Camera Operator Fall/Winter 2012

Display Until April 2013

fall/winter 2012

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MOONRISE KINGDOM REMINDS US HOW TO BE ALIVE. “

An enchanted ride of a movie with a dream cast. Immaculately designed and emotionally charged.

Shot with a poet’s eye by Robert Yeoman.”

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

Directed by Wes Anderson Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola

Revisit the island of New Penzance and the summer of 1965 and consider...

B E ST P I C T U R E

BEST C I N EMATOGR A P HY ROBERT YEOMAN, ASC

For more on the artistry and acclaim on this film go to www.FocusGuilds2012.com

CAMERA OPERATOR Volume 21, Number 3

Features

Fall /WiNter 2012

Capturing Endeavour’s Final Journey: We Saw It First

by Mark August soc Capturing the space shuttle’s final journey to its new home at the California Science Center.

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California Forever: Filming the State Parks

by Chris Tufty soc Documenting the past and present for a PBS series, with stress on preserving our state parks.

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ParaNorman: A feature film one frame at a time

by Dean Holmes, with Tristan Oliver and Matt Emmons Creating this stop motion animation feature took the genre to a whole new level, and in 3-D.

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“Documenting” Homeland Cover

by Nicholas Davidoff soc Learning to shoot a scripted series as though it were a documentary can be mind-bending.

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The Zen of filming Life of Pi

by Lukasz Bielan The joys and perils of flming the unfilmmable movie while working with kids, water, animals, and 3-D. The SOC films the Endeavour’s journey thru Los Angeles. Photo by Chuck Null. All Rights Reserved.

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Creating Leverage

by Gary Camp An action-packed series requires a camera operator who can travel fast.

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The Return of Cinerama

by Douglas Knapp soc A 21st century crew discovers the magic of working with a 60-year-old-behemoth and films a new Cinerama movie.

Departments

2 President’s Corner

by Chris Tufty soc

5 Editor’s Message

by Jennifer Braddock

6 News & Notes

What’s happening with members

78 79 79 80

Transitions Last Take Advertisers’ Index Roster of the SOC as of 11/5/12

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President’s Corner

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m I actually enjoying being president of the Society of Camera Operators yet? With all the board meetings, event plannings, membership questions, corporate policies, financial decisions, emails, telephone calls, and snail mails, the answer is YES, I am!

The wonderful group of people we have assembled in our society is becoming more and more special to me! We all volunteer our time and rally behind such causes as: • Filming the Endeavour space shuttle en route to its final berthing place in LA • Presenting a $10,000.00 check to our charity, The Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles • Digitizing Camera Operator magazine for worldwide distribution • Voting electronically for our Awards Celebration this Spring • Mentoring new operators into the field of filmmaking Being at the nodal point of these activities is certainly more than I expected and involved me to a greater extent than

BACKCOUNTRY PICTURES

It’s a Fine Life

imagined. I’m thankful for the brilliance of the Board of Governors whose wisdom and thoughtfulness help steer me and the SOC on its intended path. With the goal of saving money from revenue generated by hats and T-shirt sales, corporate advertising, and membership dues, we are able to fulfill tasks such as: • Hold Underwater Workshops • Print and distribute a high quality magazine • Host forums about the adventures of us Camera Operators I hope all of our members in the SOC are able to participate in some of these activities! I know I didn’t when I first joined the SOC way back in the 1980s and regret not having those memories. Although I’m getting some good ones now!

Thank you,

Chris Tufty, SOC President

SOCIETY OF CAMERA OPERATORS BOARD OF GOVERNORS OFFICERS

President .................................... Chris Tufty Vice President ..........................Steve Fracol Vice President .................... David Frederick Vice President ....................... Michael Scott Recording Secretary..................... Dan Gold Treasurer ................................Daniel Turrett Sergeant-at-Arms ..................... Mark August

BOARD MEMBERS AT LARGE Will Arnot Bonnie Blake Steve Campanelli Dan Coplan Rich Davis Mitch Dubin David Emmerichs Eric Fletcher Michael Frediani

Samuel “Buddy” Fries Robert Gorelick Chris Haarhoff Alec Jarnagin Douglas Knapp Kenji Luster Denis Moran Georgia Packard Heather Page

COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Awards ............................... David Frederick Charities .................................Bonnie Blake Communications ......................... Dan Gold Constitution & By-Laws ............... Dan Gold Corporate Liaison ................... Mark August, David Frederick COY Awards .......................Rochelle Brown East Coast SOC Rep ................Alec Jarnagin Events ...................................... Mark August Education .................................Steve Fracol Historical........................... Georgia Packard Magazine Editor ....... Jennifer Braddock Membership ...................... David Tondeur Merchandising & Brad Greenspan, Promotions ..................Rochelle Brown Newsletter Editor ......................... Dan Gold Public Relations/Publicity ...........Rich Davis Publications.........................Douglas Knapp Technical Standards ......... David Emmerichs

STAFF AND CONSULTANTS

Office Administrator ...............Diana Penilla Bookkeeper ................................. Ana Chan Assistant Bookkeeper ............. Erica Frediani Web Administrator .............Alena Cochrane Publications Manager ..........Douglas Knapp Publications Layout ................Lynn Lanning Publishers ........................ IngleDodd Media Calligrapher............................... Carrie Imai Legal Reps ............... Jonothan Feldman Esq, Magasinn & Feldman is a registered trademark.

All rights reserved.

Visit the SOC web site

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Camera OperatOr: president’s COrner

CAMERA OPERATOR Fall /Winter 2012

Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jennifer Braddock Managing Ed/Art Director . . . . Lynn Lanning Post-Production Mgr . . .Douglas Knapp sOC Cover Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chuck Null Production Coord. . . . . . .IngleDodd Media Advertising Director . . . . . . . . . . Dan Dodd

CONTRIBUTORS

Mark August sOC Dean Holmes Paul Babin sOC Haley Jackson Lukasz Bielan Douglas Knapp sOC Bonnie Blake sOC David Knight Jennifer Braddock Lynn Lanning Gary Camp Tristan Oliver Nicholas Davidoff sOC Geri Rumbolz Matthew Emmons John Sittig Lance Fisher sOC David Strohmaier David Frederick sOC David Tondeur Michael Frediani sOC Chris Tufty sOC Dan Gold sOC Dan Turrett sOC Sawyer Gunn Kurt Wahlner

PHOTOGRAPHY

Tom H March Michael J Cahill Craig Mathews Mike Celestino Jake Netter Beth Dubber Chuck Null Joeann Edmonds-Mathew Pete Romano asC Lance Fisher sOC Stephen Silberkraus David Frederick sOC Kent Smith Kim French Peter Sorel Robert Garren Scott Spiker Reed Harkness Ed Steiner Erik Heinila Hopper Stone Michael Hofstein David Strohmaier Morris Kagan David Tondeur David Knight Christian White George Leon Victoria Yeager Cari Lutz For display advertising information, contact: Dan Dodd (310) 207-4410 x236 fax: (310) 207-1055 Dan@IngleDodd.com For article submissions, please contact: SOC Attn Magazine PO Box 2006 Toluca Lake, CA 91610 Phone (818) 382-7070 email: camopmag@soc.org © 2012 by the Society of Camera Operators Subscription Rates: USA $20/year; Outside USA $28/year (U.S. Funds Only) Subscribe online at www.SOC.org Camera Operator is published 3 times a year by the Society of Camera Operators

www.SOC.org Fall /Winter 2012

BEST PICTURE FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST ACTRESS • KEIRA KNIGHTLEY BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY • SEAMUS McGARVEY

“A BOLD VISION THAT’S BOTH FASCINATINGLY THEATRICAL AND THRILLINGLY CINEMATIC. ‘Anna Karenina’ looks truly stunning thanks to Director of Photography Seamus McGarvey.”

OLIVER LYTTELTON, INDIEWIRE

BEST DIRECTOR JOE WRIGHT • BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY TOM STOPPARD • BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR JUDE LAW AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON MATTHEW MACFADYEN DOMHNALL GLEESON • BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS KELLY MACDONALD RUTH WILSON ALICIA VIKANDER OLIVIA WILLIAMS EMILY WATSON

BEST FILM EDITING MELANIE ANN OLIVER • BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN SARAH GREENWOOD (PRODUCTION DESIGNER) KATIE SPENCER (SET DECORATOR) • BEST COSTUME DESIGN JACQUELINE DURRAN • BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING IVANA PRIMORAC (HAIR AND MAKEUP DESIGNER) • BEST ORIGINAL SCORE DARIO MARIANELLI

FOR MORE ON THE ARTISTRY AND ACCLAIM ON THIS FILM GO TO WWW.FOCUSGUILDS2012.COM

Editor’s Message

Please allow me to introduce myself... t wasn’t until I was a teenager that I learned my father was a photographer for the Air Force. I was too young to remember, but our house was broken into, and his camera equipment was taken, along with many cherished photos.

He never picked up his hobby again. For my 16th birthday, I asked for a 35mm camera, and to this day I still love to play with my Nikon FM10.

It was only by pure luck that I landed in a film and television course in high school, and fell in love. I jumped into the industry at the age of 23, joining Local 600 in Florida and working on my first feature in 2007. Yes, I am a baby. And every day I learn something new.

My mother always subconsciously instilled a sense of volunteerism in me, and I knew that I could only take from a situation that which I put into it. This has proven true in my career so far. After jumping ship to Los Angeles in 2008, I got as involved as I could with the union. Screenings, meetings, parties—you name it. I volunteered to mentor recent graduates from my alma mater. And I even ran for the Executive Board. If I was going to be part of an elite organization, I wanted to grow and learn with it.

Enter the SOC. What an amazing organization. The more I got involved, the more members I’d run into on set! “Hey, I know you!” Everyone behind the scenes puts their whole heart into what they do—trust me, because it’s all volunteer work! Only those with passion would ever be so committed. I can only encourage other members to give some time to help, even if just a little.

After 5 years in LA I moved back South, to the other LA. I’m learning what a difference it is to be in a tight close market such as Los Angeles, versus an area such as my current home base, where camera folk are spread out all over, and there seems to be a disconnect between the membership. There’s less opportunity for networking and events. I call upon each of you, as well as myself, to

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reach out—whether it be recruit a new member, bring some magazines to a rental house, or speak at a university.

Before I took off, I began an SOC scrapbook, keeping track of some of our historical items up to present day. If you’re in the office, take a peek. And continue our legacy.

When I left California, I was very sad to not be able to help with the SOC in person, but I’m so thrilled that I have a new opportunity to support from a distance. I look forward to the words, films, and images ahead of us.

Introducing

the

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Correction: David Frederick SOC was the Executive Producer of the 2012 SOC Awards. We apologize for using the term “coordinator” in the previous issue. He is the Executive Producer of the 2013 SOC Awards as well.

Fall /Winter 2012

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Camera OperatOr: editOr’s message

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News & Notes

What’s going on with members and in the industry

GEORGE LEON

Vision Center gets check from SOC SOC Board members Mike Frediani, Buddy Fries (with his wife Karen Gusdorf ), Chris Tufty, Dan Turrett, Dave Frederick and Bonnie Blake presented a check for $10,000 to Dr Thomas Lee (center, blue shirt) for the Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The money helps children with vision problems.

LA Film School student Adrian reviews the latest issue of the SOC Camera Operator magazine

Associate members Jen Braddock and Brad Greenspan put together the SOC booth at the Fisher barbecue.

Annual Fisher Barbecue Engineer David Cornelius explains his Alpha Stabilized remote head to SOC Technical Standards Committee Chair Dave Emmerichs SOC at the JL Fisher BBQ.

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DAVE FREDERICK SOC

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he SOC participated in another wonderful BBQ at JL Fisher in Burbank last May 19th. Members got to check out the latest equipment from a variety of vendors. In collaboration with Local 80, the SOC held a lively panel discussion, and the SOC booth welcomed many visitors and members. Thanks to donations from sponsors, a raffle was held with proceeds benefiting the Vision Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Jimmy Fisher kindly matched the sales, and the SOC was able to contribute over $1800 to the Vision Center from this event alone.

Fall /Winter 2012

DAVE FREDERICK SOC

UNDERWATER PHOTOS BY BETH DUBBER

Underwater workshop

BEST PICTURE FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST ACTOR

MATT DAMON BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

LINUS SANDGREN, FSF

DIRECTED BY GUS VAN SANT, DIRECTOR OF “GOOD WILL HUNTING” & “MILK” SCREENPLAY BY JOHN KRASINSKI & MATT DAMON ★ STORY BY DAVE EGGERS

For more on the artistry and acclaim on this film go to www.FocusGuilds2012.com

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BEST PIC T UR E BES T C INE M ATO GR APH Y WA LLY PFIS T E R , A . S .C .

“POTENT,

PERSUASIVE AND HYPNOTIC.

MASTERFUL FILMMAKING

BY ANY STANDARD. BRILLIANT.”

KENNETH TURAN,

WWW.WARNERBROS2012.COM

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he SOC would like to congratulate SOC Board Member Heather Page, who has recently been appointed the Texas Film Commissioner by Texas Governor Rick Perry. Heather lives in Austin.

Fall /Winter 2012

DAVE FREDERICK SOC

Heather Page soc new head of Texas Film Commission

MORRIS KAGAN

COURTESY OF HEATHER PAGE

News & Notes continued

Rochelle Brown appreciated

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OC Associate member and Camera Operator of the Year Award Committee Chair Rochelle Brown proudly shows off the trophy of appreciation given to her by President Mike Frediani as he completed his term of office.

Mitch Dubin soc nominated

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itch Dubin SOC was recently nominated for the Guild of British Camera Technicians (GBCT)/ Panavision Camera Operator’s Award for his work on War Horse.

The winner will be announced at the British Society of Cinematographers’ Operators Night dinner in London on Friday, November 16, just after this magazine goes to the printer.

Camera OperatOr: News & NOtes

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BEST PICTURE BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

JOHN TOLL,

ASC

FR ANK GRIEBE

“BEAUTIFULLY PHOTOGRAPHED

BY FRANK GRIEBE AND JOHN TOLL AND ELEGANTLY Jo e M o rg en s tern ,

F O R S C R E E N I N G I N F O R M AT I O N , P L E A S E V I S I T W W W . WA R N E R B R O S 2 0 1 2 . C O M

CRAFTED.”

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BE S T C INE MAT OGRAP HY RODRIGO PRIETO,

ASC, AMC

“SHOT BY THE GIFTED RODRIGO PRIETO, ARGO HAS A PROPULSIVE ENERGY THAT SWEEPS YOU UP WITH A GALE FORCE.” PETER TRAVERS,

WWW.WARNERBROS2012.COM

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News & Notes continued

Breaking the sound barrier again At Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada on October 14, SOC President Chris Tufty filmed the ground portion of Chuck Yeager’s reenactment of his historic flight that first broke the sound barrier 65 years ago. Yeager is a retired Air Force Brigadier General.

VICTORIA YEAGER

Chris TufTy: Chuck Yeager—he’s a real hero.

He’s 89 and is still flying jets faster than the speed of sound. He was in the backseat of an F-15 (the instructor’s seat, according to a news article), and he had another pilot, but he said he had taken the stick when we interviewed him after.

I was filming him being debriefed about how he deploys his parachute, how he ejects his seat, how he lifts up the canopy and so on. The instructor asked him, “Have you ever had to eject?” And he raises three fingers and says, “Yeah, three times.”

Chris Tufty SOC, Brig.Gen. (ret) Chuck Yeager, Brad Greenspan I was filming him on the ground. There were five cameramen with ENG cameras, and we were filming and said, “What a great choice. He seemed perfect.” with the Genesis for a feature film documentary on It was a real honor to do it. him because they wanted the better quality with our unit.

But they did have an aerial camera operator in the other F-15. Used by permission of victoriayeager.com & chuckyeager.com Dave Frederick recommended me for the job. Victoria Get the full text Read of this article: MoRe Yeager, Chuck’s wife who’s producing it, got back to Dave

3i-291814370: Custom Interior for Panasonic HPX370 3i-221710C300: Custom Interior for Canon C300

Fall /Winter 2012

Camera OperatOr: News & NOtes

13

Capturing Endeavour’s Final Mission: We Saw It First

by Mark August soc Photos by Chuck Null ©2012 All Rights Reserved.

Mark August SOC with Endeavour at LAX

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fter 25 missions to the Milky Way, the space shuttle orbiter Endeavour has officially retired, and her new home is the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center. Endeavour’s journey was quite a significant challenge: from Florida to LAX, and through the neighborhoods of Los Angeles to Exposition Park. The Science Center wanted a record of the voyage that could be used in the exhibit.

Mark August SOC is a reservist in the military, working as a combat photographer for the US Navy, and has spent 23 years specializing in high profile shoots with no room for error.

Enlisting members from the SOC, the allvolunteer camera crews covered the landing, the preparation for travel, and the parade to the Science Center, which took a couple of weeks from start to finish. The results are currently on view at the Science Center for all to see.

The 3ality camera on the Ultimate Arm

3, 2, 1….

Several months before the shuttle landed, I got a phone call from a colleague. Geoff Reeves, whom I know from the Navy, left an urgent message to call him. When I did, he said that a friend of his, a producer by the name of David Knight, would be filming Endeavour’s arrival in two months and they were looking for a camera operator/DP. When I sent in my résumé, apparently my military clearance appealed to them.

