British Cinematographer - Issue 98

www.britishcinematographer.co.uk

Issue 98 -- March 2020

MULAN MANDY WALKER ACS ASC

SEAN BOBBITT BSC | DARIUS KHONDJI AFC ASC | POLLY MORGAN BSC ASC | MARK JENKIN | MARIA VON HAUSSWOLFF | TOMASZ NAUMIUK PSC | VLADIMÍR SMUTNÝ

Photos: François Duhamel © 2019 Universal Pictures and Storyteller Distribution Co, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

CONGRATULATIONS Roger Deakins CBE, ASC, BSC on your Oscar®, BAFTA, ASC and BSC awards, and the many international accolades won for the technically audacious “1917.”

Thank you Roger for choosing ARRI equipment and ARRI Rental to support you.

www.arrirental.com

www.arri.com

CREDITS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 98 / MARCH 2020

BRITISH

CINEMATOGRAPHER

UNI T ING C INE M AT O GR A P HE R S A R O UND T HE W OR L D

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 Publisher and Managing Editor | ALAN LOWNE | +44 (0) 1753 650101 | alafilmuk@aol.com Publisher and Digital Editor | STUART WALTERS | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | stuart.walters@ob-mc.co.uk Editor | RON PRINCE | ronny@princepr.com Head of Sales | ALAN LOWNE | +44 (0) 1753 650101 | alafilmuk@aol.com Sales | BARBARA PIKE | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | barbara@ob-mc.co.uk Sales | RUPINDER RANDHAWA | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | rupinder@ob-mc.co.uk Design | MARK LAMSDALE | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | mark.lamsdale@ob-mc.co.uk | www.ob-mc.co.uk

“In this time of globalisation and technological change in our industry, IMAGO is working for you to ensure that the art and craft of cinematography remains relevant, safe and secure, diverse and inclusive.

And we want more of you to get involved. Together we are strong.”

- PAUL RENÉ ROESTAD FNF, IMAGO PRESIDENT 2015-20

Subscriptions | MATT HOOD | +44 (0) 121 200 7820 | matt.hood@ob-mc.co.uk | www.ob-mc.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS RON PRINCE has many years of experience in the film, TV, CGI and visual effects industries. He is the editor of British Cinematographer Magazine and runs the international content marketing and PR communications company Prince PR (www.princepr.com). In 2014 he won the prestigious ARRI John Alcott Award from the British Society of Cinematographers for services to cinematography.

DAREK KUZMA is a film and TV journalist, translator/interpreter, and a regular collaborator/programmer of the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival. He is an ardent cinephile who has a lifelong romance with the visual language of cinema.

DAVID A. ELLIS originally worked at BBC TV’s film department at Ealing Studios. He is the author of the books Conversations With Cinematographers and In Conversation With Cinematographers, and has written for a number of publications, including Film International, Cinema Technology and the American online music magazine Film Score Monthly.

DAVID WOOD is a freelance journalist who writes about film and TV technology and production. He is a former technology editor for Televisual Magazine, and writes for Worldscreen, TVB Europe and Broadcast Magazine.

JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT/UAV PILOT, the GBCT News Editor, is a documentary and commercials cameraman who has worked on many productions around the world.

He crosses over in both film and tape productions and has great knowledge of the new file-based formats and their methods of production.

KEVIN HILTON is a freelance journalist who writes about technology and personalities in film and broadcasting, and contributes film reviews and interviews to a variety of publications in the UK and abroad.

MICHAEL BURNS has been covering film, broadcast, VFX, animation and interactive design, in print and online, for 20 years. His work can regularly be found in such magazines as IBC Daily, Digital Arts, TVBEurope, Broadcast Tech, and more. He also works as a producer and advisor for conferences and digital agencies.

SUBSCRIBE When you subscribe you will receive an unrivalled insight into international cinematography and production. Published six times a year, you can receive the magazine posted to your home or office.

You can now also access British Cinematographer anywhere you have an internet connection with our digital subscription. To subscribe please visit www.britishcinematographer.co.uk/subscribe For queries please contact Matt Hood on +44 (0) 121 200 7820 or email: matt.hood@ob-mc.co.uk

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Laws Publishing Ltd, Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 | f. +44 (0) 1753 650111 The publishers wish to emphasise that the opinions expressed in British Cinematographer are not representative of Laws Publishing Ltd but the responsibility of the individual contributors.

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EDITOR’S LETTER

LIFE OF BRIAN… ROGER AND CHRIS

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e send our congratulations to Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC on winning the ASC, BAFTA, BSC and Academy Awards for his work on the Sam Mendes-directed 1917, the dramatic WWI story told in one continuous shot.

Of course, this remarkable technical and artistic achievement would not have been possible without the stellar skills and professionalism of all concerned, and it was magnanimous that Roger consistently named and thanked his camera and lighting crew, along with Mendes, at each and every opportunity during his awards acceptance speeches. He also paid tribute to his wife, James, who played a key role in managing equipment and communications during the shoot, and then the post-production workflow. As if Roger’s impressive clutch of gongs were not enough, he may well add a prestigious IMAGO Award to his collection soon.

Speaking of IMAGO, which is newly-relaunched as an international federation, another stellar imagemaker, British cinematographer Chris Menges BSC ASC, will collect the Lifetime Achievement Award from IMAGO at the organisation’s 2020 Awards in Brussels. And speaking of lifetime awards, Brian Tufano BSC, master-DP-turned-master-mentor at the NFTS, was awarded with a BSC Lifetime Award for his considerable canon of work at the second annual BSC Awards, to a rapturous standing ovation. We send both of them our congratulations too.

Between them, Roger, Chris and Brian represent the bestof-the-best, having visualised some of cinema’s greatest stories, enjoyed by audiences around the world, over many decades.

They, and their towering achievements, are the inspirations for many other cinematographers working today, and doubtless will remain so for generations of fresh talents to come, as they themselves use their own imaginations and develop their individual skills and techniques and artistry.

RON PRINCE Editor | British Cinematographer Magazine

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British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 03

CONTENTS / BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER / ISSUE 98 / MARCH 2020

IN THIS ISSUE...

07

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

Mike Eley BSC says it’s time to actively embrace diversity and inclusion in the camera department

54

58

On the cover...

Mandy Walker ACS ASC on Mulan

On the job...

Sean Bobbitt BSC on The Rhythm Section

08

PRODUCTION/POST & TECHNO NEWS

The latest news concerning DPs

28

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO?

Your definitive guide to which DPs are shooting who and where

38

NEW WAVE

Yana Rits… skipping to it!

39

IMAGO SPECIAL

On the eve of the third annual IMAGO Awards we look behindthe-scenes and find out what makes the International Federation Of Cinematographers really tick

62

70

Close-Up...

Polly Morgan BSC ASC on A Quiet Place 2

Clapperboard...

Richard Greatrex BSC

46

53

70

A round-up of the latest kit and widgets at the 2020 BSC Expo

New developments from lighting innovator Cineo

The storyteller…

Richard Greatrex BSC

52

54

72

Rizwan Wadan on the stabilising technology from Mr Helix

Discover how Mandy Walker ACS ASC went about shooting Disney’s latest live-action epic Mulan for director Niki Caro

Shining a light on… Tom Gates

F-STOP LONDON

INNOVATOR

ial...

IMAGO Speconal ati rn te In at the A closer look Cinematographers f Federation O

39

SPOTLIGHT

CAMERA CREATIVE

58

ON THE JOB

Sean Bobbitt BSC teamed-up with director Reed Morano ASC to create thrilling action for The Rhythm Section

61-69 CLOSE-UPS

Maria Von Hausswolff on A White, White Day; Polly Morgan BSC ASC on A Quiet Place 2; Darius Khondji AFC ASC on Uncut Gems; Vladimír Smutný on The Painted Bird; Tomasz Naumiuk PSC on Mr Jones and Mark Jenkin on Bait

CLAPPERBOARD

GAFFERS ‘R’ US

74

LIVE & LET DI

Discover who’s been dialling-in the most recent DI grades

76

GBCT NEWS

Tim Potter GBCT ponders the 2020 awards season, whilst John Keedwell GBCT considers diversity and looks forward to 2020

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 05

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PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE / MIKE ELEY BSC / BSC PRESIDENT

BALANCING ACTS BRITISH SOCIETY

OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS Board of Governors 2020

PRESIDENT: Mike Eley BSC VICE PRESIDENTS: Rob Hardy BSC Nigel Walters BSC Haris Zambarloukos BSC GOVERNORS: Balasz Bolygo BSC Oliver Curtis BSC John Daly BSC John de Borman BSC Gavin Finney BSC James Friend BSC ASC Adriano Goldman ASC BSC ABC Angus Hudson BSC Nic Knowland BSC Phil Méheux BSC Tim Palmer BSC Ula Pontikos BSC Laurie Rose BSC Christopher Ross BSC Oliver Stapleton BSC CO-OPTED ASSOCIATE MEMBER REPRESENTATIVE: Chris Plevin BOARD ADVISOR: Joe Dunton MBE BSC (non DoP) BSC IMAGO REPRESENTATIVE: Nina Kellgren BSC COMPANY SECRETARY: Audra Marshall TREASURER: Frances Russell

The second BSC Awards Night was held on February 15th at the Grosvenor House Hotel. After last year’s inaugural event, it was great to see the same energy taken forward by all involved at which we all hope will be an annual celebration.

T

his year we were honoured to have with us director Danny Boyle as our special guest. He was on stage to present Brian Tufano BSC with a Lifetime Achievement Award, one earned for not only his cinematography on films such as Quadrophenia (1979), Trainspotting (1996) and Billy Elliott (2000) (to name but three in an illustrious career), but also his work as a teacher at the National Film & Television School. The room stood as one to applaud a man who, approaching the end of a shooting career, decided to give back to the industry. It was a lovely moment.

It was quite a night for the NFTS, for it also received a Special Achievement Award for its contribution to cinematography and the education thereof. As Gavin Finney BSC said in his citation, “A quarter of current BSC members owe the start of their career (to the school). 80% of the women invited to become members of the BSC are graduates, as was Sue Gibson BSC, our first female president”.

The NFTS really is a jewel in the crown of the UK film industry and the BSC is proud of its connections. I believe it will be incumbent on the society, in the future, to see that this connection is strengthened and made more visible by on-going commitments. Watch this space.

It was therefore fitting that the recipient of the Best Cinematography In A Feature on the night went to NFTS alumni Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC, thereby scoring a clean sweep of ASC, BAFTA, Academy and BSC Awards for his outstanding work on 1917. Roger’s brilliant virtuosity on Sam Mendes’ epic brought to the fore, for the general cinema-going public, an appreciation of camerawork and visual storytelling in a way that is rarely seen. There is the argument in our world that states if you notice it (i.e. if the cinematography is in anyway ‘showy’) then it has failed an essential test of the discipline. Yes, and No. All I would say is that when technique and craft are so intimately entwined with story, and what I can only describe as ‘honest intent’ (the director has to rely on the audience to define that), then you get an immersive experience the like of which only cinema can deliver. Congratulations to all involved on 1917. If ever a film appears to rely on collaboration and teamwork, it’s that one. And how fitting that, as Roger was unable to attend, his key collaborators – camera operators Peter Cavaciuti and Charlie Rizek, plus gaffer John ‘Biggles’ Higgins – collected the award on his behalf.

In March, IMAGO, the international federation of cinematographers, will elect a new president following the resignation of Paul René Roestad FNF. It is a crucial time for the federation after a fracture that saw two societies break-off relations. The recent decision by the ASC to join IMAGO as an associate member is indicative of its ambition to be trulyinternational. At the time of writing, final candidates have yet to be chosen and manifestos published, but whosoever receives the nomination and assumes the presidency, the BSC will back their enthusiastic and inclusive work to bring the family of societies back together again. More than at any time, the centre needs to hold.

Picture the scene: a cinematographer in discussion with an agent representing female technicians. The agent is putting forward candidates for an upcoming film on which the cinematographer will be working. The candidates are known to the cinematographer, since they have worked together before on previous projects, with great results. But this new upcoming project is different, says the cinematographer since, “the director wants the old gang back together again”. The agent, despairing, replies with a voice that has heard that argument all too often.

“But that’s what we’re trying to change”, she says, “that old cliché”.

The words hit home. I know because I am that cinematographer.

The way I so easily slipped into comfortable shoes because it worked last time and “everyone was happy” brought me up sharp.

It’s time for change and the best way, the only way, we are going to make it happen is if we dare to approach things differently. Always keeping in mind that we didn’t invade this Magic Kingdom (the film and television industry) and take it by the sheer force of our talent alone. We had help. We had mentors – even if they weren’t officially so-called – and we had someone, somewhere, open the door wide enough for us to get our foot in.

And then some.

If the gender imbalance of the camera department is to be corrected, those who fill the positions on-set are going to have to slip off the so-called comfortable shoes (aka lazy thinking) and believe they can make a difference. More importantly, make a difference with absolutely zero compromise.

There is serious talent out there waiting to get a shot – and then a second shot, and a third, and more – at showing what they can do. We can only benefit. n British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 07

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

DEAKINS WINS ALL MA JOR 2020 AWARDS FOR 1917

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oger Deakins CBE BSC ASC made a clean sweep of collecting the Oscar, BAFTA, ASC and BSC Awards for his cinematography work on Sam Mendes’s WWI action picture 1917, and, during each of his acceptance speeches, the revered DP paid tribute to the camera, lighting and grip crews who made the film possible, along with Mendes. At the ASC Awards, Deakins was accompanied on-stage by his wife, James, who played a pivotal role in wrangling equipment, the digital workflow and camera crew communications during the shoot, and later the delivery of visual effects for the movie during the final grade.

Whilst 1917 is presented as one continuous shot, it was created from a series of takes of various lengths, photographed at different locations and constructed sets around the UK, before being seamlessly edited together by editor Lee Smith. Deakins’ key crew included first AC Andy Harris, Steadicam operator Peter Cavaciuti, ARRI Trinity Rig operator Charlie Rizek, gaffer John ‘Biggles’ Higgins and key grip Gary Hymns.

“All films require collaboration, but this was a more fine-tuned ballet than most, with the crew, cameras and mechanics all needing to be in-sync with what the actors were doing,” said Deakins. “Achieving that was a beautiful and exhilarating experience, and they all did a fantastic job.”

Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC with his wife James Deakins

At the ASC Awards the organisation’s first On production on 1917 documentary award went to Fejmi Daut and Samir Ljuma for Honeyland, whilst Jarin Blaschke garnered the ASC’s Spotlight Award for The Lighthouse. Colin Watkinson BSC ASC won the non-commercial television award for the Night episode of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, and John Conroy ISC won the TV motion picture, miniseries, pilot award for the A Sparrow In A Swallow’s Nest episode of AMC’s The Terror: Infamy. Kim Miles took home the trophy

for The Flatwoods Monster episode of History’s Project Blue Book. Werner Herzog received the ASC’s Board Of Governors Award, and Frederick Elmes ASC received the Lifetime Achievement Award. Donald A. Morgan was honoured with the Career Achievement In Television Award, Bruno Delbonnel AFC ASC received the International Award, and Don McCuaig was the recipient of the Presidents Award. The full list of BSC winners can been seen in our separate round-up of the 2020 BSC Annual Awards Night.

2020 BSC AWARDS NIGHT On Saturday 15th February 2020 the BSC held its second Awards Night at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair, London, hosted by Mike Eley BSC and Mike Southon BSC. Yet again, it was a very special gathering of friends and colleagues, with the guest of honour this year being film director Danny Boyle.

The winners of this BSC year’s awards were: Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC for 1917 BSC Best Cinematography In A Theatrical Feature Film 2019 - Sponsored by Pinewood MBS Lighting

HUNDREDS GET ADVICE AT DIGITAL ORCHARD’S NEW TALENT BAR

Danny Boyle presents Brian Tufano BSC with the Lifetime Achievement Award

Jakob Ihre FSF for Chernobyl BSC Best Cinematography In A TV Drama Award 2019 Brian Tufano BSC - BSC Lifetime Achievement Award 2020 Nic Knowland BSC - BSC ARRI John Alcott Memorial Award 2020 National Film & Television School – Cinematography Department BSC Special Achievement Award 2020 Joe Russell for Killing Eve 2 ACO-BSC-GBCT TV Operators Award 2019

on National Film & Televisi School - Cinematography Department, with the nt BSC Special Achieveme Award 2020

Geoffrey Haley for Joker ACO-BSC-GBCT Feature Operators Award 2019 ARRI for Sky Panel Family BSC Bert Easey Technical Award 2020 Sponsored by Fujinon

08 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Jakob Ihre FSF won the best cinematography in a TV drama award for Chernobyl.

Photos by Richard Blanshard

On Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February 2020, Digital Orchard’s New Talent Bar welcomed new talent and established filmmakers to a dedicated area of the 2020 BSC Expo, as part of an initiative to help them move forward in their careers irrespective of their gender, race or background.

The New Talent Bar saw over 300 one-to-ones take place between people looking to progress their careers and those in a position to hire them, including DPs and camera operators amongst other on-set roles. Partners helping to support the New Talent Bar included Illuminatrix, Women Behind The Camera, Primetime, BECTU, IMAGO and The British Blacklist.

Primetime, the vetted global visibility platform for all women working above and below-the-line behind the camera, launched Primetime Pledges, a new initiative to get those with hiring power to make real change towards a fairer, more representative industry for all. The first in the series of Primetime Pledges focuses on the camera department and those signed up have pledged to work with a Primetime member in the next 12-18 months.

Soft Light.

Precise White.

INTRODUCING

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

VERSION2 SUPPORTS AWARD-WINNING LIGHT DESIGNER TIM ROUTLEDGE

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ighting rental specialist Version2 recently supported The Brits Are Coming at the newly re-opened Riverside Studios. Working with awardwinning lighting designer Tim Routledge, the Version2 team supplied a comprehensive lighting package, including a wide selection of recent additions to the company’s growing inventory.

The Brits Are Coming TV special was the highly-anticipated, exclusive reveal of the nominations for the prestigious 2020 BRIT Awards 2020, hosted by broadcaster and presenter Alice Levine, with special guest performances by nominated artists including Liam Payne, Aitch and Mabel.

Recorded for ITV in front of a live audience, this was one of the first and one of the largest productions staged within the newly opened Studio 3 at Riverside Studios. The show’s look was created by Routledge, who has received awards from The Royal Television Society, TPI and Knight Of Illumination Awards.

“I use Version2 a lot for my broadcast work, as they always go the extra mile and want to make a great show every time. This was also only the second show in the all-new Riverside Studios which was a blessing – it’s a fantastic new studio with a saturated overhead grid of lighting hoists and the ability to patch data anywhere, it was a really easy studio for this show to move to and it worked for us brilliantly”.

Over the past year the Version2 has been steadily growing its inventory.

Ahead of the BRITs show the company made significant investment in a fresh stock of Robe equipment, including the new RoboSpot system which allows follow spot operators to simultaneously remote control up to 12 fixtures.

For the BRITs show Version2 provided over 50 Robe Spiiders plus an additional 60 Robe Spikie LED wash fixtures, allowing Moving Light Operator James Scott a huge amount of flexibility to deliver colour and shape to the show. Additional automated versatility was delivered using a mixture of Robe MegaPointe and new Robe T1 Profiles which were managed via the RoboSpot system. A mix of Pro Lights Arena Cob, Astera Titan Tubes and GLP JDC1 LED Strobes provided additional creative effects throughout the studio.

(l-r) Gaffer Carolina Schmidtholstein, with DP Sarah Cunningham and 1st AC Jason Henwood.

Photo: Laurence Johnson

CUT IT POWER SAVING INITIATIVE LAUNCHES AT 2020 BSC EXPO The 2020 BSC Expo saw the launch of Cut It, the first crew-led initiative to tackle carbon emissions in film and TV production. Three of the organisation’s founding members – cinematographers Anna Valdez Hanks and Sarah Cunningham, and 1st AC Jason Henwood – were invited to speak on a panel about the industry’s response to the climate crisis.

Unlike existing initiatives such as BAFTA’s Albert, which encourage producers to opt into green filmmaking schemes, Cut It wants crew to devise and demand new working standards. It intends to hold an industry-wide summit on climate this year, bringing together crew, actors, agents and producers.

“The abhorrent waste and high CO2 emissions in our industry are now unacceptable given the situation we face,” said Valdez Hanks. “Most people in the film business are crew. If we act together we can change the industry’s approach.”

“For many of us, 2019 was an important year in understanding the urgency of the climate crisis,” Cunningham said. “While we may hold certain standards in our private lives, we often feel forced to leave our values at the door when we come on set.”

Cut It has already reached out to camera and lighting rental houses, calling a meeting to reflect on working practices and consider abolishing singleuse plastics. “I’ve been amazed at the willingness of everyone I’ve spoken to,” said Henwood, who organised the meeting. “It seems we’ve reached a critical point – we all want to change and Cut It is simply gathering our voices together to make a plan.”

Cut It’s next step is a social media launch with five key campaigns. Its founders say it welcomes voices and opinions from across the industry.

Register for news and updates via www.cutit.org.uk or follow Instagram @cutit.org.uk 10 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

SPIKE LEE ANNOUNCED AS JURY PRESIDENT AT 2020 CANNES FILM FESTIVAL

FILMLIGHT TEAMS UP WITH ARRI IN PARIS CREATIVE COMMUNITY

The American director, screenwriter, actor, editor and producer, Spike Lee, will serve as president of the Jury at the 73rd edition of the Festival de Cannes, which takes place from 12 to 23 May 2020. In 2018, after a 22-year absence, the Brooklyn-based Lee returned to the Cannes competition with BlacKkKlansman, a scathing comedy, detective thriller and political tract, which garnered the Grand Prix, plus Oscar and BAFTA Awards for Best Screenplay, amongst many other accolades. Lee succeeds Alejandro G. Iñárritu, whose jury, in 2019, awarded the Palme d’Or to Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite.

CHIMERA INTRODUCES SPEEDLIGHT KITS Based around Chimera’s XXS size, two new Lightbank kits are now available, designed specifically for the Profoto A1 and Godox V1 speedlights: Speedlight Pro Kit & Speedlight Portrait Kit. Both USmanufactured kits feature Chimera’s portable Lightbank with hardware to make it easy to use with the popular Profoto A1, Godox V1 or other similar sized speedlights.

The Speedlight Portrait Kit features a 12x16 Chimera Cloth front screen that delivers soft, smooth light that is perfect for portraits. The Portrait Kit includes; Chimera’s Mini and a mounting bracket with shoe for speedlight with a ¼”x20 (or 3/8”) Female to make it easy to mount.

The Speedlight Pro Kit features a removable 12x16 Chimera Cloth front screen that delivers soft, smooth light that is perfect for any shooting situation. The Pro Kit includes; Chimera’s Super Pro XXS, mounting bracket with shoe for speedlight, baby pin hardware and Chimera’s 2-Axis Stand adapter for easy mounting to any light stand.

Following the appointment of Matthieu Straub as the company’s technical and operational consultant to France and the Benelux countries in the summer of 2019, FilmLight has announced it has established a permanent presence in Paris, by sharing premises with ARRI France.

The shared space has already hosted several events, including a workshop day for DITs. Led by Straub, with guest speakers from Netflix and from post house Mikros, the group discussed the latest developments in colour space management and workflows. ARRI’s presence allowed the discussion to include ARRI Looks and how they can be incorporated from ARRI Alexa cameras and Filmlight Prelight and Daylight software, into FilmLight BLG post production.

PANAVISION SUPPORTS INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS AT SUNDANCE 2020 Panavision and its post-production subsidiary Light Iron played a significant role in the 2020 Sundance Film Festival line-up, collaborating with independent filmmakers on 30 projects screening or competing at this year’s festival.

Specialist services provided by Panavision and Light Iron included the provision of extensive camera and optics packages – digital and film cameras with Anamorphic, spherical and speciality large-format lenses – as well as colour grading and post-production expertise.

Supported productions debuting at Sundance includes: Dream Horse (dir. Eros Lyn, DP Erik Wilson), Falling (dir. Viggo Mortensen, DP Marcel Zyskind DFF), The Glorias (dir. Julie Taymor, DP Rodrigo Prieto AMC ASC), The Nest (dir. Sean Durkin, DP Matyas Erdely HSC) with lighting supplied by Panalux UK, Promising Young Woman (dir. Emerald Fennel, DP Benjamin Kracun), Charm City Kings (dir.

Angel Manuel Soto, DP Katelin Arizmendi) and Zola (dir. Janicza Bravo, DP Ari Wegner ACS).

We are extremely proud to have supported Director of Photography Sean Bobbitt BSC, Gaffer David Smith, Rigging Gaffer Warren Evans and the entire crew on The Rhythm Section. +44 (0) 1753 65 62 62 info@pinewoodmbs.com www.pinewoodmbs.com

© 2020 Rhythm Section Productions Limited. All rights reserved.

NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

BFI 2019 STATISTICS REVEAL RECORD £3.6 BILLION SPEND IN FILM AND HIGH-END TV

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fficial figures published on January 30th by the BFI’s Research & Statistics Unit reveal the highest spend ever on film and high-end television production in the UK in 2019, underlining the UK’s global reputation as the world-leading centre for film and TV production.

The spend on high-end television and film production in the UK in 2019 reached £3.62 billion, a 16% increase on 2018. This is the highest year on record, showing the UK to be the world’s busiest production hub and demonstrating the continued worldclass excellence of UK talent, crews, VFX and production services, locations, the supportive fiscal environment created by the UK’s creative sector tax reliefs and the work of the British Film Commission with international producers.

These factors play a vital role in attracting inward investment to the UK, and benefitting the UK film economy, with 2019 inward investment across film and high-end television topping £3 billion for the first time. BFI research has also shown that every £1 given in tax relief in the UK generates more than £7 in return for the UK economy.

Film co-production in the UK also saw a 37% uplift in spend with £34 million across 23 productions generated by films including Phyllida Lloyd’s Herself, Viggo Mortensen’s Falling, Brandon Cronenberg’s Possessor, Uberto Pasolini’s Nowhere Special, Florian Zeller’s The Father and Lina Roessler’s Best Sellers.

The inward investment data also reveals a notable influx of 29 Indian productions being made in the UK with a collective spend of £112 million, including Mysskin’s Thupparivaalan 2, Amarjit Singh’s Jhalle and Sharan Art’s Galwakdi.

BFI honoured its outgoing CEO Amanda Nevill with a BFI Fellowship

Avenue 5

Domestic film and high-end television production generated a production spend of £546.4 million, a decrease of 28% from 2018. Within this figure, domestic film showed a greater drop in spend with £174.7 million, reflecting a decrease of 45% and demonstrating a shifting industry eco-system for domestic production.

However, this picture doesn’t reflect the fact that films being made by home-grown talent are attracting international finance and are therefore classified as inward investment, such as Sam Mendes’s 1917 and Andy Serkis’s Venom 2. For domestic high-end television production, the spend of £371.7 million represented a decrease of 14% on 2018.

Films made in the UK in 2019 for release in 2020/2021 include inward investment films such as Cary Joji Fukanaga’s No Time To Die, Cate Shortland’s Black Widow, Craig Gillespie’s Cruella, Antoine Fuqua’s

No Time To Die

Infinite, George Clooney’s Good Morning, Midnight, Tim Story’s Tom & Jerry, Chloe Zhao’s The Eternals and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.

Domestic UK (independent) productions included Francis Lee’s Ammonite, Euros Lyn’s Dream Horse, Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir 2, Kevin Macdonald’s Prisoner 760, Clio Barnard’s Ali & Ava, Josie Rourke’s This Nan’s Life, Andrew ‘Rapman’ Onwubolu’s Blue Story, Aleem Khan’s After Love and Autumn de Wilde’s Emma.

The growth in volume of high-end television productions in 2019 included inward investment and co-productions such as Jon East’s Cursed, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Old Guard, The Crown (series four), Armando Iannucci’s Avenue 5, Lena Dunham’s Industry, Tom Hooper’s His Dark Materials (series 2) and Charlotte Bruus Christensen DFF’s Black Narcissus.

In other news, the BFI honoured its outgoing CEO Amanda Nevill with a BFI Fellowship on the last day in her 17-year role at the helm of the UK’s lead organisation for film. The surprise award was presented by BFI Chair Josh Berger at BFI Southbank on Feb 14th in front of a packed cinema of industry guests and colleagues.

UK FILM INDUSTRY SUPPORTS ANTI-TERRORISM CAMPAIGN

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amera-stabilisation technology developer, Rizwan Wadan, is one of the few practicing Muslims to have broken through into the mainstream filming industry in the UK. It is his firm belief that it is important to open dialogues and debates through the visual medium and advocate film to the BAME and Muslim communities.

