Tora ! in 1970 with Jack Green ASC as the Wescarn technician.

In 1972 Bob ettman, formerl y of Tyler Camera Systems branched off to create Continental Camera Systems.

Both David owell and I worked there in the '70s through the early '80s. While at Continental, Nettman helped develop the Kenworthy Snorkel System and invented the Continental Mount and the Astrovision System in 1974.

Astrovision changed the way we shot planes and jets. It is a dual periscope system which mounts in Clay Lacy' s Lear Jets-one looking through the floor and the other through the roof. They pan in excess of 360째 and tilt 45째. No longer did one have to mount four separate cameras in the nose, tail and sides of a B-25.

Nettman departed Continental Camera and formed Matthews Studio Electronics in 1983. At Matthews, Bob developed the Vectorvision System which was an improvement over his older Astrovision by adding a 3-1 zoom as well as faster and sharper optics.

Some of Bob's other developments included the Cam-Remote, the Nettman/Kenworthy Snorkel System, and the Gyron, which is a gyro stabilized helicopter mount currently for video use only. He plans to have =*>

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a 35mm system finished in the near future.

Ron Goodman brought several We cam units to Europe in the early 1970s. After operating out of London and later Oslo, he joined Stabilization Ltd (U.K.) in 1983 as a partner. Stabilization contracted with a small company in O lo orway, Wakeman Films to construct upgraded units renamed X-Moun ts. They used the Wescam gyro package but the sliding weights were oriented radially towards the center post (in the form of an X) instead of tangentially. This was intended to reduce interaction between the axe . The steering sy tern wa d igned around 400Hz AC ervo and there was manual horizon correction (no vertical gyro).

In early 1984, Wakeman delivered a partially completed unit to Preston Cinema Systems (PCS). Later that year, Ron moved to Los Angeles and began to operate his original X-Mount out of

Rex Metz with a Tyle r Majo r Mount & Mitche ll Ma rk II, 1994.

PCS office in Santa Monica .

In 1985 PCS began a program to upgrade the original X-Moun t and complete the r maining wtit. Upgraded units (r named the Gyrosphere) incorporated these improvements: new DC ervo electronics for the pan and ti lt y tern to improve the steering response and eliminate drift; a vertical gyro to eliminate the need for manual horizon

Page 38

The Operating Cameraman

correction; new weight drives, lens compensator, camera and dome drives to improve reliability and performance.

The Gyrosphere made considerable inroads. However less than a handful of Hollywood's aerial cameramen were allowed to use it.

The gyro stabilization added a steadiness that became a standard for many scenes, especially when The author as 2nd AC on Jonathan Livingston Seagull in head or tail credits are su- 1972, ho lding a Tyler Major Moun t. per-impo ed over the stable image. Today, virtually all aerial credit with a new design and built the sequences utilize a gyrostabilized "Ball" Spacecam. He added larger and more powerful gyros that increased pan and mount.

Istec, impres ed with Goodman' tilt speeds, added a fiber optic video improvements began redesigning the tap and created a constant center of Wescam and vastly improved it. They gravity film magazine. Additionally did away with the Plexiglas viewing he has made an assortment of ide, strip and replaced it with a tracking nose and rear facing brackets for a optically coated porthole. The big variety of helicopters. Flying Pictures changes happened when Knox sold acquired the gyrosphere and have two his company to ome young busines - units at their Van uys office.

With the race on to capture the men and investors who took further interest in the company. market, We cam introduced it fourIn the mid '80s the Gyrosphere gyro system in 1992. Toda the US was the only ball-mount unit based in based Wescamsare factory owned and L.A. and I was one of many aerial operated through the Canadian comcameramen who were not allowed to pany We cam, Inc., with offices in use tJtis new technology, for reasons Toronto, Glendale, CA and Florida. other than the lack of necessary experi- Currently, We cam in Glenda! has ence or desire on our part. On a chance two three-gyro systems and one fourmeeting at the 1984 SMPTE conven- gyro system. tion in L.A. with Knox Leavitt, I In September of 1991 tragedy struck mentioned to him that I' d like to while Goodman was shooting the openrepr ent his equipment her . In early ing aerial scenes for Far and Away. A 1987 my company Pasadena Camera freak helicopter accident destroyed the introduced the Wescam and became only Spacecam unit in existence but the first rental hou e in the States to fortunately both he and the pilot urrepresent it. Using el on Tyler's busi- vived. Two years later Spacecam II ness practices and ethics, I invited all was released. Goodman made further of the existing aerial cameramen to improvements including a gassu penadd thi pieceofequipmenttothetools sion system and an articulated no e of their trade. Rexford Metz ASC, Frank mount that allows the helicopter to Holgate, David Butl r and David bank in excess of 100째. There are two owell are ju t a few who became series II unitsandSpacecam III is schedproficient in it use. In 1994 I sold uled for release in the fall of '96. Like Pa adena Camera and the We cam after Wescam, Spacecam received an Academy Technical Achievement Award substantially building their client ba and resumed my full time concentra- for its individual merits. Some of tion on cinematography, both on the Goodman's recent accomplishments as ground and in the air. anaerialcameraman with theSpacecam Goodman, noting Wescam's rapid include Grand Canyon, CihJ Slickers, growth decided to start from scratch Waterworld and Twister. =*>

Spring/Su 111 mer 1996

Focusing our best wishes toward all skilled professionals of the Society of Operating Cameramen.

FOTO-KEm ---=:.......-~ FOTO-TROnlCS ·=

Millan Plctu•• on• VU1111p1

l•~••ll••Y

THE AATON 35111

& OPPENHEIMER CAMERA

A PARTNERSHIP IN TECHNOLOGY In January 1993, OPPENHEIMER CAMERA became the second independent rental house in the US to offer the AATON 35, and the only one outside of Los Angeles.

Oppenheimer Camera now rents two AATON 35 cameras, both fully updated to the latest version Ill technology. Our customized accessory packages, regular updating, and high maintenance standards, enable discriminating DPs to confidently use the Oppenheimer Camera AATON 35 Ill's. Our AATON cameras have travelled the US, Canada, and beyond!

On The Legends of the Foll, Jahn Toll ASC used one of our AATON 35's in Jamaica. We bailed out a Waterworld camera emergency in Hawaii. For a Bongo Jeans commercial, we sent a camera to the jungles of Venezuela. But most of our rentals go to less exotic environs!

Curtis Clark ASC, a fan of the AATON 35, has used our cameras on many commercials over the past three years. Mr. Clark has told us that he always trusts our cameras to be well maintained, and extremely reliable.

SEATTLE 206-467-8666

Fax: 206-467-9165

Page 40

Commercial DP Petr Litominsky regularly shoots with our AATON 35's. One shoot found Mr. Litominsky and our AATON wedged into a 4-place airplane filming talent while in-flight over Seattle.

This winter DP Tom Seigel shot Jack Nicholson in Blood and Wine, in Miami. For the entire three month shoot, Mr. Seigel used an Oppenheimer Camera AATON 35.

We confidently ship our AATON 35 Ill's to productions across the US. Oppenheimer Camera rents the latest AATON, MOVIECAM, and ARRIFLEX cameras from our facilities in Seattle and Portland.

We also feature TYLER MOUNTS, UNILUX LIGHTING, SWISS JIB, POWER POD, and more.

We stress well maintained, quality gear, and the finest customer service. When you need a quality camera package in the Pacific Northwest or anywhere in America, call us.

PORTLAND 503-233-0249

Fax: 503-231-4806

The Operating Cameraman

In 1993 Tyler began development on his gyro stabilized mount called The Sky Gyro. Like Goodman, Tyler ha taken yet another new approach in his design. Being a perfectionist, he has not released this unit insisting that all bugs be removed prior to sending it out.

Also in '93 east coast aerial cameraman Don Sweeney began experimenting with Ken Lab K-8 gyros placed on the front of a Tyler Major Mount. This adaptation improved the mount's performance while maintaining th dutch, whip pan and snap zoom capabilities that have made the Major Mount so ver a tile. In late '94 Tyler modified all of his mounts to accept the gyros.

With the advent of ball mounts, commercial production companies shifted their interest to them, but recently they have refocused on the Major Mount with gyros. Most commercials have a series of one to four econd shot and with the newly added tability the Major Mount i once again in vogue. Today Tyler's Major and Middle Mounts rarely leave his facility without then w gyro package.

Aeria l Cinematography has given us some great benefactor ; most of them have come up through th rank of the tudio system. Like most operators and DP we learned our craft as assistants from our generou mentors and have applied th ir techniques and the knowledge we gained from them in our own work.

Unfortunately, it has been difficult at best for studio cameramen to get checked-out on the gyro mount . Currently there are only three SOC members (David owell, Kurt Soderling and myself) who are able to u e W cam, Gyrosphere, Spacecam, Astrovision or Vectorvision. Only with the cooperation of the rental houses and the desire of our membership to garner the experience of working with this equipment can we hope to expand our horizons, thereby benefiting the aerial industry at large.