This kind of job is something that I know better than most. It was second nature to say “no problem.” I’ve done so many shoots like this in my career—if a missile blows up, it’s only going to blow up once. No scripts, no second takes.

I asked the question any camera operator will ask: “What’s the format? What camera will we be using?” David Knight replied, “We’re still trying to figure that out because the Science Center has no budget and they’re looking for volunteers.” My jaw dropped.

He explained that they were trying to find the right volunteers who would understand what this entailed and how important it really was. Then he asked the inevitable question: “Do you know any other camera operators that are available?”

At this point I didn’t know how big this project really was, but I understood that I could do one of two things: I could give him a list of my buddies, or I could take it to a different level and totally share it. And I thought, you know what, good karma is going to come back at me if I share this. As the Events Chair for the SOC, I thought very clearly that if I

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took this to SOC as an event and invited every SOC member, I could then approach our sponsors for support. So I did.

At an SOC board meeting, I pitched the idea as a win-win project for the SOC. We’d have a nonprofit helping a nonprofit—and this is unheard of ! With our skill set and what we do, it made a lot of sense to provide help to another nonprofit, and the beauty of it is that generations of children will visit the Science Center and see the footage we shot.

Once it was an official SOC event, I talked to a number of people about it. Bob Harvey at Panavision; Dan Perry and Reggie Watson at Sony. AJA was willing to provide digital recorders. And then we really got lucky. We were at 3eality Technica for a meeting to plan a 3D training event for January 2013. One of the heads of 3eality happened to overhear my pitch and asked, “Can we be a part of this?” Not only did they supply the cameras, but the camera support and the focus convergence pullers.

Logistics

California Science Center President Jeff Rudolph had originally approached David Knight about documenting this event, and discussed the travel route, the arrival, the preparations, and the actual move. David quickly realized that just having a couple of his friends with some camcorders wasn’t going to be enough, and he was talking about doing something historic.

David Knight brought in producer/director Haley Jackson, who had been shooting 3D shuttle missions for the past Fall /Winter 2012

DAVID KNIGHT

El Monte RV really helped us too—they loaned us a 47 foot RV, and with the coordination of the Science Center and the LAPD, we had that in the procession, literally 200 feet away from the space shuttle at all times. It was kind of our “camera production trailer.” We’d stop the RV long enough for people to get safely on board, where they could take a rest, get something to eat, grab a cup of coffee, use the restroom—easy to do when we never traveled faster than 2 miles an hour.

Onlookers along the route were so excited, it was almost like they were giving energy away!

Even at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning! The camera crews felt it too. After a 12 hour shift, nobody was I shot the removal of the shroud that protected the engines, the removal tired, everybody was too excited, saying “I’ll stay, of the tail cone placed on the back of the Orbiter when it flies atop the I’ll help” or “Can I come back later in the day? I 747 (covering the engines to make it fly aerodynamically), and the last want to go home and get some sleep and come opening of the hatch by technicians at the United Airlines hanger. What back.” Since everybody was volunteering, I an awesome opportunity to shoot above, below and all around this wouldn’t tell anybody no, so we had camera crews 165,000 pound historical space vehicle.

—Mike Frediani SOC coming back all the time. several years. Haley and I were able to plan the camera shots The space shuttle maneuvered around trees very much like a and deal with the crew while David was dealing with the camera dolly or a power jack. A power jack can move sideways Science Center and all the logistics that came with it. In and the wheels can turn any direction. The move is called addition to having crew members checked and cleared, there crabbing, and that shuttle really could crab. It could move was a lot of gear to organize, locations to scout and planning sideways. That’s how they were able to get around the trees post production. and not damage them. They would crab the space shuttle very very slowly left to right and it would just slide left to right Houston, We Have a Production around the trees and poles and safely crab around buildings.

There were actually 3 phases of filming. The first one was That’s one of the reasons the trip took so long. the landing of the space shuttle, when she actually arrived We were able to establish shots and set a sequence in a very into Los Angeles at LAX. There were 8 camera crews that quick amount of time—one person getting a close-up, one day, all operated and assisted with SOC members. The person getting a medium shot, and then a long shot, and then second phase of filming was while the space shuttle was being with the crane you can get these really high shots—so we prepared for its transportation. Before it left LAX it had to could establish, show the depth, and show the crabbing. have work done, like having the nose and tail cone removed.

Someone on the ground never sees her moving around, but The 3rd phase of filming came two and a half weeks after on film you could actually see the wheels turning, and get a Endeavour first landed. It was comprised of 4 crews working 12 hour rotating shifts. While the space shuttle actually took 5 days to travel from LAX to the Science Center, every 12 hours there would be a new camera crew. Kurt Nole SOC was operating the Ultimate Arm, which was on a 3ality rig filming in 3D. It was in front of the space shuttle in the street procession. The space shuttle’s move was being sponsored by Toyota, so behind the orbiter during the move was a Toyota Tundra, which they allowed us to use as a camera car to shoot out of ! We used a Genesis in there, recording to an AJA Key Pro mini, FYI, the term Shuttle grabbing shots of the crowd and workers manning refers to the rockets, fuel the move. tanks and Orbiter, ready Other camera operators were sent ahead of the for take off. What we space shuttle about a half to 2 miles in order to film the crowd and get long shots using a Sony F3 camera filmed was the Orbiter.

But people call it the on a tripod—some nice shots of the space shuttle coming towards the camera, all the way until they space shuttle anyway. got into the Science Center. Matt Petrovsky SOC was filming handheld ENG style 3D with the Sony Mark August SOC filming Endeavour at LAX TD300 camera.

Fall /Winter 2012

Camera OperatOr: endeavOur’s Final missiOn

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From the Production Side

by Haley Jackson The original concept of the project was to cover the move from beginning to end—on the ground, in the air—with on-board cameras. Contentwise, it didn’t change. However, our level of production on the ground grew rather quickly.

The SOC really stepped up and helped on this project.

Both David and I knew a lot of shooters that were begging to help, but when we were doing a site survey of LAX for the landing, I suggested that we try to get a couple of photographers from the Blue Angels shows we’ve shot in the past. We needed operators that could track. Geoff Reeves (former Commander of the Navy Seal parachute team) suggested we contact Mark August SOC and we suddenly had a lot more resources.

Covering the landing was incredibly complicated simply because we were at one of the busiest airports in the world.

The security was insane. The first logistics meeting we went to was with 60 people, all separate entities of LAX, NASA, Homeland Security, TSA, FBI and the FAA. The request to have a helicopter track the SCA while landing got us a lot of laughs and negative answers.

David Knight was crucial to making that shot happen for me. He literally had the SCA change its flight plan and land on another runway and got the F-18s to peel off during the landing, allowing space for our helicopter to track the SCA. I had a very detailed plan of the procession through Los Angeles. That plan had to be turned into the Command Center, which was the city mission control for the move. It was a 34 page document dissecting the route into small sections, including miles, ETA, zones, equipment in procession, cameras, desired shots, special considerations (such as power lines, daylight or no light, etc), helicopter shots and crew.

We had to dissect the shoot into zones. Zone 1 was the onboard cameras. No one had ever mounted cameras to a space shuttle before, so we asked Chris Gabriel, a Disney Imagineer, to figure out how to mount a camera to the shuttle safely. We ended up with 2 small Sony Prosumer cameras mounted to the hatch, one facing forward and one facing the rear, and a combination of Go-Pros and Ions mounted to the hauler.

Zone 2 was the procession and where we embedded the SOC. We had some huge constraints. Once a vehicle was placed in the procession it had to stay there for the duration.

So I put the 3ality rig on the Ultimate Arm just in front of the Endeavour. We had a truck with a Panavision Genesis on sticks just in back of the Endeavour and one mobile ENG 3D rig and two other mobile rigs for crowd shots.

Zone 3 designated the crowd interaction. This was a donation from Toyota. They had 5 field crews covering the crowds. Zone 4 was the aerial unit—the helicopter shots of the route and the Endeavour on Crenshaw Drive were crucial. Helinet donated their helicopter and I can’t emphasize enough how important those shots were to the story.

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When Endeavour took off and flew over the country making her various stops along the way, something magical began to happen. People started to take notice and cheer her on! When she did her California tour, everyone stopped and watched and welcomed her home in a tremendous way. I got teary eyed when I saw an article in the LA Times and the photo of the crowds at the Griffith Observatory. I couldn’t believe how many people were there.

Then what happened next was pure magic. Mark and I were embedded with Endeavour when she started her 12-mile trek across Los Angeles. When we emerged from the gate at LAX to join the support vehicles we were greeted by thousands of people—at 2:30 in the morning! People were everywhere, watching and cheering. Some people even dressed up in costumes and followed the procession for the next three days. It was incredible. An estimated 1.5 million people lined the route, and space and space travel were at the forefront of their minds in some form for a few days, and that’s not counting all the folks that watched it on the news.

That’s powerful.

In many ways Mission 26 was Endeavour’s most important mission. She brought hope and a feeling of accomplishment.

The crime rate in Los Angeles went down significantly while Endeavour was headed home. Officers said they saw rival gang members standing near each other taking photos of Endeavour as she went by. Many people came up and told me that Endeavour changed their life. It was a very human, very humbling experience. perspective. What it feels like, how they’re doing it—it’s all part of what you have to show for the story of her journey.

A Big TO DO

When SOC and its sponsors first arrived to film, the people from the Science Center were really taken aback.

They’d been given a gift of Hollywood—professional camera crew and gear, all generously donated.When everything actually hit the streets, the Science Center looked like they were putting on a million-dollar production. And that’s when they looked around at me and said, “Wow! You really made us look good!” They knew they would have some amazing footage. We really showed what the SOC is capable of doing. We’re not a union or labor organization, we’re a

Crane operator Mike Pagan, driver Greg Preston, Mark August soc, and Steve Blair.

Fall /Winter 2012

Filming Endeavour at LAX

The 3ality camera mounted on the Ultimate Arm preceded Endeavour on her trip through the streets of Los Angeles.

Crowds lined the streets as she went by.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa with an SOC sticker, Mark August SOC and producer David Knight Fall /Winter 2012

Mission Accomplished

All in all we captured over 200 hours of footage, easily 15 or 16 terabytes. Deluxe had been volunteering their time almost round-the-clock while we’re filming, and they made their post facility available to Haley and David.

Any time that the space shuttle goes up in the air, they call it a mission. Endeavour had been in space 25 times; her last move from Epcot Center in Florida to LAX is considered Mission 26. For every mission that they have, they make a mission patch, which is worn on their flight suits. It gives the number of the mission, and where it was to and from. The Science Center had mission patches made for Mission 26 and placed them inside the space shuttle at Epcot Center. After it had been inside the Science Center for five days, the Science Center CEO and the director opened the hatch, for what may be one of the final times it’s opened at the Science Center other than checking for problems.

I had the honor to go inside the space shuttle and film them removing those two big packages with mission patches. Any volunteer that was helping with this project will receive one of the mission patches for being part of the mission crew.

STEPHEN SILBERKRAUS

bunch of volunteers coming together to support our charity.

It’s like any other volunteer organization; you can do good things with a lot of good people.

Accompanied by Science Center President Jeff Rudolph, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa helped walk the the space shuttle in to where it’s docked in Exposition Park. I had an opportunity to meet the mayor and share some information on the SOC with him.

Thoughts

I filmed the space shuttle in 3D at the California Science Center using the Ultimate Arm Crane and the 3eality camera rig, and it was so surreal. I Camera OperatOr: endeavOur’s Final missiOn

21

The Volunteers and Sponsors

Scott Anderson, Jeff Amaral and Haley Jackson, with Tara Summers seen thru the window

From the Producer Endeavour’s new residency is in the Samuel Oschin Pavilion at the California Science Center. Eventually she will stand upright in pre-launch position, when the huge exhibit-tower is completed.

Truly, this was a piece of history and we all had a part in it.

From our awesome vendors who provided the best that the industry has to offer, to the incredible Society of Camera Operators who really stepped up and made the filming happen, to those who captured Endeavour at Kennedy Space Center and Edwards on her journey, the supportive companies taking this forward, it’s been nothing less than spectacular. And we all have imagery that we will undoubtedly be showing to our grandchildren, some of which shows that We Were There.

I want not only to thank everyone, but to mention a few items: (1) for the volunteers with SOC and others who actually came on the journey, to include landing day and the overland transport, we are obtaining ‘mission patches’ from the California Science Center for you; (2) within the coming weeks there will be an event held at the Science Center to which you will receive an invitation to and should be able to bring a significant other; and (3) once the exhibit opens we can get you tickets for you and especially your kids (if you have them).

Haley and I worked feverishly to compile the staggering quantity of footage and log it. At some point ‘behind the scenes’ will turn into something that we can all share. Simultaneously we are liaising closely with the Science Center to develop exhibits using this great footage.

Best to All, this was truly wonderful.

—David Knight

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SOC active members involved in this project were Mark August SOC, Dave Frederick SOC, Michael Frediani SOC, Dan Kneece SOC, Bill McClelland SOC, Kurt Nole SOC, Matt Petrosky SOC, Chris Tufty SOC, Daniel Turrett SOC and Haskell Wexler ASC. SOC associate and student members were Eddie Barber, Joshua Barrett, Rochelle Brown, George Feucht, Nicole Fleit, Peter Johnson, Brett Juskalian, Crystal Kelly, Rachel Lippert, Jeremy Parsons, David Ronser, Stephen Silberkraus, Mike Skor, Jeremy Sultan, Tara Summers, Satya Vanii and Lenny Walsh.

The wonderful companies who sponsored our work and donated equipment for our use were 3ality Technica, AJA, Deluxe, El Monte RV, IVP Media, JL Fisher, Panavision, Sony and Ultimate Arm. Also supporting us were Luke Babb, Ralph Burris, Chris Debiec, Joe Rios, George Peters SOC, Steve Schklair and Mark West. thought to myself, “wow, I wish everyone could see what I was looking at,” and then it dawned on me everyone could actually share what I was looking at.

The finished film that you see at the exhibit is through the eyes of the Society of Camera Operators, through our eyes, and I love the fact that we see it first. It’s really truly unbelievable to me to know that there are children not even born yet that are someday going to visit the Science Center and learn about space exploration through what we filmed. It’s not just a movie or a TV show that can be downloaded online or purchased on a DVD— it’s an experience.

It’s a tribute to the support of our membership— without that support, this project couldn’t have happened like this. It was a beautiful exercise in coordination, generosity, and skill. Without the SOC, the project would never have become the masterpiece it did.

Every member of the SOC was invited to the museum opening to go and see for themselves, including the ones that wanted to volunteer but couldn’t because they were working. It really was a historic couple of months. Maybe after New Year’s I can actually go inside the exhibit and watch people’s reactions to seeing the footage. That’s going to be a reward.

Fall/Winter 2012

California Forever: Filming the State Parks

by Chris Tufty soc

Photos Š 2011 Backcountry Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

Robert Alan Martin portrays Frederick Law Olmsted in Yosemite Valley for the Backcountry Pictures production of California Forever. Olmsted served as Chairman of the Yosemite Commission when management of the park was granted to the State of California in 1865. Photo by Joeann Edmonds-Mathew Š 2011

C

JOEANN EDMONDS-MATTHEW © 2011

alifornia Forever, the story of California’s state parks, was created as a two-part documentary by Backcountry Pictures and has been running on PBS this fall. Episode One highlights the discovery and creation of California’s state parks system, taking viewers on a scenic, cultural and historical tour. Episode Two presents the very real challenges that the state parks are currently facing, including park closures, habitat destruction by overuse, protection of native species at the expense of recreation, and establishing new parks in dense urban areas by reclaiming industrial brown fields.

SOC President Chris Tufty was the “A” camera operator on The Closer for all 7 seasons. The producers and show runners were excited that he had the opportunity to work on a documentary project dear to his heart, and they allowed him to replace himself on occasional shoot days.

Chris recalls the change of pace from operating a scripted mostly handheld show to shooting a non-fiction narrative at a smooth scenic tempo.

Chris Tufty, SOC

The beauty of it all

Director David Vassar and I have had a working relationship for over 30 years. When he got the assignment for California Forever—partially based on the success of Spirit of Yosemite which I had shot with him 12 years ago and which is still playing in Yosemite National Park every day—he called me up to ask, “How’d you like to shoot yet another park film with me?”

We wanted to capture scenic and classic pastoral images, with as many moving shots as possible. If we could get a dolly or crane up there, we would. This was not going to be another handheld documentary!

There are something like 257 state parks in California.

David as producer and director scouted maybe 70 of them and we shot at over 44 of them.

It’s a wonderful experience to use a state park as your stage, as something to photograph—just the adventure of looking at all the different beautiful natural settings that California has provided, and that I was seeing for the first time.

At Point Lobos we’d sit there and watch the waves hit the rocks, and try to figure out how to film it in a way that’s dynamic. David Vassar is a great nature lover himself; we couldn’t believe that we were actually being paid to go out in these parks.

Anza Borrego State Park was great—I’d never been there before. It’s sort of like the Grand Canyon in California—so vast and wonderful. You could practically see the Mexican border. You go out with park rangers that really know the

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area and can point things out to you, explain the vegetation and the wildlife that you’d miss otherwise, so it’s a great learning experience as well.