At the time of the Westminster attack in 2017, Wadan was working on the set of the Oscar-nominated film The Favourite, having cut his teeth on big budget features such as Star Wars: Rogue One, and Disney’s Artemis Fowl, as well as TV dramas such as BBC’s Luther. He was determined to use his knowledge and contacts in the industry to help try to solve problems in wider society.

He says he has seen, “enough of ineffective government campaigns, which don’t get to the heart of the problem. Enough of public campaigns, that exclude Muslims from the national conversation, of which their input is critical, to tackle extremism and terrorism.

12 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

“I decided to put aside my career, in order to dedicate the time and energy required to help create initiatives that can help bridge the gaps between Islam, non-Muslims and the wider global community.”

Wadan contributed £70,000 of his own money to the production of The Error In Terror campaign.

He also raised the equivalent of over £1.2 million in support from over 50 companies, gaining help from DPs such as David Higgs BSC, Robbie Ryan ISC BSC, John Conroy ISC, Gavin Finney BSC, Ed Wild BSC, Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC and Peter Biziou BSC, amongst other respected industry professionals.

Armed with his provocative short film The Error In Terror, which was nominated as the best of the fest at the BFI, he has since set off on tour across the UK to help build bridges and bring communities together, seeking “face-to-face debate with groups and individuals who hold Islamophobic views, as well as imprisoned Islamic extremists, confronting fear and hatred with a visual, emotive and honest approach that has never been attempted before,” he says.

“This is a personal fight against terror in a society more divided and angry than ever. With the problemsolving mindset I’ve learned on-set, we will help to solve problems in our society, God-willing.”

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

2020 SBC CINE EXPO IN BRUSSELS

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he Belgian Society Of Cinematographers (SBC) and IMAGO, The International Federation Of Cinematographers, have joined forces this year to organise the SBC Cine Expo, Belgium’s equivalent of the BSC Expo, taking place in Brussels on 13th and 14th March in Shed 2 of the historic Tour & Taxis, a large and spacious former industrial site.

The trade show, showcasing professional cinema and broadcast equipment for Benelux filmmakers, coincides with the third annual IMAGO Awards, taking place on 14th March.

“We chose Louis-Philippe Capelle SBC Tour & Taxis as it is an impressive, classified venue, right in the centre of Brussels, alongside the canal and the Old Maritime Train Station,” said Louis Philippe-Capelle SBC. “In this beautiful renovated hall, we will present many of the leading equipment manufacturers, dealers and service

Tour & Taxis, Brussels

companies available to filmmakers in Belgium.”

The line-up of the exhibitors includes: ES Broadcast, TV Connection, Axis One, Eye Lite, Sony Europe, Cooke Optics, CCS-RED, TSF Factory, Eurogrip, Grip Factory Munich, Camalot Belgie, Hemel, Spots unlimited, Videohouse, K5600, ARRI, Mafico, Top Care, Gecko Cam, Zeiss,

Innport, Leica, Aering, Controllux, Lucky Cam, Aputure, Fujifilm, Screen Brussels, Bebob, C-motion, Angénieux, Rosco, KGS-Nextshot, Ronford, Cartoni, Holdan, Avolon and Avi Industries.

Some companies will present workshops during the two days of the exhibition, and Screen Brussels will deliver a presentation about new ways of eco-shooting.

Rosco and Leitz are set to jointly host a get-together, with drinks and light food, on March 13th, for the exhibitors, SBC members and IMAGO delegates.

CHROMA-Q LED LIGHTING GROWS FILM PRESENCE WITH POWERFUL PERFORMANCES

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hroma-Q, creator of high-performance, energy-efficient LED lighting solutions, continues to grow its presence in the film and television sector with the supply of its product range to some of the world’s leading rental houses.

With LED becoming a staple feature on sets of all sizes, the design and development of effective low-energy alternatives has become more important than ever. Chroma-Q has been addressing the growing need for such products, supporting cinematographers and crews via companies such as Pinewood MBS Lighting, which is actively growing its LED inventory.

Pinewood MBS Lighting MD Darren Smith said, “Environmentally consciousdecisions are a key factor in our investment programme. Working with Chroma-Q we have been able to build an expansive inventory of low-energy lighting which has, in many instances, completely replaced the use of traditional sources.”

Industry-wide investment in the Space Force LED softlight range, which featured at the BSC Expo 2020 and is used extensively by crews in place of traditional space lighting, has resulted in significant on-set savings in both energy and costs.

Smith adds, “As a company recognised by the BAFTA-led Albert initiative to be a supplier that supports an environmentally sustainable future for the industry, it is important that we have access to the type of quality alternatives that Chroma-Q are able to provide”.

An example of Chroma-Q’s direct collaboration with the industry has been the development of the Brute Force, the company’s LED quarter Wendy Light alternative. The Brute Force has been produced in conjunction with technical innovators MBSi and trialled by crews in ‘real world’ situations.

Paul Pelletier, Chroma-Q global brand manager, commented, “Our mission is to deliver a product range which enables users to deliver the best possible creative experience for their customers. We’re incredibly proud to partner with cinematographers, production crews and rental houses as part of our product development programme. It’s this kind of collaboration that is helping us drive forward the growing uptake of energyefficient solutions across all areas of our industry.”

14 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

MOVIETECH SUPPORTS HIS DARK MATERIALS WITH FULL FRAME PACKAGE

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aving supported the crew during production on the first series, Movietech has returned for the eight-episode season two of His Dark Materials. Starring Ruth Wilson, Dafne Keen and James McAvoy, the acclaimed fantasy television series, based on the novels by Philip Pullman, is produced by Bad Wolf for BBC One and HBO.

Season two is being shot on location and at the newly-created Bad Wolf Studios, Cardiff. Working with DPs David Higgs BSC (main ‘Dust Unit’) and Joel Devlin (second ‘Shadow Unit’), Movietech has been providing local support via its Cardiff based operation, Movietech Cymru.

The company has supplied a comprehensive camera package featuring equipment from its range of large format digital systems. After providing an ARRI Alexa LF-based package for series one, the second season has seen Movietech providing a Sony Venice camera, recording native 6K to the 36 x 24mm full frame image sensor, plus a Venice Rialto tethered system. The ability to detach the camera’s body and image sensor for use in a ‘snorkel’ mode allowed for re-racking and reframing of images during post production, a particularly useful feature when creating VFXheavy scenes. The camera body was paired with a set of large format Zeiss Supreme Prime lenses, designed for use with 6K and 8K sensors, and to deliver a cinematic look.

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP Little Women

KODAK INKS NEW F DEAL WITH FIVE MAJOR STUDIOS

ive major studios – Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. – have all signed new deals with motion picture film manufacturer Kodak. They have each committing to buying undisclosed amounts of motion picture celluloid, thus guaranteeing its continued use for the foreseeable future.

The first such agreements between Kodak and the studios were struck in early 2015, around 18 months after the film manufacturer emerged from bankruptcy protection. At that time, its film sales had plummeted as the use of digital imaging technology rose, and the agreements were designed to keep Kodak’s film manufacturing business going. The initial 2015 deals were believed to have covered two years, and the latest agreements, are understood to span a longer period.

Recent productions to have been originated on Kodak film stocks include Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (DP Robert Richardson ASC), Greta Gerwig’s Little Women (DP Yorick Le Saux AFC), Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (DP Robbie Ryan BSC ISC), J.J. Abrams Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (DP Dan Mindel BSC ASC SASC) and Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman (DP Rodrigo Prieto AMC ASC). Up-and coming productions shot on film include Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (DP Hoyte Van Hoytema FSF NSC ASC) and Cary Joji Fukunaga’s James Bond movie No Time to Die (DP Linus Sandgren FSF ASC).

CVP OFFERS EXTENDED WARRANTY ON RED BRAINS AND FREE LENS COVERAGE TOOL

CVP has announced an optional 2-year warranty on Red camera Brains is available with immediate effect.

The company is the UK’s only Red Certified Service Centre, offering first line support, repairs and service for Red’s extensive range of cameras and accessories. Red DSMC2 Brains – including the Dragon X Monstro and Ranger series of camera bodies – that are within the first two years of purchase date are eligible for the warranty extension.

One of the standout trends over the past year has been the move to shooting Full Frame, and CVP has many customers asking about what Super 35 glass they can use with which Full Frame cameras, as well as what Super 35 lenses can cover the sensor on new cameras shooting 4K for Netflix delivery.

Consequently, the company has developed a free-of-charge, web-based Lens Coverage and Camera Comparison tool enabling users to choose the camera and shooting format, add a specific lens and aperture and obtain a visual representation of the coverage of lenses at different focal lengths when paired with various sensor formats and even different cameras.

It provides a worst-case scenario. The pictures are taken with a camera that only uses 11 stops of dynamic range and DPs and camera operators shooting with 14 or 15 stops might not notice shading or fall off as much in-camera as they do on the tool.

Even if there is a vignette on the tool and it doesn’t cover the full sensor, a lot of productions will shoot in a larger sensor area and use an extraction for stabilisation or reframing, which is why CVP has added framelines which can be customised pixel-by-pixel to choose exactly how many pixels are recorded within the area.

16 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

PIXIPIXEL REVEALS THE FIRST ZERO OPTIK NIKON AI-S SETS

Pixipixel, the London-based independent camera and lighting rental house, revealed the first full sets of Zero Optik Nikon AI-S lenses during the 2020 BSC Expo. These robust and lightweight primes have soft, controlled flares, cover the Sony Venice, ARRI Mini LF and Red Monstro sensors, and comprise eight focal lengths – 20, 28, 35, 50, 58, 85, 105 and 135mm.

The18mm and 105mm macro lenses are coming soon.

DP Max Witting, the first cinematographer in the UK to experience the Zero Optik Nikon AI-S set, said: “I was very excited to try out this rehoused glass to match the vintage look we were going for on this project. I ended up using the 35mm, 105mm and mostly the 58mm, which worked like a dream. It’s fast (T1.3) and holds up against the sun extremely well, it’s an awesome lens. I was also pleasantly surprised by how compact and lightweight these are, allowing us to move quickly which was particularly important for this job.”

QUASAR SCIENCE APPOINTS IAN MUIR TO AID EUROPEAN EXPANSION

Quasar Science, the Los-Angeles based manufacturer of LED lighting systems, has appointed Ian Muir to provide dealer and customer support in the UK and Europe.

Muir’s appointment comes ahead of the roll-out of a range of new products scheduled for the coming year, which are designed to propel Quasar Science’s brand further into the mainstream of motion picture and television lighting.

During his career, Muir has focussed predominantly on the provision of LED lighting solutions since the infancy of the technology in motion picture and TV. He previously worked with international reseller A.C. Entertainment Technologies, and LED lighting developer Gekko Technology.

PARK ROAD POST INSTALLS LASERGRAPHICS DIRECTOR 10K FILM SCANNER

Late in 2019, Park Road Post, Wellington, New Zealand, installed a new 10K LaserGraphics Director film scanner, representing the seventh film scanner to be installed in the region in the last five years, but the only Director 10K available to third party customers. Restoring older films is a growing part of Park Road’s business, a perfect example being Peter Jackson’s acclaimed documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, which was made up entirely of 100-year-old WWI archival footage. The facility is constantly approached to evaluate material for a range of projects requiring scanning of original film, often to be released in HDR.

AN TRAN’S MOVING PICTURES DEBUTS IN ROTTERDAM

Director/producer An Tran’s feature documentary Moving Pictures: Filmmakers And The Art Of Cinematography debuted at the Rotterdam International Film Festival at the end of January. Including insights from awardwinning directors Ang Lee, Francis Ford Coppola, Wim Wenders, Reed Morano ASC and Ellen Kuras ASC, this documentary takes viewers on a rare journey exploring the artists behind the world’s cinematic treasures.

Moving Pictures includes intimate conversations with many celebrated cinematographers including Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC, Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC, Rachel Morrison ASC, Christopher Doyle HKSC and Rodrigo Prieto AMC ASC. They reveal their early influences and careers, what moves and motivates them, plus the magic of legendary partnerships with directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Bernardo Bertolucci, David Lynch, Abbas Kirostami, Xia Fang, Stanley Kubrick and more.

Produced by ARRI, the documentary spanned multiple continents, crews and languages. Joining the effort were also director/executive producer Henning Radlein and director/supervising editor Sophie Kill. DP Tom Fahrmann BVK developed the B&W visual design and lighting approach for the interviews.

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

COOKE S7/I FULL FRAME PLUS LENSES BRING BEAUTY TO THE STORY OF CUBA

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eter Chang, known for his IMAX and giant-screen work as cinematographer on Jerusalem and America Wild: National Parks Adventure, has completed his latest film, Cuba, which won the Best Documentary award at the 34th Annual Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and has begun releasing to museums, educational institutions and other giant screen and IMAX venues.

Chang had first used Cooke S7/i large format lenses on a project in early 2018, having tested them for giant-screen use on that project. Based on those results, they became frequently used lenses on the final and mostly narrative centric shoot in Cuba – the personal stories – whilst breaking with the IMAX and giant-screen standard of avoiding close-ups.

“Cuba is focused on the beauty, spirit and character of this Caribbean country and its people,” said Chang. “One of the primary stories in the film centres around a young ballerina. I was really looking forward to using the Cookes as we knew we would be shooting on stage with challenging theatrical stage lighting, and breaking that sort of giant screen IMAX norm of not having any close-ups. That’s exactly what we did — shot some close-ups of her face, which came out beautifully.”

There are, however, challenges in shooting closeups in terms of framing for such a large image, based on how it is projected.

“IMAX has flat screens that are typically used for 3D, and you also have dome theatres where you’re looking at the bottom half of a 1.43 image and then the rest of it is over your head and you’re not typically looking at that,” explained Chang. “A close-up has to be framed in that bottom half or third of the image.

HELICOPTER FILM SERVICES DOES SOME HEAVY LIFTING

18 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

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With an image as big as we’re projecting - at times, 90 feet x 65 feet or more - a close-up can be rather jarring because you can see a lot of the imperfections on people’s faces, you can see the makeup on their skin and blemishes that can be unattractive, but I wanted to see how far we could push it with our ballerina to gain more intimacy.”

Chang, and his co-DP Justin Henning, had the full set of 12 lenses at their disposal, though they primarily used the 18mm. “I teamed the Cooke S7/i lenses with the ARRI Alexa LF camera,” said Chang. “It gives me a very cinematic and dreamy look – very smooth and gentle, but still crisp and sharp. Cooke lenses have always been very flattering with faces and people, so for the portrait-oriented sections of the film this pairing was magical.”

Henning said, “The lenses were very sharp, something extremely important at the resolutions and IMAX screens we are shooting for, while maintaining a

erial filming company, Helicopter Filming Services (HFS), has flown its Titan ultraheavy lift drone in combination with a Sony Venice camera and Fujinon Premista 28-100mm zoom lens. This is the first time a lens of this size has been flown on a drone for use in aerial cinematography.

Titan’s technical specifications include: a maximum payload of up to 30kg, optimised for large format digital and 35mm cameras; triple redundant flight controls, and triple parachutes, in case of flight controller failure; flight duration of up to 15 minutes, with a low noise signature; HD video downlink; and ARRI SRH3 or MōVI XL gimbals.

Jeremy Braben Associate BSC, aerial DP and CEO of HSF, commented: “Our original impetus for developing the Titan was to be able to respond to requests from a couple of leading cinematographers and VFX supervisors to fly large format digital or 35mm film packages. Now, we have adapted the Titan to enable it to fly a greater choice of lenses – including large zoom lenses.”

Braben added, “Before launching the Titan in 2019, other heavy lift machines we trialled proved marginal in their performance when carrying the larger cameras and lenses we’re asked to fly. Titan is a system that will capably and safely operate with the large format cameras and lenses that top productions demand.”

creamy bokeh and very pleasant roll off. What I loved most about shooting with the Cooke S7/i lenses is the familiarity that they gave me. I’ve shot on Cooke lenses for years, starting with the Speed Panchro, then the S4/i lenses and most recently a lot with the new Cooke SF [Special Flair] Anamorphic/i. Cooke lenses have always been a go-to for me. On Cuba I had the pleasure to shoot on the Alexa LF in full frame for the first time, and the fact that the Cooke S7/i lenses maintained the ‘Cooke Look’ that I have grown accustomed to over the years was great — but on this new full frame camera system, it was a real treat.”

With a wide release scheduled for 2020, Cuba is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated IMAX and giant screen releases. The film was recently selected as the opening night film for the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, where it received great reviews, including from members of the large Cuban American population of south Florida. It is primarily available with a 44-minute run time, but a 20-minute version has been made available for a select number of venues.

In other news, The Netflix series GLOW, shot by cinematographer Chris Teague which brings the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling to Las Vegas and the fictitious Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino, used a full set of Cooke Anamorphic/i prime and zoom lenses.

Additionally, DP Philip Lanyon used two complete sets of Cooke Optics Anamorphic/i SF (Special Flair) lenses to tell the story of Star Trek: Picard, the highly anticipated streaming series from CBS All Access.

ROTOLIGHT APPOINTS MAFICO AS PHOTO-VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR FOR THE BENELUX REGION

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ritish technology company, Rotolight, has announced that Mafico has been appointed as the new photo-video channel distributor for Rotolight’s LED lighting in the Benelux region.

Experienced lighting specialists, BBP Light, will retain exclusive distribution of the new Titan range for the broadcast, film and cinema channel across the Benelux region.

Rotolight’s products have been favoured by leading photographers such as Greg Gorman and Mark Mann and utilised on a number of feature films including BAFTA-winning Captain Philips, James Bond Skyfall and Film Stars Don’t Die In Liverpool.

Having received investment of £5 million from Europe’s largest VC investor Octopus Investments, Rotolight plans to bring 15 new products to market in the next five years, including the new Titan X2 LED softlight, which has just started shipping to rental houses, broadcasters and cinematographers around the world.

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

DP GEORGE BURT ON G-LOC

G-LOC

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P George Burt wrote in with details about his work on the low-budget (less than £2m) sci-fi thriller G-LOC. Directed by Tom Paton, it is the story of a young man who has fled from Earth to find a new home on planet Rhea, where the early human settlers have decided they will no longer accept refugees from Earth.

“G-LOC is the fifth movie I’ve shot for Tom since 2015. Over the last five years we’ve developed a strong filmmaking partnership, but up to now the films we’ve made have been micro budget. It’s exciting to be able to upscale what we’ve learnt before. However, the fundamental processes are still the same. Only this time I had more toys to play with.

Tom writes his own scripts, so I’m able to read the first draft and discuss how I can contribute from the cinematic side of things before we go into pre-production. Then I start to create a lighting bible and camera set-ups that give the actors the best platform to perform.

From the start we wanted to build as many small practical lights into the sets as possible. This was key to not only making it feel and look like a working spaceship, but also to avoid huge lighting resets.

For references we watched TV shows like The Expanse and created a visual mood board that feels closer to this universe. Also we took ideas from Mad Max: Fury Road and discussed how George Miller and cinematographer John Seal ACS ASC framed mostly everything centered, and how the action moved either toward or away from the camera.

To accentuate the feeling of speed we planned to move the camera in certain ways using different rigs and use carefully-timed dolly moves. Tom requested

all the doorways to be shaped like circles, and I added thin LED strips on the inside of the arches to bring them out. We ended up with three rolls of lights that continued to travel throughout the corridors at all times. I designed the lighting to line-up with the symmetry of the sets by running three matching rows of fluorescent tubes along all the corridors and floors.

We ended-up using a mixture of Bermuda Blue and Sunset Red for our colour palette.

We shot 2.35:1 on Alexa Mini with Service Vision Scorpio Anamorphics. As we had to shoot the whole feature in three weeks, we would usually start most

scenes on the dolly. Once the master wide and spinning head shots were completed we would jump straight into handheld to pick off the mids and close-ups.

We also used a Weaver Steadman 3 axis manual head from Panavision and the F7 head on our PeeWee Chapman dolly. The WS rotates 360-degrees and the F7 can move in ways which you just can’t do on a normal tripod. Both were used to give an extra sense of zero gravity. We also ended-up using two leaf blowers to accentuate the G-forces on the face of our actors.

That was a lot of fun!

Our gaffer Craig Hudson (aka Monkey) had loads of helpful tricks to create lighting magic. He hid 2K blondes behind a hand-spun, handmade wooden fan blade. The fan created moving shafts of light. Top light shafts were created with a Dedo 400 through a projector lens. Different coloured gels were changed from set to set. Ax1s were attached to the ceilings and, as the ship went in and out of auxiliary modes, they dimmed and changed from blue to flashing red, giving us some serious production value.

The grade was done by Matthew Wingad at Viridian. My superb crew also included: 1st AC Jonny Rhodes, 2nd AC Josh Bloomer and, 3rd AC Zoe Howard; best boy - Adam Murphy; sparks Brain Mclucky and Vicente Vasquez; grip Guy Elliot, and grip assistant Dean King.”

STEADICAM WORKSHOP FOR WOMEN

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teadicam operation has seen little gender diversity since its inception. To encourage more women into this role, the ACO and WBTC (Women Behind The Camera) has embarked on a series of practical workshops, starting with a one day Steadicam taster workshop jointly organized by the ACO and WBTC, held at Shift 4 in North London.

“The idea was not only to give women camera technicians an insight into the art and physical realities of Steadicam operating, but also to relate the subject to the best practises of good camera operating in general,” commented Peter Robertson.

All involved gave their time and equipment for free, with Robertson and Ilana Garrard organising the day, with support from Sham Whittaker and Rafael Filomeno from Shift 4. Fabrizio Sciarra also joined as a tutor for the day. Each tutor was joined by an assistant – Ross Dixon, Micaela Assad and James Thomas.

A dozen women from varied backgrounds in the industry from operators to trainees took part, learning Steadicam basics and operating on a variety of shots including walk-and-talks, more complex hand-over shots, and even in a rickshaw, which gave all the attendees an idea of what operating is like without the weight.

A Q&A, including operators Max Rijavec, Svetlana Miko and Nathan Wong, gave the attendees an idea of what it is like working as a Steadicam operator, as well as how to get started.

“It was really encouraging to see so many women keen to get in the rig and seriously consider Steadicam operating as a career choice,” said Garrard. “One attendee said that the idea of doing so was very daunting for her as a woman but that the day helped give her confidence to book in a full course and go for it.”

20 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

DP SVERRE SØRDAL ON COUNTY LINES

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P Sverre Sørdal wrote in with details about his work on director Henry Blake’s County Lines, a coming-of-age thriller about a 14-year-old boy who is groomed into a county lines criminal network.

“The shoot was four weeks, 11-day-fortnight with one pick-up day, making 23 days in total. We shot exclusively on location around London – a council flat in Ealing, and an old flat in West Hampstead that became a crack den, plus a bunch of locations around Canvey Island, Essex.

Henry and I had done two shorts together before, but most relevant was that we had done a short with the same title a few years before. The story was in the same world, but a much more contained version.

Therefore we had the advantage of having talked a lot about the universe, so when we started talking about the feature, it was like talking about something we felt we knew very well.

The bigger brush strokes of this world in this story have been depicted many times before, especially here in the UK, so we did not want to go down the familiar path of how a social realist film is often visualised. We wanted the camera to be very still.

We wanted the world to have colour, and we wanted to shoot the scenes in as few set-ups as they needed.

Some of these ideas came from references from stills photographers such as Nan Goldin and Hannah Starkey. We also spoke about a couple of films, Come And See (1985) and Leviathan (2014), but in the end it was the photography we always seemed to come back to.

That our references were mostly photographers was also why we ended-up having the aspect ratio of 1.55:1, which is very close to what a 35mm stills camera negative is –3:2.

This was our first digital film together. All the kit came from Panavision who have always been amazing to me. We used Alexa XT Plus, Panavision Primos, a PV Zoom 19-90 T2.8 and a few special lenses – the PV

DP Sverre Sørdal

portrait lenses – and a digital Panaflasher.

We used the Panaflasher for a lot of the shoot. It was a bit of a risk, as I found it very hard to use it consistently. But I was very lucky to have a director who very much was into taking chances. To some degree one could do in the final grade what the Panaflasher did for us on the shoot, but because we had a very short grade we managed to get an image straight out of the camera that we both really liked.

As it was a very short pre-production we did not have the opportunity to create a LUT beforehand, although we developed one in the first week of the shoot. As we started getting more material, I spent time with our DIT, Phil Brereton, and we made two LUTs

which we used for the remainder of the shoot.

There were loads of difficult lighting set-ups and I had an incredible team who made it look so easy.

The most difficult day was maybe a night shoot, when we were shooting at an old boat yard in Canvey Island.

We had two ARRISUN 6K Par’ on big, f*ckoff stands. They had to be placed just out of shot, which meant they had to be placed on a walkway where the boats are docked. The wind was horrific that night, and I remember Benjamin (my gaffer), being slightly concerned about the whole scenario.

But with some clever rigging and brute strength they did it wonderfully. We graded the film at Dirty Looks in Belgium, with Gareth Bishop. My gaffer was Ben Starkin, best boy Chris Barber, 1st Richard O’Brien and second AC Earnest Tu.”

MBSI INTRODUCES VFX WALL 20:40 MODULAR INFLATABLE VFX BACKDROP

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Exclusively available through, and fully-supported by, Pinewood MBS Lighting, VFX Wall 20:40 is supplied in a choice of VFX Green, Blue or Blackout, depending on the requirement.

The system is designed for creating expansive visual effects walls across exterior sets or alternatively, for creating privacy screens to protect from prying eyes.

PMBS technical director Steve Howard said, “Through our close working relationships with crews we are able to gain in-depth understanding of specific challenges facing the industry. The VFX Wall 20:40 is an example of how MBSi has developed an idea to deliver a practical, effective solution which has already been a key component on a number of film sets”.

The system can be deployed for studio or location-based work. Under normal conditions, the inflation/deflation time is around ten minutes and, for easy transportation between sets, each wall is supplied with its own case. Unlike traditional systems, VFX Wall 20:40 is completely reusable and installation leaves little or no environmental impact.

Available in 20ft by 40ft sections, the robust, modular, waterproof blocks can be mixed and matched to create a wide range of VFX backdrops. Additional sizes will be available soon.

22 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

CHROMA-Q SPACE FORCE IN TUNE WITH LIGHTING NEEDS OF AMERICAN TV SHOWS

C

inematographer Donald A. Morgan utilised Chroma-Q Space Force LED fixtures to provide tunable soft lighting for filming the latest seasons of Netflix television show, The Ranch – for which he won a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for ‘Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Series’ – and ABC series, The Conners.

Both filmed at Warner Brothers Burbank Studios in LA, Morgan was keen to switch from conventional space lights to LED for filming The Ranch. The show stars Ashton Kutcher as Colt, who returns home to his family’s ranch in Colorado after his semi-pro football career ends in failure.

He commented: “In the past I had used tungsten space lights for filming the show.

However, as they weren’t tunable, it meant having to change the gels constantly, to differ the glows produced.

This was important as even though it was filmed inside of a studio, the storyline of the programme was set across different weather seasons and times of day.”

Donald spoke to his gaffer about tunable LED lighting alternatives. After trying out various options, they came across the Chroma-Q Space Force LED space / soft light, which was supplied for the project by MBS Equipment Company.

Donald commented: “I am very impressed by the spread of light that the Space Force gives out, the distribution is fantastic and the color temperature is really on point.

He added: “I am very with happy with how smooth the dimming is, and no matter what colour

The Ranch

temperature I ask for; my programmer is easily able to change it.”

When Donald later came on-board as Cinematographer for primetime show, The Conners – a spin-off of the long-running series Roseanne – he learned that Warner Brothers had recently invested in ten Space Force, so was happy to use them after his experience on The Ranch.

Donald concluded: “I like the Space Force’s innovative design. I would recommend it for any production, big or small, because of its reliability and the fact that the color temperature is so on point. So far, I have only really used the fixture as a space light, but I know there is a lot more that I can do with it.”

Chroma-Q will launch its new Space Force twobyfour LED soft light panel at NAB 2020 in Las Vegas. A scaled-up version of the onebytwo, the

KINO FLO RELEASES HALF DOME SOFTBOX AND MINI SNAPBAG

24 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

K

twobyfour joins the Space Force family of bright, high quality, modern replacements for conventional sources used in film and TV studios, live broadcast, vlog, and photographic applications.

Like its more compact counterpart, it can be tuned from 2800K to 6000K with a superbly smooth intensity gradation, but in addition, up to 8 of its distinct cells can be controlled individually to create various shades or effects. The two soft light panels will be on show with the original Space Force LED space/ soft light, which has been widely adopted by major Film & Television companies.

The powerful Brute Force™ LED alternative to traditional light sources such as a quarter ‘Wendy Light’, will be making a big impact again this year. Capable of delivering up to 140,000 lumens and drawing just 15 amps @ 240V, the larger Brute Force 6™ is a highly versatile, controllable fixture that could change users’ approach to lighting.