Additionally with the efforts of the SOC, training programs can become a reality and in time ouI successors will then be able to look back to the 1990 and the turn of the century to recognize the names of great SOC members who were a part of this most exciting era of aerial cinematography. ~<ÂŁ

SOC member Stan McClain's introduction to aerial cinematography began with Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1972 where he worked on the aerial unit ns n bird wrangler and 2nd assistant for the late aerial DP Jim Freeman. While working at Continental Camera Systems from 1974-1981, he worked a a 1st assistant for David Butler, Rexford Metz ASC and David Nowell SOC. He has worked on over fifty feature films as an aerial cameraman including Rambo, Eight Million Ways To Die, Flatliners, At Play in the Fields of the Lord, Firebirds, Ba ic Instinct, Wind, Passenger 57, Drop Zone, Nell, Seven, Nixon, Bird Cage, and The Island of Dr. Moreau. Some of the main unit ca111era111en who have used McClain's aerial expertise repeatedly include John Toll ASC, John Lindley, Jan Debon t ASC, Bob Richardson ASC, Bill Fraker ASC, Ian Baker and Julio Mncat to name but afew. He has worked 011 well over 200 co111111ercials and has won 12 awards for his commercial work including Best Cinematography at the London International Advertising Awards.

Spring/Sw11mer 1996

The Making of. . . /

速

Page42

The Operating Cameraman Spring/Summer 1996

The Panaflex Platinum Camera

By Michael Frediani,

This article is the first in a series that will take the reader behind the scenes, revealing the manufacturing process necessary to build the equipment we use 011 the set.

1

n1972 Panavision introduced the Panaflex camera after four years of re earch and development. Four years later the Golden Panaflex debuted with an Ultraview reflex viewfinder and a "G" Drive system featuring replaceable circuit boards and Panaglow (receiving the SOC Technical Achievement Award in 1992).

Introduced in 1986 as part of the Panaflex family of cameras, the Platinums featured an improved viewing system, quiet compact drive, annunciator panel, CCD video assist and time code, items previously unavailable on earlier Pana.flex cameras.

Let's take a look at the multistep production process involved in creating the Platinum. First the bodies are supplied by a sub-contractor who begins with molten aluminum #356 cast into 25 units weighing just four pounds each, and then shipped to Panavision in the San Fernando Valley to be built by hand and machine to the finished product. The already familiarlooking casting

is attached to a machining fixture, part of the Computer umerical Control Machine (photo #1) which carries out the automated machining process. The CNCitself iscontrolled by a computerized program called CAD-CAM; its purpose is to automatically drill and mill each casting. The C C device contains 21 tool stations which house taps, drills and endrnills (photo #2). As the first of 25 castings is placed within the CNC each designated tool station performs its dedicated tasks as the CNC turns the camera body on an X, Y, Z and A axis rotation.

There are 122 machining operations performed on each casting which require 9 different machine set-ups (photos #3, #4). Total machining time per unit is approximately 25 hours.

Exacting tolerances are maintained : .001-which is thre to four times smaller

a human hair. r~;~::====----------~th~an~that ofAfter each ma-

chine set-up a first article inspection is performed. This process involves a visual review in addition to a computerized analysis of the previous machining operation while the unit lies on an extremely flat and level surface;

Spring/Summer 1996

soc

part of the "Coordinate Measuring Machine" (photo #5). Its probe device, directed by a technician, makes physical contact with

various surfaces (photo #6) emitting touch signals which are relayed to a computer monitor. The probe checks tolerances to within .0001- and if any incongruities are found, necessary corrections to the computer program are made b fore machining is commenced.

Once approved the housing is black anodized and painted to prevent corrosion and to avoid reflections. The next step in the building proce sis the installation of wiring components (photo #7), which is carried out by hand. The lining is installed next and then the 'mechanism plate' is put into place. Dividing the camera interior in half longitudinally this stable aluminum tooling plate allows mounting of the motor assembly (photo #8) on one side and the movement mechanism on the assistant's side of the camera.

The actual motor and circuit boards are manufactured at Panavision in Tarzana. ~>

The Operating Cameraman

Page 43

TH[ nfill GOlDfn HG[

or r1lm

~~ ~ (ln[m~TOGR~ P~[R, you need film you can depend on. film that behaves consistently. Batch after batch. Roll after roll. lime after time. [verywhere in

the world. film with true speed and uncompromising resolution in every emulsion layer. film you can trust to help bring your vision to life.

And now there is anew family of films on the horizon. Beginning with fast Kodak Vision SOOT and lower contrast Kodak Vision 3ZOT film. These new color negative products take everything Kodak knows about making film and puts it in agolden can. They provide everything you depend on in Kodak films, but with sharpness and grain you'll find incredible.

Kodak Kodak Vision is the new gold standard in motion picture film.

Uncompromising quality. Uncompromising consistency. Uncompromising dependability. CAPTUR[ YOUR VISION.

The camera movement is assembled from 105 separate pieces (photo #9) machined to extremely close tolerances. The fitting of the individual parts is done by hand to tolerances of .0001 Hand each one takes up to 130 hours to assemble not including the manufacturing of the components. The aperture plate is crafted from stainless steel and then hard chrome plated for wear resistance and smoothness.

The mechanism plate assembly consists of four sub-assemblies: The shutter dissolve mechanism (shutter blades are .Olr thick), the movement drive, the sprocket assembly, and the mirror bracket assembly. All of these subassemblies require extreme tolerances of just .0001 to .ooor in order to insure the flawless performance of the camera.

The optical viewing system consists of the focus tube which is a permanent component of the camera, the extension viewfinder and the hand-held eyepiece, consisting of 293 machined parts and 30 optical components and sub-assemblies. Optical testing is carried out by an optical technician (photo #10) with the aid of a centerline scope.

Attached to the focus tube in place of the eyepiece, it checks the positioning of the viewing optics and centerline in relation to the film frame. Once satisfactory results are obtained, film is exposed to check centerline orientation. Next a steadiness test is performed by filming a grid chart in two passes (photo #11). After the first exposure the film is rewound in the darkroom, the grid chart is off-set slightly and then the film, without the camera moving, is exposed a second time. After developing, the negative is projected onto a screen and visually checked, making sure the grid lines do not jitter.

The final step in this manufacturing process is to place the camera in a sound testing booth (photo #12).

With a SOmm lens mounted and facing a microphone 3 feet from the film plane, the camera is run without film. It should register no more than 17db. With film H

Page 46

The Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

Answer to question from Table of These are CAMERA FACE P Contents, page 1: LATE CASTINGS.

the camera should be no louder than 20db prior to its being relea ed to its first production job.

The Platinum camera body alone is the end result of approximately 500 hour of dedication and skill.

The styling and individual craftsmanship exhibited in the Platinum rank it among the most popular cameras in use today.

Thanks to Jurgen Sporn, Panasonic's Vice President of Manufacturing for his cooperation and assistance in the preparation of this article.

Photos by David Robman, SOC.

• 7 connectors expand accessory oplions while reducing the usual tangle of cables.

• Self resetting circuit protection on each connector.

• 2 tape hooks -- a swing out tape hook that helps clear large matte boxes and a low profile tape hook for tight camera setups.

• Lens Light with flexible 20 inch gooseneck positions a high intensity light above the work area.

CIN~M4TG;~P~ electronics 31238 Via Colinas, Suite A • Westlake Village, California 91362 • USA • Phone (818) 706-3334 • Fax (818) 706-3335

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page47

tagc

rancs

hapman ha' 11' 1111pre"'' e line of \lage crJne,. 'cd for both locauon and indoor uppl1cat1on,. 1he 'tage crJnc j, clcctnc po"'cred for ,jJcnce during producuon 'hot,.

The :irm 'wing' u full 360 degree' tu follow pann111g ac11on '" well"' a Ith (\\ h1ch utili1c' the counter balance 'Y'lcm) from ground lc\e l to :1 maximum of 16'. All 'rnge cr~mc' hnvc your choice of pncu· matte or ' lid lire' and film orTY turret . A'k about track and other

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11onal \leering Jnd variable cha,,h leg feature' ul the upcr PccWee "h1lc ma1111atntng1hcab1h1yto\\or~ on ho1h 'lra1ght and cu"cd trac~ .Thc l'nlolfr aJ,ohn' \ anou' Im!' lor the dtlfcrent 1crraon' cncoun1cred during the filming of production,. The ma•1111um '1andurd height of 1hc Pedolll' i' 55" or 1.42 mc1cr-. The l'edo/h\ :ih1h1y tu 'hi ft 'leering application' either m:mually or clcc1ronically coupled w11h th 'ilc111. '111001h performance arc ccna1nly appealing feature\. There arc many accc,,onc' for the J>eilo//\ to adapt it to moM appl teat'°"'

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By David W. Samuelson

I

would like to add ome additional information to Michael Frediani' s interesting article "On The Set With Video As ist." (The Operating Cameraman, Fall/Winter 1995/96) I al o po e the que tion, "What is Video Assist?"