The other location I especially loved was up north, Jedediah Smith State Park. I’d never heard of it before. It’s way up sort of on the north coast almost to Oregon—huge old-growth redwoods and coastal sequoias, which are just magnificent. It’s like going back in time—they’ve been there for two or three thousand years and there’s just a little trail going through them. You could pretty much see it the way it was before mankind came and started chopping them down and building towns.

Weather is actually is an incredible effect that adds dimension, mood and character to the shot that is much better than anything a Hollywood special effects technician could create!

We would plan our schedule around the position of the sun assuming it would be a beautiful sunny day, so that we could shoot mostly in early morning or late afternoon backlight— what a delight!

We usually shot in whatever weather there was: fog, snow, rain, and so we were prepared for it. Slipping and sliding in the mud made footing kind of difficult, but on the other hand, in some of the early morning redwood forest, there’d be a beautiful fog and haze and the sun would streak through it and just present those God rays.

It would have been wonderful to be able to shoot throughout the seasons a little more, just to get the natural splendor that comes from a place when you pretty much can spend a Fall /Winter 2012

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whole year there and look at all the changes. That’s a real luxury. I think we got a great assortment of seasons and weather to tell the story sufficiently.

The Tools and Style

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Fall /Winter 2012

CHRISTIAN WHITE © 2009

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS © 2010.

This was a film that was shot over a two year period. We started with the RED One, and then switched to the Mysterium—that’s the better sensor.

By the time we finished, the Epic was available, but we decided not to go to that because editor Christian White felt that that would be too big a jump to intercut with everything we already shot. So it was “Sand-rail” launches across the dunes at Ocotillo Wells just those two. We’d actually go out with a backup State Vehicular Recreation Area in San Diego County. body thanks to Robert Keslow of Keslow Camera and we never had to use it. It was always reliable enough, and I’ve never really had any of the troubles that I’ve Going Guerrilla Sometimes just getting into the parks was a little difficult. heard other shoots having with the RED, which is where it We didn’t try to go to the highest peak or the most inaccessible spot, but we could imagine it. We’d try to find a place within a quarter-mile of where we parked the truck so we could get to it, film it and get back out in time to go to another location.

We put the RED in a backpack and the lenses in another backpack and the cards in my front pocket.

A lot of times we’d have an assistant who’d carry the tripod, bounce cards, other filters and whatnot. And then the three or four of us would go hiking with all the gear.

Getting a four-star caterer out to the locations was a little problematic! Producer Sally Kaplan did try to get us a hot meal every day. We tried to go as fancy as we could even if it was just a tablecloth on a picnic bench for our backpacked-in hot meal. And there are times when you’re a little worried about sustenance—places like Donner Pass where they did start eating each other DPChristopher Tufty studies the scene while shooting California Forever at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. in order to survive. We went to Donner Pass in the snow, and it was one of those places where we didn’t would freeze up, or just shut down. We were mostly shooting have time to break. So the three of us —David and Josh without sound, which meant I didn’t have to shut the fans Helling and myself—went out four-wheeling through a foot off, so it was able to breathe properly while we were filming.

For Episode Two, we went a bit more handheld to give it more immediacy. I ended up putting the camera on my shoulder and riding with a park ranger who then suddenly got an emergency call—injured off-roader—and went off-road herself with the sirens on, hitting potholes at 60 or 70 miles an hour. I just kept rolling, with the camera hitting the roof of the cab and then slamming back down onto my shoulder. It was really beating on me, but it led to a pretty exciting sequence.

We also used handheld for the parts where we’re interviewing and for some of the reenactments, such as where they discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill—which they also call Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. It keeps the camera more immediate, rather than having a reenactor talking on a static camera. When we were filming people, we would go handheld, whereas if we were filming trees and the Five o’clock in the morning at Anza Borrego Desert State Park mountains and the ocean, we would be more on sticks and with Digital Image Technician Michael Watson, Director David Vassar, and Director of Photography Christopher Tufty. dollies and cranes. We didn’t use Steadicam, not a bit.

CALIFORNIA STATE PARKS © 2010.

Backcountry Pictures shooting California Forever in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park with actor Robert Koroluck portraying Andrew P Hill, who led the fight to establish Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1900.Crew members shown are Fred Runner, Josh Helling, and Chris Tufty.

and a half of snow, set up a tripod and did some slow panning shots of snow blowing horizontally against the trees. In that little time, we could understand how you could kill someone, out there in the elements. We brought power bars and mixed nuts to snack on, and water, but it was nice to get those shots, finish that sequence, and go sit in a restaurant to warm ourselves and have a real meal.

Technology gave us a major scare one time. We had a card reader that somehow had a faulty wire connection, and it wouldn’t show up on the computer. It said “media not found” and we could see the blood drain from each other’s face. We thought we’d lost that whole sequence. We FedEx’d it to the editor, who got it to the techs, who managed to salvage it within a few days. But in the meantime, we had actually rescheduled the whole gold-mining sequence that we thought we had lost. We had lit it and put a crane there as well, and we were going to reshoot everything. It was like the old film days, when you lost the negative. It was nice to know that digitally it was still there and they were able to save it.

Wearing multiple hats

I was both the DP and operator for the most of the shooting, except when we brought in Chris Rhodes for the crane shots. It was interesting to explain the shot to an operator when I had become so used to setting things up myself. I started to see things from the DP side and how challenging it was to have communication breakdowns.

In one shot, we wanted the camera to start tight on the ranger’s hat so it fills the frame and then go straight up, but the camera started going sideways. It seemed like Chris

Fall /Winter 2012

thought that was a better shot. Eventually I figured out that the crane couldn’t physically go straight up and get that shot.

We were describing something that was inherently impossible, but the miscommunication between myself and the operator was the bigger frustration.

As a longtime operator, I know what I want and I know how to get it. At times, it can be irritating to see people doing something a different way than you would do it. It’s great when it works, but doubly frustrating when it fails. There was a crane shot in a museum where we were trying to pull back from a close-up of Donner Pass, come through a steam engine and then up to reveal the whole museum and the train—all in one shot. I wanted to put the crane on a track, but I let myself get talked into doing it with a sweep of the arm. It didn’t work. We ended up making the shot work when I put on a zoom lens, but I was aggravated with myself about it.

Listening is Key

Up-and-coming camera operators should listen to what the DP is trying to design, listen to what the director is saying to the DP, and have a strong sense of composition and a steady hand. Practice framing—that’s how I learned to use a gear head when I was a 2nd AC. After work I would put the camera on the head and just pan it and tilt it until I felt comfortable with it. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your mind open.

What I do as an operator is kind of feel what the scene is all about, try to get into the emotion of the actor. I love wearing Comtecs—I get little subtle cues through the audio part, so I kind of know when actors are going to move, like maybe they inhale and then stand up, and I’m ready for it, rather Camera OperatOr: CalifOrnia fOrever

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CARI LUTZ © 2012 CHRISTIAN WHITE

Christian White, editor of California Forever in his “Mythic” Avid Symphony HD-CAM SR finishing suite.

than them suddenly catching me by surprise. If they’re looking around somewhere, I can be there as more of a subjective camera than objective. I can kind of look around with them with the camera and then come back to them. It’s like a light bulb when they finally find what they’re looking for.

Thoughts on filming

I look forward to shooting with the Sony F65—that might be a good one—8K resolution, so it would be even sharper and more dynamic that way. Even if I had a chance to re-do this film, I still would do the cranes, the dollies, handheld. I like that mix. It pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I look forward to working with David again. We have a really nice chemistry together, having worked together

1917 Buick Touring Car on the original Highway 101 in Del Norte Redwoods State Park.

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almost 30 years—almost a telepathic understanding, both knowing where we want to put the camera, that we’ll wait for the light and so on, without communicating it in words.

I grew up in film, and 35mm, but backpacking in 10,000 feet of 35mm film would’ve been impossible in some of the locations we did, without acquiring a 20-mule team to heft it in and heft it back out, and then worrying about shipping it to the lab, and not knowing if it survived the elements. And because we’re so far away, it would have been a week or so until we found out. It was nice being able to just hit replay, and know that you’ve got it, and we would download the footage on a laptop each night. David was doing that when we couldn’t bring a DIT along.

How Ironic

Politically, California Forever came at a time when the California State Parks were running out of money. We actually started filming it before the park budgets became publicly known and continued on thru all the media hoopla.

It’s fun to do a film that’s actually politically current rather than just a purely scripted movie that has nothing to do with what’s going on in the real world. This one had sort of a grassroots support level for the audience. It explains why we need to fund the California State Parks. This will make a difference for the future of Californians throughout the next two or three hundred years.

I’m hoping that this movie will reinforce the idea that the state parks need to be preserved and fully funded or at least kept from disrepair. It’s nice to make a statement that is beyond the world of traditional Hollywood filmmaking.

California Forever was a project that found me and I’m honored to have been able to participate in it and, hopefully, make a change in people’s lives.

Fall /Winter 2012

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ParaNorman: a feature film one frame at a time

by Dean Holmes with Tristan Oliver and Matthew Emmons

Photos courtesy of Laika, Inc. Š Laika, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Dean Holmes and Matthew Emmons filming Norman as the zombies begin to rise.

P

araNorman is a 90-minute 3D feature film shot in stop motion (stop frame to the British). The story revolves around a boy named Norman who can see and talk to ghosts, and because of this, it becomes his job to save his town from a witch’s curse. It’s also a zombie movie with a car chase (okay, a van), a world breaking apart, a huge cast of characters, and plenty of special effects.

The film was produced by Laika Inc, who also brought Coraline to the big screen. Laika, owned

by Nike co-founder and chairman Phil Knight, is located in Oregon’s Portland metropolitan area.

Phil’s son, Travis, serves as president and CEO. Laika feature films are distributed by Focus Features.

Camera operators on stop motion movies are the motion control operators who plan camera moves for each sequence and program them in so that each frame of film gets its requisite move with any attendant blur, pan, etc. Dean Holmes (Coraline; Pirates! Band of Misfits) reflects on his experiences working on ParaNorman, with additional commentary from Directory of Photography Tristan Oliver (Chicken Run, Fantastic Mr Fox) and newly minted motion control operator Matthew Emmons.

What’s it all about, Alfie?

Dean Holmes (DH): ParaNorman had a very talented couple of directors, Chris Butler and Sam Fell. The production design on it was beautiful, as well as the lighting — everybody felt that we were making something special, something that would last, become a classic. I don’t think you get that too often in your career, where you work on something and say, “this may be one of the best films of its type ever made.” It’s a good feeling. We had a culture that said, “we can do that better. We did it like this before; let’s see if we can take this to the next level.” That culture inspired everybody to see what they could bring to the table. That was a big deal on this one. And it continues to be a large driving force at Laika. It’s a great company to work for.

Television and movies think in terms of pages per day. In stop motion, we’re delighted if an animator gets 2 seconds worth of film on a good day. One shot could take as long as 3 weeks to finish. A sequence can take months. I think the animators try to get 5 seconds each a week—not a lot when you think that you’re shooting an hour and a half movie.

Since they’re actually doing it frame by frame, 24 frames per second, it’s amazing that they get that much. It’s pretty impressive.

TrisTan oliver (To): I think there’s nothing you shouldn’t try in stop motion, because for me the fact that it’s stop motion is incidental to making the film. Obviously there are certain considerations that have to be overcome with stop motion, but actually I’m all for building stories with big

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ParaNorman was shot as though it were a live action movie where things could drop away in focus.

crowds, because that makes it more exciting and more interesting for me. I’m at that point in my career where every new feature has to present something of a challenge or it just becomes repetitive. You spend the better part of two years on these shows, so you don’t want them to be the same. I’d go crazy.

Stop motion is from start to finish special effects. You’re constantly working in the green screen multi-task motion control world. Putting a cranky camera angle on a shot isn’t to me pushing the limits of stop motion. What the cranky camera angle was doing was paying homage to those rather crummy zombie movies of the ’60s and ’70s. We just laced it a little with a gentle humorous nod to how they were doing stuff—some crash scenes, some cranky angles, some bounces on the end of camera moves, just to hint at our roots. It’s a highly highly controlled environment. You can just about do anything with stop frame, given time and imagination. maTT emmons (me): It had been an aspiration of mine to work in the stop motion business. Since Laika is one of the largest and best stop motion studios in the world I had been watching their job postings and eventually answered an ad for a motion control operator trainee position.

As a kid I grew up watching those old Harryhausen movies, old science fiction movies, a lot of other effects type movies that used stop motion animation, and something just really drew me to it. It’s fascinating. I love the process—that it requires so many different kinds of art forms and crafts to come together.

Fall /Winter 2012

Neil and Norman stare at the witch statue.

DH: The first thing we do every morning is look at where we left a shot on the previous day, and see if anything on the set moved overnight. Inevitably, something did. Either the set slightly shifted or the motion control rig moved because it’s all made of metal. As the temperature or humidity in the room changes, everything flexes, so we spend time trying to get the camera back to within 6 pixels of where it was the night before. It takes a fair bit of finessing: analyzing parallax shift, what axis it was, was the camera going left or right, etc.

Once we’ve fixed the shift, the animator comes back and continues with the shot. We move on to the day’s business of getting shots ready for the next animators.

After talking to the directors, and getting a good idea of what they’re looking for in a shot, we program a camera move we think is faithful to their vision. What type of camera move depends on the type of shot—everything from very simple things, like a pan or a slight dolly to more complicated moves that involve multiple axes and motorized models. A lot of what we do as camera operators is similar to how an animator works. We interpret, study the motion of moving camera and objects and figure out how to deliver those movements one frame at a time.

To: In terms of traditional camera operating, what we do lies within the motion control world. There is no manual operation of cameras at all in an animation set up, because of course the camera has to retain its position on a frame by frame basis. So it’s all motion control. There weren’t any traditional camera operators on the show—it’s a practical impossibility. In the credits were lighting cameramen, because I had sub lighter guys who were kind of sub DPs working under me, and then motion control operators and assistant camera.

In terms of the show, motion control took up a good 75–80% of the shots within the movie. So outside of the stereo shift on every shot, there would be something as simple as a focus pull, a pan tilt, or as complicated as huge crane tracking shots with a number of very large and quite Fall /Winter 2012

sophisticated rigs. All in all, this show was very motion control heavy. me: Oftentimes the hardest thing is just maintaining focus on the characters—especially since we were working with such shallow depth of field on this show. Like everything we do, focus pulls all have to be worked out ahead of time. After the camera move is programmed we step through key positions of the move while the animator blocks out their performance with the puppet. We record focus at each of those positions and they make marks on the set so that they can return the puppet to that position at that specific frame number. But… like actors in live action, sometimes the animator will miss their marks and we will have to make a correction mid-shot. You can’t just refocus for the next frame and continue on from there because that instantaneous shift in focus will create a bump or “pop” and will be noticeable to the viewer. Instead we have to anticipate where the puppet is going to be ten or so frames down the line, and over the course of those ten frames make a smooth and continuous adjustment to the focus pull. This means that you don’t know if your adjustment actually fixes the problem until several hours, or if it is a Friday evening, several days later when the animator gets to that point in the shot.

Dimensions

DH: When deciding how much 3D will be in a shot, we shoot various interoccular distances, which is the distance between the left and right frame, and pick one based on how it fits into the story’s stereoscopic arc and the comfort level of the audience’s eyes. We then program that IO (interoccular distance) into our motion control system. That’s all automated by the time the animator hits the floor.

To: Because we work in a world that is essentially the scale of the puppets, we can’t use two cameras next to each other, because they’d be inside each other. The luxury we have is that the puppets don’t move, unless we make them move. So we can take a left eye, and then move the camera across for Camera OperatOr: paraNOrmaN

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bit more realistic looking. There are no actors in suits pretending to be animated characters here. It’s all proper animation.

The Gear

DH: We use the Kuper motion control system to move the camera, and Dragonframe as the animation capture software.

Then there are the motion control rigs. We have a number of multi-axis rigs with custom pan-tilt-roll heads, a boom arm, and track. There are about 20 of those. One of them has 60 feet of track, stands 16 feet high and has an arm that’s 18 feet long. Considering the fact that we’re dealing in puppet scale, 1 ⁄6 human size, that 18-foot arm and 60 feet of track is really quite large.

To: Everything is automated. It’s an interesting system really, because the last thing an animator wants is to have someone else on the set with them. They need to work alone, because it’s a highly concentration heavy thing. So we prep the sets in such a way that everything can be automated. Motion control is automated, any lighting change is automated, any effects is automated—green screen or multi-part stuff—all automated down to one button so the animator presses that button when they’re ready for the next frame. The camera takes left eye, right eye, the camera rig moves, the lights change, everything happens. If they have a problem, then they just grab a walkie-talkie and shout for whoever can come and fix it. They work alone, and we move like a herd of wildebeest through the stage, moving from set to set, prepping sets, lighting, motion control, set dressing, that kind of thing, making sure everything is ready. And because there is no—

SCOTT SPIKER

the right eye and use the same camera, and this gives us a whole load of advantages, not least the fact that we’re taking through the same lens onto the same chip, so that all those problems you have with lining up optical aberrations in post, which you have if you use the two camera setup, are just not there—because it’s exactly the same lens and exactly the same camera; it just moves a little bit.