Also on show is the Studio Force II™ high intensity, tuneable white LED wash batten, which delivers variable colour temperature, plus/minus green shift control, and can produce deep saturated colours when needed - making it ideal for studio use.

ino Flo Lighting has transformed its large softlights into larger, softer sources with the new Soft Domelight control system. The customised lighting fabric dome with new “X” pole structure creates an extreme spread of shadowless light when attached to Celeb 850 or Image L80 LED fixtures.

In association with the design team from DoPchoice, Kino Flo has created the Soft Dome with flexible poles crisscrossed between opposite sides, forming a widened copula shape. When used to light large stages, the Soft Dome delivers broad coverage like traditional spacelight designs; for key and fill lighting the Soft Dome can be stand-mounted and focused in a variety of directions from vertical and horizontal positions.

Using lightweight Magic Cloth material for even, colour-correct diffusion, the Soft Dome is made to withstand rough handling in the studio or on location. The softbox is lightweight enough for one person to attach easily onto a fixture. Each Soft Dome is packaged with a set of four black fabric side panels to kill the spill so that lighting crews can control where the light falls.

Kino Flo has also added the Mini SnapBag softbox and louvre Soft Dome hanging accessories to its popular line of FreeStyle Mini LED panel systems and and mounted on kits. The Mini SnapBag pops out of its storage bag and can be mounted Image L80 fixture in seconds onto the FreeStyle Mini LED panel. It can diffuse the Mini LED light with a proprietary white diffusion textile and a four-sided silver foil black panel box that focuses the soft light forward and cuts spill.

Weighing in at 3.5lbs (1.5 kg) and measuring 15 inches (38 cm) in length, the Mini is Kino Flo’s most compact, portable LED panel lighting system in the FreeStyle family of products.

The Mini SnapBag softbox comes with a SnapGrid louvre fabric 40° that mounts to the front of the SnapBag. A self-tightening internal frame allows lighting professionals to snap the soft louve into place in a matter of seconds. It comes out just as easily and packs with the SnapBag into a small storage bag.

Kino Flo’s FreeStyle Mini LED System is one many versatile LED studio panel style fixtures that can light faces and spaces efficiently, whether mounted on stands or rigged overhead.

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NEWS / PRODUCTION / POST & TECHNOLOGY ROUND-UP

PERKAL USES CAM TANK TO DUTCH RIGHT ON THE DECK

J

oel Perkal has been busy in the camera department for over 20 years, having worked on ground-breaking episodics from Entourage and Dexter to recent network series, Runaways and LA’s Finest. To keep the pace, he’s proven to be a resourceful asset to any production, always ready with a plan and tool for how to capture the camerawork that advances the plot. Such as Matthews Studio Equipment’s Cam Tank.

When Matthews’ Martin Torner showed him the low angle Runaways camera mounting system, Perkal could tell it would be a problem solver.

“What first sold it to me was its design and capable braking system so you can lock it in position. It’s machined very well. Once set up, it won’t get nudged – as is possible when just a sandbag is used.”

As its name implies, Cam Tank has a sturdy base, and its bottom plate offers 17 strategically placed 3/8”16 tapped holes spaced one-inch apart, complying with motion picture industry standards.

“Its mounting versatility gives me options”, explains Perkal. “I constantly mount it directly to sliders.

I have put Q/R plates sideways on the base. It covers the majority of bases and options you might use. It is a rocker plate, not a geared head, although a standard rocker plate doesn’t give you this many options.

And it gives me a studio feel as I pan and tilt – even whilst dutching right on the deck. Loaded with a 65

STUDIO NEWS:

or 70-pound camera rig, it handles without a problem.”

Perkal recently used Cam Tank on recent production of Runaways, in which a scene opener called for a reveal to an interrogation happening in the scene.

“We wanted to be off the main characters but show some geography of the space. The best way to do that is to utilise foreground elements. We set up on the second floor above the action. I mounted the CamTank turned 90-degrees on top of an OConnor so that I could dutch the angle while it was attached to a 4’ slider on tilted sticks. This allowed me to create

Elstree Studios: Hertsmere Borough Council has

a dutched “pull back” or “push in” through the 2nd floor railing onto the actors below.”

“The Cam Tank helps me to achieve a dutch angle lower than I can with any other device, plus I can pan 360-degree pans when needed. You can’t do that with a standard studio head.”

The Bottle Yard Studios: new Agatha Christie thriller

The Pale Horse, which transmitted on BBC1 in February, shot on sets at The Bottle Yard Studios, plus locations in Bristol and the surrounding region, with support from Bristol Film Office.

Starring Rufus Sewell and Kaya Scoledario, the twopart drama, produced by Mammoth Screen and Agatha Christie Limited for BBC One, was adapted by Sarah Phelps from the 1961 Agatha Christie novel of the same name. It was directed by Leonora Lonsdale, with Stuart Biddlecombe the DP, and shot in July to September 2019. The major Chelsea apartment set was built at the studios where a large proportion of filming took place, whilst the six-week shoot also used a host of Bristol locations.

Ashton Court Estate and Arnos Cemetery feature prominently, whilst a host of Bristol’s central streets also created the backdrop of 1960s’ London. Frogmore Street and Cave Street doubled as the East End, Denmark Street stood in for the Soho district, and properties overlooking St Nicholas’ market were brought to life as period police station interiors. Bristol’s Queen’s Square doubled as a Chelsea apartment block and Clifton Village’s West Mall doubled as London’s iconic King’s Road.

Further afield, production also took place at Sheldon Hall near Chippenham and the picturesque Chew Valley, with assistance from Bath Film Office. The attractive Cotswolds village of Bisley near Stroud was transformed into the fictional village of Much Deeping, where Christie’s original novel is set. Three days of filming took place Elstree Studios in the village, with The Bear Inn providing the setting two new stages for The Pale Horse, the pub where the trio of alleged witches are said to have plotted a number of deaths.

granted planning permission for the construction of two new ‘superstages’, plus workshops and offices at Elstree Studios’ Borehamwood site, whilst Sky has also recently revealed its plans for the new Sky Studios Elstree, a studio complex to be built on a large site a short distance away.

With Sky Studios Elstree, BBC Studios Elstree and Elstree Studios providing at least 26 film and TV stages, the Elstree/Borehamwood area is set to become a major creative hub for the South East and London.

The new stages and studios will create thousands of film and TV jobs and will benefit many of the graduates from the Elstree University Technical College, the vocational college for film, TV and theatre, set up by Roger Morris, MD of Elstree Studios, who is also the college’s chair. The college, which has been in existence for five years, has announced that last year’s graduates have all found employment, or have gone on to study further at university.

Elstree Studios is the home to Sony Leftbank, Netflix production The Crown and top light entertainment shows such as Strictly Come Dancing, The Voice and A League Of Their Own. Television technical facilities are provided at Elstree Studios by BBC Studio Works.

The Pale Horse

26 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

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WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP The DP’s dozen… DP James Oldham shot 12 shorts in 12 months in 2019. Here he is with (l-r) John Head (grip) and Lavinia Gavrilovici Varas (grip assistant) lining up a shot on a horror short in Bristol produced

by Shunk Films. Photo by Lloyd Sandall.

EYES ON THE PRIZE J

ames Oldham: to bolster his body of narrative work, James set himself the challenge of shooting 12 shorts in 12 months during 2019, and admits, “I can’t believe I managed it, but I got there somehow.”

He is continuing to shoot various commercials and music videos, whilst also lecturing at Northern Film School.

Vision Artists: Benedict Spence is prepping the TV pilot Alma’s Not Normal, a comedy produced through Expectation Entertainment for BBC Two, directed by Andrew Chaplin, written by Sophie Willan. Rasmus Heise DFF has seen the premiere of his episodes of Stephen King’s psychological thriller The Outsider, helmed by Andrew Bernstein, which follows the grisly murder of a child in a small town. Deepa Keshvala’s short Goldfish, following the aftermath of a stab victim’s heart transplant, was nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTAs, directed

by Hector Dockrill, produced by Benedict Turnbull and Harri Kamalanathan through the BFI/Pulse Films. Dan Atherton is shooting episodes of new Netflix sci-fi series The One, based on the famous novel by John Marr, produced through Urban Myth films, directed by Brady Hood. Anna MacDonald has wrapped an experimental documentary short on funghi for Elisha Leverock Smith, produced by Margo Mars through Lief, premiered on Nowness. Ann Evelin Lawford shot the short All These Men I’ve Done, directed by Irish directing duo Scéal, written

by Lorraine Nolan, which is playful, surreal exploration into female sexuality. Eoin McLoughlin has seen the release of Generation Peace, a documentary focussed on the historic decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland and the legalisation of gay marriage, directed by Scott Carthy,

produced by Adam Lilley for The Face. Jack Wilkinson has been shooting 8Bar: The Story Of Grime, directed by Ewen Spencer, which follows the emergence of the grime scene and its origins for BBC. Nick Morris was in Nepal shooting an episode of docu-drama Way Of The Wild Card about a Nepalese long-distance runner, sponsored

by Red Bull, directed by Jono and Jonny through Just So. James Blann has wrapped the drama elements of HBO documentary The Mystery Of DB Cooper following the famous story of the legend of his hijacking, directed

by John Dower, produced by Minnow Films. The end of 2019 saw James’ short documentary Landline nominated for Best Documentary of the Year by Vimeo. Jonas Mortensen lit the curling documentary Throwing Stones with Tomas Leach for Moxie Pictures, following the five women from Scotland who won the 2002 Winter Olympic Gold. Olan Collardy’s short Appreciation, directed by the award-winning Tomisin Adepeju, was nominated for the Best Film of the Year 2019. Olan has also just wrapped Percelle Ascot’s short Joy, exposing the rise of knife crime in the rampant drill scene, produced independently by Sam Ewen. In commercials Arthur Loveday has been shooting for Budweiser. Jaime FeliuTorres has been working with Stink and Insurrection. Ian Murray lit spots for HLA and Sweetshop. Tim Green lit tech pieces for Huawei with Stink. Jim Jolliffe has been doing car ads with Knucklehead. Luke Scott lensed sport pieces with MTP. Ryan Eddleston has been shooting music documentaries with Triongl and Jean Noel-Mustonen FSC has been working with his regular collaborators at Outsider.

Casarotto Ramsay & Associates: Eben Bolter BSC has wrapped with director Adam Randall on Night Teeth for 42. Matt Gray BSC is shooting Vigil, a series set on a nuclear submarine for World Productions, with director James Strong in Glasgow. Shabier Kirchner recently shot Lizard, a short for Potboiler. Hélène Louvart AFC is filming Veins Je T’Ammene with director Alain Guiraudie for CG Cinema. Zac Nicholson BSC has begun prep on The Pursuit Of Love for Moonage with director Emily Mortimer, based on the novel by Nancy Mitford about an upperclass English family in the interwar period. Tim Palmer BSC is shooting Line Of Duty 6 for World Productions.

Independent Talent: Arni Fillippusson is shooting new TV series Bloodlands, directed by Pete Travis. Eric Kress is lighting new TV series Silver for Showtime.

Suzie Lavelle BSC ISC is a new client, whose recent credits include His Dark Materials, World On Fire and The Discovery Of Witches. David Luther is lensing new TV series, Wheel Of Time, directed by Wayne Yip. Ben Smithard BSC is shooting new TV series The Nevers, directed by Joss Whedon for HBO. Mark Waters is lighting a new series of Keeping Faith, directed by Judith Dine.

Maja Zamojda BSC has wrapped on the TV series The Great. Aadel Nodeh Farahani has concluded on a near year-long documentary in Jordan, the US and UK with regular director Tom Barbor Might. Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC is shooting Shantaram in Australia. Ashley Rowe BSC has wrapped on Finding Alice, which follows the life of a woman after recently losing her husband. Benoît Delhomme AFC ASC shot for Estee Lauder with Jean Claude Thibaut, Cartier with Fabien Baron and Guerlain

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www.dopchoice.com 28 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

The blue and orange hour…

David Bird shooting a Fineco spot Firestarter…

DP Duncan Telford on

location

Monitoring… Rina Yang shooting a DJ Shadow music vide o Vroom vroom...

DP John Lynch on a Buick commercial in LA, directed by Phil & Joe

Splish splash… DP Ann Evelin Lawford shooting the short Petra, directed by Ella Jones

with Patrick Clair. Bjorn Bratberg FNF has finished his latest TV drama Bang 2 in Wales. Carl Nilsson was in Cape Town with MJZ director Fredrik Bond for Ray Ban. Christopher Ross BSC is shooting The Swimmers, alongside director Sally El Hosaini. Erik Wilson lit a spot for TK Maxx Homesense with Friend director Pablo Maestres before heading to Portugal on a Samsung spot with the Guard Brothers. George Richmond BSC continues to shoot the third film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Jordan Buck has been shooting ads with directors James Fitzgerald, Steve Harries and Andrew Laurich. Kit Fraser shot with Rosco 5 at Spindle, Remi Paringaux at Irresistible Films and Scott Pickett of Karen Film. Mark Patten BSC is on the second series of Pennyworth which follows life of Alfred Pennyworth before he become Bruce Wayne’s legendary butler. Sam Goldie has been lighting spots with Silvia Rossi, Felipe Sanguinetti, Miika Vaso and with Rory McKellar on a spot for McClaren. Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC is in America and shooting Spiderman 3 featuring Tom Holland.

Tat Radcliffe’s recent ads include Lays with Jack Driscoll at Academy.

Intrinsic: In features… Nic Lawson has finished Falling For Figaro in Scotland. James Mather ISC has wrapped Zone 414. David Liddell is shooting Rocket Science in Dublin. In television… Richard Donnelly shot second unit on Foundation and lit main unit on The Nevers.

Ciaran Kavanagh continues in Canada for Charmed.

Rasmus Arrildt DFF is on Redback in Dublin, followed by new client Tom Comerford on later blocks. Tony Coldwell continues lighting the new series Goldies Oldies. Andrew Johnson has done more Holby City. Bebe Dierken is

grading an Agatha Christie, and Shaun Lee is grading Maxxx. James Mather ISC is prepping Frank Of Ireland. In documentaries… David Liddell is shooting the otherwise unnamed Swearing Doc. Lynda Hall continues on the Jackie Collins feature/doc Lady Boss and the unnamed Robbie Williams Doc, whilst Frank Madone returns for more on Body Cam. Chris O’Driscoll, Dave Miller, David Liddell, Ed Lindsley, Frank Madone, Gabi Norland, Gareth Munden, Lynda Hall, Martin Roach, Robert Shacklady and Suzanne Smith have been busy with commercials, corporate films and music promos.

United Agents: Barry Ackroyd BSC has wrapped Sweet Girl, directed by Brian Andrew Mendoza for Netflix.

John de Borman BSC is on the next series of Baptiste for director Thomas Napper. John Lee BSC is lensing Viewpoint with director Ashley Way for Tiger Aspect/ITV. Søren Bay DFF is shooting series four of Unforgotten, directed by Andy Wilson. Nic Morris BSC is still teaching cinematography in Singapore. Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC has graded Artemis Fowl and wrapped on Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile. Mark Nutkins is shooting second unit on Bridgerton for Shondaland/Netflix. Marcel Zyskind DFF was in Sundance for the premiere of Viggo Mortensen’s latest directorial feature Falling. Gavin Struthers BSC ASC shot pick-ups in the US for Charming The Hearts Of Men. Alwin Kuchler BSC shot Kevin Macdonald’s latest film The Mauritanian in South Africa.

Alan Almond BSC is meeting for various projects. Danny Cohen BSC has graded David Dobkin’s Eurovision for Netflix. Martin Fuhrer BSC is available. David Higgs BSC is lighting pick-ups for His Dark Materials series two for

Bad Wolf. Kieran McGuigan BSC is meeting for projects.

Laurie Rose BSC is prepping Maven Pictures’ Silent Night, directed by Camille Griffin. Bet Rourich is lighting commercials. John Sorapure is prepping on Disney’s The Little Mermaid in the roles of second unit DP and director.

Simon Tindall is getting ready for Netflix’s The Bus. Ollie Downey has graded blocks one and three Hanna series two for Amazon Studios/Working Title/NBC. Laurens De Geyter is shooting an episode of The Irregulars, for Drama Republic/Netflix. David Rom has graded the final episode of AMC’s For Life. Sam Heasman is meeting for projects.

Simon Stolland is a new client. Si Bell is shooting two blocks of Pennyworth series two. Sam Chiplin is lighting The Unknown Man for director Thomas Wright in Australia.

Charlotte Bruus Christensen DFF is in post on Black Narcissus for DNA/FX. James Friend BSC ASC is busy with meetings. David Marsh is available. Anton Mertens SBC is lighting extensive pick-ups for Hans Herbots’ The Serpent in Budapest and Thailand. Milos Moore has wrapped Industry for HBO. Neus Olle is available. David Raedeker is busy with meetings. Niels Reedtz Johansen is lighting a drama in Denmark. Kate Reid BSC is lighting episodes of The Nevers for HBO and director Joss Whedon. Joshua James Richards has wrapped on Marvel’s The Eternals for director Chloé Zhao. Miles Ridgway is available. Ed Rutherford is lighting ITV’s The Larkins. Anna Valdez Hanks is considering projects. Ben Wheeler is in Rome lighting Domina for Fifty Fathoms/Sky Italia/Sky Atlantic, and will go on to shoot The Tourist for Two Brothers/ BBC1 and director Chris Sweeney in Australia. G. Magni Agústsson ÍKS is shooting US TV show Stumptown for >>

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British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 29

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP Long shot… Mauro Chia rello on a commercial shoot in LA with Martin De Thurah

Rick Joaquim Bright lights… DP Oli Masek’s SASC shooting with 1st AC latest music video, g focus on Ethan Iveson pullin Mini LF the ARRI Alexa

Lining one up… DP Eigil Bryld

directors including James Griffiths in LA. Alex Barber’s recent work includes McDonald’s for Sam Brown at Rogue, and Apple for Saam Farahmand in Tokyo via Laura Holmes Productions.

Philipp Blaubach BSC is on Bridgertons for Netflix with director Cheree Folkson in I could do London. Daniel Bronks lit a with a cuppa.. spot for Guinness through Will Lyte on an Iggy Pop We Are Social. Simon commercial Chaudoir lit an Argos ad with David Kerr in London, and a Chanel ad for Karim Sadli in Paris. Lasse Frank lit an Amazon spot for Andreas Nilsson in Prague for Biscuit. Stephen Keith-Roach lensed Lotto and Suzuki ads, both for Dom & Nic at Outsider. Tim MauriceJones BSC has wrapped the feature 355 for director Simon Kinberg. Alex Melman lit a Veg Power TVC for Big Red Button at Biscuit. Ben Moulden has wrapped the feature All My Friends Hate Me in Devon for director Andrew Gaynord.

Simon Richards framed a Wilko TVC for Max Sherman at Blink. Christopher Sabogal lit a B&Q campaign for Chris Hewitt at Knucklehead. Glynn Speeckaert ASC shot a Lech ad for Justin Reardon in Barcelona.

30 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

McKinney Macartney Management: Stuart Biddlecombe is prepping The Handmaid’s Tale 4 in Toronto. Ben Butler, Mick Coulter BSC, Denis Crossan BSC, Clive Tickner BSC and Alessandra Scherillo have been shooting spots. Congratulations to Mike Filocamo whose short film Azaar received a nomination for BAFTA British Short Film, and also to Gavin Finney BSC who was nominated for the BSC Best Cinematography TV Drama award for his work on the Good Omens episode ‘Hard Times’. Jean Philippe Gossart is prepping season two of The Witcher for Netflix in the UK and Slovakia. Steve Lawes is shooting Leonardo in Tuscany with director Dan Percival for Sony Pictures Television. Sam McCurdy BSC is shooting Carnival Row two in Prague. Andy McDonnell is lensing Bulletproof 3 in Cape Town with director Sarmad Masud. Chris Seager BSC is lighting season two of Carnival Row with director Andy Goddard in Prague.

Richard Stoddard is prepping The Pact in Cardiff with director Jennifer Perrott. Darran Tiernan ISC is lighting Foundation for Apple TV+ in Ireland, Malta and Tenerife.

Lux Artists: welcomes Ross Giardina. Bradford Young ASC is shooting Alejandro Iñárritu’s currently untitled new feature. Eigil Bryld is prepping Landscapers, a new HBO mini-series directed by Alexander Payne, starring Olivia Colman. Ari Wegner ACS continues on Jane Campion’s feature The Power Of The Dog. Ula Pontikos BSC is prepping series two of Russian Doll for Netflix. Diego Garcia is lighting Michael Mann’s new pilot Tokyo Vice. Mauro Chiarello shot an Apple ad with Ian Pons Jewell and a Sony Playstation TVC with Martin De Thurah. Guillermo Garza is lighting Apple’s Mosquito Coast, directed by Rupert Wyatt. Lol Crawley BSC shot a VW spot, directed by Dante Ariola. James Laxton ASC continues on Underground Railroad, a new series from director Barry Jenkins. Daniel Landin BSC shot a Heinz

ad for Roman Coppola. Monika Lenczewska PSC lit a Microsoft spot with Partrick Daughters. Benjamin Loeb has wrapped Pieces Of A Woman, directed by Kornél Mundruczó. Sebastian Blenkov is on Operation Mincemeat, directed by John Madden. Adam NewportBerra shot an Audi TVC that debuted at the Superbowl, directed by Francois Rousselet. Arnaud Potier AFC is shooting The Nightingale, directed by Mélanie Laurent.

Crystel Fournier AFC is lighting The Great Freedom, directed by Sebastian Meise. Magnus Joenck is in prep for Jeremy Saulnier’s new feature Rebel Ridge. Michael McDonough BSC ASC is shooting the Netflix series, Pieces Of You, directed by Minkie Spiro, starring Toni Collette. Kasper Tuxen is prepping Joachim Trier’s new feature, The Worst Person In The World.

Sara Putt Asssociates: Giulio Biccari has wrapped on BBC Studios’ The Watch in South Africa, an adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novels. Jan Jonaeus is in Mallorca lensing the second series of The Mallorca Files for Clerkenwell Films. Duncan Telford is a new client, who recently lit the comedy The Cockfields for Yellow Door Productions with director Steve Bendelack. Sashi Kissoon did dailies operating on HBO’s The Nevers. David Mackie has wrapped his second unit work on Salisbury, a drama based on the 2018 Novichok poisonings. Andrei Austin ACO Associate BSC SOC has wrapped on director Kenneth Branagh’s Death On The Nile, where he operated B-camera/Steadicam. Jon Beacham ACO was nominated for an Operators Award in the TV Category for his work on series one of Carnival Row, and is now operating on series two in Croatia. Danny Bishop ACO Associate BSC SOC has wrapped on Your Honour, having shot in Louisiana for Showtime/CBS. The show, an adaptation from an Israeli series, is a legal thriller that rips through New Orleans society, starring Bryan Cranston, who also serves as exec producer. >>

The Dig crew… Aga Szeliga (centre) with DP Mike Eley BSC (wearing cap) to her right, with the camera team

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WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP Mirror signal manoeuvre…

Arnaud Carney shooting an Armani fragrance ad with Nicholas Hoult

Ed Clark ACO is camera/Steadicam operator in Manchester on Intergalactic for Tiger Aspect/Moonage Pictures. The series, set 200 years in the future, follows a group of rogue female criminals. James Frater is new to the family, and has started on the second series of Netflix’s The Witcher as camera/Steadicam operator, starring Henry Cavill. Ilana Garrard ACO is B-camera/ Steadicam on Working Title’s Feature The Swimmers with DP Chris Ross BSC, shooting in the UK, Germany and Turkey. James Leigh ACO has finished on Roadkill for The Forge, starring Hugh Laurie, and is prepping Stephen Merchant’s The Offenders as B-camera/Steadicam for DP Nick Martin, shooting in Bristol. Will Lyte did dailies on Anthony for LA Productions, plus commercials including Marshall Headphones (starring Iggy Pop), Bank of Scotland and Adidas. Vince McGahon ACO Associate BSC was nominated for the Operators Award in the Feature Film category for his work on Stan & Ollie. Vince is currently working on Venom II, starring Tom Hardy, directed by Andy Serkis. Julian Morson ACO Associate BSC GBCT has wrapped on Marvel’s The Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Kit Harrington.

Alastair Rae ACO Associate BSC was in Australia and India with DP Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC on The Bear, a series starring Charlie Hunnam, based on the novel ‘Shantaram’ by Gregory David Roberts. Tom Walden Associate ACO has wrapped on A Suitable Boy (an adaptation Uncut Gems of Vikram Seth’s cr Darius Khon ew… novel) for dj (white cap) w i AFC ASC Lookout Point.

Bishop (blac ith Maceo k cap) and the camera Rick Woollard te with 35mm am on-set was in Mexico film cameras on a Mango campaign for Art Partner, and has also worked on BP for Academy, plus Sky and National Lottery via Outsider.

PrinceStone: congratulates several of its camera operating clients on their nominations for the BSC Operators Award for Television Drama…Sean Savage Associate BSC ACO for Game Of Thrones, Joe Russell ACO for Killing Eve series two, and Tony Kay ACO GBCT for Beecham House. Of the agency’s DPs… Diego Rodriguez is filming a seven-part documentary about 32 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

NASA for Fulwell73, following astronauts as they train at Space Agencies around the world for an amazing mission, directed by Ben Turner. Of the agency’s camera/Steadicam operators… Peter Robertson Associate BSC ACO is still shooting on The Nevers, HBO’s ten-part sci-fi, with director Joss Whedon and DP Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC, starring Elizabeth Berrington, Ben Chaplin and Nick Frost. Simon Baker ACO has concluded on The Crown season four with directors Paul Whittington and Ben Caron and DP Adriano Goldman

Avez-vous un cuppa?…

Benjamin Roux takes a pause in shooting French TV series Baron Noir for Canal+/HBO Europe

ABC ASC BSC, starring Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies and Helena Bonham Carter. Sean Savage Associate BSC ACO is on Pennyworth II with director Danny Cannon and DP Mark Patten, starring Jack Bannon and Paloma Faith, shooting at Warner Bros.

Studios Leavesden and London locations. James Layton ACO has finished Hulu series The Great, with director Matt Shakman and DP Anette Haellmigk, starring Elle Fanning as Catherine The Great. Having wrapped on the final block of acclaimed thriller Killing Eve 3, Joe Russell ACO is now shooting on block one of Tailspin for Apple

TV+, an English-language adaptation of the Israeli series False Flag, with DP Neville Kidd ASC and director Chris Long, shooting around London and Oxfordshire using Alexa Studio LF and Mini LF with Zeiss Supreme Primes. Peter Wignall ACO is on Foundation, a sci-fi series for Skydance Television/Apple TV+ based on Isaac Assimov’s book series of the same name, starring Jared Harris, Lee Pace and Laura Birn. Tony Kay ACO GBCT has Completely focussed...

Chris O’Driscoll at the camera concluded on Cursed, a fantasy series for Netflix, with DP Balazs Bolygo BSC HSC and director Sarah O’Gorman, and did dailies on Killing Eve 3. Dan Nightingale ACO has wrapped on Russell T. Davies’ new show Boys with DP David Katznelson DFF BSC and director Peter Hoar for Red Production/ C4, starring Stephen Fry, Keeley Hawes and Olly Alexander. Tony Jackson Associate BSC ACO GBCT shot pick-ups for A Discovery of Witches series two. Fabrizio Sciarra SOC Associate BSC ACO GBCT is on time... a reshoot of feature od go ie el he Having a w ater frames a shot film Horizon Line with James Fr director Sam Donovan and DP Flavio Martinez Labiano, which stars Alexander Dreymon, Allison Williams and Keith David. Matt Fisher ACO camera/Steadicam and AR operator, who recently joined the agency, has been shooting dailies on Bridgerton, a Netflix TV series starring Julie Andrews, Jonathan Bailey, Phoebe Dynevor and Ben Miller, working with DP Philipp Blaubach BSC, shooting on an MK-V AR rig, with some crane, handheld and dolly work.

Reel Angels Agency: Agnieszka ‘Aga’ Szeliga operated B-camera for DP Mike Eley BSC on Netflix’s new feature The Dig, starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes. Svetlana Miko shared the job with Aga on the last week of the production. Svetlana and Aga were also both additional camera operators for DP Ben Davis BSC, on Marvel’s Eternals, starring Angelina Jolie and Richard Madden. Currently Aga is working alongside DP Greig Fraser ACS ASC, as additional camera in the main unit, on The Batman starring Robert Pattinson. >>

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP Totally focussed…

Nancy Schreiber ASC

US cinematographer Nancy Schreiber ASC has just joined the agency, which represents female camera, sound and lighting crew and was founded in 2010 by Lulu Elliott.