Th first po sibility i the device Mr. Paul Roo e develop d in 1949 for use on the picture The Living Desert.

Thi was one of the earliest wildlife films and although hot on a 16mm Cine Kodak Sp cial, Disney picked it up, blew it up to 35mm and gave it a cinema release. Mr. Roose placed a pelicle behind the lens so that a portion of the light could be bypassed to a TV camera. In 1951 he patented this device, Patent o. 2,698,356, COMBI ED MOTIONPICTURE AND TELEVISIO CAMERA. In 1988 Roose received an Academy Technical Achievement Award for hi pioneering efforts.

As the television camera and ancillary equipment was many times larger and heavier than the JOO' loading 16mm camera it wa a isting I do not believe it qualifies as a "video a sist" as we know it today. ext along the line, in the early '50s, in the days before video recording was invented, came a reverse use of the sy tern whereby a pelicle was put into the optical path of a TV camera so that a 16mm film camera could be tacked on to the ide of the TV studio camera of the day as a means to record and systems tran fer, what the TV camera was transmitting live. That wa n't a "video assist" either.

Mr. Jerry Lewis' sy tern, which he first used in 1960, wa one step forward, one step backward and one step standing still. It was one tep forward because he used an indu trial CCTV camera so at least the TV camera was not ma ively larger than the film camera itwassuppo ed to be as i ting. It was one step backwards because all he did was to mount the CCTV camera alongside the film camera which meant that the video image suffered from ma sive parallax rror (the least he could have done was to rig it to an auto-parallax system Like the cam ra viewfinder). It was landing till in terms of progr s becau e it still required a mains power source and wa accompanied by racks full of video engineers' gear, like wave-form monitors and the like. A zoom lens on the CCTV camera was used to match

the TV image to that of the film camera. It was still a long way from the current way of thinking.

In 1960 I too had my fir t system which my brother Sydney dubbed the "UC2 Viewfinder." Being on the other side of the Atlantic I did not have the benefit of Mr. Roo e's or Mr. Lewis' experience. From the outset I believed (and I wrote at the time) that the "TV apparatus must never in any way interfere with the film system o that the film camera become the accessory; it must be free of parallax errors, inexpensive, lightweight, as nearly as pos ible automatic in operation, reliable, and above all fr of frills." This fir t rig con isted of a partial mirror t in front of and at 45 degrees to the film camera lens with a Pye industrial CCTV camera (fitted with a zoom lens) mounted vertically above the film camera taking I n . The configuration was much the same as for front projection and was thus parallax free.

The system took on only slowly, being mainly used on TV commercial productions where the industry joke became that the client could be put in a back room with a monitor and a bottle of gin leaving the studio floor free for the filmmakers.

I did try to interest the world of feature films, but with little success. One worthy camera operator said to me, whil looking though his Mitchell BNC auto-parallax sidefinder, "ls what you are telling us is that after all these years of shooting BI W film while looking ~>

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page 49

through a color viewfinder, that now we are using color film and you want us to use a B/W viewfinder?"

In about 1966 I was the cameraman (we didn't call ourselves Directors of Photography in those days) on the UK version of Candid Camera using a 16mrn Auricon 1200 camera fitted with a 10:1 Angenieux reflex zoom lens.

Came the time when a new director fresh from electronic TV production asked why he could not also see what was going on a TV monitor?

It so happened that we had by then taken on a young electronics engineer to service our UC2 viewfinder systems, Joe Dunton. Between us we did a bit of experi-

menting and we arranged a Vidicon CCTV camera (now a very much smaller and more versatile piece of equipment than our original Pye CCTV chain) to look into the reflex optics of the zoom lens and to share it with the camera operator. From then on everyone had their own p rsonal monitor.

Joe Dunton, who has gone on to greater things and now runs his own camera equipment rental company, played a very large part in making the whole TV viewfinder scene what it is today. He designed and we manufactured systems to go onto the Angenieux 24-240mrn reflex zoom lens which was much u ed on Mitchell BNCs at the time. Most importantly he designed the first TV viewfinder system to take its image off of the spinning mirror of a Mitchell 535. It could be attached (and detached) to the rear end of the optical viewfinder and incorporate a selectable series of pelicles so that all of the light couJd go to the camera operator (as normal) or all of the light could go to the video camera, or it could be shared. Added to this was the first available Phillips 1 reel-to-reel portable video tape recorder (long before the Sony 1!2N reel-to-reel was available) and to cap it all he ran both the camera and the recorder off an inverter running at 48Hz so that it was also flicker-free.

This rig was much used in 1967 on Oliver!, photographed by Ossie Morris and using Panavision Anamorphic lenses. In particular it was used on all the musical sequences to check the lip sync and the choreography. If Oona A Fresh Angle.

White, the choreographer had noticed The horizon swings into view. A rock star soars obliquely that one dancer was out of step she across the frame. You own all the angles. Dutch tilt could immediately look at a play-back effects are at your fingertips. and see if the dancer was in shot or not Dutch Treat. Whether you 're shooting video, 16mm, or ... it saved many retakes and Oona 35mm Cartoni offers the ideal tool to White went on to win a special 0 car produce smooth and professional Dutch for her choreography. tilts. The new C20S and C40 Dutch heads interface directly with popular quick-release I believe that Oliver! was the first heads. Simply mount and shoot. Dead ahead. major feature film usage of a throughC40 Dutch holds Or glide through the oddest of angles. up to 121 lbs. the-lens video viewfinder, fitted as an No Dutch Rub . Thanks to Cartoni 's award-winning Fluid optional acce sory to an off-the-shelf Module System, drag is fully adjustable. Plus, our Dutch standard 35mm cine camera fitted heads offer dial-in counterbalance, a frictionless sliding with any type of lens; using a base plate, a quick-release plate, &a telescoping handle. comparatively small industrial-type Whatever Your Style . Cartoni Dutch unleashes a world of CCTV camera, taking its image off a shooting possibilities. Own it or rent it. Call today to find spinning mirror shutter, flicker-free out why America's best rental houses go Cartoni Dutch. and recording the result for immediate Steven Manlos: playback and analysis.

CARTONI U.S.A. 800路845路6619 The piece of equipment that was 2755 Alamo Street, #103, Simi Valley CA 93065 later to be known as a Tel:805/520-6086 Fax:805/520-6949 - - - - BITTER BY DESIGN "Video Assist" had arrived.

'P'4 N

m

Page 50

T11e Operating Cameraman

Spring/Summer 1996

llan Rosenberg on the Arriflex 16 SRJ Camera System.

"I've been using the Arriflex 16 SR3 for nearly 3 years on the Power Rangers. Throughout all that time the 16 SR3 has performed flawlessly! It's proven itself versatile and easy to use really perfect for a TV series.

HKeslow Camera, Inc. has been providing the 16 SR3 camera system equipment along with very reliable service.

I'm most impressed with the brightness and performance of the pivoting viewfinder.

"Frankly, at the beginning I was skeptical about the viewfinder's built-in exposure meter. However, after working with the 16 SR3 I found the light meter to be very accurate and unobtrusive, I came to rely on it more and more as time went by. It's great for a quick double check and especially helpful with the many odd location setups we have in the Power Rangers series."

PowertOol. ul've been a dnematographer for over 25 years. I've used Arriflex cameras on more than 40 feature films, 100 documentaries, and IJO commerdals. Arriflex cameras helped me win more than a dozen awards all over the world ." llan Rosenberg, DP

Credits: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV Series (1995 Emmy Nominee,

Best Onematograp/l'f) The Appointed Feature (Best Onematograp/l'f Oscar lsmeJ)

Innocence Lost PBS War Shepherds Feature Heritage Series/Abba Eban PBS Intimate Stranger Feature Laughing It Up Fea111re Gorence Thomas vs Anita Hill PBS Hansel & Gretel Feowre

ARRI.~

ARRIFLEX 16 SR3 01996 ARRIFLEX CORPORATION

OlLY\\100l> IS

WHERE YOU FINl> IT \ 1f here would you go if you wanted to see a 1926 Rolls Royce, a complete gunsmith

Wfacility, a concert grand piano rebuilding operation and one of the most comprehen-

sive collections of motion picture equipment and still cameras (collected by one person) in the world, all contained under one roof?

Hollywood? ew York? London?

A caveng r hunt? Guess again. This unlikely conglomeration of clectic and cinematographic memorabilia is located in th tiny town of Midland, orth Carolina {population 4000).

You may very well ask your elf how our writer di covered uch a fantastic array of Hollywood history literally hidden away in the backwoods of orth Carolina. Well, even if you didn't a k your elf, I'll be happy to tell you.