The fact that ParaNorman is shot in scope is pretty adventurous for a stop frame movie. I think only Pirates tried that. But it’s an aspect ratio that I’ve wanted to work in for a long time, because again I think it brings us nearer to what proper movies are like. Also, to work with long lenses and shallow depth of field was a great joy to me, because that’s something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time, and you’re quite often required to show the animation rather than to finesse the cinematography in stop frame. The fact that I was able to shoot it as I would shoot a live action movie and let things drop away in focus, let the characters pass into areas of brightness and shadow as they would in a real environment, was a great feeling of liberation, and something I’d really wanted to do. When I first talked to Chris Butler about this idea that he had for a film, it was very much something that he wanted to do, to get away from that animated look. That’s not to disrespect in any way any of the previous films I’ve worked on, because I feel that when I was at Aardman [the animation company that produced the Wallace and Gromit series], we really raised the game of stop frame cinematography and took it to somewhere it had never been before. I just feel that this has kind of taken it a bit further and made it a

DP Tristan Oliver lights the archive room at Town Hall for Norman and his sister to search.

Fall /Winter 2012

Camera OperatOr: paraNOrmaN

37

I mean really no—option for having a take two in stop frame, because you might be compromising days of an animator’s time if you’ve made a technical blunder somewhere, everything is absolutely tested to the nth degree beforehand to ensure that there will be no technical issue with the shot at all. The lighting, the motion control, everything is run through and rehearsed, so that the animator can go in there confident that if anything is wrong, it can only be their animation, it can’t be anything technical. That’s the last thing they want to worry about.

I don’t program the motion control these days. It’s not something that I have time to do. I’m responsible for the look of the entire movie, so I’m lighting maybe 12 or 13 sets, but I’m working across 50 sets—not hands-on lighting 50 sets, but I’m supervising how they are lit and how the motion control works across those 50 sets.

DH: The motion control equipment is often placed wherever it will fit on set. Sometimes if the space is really small, the crane will come over the top and drop down with a snorkel head so we can put the camera right into the middle of the set without having to break away walls. Occasionally though, we do have to break away walls because the rig is bigger than the set. There might be a doorway that the camera has to come through. The doorway will have to be removed as the camera pushes through; the rigs never touch the sets themselves.

Every shot’s different. It’s whatever the shot calls for. We have to look way ahead in the schedule, in the animatic, and decide how are we going to do each one. There will be a discussion between motion control, the set department, the director of photography, the directors, and often the effects department as well, about how we are going to accomplish

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this particular shot.

We have to do the same things as feature film and television operators, just at a different speed. For instance, the directors might tell us they would like the look of a handheld camera inside a car going down a bumpy road. It’s our job to do that—one frame at a time. We look at some reference and get an idea of what it would look like if one was to take the camera, handhold it, and go down a bumpy road.

Perhaps there’s a cartoony look that we’re Directors Chris Butler and Sam Fell trying to get, or maybe discuss a car sculpture with Director simplified realism. We of Photography Tristan Oliver will think of various ways it could be created: Do they have a Steadicam in the car? How bumpy is the road? How would the actors move in relation to the movement of the car? We program curves into our Kuper system, maybe add some white noise to the curve, maybe give a little chaotic shake to it. Then we start shooting tests and making modifications to the move depending on feedback from the DP or director.

To: I inherited a number of rigs from Coraline, a number of sort of standard crane rigs, a crane with a jib and a swing and a pan tilt roll head on and a track and they were reasonably lightweight and could be moved from unit to unit.

There were also some short tracker beds and pan tilt heads. I bought two very large rigs including an enormous cruciform rig, which had an 18 foot straight out reach on it. What this huge rig enabled me to do was create some important movement within the environment. One example was where things are moving through the forest, and I was able to put a camera on the front of this 18 foot arm, and reach it through a small fence, so that was incredibly useful. It was also used on some other key shots on the movie. Even if it had only

Norman’s feet on the bicycle Fall /Winter 2012

REED HARKNESS

We have to do the same things as feature film and television operators, just at a different speed.

Part of the van chase sequence, with Sheriff Hooper on a motorcycle behind the van.

done those few shots, it would have paid for itself, because it enabled us to get that look and feel that we were after. And I think that ParaNorman has a lot of dynamic in the camera movement. I think that it is performed so well that you’re not really aware of it. I hate it when the process makes itself felt. I think ParaNorman looks like a proper movie.

You’re not thinking, “ooh, look at that camera move.”

It actually just flows with the narrative of the film.

Frame by frame

DH: Very early on in the movie Norman walks through the streets speaking to invisible friends and there’s a particular shot that we called “the ghost reveal.” Thematically, it was one of the central shots of the film. It is where the audience first understands who Norman is, what he’s seeing, what he’s all about. It was a massive set, probably 60 feet long with 40 feet of track and an 18-foot arm coming out over it. We followed Norman down the street, circled around his head and, when we came around the other side, we saw his world was populated by ghosts. To create that shot we had to work around ghost characters that weren’t actually on set—we had to program camera moves around things that didn’t exist, so we would use paper cutouts to give the idea of how Norman would be positioned relative to an old Civil War horse, or a gangster, or Amelia Earhart in a tree—it took a lot of back-and-forth with the director to get that just right. It was a big accomplishment to finally get that one in the can. I think it took about a month and a half to shoot. It was a long sequence, and a very long shot.

My favorite stuff to shoot during the car chase because not only was there a great variety of complex camera moves, but also a lot of model moving. It’s a nice change of pace to not only move the camera, but to actually be the animator. In the

Fall /Winter 2012

The van’s passengers & driver

case of the van, we had a full-scale model that was 1⁄6 human scale and a half scale van that would be 1⁄12 human scale.

Those were hooked up to the motion control rigs that I would use to animate them breaking through barriers, over a cliff, and crashing down a hill. That was a lot of fun, because usually that’s left up to an animator. In this case, because it required robotics to move the model, the camera operators got to do it. That was really challenging. I had to think more as an animator than an operator, but at the same time it was one of the most enjoyable sequences. I was pleased with how it turned out.

One motion control technique that we used extensively on this film is go-motion. That’s where an object or the camera is in motion while the frame is being taken. It creates a blurred effect that is similar to how a camera would record something moving quickly, rendering realism to speed.

To: We can do motion, we can do in frame blurring, in a number of ways in stop frame motion control. If you look carefully at the shot of Norman’s feet pedaling the bicycle at top speed, you’ll see that the bottom rim of the wheel is out Camera OperatOr: paraNOrmaN

39

The zombies are rising.

of shot. That’s because the rim is being turned by a stepper motor as the frame is being taken so you get that in-frame blurring. The problem comes if you have bad stereo, because you have to repeat that particular discrete piece of blurring for the left eye and the right eye, so you’re not just rotating that wheel in one direction. You then have to back it up and repeat to make an identical blur for the other eye. Otherwise you get what we call retinal rivalry, where each eye is slightly different, and that really can make you feel sick. The engineering of that go-motion effect has to be very very precise in stereo. You can be far more sloppy if you’re shooting in 2D. DH: The climax of the film was another motion control heavy sequence. The entire world had to break apart and as it did so the chunks of splitting earth were all programmed individually. There were probably 30 different channels of motion control, 30 different motors under the set moving 30 different chunks as the Earth cracked open. David Trappe was the motion control operator on that sequence and he did some great work.

Matt Emmons and I shared programming duties on the Zombies Rise sequence. There was one particular shot where the camera travels through the graveyard and over the trees as the witch brings her curse down upon the earth, unleashing zombies from their graves. We filmed the last half of the shot somewhere near the beginning of the schedule. About a year later on another set, we had to shoot the first half of the shot travelling through the gravestones, and the two halves had to tie up exactly. Luckily, we had saved the little 2 foot square

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piece of set that constituted the linking frame. That was built into our new set and as the camera passed over it the two halves became one. We crossed our fingers that it would work. It’s amazing what you can get away with when the camera is moving quickly.

Moving on…

Read …how they got started MoRe in this line of work…

ME: I started out in school studying music, focusing primarily on composition. I always had a strong interest in film and wanted to do music for film. I guess I kind of slowly realized that I wanted to be more directly involved in the filmmaking process. But I’d still love to score a movie sometime…

TO: Matthew’s a bit quiet, but he is the boy genius. I always say he’ll be giving me a job in 5 years’ time. Good to have someone to bring in, train and know that he’ll be able to take over for you at some time in the future. I love it. And I had a couple of really good women camera assistant trainees as well on the show, and both of them were fantastic. Other people are rather wary of having people snapping at their heels but I think it’s essential to keep the industry moving forward. I enjoy it greatly.

DH: This is a bit of a dream job. When I was programming the van coming off the cliff, flying through the air, I thought about when I was 7 years old and watched The Making of Star Wars. This is exactly what they were doing, this is what I was so fascinated by—spaceships through the air. These aren’t spaceships, it’s a van flying through the air, but it’s the same thing— and we might even be using the exact same equipment.

Fall /Winter 2012

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‘Documenting’ Homeland

by Nicholas Davidoff SOC

Photos by Kent Smith et al. © Showtime 2012. All Rights Reserved.

Claire Danes and Nicholas Davidoff soc

H

omeland started as a little known series on Showtime that quickly generated great buzz. A combination of international spy thriller and deep psychological drama, it revolves around US marine Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis), a long-time prisoner of war just returned home. He becomes a national hero, but finds difficulty re-adjusting to normal family life after the horrors he’s been through. As Brody’s popularity grows, brilliant yet troubled CIA analyst Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) starts to suspect a darker side to Brody: that of a brainwashed Al Qaeda sleeper agent, who might be a major player in a terrorist plot against the US. Nicholas Davidoff soc (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Breakout Kings) and his wife were instantly hooked by the pilot. Little did he know he would soon be more closely involved…

Nick Davidoff and dolly grip Kale Bonsignore.

Is Brody a hero, or a threat? Nicholas Davidoff soc tracks CIA operations to unravel the truth behind the American marine and his eight years as a prisoner of war in Afghanistan.

Getting the Call

It’s a rare and special privilege when you’re a fan of a great TV show and then are asked to work on it as the “A” camera operator. So it was quite a thrill when cinematographer Nelson Cragg offered me the job on season two of the award winning series Homeland.

Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) and Carrie (Claire Danes) meet on a rooftop in Beirut (shot in Israel).

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I had the pleasure of working with Nelson before. We shot a small action movie in Baton Rouge called Arena. It was a hyper-stylized, underground fight movie starring Kellan Lutz and Samuel L Jackson. I developed a great chemistry with Nelson and “A” operator BJ McDonnell during that shoot, and I got to know some of Nelson’s history. He was a bit of a Hollywood prodigy, basically bursting onto the scene right out of film school. During his time at USC, he was the hot go-to DP that everybody wanted to shoot their projects. He developed a reputation as a talented cameraman with a keen eye for style and lighting. His work caught the attention of Jerry Bruckheimer, who has a long history of developing fresh young talent. Jerry saw the potential in Nelson, and gave him a dream shot at shooting CSI:Las Vegas! Nelson, who was only 30 then, was thrown right into the fire of network TV. Not only was he able to roll with the punches as a DP on a major TV show, his work even earned him an ASC award for cinematography I have always had a great respect for Nelson and his work, so I was Fall /Winter 2012

looking forward to teaming up with him again. There was little research to be done on my part. I already had intimate knowledge of the characters, storylines and style of Homeland. I truly wanted to put my heart and soul into the work to make it the best it could possibly be. So I couldn’t wait for that first shoot day to finally come.

and were simply a dream to work with. Our directors were the crème de la crème of the TV business. Most of our crew are North Carolina locals and I can’t say enough great things about them. All were courteous, hard working, talented people across the board. I couldn’t have asked for a better “A” camera team, comprised of focus virtuoso Patrick Borowiak,

Nick Brody (Damian Lewis) at CIA headquarters.

Kicking It Off

I knew week one would be the sink or swim week for me so I was extra vigilant. I was the new guy, in a key position, joining an already well-oiled machine of top professionals.

I had to hit the ground running and develop an instant chemistry with a cast and crew I’d never worked with. We had 8 days to shoot a one-hour episode so there was no dilly-dallying. This train was already hauling ass and I had to hop aboard and hang on.

Thankfully, falling into the groove of the show came quite easy. Due in great part to the fantastic group of people I was working with, I found myself smack in the middle of an ideal creative environment. From the top down, everybody was an all star at the height of their game. Our writing and creative staff, headed by Howard Gordon and Alex Ganza, developed acclaimed shows like 24 and X-Files. They were cranking out mind-blowing Emmy-worthy scripts every week. All of our lead actors were classically trained with years of experience

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2nd AC Christian Shonts and Dolly grip extraordinaire Michael “Kale” Bonsignore. Our “B” camera team was headed by our wonderful operator and 2nd unit DP, Mr Bob Newcomb, with 1st AC John Verardi and 2nd AC Monica Barrios. Loader Chris Lymberis completed the team.

The entire cast and crew worked in perfect harmony. It was one of the smoothest running productions I’d ever been a part of. I’ve always believed that when creative people are able to thrive in such a fertile friction-free setting, it will always shine through in the work. So, needless to say, Homeland was shaping up to be a great experience. But it would not be an easy one…

The Shooting Style

Coming into the second season, the look and shooting style of Homeland was already well established. Nelson and lead director Michael Cuesta had spent the entire first season refining it and had very specific ideas about how they want to Camera OperatOr: HOmeland

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Filming David Harewood as David Estes

shoot. So it was up to me to quickly adapt this style and make it my own. Homeland has a unique filming approach that I found fresh, exciting and challenging all at the same time. I’d call it a “stylized documentary.” Michael Cuesta and the show’s creators wanted Homeland to feel as “real life” as possible. Michael directed the majority of our episodes and he played a major part in ensuring the tone of the show was always grounded and honest and raw. He would often use the word “document” as in you’re a documentarian or photojournalist capturing the action. Michael also told me we didn’t have a “bible” of standards like many shows have. We allowed the directors to put their personal signatures on the work and it added diversity to every episode. Things never got monotonous or predictable.

When lining up shots Michael and Nelson preferred to find a single vantage point to place a camera and simply “document” the action. We didn’t like pulling walls or building elaborate sets to shoot in. Michael loved to work within a real world environment. Many a day was spent folded up in the corner of a tiny bedroom, or four guys crammed with two cameras and three actors in the back of a moving CIA surveillance van. Needless to say, the majority of the show was shot handheld, with a nice variety of Steadicam and dolly work.

We tried to avoid any shots that looked contrived, staged or choreographed. Therefore there was little place for fancy, sweeping dolly moves or glossy Hollywood beauty lighting.

The show had to feel real, gritty and off the cuff, sometimes even messy and uncoordinated. These were the guidelines that drove our specific brand of “docu-style.” And as simple as it may sound, for a perfectionist like myself, this mentality took some getting used to.

One defining moment hit me on the first shoot day. I was operating a tight handheld close up on our lead man Damian Lewis. Damian (Nick Brody) has just returned home from a

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harrowing experience. It’s a nerve-racking scene as Brody collapses to the floor, overcome with panic and vertigo. After take one, Nelson instructed me to get in even tighter. “Just jam that 28mm right in Damian’s face,” he said.

Then Michael Cuesta whispered to me that Damian might do this nervous clench with his hand and he really wanted me to “tag” it. So during this tense take, with the camera jammed right up in Damian’s face, I was “wall eyeing” his hands, watching for that clench, having no idea when it might come or which hand it would be. But I was determined to tag it. It was my first day and I was aiming for a perfect 10. So when that moment came, I drifted the frame down to Damian’s hand. But the moment I landed there, he unclenched it. The beat barely registered. Then I noticed his other hand clenching, so I drifted over to that one. And just before I got there, Damian yanked it out of frame to hastily loosen his tie. So I artfully drifted back to his face to finish the shot. Damn, two strikes! I cursed myself for not nailing those beats. The actor and I never got a chance to coordinate the timing. One more take and we could surely nail it. But moments later I hear “check the gate, moving on!” And I see a happy DP and director emerge from the monitors. I expressed my regret that we didn’t nail those beats on the hand clench. To which Nelson replied, “Oh no man, it was great. It was sort of awkward and messy and uncoordinated.

We love that stuff !” So I processed this. “Well great,” I joked, “exactly how I planned it.” And this opened a new dimension to the show that would have a great influence on my operating.

Perfecting the Imperfections

The term “docu-style” would come up a lot on set. It was sort of our credo. Now documentary style is a simple concept in theory, but once I started wrapping my head around it, it presented some unique operating challenges.

Of course, filming an actual documentary would be a straightforward process. As a photojournalist, you’d simply capture happenstance events as they unfolded before you, reacting to the action, making split second framing decisions to follow the story. Naturally, the camera work would be a bit sloppy, imperfect and usually a beat behind any sudden action. Along with this “docu-style” comes an exciting feeling of realism and spontaneity.

But what if you’re not shooting a documentary? What if you’re actually shooting a Hollywood TV show with actors, Fall /Winter 2012

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lights, stages and all the tools and resources you could need?

What if you know exactly what the action will be because you’ve staged it, rehearsed it and planned it all out? This spontaneous, unpredictable “docu-style” could not simply come naturally. It would have to be manufactured.

This made for an interesting mental game: How do I make things feel spontaneous and unplanned? As a camera operator, my training and instincts pushed me for perfect timing, framing and synchronicity at all times. Your brain becomes wired that way. So to mimic this documentary style I had to adjust my mindset. It was a bit of a head trip to un-train myself from a technical and mechanical style of shooting.