An award-winning DP, Nancy was the fourth woman ever voted into membership in the American Society of Cinematographers, and the first woman to receive the ASC President’s Award. Her other accolades include the Best Dramatic Cinematography Award at Sundance for November, directed by Greg Harrison, starring Courteney Cox, and the Best Cinematography Award at Sundance for America…Or Honk If You Love Buddah. She also recently received the Susan B. Anthony “Failure Is Impossible” Award, at the High Falls Film Festival, bestowed specifically for her extensive work and her contribution in supporting women in the film and TV industries. Most recently she shot Starz’s P-Valley.

Echo Artists: Nadim Carlsen is prepping Ali Abbasi’s feature The Long Night (Working Title), whilst also grading Shariff Korver’s Do Not Hesitate. Carlos Catalan has graded his episodes of Killing Eve season three. David Chizallet AFC is collaborating again with Elie Wajeman on his latest feature, and has graded his episodes of HBO/Sky series The Third Day. Rachel Clark has just moved into the shoot on Reggie Yates’ Pirates. Nick Cooke has wrapped on Anatolian Leopard for director Emre Kayis. David Gallego ADFC is shooting the series Cortes with directors Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra. Lachlan Milne ACS is prepping season four of Stranger Things. New Echo client Will Pugh recently shot the feature documentary Harder Than You Think for Passion Pictures and directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui. Niels Thastum DFF is shooting series Family Affair with director May El-Touky. Chloë Thomson BSC has graded Stacey Gregg’s feature Here Before for BFI and BBC. Felix Wiedemann BSC is grading

Richter Strand’s Behind Her Eyes for Left Bank Pictures/ Netflix. Sean Price Williams is prepping Before The Spring for Anonymous Content and Lofty Nathan. Joe Anderson, Stuart Bentley BSC, Andrew Commis ACS, Edgar Dubrovskiy, Bonnie Elliott ACS, Charlie Herranz, MacGregor, Christopher Miles, Michael Paleodimos, Noel Schoolderman and Maria von Hausswolff have all been busy in commercials.

Berlin Associates: Sarah Bartles Smith recently completed Urban Myths: When Barbara Kissed Joan, a Fullwell 73 show for Sky Arts, written/directed by Sue Perkins, plus ITV’s Men In Brown with director Matt Lipsey. Jamie Cairney has concluded on Netflix’s Criminal series two, directed by Jim Field Smith. Alvaro Gutierrez is shooting Around The World In 80 Days for Slim Film & Television with director Steve Barron.

Annemarie Lean-Vercoe shot The Opera Film for Tigerlily Productions. Nick Martin is shooting The Offenders, a Big Talk Production for BBC 1, directed by Stephen Merchant. Ian Moss recently lit The Spanish Princess series two for New Pictures with director Lisa Clarke.

Tom Pridham shot The Lost Pirate Kingdom with World Media Rights for Netflix and commercial Craft Gin Club for Recipe. Pete Rowe shot the pilot Hullraisers for Fable Pictures and is now on BBC’s Mandy comedy shorts.

James Swift has graded Jamie Johnson and shot The Pan for Short Form Films. Simon Walton is preparing the finale of BBC’s 4 O’Clock Club. Matt Wicks shot Sweetheart for BFI/Film London with director Marley Morrison, and is prepping Witchfinder for Baby Cow Productions with directors Rob and Neil Gibbons. Phil Wood is shooting Netflix’s Zero Chill with Lime Pictures and directors Angelo Abela and Tessa Hoffe.

Worldwide Production Agency: Colin Watkinson BSC ASC won the ASC Bax award for The Handmaid’s Tale, and is now Killing it… DP e r Th shooting across London, South Africa and Irvine on-set fo rders Mu Pembrokeshire New Mexico on The Power, a new Amazon Studios series directed by Reed Morano.

34 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Stephen Murphy BSC ISC is prepping horror thriller No One Gets Out Alive with director Santiago Menghini for Imaginarium/Netflix. Tony Slater Ling BSC shot second unit of new Netflix drama-series The Irregulars with Drama Republic, and is prepping in Rome on the new Sky Original series Domina produced by Fifty Fathoms/Sky Studios. Baz Irvine ISC shot in Cardiff with director Marc Evans on ITV’s new true crime drama The Pembrokeshire Murders, starring Luke Evans. Ed Moore BSC is shooting season three of Sky Atlantic’s historical drama Britannia with director Ben Gregor.

Björn Charpentier SBC is shooting between Belgium and France on new Sky Original series Opera. Arthur Mulhern shot with director Karen Maine for BBC3/ Avalon TV’s new six-part comedy Starstruck, written, created and starring Rose Matafeo, winner of the 2018 Edinburgh Comedy Award. Mattias Nyberg has wrapped a spot with director Simon Neal for Burger King via Unit 9 and a Tesco ad with Stink in Prague. Kanamé Onoyama worked on Dua Lipa’s latest promo in Sofia for Caviar with director and frequent collaborator Henry Scholfield, then did a spot for Set App with Biscuit director Jeff Low in Bucharest, and then travelled to Tokyo for a Tokyo Olympics Documentary with director Naomi Kawase and Apicorp. Joel Honeywell lit a TVC for Bumble with Forever Pictures and directing duo Will & Carly, followed by artist King Krule’s latest promo with director Jocelyn Anquetil and The Mill. Amelia Hazlerigg wrapped in Bangkok on a TVC for Oppo with Red Horse Media and director Ali Kurr, and then shot again with the same director for an Outercourse ad with Partizan. Callan Green ACS worked with The Mill and director Filfury on a Seat spot in Barcelona, before shooting with Carnage in Barcelona and London for Bentley. Matt Fox lit idents for a collaboration between Marks & Spencer and Britain’s Got Talent with Pulse director Helen Downing, and then lit an ad for Honda with director Kirby at Partizan.

Wizzo & Co: congratulates Sverre Sørdal FNF, whose feature A Perfectly Normal Family, directed by Malou Reymann, What’s new pussycat?… won the Big Screen Will Pugh on set of Award at Rotterdam Harder Than You Think International Film Festival, and Ruben Woodin Dechamps, whose feature The Reason I Jump, directed by Jerry Rothwell, won the Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Mott Hupfel’s feature The Last Shift, directed >>

Tom Townend, DOP

WHO’S SHOOTING WHO? / CINEMATOGRAPHERS ROUND-UP Triplets… shooting a VW ad above the polar circle – Jallo Faber, Stickan Olsson & Kristian Bergstrom

Getting shipshape…

David Lanzenberg on-set of Netflix’s Shadow & Bone

Taking a good squint…

Nanu Sega shooting The Bik l BSC with the leada e Thief cto Secareanu in th r Alec e helmet

by Andrew Cohn premiered at Sundance.

Ryan Kernaghan has graded Chris Baugh’s feature Boys From County Hell. Adam Gillham has wrapped Michaela Coel’s HBO drama January 22nd. David Procter shot Murdered

By My Fame, directed by Peter King, and then flew to New York to complete the feature Black Beauty, directed by Ashley Avis. Gary Shaw is grading Sky’s sci-fi drama Intergalactic alongside Kieron Hawkes. Adam Barnett has wrapped period feature The Laureate, directed by William Nunez. Jan Richter-Friis FNF is grading Riviera series three, directed by Sarah Harding. Dale Elena McCready NZCS has graded her episodes of Tin Star series three, and joined an embargoed crime drama in Brighton.

Luke Bryant has graded his episodes of I Hate Suzie, and is prepping a drama in the Middle East with director Colin Teague. Karl Oskarsson IKS is shooting Cheaters for director Elliot Hegarty and Clerkenwell Films, and will shortly grade Netflix Original The Duchess directed by Toby Macdonald. Diana Olifirova shot BFI short Through The Pine Trees directed by Tim Price. nce Aaron Reid is prepping In the bath... Benedict Spe on shooting Gabrielle Creevy an embargoed big budget Skin My In ning win TAthe BAF short for Sky. Oli Russell has graded We Hunt

Taking safety measures…

Adric Watson on an Air China flight to the UK after a shoot in Australi a

Together with director Carl Tibbetts. Richard Mott shot on Intergalactic with director China Moo Young. Matthias Pilz had graded Netflix Original Once Upon A Time In Yorkshire. Nick Dance BSC continues on the final block of Netflix’s The Irregulars. Christophe Nuyens SBC has wrapped French Netflix drama Moloch. Franklin Dow continues shooting an embargoed drama directed by Orlando von Einsiedel. Hamish Anderson lit the short Ecstasy, directed by Grant Taylor, and shot with director Sam Johnson on a worldwide campaign for Facebook.

Theo Garland shot with Shynola and Jeroen Houben, Will Bex with Bobbsey Twins and Fede Alfonzo with James Brown. Antonio Paladino worked with Twin and James Rouse, and Ben Magahy with Tim Brown and Ben Turner. Charlie Goodger has graded BBC’s Get Even.

Damian Bromley has done the DI on Netflix’s Cursed. Joe Douglas shot with Amy Becker-Burnett, and Nicola Daley ACS remotely graded US drama Paradise Lost. Patrick Meller shot with Emil Nava and Warren Fu, and Ross McLennan shot an embargoed commercial in LA. Steven Ferguson worked with Tom Gentle, and Susanne Salavati shot a short produced through Big Talk and directed by Ella Jones. Congratulations to Molly Manning Walker and Tim Sidell, both of whom were nominated at the British Arrows Craft Awards for NHS: Nurses, directed by Billy Boyd Cape, and Everyman Cinema, directed by Sophie Jones, respectively.

MyManagement: Filip Marek has been shooting in Bangkok, India and Morocco on more Royal Stag campaigns with director Noise. Craig Dean Devine has been doing camera tests in preparation for an upcoming feature with director Dionne Edwards. KC Locke and Sam Meyer have been collaborating on several shoots including a Mist music video through Odelay Films.

Sam also teamed-up with Wowa on the Dig Dat x Aitch 8 Mile music video through Great Coat, and lensed a

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Rise and shine…

DP Roger Bonnici shooting a Lifestyle spot The man in the mask…

Ekkehart Pollack on a Ford Mustang shoot with Bruce St Clair in Argentina

Rob Franklin GBCT working on Thai Cave Rescue

Wish you were here...

Edgar Dubrovskiy on holiday in Iceland wearing his PV hat!

Ramz music video for Streets with director Chris Chuky.

Sy Turnbull shot with Hannah Lux-Davis on the new Anne-Marie music video, shot a TVC with director Craig Moore and has just wrapped on a Vogue x Piaget shoot with Yelena Yemchuk. Dominic Bartels shot fashion and beauty ads with John Clements at Spring, before a trip to Romania and a shoot with director Jamie Maule-Ffinch.

Nicolaj Brüel DFF did a Mulino Bianco shoot in Rome, directed by BRW Filmland’s Gabrielle Mainetti. Adric Watson has been shooting in Queensland on a doco/ feature with Raphaela Rosella before heading to Adelaide for a music video shoot with Matthew J Thorne. Pete Konczal was in Chicago lensing season four of Fargo with director Dana Gonzales. A banking app TVC took Allison Anderson to Vancouver to lens with director Saman Kesh, before a Verizon ad with director Amir Farhang in LA. Todd Martin shot in Morocco for artist Lolo Zouai’s ‘Desert Rose’, directed by Emelie Badenhorst, an intimate story of growing up with a duality of cultures and reconnecting with one’s roots and identity. Todd then teamed-up with good friend and director Kevin Castanheira from Dog Eat Dog to continue a Marshall Headphones campaign in Miami, Manchester and London. Following a relaxing break in Vietnam Todd Banhazl kicked off 2020 collaborating with director Charlotte Wales and a shoot for Donna Karan in New York. Marcello Dapporto shot with director Federico Brugia on an Olympic campaign and a Findus TVC with Filmmaster director Guiseppe Capotondi. Robbie Ryan BSC ISC has wrapped on C’mon C’mon, directed by Mike Mills, starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann and Kenneth Kynt Bryan, shot in LA, New York, New Orleans and Detroit. Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken, lensed by Robbie premiered in competition at Berlinale. Director Salim Adams and David Wright have collaborated on a Budweiser shoot. David then lensed with Thor

Saevarsson on a Clear spot in Istanbul, and also managed a couple of music videos for artists Joel Corry, directed by Elliott Simpson, and Rika, with director Jordan Rossi. Jo Willems SBC ASC has been on back-to-back commercials with directors Aaron Stoller at Biscuit and Neal Brennan at Caviar. He also shot with director Shawn Levy on Free Guy, an upcoming American sci-fi action comedy by Matt Lieberman, written by Lieberman and Zak Penn, starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Taika Waititi. Jallo Faber FSF is in Prague lensing Cadaver, a nuclear disaster film about a starving family, directed by Jarand Herdal who also wrote the screenplay. Campaigns for Louis Vuitton with director Victor Demarchelier and YSL with Fabien Constant have been keeping Arnaud Carney busy.

John Perez went to Panama to shoot a music video with artist Yannick Noah and director Michael Abt. He also took a trip to Milan on a fashion film before heading to Istanbul to light a Blendax spot with director Cemal Alpan.

Stuart Dryburgh ASC NZCS has been collaborating with director Bruno Aveillan at Quad for L’Oréal shooting in London & Paris. Ashley Barron ACS shot with Giovanni Messner at Great Guns on a Dove campaign, and lensed on a Westfield TVC with director Cate Stewart at Brilliant Films. Ekkehart Pollack lit a Eucerin beauty shoot, directed by Anne Weigel, followed by back-to-back car shoots starting off with Mercedes AMG with Rainer Gehrisch, VW directed by Augusto De Fraga, Citroen with Quad director Greg Ohrel and BMW with Tempo Media director Jan Wentz – all shooting in South Africa.

Catherine Goldschmidt has been lensing with Academy Award-winning documentary director Morgan Neville on a documentary for Apple TV. Paul O’Callaghan shot Havas with Omni director Darren Finch and Tecno Mobile with Zach Newby, before heading off to Hawaii as part of the VFX team on His Dark Materials with Russell Dodgson

directing. David Lanzenberg has been back in Bucharest lensing additional pick-up days for Shadow & Bone with Lee Toland Krieger, which stars Freddy Carter and Jessie Mei Li. Tomas Tomasson has wrapped on the feature Amma Hofi directed by Gunnar Bjorn Gudmundsson in Reykjavik and is now prepping his next feature Skjalfti with director Tinna Hrafnsdottir, about a woman in her forties whose life is transformed after a fierce epileptic seizure. Vincent Warin is shooting series one of Je Te Promets, directed by Arnaud Selignac and Renaud Bertrand, based on the successful American family drama series This Is Us. Tim Spence has been shooting Bottega Veneta with Alex Paganelli through Farago Projects. Roger Bonnici teamed-up with Equinox and director Andy Saunders for a TVC to be released later this year. Ahmet Husseyin has shot a couple of short films, one in Hastings with director Catherine Donaldson and then director Mousa King in London. He also did a Kano & Adidas shoot with Blake Claridge directing. Petra Korner AAC has graded episodes four, five and six of The Letter Tor The King directed by Alex Holmes and Felix Thompson. It tells the story of a teenage squire, called Tiuri, who answers a call for help that sends him on a perilous mission across the three kingdoms to deliver a secret letter to the king, and stars Ruby Ashbourne Serkis.

Oliver Cariou continued his campaign with Darren Walsh on Compare The Market with a ‘Sleepy Oleg’ shoot. Isaac Bauman has been shooting with Britton Caillonetti in Philadelphia, Verizon with Thomas Hilland at Partizan in New York City, plus Servant with Apple TV, directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Servant, starring Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell and Rupert Grint, follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home. Hakon Palsson has been in Beirut shooting with director Mazen Fayad and in Morocco for Sigma with director Ben Lacour. n

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13:15 British Cinematographer 21.02.20 | March 2020 | 37

MEET THE NEW WAVE / YANA RITS

SKIPPER Selected filmography (so far): Invisible Men (2015), Forbidden Note (2016), Adam & Eve (2018), Poised (2018) and Black Dollar (2020).

When did you discover you wanted to be a DP? I went to FAMU (The Film & TV School Of The Academy Of Performing Arts) in Prague, Czech Republic, to study photography when I was around 25 years old. I met a lot of film students and teachers, started attending their classes, fell in love with moving image and asked to be transferred to the cinematography department.

Where did you train?

FAMU, Prague, and The Northern FilmSchool, Leeds.

What are your favourite films?

In the Mood For Love (2000, dir. Wong Kar-Wai, DPs Chris Doyle, Pung-Leung Kwan, Ping Bin Lee).

The Sacrifice (1986, dir. Andrei Tarkovsky, DP Sven Nykvist).

Last Year In Marienbad (1961, dir. Alain Resnais, DP Sacha Vierny).

These are my favourite films in terms of cinematography and directing because of the way the camera tells the story. All of them have a rather unique enigmatic visual quality and mesmerising ambiguous stories which I love going back to and getting lost in again.

What’s the best advice you ever had, and from whom?

By Henry Ford who said: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”

What have been your best/worst moments on-set?

Best: on a feature film in Georgia when we waited for certain weather conditions for nearly 20 hours on-set and finally, it happened.

Worst: waiting for it!

What was your biggest challenge on production?

Working with inexperienced crew members.

Tell us your most hilarious faux pas?

It was saying something funny about the person who I thought didn’t hear me but he did. I don’t ever talk about people on-set since then.

Away from work, what are your greatest passions?

Travelling to weird places and reading.

What one piece of kit could you not live without?

None!

In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would you love to have shot?

One of 007 James Bond’s for fun, or any with Tarkovsky for personal satisfaction.

What are your current top albums?

Kings Of Convenience.

Can you tell us your greatest extravagance?

I do photography too, and have a personal exhibition of nude self-portraits coming up.

What’s the best thing about being a DP? You get to see places and people you wouldn’t have thought even existed...

What’s the worst thing about being a DP? Long hours!

Which films are you most proud of to date?

Adam & Eve.

Give us three adjectives that best describe you and your approach to cinematography?

Strong. Talented. Highly-driven.

What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever shot in?

Zambia and India.

If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing?

Directing.

What’s the hardest shot you’ve had to light/frame?

A scene on a mountain top in fog at night.

What are your aspirations for the future?

To grow bigger and better! n

Tell us your hidden talent/party trick?

I have no party tricks, but I’m a qualified and rather good skipper!

Who are your DP/industry heroes?

Sasha Vierny, Sven Nykvist, Christopher Doyle. I love the work of these artists because of their ability to collaborate in such unison with the directors, creating an outstanding poetic visionary experience.

What’s your proudest moment?

It’s when I watch a newly-released film in the cinema for the first time and feel happy about my work.

What’s the worst knock-back/ rejection you ever had?

When one of the producers at the beginning of my career in a different country said that they don’t hire female DPs, so he wouldn’t even watch my showreel.

38 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Nude self-portrait

The 2020 IM AG Achievemen O International Awar to master cin t in Cinematography w d for Lifetime ill ematograph er Chris Menbe presented ges BSC AS C

CELEBRATION SPECIAL WHAT IS IMAGO?

Today, IMAGO is the International Federation Of Cinematographers – the umbrella organisation uniting 54 national cinematographic societies around the world, and more than 4,700 of their individual members.

WHAT IS ITS PURPOSE?

IMAGO was established as a European organisation in 1992, as an initiative by Italian cinematographer Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC in a collaboration with the AIC (Italy), AFC (France), BVK (Germany) and BSC (UK).

The background was the need for closer collaboration between European cinematographers: to promote the importance of the art of cinematography; to discuss and find solutions to common challenges on an international level, such as authorship issues, working conditions, and the need for education; and to make available continuous updates about the rapid developments on the technical and artistic sides of cinematography.

WHY DOES IMAGO MATTER?

Although it started life as a European federation, interest in joining IMAGO soon came from cinematographers from all over the globe. They were facing exactly the same challenges as cinematographers in Europe, and needed an international network to be able to discuss and solve those challenges. So, in 2019, IMAGO’s Annual General Assembly in Belgrade unanimously voted to change the name to IMAGO – The International Federation Of Cinematographers.

Today, a truly international organisation, IMAGO and its many members are working hard to improve the status and livelihoods of cinematographers worldwide.

WHAT DOES IMAGO DO?

IMAGO has different working committees actively covering different aspects of cinematography: technical, masterclasses, working conditions, diversity and inclusion, authorship and education. To heighten awareness and to create change for the better, these

committees arrange regular IMAGO-led events in Europe and across other continents, and members participate at major film festivals and film-centric events worldwide.

IMAGO also collaborates with major federations supporting authorship and collection, as well as national unions and other colleagues in film production – all focused on safeguarding the work and working lives of cinematographers, and our colleagues in the camera department.

IMAGO’s numerous activities would not be possible without many dozens of experienced and hard-working cinematographers working voluntarily and for free. And, we are hugely grateful for the ongoing support of our many sponsors and partners.

In this time of globalisation and technological change in our industry, IMAGO is working for you to ensure that the art and craft of cinematography remains relevant, safe and secure, diverse and inclusive. And we want more of you to get involved. Together we are strong.

– Paul René Roestad FNF, IMAGO President

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 39

IMAGO BOARD 2020 President: Paul René Roestad FNF Vice-president: Nina Kellgren BSC Vice-president: Rolf Coulanges BVK

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION COMMITTEE

Board Members: Alex Linden FSF Elen Lotman ESC Predrag Bambic SAS Ron Johanson OAM ACS

By Nina Kellgren BSC and Elen Lotman ESC

Members: Nina Kellgren BSC (chair), Elen Lotman ESC (chair), Alex Linden FSF, Alfredo Altamirano AMC, Astrid Heubrandtner AAC, Birgit Gudjonsdottir BVK, Casper Hoyberg DFF, Claire Pijman NSC, Louis Philippe Capelle SBC, Maria Soloviova RGC, Marc Swadel NZCS, Raquel Fernandez AEC, Roger Simonz BSC, Ron Johanson OAM ACS and Velinda Wardell ACS.

The Diversity & Inclusion Committee was formed in 2016 and, from the outset, our goal has been to make ourselves redundant. The day we feel the work of encouraging more women and more people from diverse ethnic backgrounds is not needed any more, then we will happily retire the whole committee.

Although a watershed moment is already happening ­– judging by the sheer number of female and minority cinematographers at the 2020 BSC Expo – there is still so much more to be done. Cinematography is an area of filmmaking that has one of the worst percentages of representation for both ethnic minority and female DPs. For example, just two years ago only 3% of the top-grossing 100 films were shot by women.

Our committee collects and shares information about IMAGO member societies’ initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion. Our reports show that across the world member societies are taking a more active role in shaping the representation within their membership and cinematography in general.

For example, New Zealand’s NZCS has a very active gender and diversity sub-committee, and a strong working relationship to other industry bodies, such as The Tech Guild, WIFT Directors Guild and The NZ Film Commission. The NZCS membership is diverse. On the average set there is a mix of white New Zealanders, Maori, Pacific Islanders and people from Europe, the Americas and Asia working across all roles.

In Mexico, the AMC works closely with Apertura, the Mexican collective of female cinematographers, welcoming members to AMC workshops. In Australia, the ACS has in-place a Women’s Advisory Panel, which aims to ensure that women’s voices are heard within the society. In Germany, BVK members pay a reduced fee during pregnancy and with small children.

We first ran a highly-successful Diversity Day at Camerimage in 2016, inviting the then newly-formed Illuminatrix collective of UK female cinematographers to partner with us. Our diversity masterclasses and panel events have since become a yearly fixture and, with great support from our industry sponsors, these events are always packed out. Participants tell us they are both energised and grateful that this crucial subject, which so affects the professional lives of underrepresented cinematographers, has a public platform at a premier cinematography festival.

Cinematographers who have participated include: Rachel Morrison ASC, Natasha Braier BSC ADF, Bradford Young ASC, Charlotte Bruus Christensen DFF, Ed Lachman ASC, Warwick Thornton and Ula Pontikos BSC, amongst many others. And we are also thankful for generous sponsors including ARRI, Vantage, Panavision and Panalux.

General Secretary: Louis Philippe-Capelle SBC IMAGO Legal Advisor: Dr. Cristina Busch IMAGO Web Editor & Awards Coordinator: Tony Costa AIP

AUTHORSHIP COMMITTEE

By Dr. Cristina Busch, IMAGO Legal Advisor

Members: Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC, Barry Ackroyd BSC, Arko Okk ESC, Simon Plum DF; senior Advisers Jost Vacano BVK and Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC.

The issue of authorship rights recognition has been one of the pillars and fundamental goals of IMAGO from the beginning. The Authorship Committee began on the 25th September 2016 with extensive international fieldwork regarding the protection of authors’ rights of cinematographers. Without gathering facts about the empirical and legal situations of cinematographers in Europe and other international territories, any strategy of IMAGO in this field would have been doomed from the start. Most of IMAGO’s member associations answered without the help of legal experts and their answers revealed a lack of knowledge regarding authors’ rights.

Nevertheless, the work to be done by the Committee must overcome important obstacles and this will entail long-term activity.

The committee is confronted not only with a huge range of existing legal systems in the EU and on an international scale regarding the determination of (co)-authorship of films, but also with important differences in countries regarding the collection of equitable remuneration by Collecting Rights Societies in favour of cinematographers and other differences which make immediate and long-term actions necessary.

Many countries have found their own national solutions regarding the authorship of cinematographers and therefore the protection of their economic and moral rights. This complex situation is aggravated by the fact that in some countries national Intellectual Property Law and national Film Law collide when regarding recognition of authorship of cinematographers.

During the years the Authorship Committee has existed, the discussion within the committee and IMAGO has focused on the economic aspect of authors’ right (fair remuneration and/or participation of international exploitation of cinematographic works,

“THE DAY WE FEEL THE WORK OF ENCOURAGING MORE WOMEN AND PEOPLE FROM DIVERSE ETHNIC BACKGROUNDS IS NOT NEEDED, WE WILL RETIRE THE WHOLE COMMITTEE.”

40 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

We are now partnering with BECTU, Primetime, Women Behind The Camera, The British Blacklist and Illuminatrix on more action-based initiatives such as Digital Orchard’s New Talent Bar.

Visibility and language matter – they change perceptions. We are strong believers in “If you can see it, you can be it“. When Teresa Medina, the first female president of Spain’s AEC was elected, the name of the organisation was changed from “Asociación Española de Directores de Fotografía” to “Asociación Española de Directoras y Directores de Fotografía”. And thanks to the women’s network Cinematographinnen, the German magazine “Film & TV Kameramann” became “Film & TV Kamera”.

There are now more and more female cinematographers collectives changing the status quo all over the world, such as The International Collective Of Female Cinematographers (ICFC), DAFB (Brazil), Apertura DOP (Mexico) and CXX.

Cinematographers can literally come from any background – creativity and passion for cinematography have no gender or nationality. Diversity and diverse representations of our world benefit us all.

Paul René Roestad FNF with Nigel Walters BSC at an IMAGO meeting in London in 2007

PRESIDENTS OF IMAGO

etc.). The problem of involvement of cinematographers in post-production and the colouring phase has not been considered as urgent nor such issues as important as the economic aspect. As regards the economic aspect, many countries have made progress. The recognition of Authorship and remuneration has often been successfully obtained in practice by negotiation of Collecting Rights Societies and Producers.

We plan to repeat a modified survey, giving a time-limit of one month to answer. We can then evaluate if IMAGO should initiate a campaign regarding the “unpayable remuneration” which is collected by all Collecting Rights Societies concerning exploitation of audio-visual works. Unpayable remuneration will mean that this remuneration to foreign rights holders will be collected by a national Collecting Rights Society, but kept as “unpayable remuneration”. It is unpayable either because the Collecting Rights Society for the rights holders in question does not have an agreement with the national Collecting Rights Society, or because the foreign rights holders are not registered with any national Collecting Rights Society, for example because they are not recognised as the author. Generally, this “unpayable remuneration”, following a time-limit without a claim from anyone, is assigned to social objectives of the Collecting Rights Societies. In the end, this helps national rights holders. Again, IMAGO must investigate the facts and then decide if it is worse to initiate such a campaign, which could harm relations between IMAGO and Collecting Rights Societies.

We also aim to evaluate a “Class action” due to discrimination. In short, “Class action”, “Class suit”, or “Representative action” are types of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member of that group or class of people suffering the same grievance.

As mentioned already, IMAGO faces a plurality of existing legal systems in EU-countries regarding the determination of (co-) authorship of films.

Therefore, a “Class action” could be initiated because of infringement of the fundamental principle of nodiscrimination between the different scopes of legal protection of cinematographers.

Such a “Class action” is highly-complicated and expensive. If IMAGO should win the litigation, this will influence the harmonisation of authors’ rights for all cinematographers. Of course, the European case could have consequences also for the majority of democratic states outside Europe.

We also plan to get involved in strong collaborations with other associations such as FERA, ECSA, Performers, OISTAT, UNIMEI, and intensify contacts with institutions and associations of restoration of audio-visual works, in order to archive the respect of moral rights of authors of cinematography. The future path also involves the organisation of educational campaigns about authors’ rights, and contacts with producers’ associations.