Some time ago I spent four months on a show photographing car pinning, era hing and flipping for Hal e dham . Our production office and location c nt r d around Monroe, a small town in orth Carolina. You know it's a mall town if it has only on telephone prefix! Wh n working ix days a w kin a ituation like this, you tend to look toward th outlying areas for sources of recreation on your on preciou day off. (After you've don your laundry of cour .)

Some of the local er w had mention d that there was a man with a collection of antique cameras not too far from our home base. Th director

Page 52

The Operating Cameraman

of photography on our how wa Mike Shea. Mike wa somewhat of an expert on motion picture equipment. I got the idea that he was an expert when on day someone was talking about macro Lens sand Mike ca ually rattled

off very macro I n that Kilfitt Optik made ince 1950 and h knew the range of fl tops on each lens! Well, Mik and I were omewhat apprehen iv about our exp dition ince neither of us was born with as n of direction. (We'd

Converted Aurlcons adapted for Mitchell mags

Spring/Summer 1996

4 Port NC and lenses galore

make Columbus look lik an advi or to Rand Mc ally.)

In any ca e, we made our way through the back road and wooded ar a to a b autiful sixty-five acre plot of land on which sets a farm with a 5000 square foot warehouse that was once a bowling alley located thirtyfivemile away.Thi grandandunu ual place is th pride and joy of a man by the name of Martin Hill. A a young man, Hill wanted to write and direct motion picture and did in fact start out by making documentaries and local television commercials. Yet as time progressed his farm and family obligation necessitated hi buying and elling motion picture equipment to upplement his earnings. As Hill put it, "After a while it became a case of the tail wagging the dog." As his equipment bu iness became succe ful he decided to concentrate entirely on that a pect of the business.

Anyway back to our journey ...

Meandering up the 100 foot driveway is an e perience in it elf. A we approached his shop, the first thing that caught our eyes wa the pile of Mo! -Richard on lOKs stacked against the building.

The characteri tic MoleRichardson "techno-red" color d lamp clashed with th fore t green background.

A completely refurbished RKO tudio crane sat by the road ide (more on that crane lat r). Ju tout ide the front door two of Hill's associates pain takingly worked on a vintage Simpl x projector probing into the weathered motor for signs of life. I wondered how many feet of film had cranked through that proj ctor over the year . For all we know, Mack Sennett might have sat in front of this very one while watching his dailie . As it turn out, quit a lotofHilJ'sequipm ntwas used in order to "prop" the Richard Attenborough film Chaplin.

Entering Martin Hill' facility you do not know where to look first . An array of chrome cam ra and tripod fittings highlights th familiar hapes and colors unique to Mitchell, Arrifle , Auricon, and Cinema Product Equipment. Cameras fill every nook and cranny of this combination techshop I museum I showroom.

Two coll ge student w re bu ily looking over an Arri 16S that they were con id ring purcha ing for their film school project. A a of vintage fluid head , gear d head , shelves and h Ive of Jen e of every makeand

de cription line the walls. The place is so packed with equipment that you must take special care wh n moving around as th inventory ha found its way onto much of the floor pace. We felt just like kids in a candy tor .

Walking through Hill' hop is like walking through select pages of film history. This equipment has "b en there and done that"! Technicolor's threestrip camera #7, which was one of seven Technicolor cameras u d to photograph the burning of Atlanta equence in Gone With the Wind at right in front of me. I couldn't h Ip wondering if Harry Wolf, ASC had thr ad d this particular camera while he wa working on Gone With the Wind . Mitchell B C bodies were everywhere. As a matter of fact, Hill proudly boasts that at one time he had over ten percent of the 364 manufactured B Cs in his shop.

Here are some obscure facts to impress the crew during your next rain delay: B C numb r one was made from C body #3 and no erial #13 wa ever made owing to superstition.

I walked over to a B C that had an F& B Ceco Camera Co. plate on the housing. For all I kn w, thi wa one of th cameras I used to practice with back in 1967 in Ceco's camera prep room on 43rd Street in ew York City.

If only thi equipment could boast of it adventure .

I asked Hill to talk about the equipment with the mo t int re ting history attach d to it. H ref rr d me to th RKO studio crane in front of the building. Hill purchased it at an auction at the Univer ity of South Florida at Tampa. The United Stat Army Pictorial Cent r had giv n the crane to the university and said that it had b en on som "famous movie," but

.---~ â&#x20AC;˘ Midland * Charlotte North Carolina

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page 53

11

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16mm Arri S, Eastman, Aurlcon, Bolex Cameras

they couldn't recall just which one.

The crane lay dormant in a field and to avoid transporting the unwieldy piece of equipment back to orth Carolina, Hill "practically gave it away'' to a local equipment rental company in Tampa.

At that time the crane was refurbished and rented to local production companies. Hill then repurchased the crane which by this time had been fitted with a trailer for transport. Someone saw the crane and ent Hill a production photo of Orson Well es directing a scene from Citizen Kane. Lo and behold, Welles and Greg Toland were sitting atop a crane that was identical down the last nut and bolt to Hill's crane. I put my hand on the repainted white frame of that crane and imagined the creative energy generated by Welles and Toland while sitting on this piece of Hollywood history. I couldn't help thinking that this important piece of "memorabilia" should be in a museum to be viewed by all of the movie buffs wishing to experience the same feelings that I was feeling.

Another "star" in Hill's ensemble is 20th Century Fox's #104 camera. In the golden days of the studios, Directors of Photography and cameras were a team and worked together whenever possible. Fox's #104 was

Page56

The Operating Cameraman

assigned to Arthur Miller, ASC and was also used by Greg Toland on such films as Tobacco Road and How Green Was My Valley . Many of the Shirley Temple movies were filmed with this camera. As Hill detailed its history I felt privileged to be viewing a camera that John Ford had looked through while lining up shots for films that

Left, Mitchell; Right, Fox Camera

Spring/Summer 1996

have become associatedwith motion picture history.

The oldest piece of equipment in his shop is a Moy Bastie camera, circa 1905. There are many wooden handcrank model that appeal as much to your appreciation of fine antique woodwork as to your marveling at one of the rudimentary tools of our craft.

Other interesting acquisitions that Hill has made through the years are Paramount' s B C that shot the original Star Trek series, Universal's BNC #17 that photographed the Abbott & Costello pictures and Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot . Hill ha a very rare Mitchell Vista Vision camera as well as the last B C sold in America. The list goes on and on.

So, if you are ever near Midland, North Carolina and you are as thrilled as I am to be around thi stuff, I strongly suggest that you pay Martin Hill a visit. He has a genuine respect and admiration for those of us who utilize various pieces of equipment in the day to day process of making motion pictures.

One footnote: It struck me that we as working members of the motion picture industry could do much more to preserve the technical side of our motion picture heritage. Film preservation consciousness is at an all time

high, but what of the "men and machines" that made it all work? Must we r ly on individuals like Martin Hill to pre erve the housings and histories of gr at camera from the past? ln England, photographic museums display cameras that have engraved plates of the films and the cinematographers who photographed them. As urelya wemustsavespeciesofanimals that are headed towards extinction, we must pre erve and protect the technical and mechanical heritage of the great st art form of the 20th century. ~CE Mole-Richardson Lights

Mike Shea On Augu t 29, 1995 thr e day before his 70th birthday Mike Shea di d tragically in a helicopter era h while filming the Meat Loaf video, I'd Lie for You (And That's The Truth). Shea and hi pilot were killed instantly when the helicopter hit a pow r line near Kemville in the High Sierra .

For tho e of u fortunate enough to have known Mik Shea, our los is personal as well as profe sional. Mike was a pleasure to work with. His set was run efficiently and without the tension that so often accompany our work.

Mike was the calm in the face of the storm. Regardles of the chaos, comp! xity or catastrophe confronting him he quietly figured out just what n eded to be done and rendered order from di order. When you worked for Mike you wanted to do things for him becaus he wa the kind of cameraman who brought out the best in his crew.

I had the pleasure of operating a camera for Mike on quite a f w projects and while I only knew him for a few year we got to b friends

as well a fellow worker .

Mike was an amazing man bless d with an ncyclopedic memory on a variety of ubjects.

He wa an ab olute authority on jazz, firearms and photography yet never fini hed high school. He quit in order to pur u news photography. Mike work d at the Chicago Sun as a darkroom man, but that course was altered by a hitch with the 82ndAirbomeParatrooper . When his service commitment was completed he got a chance to work as a freelance new photographer supplying picture to many major new papers, Life, Ebo11y, Esquire, Playboy and Downbeat magazine . A the '60 b gan Mike' attention turned towards documentary filmmaking. He modified a 16mm Auricon to fit hi n d and started a company in Chicago pecializing in commercials, documentaries and industrials. That company spawned many filmmakers of the future including Andrew Davis, director of the movie The Fugitive. Documentaries led Mike to theatrical films and television.