Homeland became an exercise in counter-intuitiveness.

For example, I applied a delayed reaction technique. When there was a change in action that I knew was coming. I’d let it happen and chase it with the frame, instead of moving in perfect sync with it—trying to avoid any telegraphing with the camera. I likened it to playing behind the beat in music, instead of being right in the pocket. The difference is barely noticeable, a mere split second. But that split second, on a subliminal level, helps create that “off the cuff ” feel.

Another technique I found very effective was to simply clear my mind of the scene. I’d intentionally forget the action, the dialogue and the specifics of the shot.

This gave me a chance to naturally react to things. I’d try to forget that an actor was about to lean over, stand up, or grab something off the table. So when it happened I’d be caught a bit off guard. Sometimes the camera was a touch behind catching a line of dialogue, or the focus rack was a second late finding an actor.

Patrick, our world-class focus puller, would curse himself whenever it happened. But on this show these were the great, organic moments that were part of our signature style. After a while my mindset was re-programmed to the point where I would purposely let these accidents happen. And Nelson and the directors loved it.

Going along with this “docu-”mentality, we did our best to avoid things feeling “stagey,” so it didn’t feel like a film crew had a half hour to set up the perfect mise-en-scène. Many times I had to stop myself from slightly adjusting a lamp or set piece for that perfectly balanced frame. Sometimes I’d specifically leave things how they were to achieve those subtle imperfections to the shot. I’d struggle to strike a balance

between a documentarian look and what you might call “bad” framing. It’s ironic, but I found it actually more difficult to make things look sloppy than to look perfect. I’d have to fight the urge to adjust the zoom to achieve that perfect “cowboy” or head and shoulders frame. We’d usually pick a lens size and simply “let it play.” My heart sank every time an actor got his knuckles clipped, knees chopped or god forbid that dreaded ankle buster! But it all served to enhance that feeling of happenstance and naturalism we’re striving for.

This style affected our compositions as well. When lining up a shot, I’d instinctually find that proper composition, and then purposely throw it a bit out of whack just to keep things off kilter. Nelson would often encourage me to find a more oblique, unconventional frame, sometimes framing high into the ceiling, or aggressively off balance to one side. I think these “uncomfortable compositions” helped create this subliminal feeling of tension and uneasiness that was perfect for our story.

Bob and I would always try to give our cameras a little “life”; we would rarely hold the shots static. With the exception of certain wide-angle tableaus, we would usually give a subtle motion to the frame. So a shot would rarely feel Nick Davidoff and B-Operator Bob Newcomb line up a shot.

The term “docu-style” would come up a lot on set....once I started wrapping my head around it, it presented some unique operating challenges.

Fall / Winter 2012

like we were comfortably settled. It was always active with some hint of tension and energy.

And at least once per episode, there was some chaotic, high intensity scene that called for a special way of shooting. This is when the gloves came off and we went into all out freestyle mode. This is the stuff of focus pullers’ worst nightmares. We would simply let the actors play the room, move around, do what they will and we would follow along with a handheld camera—usually on a wide lens, playing in tight, in your face close-ups. Nelson would discourage any rehearsal or laying of Camera OperatOr: HOmeland

49

marks. He wanted a clear head with no plan for the shot. Just go for it, get right in their face. After a while, Patrick stopped asking me what the plan was. He knew there wasn’t one. That was the whole idea. “May the force be with you,” was all I could offer him. And the force proved strong with Patrick.

Dollying and Focusing in “Docu-Style”

conscious” as one director put it. We got good at hiding the dolly moves within the action. Kale would pull off some really intricate work on the dance floor, which would go completely undetected onscreen.

I made extensive use of a creeper dolly to get those great low angle handheld shots, and to be able to scoot around and make those smooth adjustments. Sometimes we’d shoot handheld off a dolly, which was a great combination especially when we wanted to make precise moves on a super long lens.

Steadicam was mainly reserved for broad action and fast tracking moves. Ironically, the main complaint I got about my Steadicam work was that’s it’s “too steady.” So we often used longer lenses on the Steadicam, specifically to take some of the steady out of it and give it that rough edge.

Per the language of our series, we did a tremendous amount of long tracking shots both in Steadicam and handheld mode.

We’d lead and follow actors, navigating quickly through tricky and winding terrain. Hustling backwards blindly was something we got very good at. There’s no way we could have done half those shots without Kale’s excellent skills as a spotter—another reason why a great dolly grip is a priceless commodity of the camera team.

This “docu-style” also affected our focusing decisions at times. I recall one scene that was an interesting exercise in focus timing. We were shooting three actors huddled in a CIA surveillance van; two in the back and one in the driver’s seat. My camera was shooting tight close ups, swinging between the three faces. Patrick had a big focus rack on each pan. The first take we free-styled. I panned randomly

It was crystal clear from the beginning that Homeland was not a big “dolly” show. So I found it ironic that my “A” dolly grip was one of the best in the business. A 20 year veteran, Kale Bonsignore is basically a miracle worker when it comes to operating a dolly. Our first couple episodes were Michael Cuesta-directed, which meant they were mostly handheld.

However, an occasional dolly shot would slip through the cracks. One amusing incident happened on week two. We were setting up a wide static master shot mounted on the dolly. During the scene, Damian walks from the foyer into the living room. To follow the action, we had to do a small dolly move. Technically it was more of a correction than a full-blown dolly shot, but it was the only way to follow the scene. And it actually turned into a nice looking little move.

I was happy Kale got this little bit of action. I even joked that he finally got a shot for his new dolly reel. But our director zeroed in on this right away and hustled over. “Guys, what’s with the dolly move?” he asked. “That’s not Homeland.” And he was right, of course. So I explained that it was the only way to follow the action the way the scene was staged.

Michael thought for a moment, then replied, “Okay, do the dolly, but do me a favor, Patrick, put your hand in front of the lens during the move so it’s not usable.” So that’s exactly what he did. Poor Kale—the one little chance he got to shine was snubbed. Happily though, after the first take Michael reconsidered. “OK guys, don’t block the move this time,” he said. “It actually works kind of nice and doesn’t look too dollyish.” This went on to become a great running gag throughout the season; any time we set up a dolly move we’d inevitably joke, “ok, who’s doing the hand block on this one?”

As our shooting style evolved, we made more extensive use of our dolly.

Traditional “beauty” moves were taboo, so when we did do dolly moves, we put great effort into making them less Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend, right) subjects Nick Brody (Damian Lewis) to a grueling interrogation. noticeable or “self

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Fall /Winter 2012

Nick Brody meets the mystery woman Roya Hammad (Zuleikha Robinson).

between the actors and since Patrick didn’t know who I’d go to next, the focus always landed a beat behind. It created this great spur-of-the-moment “captured event” feel. Everyone was happy with the take. Except, of course, Patrick, who was upset about his focus timing. I told him the next take I’d whisper who I was panning to. Needless to say, the next take was flawless, and Patrick was pleased. But I noticed how dramatically different the scene felt. It was more choreographed and coordinated. Without that little focus delay it lost much of that spontaneous energy. It was interesting as a cameraman to watch the two different versions side by side.

The DP’s Perspective—Lighting and Lens Choices

The look of Homeland had to complement the tone of the show, which was raw and naturalistic. To create this mood with their lighting, Nelson and gaffer Tommy Sullivan had their own set of creative challenges. Often, it meant putting great effort into making scenes look “unlit” and real, walking a fine line between stylized and naturalistic. It was a subdued and understated style of lighting, which is a great testament to Nelson’s versatility as a cameraman. After all, he’d established himself in the glossy, hyper-stylized world of CSI. Beauty lighting was his specialty. So in many ways, Homeland was his “anti-CSI.” Making things look and feel natural can be as challenging for a DP as it is for an actor. Nelson too had to hold himself back a lot. On a few occasions, he would follow his natural instincts and start placing lights for a scene, only to end up shutting them off. Sometimes barely lighting a scene at all.

Simply using the faint ambient glow from a window or a single desk lamp in an office. Letting large sections of the frame fall into rich blackness. Even letting an actor get

Fall /Winter 2012

completely lost in the shadows now and then. It’s brave of Nelson to light this way and I respect his bold choices. It’s a big part of the reason the show feels so real and true. Of course, this approach to lighting certainly wouldn’t befit every project. But for Homeland it was simply a match made in heaven.

Watching the Season 2 premiere, one such lighting scheme really resonated with me. Congressman Brody is at his desk in his gloomy congressional office when he’s paid a visit by a mysterious woman. The whole time they sit and talk, this mystery woman is so under-lit and silhouetted you can barely see her face. I struggled to make out what she looked like. It created this heightened anxiety, and just sucked me deeper into the mystery and intrigue of the story.

At certain times, if the mood called for it, Nelson would let a scene look intentionally crappy and miserable, such as making use of the flat overhead fluorescents with their sickening greenish hue which casts a very unflattering light on an actor. But everyone was on board with it. Early in season one, Nelson had a conversation with Claire Danes about how he’d like to light her. He explained that when the story called for it, we’d intentionally portray her in a very raw and unflattering way. “Oh please, by all means,” Claire answered, “make me look like total crap!” A brave choice for an actor to make, and a testament to her deep dedication to the role and the material. And it was little surprise when a year later she won the Emmy for best actress.

Our lens package consisted of two 12–1 Angénieux zooms, 2 lightweight zooms (a 15–40mm and 28–75mm) and a full set of Zeiss Ultra Primes. We tended to use the extreme ends of the focal lengths, either getting up close and personal on a wide angle lens or far away and telephoto to give it a more voyeuristic feel.

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COURTESY OF SHOWTIME

One shooting technique we used extensively was to put on veterans, and the hardships of readjusting to a normal life. a wide-angle prime, such as a 28, and jam right in the actor’s It was a heartfelt and emotional scene, and after shooting face for a close-up. Usually this was in the midst of some Jessica’s side of it, we turned the cameras around to shoot the harrowing emotional drama. And boy crowd reactions. There seemed to be great energy in what a thrill it was to shoot these the air this whole evening. The hundred or so extras scenes. My first such experience took and guests in attendance all seemed in great spirits place in the Brody garage. Brody’s to be a part of our show. wife Jessica, played by Morena As Morena Baccarin delivered her monologue at Baccarin, had just discovered one of the podium (with equal dedication off camera I might Brody’s dark and disturbing secrets. A add), I was shooting close ups through the crowd. highly charged argument ensues, with And what I saw was really inspiring. Every single Brody and Jessica both on the verge person in the room was riveted, hanging on Morena’s of emotional meltdown. And in the every word. It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. midst of all this turmoil, stuck right These people were truly listening and fully engrossed Jessica (Morena Baccarin) delivers her keynote speech. in between them, is me, with my in this powerful speech. My camera then landed on camera, inches from their faces. one particular man in uniform. This was Major Rich, I was so up close and personal with these brilliant actors as we call him on set. He serves as one of our main military that I could hear their hearts beating. I could feel their rush advisors on the show. He wore his actual Marine dress blues, of emotions charging through me. I didn’t feel like a casual with all his various medals and decorations across his chest. observer but an active participant. And I’m certain the He too was fully engaged in Jessica Brody’s speech with great viewing audience must feel the same visceral energy that I do, pain and intensity across his face. And just as my camera being right there, in the middle of it all. It would have been settled on Major Rich, a teardrop trickled down his cheek. far weaker if shot from 10 feet away on a telephoto lens. What Moments later, another one fell. This powerful and coma difference it made to the emotional impact of the scene. posed military veteran was moved to tears by the words she spoke. Nor was he the only one. My hand tightened around In Closing the panhandle and I felt my own eyes getting a little glossy.

I’ll never forget one particular day early in the season which The moving speech ended with a standing ovation for Jessica had a profound effect on me. We were filming a scene of a Brody and very few dry eyes in the house. large Washington fundraiser for disabled veterans. The event Later, I complemented Major Rich on his “great work” was co-hosted by Jessica Brody, the wife of our troubled war in the scene. No sooner had the words left my lips than hero. It was a lavish black tie affair with lots of military brass I realized what a foolish statement that was. Major Rich, in attendance (some of whom were the real thing). At one in a somber mood, replied, “Thanks a lot Nick, but I wasn’t point in the scene, Jessica takes the stage to deliver a keynote acting. I was merely listening. Those words really hit home.” speech about the struggles faced by the families of war This experience gave me a deeper appreciation for the work we were doing. We were really moving people, inspiring and perhaps even making a small difference in the lives of some of our military heroes and their families. It felt great to know that we might be creating something more than just simple entertainment.

At the 2012 Emmy awards, Homeland swept the drama category for best series, writing, actor and actress. I’d like to congratulate all the hearts and minds that come together every day to create this great show.

It’s truly an honor to be Steadicam shot with Nick Brody and chief of staff Gregg Merilles (Alexander Gemignani). a part of it all.

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Fall /Winter 2012

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The Zen of filming Life of Pi

by Lukasz Bielan

Photos TM and Š 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

Pi (Suraj Sharma) and Richard Parker (the tiger) contemplate each other.

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ife of Pi, a 400-page novel by Yann Martel, won over many hearts when it was published in 2001. It is the magical story of an Indian boy named Pi, a precocious zookeeper’s son. Pi’s family decides to move from India to Canada, catching a ride on a freighter. After a shipwreck, Pi finds himself adrift in the Pacific Ocean, accompanied by a hyena, an orangutan, an injured zebra, and a 450 pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker, fighting to survive for 227 days.

Directed by Ang Lee, with cinematography

by Claudio Miranda ASC, Life of Pi is truly a visual spectacle, using 3D technology to bring this adventure masterpiece to the big screen.

Sometimes it’s just about getting your feet wet, or keeping your head above the water.

Camera operator Lukasz (also credited as Lukas and Lucas) Bielan (Transformers 3, Public Enemies, Oblivion) reminisces about capturing fantasy and spirituality, and searching for life’s purpose.

Suraj Sharma as Pi Patel

You’re hired

I get this phone call from Claudio Miranda, whom I have known for a long time—we worked together on many commercials and I was his “B” camera operator on his first feature film (we do not like to mention this title, although it made money and put Claudio on the map). He calls and says “how about we do a film in Taiwan and India, a bit of Canada, for 6+ months—EASY—you will be on the crane all the time, fun and not too complicated”… Little did I know! It was the most challenging film I have ever worked on—technically, emotionally, and physically!

I came up through the ranks starting as a camera trainee, 2nd AC, then focus puller and operator. I had the great privilege of working with some of the best people in this business, including Sven Nykvist who was my true mentor and a father figure. I worked on 9 of his pictures, which is a fraction of the over 130 films he has made. But we became very close. He taught me a lot about filmmaking and lighting but above all, how to be grateful and understanding—how to be a good person. I believe he was not only an outstanding cinematographer but also an amazing human being. He also always said that the most difficult thing to achieve in one’s art, profession, and life is simplicity… We seek for ways to be original, and ways to stand out, by over thinking and over achieving what really is in front of us. The simplicity is so obvious that it frightens us.

In many ways, simplicity is the hardest thing to achieve, and once one achieves it, it’s an unbelievable art form. I think

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that’s what Ang Lee is so masterful at. He knows how to tell the story by means of simplicity.

When I went to film school many years ago, one of the first things I learned was that kids, animals, and water were the most challenging things to work with. We had all three—and 3D on top of it! All my instincts, knowledge of anticipation, and pure feeling for my work as an operator were thrown out the window.

The 3D angle

Life of Pi was a true journey. We took on a story that many thought was unfilmmable. Before Ang Lee there were three directors who pursued this project: M Night Shayamalan (Sixth Sense), Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men), and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen). Then Ang came on board and decided that the only way to make this movie was in 3D. I had had some experience with 3D, but never so effective and “by the book.” Those rules gave Ang the opportunity to create a new way of dealing with 3D in editing. He came up with cuts never seen before with this technique.

Claudio was prepared for this movie like no other DP I’ve worked with before. He has always been a technically savvy individual, with all the new toys and gadgets, and knowledge of them all. He is kind of like Hitchcock or David Fincher: the film is already made, now you just have to shoot it!

Composition is a key issue in 3D. Take for example “edge violation,” also called “breaking the stereoscopic window” or “breaking the frame.” If the action comes out of the screen Fall /Winter 2012

The right Pi

Ang Lee has a great gift of finding individuals who work well together. It took him months to cast the boy for Pi’s character. After auditioning 3000 boys, he chose Suraj—a boy who had never been on a film set, never swam, and never left India. His transformation was something that we as filmmakers had never seen. Within days he became the character, going through emotional and physical changes (including losing 40 lbs). And he performed superbly!

The lens loved him, and during one scene, when Pi was

approximate place that part of the story took place, and meditated with him. Many times Ang was very precise with direction, but sometimes he was just leaving him to be himself, to a point that Suraj asked me, “What am I supposed to do? He did not say anything.” My response to him was, “Exactly!”

On location in Taiwan

We shot most of Life of Pi in Taiwan. Ang Lee is a national treasure there, so it was easier to fit the budget of such a difficult movie shooting in Taichung, third largest city of Taiwan. We had an old airport at our disposal with three hangers converted to sound stages. One had a water tank where Pete Zuccarini shot most of the underwater stuff.