INSPIRATION MASTER CLASS COMMITTEE

By Astrid Heubrandtner AAC Members: the first committee members Ines Carvalho AIP, Paul René Roestad FNF, Jan Weincke DFF, Herman Verschuur NSC and Astrid Heubrandtner AAC started their work in 2006. Later Ron Johanson OAM ACS joined the group, when Ines and Paul René withdrew.

IMAGO’s Inspiration Master Class Committee has organised five very successful three-day events aimed at professional cinematographers. With great support and help from Tina Sorensen from the Danish Film School, the first two events were held 2008 and 2011 in Copenhagen, followed by another edition 2013 in Vienna, 2017 in Amsterdam and 2019 in Vienna again.

The theme of these open-minded and open-hearted events has always been about how cinematographers get inspiration to perform their work. They have always proven truly inspirational in the exchange of ideas and experiences too, with more than 150 working DPs from all over the world attending each edition.

Inspiration Master Classes have never been just about equipment or new trends, and have really been focussed more on artistic choices and cinematographic expression. The line-up of speakers and guests has included some fantastic, award-winning cinematographers, and their key collaborators, such as:

2015 – 20

Paul René Roestad FNF

Norway

2008 – 15

Nigel Walters BSC

UK

2003 – 08

Andreas Fischer-Hansen DFF

Denmark

2001 – 03

Tibor Vagyóczky HSC

Hungary

1998 – 01

Gustav Mandal FSF

Sweden

1996 – 98

Tote Trenas AEC

Spain

1994 – 96

Harvey Harrison BSC

UK

1992 – 94

Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC

Italy

Copenhagen 2008: Agnes Godard AFC, Bruno Delbonnel AFC ASC, Brian Tufano BSC, Cesar Charlone ABC and Slavomir Idziak PSC

Copenhagen 2011: Mandy Walker ACS ASC, Oliver Stapleton BSC, Haskell Wexler ASC, Wolfgang Thaler AAC and Lajos Koltai HSC ASC

Vienna 2013: Luca Bigazzi, Michael Seresin BSC with director Alan Parker, Russell Boyd ACS ASC with director Peter Weir, John Toon ACS NZCS with director/editor/ screenwriter Christine Jeffs

Amsterdam 2017: Jeanne Lapoirie AFC, Phedon Papamichael ASC GSC, Martin Gschlacht AAC, Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC, Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC and Elen Lotman ESC

Vienna 2019: Barry Ackroyd BSC, Dan Laustsen DFF ASC, Maryse Alberti, Greig Fraser ACS ASC and Claire Pijman NSC

A latest Inspiration Master Class Committee was formed in 2019, and new projects and ideas will be published soon. The new members of the committee are Arbel Rom ACT, Elen Lotman ESC, Lars Petterson FSF, Ron Johanson OAM ACS, Tahvo Hirvonen FSC, Teresa Medina Amorós AEC and Viola Laske BVK. >>

Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC Master Class in Amsterdam 2017

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 41

EDUCATION COMMITTEE

By Tony Costa AIP and Marijke Van Kets SBC Members: Tony Costa AIP (chair), Marijke Van Kets SBC and Ella van den Hove, SBC (co-chairs), Stefan Grandinetti BVK, Janet Tovey, Jean-Paul Jarry, Peter Slansky, Philippe Cordey SCS BVK, Petru Maier, Erika Addis ACS, Marc De Backer SBC and Rolf Coulanges BVK.

The mission of the Education Committee is to provide a bridge between academic research and the practice of teaching cinematography. This also includes the experiential knowledge of cinematographers.

The power of an image is not to be underestimated. It can show us the wonders – the truth if you want – about humanity and the world. But it can also manipulate, deceive and even spread hate.

Cinematographers use their artistic and technical expertise to create images that reach out and touch audiences. They can often disagree with one another about the ways and means of doing this, and the kaleidoscope of opinions can sometimes be overwhelming. But one thing they all share is a passion about the importance of cinematography in creating the filmed experience, and the transfer of knowledge to new generations of cinematographers.

The Education Committee was founded in 2014 during IMAGO’s “Cinematography In Progress” conference at the Institut Des Arts De Diffusion (Institute Of Media Arts) in Louvain La Neuve, near Brussels, Belgium. Since then we have organised a wide range of debates, conferences and other educational activities.

In the last couple of years a big effort has gone into organising conferences based on how best to teach cinematography. As we all know, much has changed in image capture, workflows and image manipulation in post-production in the last decade, and this has introduced new challenges to teaching cinematography.

The members of the committee are aware of their responsibilities and freely share teaching and academic research methodologies in regards to three important stages of filmmaking: production, projection and film participation.

We pay attention to the overall framework and contributions to the field of film studies that our work brings. We investigate new knowledge acquisition and its methodologies. These approaches are historically not embedded in film studies but currently some cinematographers are turning into scholars. For example, during a round table discussion about how to teach digital colour grading, we might also learn about academic research on the perception of colour.

Academic studies are an important step in reaching IMAGO’s long-term goal of authorship recognition for cinematographers. The academic research proves the high relevance and importance of cinematography in storytelling and its contribution as an artform.

Therefore, the Education Committee has just launched an academic journal exclusively to publish papers about cinematography. It is the only one of a kind in the world, and is a great step forward in the recognition of cinematography as an artform.

We invite film students and other film faculty members to tune in to our work, and our conferences, to learn more about cinematography as an expressive art, a property that adds meaning.

42 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Some of the international delegates attending the IMAGO/HFF Educational Conference in Munich in 2017

“THE MISSION OF THE EDUCATION COMMITTEE IS TO PROVIDE A BRIDGE BETWEEN ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND THE PRACTICE OF TEACHING CINEMATOGRAPHY.” TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

By Philippe Ros AFC and Alex Linden FSF

Members: Alex Linden FSF and Philippe Ros AFC (co-chairs). Aleksej Berkovic RGC, John Daly BSC, Mario Costa AIP, Joe Dunton MBE BSC, Juan Antonio Fernandez AEC, Kommer Kleijn SBC, Zekeriya t Kurtulus TSC, Patrick Lindenmaier CSC, Jannicke Mikkelsen FNF, Andres Holcke Petersen DFF, Claire Pijman NSC, John Christian Rosenlund FNF, Mick van Rossum NSC, Alex Sterian RSC, Ivar Taim ESC and Piet de Vries ACS.

Associate Members: Stefan Grandrinetti BVK, Ed Lachman ASC, Dirk Meier (colourist consultant) BVK, Alfonso Para ADFC, Charles Poynton PhD (colour scientist), Roberto Schaefer ASC AIC and David Stump ASC.

A major goal of IMAGO’s Technical Committee (ITC) is to give back artistic control to cinematographers through a better understanding of imaging technology. The ITC has recently started to gather well-known cinematographers, colourists and colour scientists to share their knowledge about the complexities of digital workflows.

Today, cinematographers face a never-ending stream of new tools, approaches and solutions. The committee is looking into these issues from the vantage point of emphasising solutions that improve the filmmakers’ artistic choices.

After releasing our report on ”Texture In The 4K workflow”, we launched a survey called ”Requests To

Manufacturers” with a list of questions and proposals.

Nearly 600 cinematographers from all over the globe (including DITs, colourists and first ACs) participated and gave great input and useful insights. A preliminary report from this survey was delivered to all camera manufacturers during IBC 2019.

We also succeeded in bringing together major camera manufacturers and grading software companies during Camerimage 2019 to discuss a selection of these proposals. The ITC believes that manufacturers involved with cameras, accessories, post-production, displays and projectors, and likewise professional cinematography, post-production and colourist associations, should correctly define the most commonly used words used in the filmmaking process.

A list of 20 important words has been sent out to all manufacturers to start this important task.

Other requests being discussed include the complexity levels of camera menus as they pertain to different users, and the opening-up of camera and software menus to allow more control over texture in the image. The ITC’s standpoint is that the menu should be open when recording internal codecs to the camera, as well as in post with RAW formats.

Regarding product testing and evaluation, ITC is now putting more emphasis on targeted demos from manufacturers, similar to that which FilmLight arranged for us at Camerimage. Furthermore, we have established important dialogue with Netflix to discuss how their guidelines and quality demands affect cinematographers. As synchronising committee members’ schedules is a challenge, we have decided to organise two meetings a year – Camerimage and Cinegear LA. We look forward to seeing you there.

Some of the participants at the two day IMAGO/FERA Conference on Working Conditions in film production in Vienna.

Photo: Richard Van Oosterhout NSC

SOCIAL DIALOGUE & WORKING CONDITIONS COMMITTEE

By Kurt Brazda AAC

Members: Kurt Brazda AAC (chair), Fabian Eder AAC, Igor Klebanov RGC and Nigel Walters BSC.

Cinematographers must not give in to brutal economic pressures, but stand up for their rights together. IMAGO is the apt platform to help, if it can succeed in gaining the political weight of thousands of cinematographers.

Excessive working hours are among the biggest issues facing cinematographers and their crews today, as 12 to 14 hour days become more and more the norm.

The European Working Hours Act requires that 11 hours of rest have to be granted before working restarts. However, this recovery phase, which is so important for the mind and body, is increasingly being disregarded by production schedules, with levels of exhaustion, burn-out, family and mental health issues, ageisim and the likelihood of accidents all rising in a spiral of self-exploitation, because many don’t have the courage to claim their rights, or are afraid of losing their jobs.

Our committee has picked up the American 12-on/12-off campaign, but changed it to 10-on/14off, because we are convinced that ten-hour working days are enough to achieve a professional and creatively fruitful performance, whilst also being fullycongruent with the EU Working Time Directive, which allows 50 hours a week.

Film workers are increasingly victims of economic coercion. They have no awareness of their rights, and therefore do not know them. They have no idea how the audiovisual industry acts economically, or they may never have been interested in it. They are afraid of losing their jobs if they stand up for their rights and get blacklisted. This means they are either unable or not willing to act in solidarity.

Another phenomenon, the disappearing distinction between subordinate employment and self-employment, is spreading. Production companies and broadcasters avoid paying social security contributions for their employees thereby increasing their profits. Independent workers become cheaper than employees and a spiral of undercutting and selfexploitation starts. The new self-employed are seen as entrepreneurs with contractual freedom, which does not exist in practice. They are always in a weaker position and contracts are dictated to them. The review of many contracts by European broadcasters with self-employed workers has shown that most of these contracts are immoral. A few years ago

IMAGO published a survey about the living and working conditions of cinematographers in several countries, which revealed that violations of labourlaw and economic problems are the same almost everywhere.

Our goal is to give us, as self-employed or classical employees, the bargaining power we can never develop as an individual. We need effective unions that represent both employed and selfemployed people. Basic requirement: same work, same payment.

Solidarity is the magic word. We have to become more politically professional in enforcing our rights. An international federation like IMAGO is an effective instrument to initiate such developments, together with other European umbrella associations.

We cooperate with FERA (the European organisation of directors), ARTSCENICO (set designers) and with TEMPo (editors). Supported

by Interface Film (an NGO created by former European MEP Mercedes Echerer in Austria for this purpose) we have submitted our requests, together with FERA, to the European Parliament twice. UNIMEI, the global union of artists and media professionals, has also become an important partner of IMAGO.

Our committee initiated, with the AAC and Interface Film, a conference called “Vienna Documents” where filmmaking was investigated in its whole and requirements for the entire value chain were worked out. We are convinced that improvements can only be achieved if production companies, distributors and funding institutions are on-board. We have also included issues like fair trade, gender equality, inclusion and green filming in our considerations.

The committee has also developed guidelines about fair work and earnings for the new Media programme and, in cooperation with Interface Film and Crew United, we prepared an international cinematographers conference at the Berlin Film Festival. In Austria, We Do, an institution that is independent of the film industry, allows anyone experiencing unfair conditions or coercion to report it anonymously.

At the end of 2020 we will go public with the collected material forcing politics to act. European and national funding instruments, and public service broadcasters in particular, must be forced politically to make fair work and adequate remuneration solid conditions of their funding and producing.

The film industry is both a blueprint and a foretaste of the future world of work. Solutions found for our segment could be fundamental to the entire working world. >>

“OUR COMMITTEE HAS PICKED UP THE AMERICAN 12-ON/ 12-OFF CAMPAIGN, BUT CHANGED IT TO 10-ON/14-OFF, BECAUSE WE ARE CONVINCED THAT TEN-HOUR WORKING DAYS ARE ENOUGH TO ACHIEVE A PROFESSIONAL AND CREATIVELY FRUITFUL PERFORMANCE.”

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 43

IMAGO INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ron Johanson OAM ACS President ACS & IMAGO board member

These prestigious awards began life at the IMAGO General Assembly in Jerusalem in 2015, at the suggestion of Tony Costa AIP and Ron Johanson OAM ACS to recognise the visual artistry and creativity of cinematographers around the globe, all pursuing excellence in visual interpretation and storytelling.

The following year a resolution was passed to create the IMAGO Awards Committee, jointly chaired by Ron and Tony and with a truly international and enthusiastic team, dedicated to creating an awards event specifically for cinematographers, judged by cinematographers.

Funding the awards presentation itself was helped enormously by the initial support of ARRI as part of its 100-year anniversary, and this was followed almost immediately by other generous supporters who all believed in the concept. Alex Linden FSF from Sweden suggested well-known Swedish glass artist, Åsa Jungnelius as a potential designer of the Award, and after much consultation, he was commissioned to design and manufacture the impressive trophy.

Held successfully for the first time in 2017 in Helsinki as part of IMAGO’s 25-year anniversary, hosted by the Finnish society, and then 2019 in Belgrade, with the Serbian society as hosts, IMAGO now proudly presents the 2020 International Awards for Cinematography on March 14th in Brussels, led by Louis Philippe-Capelle SBC, the Belgian Society Of Cinematographers and our generous group of participating sponsors.

2017 IMAGO Award winners, together with the IMAGO partners and IMAGO organising staff, at the IMAGO Awards in Helsinki.

Photo: Alejandro Lorenzo

Year-on-year entries for the awards have grown in number for each of the categories, far beyond our expectations, giving added credence to the global effectiveness of IMAGO as a uniting force and its ability to give exposure to cinematographers working in different genres who might not necessarily be given deserved recognition. For example, in the first awards presentation in Helsinki, the Documentary Award went to Polish DP Łukasz Żal PSC, who is world famous for his films with Pawlikovski, although his winning documentary had been unknown.

The Feature Film category is the one that attracts most attention, and standard of cinematography in 2019 was brilliant – a who’s who from around the globe. Having already garnered Oscar, ASC, BSC and BAFTA accolades, Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC won the feature film award for Blade Runner 2049 – presented by Zeiss, ahead of The Favourite from Robbie Ryan BSC ISC, Lion by Greig Fraser ACS ASC; The Eternal Road from Finnish cinematographer

Ed Lachman ASC was presented with the IMAGO International Award for Lifetime Achievement in Cinematography in 2019

Rauno Ronkainen FSC, and Mathilde from Russian cinematographer Yuriy Klimenko.

This year, we have seen a further increase in entries, confirming how popular and how necessary awards of this stature are - a peer judging system with each member society submitting one film per category. The recognition achieved to date has proved beyond doubt that IMAGO member societies want to see work from other countries.

Along with Special Contribution Awards the IMAGO Awards recognise the work of cinematographers in the following genres: feature, documentary, television drama, emerging young cinematographer and student film.

The 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award goes to master cinematographer Chris Menges BSC ASC. Jean-Pierre Beauviala will receive the Special Recognition Award, and the Extraordinary Technical Achievement Award is given to Johan Hellsten for the Easyrig.

DESIGNING A NEW IDENTITY: FOR CINEMATOGRAPHERS AND THEIR ART As any organisation grows, it has to adapt and change, although often its design identity can remain static. This was the question facing IMAGO, as it entered a new decade as a truly international organisaton.

How can its identity represent the vitality and artistry of those who belong to it? Does it also convey the clarity and vision of the organisation in such a way that it can continue to grow, today and tomorrow, as an active global network for Cinematographers and their art?

Several IMAGO members and stakeholders are currently embarked on a project of evaluation and development, exploring potentially new and exciting paths for the IMAGO’s brand identity.

Through a series of workshops, guided by branding studio KeSo, the team is deepdiving into what the future of the IMAGO design identity might be, with plans to share the work for consideration and conversation at this year’s IAGA in Brussels.

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A BRIEF HISTORY OF IMAGO

by Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC

“IMAGO is the best film I ever dreamed of making and, with all of you, we made it.”

The inspiration to create a European federation of cinematographic societies goes as far back as 1981, when I initiated, together with Gabriele Lucci, a professor of economics and a passionate lover of film and his partner Anna Maria Ximenez, the first international festival dedicated to cinematographers (no awards) in L’Aquila, an ancient and beautiful town in the mountains near Rome.

During the ten editions of this event (not to be confused with the glorious Macedonian Manaki Brothers Film Festival in Bitola) we invited dozens of the most famous international cinematographers and, together with them, organised public demonstrations of filmmaking in the streets of the town, both day and night.

However, at the beginning I was not sure if my idea would work and was ready to take full responsibility for a possible failure. For the first edition, I called on my close friend and co-scholar at the CSC Centro Sperimentale Di Cinematografia in Rome, Nestor Almendros, who then was freshly Oscarised for his cinematography on Days Of Heaven.

I need not have worried so much. The formula was so successful that from the second edition thousands of film students and aficionados of photography and cinematography came from all over the world. Meeting all of those imagemakers, I felt that they deserved another kind of recognition for their artistic creativity, rather than just awards – recognition that would bring them out of the shadows and into the light. I also started to think that something had to be done practically to bring about communication and sharing, first of all amongst ourselves.

Unfortunately, the L’Aquila Cinematographers Festival was forced to close for local political reasons, despite its global success, although it was transformed by my friends Gabriele and Anna Maria, plus the active participation of Vittorio Storaro AIC ASC, into an International Film Academy.

However, in 1992 when I was president of the AIC this idea of uniting cinematographers and their societies into one single organism, which could communicate with other organisations – such as FERA, the Federation of European Film Directors and also with the European government – took over my mind. From my kitchen table, I made phone calls to the presidents of three cinematographic societies who have participated at the L’Aquila Festival, and invited them to Rome Cinecittà Studios for a weekend, sponsored very generously by Kodak Italy’s manager Tonino Carletti.

Ula Pontikos BSC (r) presents IMAGO with the Special Achievement Award at the BSC 70th Anniversary dinner

“IMAGO IS THE WORLD’S STRONGEST TECHNICAL AND ARTISTIC ORGANISATION, READY TO FULFIL ITS POTENTIAL FOR THE COMMON GOOD OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS.”

It was in the spring of 1992 and the colleagues who I met at Fiumicino Airport in Rome, along with AIC general secretary Claudio Ragona, were: Jost Vacano and Wolfgang Treu from the BVK, Harvey Harrison and Paul Beeson from the BSC, and Carlo Varini and Robert Alazraki from the AFC. Once we arrived at Cinecittà, I revealed for the first time my idea of creating a European Federation Of Cinematographic Societies whose main goals would be to expand, inside and outside the federation itself, awareness of authorship for cinematographers, the protection of film Intellectual property through controlled remastering, civilised working conditions and the sharing of technical and artistic experiences.

All of the participants immediately agreed enthusiastically. After having established a plan of action for the months to come – like statutes and other practical administrative acts, such as the decision for IMAGO’s legal domicile to be in Paris where the jurisdiction for cultural initiatives like ours seemed quite favourable – we hurried to the nearby restaurant La Cascina which was then considered Cinecittà’s most luxurious cantine to celebrate.

Later the same year, again at Cinecittà, we met once more to approve the statutes, the legal domicile in Paris, and decide the name of the federation. On the creative impulse of the French, who proposed the word IMAGE, we eventually arrived at the original Latin name IMAGO. I was elected as IMAGO’s first president on 13th December 1992 and my dream, thanks to the united vision, passion and enthusiasm of all the participants, became officially alive.

In 1993 Spain’s AEC, newly-created and having Tote Trenas at the helm, joined the first four founding societies of IMAGO. Immediately after I met a group

of Belgian colleagues and encouraged them to create a society that could be incorporated into IMAGO. Six months later the SBC existed!

From here started the long run that has brought IMAGO to become an international federation with 54 members societies. Seven valiant presidents came after me: Harvey Harrison BSC, Tote Trenas AEC, Gustav Mandal FSF, Tibor Vagyoczky HSC, Andreas Fisher-Hansen DFF, Nigel Walters BSC the fierce partisan of a fully-international IMAGO, and Paul René Roestad FNF – each one bringing their vision, skill and dedication, to the cause, as did many general secretaries, board and committee members.

The same year whilst shooting in Hollywood, I was received, on my request, at the ASC Clubhouse - where a group of renowned ASC members, headed by president Victor Kemper ASC, listened to my twohour-long explanation about IMAGO and its goals.

It was of very great interest to them, but objectively too advanced, especially our theme concerning authorship recognition.

Now, thanks to several international meetings organised in Los Angeles at the ASC Clubhouse, and the sharp, intelligently-motivated work of president Kees Van Oostrum ASC, the ASC will soon officially become the next member of IMAGO - which is quite an achievement!

Today, surely, IMAGO is the world’s strongest technical and artistic organisation, ready to fulfil in the years ahead its potential for the common good of cinematographers to be recognised not only as co-authors of their films, but also as vital contributors of professional status, in a film industry that changes almost every day. n British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 45

F-STOP LONDON / 2020 BSC EXPO / REPORT BY KEVIN HILTON AND JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT / PHOTOS: RICHARD BLANSHARD & JOHN KEEDWELL

THIS IS THE KIT!

T

here are fewer surprises to be had at trade shows these days. Or even things that make you half-raise an inquisitive eyebrow. The layout is the same, or similar, to previous outings and most of the big product launches – if there are any – have been announced or rumoured in advance.

But, the BSC Expo, in its own special way, manages to buck that trend by continuing to adapt to its growing number of exhibitors, many of which are timing new introductions for this show instead of its bigger, more established rivals.

After last year’s exhibitor list explosion, which called for a marquee to be built in front of the Battersea Evolution exhibition centre to accommodate the registration desks and cloakrooms, the layout has settled down again. A big change for this year was the addition of a preview on the Thursday evening before the Expo opened fully on Friday. Some exhibitors saw this as positive as it gave them more time to speak to people. Total attendance for this new session and the two main days was 7,911, which show organiser Rob Saunders described as “a record”.

There was also an increase in exhibitor numbers; Saunders said the venue was at capacity and there was a waiting list for stands. He added that larger, alternative exhibition centres – including Olympia, ExCel and The Design Centre – had been considered after the 2019 show but ultimately it was decided that the Evolution was the better venue.

46 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Saunders commented that there had been a positive reaction to this year’s layout, which included more outdoor exhibits.

Among these was the vehicle being used by show debutant Blackmagic Design (BMD) to visit 35 cities across Europe. BSC Expo provided the starting point for the DaVinci Resolve European Tour, which will clock up 60 dates visiting places including Paris, Barcelona, Portugal and St Petersburg before returning to the UK in June. BMD spokesman Patrick Hussey said the company’s principal focus at the moment was to promote Resolve as an editing system. Originally a hardware-based colour grading system, Resolve was bought by BMD ten years ago and redeveloped as a lower-cost, primarily software-oriented product.

The system has been expanded since then and now incorporates Fairlight audio mixing-editing capability and Fusion compositing software. Through this, online editing was added, and now Resolve offers full offline editing functionality as well. Hussey said BMD wanted to highlight all these features but primarily the edit side through its training and certification programme.

“Grading, sound and editing are separate disciplines but there is a benefit to them being in one place,” Hussey commented. “We are giving choice and hoping to change mentalities.”

Inside the Evolution, Sony’s big reveal was on the monitor side, with new two additions to the TriMaster range. The PVM-X2400 (24-inch) and the PVM-X1800 (18.4-inch) displays have been designed to bring 4K HDR monitoring to editing suites, live production, on-set and camera control applications. Featuring the same colour gamut as the high end BVM-HX310

Over 8,000 people attended the BSC Expo at Battersea Evolution during 31st January and 1st February 2020

TriMaster HX grading display, both new monitors offer 3840x2160 pixels through specially designed panels and are priced at below €10,000.

BSC Expo gave those who didn’t get to IBC 2019 the opportunity to see Sony’s recently released FX9 full-frame (FF) 6K camera. This is now fullyavailable and was shown with a range of third party accessories. V2 software will be introduced in the summer but for this show it was the CineAlta Venice that was being shown with new firmware. Offering up to 90fps at 6K, Apple ProRes 4444 capability and support for the ACES workflow, among other features, v5 was launched just before the show. As last year, Venice’s ability to operate in split mode was demonstrated, this time with the lens module on a crane attached to a Mini Cooper, with the camera body on the car itself.

Canon also followed up on a major IBC launch, showing the EOS C500 MkII but also introducing the EOS-1D X MkIII still-video camera. Shown in conjunction with Sumire Prime lenses, the C500 MkII has both PL and EF mount capability and is able to shoot in Super35 and Super16 formats as well as FF. While principally a stills camera aimed at sports and wildlife shoots, the 1D X MkIII also has comprehensive video functionality. This includes up to 120fps in full HD, 5.5K RAW at 50p or 4K in Super35 mode, 12G SDI and 10-bit operation. Barry Griffin, segment manager for professional photo and video at Canon, said the new camera could work as a B-unit to the C500 MkII, adding that 2020 would see a key change for the company as it moved on within video and stills.

It was great to see Alan Piper back at Red, and there was the usual buzz around the cameras on Red’s stand due to the new Red Ranger. This is an all-in-one camera system and has a great feel and look in the design detail.

The standardised camera body weighs in around 7.5lbs (3.4kg) depending on the battery system used. It supports a

ARRI Orbiter

Chris Menges BSC with Frances Russell

Licht Technik Yipman

ASC Seamus McGarvey BSC with Harvey Harrison BSC

The Panalux booth dem the company’s com onstrated mitment to innovation as the y showed off the large format Sonar a soft light

very wide input voltage range from 11.5V to 32V. It also has a larger fan than previous models for quieter and more efficient temperature management, and has independent SDI and Aux power outputs as well as an integrated XLR audio input. The camera is made available with three difference sensor options: Monstro 8K VV, Helium 8K S35, and Gemini 5K S35. The Monstro and Helium sensors take the next step with up to 17x more resolution than 1920 HD, and over 4x more than 4K. Gemini is Red’s highest sensitivity sensor to date and offers significantly increased performance in low-light settings and improved performance in shadows.

Panavision showed its now in-production FF cameras, the DXL2 and DXL-M, to demonstrate what it described as a “large-frame eco-system”. The two DXL2s and DX-M on the company’s stand were shown with Cmotion wireless control, plus internal motors for Primo Artiste lenses. Another new add-on is a module that allows wireless audio to be recorded from the sound recordist’s set-up onto ProRes. This is unmixed, scratch audio that can be used to check the actors’ reading against the director’s script.

The Panaspeed lens range was expanded with the addition of a 135mm model, which should be in full production before June. Primo Xs for drone and gimbal systems were also on display and are now available in 14mm and 24mm and 24-70 zoom models. The DXL2 was also shown with the LCND (liquid crystal neutral density) electronic filter, which was developed by Panavision in response to a client request. Its release followed around 18 months research to produce something that does not have polarisation effects. The LCND was produced independently of Panavision’s filter subsidiary, Lee Filters, which showed its now established range of ND filters. The big announcement for Lee was the start of its Direct online store and UK delivery service.

In this era of increasingly diverse casts, the search for filters that bring out the best in all skin tones has settled on warm diffusion from Tiffen.

Cinematographers are discovering their existing and growing array of warm diffusion makes their modern masterpieces shine in all lights. Tiffen also showed the Steadicam M-2 featuring integrated Volt technology which is showing-up on sets around the world to assist operators in maintaining steady horizons and holding tilt angles while freeing-up operators to pay more attention to framing and story.

Panasonic delivered with its Lumix S series range of FF mirrorless compact cameras all in a traditional-looking stills camera form. The new S1H delivers cinema quality video, with a 24.2Mp CMOS sensor and maximum of 51,200 ISO. Shooting up to 6K video (5952x3968) in 3:2 aspect at 23.98P, it uses the whole of the full-frame sensor. It also shoots in 4K (4096x2160 29.97p, 400Mbps (4:2:2 10-bit All-Intra with internal recording with upgrade option. It has 14+ stops log recording (V-log) with no 30-minute time limit, and has in camera LUT application and waveform monitor. The lens mount is the L Mount. The S1R is more weighted towards still photography with a 47.3Mp sensor, yet also records 4K video.