Most recently hi long a sociation with director I stuntman Hal Needham earned Mike a reputation as a

Spring/Summer 1996

Mike Shea with an Eclalr CM-3 camera on the set of Holy Rollers In 1972.

stuntman's cameraman. Hal said of Mike, "One of the greatest cameramen to ver grace this busine s was never recognized for his talent. Some were fast, ome were good, he was both. Tho who didn't know him don't know how much they mi sed."

Mike Shea will be mi ed not only a a fin cameraman, but a a unique individual who was very p cial to those of us who knew him.

-Harvey Rubin, SO

The Operating Cameraman

Page57

At Clairmont: the latest model of the AATON-35

E

ven people who know it's small are surprised when we first show them one. Sometimes they say: "Oh, I've seen the Sixteen, it's the Thirty-five I want to see now." We say: "This is the Thirty-five." They say: "Thats the Thirty-five? "

16mmstyle

DP Tom Sigel used to own two AATON 16mm LTRs. "I put millions of feet through them, shooting documentaries and television:' he says. "They balanced perfectly on my shoulder; and this AATON-35 is the same.

I'm using it for features, but I'm shooting the same way. Once you're tuned in, you barely have to hold onto it:'

No headroom

DP Chuck Minsky used an AATON-35 to shoot dialogue for an MCI commercial inside a New York taxi. "We were hoping for a Checker cab;' he says, ''But this was a regular sedan, with no headroom. We drove back and forth all day across the Brooklyn Bridge, with two actors in the back seat and me in the front seat, hand-holding."

Nosoundman

DP Petr Litomisky recently shot a commercial for Seafirst Bank in a Piper over Seattle. Its four seats were occupied by the actor/ pilot, the director, an ad agency man (feeding the actor lines) and Mr. Litomisky with an AATON-35.

"No room for a sounctman:' he says, "So we put a Nagra behind the seats and used timecode:'

Getting better

"I began shooting with AATON35s about five years ago,'' says Mr. Litomisky. "Now Clairmont has some; and theirs are noticeably quieter. And I've had no reliability problems with theirs.

Even their magazines are quieter; I don't know why."

2 million feet

1st AC Michael FitzMaurice worked at Pytka for about ten years, mostly as a 2nd AC. "They bought an AATON-35in1991;' he says. "Since then, Pytka must

have run 2 million feet through it, half of which I loaded myself.

The clip-on magazine has a reputation for being difficult to load, but I don't think so:'

Dependable

"From 1991 to mid-1994, I wouldn't have said the AATON-35 was dependable. Now it is;' says Mr. FitzMaurice. "From the beginning, we were saying: As soon

as Clairmont g ts ahold of them, these cameras are going to become magic. And now they have:' The modifications

With AATON's expert cooperation, we made several changes to one of our first two cameras.

To decrease friction, we milled additional channels in the gate.

We also reduced the contact area on our magazine pressure pads.

We increased the pad's spring tension and we narrowed the film channel's depth. Our claw was set for deeper penetration

and increased spring tension.

We suggested that the factory might increase the stroke length; and they did so.

All cameras at Clairmont have all the newest features

All these improvements are now built into all the AATON-35s at Clairmont, together with a few more of our own modifications.

All our cameras are the latest version of the 35-ffi See the new factory features listed below.

Carry-on

"We've gone into places where nobody knew we were filming, where a slate would have blown our cover," says Michael FitzMaurice. "I've walked in with the camera in a shoulder-bag designed for a pro Betacam camcorder. Nobody gives it a second look. The whole camera fits into it, with lens and magazine in place. I regularly walk onto airplanes with that bag on my shoulder, as carry-on baggage:'

Camera smuggling

"I took the Pytka AATON-35 as carry-on to Brazil and back to the U.S.A. twice:' says Mr. FitzMaurice. "We were shooting Nike commercials to be aired at the Soccer World Cup and we needed shots of the Brazilian players.

On both shoots, I carried that camera into Brazil and out again without any of the authorities being aware of it:'

The new factory-

installed features: A movement heater that reduces lowtemperature power drain; an optional eyepiece heater; easier loop-length forming; a high-de~ flicker-free, color video assist with time-code both in the video blanking and visible on the monitor; a user-adjustable shutter, to sync at 24fps with 60Hz and 50Hz lighting and with video monitors; adjustable pitch, for quieter running.

In this photo, camera has video assist, on-board battery, 400 foot film load, 25rnm Zeiss Tl.3, short fi nder, two-stage mattebox, follow-focus, handgrip.

Whole rig weighs 21.9 lbs.

by Michael Frediani, soc

I

t ha b n aid th at th w rking relationship betw ena cin matographer and a director is akin to that ofa married c up le li vin in a hous tog ther while it i being r mod l d.

Within that crea tive and en r 'z d proc s what may em rge is a beautiful vi ion or a critical ndeavor that leadstoatarni hedrelatio hipfr ught with mjsgiving . This human bond that e ist between a cinemat grapher and a director was the subject of a eminarpresented by the International Photograph r Guild and the Director Guild of America entitl d P.O.V.: DIRECTORS & CI EMATOGRAPHERS; DI US IO SFORCREATIVECOLLABORATIO S. TheauditoriumatDGAheadquarters was filled to capacity with both DGA & Local 659 members wi hing to wid nth irrespective horizon .

Th a mbled panel consi ted of accompli h d cinematographer William Frak r ASC (Ro emary's Baby, Father of the Bride II), Woody Omens A C (Harlem Nights, Coming to America), John Bailey ASC (Nobody 's Fool, In the Line of Fire) and director Al xander Singer (Gia s Houses, Star Trek Voyager).

The panel wa moderated by dir ctor I cin matographer Bradford May (Dark111a11 ll, Madonna: Innocence Lost) who stated in his opening remark : "The ability of the director and cinmatographer to be able to e eye to eye on all i sues would be the ultimat collaboration."

Pae 60

The Operating Cameraman

While such collaboration i not always a reality on th et, a thorough understanding of each other' needs is key to a successful relationship. Thi und rstanding may b gin during the interview process and according to the

abl t hare openly and freely in the b ginning," say Omen , "j the mo t important a pect of the initial intervi .If w an' t beginadialogu that' open, h can we last under the pre ur of tim and money on the set." According to Fr aker, the director of photo aphy g into an interview with a common denominator, the cript. "Aft r you have read the cript

panel, that can b on of th biggest hurdles to jump. "I don' t b lieve in personality interviews; I mu tread the script first," states Woody Omen . "I let the director know that I am a r ady collaborator and explain what I am able to supply to the project. I don't go overboard by saying too much b cau e that can make a dir ctor uncomfortabl . It's a very delicate line -you don't want to steer the ship, you're more of a co-pilot. Having an open conversation with the dir ctor, being

and you like it you mu t bring forth a lot of enthusiasm. Ba ically that's what th y want to hear and ee; how interested you are in the project. Then you can di cu the points that your lat to or don't r late to. It's a starting ground ."

From a director's per pective Alexand r Sing r is most concern d with how much of a total filmmak r the cinematographer may be.

"Re pon to a cript is a very r al index in choosing a director of photography; however the game i not a

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Communication between the director and the cinematographer is paramount toward achieving the ultimate end.

Only in so doing can we become a bonded collaborative force.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Spring/Summer 1996

simple one to play and some are b tter at it than others. It is not your index as a director of photography or a director that you handle that situation well; it's more complex than a simple int rview.

A a director you are measuring a response to intelligence in filmmaking; what works, what doesn't and where problems may arise. First instincts are very important and so is chemistry."

As Singer explains, thes initial instincts carry on into the proj ct. "On a crew that literally rub up again teach other for unbelievable hour , under great tension, sharing and not sharing id as, we can make mistake ... we mi read each other. So what we learn in the interview proce s is that we are all performer and it i som times hard to parate your performance from your real f elings." Relating to what Omens stated arlieraboutnotsaying too much Singer notes, "If during an interview a cinematograph r feel that a certain seen might have a w akness where the actor ju t sit and chat for 12 page ... well that just might be the dir ctor' favorit cene. So it is be t to tread cautiously on that ground." John Bailey feels that there i al o a flip side.

"It really is a two-way street and I don' t m an any hubri by thi , but a cinematographer with a body of work to his or her credit coupl d with th change of balance that has happened with so many

"'Anyone who plunges into infinity, in both time and space, further and further without stopping, needs fixed points, mileposts, for otherwise his movement is indistinguishable from standing still.

There must be stars past which he shoots, beacons from which he can measure the distance he has traversed."

-

M.C.

ESCHER

new dir ctors on the scene ... well I am equally interested in trying to analyze and under tand the director, as he is me, in the pre ntation of my inter st and enthu ia m for th job."