There was also a hanger built solely for all the animals that were in the movie—4 tigers, a couple of hyenas. (The orangutan and zebra were CGI, and so were the more gruesome tiger and hyena performances.)

PETER SOREL

(negative parallax) and the objects are cut off by the screen edges, this causes an edge violation. Contradictory depth cues are sent to the viewer. One cue is saying that the action is in front of the screen and another is saying that the action is behind it. So, I had to compose a close up very differently than in normal 2D filming, and the same with over the shoulder shots.

Camera Operator Lukasz Bielan, Director Ang Lee, and Director of Photography Claudia Miranda ASC

going through a very emotional moment, I thought it would be great to push in on him. Well, I was wrong—very wrong.

Ang was quite upset, not because I took the liberty of doing a move, but that I spoiled a moment that did not have to be forced by adding a dramatic move. He was absolutely right.

Why spoon feed the audience, if it is all there! Another lesson learned—that is why I love this business!

Ang knew how to talk to actors and a boy who was new to this. Before filming he took him out to sea, to the Fall /Winter 2012

And then there was our main area of filming—the enormous basin with a state of the art wave making machine.

From what I understand, it was the largest tank of its kind in the world. It measured 90 meters by 30 meters [about 300 feet by 100 feet—for comparison, an American football field is 360 by 160 feet] surrounded by dozens of shipping containers which formed an enclosed area from all sides and made way for overhead light control by a pulley system of silks. One side of the area could be opened so that we Camera OperatOr: Life Of pi

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Filming with Spidercam in the water tank

could shoot into the sky with no horizon.

Claudio designed a system so that at any given moment he could surround the area with white cloth, blue screen, or negative fill. This allowed him to bounce light onto the set or take it away. Containers nearest to the set were occupied by each department: one for camera and video techs, one for sound, etc. Then there was our container where Ang, Claudio and the producers watched our work on 3D monitors. This is also where I operated. It was a necessity to be inside, because of all the atmospheric conditions that we created for the movie. And that meant I was close to Ang to listen to his directions.

Tools of the trade

Our cameras—two Alexas on Pace rigs—were mounted on a 30 ft hydroscope crane that was then mounted on top of the Chapman Titan crane. Apart from that we also had the spider rig at our disposal for certain high angle and programmed shots.

I must admit that I do not belong to the technically inclined, so learning the new media is something to look forward to every day.

As a camera operator, I know how to adapt to each new project. Every director has a different vision, idea, procedure and personality. For me the great thing about filmmaking is that you always learn, no matter how big the project, be it

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film, TV, commercial, or music video. I believe that the moment you stop learning, you must change your occupation because you get stale and lose interest.

Challenging shots

Ang Lee is a very organic director who knows what he wants but lets things happen. He would never have storyboards, but he did have a previsualization, because of the difficulty that lay ahead of us in the logistics of shooting on water with a kid, animals and 3D! Having said that, the previz was more of a guideline, because everything changed the moment we did rehearsals and realized how some shots would not work in that moment, or we would find better ideas. For instance the previz called for a shot of the boy on a raft, revealing by pulling back that the lifeboat was further away. As we looked at the scene we found a great crane shot that starts over the boy, booms down, pulls back, does a 180° and then reveals the boat with the raft in the foreground.

Being on the crane is taking advantage of a great tool and helps finding cool frames, but it also—in the case of this movie—created a huge problem with following the composition. I always love to be behind the camera. I believe that if you do it long enough, the camera becomes a part of you, whether you’re operating a fluid head or a geared head. The difficulty with being on the hydroscope that is on the Titan, with a 3D digital camera, and operating over water, is timing.

Fall /Winter 2012

because it was a new rig and nobody had ever used electronic equipment like that in water. We had the Storm of God—the biggest storm in the movie—where it washes Pi to a strange shore. We had so much water and so much rain that it was a miracle that the camera survived.

Dan Ming (1st AC) and Tucker Korte (2nd AC) became our onset plumbers. They built a special weather bag, equipped with “air knives” that would blow very high pressure air on the front elements of the mirror. 3D cannot take any imperfections on the front element of the lenses—the mirror. With 2D filming you can get away with murder and sometimes it looks great when one sees water on the image. But because of the nature of 3D, this is impossible. So the guys built this system of hoses that blew air from heavy duty compressors that looked like two big armoires! After many trials and errors it worked great, without taking the time out of changing the lenses. We shot most of the water work on Master primes.

The “B” camera ACs were also fantastic: focus puller Jan Ruona, 2nd AC Tobin Oldach.

There was a shot that we had to do with Suraj using a fluid head, where I had to whip tilt from his foot to his face very precisely so as not to cut his head—the 3D thing. With a conventional camera it’s not a big deal. With a 3D rig that weighs a ton, is longer in girth and size, and has a different momentum, it was a bit of a challenge. Of course we did it, but I learned a new thing about how to distribute power and how to handle momentum in tilting with a massive camera.

Basically, it is practice of tilting with a great 3D beast.

We even had a handheld sequence of kids playing soccer in the schoolyard, with the rig weight over 120 pounds, but I love doing stuff like that. It still makes me feel like a kid playing with his toys. I get a lot of complaints from my peers saying that I should not do that kind of stuff because then it will be expected of them! Weight matters the least for me; it is more about the distribution of it that takes the toll on my

Fall /Winter 2012

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PETER SOREL

That’s where the whole instinct issue that I mentioned earlier comes into play. Intuition is very important, but because of the minute delay of the video image coming back to the monitors, minute delay of the remote head, the time needed to communicate with the dolly grip and arm operator, and the unpredictability of the water, the said intuition becomes irrelevant, especially when you have a director wanting something very specific, so one can imagine what a stressful time that can be. We did succeed in the end, by fine-tuning the equipment, great concentration and a bit of luck. I must admit that there were shots that we were not proud of, but in the long run they looked very generic and real, so sometimes through mistakes something great happens—another learned lesson.

Our crew was remarkable, and this had merit. Most of the scenes on the water were in various weather conditions, and our rigs were not weatherproof ! The rental house did Lukasz Bielan films the boys’ soccer match with a handheld 120 lb rig. not have any waterproof housings

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hero—his name says it all—majestic, grand and very powerful, above all ferocious—to the point that even his handler had fear of him. At one point Richard Parker (the tiger) was to swim across our water tank. King was trained for that and rehearsed many times. During this shot we were told to be prepared to evacuate the area if he decided to take a different route, which of course he did! Immediately most of us left the proximity of the set, as instructed. King kept swimming around the tank, losing his sense of direction, and slowly losing his

“Richard Parker” the Bengal tiger

body, so sometimes I actually add more things on the camera so it balances properly and the weight is distributed mostly to my core.

And then there was a sequence shot in the ocean… We were composing on the lifeboat coming towards the camera which was in the water and then as the boy jumps in we submerge with him finding his feet that struggle to touch the bottom, and as he gets a grip we come up from under water to find him getting on shore for the first time in over 200 days… a very epic and emotional moment —I may add also a very physical moment for me! We had an underwater rig that weighs as much as the camera rig, so it took four guys helping me to achieve the shot—another one of those times where we have to hurry to have good light as well… It was a handheld shot under and over water. The guys helped me control the camera’s weight and momentum. We were just on the shore of waves breaking.

For some sequences in the boat, when we did not have to be in the water, I was able to be physically behind the camera—what a great treat after spending weeks locked up in a container! I could control everything myself ! I felt like I got reunited with my dear friend.

Many scenes involved green screen and composing on things that would be added later in postproduction. Composing for flying fish and following them, yet they were not there, a whale jumping up in the air—not there—seemed hard, but during my time on Transformers 2 and 3, [director Michael] Bay taught me how to imagine something that is not there.

Animal Tales

The days in the water tank were sometimes so hard and technically difficult that we thought it would never end. As Murphy’s Law would have it, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Wind ripping the silks, wave machine breaking, animals not cooperating—one started to understand why this was thought to be a unfilmmable movie… But we did succeed, just like Pi did. Life of Pi in many ways was our life. We made the unbelievable become believable.

Working with animals brings a big challenge to the table, because although they are trained and instructed what to do, they are also unpredictable. We had these amazing tigers for various sequences. Our main tiger named King was the

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A storm at sea in the water tank with the camera mounted on a 30 ft hydroscope crane that was then mounted on top of the Chapman Titan crane.

Fall /Winter 2012

strength. The trainer immediately had to take the action into his own hands, not literally, but off a water platform. He hooked the tiger’s head with a lasso and slowly piloted him to shore.

Then there was a wonderful tiger named Jonas, not as brilliant as King, but great for close interaction. We had a shot where I was operating the camera from the camera (for a change), and Jonas walked by us. As he passed, he brushed by my body—it was as if a tank drove by. The massiveness of that creature was amazing.

Fall /Winter 2012

On location in India

India was a magical location—one of the greatest places I have ever visited. We shot in the tea fields of Munnar. From a distance its landscape resembled a gigantic green brain.

One of the most beautiful sequences of the India part of the film was shot at a temple during a water tank ceremony.

The tank is a square reservoir the size of a soccer field with a series of steps leading to the water. A shrine sits in the center; worshippers carry a statue of Sleeping Vishnu into the water where it is transferred to a raft. The ceremony begins, and the

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An operator’s job

The show must go on

I do believe through years of experience that the natural progression for a camera operator is in fact directing. We are the last humans between the lens and the actors, and actors very often personalize the camera with who is behind it.

Many times after getting the thumbs up or down from the director, they will double check with us for reassurance. On occasion, we sometimes whisper to the director about some imperfections of performances that we notice within the scene. We must know about editing, how the scene will or will not cut, and creating a work environment that is suitable for the cast.

However, working with that 5-year-old made me think twice about directing. Of course one day it would be great to be at the helm, but I am still happy doing what I love.

I do believe that experience in life makes you a better storyteller in the future, so maybe one day…

That evening we were looking at different camera angles, and I got on top of a roof to see. Coming off it I decided to jump to the ground instead of using a ladder and my knee popped. I thought it was the end for me. I could not straighten my leg. There was so much pain. I did not admit what happened to anyone—I had to finish the movie. Next day was a handheld scene with the 3D rig… I was in tears.

Because it was a night shoot, right after wrap I landed at a local hospital in Pondicherry, got an MRI done, saw a great orthopedist, and found out that I had torn my meniscus in a few places. Some cortisone shots helped me through the week. I started to exercise a lot more and it helped. But there was one more huge hurdle in front of us: India’s revenge. On my birthday, I spent the entire night and morning in the bathroom. That day about 20 people did not show up for

Ang Lee, Lukasz Bielan , and one way of keeping the camera dry.

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PETER SOREL

Our Own Journey

We spent over six months working on a film that related to the entire international crew—18 different nations. Ang Lee knew how to unite all of us and make us care about not only the work but the journey we all had together as what we became—Pi’s family. We sometimes trained with Suraj, to make him comfortable, and told him our stories, which were valuable for a boy who had never left India. We saw a boy transform into a great actor, but most of all we saw a boy become a man. After the film ended and we all went our ways, we formed a group on Facebook called Life after Pi. We still are in touch and trade our stories and life.

It was an experience like no other and Ang drove our boat; he was our Richard Parker (you must read the book or see the movie to understand the analogy).

Life of Pi was a personal journey for me. It’s one of those films that will always stick with you.

Fall /Winter 2012

JAKE NETTER

entire place is lit by floating candles— tens of thousands!

We had many extras that night and had to shoot them out. Then at around 2 am it was time to film the boy playing the young Pi. You can only imagine the cooperation of a 5 year old after midnight! I was behind the camera, with Ang next to me directing the young actor.

Nothing worked—he was sleepy, mad, pissed off, and there was no way he would follow any directions. We kept rolling, hoping to catch any reaction that Ang was looking for. At one point, Ang, completely exhausted, started walking toward video village, paused, looked at Lukasz Bielan high on a crane. me and said, “Your turn!” I pulled every trick possible to make the boy react. The work. Ang was also in bad shape, but the show must go on.

1st AD stood next to me. After a while we caught an expression or two that was needed to tell the story. The boy was not I came to the set after lunch, hydrated and drugged up— only sleepy but he had the attention span of a fly! We had I could not miss the day. We must have consumed ice from him in a few different scenes, and with a 5-year-old, it does the local water the night before. It was not a pretty sight! not get easier with sleep.

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Creating Leverage

by Gary Camp

Photos TM & ©Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.

Beth Riesgraf in “The Rundown Job” from Season 5.

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KIM FRENCH

n this day and age, corporate and governmental greed seem to be at an all time high. Ordinary citizens fall victim to scams and injustice. Why sit back and take it if you can exploit their con?

Leverage, now in its 5th Season on TNT, follows a former insurance investigator (Timothy Hutton) as he leads a grifter, a thief, a hacker, and a retrieval specialist, using each of their unique skills to fight back.

“A” Camera Operator Gary Camp (The Spy Who Shagged Me, Independence Day, Bowfinger) recalls the action from the show’s beginning, and how extensive use of the Steadicam helps the audience participate in the scenes on each episode. He also learned a new way to handle the Steadicam.

Timothy Hutton

Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge

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ERIK HEINILA

Masterminds

I have been on Leverage since the pilot in Chicago. The look came from our executive producer, Dean Devlin, who directed the pilot and from cinematographer David Connell ASC. Dean’s vision was that he wanted the camera to never stop moving, and with Dave’s experience and his moody lighting, I feel that is what we have accomplished.

The toughest shoot so far was for the Season 4 Premiere “The Long Way Down Job,” aka the “Blizzard” episode. We worked in a real blizzard! For 3 days! When I did the movie Day After Tomorrow, we made the snow and we were mostly inside. For the “Blizzard” episode we were on Mount Hood and freezing for 12 hours a day.

We had many Steadicam shots, and of course you just had to put up with the sideways snow. The gear took a beating. The greatest thing about it was that special effects guys have been trying for years to make manmade snow look believable. Our snow continuity was just amazing since the storm never let up. Every day was the same nasty weather. Visibility was maybe 100 feet—we never saw the mountain. The results sure looked incredible.

That episode was directed by Dean Devlin. Dean is not only our executive producer but has also been one of my best friends for more than 20 years. He was best man at my wedding. It’s a blessing to work with such good friends. I don’t know how many people can say this.

Fall /Winter 2012

I met our DP, Dave Connell, on the pilot of the show, so we’ve worked together for the last 5 years. When you have to spend 12–14 hours a day with someone it, helps if they are easy going and someone you like to hang out with, even off the set. Dave allows me to throw in my “what if we did this” questions. After a time you just line up a shot that he and the director designed and when they see the shot of their vision, the majority of the time they won’t change a thing—no booming up, tightening up etc. That’s when you know you are on the same page as your DP and that’s where you want to be.

We are lucky to have a talented “B” camera crew full time on the show. “B” operator Norbert Kaluza is a very experienced operator who takes the helm as our splinter unit DP and operates the Steadicam as well.

I feel I bring a lot to the table when it comes to the overall look to the show as the “A” operator.

But I work in collaboration with the director and the DP, as well as the actors. The best thing about my job is after the collaboration I am the one who gets to operate the camera and put my spin on the shot. I love my job!

years ago. We are under the pressure of shooting an episode in 7 days, and 12–13 hour days at that. Dean Devlin shot the first Leverage episode in 6 days—6 days! So Dave is under the gun to turn in a well-shot show in this little amount of time.

I did some time on Ghost Whisperer and we always did 13–16 hour days, always a Fraturday. So I’d say delivering the episodes in 7 days is the most challenging thing about Leverage.

Movin’ movin’ movin’

Dean Devlin had this idea of a Segway shot. He had been hinting at it since the beginning of Season 5. Never having

Life on Set

Working in Portland isn’t always a dry experience. It’s like Vancouver and Seattle—you just keep shooting. It drizzles, the roads dry, it drizzles again. For the most part you never notice it in the shot. Weather has never made us sacrifice the look of the shot. The folks up here in the Pacific Northwest are used to these working conditions and getting the job done.

The cast of the show is now like family. We have been together since the pilot. We have forged such a friendship over the years that they are now brothers and sisters. Being an operator you become pretty close to the cast, which makes for an amazing working environment.

This is TV—rehearsing is a luxury. The actors do their rehearsals, we line up with the second team and most of the time we shoot the rehearsal.

Christian Kane (in red) We all know TV is a different animal. We don’t have the luxury of a feature pace; we shoot 7 to 9 ridden a Segway, I went out and bought one, practiced a bit pages a day and 7-day episodes. and thought I was comfortable. Then on set, I put the rig on As the “A” operator you are very involved with the designand was ready to go. It wasn’t just a straight on tracking pod ing of the shot, but not so much the blocking. The actors shot; it was a crazy one. He had me going full speed chasing rehearse and get a feeling for where their character would be in the scene. The director then adds his thoughts. He and the our three actors as a train was just leaving, then circling around slowly and chasing them to the opposite platform as DP take over, and this is when I get to give my opinions or another train was just entering frame, with 150 extras...crazy, “what if we…” It’s very collaborative. Some directors stay for right? We did it in 4 takes. several shows or a complete story arc; other times the The biggest challenge of the Segway is offsetting the directors are different every episode. That means the DP and backward lean you do when you operate the rig. I operate off I have a lot more freedom as we are there on every episode. the left side so I have to lean slightly back and to the right.

We maintain the look and movement of the show.