Also on show was the tiny but extremely capable HC-X2000 4K professional video camera with a 25mm wide angle 24x optical zoom lens from Leica. With the capability to record 4:2:2 10-bit HD in 59.94p/50p (100Mps) and 4K recording in 29.97p/25p (200Mps)

on an internal SDHC or SDXC memory card, as well as 4K /10-bit files even in 59.94p/50p through an HDMI cable to external recorder. Sound inputs are via 2x Professional XLR, and the camera boasts fiveaxis optical image stabilisation, and even a detachable handle for those tight places to shoot. The handle comes with a built in video light as well. The possibility to shoot at 120fps slow motion at 1920 FHD at 59.94Hz mode, or 100fps at 50.00Hz mode is also very impressive in such a small camera.

As one of the UK’s largest and most experienced camera and grip rental companies, Movietech was in prime position to show part of it range of equipment – from 16mm ARRI SR3 and 35mm film cameras to the latest digital cameras from ARRI, Red, Sony, Canon and Phantom high-speed cameras. Along with these cameras, there are Codex and Atomos recording systems, spherical and Anamorphic lenses from Cooke, Zeiss, Canon, Schneider and Angénieux.

One camera combination was shown with the Sony Venice Rialto with the camera head connected to the umbilical cable to the recorder, great for those tight shots where a conventional camera would not fit. Being so established, and with a commanding view of the market, Movietech is often able to have special exclusive deals for a time on the newest equipment such as lenses and cameras.

Take 2 Films showcases a large selection of its most popular equipment. Visitors got hands-on experience with a range of the latest large format cameras, including the Red Ranger with Monstro 8K VV, Sony Venice and ARRI Alexa Mini LF, as well as some of the classic 16mm and 35mm cameras, the ARRIFLEX 416 and ARRIFLEX 435. There were also the exclusive TLS Vega primes, and these are both light and fast full frame lens series, and are only available from Take 2 Films in the UK.

Opticals were a highlight on the ARRI Rental stand. Among those in particular favour right now, said Andrew Prior, head of camera technology and development at ARRI Rental UK, are the DNA Primes for the ARRI 65, both of which are being used for features commissioned by streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Also on display was the DNA LF range for large frame format cameras. These are made of old glass recycled from around the world. They feature a new multi-blade iris for circular bokeh and can be retuned.

From this series has developed the LFX range (25, 50,85) of uncoated lenses that give what Prior described as a “lively flare” and an “extreme” curvature.

While these attracted attention, the real star of the ARRI Rental booth was the ARRIFLEX 765 film camera. A joint venture between ARRI and Panavision, the 765 has found a new market due to the resurgence of large frame and, despite being a niche market, is in demand.

The continuing interest in film was confirmed by Kodak, which has seen increasing sales over the last five years. This applies to 16mm, 35mm and 65mm film but perhaps most surprising – but heartening – is continuing interest in Super 8, which has enjoyed its highest sales since 2011.

The dominating trend in filmmaking continues to be FF, reflected in the launches and displays from lens manufacturers. Cooke Optics added a new 85mm Macro FF to its Anamorphic/i range. This comes in two versions; one with standard coating and another with Special Flare treatment. Cooke chairman Les Zellan commented that cinematographers had embraced FF faster than he had expected. “The reason is that it’s something new and different, particularly the ratio,” he explained. The company’s S7 range offers spherical FF and will, Zellan said, be completed by the NAB Show.

Each lens manufacturer has its take on flare, which was seen widely at BSC Expo. Zeiss’ approach is for a more consistent effect with no loss of transmission.

This is embodied in the Supreme Prime Radiance series, which was demonstrated in a special room off

the company’s main stand. The consistency is achieved through a new version of Zeiss’ T* coating, known as T* blue. There are currently seven lenses in the series, Sky Creamsource SpaceX offering 25mm to 100mm but it is not complete yet. Launched in November, the Supreme Prime Radiance range should begin shipping in April.

The highest concentration of lenses was to be found in CVP’s area on the mezzanine level.

Approximately 200 different opticals were in the distributor’s ‘Lens Bar’, together with three cameras that allowed visitors to see what each looked like in action. There was also a monitor bar (with 38 displays), a vests/wearables area and showcases for cine rigs, motion and engineering and services. CVP additionally held a series of seminars and events, including testing of Sigma Classic FF Primes and a cinematography workshop with Ian Murray.

Fujinon took part in the main conference programme held in the BSC Theatre, addressing the issue of lens selection in ‘The Changing World Of Shooting Formats & Lens Choices’. Taking part were cinematographers Kees Van Oostrum ASC, Balazs Bolygo HSC BSC and Stefan Ciupek, who discussed their thoughts and experiences of the options available for shoots today.

On its stand Fujinon showed the latest additions to the Premista Cine Zoom range, the 28-100 T2.9 and 80-250 T2.9-3.5. Both are designed for large format work and support eXtended Data, giving distortion and shading correction information through the lens mount hot shoe. Also shown was the new LPL mount adaptor, demonstrated on an ARRI Alexa Mini LF.

ARRI itself showcased its Signature Prime lens series and in particular the 40mm. This model was primarily used by Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC to shoot the Oscar-magnetic 1917, which also exploited prototypes of the Alexa Mini LF and the Trinity stabilisation rig, which were key elements of the film’s ‘single take’ sequence.

Well-known for its re-engineered lenses, P+S Technik showcased the new Evolution 2X lenses based on the original optical design of the Kowa Anamorphic lenses from the 1970s. They were originally available in 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm. With DP feedback P+S also engineered a 32mm and a 135mm lens for the set. They have been rehoused in the more sturdy P+S Technik housing with cam-driven internal focussing mechanism and most have an 80mm front element, making them ideal Anamorphic lenses for hand-held camera work, camera stabilised system or even drone work. There was also the new directors eyepiece too, with a selection of Ground glass for all eventualities, and giving a very clear view through the lens for precise shot set up and framing.

ARRI Lighting’s big launch of last year, the Orbiter directional multi-fixture LED lamp, received its UK show debut and proved popular with visitors, who shone it all over the place.

The Orbiter project has seen ARRI partner with Chimera and DoPchoice to produce accessories.

DoPchoice, exhibiting on the Lights Camera Action (LCA) stand demonstrated its contributions, including different sizes of the Snapbag, plus a new lantern.

Also on the LCA booth was Creamsource giving its new SpaceX its first showing at a UK exhibition.

Described as the follow up to the Sky, although with active not passive cooling, it is a compact luminare delivering 1.2kW RGB through six LED engines. >> British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 47

F-STOP LONDON / 2020 BSC EXPO / REPORT BY KEVIN HILTON AND JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT / PHOTOS: RICHARD BLANSHARD & JOHN KEEDWELL

Rotolight Titan demonstration

48 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

DMG Lumière highlighted the latest addition to the Mix range, the MixBook electronic swatch, which has also been used as a mini-light on shoots. LiteGear showed the full colour version of its LiteMat, which began shipping last year and should have new software updates around the NAB Show. The updated Gaffers Control light controller was demonstrated with 14 new features. These include additional memories and the ability to save settings to USB sticks, which is seen as an advantage for effects shoots and dealing with post houses.

The Panalux booth demonstrated the company’s commitment to innovation at this year’s BSC Show. Technical director Dave Amphlett, a pioneer in LED fixture development, showed off the large format Sonara soft light. It’s well understood that Tungsten emulation, broad spectrum and CRI R9 values are all important to the accurate rendering of skin tones. The Panalux development team have nailed it and extended the CCTs at the warm end down to 1750K, a feature that cinematographers will welcome, as most LED fixtures are unable to track the Black Body Line below 2700K. A built-in colour library of Lee filters are available along with a variety of control methods including HSI and x/y coordinate selection allowing the user to fine tune the colour output.

The user interface is clear and simple, and visitors seemed instantly able to understand and speed through the feature set.

The detachable controller is a nice touch, providing ease of use for local control with a soft light rigged on a tall stand and other features match or exceed other products in the market with Lumenradio, ArtNet, Master/Slave as standard. As you’d expect rigging has been carefully considered with detachable BSC President yoke and ports for the attachment of quick triggers in Mike Eley BSC with each corner and in the centre.

Dick Pope BSC

A talking point on the LCA stand was the Atohm battery, which is described as a mobile power tank. It is also seen as a gamechanger P+S Technik fin der because it does not feature an inverter and is made up of 128 cells that can be recharged in one hour 36 minutes. Originally developed by the French military over three years, it delivers a nominal power of 3.45kW (maximum 5kW), weighs 18kg and is claimed to reduce CO² emissions by 20 percent.

Chroma-Q, exhibiting on ACEntertainment Technologies’ stand, chose BSC Expo to launch the newest member of

the Space Force range. The twobyfour LED soft light panel is seen by the company as a scaled-up version of the established onebytwo. Both can be tuned using intensity graduation from 2800k to 6000k but the twobyfour has four individual cells, each of which can be controlled to produce different shadings or effects. The new fixture can be controlled wirelessly by RDM or DMX (optional) and should begin shipping in April.

AC-Ent also showed the Vista by Chroma-Q control system, alongside a variety of devices from other manufacturers. Elsewhere on the AC-Ent stand were Pro Lights with its range of cost effective LED lamps for corporate events, theatre and live performance; the Stage Smarts range of intelligent power devices; Lumen Radio’s wireless control gear, including the new MoonLite compact Bluetooth transceiver; Luminex network switching, with the new Araneo software-based networking visualisation display; Quasar Science Rainbow 2 LED tubes; Clay Paky, which now has the Sharpy Plus hybrid moving light; and LSC’s Film Pro dimmer.

At the show one of Mole Richardson’s key attractions was the 1600W Tener LED that emulates the power and look of a 10K Fresnel 10K, with the power draw of 1,600W. There are 2 versions, a Tungsten 3200K with a 95 CRI, and a Daylight 5600K with 90CRI. Both with a wide voltage input flexibility from 90-250 Volts. It can be dimmed with no flicker, and only minimal colour shift. Control with DMX of course, and distinctive in the red housing synonymous with historic Mole lamps of days gone by. This is further reinforced by the hand crank at the rear to control the beam angle between 10 to 55 degrees, with a 14 inch (355mm) Fresnel. It is cooled by passive forced air and weighs in at 70 lbs (31.80 kg).

It was rumoured the new 20K was coming to the BSC show but it was not there, sadly, and appeared at the Whites February Freeze in Toronto, Canada a few days later. This lamp pushes out the equivalent of a 20K, yet pulls only 3,000W. Weighing in at 100lbs (45kg) with a 24inch (610mm) Fresnel.

K5600 made the move into LED last year and had the full range of its new products, which are now available, on display at BSC expo. Company president Marc Galerne said the lamps were now fully developed but new software would continue to appear, with upgrades for high speed frame rates due in the weeks following the show.

Cineo (an NBCUniversal company) showed new technology in the form of the ReFlex R15 hybrid production light. This IP65 rated, Radio Lumen/DMX controlled lamp is able to deliver an output of 125,000 lumens from less than 1,500W AC and is designed as a substitute for 10k tungsten and 6k HMI. >>

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F-STOP LONDON / 2020 BSC EXPO / REPORT BY KEVIN HILTON AND JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT / PHOTOS: RICHARD BLANSHARD & JOHN KEEDWELL Getting started...

Panellists discuss how they started out in the industry

Check The Gate...

Harvey Harrison BSC signs copies of his book

On the Cirro Lite stand Kino-Flo emphasised upgrades and additions to many of its products. Notable were more ballast for its tube lights, including the T44, and software delivering profiles of cameras including the Alexa, Venice, DXL and Varicam. Most noticeable was the prototype of what Kino Flo president Frieder Hochheim called “a giant soft source”. This 12x12, four feet wide, two feet deep construction is designed to produce ambient light and is unofficially known as the bloomer, although it does look a bit like a hanging wardrobe.

Hochheim said cinematographers were interested in it and hopes to go into production in the next few months.

Also with Cirro Lite was Matthews Studio Equipment, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Introductions included a new spring-mounted wheel for stands known as Rock and Rollers - because they can roll over rocks - and the Infinity Arm, which is now available in the UK.

It’s fair to say that the majority of attention on the Cirro Lite stand was for Dedo Weigert, who talked enthusiastically to people at the show he says he feels most at home at. Among the various soft light and LED developments on show, Weigert was highlighting the Portable Studio Concept package, which includes lights, stands and accessories in one bag. He explained that as well as small crew shoots for independent films, this set was also being used by solo creators/single shooters.

Making its first standalone appearance at BSC expo was LEDGo, which was promoting the Alta 2 LED tubes. These have a very high output - the company reckons possibly the highest in the industry - and have found favour on small to large sets in Hollywood. Two new products are planned but no indication was given as to when they might appear.

Licht-Technik had the largest light at the show, showing the Skylight. This is a great overhead illumination for car commercials. Although it has been seen before with Kino Flo tubes, it is now using LED lamps for the illumination. Instant control of the sectors, dimming and low power consumption for such a large lamp array.

50 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Also on show was the new Yipman motorised remote lighting yoke, capable of a maximum payload of 120kg, and can rotate and tilt around any axis. Shown at the BSC show with a large softlight, it was smooth and had incredibly smooth action.

The Titan X2 is the latest lamp from Rotolight, and this is a panel lamp that is said to be the brightest 2 x 1 soft light ever made. It can perform across a wide colour spectrum between 2,800K to 10,000K. It does this by using RGBWW technology that gives extremely accurate colour accuracy. The Titan X2 has over 25 patented technologies on board.

Included are ten user-customisable presets and a full-colour touch screen to ensure the user can access the extensive filter colour library. Included built in effects include the wide range of CineSFX suite to emulate real life lighting effects, such as fire, lightning, police blue flashing lights, gunshot, fireworks, spark weld, Paparazzi, TV and many more. It can also double as a stills flash for portrait photographers, with a 1/8,000th flash with no recycle time.

Drones have become a common sight at trade shows in general and BSC Expo in particular. While a lot of work has gone into making drones and the equipment that can go on them smaller, one developer has gone the other way. XM2 recently put a sixcamera cinematography drone on No Time To Die, supporting cameras including the ARRI 235, 435 and Alexa 65. The company also produces smaller, single camera drones and units that can be mounted on bicycles, motorised mini-vehicles and remote arms.

RED Ranger

Sorcerer and apprentice…

British Cinematographer publisher Alan Lowne with editor Ron Prince

XM2 has offices in Melbourne and on the Gold Coast in its home country of Australia, as well as Seoul, Los Angeles and Atlanta. It recently opened new premises at Pinewood Studios and will soon be expanding into Sydney and Canada.

While audio is a major component of filmmaking, it makes up only a small proportion of BSC Expo. For many years Aaton Digital, through its parent company Transvideo, was the sole sound company represented ­– while AMPS flies the flag for audio in general – but last year it was joined by microphone manufacturer Sennheiser. This year Aaton showed the latest version of its digital audio multitrack location recorder, the CantarX3 V3. This is now able to integrate with Sony and Lectrosonics wireless systems, in addition to offering Dante audio over IP connectivity.

Sennheiser showed its established shotgun and wireless microphones for location recording and introduced a new set of headphones in the shape of the HD25 Light. These are a version of the established HD25s and feature a different headband but have the same capsule and a choice of connectors (standard jack and mini-jack) at a lower price. Joining Sennheiser and Aaton this year was a relative newcomer to the audio market, Deity Microphones. The company has set out to “democratise” sound recording in broadcasting, filmmaking, news gathering, the YouTuber community and online videography. It produces a range of shotgun and lavalier microphones and has set up sales operations in the US and Europe.

And, as if that weren’t enough… connecting the dots, the new Teradek Bolt 4K transmits full HD and 4K video up to 5,000 ft. at less than 1 millisecond of delay. The patented chip is made in Israel and is unique to Teradek. The unit can transmit to and from the camera, and this makes it an invaluable tool for focus pullers, aerial cinematographers, gimbal operators, and also the director and DP who may be working from small hand-held monitors. The lack of delay in seeing the picture is absolutely vital in such a situation. The wireless technology produces 10-bit image quality at every resolution up to DCI 4K, giving a picture that is so detailed and colour accurate that it is practically indistinguishable from an SDI cable. n

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INNOVATOR / MR HELIX

MOVER, NOT SHAKER

R

izwan Wadan of Mr Helix is a self-taught technician with a passion for providing solutions that extend far beyond revolutionising the way shots are stabilised.

From TV hits like Luther to award-winners like The Favourite, as well as the upcoming Artemis Fowl, cinematographers have found the Helix electronic camera stabiliser and the Exhauss Exoskeleton more versatile and quicker to deploy than other supports.

“With the exoskeleton combined with the Helix it’s like a remote head and a portable jib,” says its designer Rizwan Wadan, the director of Mr Helix.

“You’ve got the camera in your hands. All other gimbals have a frame that connects to the tilt. On the Helix the tilt handle is at your right hand – you don’t have a frame connected to it. You control the headroom with your right hand, and in a nodal position, you just rotate your hand and then the camera tilts. The exoskeleton arms take the weight away. When used on a dolly it allows you to get additional movement like you’ve never been able to get on a dolly before.”

“We used the Helix system on Artemis Fowl to move the [Panavision] XL2 in ways that we knew could not be done in any other way,” says Haris Zambarloukos BSC GSC. “We segued effortlessly from a camera on the back of a bike to a wire shot, or from sweeping handheld to crane shots, all fast paced and dynamic, and all on 35mm. It is a no-compromise approach to shot design and execution. The support and prep from Rizwan and his colleagues were second to none; it really felt that every impossible thing we thought of became a passion project for them.” ©Pixeleyed Pictur es

52 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Though well-versed in the language of film, Wadan didn’t have a traditional filmschool education.

His background is what first set him on his career path, however, born from a desire to change the image of Islam and Muslims in film – and wider British society.

“I’m Muslim, a first-generation immigrant,” he says. “England is my home, and to see how our relationship and society is deteriorating is something that hurts me.”

Self-taught by cramming online Linkedin tutorials over two and half years, he started to make some money from photography and commercials. When gimbals started appearing, he saw the potential of the technology for DSLR video and got work doing R&D with developer Flyonix. “The whole stabilisation thing was just something I became obsessed with,” he says.

When Flyonix moved out of the gimbal business, Wadan was hired by the technical department of the UK distributor of the Letus, a stabiliser that could take a stripped-down Red camera. He began to see from an operator’s perspective that something more was required, and the Helix system was born.

“What I was hearing at the shows from the professionals is that they wanted cine lenses, Teradek, mattebox and monitors on the camera [on the Letus],” he says. “The first thing was to perfect the design so it could take proper cameras, to have all the outputs to power the camera and all the accessories, take the weight, but at the same time give the operator control of pan and tilt and roll.”

A version of Helix was first used about five years ago on the BBC’s Luther by DP John Conroy ISC, who praised its small footprint, ease-of-use and facility for more natural movement.

“We stabilised the Alexa M - a grip was wearing the brains and John was operating it,” says Wadan.

“The combined weight of the system was about 15kg, including the ARRI Master Primes and all the accessories like the Teradek.”

From here, Wadan spent more time on development, along with a move to ARRI Rental.

“I worked with Dean Amor and with the head of technical at the time and they opened up doors for me,” says Wadan. “For two years I kept on developing the system,

where we redesigned the front support ring with the help of John Duclos at ARRI Rental which helped to make it possible to take bigger cameras. When the Alexa 65 came out, I did a lot of R&D on Rogue One. I managed to stabilise it and get it to work. But we hadn’t yet worked out a way for an operator to be able to carry the whole system. So that’s where the exoskeleton technology came about.”

Wadan then moved to Panavision to stabilise the Panavision Millennium XL2 35mm film camera so that it could be used on The Favourite.

“One of the challenges was with the film magazine at the top, it’s quite top-heavy for a gimbal so we had to figure out how we could get it to be balanced,” says Wadan. “I spent about a year in R&D to try and get it working and customise a few things on the system.”

Comprising part of the Oscar-nominated cinematography by Robbie Ryan BSC ISC on The Favourite were shots using Wadan’s customised solution, which offered a really up-close-and-personal view of the actors. It could be rigged for stabilised shots within a horse-drawn carriage, sent off on a tracking vehicle behind a horse, or deployed with Ryan in the exoskeleton to shoot ‘handheld’ among trees in a forest.

“We were able to give Robbie this 24.5kg camera with the exoskeleton arms taking the weight,” Wadan explains. “Robbie was able to fly the camera 180° left and right and be very quick because there’s no real weight. It allowed him to use it like a portable jib in his hands that he could control and move at a very fast pace.”

Wadan and his team also adapted a doorway dolly by taking off the exoskeleton arms and fitting Helix to the dolly with a custom mount that attached to scaffold tubes – Ryan was able to swing the camera 280° around the dolly from left to right.

“Robbie says he was able to place, position, stabilise and use this film camera in ways on The Favourite that he couldn’t with any other piece of kit in the industry,” says Wadan. “And that currently is still the case.”

Not content with stabilising cinema cameras, Wadan is also passionate about the potential stabilising power of visual media. After the 2017 Westminster terror attack, he decided to act.

Applying the mindset and skills he developed in his career, Wadan took the last year and a half off to develop an anti-terrorism campaign, putting-in about £70,000 of his own money. He collaborateed with some of the most respected companies and filmmakers in the industry. Now, centred around four hard-hitting films, the completed campaign is worth £1.2million and is being taken around the UK. With Wadan’s passion and drive behind it, it won’t just be the films that are sure to make an impact. n

SPOTLIGHT / CINEO LIGHTING / BY MICHAEL BURNS

PLAYING IT COOL

An innovative, high-output hard light, introduced at the 2020 BSC Expo received a lot of attention from the showgoers in London, although the ReFlex R15 is just the latest fixture from Cineo Lighting to get the industry excited.

F

ormed in 2013, Cineo was the first to develop the Remote Phosphor Technology (RPT) lighting for motion pictures, which eliminates the colouraccuracy limitations inherent in LED fixtures. It was this, according to company founder Rich Pierceall, that set the entire industry in motion towards higher quality LED lighting for image capture.

“The company’s always been focused on innovation,” says Pierceall. “My partner in the company, Chuck Edwards, is well-known as an LED innovator.

He is constantly developing new products and new technologies and constantly working with our patent attorneys too, to make sure that we have the ability to use the technologies that we develop effectively.”

It was after Pierceall asked Edwards, formerly VP of product development at materials firm Intematix, to collaborate on a lighting system based on remote phosphor technology for film and television industry, that the first such product –TruColor HS – was developed at Cineo.

“The HS series products have been very effective for broadcast installations,” says Pierceall. “They want it to be the same every day. You come in, you turn on the lights in the set, and it looks like it did yesterday. So that product is ideal for that.”

Cineo is also known for a series of panel products.

“We have a 1x2, the Standard 410, a 2x4, the LB800, and several 4x4 fixtures,” says Pierceall. “We also have a linear product which comes in a two-foot length or a four-foot length and can be banked up. Those are quite useful in broadcast as well.”

What Cineo has been focussing on most recently has really grabbed attention. “We’ve been working on immersive cooled technology that basically breaks the thermal barriers that a lot of traditional LED fixtures face,” explains Pierceall. “The Cineo ReFlex R15 is the first product of that type that that we’ve developed.

“The key thing about LED, especially about high-output LED, is the thermals,” he continues. “Whether you use air or whether you passively cool a heatsink, you pull the heat off the LED using a thermally conductive material.”

The innovation from Cineo is to use a thermally conductive material that’s not electrically conductive – a dielectric fluid, with a refractive index that is nearly identical to the LEDs.

“The light transmission that we get through the fluid is actually better than what we would get through air,” explains Pierceall. “We move the fluid around all elements of the LED, and then off to an area where we can cool it separately from the LEDs. By using that kind of technology, we can scale this up as big as we want.

There’s also no oxidation of the phosphors in the LEDs because they’re never exposed to air, so it also holds promise in terms of longevity.”

The ReFlex R15 offers constantly variable CCT and 125,000 lumens of digital lighting with less than a 1,500W AC power draw. It also weighs only 30kg.

Although not released until April, Cineo has presold 100% of its first build units already.

“It’s the first time that that we’re aware of that someone has effectively come up with a high-powered, low-weight solution that can substitute for both HMI and Tungsten,” he adds. “People are primarily interested in using this a hard source, but you can take the hard reflector off and turn it into a soft light.

You can get a Snapbag or a lantern, or a spacelight bag, and just snap that on, so that the same fixture can also operate as a broad [light].”

“We’ve developed our own digital spectrum, and that spectrum is consistent across all of our products,”

Rich Pierceall

adds Pierceall. “If you get a linear product or panel product, or if you get the new ReFlex product, all of the photometrics match.”

After a partnership of several years, NBCUniversal acquired Cineo in 2019.

“It’s been tremendous – NBCUniversal has the deep production expertise and the culture of innovation that pairs perfectly with Cineo. With the support of NBCUniversal, we can continue to offer creative professionals leading digital lighting technology,” says Pierceall. “The acquisition by NBCUniversal was the natural next step in the growth of Cineo Lighting.”

Cineo is known as a digital lighting innovator with ties to Silicon Valley – Edwards was at Intel, Pierceall at Sony – for more than a dozen years apiece.

“So, we’re familiar with general technologies, networking technologies and video technologies,” says Pierceall. “We have the ability to communicate about a range of tech with production, beyond the conversations in lighting which leads to new and exciting innovations.” n

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 53

GIRL POWER Liu Yifei as Hua Mulan, with director Niki Caro

If predictions and forecasts are anything to go by, then Mulan, director Niki Caro’s live-action adaptation of Walt Disney’s 1998 classic animated film, is destined to conjure-up magical results at the global box office and beyond. The official trailer was watched over a billion times in China alone, and reportedly brought some fans to tears.

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ut, the $200 million movie is likely to make a different slice of history amongst the filmmaking community for something rather uncommon in Hollywood… so far.

As the film’s Australian cinematographer Mandy Walker ACS ASC describes: “The three heads of department in charge of running the set were women – Niki, me, and Liz Tan our first AD. For a film of this budget and calibre, with huge logistics, this was a first. But, Niki is a wonderfully-collaborative and well-organised leader, with a strong and artful vision that she clearly communicated to us all. Working together, we were all switched-on and super-organised. We worked 10-hour days. We didn’t go over budget. We came in on schedule. And… we all loved the experience!

“I hope audiences enjoy the movie as much as I do,” adds the multi-award-winning DP, who is recognised for her exquisite attention to detail in beauty work and majestic coverage of landscapes, in such features as Lantana (2001, dir. Ray Lawrence), Australia (2008, dir. Baz Luhrmann), Tracks (2013, dir. John Curran) and Hidden Figures (2016, dir. Theodore Melfi). “Even though I know the material so well, it still affects me. Every time I watch the film, I get very emotional. For me, that’s a really good sign.”

Set around 600AD, Mulan is based on the ancient Chinese folklore poem, “The Ballad Of Mulan”, and stars Liu Yifei as the eponymous Chinese warrior, alongside Asian movie royalty, with Jet Li as the Emperor and Gong Li as the villain Xian Lang.

CAMERA CREATIVE / MANDY WALKER ACS ASC / MULAN /

When the Emperor Of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Chinese Army to defend the country from Northern Invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honoured warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. She is spirited, determined and quick on her feet. Disguised as a man by the name of Hua Jun, Mulan is tested every step of the way and must harness her innermost strength and embrace her true potential. What happens next is an epic journey that transforms her into an honoured warrior and earns her the respect of a grateful nation, and a proud father.

Principal photography on the movie began on August 13, 2018, taking in different locations in New Zealand and China before wrapping some 74 production days later on November 25, 2018.

The New Zealand leg of the shoot took in a small number of locations on the North Island near Auckland, including several fields and a bamboo forest, plus a stint at Kumeu Film Studios, where large and elaborate interior and exterior sets were constructed on the stages and backlot. These included the circular, three-storey Tulou that is Mulan’s family home, the Imperial city exteriors and the New Palace. Some greenscreen was used to extend sets shot, such as a rooftop battle scene.

The production then upped-sticks and moved to the Ahuriri Valley on New Zealand’s South Island for four weeks, where the movie’s desert and volcanic scenes were filmed. Scenics of mainland China itself were shot separately by the scenic and second units.

One feature of the production was that Liu Yifei did much of her own stunt work. With a plan to keep Mulan as the centre of visual attention, including the many action scenes, this would see the camera being moved around in all manner of ways.

BY RON PRINCE

Ron Prince caught up with the cinematographer whilst she was preparing to shoot Baz Luhrmann’s Untitled Elvis Presley Project in The Gold Coast, Australia, to discover more about her work on Mulan.

How did the script for Mulan come your way?

MW: My agent knew that I always wanted to work with Niki. So when the script came along, I was put up for an interview with her, around early July 2018. I had seen all of Niki’s movies and really loved them. I think she’s a filmmaker who is a great storyteller. We got along really well and were on the same page in terms of the visual storytelling.