Bailey tates that over the years he ha had two qualitatively differ nt kinds of initial me tings with director : Tho e who have written the script vs. tho e who haven' t. "The two most important relationships that I've had as a cinematographer were those with writer I dir ctor Paul Sdtrader (American Gigolo) and Lawrence Kasdan (Tlw Big Chill and Silverado). I've found that in my initial meetings with these directors, who by virtue have lived with the mat rial, the interviews were fraught with specific ideas and refernc point and not just visually, but for character, the narrative Line and its

(1898-1972) relationship to the photography." On the other side of the interview proce Bailey says," A director who may hav come onto a project not much earlier than m , may be involved in substantial 11th hour rewrites and in many of those ca may have his or her back against th wall and so there is a high level of anxiety and fru tration. That kind of initial meeting would be more xploratory-you would take a di ff rent tack becau e the material is not locked down yet."

Woody Omens feels that most directors are looking for a cinematographer who can be flexible and adaptable. He hopes that director will look for one thing in a cinematograph r's work: V rsatility. "If I were a director I would want to ee how different hi pictur are and mo t importantly, 9>

P.O.V. Panel Members: Bill Fraker, John Bailey, Brad May, Woody Omens, Alexander Singer

Spring/Summer 1996

The Operating Cameraman

Page 61

how appropriate the cinema tography is to the given subject."

Brad May feels that, "In the 1990's we're looking at a business that is changing and it is all being run by numbers today. With us as the creative force it is getting very difficult to be able to get what we need when the producers want to do the shows cheaper. The networks are unfortunately still giving $2.5 million for a movie of the week and independ nt producers in an effort to make them for the buck are trying to break the union .

They want to hire what I caJI '$100 a day longhairs' to be assistant cameram n who will drive the truck, double as th first aid man and make coffee in the morning." Bill Fraker opines tha another problem exists where there i ''an undercurrent in Hollywood that ' they,' whoever ' they' ar ,have taken the position to pigeon-hole cinematographers; if you do episodic television you do episodic television and if you do movies of the week you do movie of the week.

It seems as if they need some sort of work pool to draw from. I have to fight, to fight to do television or a pilot. The networks won't let me do it," Fraker

bemuses. "Too old, too slo , fOo this, too that. .. an entourage. So they say to you, stay where you are!"

In the book FILM LIGHTIN by Kris Malkiewicz, the author talks with noted cinematogra hers Conrad Hall ASC, Allen Daviau ASC, Ha k ll Wexler ASC, and dire tor Robert Wis about the director and inematographer relations . Co ad Hall (Butch Cassidy and the un ance id) advises that " the one 路 po tant i gredient to the filming chemistry by which a project will succeed or fail is ch mistry and the handling of ego. Wh n ego get involved it de troys. No that doesn't mean you do not have an e o. And i doesn't m ean that our ego is n t manife ting your artisti d ci ion ; but lik being in the army there is defutitely a law of 路nvolvement that hould be respected. Th d irector hould dir ct, the cameraman should shoot and the art director hould art direct. As soon as we start introducing our egos to take over job from one another, we malign the chemistry from which films are made." Relating a tory about his working as a new cinematographer on a Richard Brooks film he was asked by

the director if he would ever like to direct and Hall answered, "Well, I think 0 but I' m not sure yet, I will see." And to that Brooks responded, "Everybody should direct a film . You probably want to direct one, butdir ct your own damn film, don't direct min !"Hall say , "I r pect that attitude and I want it respected when I'm directing. I am an aide to that man. I am not omebody who i trying to take anything away from him."

Robert Wi e (West Side Ston;) when intei;viewing a cinematographer, re u e t his input, without much guiding as to the texture and quality that th picture requires. Wise ometime r fers to sequence of other films he like or in some ca es to certain painters. On Mademoiselle Fifi they turn a to Daumier and his caricatures, not only for the cinematographic look but for wardrobe and props.

When Allen Daviau (拢. T., Avalon, Congo) first reads a cript he does so strictly as a fi lm viewer and tries to be as open as possible: How would he enjoy seeing the film and having his name connected to it? The econd time through, reading it as a cinematogra1

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II

pher he a ks himself, what are the problem and th challenge ? Doe it offer things that h hasn't done before or om thing he has done before and maybe can do better this time?

Pre-Production Once th deci ion has b en made to hir a certain cinematographer the all important ta k of pre-production lie ah ad. In many cases th art director ha been hired earlier on by the producer and in ome in tance , crucial deci ion have already been mad which will aff ct the lighting design.

How a t i built, its cale, design, colors, the po itioning of door , backings and most importantly the windows are of utmost significance to a ucces ful lighting concept.

According to Haskell Wexler (Bound for Glory, Rolling Stones IMAX), "Any work which the cameraman can do with the art director is money in th bank, becau e ba ically an art director isgivingyou what you will photograph."

Conrad Hall agrees but add , "There are many producers who try to keep th two of you separated, for financial r a on they ay. What a mistake! We should be the do e t of collaborators."

With thi very thing in mind, Woody Omens ha devi d a plan that seem to bridge the gap that exists between the hiring of the art director and the hiring of the cinematograph r.

H t rm itnon-consecutiveprepdays.

Wh n po sible h make an agre ment with th producer to join the prep earlier than is u ual, at a pecial r due d pre-production rate. B cau e th proj ct m ans so much to him he wants to b com involved with the look of the film as soon as possible. Omens believe there is ome room forgive and take on this cone pt but that director should in ist that a cin matographer is hired on earli r. "Prod ucers will find that there won't be th kind of antagoni m that ometime exi t with the production designer and you'll be able to shoot faster." And,add Omen, "Theproj ct will look better ultimately."

The Look The look of a project can come from the cript pages, th imagination of the creative people attached to the project

and the locations themselve . For ideas to come from the imagination ther must first be a wellspring that produces a flow of con ciou ness that only then can be interpreted by the camera. On thi , the pan I agreed that art generates an ultimate sourc of inspiration. John Bail y speaks of a time when he had the

••••••••••••••••••••• As soon as I become in volved with a project there seems to be something brewing inside o f me that usually gets infused into that process with the production designer and the director.

- John Bailey ••••••••••••••••••••• 11

11

fortune to vi it th mu urns of Venice, Italy with on of hi mentor , th famous contemporarycin matograph rVittorio Storaro (Apocalypse Now, The Last Emperor). "Vittorio took me to a place that was the most important to his entire dev lopm nt. We w nt to a small church off the Piazza San Marco and in ide ther was a painting cycle on the lower level, very mall and intimate. It was the narrative story of St. George and the Dragon painted by Vittore Carpaccio and it was very dimly illuminated. Ever ince Storaro fir t saw that as a student it has been a con tant touch tone for him." He told Bailey that most of the ideas that he had for the film The Conformist cam out of that painting cycl . Bailey continues, " ow you'd look at that and its 15th century Venetian art and wonder what does that have to do with 1930 fa cist Italy? But for him it did . And I think that wherever I am, th thing that I read whether it i literature or art, painting or photography, all of that

Spring/Summer 1996

somehow starts to conden e into a critical mass. At that point omehow or another, a soon as I become involved with a proj ct th re s ems to be something brewing inside of me that usually gets infu d into that process with the production de igner and the director. In a way," concludes Bailey, "pre-production is always going on."

Director Singer relates a preproduction story whereby he and hi art director on the ries Ghost Story et out to scout a building facade at the Columbia Ranch. The cho en site had to convey from th outside the gho ts, ghouls and horror contained within.

So when they came upon the only facad available to use the two of them stood ther for a long whil , just contemplating. "Albright did a painting called 'That Which I Should Have Done And Did ot Do,"' recounted Singer.

"It' the painting of a door and it ha a funeral wreath on it and the door is painted in the color of a human bruise, greenish-purple." As Singer related his ideas in gr at detail for the facade to the art director, he noticed that the man had tears welling up in hi y s.

When asked why he wa overtaken with emotion the art dir ctor replied that this was the fir t tim that a director had ever given him what h really asked for. And so says Singer, "I must ask all of you, cinematographer and directors alike, to expand your horizons throughout the whole range of art."

Cinematograph r John Hora, ASC at a LIGHTI G WORKSHOP that was sponsored by INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER MAGAZINE tated that in addition to visiting museums there are other ights that have expanded his horizons. Wh n he was asked to photograph a egment of Twilight Zone-The Movie h had to help d vise a setting where a strange little boy bring adults back to hi weird and mystic house. For this Hora related back to a visit he once paid to the Winchester Mystery Hou in San Jose.

The multiple and twisting staircases, unbalanced scale and architecture inspired him in conceiving the look of the interior. In this example the vi ual component is the story. John Bail yin directing the film noir China Moon chose colors from a numb r of ~

The Operating Cameraman

Page 63

Francis Bacon paintings that he viewed at the L.A. County Museum of Art. Tho e colors were used as a basis for a set where a murder occurs. Although there was no direct reference made to the art, the feelings derived there were used to convey texture and feeling.

Location The choice of locations can also set the tone of a project and must be considered

••••••••••••••••••••• 11

/n my country we make a film w ith 30 friends and in your country you make a film with 60 enemies. 11 - Ingmar Bergman

••••••••••••••••••••• crucial to the story, as the locations are

the reality that you must deal with.