With the Segway on the highest speed, that lean translates The biggest challenge on any series is probably when you into a backwards left turn, so you have to offset the weight to get a new director. The actors, the DP and I have been there make the Segway feel neutral. You have to bring the for every shot, every episode. Dave [Connell] set the look

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Gary Camp moves fast on the Segway

Steadicam rig in closer to your body so your center of gravity doesn’t affect the Segway. You find yourself concentrating more on that than on the actual shot when you first start out, but eventually you find your sweet spot.

Riding the Segway with the modified knee steering device is easy enough to learn; you just have to figure out how to squeeze your knees together and lean forward to move forward. Try not to go backward on the Segway. High speed is 13 mph which is a lot faster than you might think; safety should always be a prime concern.

The Segway is just another tool to use with a Steadicam.

Everyone keeps trying to do things different and make a statement. I’m not alone.

Tech Stuff

Watch Gary filming on the Segway.

We use the RED Epics on this show with Optimo zooms and Ultra Primes. It is very important, I believe, to use the best glass possible when shooting digital. We have been working with the REDs for 5 years now. Dean Devlin, who has a personal relationship with the company, was one of the first to shoot with the cameras. I found them touchy at first but they are now solid cameras that we can count on. We have had the same camera assistants for 5 years and there isn’t anything that they can’t handle on the REDs. We approach handheld for only two occasions: when we want the audience to feel the team is in peril, or when we are doing a fight scene. You have to be careful when you go handheld; it has to have a purpose—otherwise you’re in

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jeopardy. On fight scenes we give it a little boost and shoot 90-degree shutter, which works well.

Thoughts

I come from the age of film, but the digital age is here to stay. People just have to adjust. One of the best things about digital is you don’t have to wait Segway knee steering controls until dailies to see that the shot was soft. You see it in real time, a focus puller’s dream. I remember those days when you went to dailies and if your close-up on the actress was edgy, you squirmed down into your seat.

The difference between TV and movies is the quality of catering. No, seriously. The big difference is how much time you have to shoot a scene. In TV you shoot 7–9 pages a day.

I can remember shooting Godzilla and we would get 2 shots a day. On The Patriot we spent 6 days on one-eighth of a page.

Movies are of course the big leagues, but does it really matter when you are doing what you love to do? I go back and forth from movies to TV because as a Steadicam operator you are just a hired gun. Who cares if you are on a TV show or a $200 million movie— you just get to do what you love to do.

My advice for up and coming camera operators is to keep Fall /Winter 2012

Shooting in the train tunnel

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ERIK HEINILA

coming up with new gags. Cameras are getting smaller and on them, so they can see if it’s for them. How can you not smaller. Being a camera operator is the best job on set, but pay it forward when you have eager filmmakers wanting it isn’t easy to get there. Be patient, and if this is what you to experience it? always wanted to do, then like me you will get there.

I have put my Steadicam rig on every intern that comes through our show. They work for nothing, but they want to be in the camera department. So I give them hands on experience. Even when we are on a remote head, I let them do a rehearsal on the wheels.

When I was coming up I had a few operators that did the same thing to me.

I tell them to be patient, as it took me years to be where I am today. I tell them that you don’t need a Steadicam to be an operator but it helps to have that in your arsenal.

Aldis Hodge, John Rogers, Dean Devlin, Beth Riesgraf, Gary Camp This is why I put the rig

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The Return of Cinerama

by Douglas Knapp soc

Photos by Robert Garren, Mike Celestino and Michael J Cahill.

Additional photography by David Tondeur, Lance Fisher soc, Tom H March, Ed Steiner and David Strohmaier.

All Rights Reserved.

Crew members get the Cinerama camera ready for the sequence at the Observatory.

C

inerama with its huge deeply curved screen, three synchronized projectors and 7 channel stereophonic sound was amazing when it appeared in October 1952. The presentations were true “Roadshow Style” events and the inspiration for a plethora of formats for widescreen movies that would only need a single projector.

The Cinerama camera equipment went into mothballs in 1962. But it was revived again recently, by a dedicated Cinerama aficionado and a crew that loved the process and enjoyed a challenge. Douglas Knapp soc worked on the project as both co-DP and 2nd unit camera operator, and Lance Fisher soc was the camera operator for the project.

It was time to make another movie in Cinerama.

Not only did they make their movie, but they documented making it with a video, and several Behind the Scenes movies. Now Douglas Knapp soc and other crew members share their stories.

Douglas Knapp soc with the Cinerama director’s finder

On the evening of September 30, 1952, an audience of some 1,000 people assembled in the Broadway Theater of New York City to see a film called This Is Cinerama. Its sponsors saw this as an experimental production. The audience witnessed a major revolution in motion picture history—one of the most important technological developments since the advent of sound for motion pictures.

Cinerama was developed by engineer Fred Waller. The camera was actually three 35mm cameras, mounted as one with a single shutter, motor and drive system and a unique coupling (for focus and aperture) of three 27mm focal length Kodak Ektar lenses. The resulting image, The 3 lenses when the three panels were combined, approximate the field of view of the human eye—146 degrees wide by 55 degrees high. The images are spectacular in sharpness, scope and brilliance— almost 5 times the image quality of standard 35mm 4-perf film. The deeply curved screen really puts the audience “In the Picture”… thus the title of our modern day Cinerama travelogue of Los Angeles.

Celebrating the 60th anniversary of Cinerama, Sept 30, 2012 at the Cinerama Film Festival in Los Angeles, audiences experienced the first 3-panel Cinerama film to be shot in 50 years. In the Picture was shown along with a restored

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film print of This Is Cinerama—the film that started it all.

Due to the challenges of shooting in 3-panel Cinerama, the single film 70mm system, Ultra Panavision 70, was used from 1962 onward to produce It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Grand Prix and 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was the end of one era and the beginning of another. For those who saw the original Cinerama features and other “Roadshow” presentations, with reserved seats, hard-bound programs, klieg lights, red carpets and showman-like presentation, we lament the passing of the “big daddy” of big screen movies—Cinerama.

MICHAEL HOFSTEIN

In the beginning

In the Picture

As part of the Cinerama Restoration process, a small budget was set aside to actually film a few minutes with one of the existing of the original seven Cinerama cameras — #3. This camera had been used on How the West Was Won and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.

Ken Stone of Stone Cinema Engineering restored and updated our camera with a new electronic speed control system and battery power system. As we found during testing, the camera had a few “wear & tear” issues, primarily a lot of slop in the focus knob. Now you would think the depth of field of a 27mm set of lenses would be sharp from here to San Francisco… Not so. We carefully tested and placed new marks on the focus knob, which were valid only turning the knob Fall /Winter 2012

near to far focus. The truth was, we found the lenses didn’t seem to follow the convention of 1⁄ 3 forward and 2⁄ 3 back rule in carrying focus. It was more like the reverse. So we would throw focus back and hope near objects were sharp.

Generally they were—at F5.6 or above. The running speed of the camera was also a remnant of the past. Traditionally in the ’50s and ’60s, the Sound Department, which was linked to the camera by selsyn motors, would “roll the shot.” If there was a slight variation in speed, both camera and sound were locked together. Not so with our system. Ken developed a “speed chart” which relied on an LCD readout. You turn the knob up to a mark, then refer to the LCD. At 3900, you were at 26 fps—the shooting rate of original Cinerama. You had to “ride the knob” to try and keep speed constant at 26 fps … thus the wandering sync with modern day sound recording equipment. Due to the build of the camera, adapting the existing motor was the only acceptable choice. The motor and power system never failed us. We often shot the whole day with one set of batteries.

John Hora ASC was involved with this project early, and suggested to David Strohmaier, our director (one of his many duties on the show) that Doug Knapp would probably be interested in working on this film. And so I joined the intrepid band of Cinerama Geeks and brought a few friends with me… Lance Fisher SOC and David Tondeur came aboard as Camera Operator and Camera Assistant. Those traditional titles were a little loose on our show, as we all found many cross-over points. We all loaded magazines (Bell & Howell) and learned to thread the camera movements, which clipped onto the back of the main Cinerama camera, sort of like an Eclair or ARRI SR. It was great to have everyone double checking all the processes involved to get “The Beast” up and running on a shot. Now “Good Old #3”

ARCLIGHT & DOME SEQ

PRINCIPAL PHOTOGRAPHY WILL BE DONE ON A SELECTED WEEKEND BETWEEN 8:30:&10:00AM BEFORE A FREE SCREENING -STARTING AT ABOUT 10:30 - THIS IS TO GET VOLUNTEER EXTRAS (NEED ABOUT 100 PEOPLE) FROM OUTDOOR CAFÉ:

1. WA -OUR ACTOR’S WALK LT TO RT TO THE ENTRANCE DOOR AND ENTER (70-100 extras) INSIDE THE LOBBY:

3. MED - SHOT OF THE BOX OFFICE CASH REGISTERS OUR ACTORS GET IN LINE AND BUY TICKETS & EXIT FRAME RT (70-100 extras)

Example of director’s shot list, showing A-B-C panels.

Threading the camera

when fully loaded and rolling is about 250 pounds. The original Cinerama Tripod and Friction head is easily 75 pounds. The three 36 volt batteries and speed controller add another 100 pounds. Fortunately my friends, Ben Betts and Randy Burgess were able to loan me “The Action Dolly” we had used on two Star Trek TV series. That made it possible to “mount up” for each location, and pretty much move the equipment, as well as plan real dolly shots. The air filled tires, combined with 400+ pounds of weight and the 27mm focal length lenses made most dolly shots very smooth. Lance Fall /Winter 2012

Fisher developed methods of operating without a reflex system, and walking along with the dolly. Some of our best shots are the dolly moves.

David Strohmaier, our director and writer, has been involved with Cinerama for over 15 years. His documentary film Cinerama Adventure, released in 2002, details the history of the process and the films made in Cinerama. Who better to lead the production of a new giant screen film?

David, together with Stanley Livingston and Matt Brewbaker wrote the script and worked through the details of the project. A sample of the breakdown, with location photos, is shown above with A-B-C panels. We were a very small production unit (usually no more than 7–10 people), so the schedule was not overly ambitious, and we were able to get every day’s work done without killing ourselves or losing the light. Dave’s friend Kurt Wahlner was ever present, helping to move and build equipment, serving as our dolly grip for many shots, designing and making the end Title Cards for the film.

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Lance Fisher and David Tondeur somehow made our small camera crew seem large and more capable. I don’t know how we would have managed without them.

Locations we visited were The Hollywood Barn/LaskyDeMille Museum, Griffith Park merry-go round and Planetarium, Chinatown, Angel’s Flight, Brigantine Sailing Top Sail Youth program in San Pedro, Mulholland Drive outlook, Hollywood Blvd, Santa Monica Pier, Rodeo Drive, Queen Mary, and Cinerama Dome Theater. Our Griffith Park, LA Inside Angels Flight

Filming in the car

capture a scene between Debbie and our lead, Stanley Livingston, who played Debbie’s great-nephew in HTWWW. All went well, and we had finished principal photography. A couple of extra days went into a skeleton unit, filming some traveling shots and title cards.

Dave’s editing and post production process was amazing.

As there is no way to see 3-panel Cinerama except to project it at the Dome, we needed to video record the projected image, with an audio feed from the soundtrack, then edit on Final Cut Pro. Most of the dialogue had to be looped to overcome the camera noise. Re-syncing, adding Foley and effects, an original music score by composer Bryan Arata and a final audio mix done at Chase Audio in Dolby 5.1, recorded at 26 fps for Cinerama Projection while working with editing equipment in a 24 fps world was a monumental task.

freeway and Hollywood Blvd shots were driven by Leo Landa using the Shotmaker Camera Car. We shared the work and made this film a true Labor of Love.

After a day of shooting, FotoKem handled all the processing and dailies printing of the FujiFilm we shot— both 64D and 250D stock. We owe a lot to both FujiFilm and FotoKem for their generous support of this unique project.

Dave would sync up the 3 panels of print in his garage, with a 4 gang sync block (see photo). A few days later, we would convene at the Cinerama Dome to see our “rushes”— usually a good experience. There were a few glitches—a hair in the gate, wandering focus, hazy Los Angeles weather.

Mostly things looked great.

The last day of 1st Unit filming was at the Dome. It was the day of the Turner Classic Film Festival.

How to sync the 3 panels How the West Was Won packed the house and Where to find “The Making of In the Picture” movies Debbie Reynolds spoke to Behind The Scenes, part 1 &2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p8OALI74h0 the crowd after the film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udtQB_i-JyE&feature=relmfu During part 2 of the film, This Is Cinerama Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lII5rXbxcCs&feature=related we set up our lighting and Cinerama Warehouse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RWVpIZf VTs&feature=related camera, and were ready to

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After a “final edit,” all the dialog was re-recorded to audio-only loops by our wonderful soundman/sometimes gaffer/always smiling Lincoln Morrison—his uncle had worked on This Is Cinerama. After having those lines transferred to 35mm mag-stripe film at 26 fps, they were cut in to replace the original dialogue.

Back to the Dome to see the whole mess projected, once more videorecorded, and compared to the existing cut. Sound adjustments were made for sync, our original music score was added, along with Foley and effects, and on to the final mix. Sounds straightforward—it was not. Then Dave conformed the work print to the final mix.

A few weeks later, negative was cut

by Chris Weber—not a normal thing, due to 3 separate pieces of film for every image, as well as only having edge code. As fate would have it, for our first day of color timing with Kristen Zimmermann at FotoKem, Dave was stuck in Venice, Italy (after

The brigantines Exy Johnson and Irving Johnson

Comments from the other key Cinerama players DaviD Strohmaier It was a joy to experience the thrill of shooting something in the old Cinerama process. We often felt like we were making a little history ourselves. It was also kind of a cinema forensics exercise, rediscovering the remains of a lost format years later and figuring out how they used it. Directing a short like this was quite a challenge as the budget was far from that of a studio type production. We were all acting as grips, craft service and laborers throughout the production—no egos, just a desire to do something unique and historical. Our crew was there because we all wanted to be there. We had was a real top notch team and they all pulled together beyond the call of duty.

Post production was certainly a bear as none of the original post production equipment was available. Shooting at 26 fps (the original Cinerama speed) was more troublesome that

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you can imagine and was the cause of many sync problems that we eventually overcame with very unconventional methods.

Full text for Lance Read and David T:

MoRe

Lance FiSher Soc I remember the roller coaster from This Is Cinerama from when I was a kid —it’s the kind of thing that sticks in the mind. It was amazing what a response the world had to it. Everything that ends in –rama came from the name Cinerama—and some of those places still exist today. It was such a phenomenon, such a break-through. There were something like 174 theaters to do roadshows back then. Now only 3 of them are left—Hollywood, Seattle, and Bradford, England.

This camera was made in the late 1940s before the age of computers. It hadn’t been used for 50 years, but it’s a tank! It just runs and runs and runs— like all good film cameras.

Cinerama lasted 10 years. A lot of

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things come and go—8 track, BetaMax, Walkmans. The Walkman revolutionized music and made Sony millions, but now everyone has an iPod of some kind.

At the Cinerama Festival, I’d go out in the lobby after the show to demonstrate the camera. People were fascinated. And they came from all over for this festival, even as far as Australia. The daughter of the lady who owned that roller coaster came from New Jersey.

We had a great great time making this film. I feel like I participated in a little bit of history.

John Sittig The making of In the Picture for the 60th Anniversary of Cinerama was done to highlight this groundbreaking process to an entire generation of movie-goers that never had the opportunity to experience the transformative power of Cinerama.

Producing In the Picture was significant at this particular time Fall/Winter 2012

the Venice Film Festival Cinerama Restoration presentation) due to an airline strike.

Such suffering! I attended the timing of reel one. The following week Dave was back and we both went over the entire show—28 minutes—about 4,100 feet X3.

We had two answer prints made, and Kristen came to the Dome to see both of them, as the only thing she had to work with were 4-perf at a time images of one panel.

Forward to September 28th, 10am. This was our first public showing of In the Picture. A large crowd had gathered to see this “one of a kind” new production. From the Overture to the Exit music, the film went off beautifully. It was gratifying to see the Dome filled with enthusiastic Cinerama Geeks like us. Leonard Maltin reviewed the experience (see sidebar).

A few of us die-hards are pushing for another Cinerama project—this time with a 7 figure budget. Maybe the gang can get back together and use the knowledge we have gained in shooting In the Picture for a full length feature in that wonderful film process, Cinerama. when the industry is moving from 35mm film to digital production. This was a chance to show the versatility of celluloid film and one last chance for a group of filmmakers to revive a process that was abandoned 50 years ago. We now have a new list of Cinerama camera operators. The previous list had not changed since How the West Was Won in 1962.

DaviD tonDeur I had seen all the Cinerama films at the Casino in Soho London, so you can imagine my excitement when I was asked by Dave Strohmaier and Douglas Knapp to join the crew of In the Picture.