What was your initial reaction to the script?

MW: I thought it was fantastic. I had watched the original animated film countless times when my daughter was growing-up, and knew the story well. The whole idea of

“CINEMATOGRAPHY IS A JOB WOMEN CAN BE SUCCESSFUL AT. IF YOU ARE PASSIONATE, AND KEEP PURSUING YOUR AMBITIONS, YOU CAN DO IT.” MANDY WALKER ACS ASC

making a Disney film about a woman who discovers her inner-strength and power, and her devotion to her family and her country, were all incredibly appealing. Of course, Mulan does not realise her special power initially, but as the film goes along she becomes an elite warrior who harnesses her strength for good. She’s a great role model for young girls and young women to understand we all have potential too and must never doubt ourselves.

Tell us about your first discussions with Niki?

MW: I always like to sit down with a director and talk about the story first – how they want to tell it and express it visually. The first thing Niki said to me was that the film was to be focussed around Mulan. The audience always had to be with Mulan during her adventures, to experience what she experiences, and to be intimately engaged in her emotional journey. Our thinking was to keep Mulan very much in the centre of the frame, so as to keep the audiences’ attentions on her.

Another important thing was that Niki wanted to do as much as possible in-camera, for the battle scenes to be realistic but quite elegant, rather than a typically generic melée of fists and swords.

For Niki the movie was also an epic story, and it was important to depict the different and diverse aspects of China’s ancient history and landscapes – from the confines of Mulan’s safe and beautiful home and the luscious rice paddies, to the dangerous dusty deserts and the stark, harsh volcanic environments.

What creative references did you look at?

MW: We looked at a lot of Chinese cinema and Chinese art, both contemporary and historical, to see how the images were composed. A lot of the work we considered was composed in widescreen format, rarely square, with either strong vertical or horizontal lines, and these, along with stills photography of Chinese landscapes, were really the greatest influences in how we framed the movie.

We looked at films by Zhang Yimou, such as Hero (2002, DP Christopher Doyle HKSC) and House Of Flying Daggers (2004, DP Xiaoding Zhao), as well as various contemporary martial arts movies, where they keep a lot of the action – the fights and battles – in-camera.

We also looked at films that were shot on large format 70mm film, which combined the depiction of epic landscapes and intimacy with the characters, such as Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) and Ryan’s Daughter (1970) (both directed by David Lean, and both shot by DP Freddie Young BSC). >>

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 55

CAMERA CREATIVE / MANDY WALKER ACS ASC / MULAN /

BY RON PRINCE

“THE WAY I SHOOT DIGITAL IS THE WAY I LIKE TO SHOOT CELLULOID FILM – I ALWAYS MAKE SURE THAT I HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION IN THE IMAGE, ESPECIALLY IN THE DARK AREAS.”

MANDY WALKER ACS ASC

>>

What camera and lenses did you choose?

MW: I always test extensively before every film and felt that, shooting 2:1 for a 2.39:1 extraction, the ARRI Alexa 65 would be the best camera system to render the sense of epic scale we wanted and deliver the beauty of the amazing locations, as well as the focussed intimacy of close-ups that this camera renders so nicely.

In terms of lenses, we went spherical as there was not a big choice of Anamorphics for the Alexa 65 at the time that either had a wide enough range of focal lengths or would cover the sensor. I spoke to Dan Sasaki at Panavision in LA, who proved once again what a genius he is in understanding your vision for a film, and who then developed lenses that were sympathetic to our visual design and storytelling ambitions.

Out of all the lenses I tested, I preferred the Panavision Sphero 65s. They capture pleasing flesh tones and give a soft, classic overall look that is less clinical than other large format lenses. Dan tweaked them to give a slight creaminess to the image, and blended the edges for very nice focus roll-off with softened layers of contrast.

You can separate background and foregrounds easily with the Spheros to create the sensation of depth, and they have a rectilinear correctness, which was good as we were doing a lot of symmetrical framing.

However, I also developed a couple of other vintage lenses that I used primarily to shoot Mulan’s close-ups. The first was an 85mm Petzval photographic portrait lens, originally developed by the German-

56 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Hungarian mathematics professor Joseph Petzval in the 1840s in Vienna. Dan designed it especially so that when I centred Mulan in the middle of frame it had the great effect of being able to ‘pull’ the subject out of the frame without needing to use extremely shallow depth-of-field.

It’s a very sympathetic lens when used in this way.

The other lens was what we called Mulan’s ‘Chi’ lens, for when she realises she has special abilities as an elite, badass warrior. It’s more extreme than the Petzval, in that it drops off in a radial sense with chromatic aberrations round the edges, so that you really are only focussed on what is in the centre of the frame. Dan made up the Chi lens specifically for this film too, using elements from a Gauss lens, and ensured it would work properly with our extracted 2.39:1 framing on the Alexa 65 sensor.

Along with the straight live action sequences, we also used the Chi lens during many of the slow-motion sequences in the film, which we shot using an ARRI Alexa LF running at 150fps. When these sequences were slowed down in post to 300 and 600fps, the images looked great and were a very good match to the main Alexa 65 material.

How did you expose and rate the cameras during production?

MW: The way I shoot digital is the way I like to shoot celluloid film – I always make sure that I have a lot of information in the image, especially in the dark areas.

I always overexpose film by 2/3’s of a stop for a

thicker negative and take the same approach with digital, while making sure to protect any highlights that might be in frame.

I rated the cameras at 800ASA, as at higher ratings you just push grain into the image. If any part of the image needed to be lifted I would do it in post, as it looked better in the DI than upping the ASA of the camera onset. These days I tend not to use any diffusion filtration, apart from NDs to help to control the exposure, or a polariser to mitigate reflections. If any diffusion is needed you can do it far better and more subtly in the DI as you have control over selective image areas you want to treat.

Did you apply any LUTs during the shoot?

MW: I just used one LUT for the entire film – the basic ARRI K1S1 LUT – which I tweaked ever-so-slightly with my colourist Natasha Leonnet at E-FILM during preproduction, so that it was more favourable to the vibrant colours we were going to encounter, especially primary red, which is such an important colour in our movie.

During production, working with my DIT Chris Rudkin, I did some minor adjustments on-set to desaturate the image a little to give our battle scenes a more desolate aesthetic, or to heighten the colours just a touch for Mulan’s home environment, but really not very much at all.

Tell us about your crew?

MW: The whole camera department got along really well, and we had a fun time on-set. Jason Ellson was my A-camera operator, with Brenden Holster working as first AC. Aaron Morton was our second unit DP. My gaffer was Shaun Conway, with Jay Munro the key grip.

Jason has worked with me on many films including Hidden Figures and Tracks.

Brenden has done a couple movies with me before too, and it was a great pleasure to work with him again.

Shaun is a very close friend of mine – we have been working together for over 20 years. And Jay is a great commander of the grip department and really orchestrated all of our feats.

How did you cover the action sequences?

MW: We almost always had three cameras running for the interiors scenes, and up to five on the big battle sequences. We initially plotted our camera positions and lens changes months in advance, during pre-production with storyboards and previs. During the rehearsals we refined our angles and coverage.

Watching and being part of the choreography of the stunt scenes meant we could design and refine shots around Mulan’s movements.

Niki wanted to shoot as much as possible incamera, without the need for extensive CGI. So we had 60 horses and 100 people on each side of a battle scene, and framed the action along a line of soldiers and horses to minimise the need for VFX crowd replication.

For establishing shots of the armies facingoff against one another, we used a 2800mm lens, sometimes up to one kilometre back. This allowed us to shoot through one army and reveal the other by pulling focus between the two.

For the close-up action, Niki didn’t want these to be generic, with people just crashing into each other and fighting with fists or swords. It was all about being focused on Mulan and elegantly expressing her special inner-power and confidence to the audience.

So we approached those battle moments using the Chi lenses, so that the focus would fall-off around Mulan and the audience would be looking at her expressions and her incredible martial arts. This meant the camera had to move with her, which was no mean feat. We used all sorts of equipment to move the camera – a Scorpio 45ft telescopic crane with an Oculus 4-axis stabilised head that could spin around with the action, plus sometimes cable cams and Russian arms on tracking vehicles. At other moments we picked-out Mulan’s face using 400mm or 800mm lenses, as our actress was galloping along on a horse.

Give us some details about your lighting strategy?

MW: The lighting was all predicated around Mulan’s emotional journey. It needed to be beautiful too. Even in harsh places, I never wanted it to look ugly.

For the interiors, such as Mulan’s home in the Tulou, we spent a lot of time designing practicals to emulate the lanterns, fire and candle light of ancient China, so that they would look authentic and aesthetically pleasing.

For the scenes in the Tulou’s circular courtyard, which was open to the sky, I did not want any harsh toplight from the sun, so I shielded the area using 3 x 60ft x 30ft frames, covered with charcoal diffusion cloth, suspended from construction cranes.

This meant I could shoot scenes over three or four weeks with consistent light, and could expose around our practicals, and make the most of the colours in the fabrics and furniture in the set.

I did not very often light any of the exteriors, apart from using back or side fill-lighting bounced of 30ft x 30ft frames suspended on Manitou tractors. To match the New Zealand light with China, we used a quite a lot of smoke to create atmosphere, and exposed was so the image was soft and not too contrasty.

Tell us about your working hours?

MW: They were fantastic and well-organised by Liz Tan our first AD. We started out doing 10-hour continuous days, 5-day weeks on North Island, then 6-day weeks when we moved to South Island. Lunch was brought to us every day, and if we were super-busy we might down-tools for 15 minutes to eat, but we didn’t leave the set. We started at 7am and finished at 5pm. It was very convivial as the crew got to spend time with their families, or otherwise unwind, and Niki and I could watch dailies and plan our next day. It worked really well.

How do you stay fit and healthy during production?

MW: Haha! We had to be fit with so many sand dunes and mountainsides to clamber over every day. We had a trainer looking after the actors, the director, myself and a couple of others. I trained pretty much every evening in the gym. It’s the first time I have done that, and it had a great, positive effect. We also had a very good diet, with

fantastically healthy catering, although there might have been the odd glass of wine on some evenings.

Tell us about the DI grade: MW: As I was in prep on Baz’s new film about Elvis, I did the final grade remotely on weekends through a 2K Christie projector in the DI suite at Cutting Edge, a post facility on The Gold Coast, over T-VIPS with Natasha Leonnet at EFILM in LA. The system works in real-time, at full 2K, and Natasha and myself would speak via an iPad. It was the first time I have not been there 100% of the time in the grade, but Disney were absolutely great in making sure it was set up properly for me.

Before I started on Elvis, I spent several days going through sequences, and timing the movie’s trailers, with Natasha in LA. Before I left for Australia, I also did a look “bible”, which was a shot from every scene including the VFX shots. She then progressively worked her way through the movie, and we would then work together at weekends to complete the grade remotely. We started by doing an SDR version followed by the HDR, and there will eventually be 3D stereo and Dolby Vision versions.

What are your thoughts about other women wanting to forge careers in cinematography?

MW: I am so happy to see more women becoming DPs, although there are currently not nearly enough. Many women can get put off by the fact that not many other women are doing it, or thinking it’s a position they can’t handle. But I’m here to show them that they can.

When I occasionally lecture, and especially when I was ArtistIn-Residence at UCLA, I wanted to show that cinematography is a job women can be successful at. If you are passionate, and keep pursuing your ambitions, you can do it.

Working on a big movie like Mulan, with so many woman in positions of great responsibility, is a case in point. The fact that we carried it off and made a great movie, is a testament that we can do it, and do it well! I would like to think that in the next ten years things like this won’t be an issue. n British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 57

PARTNERS IN CRIME

“When you shoot for someone like Reed Morano ASC, it had better look good, otherwise you’re in trouble,” admits DP Sean Bobbitt BSC, who oversaw the cinematography on The Rhythm Section, directed by Morano, an accomplished cinematographer herself who has more lately turned to directing with considerable success.

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I

n 2013, Morano became the youngest member of the American Society Of Cinematographers, with DP credits on feature films such as Frozen River (2008) and Kill Your Darlings (2013). She made her directorial debut with the feature film Meadowland (2015), which she also served on as DP, before going on to direct the first three episodes of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale, for which she won an Emmy Award.

Bobbitt first met Morano during production on A Place Beyond The Pines (2012, dir. Derek Cianfrance), when Morano shot second unit and pick-ups, and says the connection between them was maintained as, “a strong, mutual admiration society ever since.

“I have always been a great admirer of Reed’s work – both as a cinematographer and more recently as a director. She had approached me a couple of times in the past to shoot for her, but unfortunately I was not available on those occasions. When the script for The Rhythm Section came through I was available and, even before I read it, I knew I wanted to do it. Once I had spoken to her about how she saw it, I was absolutely sold.”

The Rhythm Section, a $50m Paramount Pictures production, produced by Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson of James Bond 007 franchise fame, follows Stephanie Patrick (played by Blake Lively) as a woman seeking revenge.

Whilst working as a prostitute in London, and addicted to drugs, Stephanie discovers that a plane crash which killed her family was not an accident but, in fact, a terrorist attack covered up by the government. With the help of a former CIA operative (Jude Law) to find the culprits, her quest to uncover the truth soon turns into a full-blown odyssey of revenge across Scotland, Spain and Morocco as she decides to punish those responsible.

ON THE JOB / SEAN BOBBITT BSC / THE RHYTHM SECTION / BY RON PRINCE

Director Reed Morano ASC

“On first reading, the script came across as fairly generic thriller material – a single protagonist going through a journey of self-discovery, with several exciting set-piece moments that you would typically associate with a regular thriller,” says Bobbitt. “But Reed is extremely eloquent in her ability to express ideas and get them across very precisely and succinctly. She had very strong visual ideas, as you would expect from a cinematographer. Her take was a much more personal and altogether darker approach, where we really get into Stephanie’s mind and psyche.

“Rather than being a distant character, and definitely not a James Bond or Jason Bourne, Stephanie is just a normal, regular person who finds herself in extraordinary circumstances and has to survive the ordeal. She may well sink and actually barely swims.

“Reed wanted the audience to be with Stephanie the whole time, so that we understand her dreadful spiral into drugs and prostitution, her recovery from instability, the truth about the death of her family, and her quest for revenge as a highly-motivated assassin.

Cinematographically, Reed’s approach – for it to be intimate, personal and human, but also tense and epic – made the visual storytelling much more interesting.”

The fact that Broccoli and Wilson were the movie’s producers was another element of great appeal to Bobbitt. “It was a remarkable privilege to work with them. They have an amazing reputation and track record, and to be associated with one of their productions is never a bad thing. They’re very hands-on and are a remarkable and positive resource to have on-set. They really brought an awful lot to the production itself, and make you raise your game.”

Bobbitt says he and Morano had two main visual references for the production. “We considered Run Lola Run (1998, dir. Tom Twyker, DP Frank Griebe), in terms

of how the storytelling unfolds through the camera movement, framing and lighting, and how the audience is with the single female protagonist the whole time.

“The other film that left a great impression on us was 4 Months, 3 Weeks And 2 Days (2007, dir. Cristian Mungiu, DP Oleg Mutu). It’s a frank and disturbing film, whose simplicity of storytelling – where you experience their world at the same time they do, and feel their responses in real-time – we found very appealing. That said, we also viewed these films from a perspective of what we didn’t want to do, and things that might not have worked quite so well with respect to our film.”

Principal photography on The Rhythm Section began in November 2017 at rural locations around southern Eire, doubling for Scotland, and at Ardmore Studios, in Bray, County Wicklow, where the film’s New York hotel interiors were constructed on stage.

After a break for Christmas and New Year, shooting recommenced for a week in New York in January 2018. However, production was halted after Lively was injured on the film set, and then entered a hiatus until the end of May 2018 when she had fully-recuperated.

Production then resumed in Spain until the beginning of

“REED IS EXTREMELY ELOQUENT IN HER ABILITY TO EXPRESS IDEAS AND GET THEM ACROSS VERY PRECISELY AND SUCCINCTLY.” SEAN BOBBITT BSC

August, taking in Madrid, and shooting in Cadiz for the film’s Marseilles scenes, and then Almeria for Tangier, the Moroccan seaport on the Strait Of Gibraltar.

“The choice of aspect ratio, cameras and lenses, is always a combined decision with your director, and Reed had a strong visual sense of how she wanted this movie to look,” says Bobbitt. “As much as we wanted to shoot on celluloid film, it was not a possibility. It was obvious that we would shoot in a widescreen format, and we wanted to go Anamorphic. As we talked about the story, it broke down into two distinctive worlds visually – the first of Stephanie as a junkie prostitute living a very unstable existence in a distressing world, the other her transition into a ardent, albeit amateur, assassin.”

After testing at ARRI Rental UK, Bobbitt and Morano settled on Alexa XTs, plus Alexa Mini cameras for the more kinetic action sequences, shooting ARRIRAW. These were variously fitted with Canon Xtal Express Anamorphic lenses, originally made by Joe Dunton in the 1970s, to capture the initial, fragile parts of Stephanie’s story, switching to Hawk C-series for her journey of revenge.

“I looked at nine or ten different sets of Anamorphics, and then went through my tests with Reed to choose which lenses we thought would work best for the different parts of the story,” he recalls. “The Canon Xtal Xpress lenses have a lovely narrow depth-of-field, and do some pretty funky things at different stops. On some of them wide open, the whole top of frame is outof-focus, and there are other odd anomalies with the right side of frame being in focus and left side out-offocus. I thought they were wonderful, and Reed agreed they were exactly what we were looking for. If I could have one lens for the rest of my life it would be the Xtal Xpress 50mm, it’s a beautiful, beautiful lens.”

That said, the vintage Xtal Xpress’s were challenging from a focus-puller’s perspective. Some needed almost two full turns of the barrel to go from close focus to infinity, and others provided sticking points rather than smooth pulls. Bobbitt says his focus puller, Andrew O’Reilly, “did an amazing job in modifying his follow-focus, and getting the lenses to work properly.”

For the scenes when Stephanie’s life becomes more stable, more dependable lenses were deployed. As Bobbitt explains, “A lot of modern Anamorphics are so clean and precise that they don’t look Anamorphic. We wanted something more stable than the Xtals, but with a distinctive look of their own, and in the end went with Hawk C-series. They are vintage too, from the 1970s and ‘80s, and have some anomalies and nice flares, but they are much more predictable than the Xtal Xpress glass.”

During production, Bobbitt generally rated the ARRI Alexas at 800ASA for all interior/exterior day shots, but pushed by a stop to 1280ASA for nighttime scenes. >> British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 59

ON THE JOB / SEAN BOBBITT BSC / THE RHYTHM SECTION / BY RON PRINCE

“IF I COULD HAVE ONE LENS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE IT WOULD BE THE XTAL XPRESS 50MM, IT’S A BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL LENS.” SEAN BOBBITT BSC

>>

As per his own predilection, he tended to shoot with a polarising filter as a quick and easy way to control highlights on faces and reflections off surfaces and windows.

As for LUTs, Bobbitt prefers a simple colour workflow, using the Alexas’ built-in ARRI LCC (Low Colour Contrast) LUT during production, and opting not to do any on-set grading.

“As I operate I simply don’t have time to sit with a colourist on-set and do grading,” he remarks. “I have found it can be a waste of time, as the film is going to be graded later anyway, and you might end-up fighting your LUT and your look. So I keep the workflow as simple as possible, and get the look as close as possible through the dailies by briefing the dailies colourist as clearly as I can. Reed works in the same way. It’s quick and efficient.” Graded rushes were done at Windmill Lane in Dublin.

Bobbitt says he enjoyed working with, “a tight-knit and brilliantly supportive team”. Along with O’Reilly as first AC, Bobbitt’s main unit camera crew included Tommy Griffin as second AC. Nic Lawson was brought in to operate when a second camera was required for the movie’s action sequences and on second unit, supported by Connor Hammond and Esme Pum McNamee as first ACs.

Steadicam days were spread across the duration of the production, which meant several different specialists were involved, including Mike Scott and Peter Wignall. The key grip was Jem Morton, with David Smith as gaffer. Sean Leonard was the DIT, whose responsibilities included QC, archive back-up to LTO, and the safe delivery of the dailies Windmill Lane, who matched the footage to digital stills from each location as graded by Bobbitt.

60 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

For some of the more intimate scenes involving Stephanie, Bobbitt handed the camera to Morano, knowing that their vision was the same and that there would be no disruption in the visual aesthetic. “The common language was there from the beginning for us both and Reed understands perfectly well what a camera can do and the way she wanted to get the performance to tell the story,” he notes.

When it came to motivating the camera, Bobbitt and Morano used a lot of different methods dependent on the storyline. “There was a fair amount of handheld and Steadicam, along with crane and drone shots, but the movement always followed the action, and was not induced by it. Effectively the movement was hidden within the storytelling to a great extent, and it is not obvious as to how it is being moved.

“For the dramatic action sequences we worked on the premise that they would not look like anything you would find in a James Bond or Jason Bourne movie, and without the normal conceit of action sequences having lots of cuts and takes.”

For example, the traumatic sequence that sees Stephanie navigating narrow roads and fleeing from gunfire after an assassination in Tangier, was all filmed from the passenger’s seat in a car.

“Reed felt the scariest place to be visually for the audience was inside the car, and that the tension could easily drop off if the action cut outside,” Bobbitt says. “So, to build maximum tension we designed the sequence so that it didn’t ever leave the car. All the action was shot handheld from the passenger’s seat, with the camera panning front and back to capture the chaos and danger happening outside, as well as Stephanie’s expressions as she drives in desperation.”

To complicate matters, the pair decided to shoot the sequence to appear as if it were one continuous take, which involved elaborate staging.

The movie’s SFX supervisor, Chris Corbould, and his team, modified the interior of the car by removing the passenger and rear seats.

This gave enough room for Bobbitt and O’Reilly to squeeze inside the vehicle, with the cinematographer strapped securely onto a sliding rail. This contraption meant he could swivel around to capture the action through the front and rear windscreens, whilst framing very close-up to Stephanie at the steering wheel.

“We put a lot of time and effort into rehearsals, and had an amazing stunt team in other cars, on motorcycles and jumping out into the street,” Bobbitt recalls. “Although the result looks like one seamless action sequence, in practice there were some invisible edits and joins, as it would have been impossible to have done it otherwise.

The result is different, and was very much in keeping with Reed’s visual plan, and I am very proud of it.”

With regard to lighting, Bobbitt says the overall ambition was to deliver a feeling of realism for the majority of the film, “to create a believable world that Stephanie exists in and to draw us in as an audience. So in the main, things were not overly lit.”

However, some of the assassination sequences were given a more stylised treatment. For the killing in the New York penthouse swimming pool, gaffer David Smith came up with the idea of using a large, lit work of art reflecting in the blue/green light of the pool itself, with warm red and orange cross lighting for colour contrast as the main sources.

“This gave an odd but very atmospheric feeling to the scene, and allowed me to shoot using silhouettes for dramatic effect,” says Bobbitt. “If we wanted any more modelling on the actors, we supplemented our main sources with china balls and small LEDs.”

For the assassination in Tangiers, Bobbitt lit the interior of the murder target’s home with streaks of light firing through bamboo slats, coming from four 18K HMIs – two on lifts, and two on buildings opposite. “The directional nature of hard North African light gave a really eerie feel to the deadly battle, and was quite an effective counterpoint to the rest of the film.”

Bobbitt graded The Rhythm Section with Tom Poole of Company 3 in New York, a favourite colourist of his and Morano’s. “Over the years, Reed and I have worked with Tom a lot on our various different projects, and were fortunate to have him for this film. The mainstay of the work essentially revolved around further developing and augmenting the look and feel of the lenses we had chosen or the different parts of Stephanie’s story. Tom was able to keep both of us happy in a remarkably diplomatic way.”

As for working with a fellow cinematographerturned-director, Bobbitt concludes, “There are a small number of people who have made that transition successfully, and Reed is one of those. She has a strong visual sense and an open and collaborative mind. As fellow cinematographers there was automatically a common language between us – we understood exactly what each was saying. She knew when something might be impossible, although sometimes she asked for it anyway, such as the car chase sequence. It was a real pleasure and a rewarding experience to work with her.” n

CLOSE-UP / MARIA VON HAUSSWOLFF / A WHITE, WHITE DAY

SPLASH OF COLOUR

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irector Hlynur Palmason’s second feature, A White, White Day (Hvítur, Hvítur Dagur), shot on Kodak in widescreen 2-perf Super35mm, is a story of heart-rending grief, revenge and unconditional love. While the film’s title was inspired by an Icelandic proverb suggesting that the dead can communicate with the living on days when the white sky merges with the snowy landscape, the visually-arresting feature itself is surprisingly full of natural colour and warmth.

Set in a remote Icelandic town, an off-duty police chief (Ingvar Sigurdsson) begins to suspect a local man of having had an affair with his late wife. She died in a tragic car accident two years earlier. His obsession for finding out the truth gradually accumulates and inevitably begins to endanger himself and his loved ones.

Cinematography on the production took place over the course of seven weeks, from mid-August to early October 2018, under the auspices of Swedish DP Maria von Hausswolff, a contemporary of Palmason’s at the National Film School of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Locations included the coastal fishing towns of Höfn, Reyðarfjörður and Eskifjörður in the south and east of Iceland, as well as the surrounding countryside.

A White, White Day is the second longform feature that von Hausswolff has shot for Palmason, following the highly-acclaimed and multi-award-winning production of Winter Brothers (Vinterbrødre) (2017), shot on Kodak 16mm. Palmason picked-up awards at many film festivals around the world for Winter Brothers, whilst von Hausswolff won the Camerimage 2017 Best Cinematography Debut Award for her work on the film.

“Our goal is always to try to find a simple, truthful way of expressing the story,” says von Hausswolff about her collaborative work with Palmason. “We have found that a film tends to find its own temperament, look and sound, if you just slowly work your way into it.”

Indeed, this saw von Hausswolff living in Iceland, absorbing the local environment, weather and atmosphere, for a full eight weeks before production on A White, White Day began.

“We didn’t really consider other films as inspirations for the aesthetic look of A White, White Day,” she admits.

“Rather, Hlynur and I shared music, photographs or video clips, that we had either taken ourselves or found on the Internet. This time we did talk about setting up a mini cinema in his studio watching films before the shooting, but we ended up not having the time for it.”

The other resource, which helped the pair arrive at their selection of glass and emulsions, were the extensive lens, filmstock, filter and lighting tests undertaken by director Paul Thomas Anderson and his crew the month before filming Phantom Thread (2017).

Those informative tests were subsequently published online and proved hugely popular amongst filmmakers.

With respect to capturing the vagaries of gloomy Icelandic mists as well as majestic sunlit landscapes, but

with the emphasis on image depth and warm colours, Palmason and von Hausswolff selected Cooke S4 prime lenses, fitted to ARRI 435 cameras. They captured daytime interiors/exteriors on to Kodak Vision 3 250D (5207), with nighttime scenes recorded onto Kodak Vision 3 500T 5219. The camera package was provided

by Kameraudlejningen in Copenhagen. Film processing was done at Focus Film Lab in Stockholm.

However, the production’s 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio, enabled by shooting 2-perf, came about more by default than pre-planning. Two years before production began, even before the script had been written, Palmason used vintage Kowa Anamorphic lenses to shoot the prologue of the story on Kodak 250D, 4-perf Super 35mm, capturing the landscape, the temperamental weather and seasons, and the process of the protagonist building a house, in the widescreen format. This involved carefully siting the 35mm camera in exactly the same position on multiple occasions over a 24-month period.

“Shooting 2-perf 35mm automatically delivers a 2.40:1 widescreen aspect ratio, which perfectly complemented the prologue footage Hlynur had already shot, as well as the landscapes that we were going to be shooting. Ultimately, we felt it was also in tune with the struggle of the central character in the story,” says von Hausswolff.

“Shooting 2-perf was also better for us because we planned to film a lot in the protagonists’ car, and to pan around the house interiors, often with a lot of people moving around in the frame. This can be very tricky to do in Anamorphic, due to rectilinear issues with Anamorphic glass, and the fact that Anamorphic camera lumps tend to be quote big, heavy and noisy, compared to a standard spherical camera package. The Cooke S4s are fast lenses that have a nice softness and warmth, and they work really well with the smaller size of the 2-perf Anamorphic-sized frame.”

Speaking about how they arrived at the visual aesthetic for the film, von Hausswolff explains, “Essentially, the heart of A White, White Day is about different kinds of love – the simple, unconditional love you have for your children, and the love towards your partner or lover, which can be something completely different, more complex, intimate and unique. But it is

also about the loneliness and abandonment of a man who is experiencing sorrow, doubt and anger.

“Consequently, we wanted the camera to be restrained and observational. So the camera moves are classic, from the dolly or on the tripod, and there was no handheld. We also wanted the final result to look naturalistic, yet with warmth and colour, so we shot in available light as much as possible, with any additional lighting kept very, very simple, nothing dramatic.