When John Bailey was scouting locations with John Schlesinger he noted that the director would stand on a proposed location site and read the cript aloud there in order to judge whether or not it erved the story.

From a cinematographer' s standpoint, natural light and its various directions during the course of a day is paramount in telling a story visually. When scouting locations director of photography Julio Macat (Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street) feels that you must be ensitive to the natural location and suggests taking a still camera along without lights or a flash while scouting. In this way he fe ls there will xi ta reference a to the original look of the location.

Th e Script "In pre-production there are many stages that unlock what the look of the picture will be," relates Bailey. "The script is the bible and the more that you read it the more you'll find that the clues to it are already in there. You must read all of the interlinear stuff over and over and over again and even if the details that suggest the montage,

Page 64

The Operating Cameraman

the building of the shots and suggestions of the image size are not in there broken down in a shot by shot listing you must read and study it and then the ideas will start coming to you." In doing this Bailey may find in the text ideas there that may not be apparent even to the writer. Once after viewing dailies, Bailey was approached by the screenwriter who asked him where a particular shot had come from and Bailey replied, "It was right there-well, it wa sort of right there." He concludes wryly, "It's amazing how those things can happen."

Keeping a crew informed by allowing and encouraging everybody to read the script is an important factor in creating a successful film or television project. "The script is the game plan," says Woody Omens "and should be shared. As Ingmar Bergman once said, 'In my country we make a film with 30 friends and in your country you make a film with 60 enemies.' Well, why does it have to be that way?" wonders Omens. "We have all worked with actors who love the camera crew, loved the whole crew and we become one family . Butwhatl eealotofandwhat Idespi eisa 'them vs. us' attitude, and that includes production also. I think that the director and cinematographer mu t get with production and let th m in on the game plan so that they know you are spending the dollars wisely.

Then they won't shoot the budget, they'll shoot the script that you defined is the one worth shooting."

Working With the Cam era Operator A question arose from one of the many directors in the auditorium concerning the apparent lack of communication between the director, cinematographer and the camera operator. She felt that the operator is ometimes treated as a second class citizen and is left out of the equation in terms of defining the look of a scene's elemen ts. Regarding focus and framing decisions as important as the lighting is to a director, she feels that Hollywood is particularly guilty in this regard. She went on to state that the camera operator is the director's and cinematographer's eyes, so great trust is p laced in that person.

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••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• believe in the camera operator position and I don't feel that it should be eliminated because I can argue in dollars and cents in addition to artistic reasons that it pays.

- Woody Omens ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11 /

11

At a eminar held at DGA headquarters entitled 'Painting With Light; The Art of Cinematography Demystified,' this topic was addres ed briefly by cinematographers John Alonzo, ASC (Chinatow11) and Reynaldo Villalobos (Urba11 Cowboy). Although both men feel that they work with very good operators, they are occasionally confronted with a director who asks that the cameraman operate the camera on certain sequences in a film. To this Alonzo adds, "Sometimes a director feels that the cameraman understands the scene better than the operator. Also a cameraman can get away with a little more sometimes in reaching for 'cutaways' which an operator might get into trouble going for."

Woody Omens feels that this is a very sensitive issue. "First of all I believe in the camera operator position and I don't feel that it should be eliminated because I can argue in dollars and cents in addition to artistic reasons that it pays and it is faster for production. Artistically speaking, if you have an excellent operator the cinematographer can address himself to the actors and lighting completely. I don't need to be on the camera all of the time. I like to watch the rehearsal, select a lens with the director and then 'forget' the camera because the image is in my head. I find that I don't have to work out a shot unle sit is particularly problematic. I'm into doing what I can for the actor ." For this to work, Omens includes the operator in as much of the discussion with the director as possible. "When you' re talking to me you' re talking to both of us. There is no eparation."

Singer feels that the variations and possibilities of things going wrong, of miscommunication and of conflict between the camera operator and the director of photography are very real concerns to a director. Yet it must be realized says Singer. "The role of the

important. Three seconds after the director says 'cut' the operator must think and so you give him his space and he may respond, 'Yes, I think it's OK.' and the director says, 'Yes, it's good, but what did you mean by OK?' At that point the operator goes back, recalling the elements of the scene and says, 'Well atthepointwhereshestands up, I clipped her a little bit, but not into her eyes.' The director will consider this and may say, 'We'll live with it, it's OK, let's move on.' If there are no secrets kept there will be no surprises in dailies; but directors and cinematographers must invite open discussion." These elements in addition to the matter of head room, lead room, what is included in the background, as well as reaching for light source in the frame must all be discussed freely in advance, feels Omens.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• /f you calculated the number of elements in a fairly complex shot that an operator has to evaluate, well there is no combination of supercomputers around that can do it.

-Alexander Singer ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 11

11

camera operator is a very complex one requiring him or her to make decisions that no one else can make. Besides framing, the operator is making decisions as to how things work within the frame. If you calculated the number of elements in a fairly complex shot that an operator has to evaluate, well there is no combination of supercomputers around that can do it." Not only involved in the physical elements within the frame, "the operator must also be cognizant of the psychological elements of everybody on the crew as well as the front office," states Singer. "He's fighting time and judgment after completing a shot while deciding whether the shot had worked or not." Omens agrees and illuminates his point by saying, "That line, 'I need another' isn't even challenged. An operator has a gift which I call 'instant replay' that is very

Spring/Summer 1996

Preparedness Relating to the question of a camera crew not always divulging technical specifics to a director as to why a shot was unsuccessful and is needed again, or in a case where a novice director does not comprehend certain vagaries of a shot, Singer replies, "This is the price that you pay for inexperience. As a director you had better know enough to make a critical judgment. All of us have been inexperienced at one point.

Photography isn't quantum mechanics that you have to learn in order to understand the basics. Directors who don't have the pervasive knowledge of picture making and what cinematographers do are really ill-equipped. As more inexperienced director join our business there will be an increasing demand to be well-prepared." ~

The Operating Cameraman

Page 65

Collaboration in sync with preparedne can evolve into a causality creating the ultimate de ire on film.

"Organic unity," tates Storaro, "is the symbiotic relationship between the light, the mov mentin the shot and the con tantly hiftingcomposition." Bailey adds, "If you look at Vittorio's work the integration there. If you will you think of the camera op rating and the lighting a eparate entitie that aren't fu d piritually then th re i no way that you can achieve ae thetic unity. If th camera operator undertand th material and ha an motiona I connection to it you are going to get a magical eamless flow in the camerawork." Singer concurs. "An operator in this instance can protect both the cameraman and the director becau h will e elem nt that are important to the story."

"As the director I could choose my cameraman for the film, o I naturally looked toward someon that I knew and respected . So I cha my camera

The Cinematographer As Director

••••••••••••••••••••• 11 Dealing with the actors and the story are the things we sometimes avoid.

So we'll fool around with the picture and hang around the camera because it's so comfortable, so right. 11 -Alexander Singer •••••••••••••••••••••

Bill Fraker tells of his experience of crossing the line from cinematographer to directoron the film Monte Walsh.

operator David Walsh and he accepted th job. During the first 2-3 weeks I found my elf staying on the set all

of the time where everybody was involved; grip , electricians, camera crew, etc. Well, after about 3 weeks I found that David had stopped talking to me ... and I didn't realize it right away but the relationship that we had built up was slowly disappearing. So I asked David to join me for a drink after wrap one night and I asked him what the problem was? And he said to me, ' Bill, you're hanging around the camera too much .' Well I began to think about it and Ir alized that th cam ra had become my ecurity blanket; a long as I could touch it or lean on it or see it periph rally I was very cur in what I wa doing. So finally I learn d to say 'O.K. David, I'll give you the set-up and I'm walking away,' and it worked out v ry well."

"D aling with the actors and the storyar th thingsthatwea directors om tim avoid," says Singer. "So we'll fool around with the picture and hang around th cam ra becau e it' o comfortable, so right.

We r aliz that there are tho e p ople out in their motorhomes and

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they're in trouble or they think they're in trouble or I'm in trouble-and that part for mo tofus, is the unknown and most intractable of problems."

lighting is early this time." In his frustration the director asks, "How can you judge your day knowi ng that you're

Hours .. .M inutes .. .Seconds . ..

The equation of money added to the lack of sufficient time to do the job equal pre sure on the t. Time is a preciou commodity throughout all a pectsofa production. Writer-director Daniel Petrie, Jr. raised that all encompassing question to the panel. After a rehearsal, having given the et over to the director of photography, the director receives a response a to how long it will take to light the scene; and the accuracy of this respon e is of utmost importance to the dir ctor, ays Petrie.