We had several “run throughs” with our ACE engineer Ken Stone prior to shooting tests. After Ken had showed us the threading of the magazines to the three camera movements we were very “democratic” about sharing the work— Doug, Ken and I would rotate that often tricky job. Doug made a rig out of wood which enabled the camera body and magazine to be supported during this delicate maneuver. This was a great Fall / Winter 2012

LeonarD maLtin One of the highlights of the Cinerama festival at the Cinerama Dome in Hollywood wasn’t a vintage movie but a brand-new short-subject called In the Picture, shot with one of the same cameras that photographed How the West Was Won and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. It’s a consciously corny travelogue of Los Angeles featuring two couples (just as in Cinerama Holiday) taking in the sights: Mulholland Drive, the Griffith Park carousel, Griffith Observatory, historic Angels Flight funicular railway in downtown LA, and a pair of brigantine sailing ships in San Pedro harbor. It so happens that one of the locals showing his visiting friends around town is Stanley Livingston, the former child actor who appeared in HTWWW… and when he and his troupe reach their ultimate destination, the Cinerama Dome, they encounter Debbie Reynolds (who played his great-aunt in that movie) signing autographs in the lobby. A movie can’t get more self-referential than that.

As simple as it sounds, In the Picture makes perfect use of the Cinerama process, just as its predecessors did in the 1950s. It’s great fun to see familiar sights spread out across a gigantic screen, with those “join lines” stitching the three synchronous images together. Most people I spoke to after the debut screening last Friday seemed to agree that the sailing sequence was the most impressive portion of the short.

[The] digital presentation of 1958’s South Seas Adventure sold me on the restoration process that’s been implemented by Austin, Texas-based Image Trends Inc. They are working from badly worn, severely faded color negatives, but you’d never know it from the picture spread on the giant Cinerama Dome screen. — http://leonardmaltin.net/Newsletter.htm

help and cut down the loading time!

As it takes three persons to lift the mechanism, Ken had made two lifting handles which screwed in the side.

We started shooting just after New Year at the Hollywood Heritage Barn.

Dave Doug, Ken, Lance and I worked together like a well oiled machine.

There was a “Who’s Who” of top professionals from the picture business donating their time and energy to the project working alongside us.

I had a great time and would do another one “at the drop of a hat.”

Kurt WahLner We have a POV shot as one of the Angels Flight cars is going up. As we were shooting it, we all knew that it was going to be a wonderful shot, and in the cut, Dave just let it roll. Cinerama is perhaps the pinnacle of non-narrative filmmaking. Why are we looking at the Exy Johnson under sail? Because it’s beautiful. We have no other reason. Do we need one?

I enjoyed the repetition involved with juicing up and outfitting the camera.

Not one battery. Three. Not one loaded magazine case. Three. I enjoyed trying to anticipate what the camera operators were going to need next. Magazine “A” or Magazine “C”? Viewing tube or no viewing tube? Our Cinerama director’s finder was borrowed. I was terrified that someone would walk off with it when we weren’t looking, so I appointed myself its keeper most of the time, appearing with it when Dave wanted to take a look at something, then putting it back in its box where I could keep an eye on it. (photo on page 72) When we had to counter-balance the merry-go-round, Dave turned a half dozen crew people into sandbags.

Everyone understood that our whole show could be an exhibit at the Jurassic Museum some day, and yet we were all very proud of working on something that was so “against the grain” of industry trends. At the same time, whenever we would explain to onlookers what we were doing, most people were delighted. “What are you making this for?” “To show people.”

Read Full text for Kurt:

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Phil Caplan passed away on July 16, 2012, at the age of 63. A charter member of the SOC, he truly loved his profession, and managed to retain great memories of his work to the end. Phil had a stroke approximately 22 years ago, after which he was unable to work. He was honored with the SOC President’s Award in 1992, which meant a lot to him, considering how abruptly and prematurely his career ended. His work as a camera operator included such films and television series as Pretty Woman, Star Trek V, Harlem Nights, Jaws: The Revenge, Naked Gun, Grease 2 Hill Street Blues, St Elsewhere and Magnum PI. We thank Phil for his contributions to our organization.

Phil Caplan 1948–2012

Society of Camera Operators Charter Membership Roster

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A view of ParaNorman motion control: Justin Rausch animates Norman on a gimble mounted moco rock while a mocoed Canon 5D MkII with Cooke 5:1 lens conversion looks on. Courtesy of Laika, Inc.

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Fall /Winter 2012

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SOC Roster Society of Camera Operators Current as of 11/5/12

ACTIVE Peter Abraham Jonathan S Abrams Michael R Alba Bret Allen Derek M Allen Robert Reed Altman Colin Anderson Jack Anderson Kevin W Andrews Miguelangel Aponte-Rios Francois Archambault Joseph Arena Will Arnot Ted Ashton Jr Mark August Grayson Grant Austin Paul Babin Randall B Baer Christopher Baffa Lonn Bailey James Baldanza Jerry Banales Christopher Banting Jeff Barklage Angel Barroeta Tom Barron Parker Bartlett  Paul Basta  Gary H Baum Guy Norman Bee Tim Bellen Michael Benson  Nils Benson George M Bianchini Bonnie S Blake Jason Blount Bob C Boccaccio Katie Boyum Kevin D Braband Gerard Brigante Hilaire Brosio Garrett Brown Kenny Brown Pete Brown Scott Browner Robin Buerki Gary Bush Jerry G Callaway  Stephen S Campanelli Richard Cantu Jose A Cardenas Lou Chanatry Joe Chess Jr Anthony Cobbs Craig Cockerill Steven Cohen Gregory Paul Collier Dawn J Conceicao Kris A Conde Andrew Glenn Conder Michael Condon Brown Cooper Dan Coplan Luke Cormack Javier A Costa Richard J Cottrell Tom Cox Jeff Cree Rod Crombie Caleb Crosby White Richard Crow Jeff L Crumbley Richard A Cullis Grant Culwell Joseph C D’Alessandro Nicholas Davidoff Markus Davids Richard W Davis Mark G Dawson Edwim de Jong Andrew A Dean Michael S Dean Kris Andrew Denton Joel Deutsch David E Diano Troy Dick Jason Dittmer Rick Drapkin Scott C Dropkin Mitch Dubin Jerry Dugan

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Simon Duggan, ACS Louis R Duskin Allen D Easton William Eichler David E Elkins Jason Ellson David Emmerichs Kevin J Emmons Brant S Fagan Tom Faigh Diane L Farrell Dianne Teresa Farrington Jesse Michael Feldman Michael Ferris George Feucht Dick Fisher Lance Fisher Aaron Fitzgerald Eric Fletcher Michael Flueck Houman Forough Felix Forrest Steve G Fracol Keith Francis Nick Franco David J Frederick Michael Frediani Michael A Freeman Steven French Samuel “Buddy” Fries Mick Froehlich Jeff Fry William Jay Gahret  Paul M Gardner David Gasperik Rusty Geller Mark Gerasimenko William Gierhart Laurie K Gilbert Harvey Glen Mark Goellnicht Daniel Gold Allen Gonzales Robert Gorelick Afton M Grant Bruce Alan Greene David Allen Grove Robert Guernsey Pedro Guimaraes John C Gunselman Chris C Haarhoff Jess Haas Anette Haellmigk John Hankammer Peter Hapke  Tim Harland Joshua Harrison Kent Harvey Chris Hayes David Haylock Alan Hereford Steven F Heuer Kevin Hewitt Joachim Hoffmann Abe Holtz Jerry Holway Casey Hotchkiss Colin Hudson Jeffrey G Hunt Philip Hurn Dave Isern Christopher Ivins Eugene W Jackson III Jerry M Jacob Francis G James Alec Jarnagin Simon Jayes Christopher D Jones Kurt Jones Steven Jones Jacques Jouffret John H Joyce David Judy Mark Jungjohann David C Kanehann Mark Karavite David Kimelman Douglas H Knapp Dan Kneece Rory Robert Knepp Robert Kositchek Bud Kremp Kris Krosskove Per Larsson Eric Leach

Camera Operator: SOC Roster

Sergio Leandro Silva Richard Leible Joshua Lesser Sarah Levy Jimmy W Lindsey Hugh C Litfin Patrick Longman George Loomis David Luckenbach Greg Lundsgaard Kenji Luster Rob Macey Vincent C Mack Paul S Magee David Mahlmann Giuseppe Malpasso Kim Marks Cedric Martin Johnny Martin Parris Mayhew William McClelland Andrew McDonald Michael P McGowan Christopher TJ McGuire Aaron Medick Alan Mehlbrech Jack Messitt Duane Mieliwocki Marc Miller Andrew Mitchell Colleen Mleziva William Molina Denis Moran Josh Morton Manolo Rojas Moscopulos Jeff Muhlstock Michael James Mulvey Scott T Mumford Sean Murray Dale Myrand Leo J Napolitano Jay Nefcy  Julye Newlin Leigh Nicholson  William R Nielsen, Jr Randy Nolen David B Nowell, ASC  Tamas P Nyerges Ryan Michael O’Donnell William O’Drobinak Michael D Off Mark D O’Kane James Olcovich Andrew William Oliver John Orland Wayne Orr  Rafael Ortiz-Guzman Georgia Tornai Packard Heather Page Nick Paige Andrew Parke Patrick J Pask Christopher T Paul Karin Pelloni George Peters Jonathan F Phillips Alan Pierce Theo Pingarelli S Jacob Pinger Jens Piotrowski Joseph Piscitelli Robert Presley Louis Puli Ryan Purcell Elizabeth Radley Yavir Ramawtar Juan M Ramos Ernie Reed  George Richmond Brooks Robinson Randall Robinson  David Robman Andy Romanoff Peter Rosenfeld Andrew Rowlands Dave Rutherford P Scott Sakamoto Joel San Juan Martin Schaer Ron Schlaeger Mark Schlicher Gregory J Schmidt Thomas J Schnaidt Fabrizio Sciarra Brian D Scott

Michael Scott  Benjamin Semanoff Barnaby Shapiro David Shawl Geoffrey C Shotz Osvaldo Silvera Jr Jamie Silverstein Teddy Smith John Sosenko Andy Sparaco Mark Sparrough Sandy Spooner Michael St Hilaire  Lisa L Stacilauskas Robert Starling Ray Stella  Scott Stelle George B Stephenson Meagan Stockemer Michael R Stumpf David L Svenson David James Thompson Richard Tiedemann John Toll, ASC Remi Tournois Neil C Toussaint John Trapman Michael Tsimperopoulos Chris Tufty Dan Turrett Brian Tweedt Joseph F Valentine  Matt Valentine Paul D Varrieur Ron Veto Ron Vidor  Stefan von Bjorn Bill Waldman Michael J Walker Timothy N Walker Adam S Ward Gareth Ward Gretchen Warthen Aiken Weiss Mande Whitaker Kit Whitmore, CSC Ken Willinger Chad Wilson Dana D Winseman RL Wise David A Wolf Bill Woodbridge Ian D Woolston-Smith Peter C Xiques Chad Zellmer ASSOCIATE John Addocks David S Adelstein Jamie Alac Andrew B Ansnick Jillian H Arnold Jacob Avignone Ryan Vogel Baker Eddie Barber Josh Barrett Stephen Blanor Jeffrey D Bollman Peter Bonilla Jean-Paul Bonneau David Boyd John Boyd Jennifer Braddock David Brooks Rochelle Brown Clyde E Bryan Anthony Q Caldwell Bruce Cardozo Marc Casey Gareth Paul Cox Michelle Crenshaw Richard P Crudo, ASC Anthony Deemer William B Demeritt, III Ronald E Deveaux Jorge Devotto Twojay Dhillon David Dibble George Spiro Dibie, ASC Paul A Duclos Keith Dunkerley Brian James Dzyak Jonathan Edwards Molly M Edwards Christopher Ekstein

David T Eubank Allen Farst Daniel Fernandez Paul Ferrazzi Nichole Fleit John C Flinn III, ASC Mark Forman Tammy Fouts-Sandoval Brian Freesh Peter F Frintrup Fred M Frintrup Nicole Fuchs Raquel Gallego Hank Gifford Michael Goi, ASC Wayne Goldwyn Al Gonzalez Frederic Goodich, ASC John M Goodner Brad Greenspan Dave Gregory Phil Gries George Eric Griffith David E Grober Robert Guthrie W Adam Habib Bob Hall James Hammond Anthony Hardwick Anthony P Hettinger Ken Hilmer David Hirschmann Scott Hoffman Rachel A Hudson Jim Hunter Carrie Imai Toshiyuki Imai Gregory Irwin Haley Jackson Quenell Jones Brett Juskalian David Kane Mark H Killian Douglas Kirkland Craig Kohlhoff Robert La Bonge Laurence Langton Thomas Lappin Dr Thomas Lee Alan J Levi Mark Levin Howard Levine Justin Liang Adrian Licciardi Ilya Jo Lie-Nielsen Stuart T Lillas Rachel A Lippert Gordon Lonsdale Jasmine Lord Christopher Lymberis Tony Magaletta Dominik Mainl Darin Mangan James Mathers Jim R Matlosz Hilda Mercado Charles Minsky, ASC K Adriana Modlin E Gunnar Mortensen Matthew C Mosher Richard Mosier Shah Mundell Natasha Narkiewicz Natalie Newman Kurt Nolen Russell C Nordstedt Crescenzo GP Notarile, ASC Larry Mole Parker Steven D Parker Jeremy Parsons Florencia Perez Cardenal Mark W Petersen Matthew A Petrosky Jon Philion W S Pivetta Ted Polmanski Robert Primes, ASC Liz Radley Richard Rawlings Jr, ASC Marcia Reed Bill Reiter Elizabeth Reynolds

Lawrence M Ribeiro David Richert Claudio Rietti Alicia Robbins Peter J Rooney Melissa Roth Danny Salazar Steve Saxon Carl Martin Schumacher, Sr Christian Sebaldt, ASC Stephen Silberkraus Charles A Simons Guy Skinner Michael Skor Jan Sluchak Eric Smith Robert F Smith Needham G Smith III Dean Robert Smollar Brian Sowell Don Spiro Doug Stanley Aymae Sulick Jeremy Sultan Sulekh Suman Tara Summers Andy Sydney Ian S Takahashi Joe Tawil Christopher Taylor David Roy Tondeur Matthew Turve John Twesten Caitlin Rae Tyler Daniel Urbain Sandra Valde Thomas Valko David Van Eman Dale Vance, Jr Leonard P Walsh,II Justin Watson Alex White Simon Wolfe Santiago Yniguez Tim Yoder Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC HONORARY John Bailey, ASC Tilman Buettner James Burrows Alexander Calzatti Roger Corman Dean Cundey, ASC Bruce Doering Clint Eastwood Jack Green, ASC  Tom Hatten Ron Howard Ron Kelley Kathleen Kennedy-Marshall Jerry Lewis Larry McConkey A Linn Murphree MD Diana Penilla Steven Spielberg Robert A Torres George Toscas Roy H Wagner, ASC Haskell Wexler, ASC RETIRED Aldo Antonelli Gary-Olyn Armstrong Eugene Ashbrook Lou Barlia  Al Bettcher Joe Blaisdell James Blanford Vee Bodrero Donald R Burch  Philip Caplan  Bruce Catlin Jim Connell  Ivan Craig Joe Epperson  Robert Feller Hiroyuki Fukuda  Jerry Fuller Gil Haimson  Wynn Hammer Lutz Hapke 

Gary Holt Robert C Horne Bob Keys  George La Fountaine, ASC Norm Langley  Thomas Laughridge  Steve Lydecker  Heather MacKenzie James Mann Owen Marsh  Bob Marta  Stan McClain Michael McClary Ron McManus Emmanuel Metaxas Robert “Bob” Moore Ed Morey  Lee Nakahara  Sol Negrin, ASC King Nicholson  John G Nogle  Dan Norris  David L Parrish Aaron Pazanti Arnold Rich  Sam Rosen  Frank Ruttencutter Richard Salvatore Chuck Schuman Philip D Schwartz Bob Seaman  Hal Shiffman  Phil Stern Gene Talvin Ben Wolf CORPORATE 3ALITY TECHNICA Sakae Manning ARRI INC Bill Russell BIRNS & SAWYER INC William Meurer CAMADEUS FILM TECHNOLOGIES INC Sebastian Lumme CAMERA DYNAMICS INC Jim Davis CAMERON-PACE GROUP Vincent M Pace CARL ZEISS MICROIMAGING Richard Schleuning CHAPMAN/LEONARD STUDIO EQUIPMENT Christine J Huenergardt Leonard T Chapman CLAIRMONT CAMERA Mardrie Mullen DIGIHOLLYWOOD Chol Kim FILMTOOLS INC Stan McClain FUJIFILM NORTH AMERICA CORPORATION Sandra Kurotobi GEO FILM GROUP INC George Nolan HYDROFLEX INC Matt Brown JL FISHER INC Jimmy L Fisher Frank Kay MARK BENDER AND ASSOCIATES Mark Bender MATTHEWS STUDIO EQUIPMENT Ed Phillips PANAVISION Bob Harvey PRECO INC Wes Donahue SCHNEIDER OPTICS— CENTURY DIVISION David Contreras Bill Turner TERADEK LLC Michael Gailing THALES ANGENIEUX Eva Paryzka TIFFEN Frank Rush

SOC Founding Members Parker Barlett Paul Basta Mike Benson Phil Caplan Mike Chevalier

Bill Clark Jim Connell Jack Green Gil Haimson

Peter Hapke Tom Laughridge Steve Lydecker Owen Marsh

Bob Marta Jay Nefcy Wayne Orr Mike St Hilaire Chris Schwiebert

 denotes a Charter Member. All Founding Members are also Charter Members of the SOC.

Fall /Winter 2012