"Where I've died on sets i when the DP ays it'll b 20 minute and it's 40 minute ; or he ay it'll b an hour and it' only 30 minute . Th problem is, I get my actors geared up and they're getting to an emotional place in preparing for the cene then they just can't b cau e the lighting isn't ready yetor the actor aren't ready because the

Woody Omen ,

ASC

going to hav to either give up omething or have unexpected extra time?"

Omens replies that ometimes a

cinematographer does not really know th answer to the question of time.

"But I've got a system in which I'll ay to the dir ctor, 'If you'll just give m 10 minutes I will give you a more accurate estimat than if you a k me right now because I'll budget long if you ask me now, to cover myself.' I'm not just estimating camera readiness, focus marks, dolly moves, and lighting. Any good cinematographer does not leave his brothers and sisters in sound, make up and wardrobe hanging out to dry. Part of my estimate is that of the entire family's readines ."

"There i a dual responsibility h re," according to Bailey. "Unfortunately I've walked onto a et in the morning and encountered a director who has no idea of what he wants to do, or doesn't have a terribly trong relationship with the actor , o they are confused. In that ca e the dir ctor is using up valuable time as well. So it m to me that communication is r ally the es nc of it. The minimum that a director of photography owes a ~ director and vice-versa, is to

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The Operating Cameraman

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ride out to the location in the morning or to have a drink together the night before in order to talk about the next day' work and what goals, intentions and priorities the director has. In this way they can decide how much time each cene i worth. Time becomes a shared responsibility."

A plan that Woody Omens uses very effectively is called hi three-part system: 30-30-30. Thirty percent of the project will be done as fast as humanJy po sible, bottom line and commercially acceptable. The middle thirty percent wi II be done very well, a cut above. The last thirty percent is going to b done like Dr. Zhivago or other great films.

"You have to decid where your prioritie are. ow if there is time wa tage it' becau e we're not all working togeth r at the ame metabolic rate for a given scene. So if you can decid which are the exposition connectors that aren't as important (as other seen s) you don't dilly-dally with lots of dolly moves, fancy camera work and lighting-you ju t get it and ace pt it and you move on." On the oth r hand say Omens, "Where the script demands performance and perfection perhaps it's time for both the cinematographer and dir ctor to put ome heavy time in. But you've earn d the right to b slower b cau e you'v b en good el where. The final ten percent of the plan is for a "little slu h." Omens feels that it is essential for cinematographers to relat to a director who is pressing to get a sc n lit, what he will lose in terms of lighting compromises in r p ct to the actor within the cen . He adds that if a cinematographer is just painting with light, at that point it might be inappropriate ba don the time at hand.

Comm unication Communication betwe n the director and the cinematographer is paramount toward achieving theultimateend.John Bailey has di covered a a director that the actor and actresses' anxietie , feelings and phobias on the set may be onJynominallyrelated to th film . "With a cinematographer virtually trapp d on the set while many things ar coming down on a director' head off the et he can onJy be aware of these things

intuitively at best and therefore might not be able to help solve certain problems of the director. If there i a problem with an actress who is concerned either justifiably or unjustifiably with how she is coming across, well the cinematographer can take cue from the director to find ways to make that actress more comfortable in how she i photographed." Bailey feels that the actors can infuse magical power into the cinematographer and the icon that is the camera. "Directors can think of the cinematographer as a pot nt ally and a supportive voice if they aren't already doing so." During an intervi w for a film John Alonzo wa asked by the director who knew of Alonzo'

position whereby everybody can help.

And I think that's what is important; as soon as you can b come collaborative you can have a b tter tim ." "B ing defensive about not knowing is imm diately defused by saying, 'I don' t know,"' agr s Omen .

Collaboration, especially in the fastpaced realm of some features and mo t episodic television where a director comes onto a show as a "7 day guest" is important according to Brad May because th y are d a ling with many preordained principl s. "When a director comes onto a show with his fresh new tennis sho s trying to make hi own movi , h has to how en rgy to a crew that may already be burned out after 7-8 months. You have to get them involved. If you're b ating th m up and you're missing shots or you're telling the cameraman that he has to light a et that he has already struck, then you're not doing your horn work-that's th most important thing; communication."

••••••••••••••••••••• /t wasn't until quite late in life that I discovered how easy it is to say 'I don 't know. 111 Conclusions Bill Fraker concludes, "I think that we - W SOMERSET M AUGHAM have to put ourselves in the po ition 11

(1 874- 1965)

••••••••••••••••••••• pastdir ctingexp ri nee, "Do you think that you and I could g t along?"

It is Singer's belief that a cinematographer with directing experience is sometimes more acce sible and valuable to him on the et. "Half of me wants desp rately to r late to a total filmmaker, one who understands th whole proc s. Th other sid of that i that the director's ego is combined, in my case, with the cinematographer's en ibility and so I'm always divided because I really want to do that, do the whole thing."

When others contribute to solving problems on the t Singer om tim wonder , "Why didn' t I think of that, I should have thought of that." Though a hesayswithagrin, "It really doesn't matter." On the flip side of this issu says Fraker, "When someon a ks m a que tion and I don't know the answer, I ay 'I don't know.' There i nothing wrong with that b cause none of u know it all. So as soon as you ay you don't know you put yourself in the

Spring/Summer 1996

of becoming filmmakers and work toge th r. It doesn't bother me that a directorhasexp ri nceordoesn'thave xperience as long a he is involv d with what he is doing and has a pa ion for the material."

In a business that has evolved so many times and in o many ways both technically and artistically that they seem to pass each other in the 'hallway' with littl acknowl dgment, there comes a time when all creative people must pause and reflect together, their pre ent and future ne ds. Only in this way can we become a bonded collaborative fore . ~CE

The OPERA TI G CAMERAMAN would like to thank the International Photographers Guild for granting pennission to reprint this article.

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The Operating Cameraman

Page 69

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A Commentary

Protecting the Role of the Camera Operator

By Michael Negrin, ASC

T

here are quite a few DPs from the independent feature, commercial and music video worlds who have probably always operated their own shots. They can't imagine allowing some 'third party' looking through their viewfinder during the production. Surely they think, that's an intrusion into their domain and an interference of their artistic prerogative.

Well, when the opportunity finally arises for one of these hypothetical cinematographers to work on a union shoot within a union jurisdiction, it is required that he/ she hire an operator, first assistant & second assistant cameraman. But because it is a rule that the operator is hired, some DPs tell the operator "Thanks but no thanks, I will handle the camera operating." Just because the camera operator is on payroll seems enough incentive for the DP to operate the camera with a 'clear conscience.'

Sooner or later the producer may surmise, "Who needs this operator on staff?" When contract negotiation time comes around they feel justified in proposing to the unions that the camera operator's position be considered optional or eliminated altogether!

Guys like John Toll, ASC (a longtime SOC member) who this year won another Academy Award, this time for Braveheart, and spent quite a few years operating for and learning from the best DPs around, would no doubt have been awfully unhappy to find that the camera operator's position was to be eliminated and with it the chance to develop leadership and shooting skills that come from observing the lighting process and the collaboration with various directors. And what about the great DPs who possess fabulous lighting talents and compositional creativity but aren't particularly good operators? Do they get shunted because there is no longer any room in the budget for an operator?

Even if you can't find any sympathy in your heart for a cameraman who doesn't operate well, think of your elf.

Injury or arthritis could end your operating days very quickly. Do you want a producer to pass you over as a DP just because you cannot operate the camera? Bob Surtees,

Page 72

The Operating Ca111ern111nn

ASC shot The Turning Point when he was well into his 70's.

There really is something quite wonderful about a profession that lets you work right up 'til the end if it makes you happy. All that is necessary is that you can read a light meter and communicate your ideas.

As a DP, working with a good operator is like having a second set of eyes. Let him or her worry about whether a grip flag or microphone is encroaching into the shot, while you focus your attention on the blocking and the lighting of the set. You no longer have to be bound to the dolly or strapped onto the crane when you'd really rather have greater access to the director or talent. And with the proliferation of video assist units on the set (Operating Cameraman Magazine Fall/Winter 1995/96) there needn't be any doubt about final compositions. Additionally, if you' re not chained to the camera you might well be able to give some thought to other set ups, thereby helping with the evertightening schedules facing us these days.

Every once in a while though as a DP, a shot will crop up where you can only see the lighting or some effect if your eye is in the viewfinder. Perhaps time is about to run out

Michael Negrin ASC with light meter; Harvey Rubin soc behind camera.

during magic hour for example and you have spent a great deal of time blocking and rehearsing the intricacies of the shot. It seems unfair to have the operator risk not getting the shot on his/her one and only attempt as the sun sinks in the West. The union and your crew will understand these moments and will give you (the producer) that flexibility.

We simply do not want anyone to forgetwhata crucial part the camera operator plays behind the camera. ~CE

Michael Negrin is an SOC associate member and has just completed photography 011 the '95-'96 season of the television series Diagnosis Murder.

Spring/Summer 1996

IHI ~'llD IVINl WHIRi IVIRYONI WIN~.

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