“I am so grateful for having been able to shoot A White, White Day on 35mm celluloid, because film just works so well in natural light. Kodak 250D delivers nicely saturated colours. The rendition of skin and faces looks especially good. It also has great latitude. We could film indoors, whilst also capturing excellent detail and colour in the landscape thorough the windows of the house, which I am not sure you could achieve so easily if you shot digitally. It is also excellent in white environments, such as the misty, foggy exteriors we encountered, where it can still deliver depth to the image, even in murky light.” n

Maria von Hausswolff

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 61

CLOSE-UP / POLLY MORGAN BSC ASC / A QUIET PLACE 2

PRETTY HORRIFIC

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lthough it had been a number of years since cinematographer Polly Morgan BSC ASC had shot using celluloid, she says coming back to film, for Paramount Pictures’ A Quiet Place 2, ”was a complete joy.”

“On a practical level, it was so refreshing to walk around the sets with my light meter, and not be stuck in a DIT tent judging the exposure on a monitor,” reveals Morgan, whose recent DP credits include FX/Marvel Television’s Legion series and Noah Hawley’s Lucy In The Sky, but who last shot 35mm film in 2016 on FX’s American Horror Story, working on additional photography.

“The rhythm and discipline of shooting on film creates a very healthy focus for the cast and crew,” she says. “And, as for the final result, although A Quiet Place 2 is a horror, it looks pretty and engaging, with a nostalgic look that you would find hard to achieve digitally.”

Talks of a sequel to A Quiet Place (2018), directed

by John Krasinski, and shot on 35mm by Charlotte Bruus Christensen DFF, began in April 2018 following the box office success of the original film. On a budget of around $20 million, A Quiet Place returned an impressive $340.9 million at the box office.

The sequel was written and directed by Krasinski and stars Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds and Noah Jupe, reprising their roles from the first film, with Cillian Murphy and Djimon Hounsou joining the cast.

Krasinski reprised his role for a small number of flashback sequences.

62 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Where the original 2018 hit was a heart-stopping drama about parents and what they do to protect their children, A Quiet Place 2 sees the Abbott family face the terrors of the outside world as they fight for survival in silence. Forced to venture into the unknown, they quickly realise the sightless reptilian creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats that lurk beyond the sand path.

“A key challenge was to make the sequel look and feel as visually-engaging as the original, so that if anyone were to watch them as a double bill the whole thing would feel like one fluid piece of work,” says Morgan, “But, this film was also about expanding the family’s world, and especially about moving with them through lots of dynamic and thrilling action sequences.”

After extensive testing, Morgan went with Panavision Millennium XL2 35mm cameras, using T-series Anamorphic lenses that were adjusted to match the C-series glass used on the first film, and to optimise their close-focus abilities and performance in low light.

She selected Kodak Vision3 500T 5219 for the movie’s extensive dark situations – night scenes and stage work – comprising around 75% of screen time, and used Kodak Vision3 250D 5207 for the day exteriors plus a clutch of interiors. Film Processing was done at FotoKem in Los Angeles.

“The 500T and 250D made a very good match together for this production, and a seamless transition between the two films,” Morgan says. “The way 500T sees into the dark is quite remarkable. It has so much more latitude than people are led to believe, and digs deep into the shadows. There is plenty of range in the toe and the highlights roll-off beautifully, in the way only film can.”

For example, one of the most challenging lighting and shooting situations was the furnace set, nicknamed ‘The Tube Of Death’. “It was like a coffin. If you sat in it, your head touched the roof,” Morgan exclaims. “With five actors inside, plus the camera, it was very hard to light, and my meter was reading just 0.7 most of the time. But the 500T captured the actors who were lit in foreground beautifully, and the fall-off felt very natural, just like the human eye. It rivals any digital sensor out there.”

She adds, “You hear so much technical rhetoric about digital having more latitude than film, but that’s simply not true. We worked in some very dark situations, really pushing the negative to the limit and film held it beautiful. There was more than one occasion where my highlights were over by more than 6 stops, but I never had to worry - they just rolled-off, held all the detail, and results looked great.”

Morgan describes the 250D as “very pretty. It looks naturalistic and the colour rendition on greens is particularly beautiful, unlike anything you can capture with a digital camera, where things can look artificially chroma-green. In the scene when the family emerge from the steel mill into the dappled light of a hot summer’s day, the 250D was photographically faithful to the hues in the foliage and the hot shafts of sunlight.”

Where A Quiet Place 2 moves on from the original film is in how the camera follows the action. “The script was full of dynamic movement and action. John wanted to always keep the camera moving and create long ‘oners’ to play with rhythm and tension and to show how normal life can suddenly become very different and dangerous all in the same shot.”

Energising the camera with what she describes as “a lot of complicated choreography,” Morgan deployed an array of tracking vehicles, often driving at full-tilt, with the camera mounted variously on jibs, cranes or Steadicam vests. For an early, 20-second-action scene, featuring Polly Morgan a flashback to the creatures’ initial BSC ASC attack in the town centre, a Volvo had its roof taken off in order to incorporate a sliding rig with a motion control arm and mini remote head which allowed the camera to freely pan and tilt between views through the car’s front and rear windscreens, whilst also taking-in the actor’s fear-filled performances.

“Making A Quiet Place 2 was challenging and adventurous, but ultimately a lot of fun,” concludes Morgan. “I love shooting on film, and think it really supported the escapism and adventurous storytelling.” n

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CLOSE-UP / DARIUS KHONDJI AFC ASC / UNCUT GEMS

BEDAZZLED

Filmed predominantly on Kodak 35mm film, Uncut Gems, the highstakes, high-anxiety thriller directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, received critical acclaim and multiple awards after releasing in cinemas in December 2020

by A24.

64 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

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long with its screenplay, direction, editing and central performance by Adam Sandler as New York jeweler Howard Ratner, the dazzling urgency of Darius Khondji AFC ASC’s celluloid cinematography also received much of the praise.

The film follows Howard, a charismatic New York City jeweler and gambling addict, who is always on the lookout for the next big score. When a rare black opal enters his possession, Howard goes out on a limb with a series of high-risk deals that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime, whilst also performing the hazardous high-wire act of balancing business with tender family matters and a set of angry adversaries.

Along with Sandler, the $20 film stars actors Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Mike Francesa, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosian, with Canadian singer/songwriter The Weeknd playing himself, plus former professional basketball player Kevin Garnett portraying a fictionalised version of himself.

Uncut Gems was chosen by the National Board Of Review as one of the top ten films of 2019, with Sandler winning Best Actor. The film also became one of A24’s highest-grossing releases, having made $47.7 million at the box office, before streaming worldwide, excluding America, on Netflix.

“I loved the crazy, tension and psychological energy of Josh and Benny’s script and their study of Howard’s hardbitten character,” says Khondji, who was first introduced to the directing duo by his daughter, Marie-Louise, an associate producer on their 2014 movie Heaven Knows What. This connection led to

Khondji collaborating with the Safdies on Jay-Z‘s Marcy Me music video before being asked by them to shoot Uncut Gems.

“This was an epic story of a man living a relentlessly crazy existence in the metropolis of New York City,” Khondji says. “Benny and Josh wanted to shoot on film, which I love too, so that was an easy win. But, they also wanted Uncut Gems to capture the realism of New York, with a garish and gritty look, inspired visually by the kinetic photography of filmmakers such as Robert Altman and the post modern architecture in the city, which I found rather ugly. I am more disposed towards glamorous and exciting visuals and quickly realised they did not want a pretty-looking result.

“Also, the way in which they wanted to shoot Uncut Gems, with extremely long lenses, tracking shots using extremely long lenses, plus zooms, meant I was out of my comfort zone right from the start. I would never recommend any filmmaker to work like that. But, I like being pushed in ways I have not experienced before. So I accepted their enthusiasm, and my methodology was to let them shoot what they wanted, in the way they wanted to do it.”

Principal photography began in September 2018, in New York City, concluding 29 production days later in November. Filming took place at exterior and interior locations around New York’s renowned Diamond District on 47th Street, which Khondji kept simple using available light or by filling the frame with front and top light.

Howard’s jewelry shop – a brightly-lit environment, which needed a distinctive, gaudy palette of cyans, greens, pinks and bright whites – was constructed and filmed at Gold Coast Studios on Long Island.

After extensive 35mm film testing, Khondji framed the action in widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio using Panavision C-series Anamorphic lenses – including 75mm, 180mm, 250mm and 360mm focal lengths – fitted to ARRI ST and LT cameras.

Darius Khondji He selected just one AFC ASC stock for the production, Kodak Vision3 5219 500T, pushed by one stop at Kodak Film Lab New York, to help encourage the texture of grain in the image.

“The choice of Anamorphic was a choice we made together,” he says.

“After reading the script, and listening to Josh and Benny talk about the presence they wanted for Adam’s character, we thought it would be appropriate to

pick-out and isolate him from the wallpaper of the backgrounds and to make his close-ups look largerthan-life.

“Of course, widescreen can be used to convey the epic nature of the story, but Anamorphic can also act like a magnifier.

Josh and Benny like telling stories close-up to their characters. They loved how the long Anamorphic lenses rendered the actors’ faces, and felt it was perfect for Howard.”

Khondji adds that the talents of camera operator Maceo Bishop, together with focus puller Chris Silano, and the use of a Preston Light Ranger focus assist system, significantly aided the sharpness of the image during the many floating camera moves. “We could have never been able to shoot with so much freedom without Maceo or Chris – they were both great, and the Light Ranger proved a great asset in the look of the film.”

Regarding his choice of 500T 5219, Khondji says, “Knowing we were going to shoot at pace, and with lots of energy, I decided to keep things as simple as possible by using just one stock. The 500T is great as you can use it for everything – from the brightest moments on a day exterior to the darkest moments on nighttime interiors – and have a consistent look through the overall production.”

All scenes were shot uncorrected, apart from the daylight exteriors, when an 812 filter was used to apply a slight correction to the 500T colour negative.

From an aesthetic standpoint, grain was important in the cinematic language of the film. “I don’t like the image to be too clean, as it just does not serve the purpose of storytelling, and Josh and Benny are of the

“I DON’T LIKE THE IMAGE TO BE TOO CLEAN, WE ALL WANTED TEXTURE FROM THE GRAIN. PUSHING BY ONE STOP WAS THE FORMULA THAT GAVE US THE NICEST RESULT IN TERMS OF TEXTURE.” DARIUS KHONDJI AFC ASC same mind,” Khondji declares. “We all wanted texture from the grain. We shot tests of interior and exteriors, experimented with different types of push and pull processing at the lab, and felt that pushing by one stop was the formula that gave us the nicest result in terms of texture. We shot the whole movie pushed by one-stop.”

For practical reasons, Khondji had to use digital for a handful of shots, and it was up to colourist Damien Van der Cruyssen at The Mill NY to match the binary footage with the analogue film for a coherent look. All of the 35mm film negative was ARRISCAN’d at 4K and Van der Cruyssen created custom LUTs to blend the digital footage with the film scans. The colourist also asked the camera crew to shoot additional grain elements on 35mm film, which were also scanned at 4K and combined over the digital scenes for a seamless result.

Speaking about the film’s colour-palette, and Howard’s store in particular, Khondji says, “The jewelry shops on 47th street in Manhattan are, by nature, very

bright and dazzling environments, with ghastly garish colours. We lit our store set using practicals, including spots and special quartz lighting, along with Sky Panels overhead made into ceiling tiles, with everything controlled on dimmers. This allowed us to play with the different colours and levels of illumination. The tone and colour separation that comes inherently with celluloid film is quite unique. It is not something I have seen to the same level or accuracy in digital, and these scenes look amazing.”

Khondji reveals that, normally, he does not enjoy revisiting movies he has shot after completion, but Uncut Gems proved a different matter.

“During production, the Safdies made it a very interesting and uplifting experience for me. They took me out of my comfort zone and into new territory. The final film has a unique look that I love, that is totally different to any other movie I have worked on before.

It’s also a great advertisement for what celluloid can do.

I am very proud of the result.” n

®

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BOOTH# C5044 British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 65

CLOSE-UP / VLADIMÍR SMUTNÝ / THE PAINTED BIRD / BY DAREK KUZMA

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ladimír Smutný’s exquisite B&W photography on director Václav Marhoul’s traumatically beautiful The Painted Bird is a towering achievement and represents the veteran Czech cinematographer’s most personal work to date.

The Painted Bird, based on a controversial novel from notorious Polish writer Jerzy Kosinski, tells the story of a nameless boy wandering from one unnamed Eastern European village to another during the hecatomb of World War II. Every place he arrives at, the increasingly scarred protagonist witnesses different kinds of human depravity, from superstition-filled murders and mutilations to paedophilia and bestiality.

At the 2019 Venice Film Festival, where the film had its international premiere and competed for the Golden Lion, some people left the screening room.

Needless to say, this is not an experience for the faint of heart. Less than two minutes in, there comes a scene of a helpless animal set on fire, squealing on the ground. What happens during the subsequent twoand-a-half hours is a harrowing test for the soul and the senses, a hellish odyssey into the dark side of the human nature. Yet the film’s eerily visual elegance combined with its elegiac tone of observing the world on the verge of an apocalypse makes the viewer sit and watch the presented horrors with a mix of disgust and awe.

The Painted Bird is a work that confronts humans with the unbearable

66 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

inhumanness of humanity. It is important, then, to understand that it was a labour of love that required over a decade to bring to the screen.

“Václav told me about the idea of adapting Kosinski’s book in 2007. We started shooting in 2017 and ended in summer of 2018. One hundred days altogether,” states Smutný. The crew visited Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, including the village of Svalovychi in which time had stood still since the war.

“Our references were Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood and Andrei Rublev, Elem Klimov’s Come and See, Vláčil’s Markéta Lazarová and Němec’s Diamonds Of The Night, as well as B&W photographs from World War II,” says the DP.

The cinematographer’s partnership with Marhoul was symbiotic, with both filmmakers infusing the film with their personal style. “Every morning we tried to find a compromise between our ideas, bearing in mind that only the right kind of storytelling would communicate the emotions and the purpose of each scene,” says Smutný who was awarded Camerimage Bronze Frog for his work. “The B&W Cinemascope format, with actors standing close to the edge of the image, express anxiety, distress, fear, while the camera movement, including long dolly rides, provides an audience with the opportunity to contemplate what happens on and off the screen.”

Most of the shots are elegant and carefully composed, but once in a while there comes a handheld scene infusing the storytelling with subjectivity and immersing the viewer even more into the 20th century world of primordial instincts.

Shooting this story without a wide colour range posed a number of challenges.

“Good photography needs good light, which differs every day, but if you are privileged to shoot a film in continuity, like we

were, you follow the evolution of images, movement, composition, light styles, and all the time you keep learning,” explains Smutný. “What is important in B&W is the aesthetic composition of lights and shadows, the rhythm of light and dark. The common mannerism of modern colour cinematography, depicting light with a hazy mist, would ruin the contrast in a B&W film.”

“I prefer high-contrast B&W photography with deep blacks, but when I worked on a forest scene where everything was green and soldiers were wearing green uniforms, there was no contrast. So I used a yellow filter to lighten up the green, thus increasing contrast of the dark areas within the shot. I also used red filter in a scene at the burnt-down house to enhance its dramatic nature – dark sky and white clouds,” continues Smutný who used natural light as much as it was possible.

“The boy’s skin tone was particularly beautiful in such light. I got daylight through windows or holes in a thatched roof. The key light was never inside the room, and I did not set it up. I mostly used HMI 12 to 18kw, or sometimes ARRI M lights, as well as reflected light.

Dispersed light was used only for interior day shots but I kept it local, and parts of the image were left black.”

That is why the cinematographer chose a variety of classic and modern film equipment to bring his and Marhoul’s striking vision to a cinematic life.

“The negative stock was the old faithful, Kodak Eastman 5222, with an ARRICAM Lite camera, plus an ARRIFLEX 235 for the handheld scenes.

Additionally, we used Red Monstro for special effect shots against a green screen,” says Smutný who tested Zeiss and Vantage Hawk lenses for the film.

“Zeiss lenses had almost no distortion and there was beautiful sharpness to them, but I chose Hawk V‑Lite Optics because they have a style of their own. They had some distortion and were unfocussed along the top edges of the image, but we turned these minor technical shortcomings into an advantage.”

Vladimír Smutný Smutný concludes: “Direct contact with the war and the ruined post-war world makes the boy lose his soul.

The magnificence of the images of a world gone mad allowed for a beauty and expressiveness of B&W film. This is my magnum opus, probably the most important film in my career.” n

CLOSE-UP / TOMASZ NAUMIUK PSC / MR JONES / BY DAREK KUZMA

UNSUNG HERO Photos by Robert Palka

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orking with writer/director Agnieszka Holland on the harrowing Mr. Jones has not only given Tomasz Naumiuk PSC a boost of confidence but has also earned him international recognition.

Holland is known for making films brimming with social and political commentary. So it should be no surprise that she wanted to tell the story of Welsh investigative journalist Gareth Jones’s 1933 poignant odyssey to reveal the truth about the famine-genocide in Ukraine. Whilst prepping the project she could not imagine a more suitable collaborator than Naumiuk, a rising Polish cinematographer with a curiosity and visual sensitivity similar to her own, as well as an openness to experiment with the language of film.

“Because we wanted it to be a mouthpiece for Jones’s bravery and the Ukrainian tragedy, which is still little-known to people, we knew the film demanded the feel of an historical epic but we also wanted it to vibrate with modern energy,” says Naumiuk who looked for inspiration in electronic music.

“I found the works of contemporary producers like Hudson Mohawke stimulating. He doesn’t treat music as homogenous, rather as a kind of postimpressionistic cluster of cultural influences. I wanted to shoot Mr. Jones like it was a series of short films, told in various styles and with different tools, that simultaneously form a coherent feature narrative. This way it was also more attractive to younger viewers who need a constant flow of stimuli to stay within the story.”

The film details Jones’ first uncovering of the elaborate fantasy world with which Stalin’s regime wowed the foreign press in Moscow, before entering the subsequent circles of wintry Ukrainian hell. Holland and Naumiuk wished to immerse the audience in the journalist’s transformative journey.

“We begin in London which is very stylish and conventional, and then, when we go to Moscow, Gareth becomes entangled in this euphoria of light, colour, and texture. We shot those scenes with Cooke SF Anamorphic/i lenses as I really like their crisp spectrum and cinematic feel,” he says. At the same time, Naumiuk’s camera gradually assumes Jones’s subjective viewpoint and builds momentum for the final blow.

Naumiuk shot Mr. Jones on ARRI Alexa with a 4:3 sensor to capture a particular look throughout the film, though he made changes lens-wise. “When Gareth escapes his Soviet ‘guardian’ and goes on a trek through the Ukrainian wilderness, the brutal reality hits him hard.

I used spherical Zeiss Super Speeds to distinguish this part from the rest of the film. I’ve worked on quite a few low-budget sets and these lenses were often my best friends. I like their quality, their depth, their brightness.

They were the perfect choice to contrast with the sumptuous Cooke SFs.”

The Ukrainian part of the film is emotionally intense and painful, the palette almost monochromatic.

Gone are the artistic reflections, rich details, beautiful compositions of London and Moscow. Whilst it was not as bad as what happens on screen, the Mr. Jones crew worked in quite extreme conditions.

“We shot in Ukraine first, before going to Poland and Scotland. It was March 2018 but on the warmest day it was -17 degrees Celsius, while some days tested us with -37 degrees. We were there for a month, and it was tough for all of us, but we basically got everything we went to Ukraine for,” says the DP.

Naumiuk took the same approach towards lighting. “The last couple of years have seen the introduction of a number of LED-based sources of light that have given cinematographers a lot of exciting options to consider. The portability and adaptability was also crucial considering the fact that we shot 99% of the film on location in three countries,” explains Naumiuk who used LED mattes, blades, and Aladdins to give the London/ Moscow scenes the elegant look of a period epic. “One tool was particularly important though, the ARRI Sky Panel S360-C, an enormous lamp that helped me in balancing colour contrast between interior and exterior scenes.”

The cinematographer departs from the luscious lighting schemes when Jones begins to explore the Ukrainian countryside. “I love shaping the physical spaces by blocking out the light and its reflections with black flags and surfaces. I like to reduce artificial sources to a minimum to create the visual and emotional quality of a given scene, and that was exactly what happened in PSC Ukraine. The light doesn’t Tomasz Naumiuk enrich the situation or the landscape, but rather subtly emphasizes the emotions on people’s faces.”

One other experiment Naumiuk made was having a colourist grade live on-set.

“Agnieszka told me during prep that she regretted not being able to see the final grade while filming previous features, and that had she done so she would have changed some things,” says the cinematographer.

“On-set grading was a great idea for this project and it enhanced the workflow. Agnieszka was able to see the pre-graded shots almost instantaneously. They looked pretty much like a rough version of how the film would look like after post and the whole DI process.”

Mr. Jones, a co-production of Poland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, had its premiere during Berlinale 2019, but it picked up momentum several months later when it won Golden Lions at the Polish Film Festival in Gdynia, and later was screened at BFI London Film Festival and Busan International Film Festival, among many others. Naumiuk, on the other hand, competed for the coveted Golden Frog at EnergaCamerimage. For the Polish cinematographer this year was – to paraphrase a classic – the beginning of a beautiful friendship with world cinema. n

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 67

CLOSE-UP / MARK JENKIN / BAIT Images courtesy of the BFI

HOOKED!

Captured on Kodak B&W 16mm film, director Mark Jenkin’s unique, ultra-low budget movie, Bait (2019), released in the UK by the BFI (British Film Institute), earned widespread critical acclaim, multiple awards and turned in impressive results at the box office. Here the director shares details about his career and the methods he used to make this profound and visually-distinctive movie.

S

et and filmed in Cornwall, UK, the narrative follows Martin, a fisherman without a boat after his brother Steven has re-purposed the trawler as a tourist tripper. With their childhood home now sold and re-decorated as a getaway for a wealthy London family, Martin is displaced to a housing estate above the harbour, and scrapes along by selling meagre catches of fish and lobster door-to-door. Traditional Cornish trades and lifestyles are under threat, and tensions between the locals and well-heeled newcomers in the once-thriving fishing village begin to simmer.

Upon its release, Bait – which Jenkin shot without location sound using 16mm clockwork cameras, before hand-processing the entire rushes in his own studio – was applauded by the critics as a “dreamlike masterpiece”, with Jenkin himself hailed as “one of the most arresting and intriguing British filmmakers of his generation.”

Following rapturous receptions, awards in the UK, at prestigious European film festivals and two BAFTA nominations, Bait has earned over £480,000 at the box office to date, and is still playing

68 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

in theatres. Its success looks set to continue with growing international distribution and the film’s recent UK release by the BFI on Blu-ray/DVD, BFI Player, iTunes and Amazon.

“I have an innate love and obsessive passion for celluloid film,” says Jenkin, “For me its attraction goes way beyond just the entertainment in the final result.

Some of the attraction is the aesthetic, some of it is the workflow, and some of it is the sheer physicality and tactile nature of working with analogue film itself.”

Jenkin candidly reveals that despite early success using video, such as his 2002 Celtic Film & Television Award-winning short Golden Burn, and time spent in London as a music video editor, he rapidly found himself artistically disenchanted. He returned to his native Cornwall as an independent filmmaker, using S8mm and 16mm for such locally-based stories as The Lobsterman, The Essential Cornishman, Bronco’s House and The Road To Zennor. The methodology and techniques for these films laid the foundations for Bait.

As he reveals, “The problem for me was that decisions were being made that saw kin.

Director Mark Jen ell the industry going headlong tch Photo: Callum Mi into digital. Nobody really questioned what was being lost creatively, and film was deemed as being too expensive. So I wrote a manifesto a few years ago, more of a personal guide than anything, to keep my ambitions and purpose in check. I made up a set of rules to keep my processes as simple and as analogue as possible, and to stop spending money.

These included having a shooting ratio of 3:1 or under, no recording of location sound, and to hand-process the negatives myself.

“I don’t shoot any coverage or any wide/ establishing shots. I just shoot exactly what I need.

Additionally, my studio is a stand-up working space, there’s nowhere to sit down. So the photochemical workflow is a real, physical endeavour, which is important to me. I have kept that sort of austerity through the whole of my filmmaking processes, and did exactly that on Bait.”

Production on Bait took place over the course of 21 shooting days, during September and October 2017. Locations included the harbour and quayside in the fishing village of Charlestown, a housing estate in Sennen, the Admiral Benbow pub in Penzance, and the grounds of Newlyn School Of Art, formerly a primary school, now a popular artists’ colony and the place where Jenkin has his studio.

Jenkin filmed Bait on Kodak B&W Double-X 7222 panchromatic negative and vintage Bolex 16mm cameras, chiefly using just one lens – a Kern Macro-Switar 26mm f1.1 – for the vast majority of the production. All footage was shot using a yellow filter to elevate the contrast and encourage the texture of grain, with the Double-X 7222 rated at 125ASA for exteriors and 100ASA on interiors.

In line with his methodology, Jenkin shot Bait without sound, essentially creating a silent movie to which he later added the analogue-recorded dialogue, music and atmospheric sound effects. Jenkin operated and loaded the camera, preferring static framing for most of the production, with Michael Eddy working as the focus puller, and Colin Holt acting as lighting camera.

“The wind on my Bolex allows for 27 seconds of shooting time, so no single take is ever longer than that,” he says. “Although in practice we actually lit pretty much everything – the exterior and interiors scenes – with LEDs to subtly lift the look as appropriate, I wanted the result to look as natural as possible.”

After production wrapped, Jenkin then dedicated himself to hand-developing each of the 129 rolls of exposed 16mm negative, some 13,000ft of film in total, using a rewind photochemical tank at his studio. The process of developing and drying rolls of film every day took over three months to complete.

Director Mark Jenkin operating the Bolex camera.

Photo: Thom Axon

Jenkin says that far from being afraid of any imprints and imperfections imparted through homedeveloping his rushes, he embraced these artefacts in the visual aesthetic of the film.

“The heightened grain you see in Bait comes from the way it was processed – 100ft at a time through warm developer,” he explains. “The flicker is created by that same process – it has to be wound manually for about an hour, but as it is not done at a consistent speed, you get a variation in the look. Any fibres you see probably came from a jumper I was wearing when I did the developing, and the scratches are from washing the rolls of film under a running tap, when the acetate might have grazed the emulsion. I just let these things happen as part of the process.

“There was even a strange sparkle on one roll, and I didn’t know what that was, until I later recalled that I had the left studio door open when I dried the film, and realised that pollen had clung on to the emulsion. I love the fact that something like that, from an external environment, got embedded as an element into the film.”

Jenkin also explains that solarisation effects, seen in certain sections of the film, were created by him briefly opening the inspection window on the rewind tank to check the progress of the film’s development, thereby flashing the negative. “It was completely random as to what part of the film was exposed. Sometimes

it looked great, sometimes not so good. But it was all analogue and all part of the process.”

Once the film development was concluded, the rolls were shipped to Kodak Film Lab, at Pinewood Studios, for a 2K DPX scan and a one-light technicalgrade. The entire footage was then returned to the director for editorial, post-synching of the audio and addition of music and sound effects, and final grading.

“As I had a shooting ratio of around 3:1, there were 4.5 hours of footage to review,” he says. “I set up a projector at home, and watched all of the rushes in the morning, had dinner, and then watched them all again in the afternoon. I like the separation between physical production and post production, which gives me space to think about how I want to tell the story. Not everyone wants to post as soon as they shoot.

“Having the best part of four months between

the shoot and seeing the rushes for the very first time, I did the edit in my head that same day, which made for fast post-production. Other than adjusting the overall brightness and contrast of the image, I did not manipulate it at all during the grade.”

Jenkin concludes: “In filmmaking, there’s a sort of unconscious denial about celluloid as a physical, mechanical artform. For me as an analogue filmmaker, the form and the content completely complement one another – you can’t separate the one from the other. If anything, this is what helped the storytelling in Bait, and then the audience’s positive reception of the film. People really like how different and authentic it looks and feels.

“These days, I do some lecturing at Falmouth University and see the enthusiasm of the students there.

Like me, they are excited and energised by film, and it’s really important to keep hold of that.” n

Make the impossible possible.

www.panther.tv

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 69

CLAPPERBOARD / RICHARD GREATREX BSC / BY DAVID A ELLIS Richard Greatrex BSC on the set of Flawless

THE STORYTELLER

A

ward-winning cinematographer Richard Greatrex BSC, now an honoury member of the BSC and these days a dedicated stills photographer, was responsible for the look of dozens of films, including Mrs Brown (1997), Flawless (2007), A Knight’s Tale (2001), Warriors (1999), The Woman In White (1997), for which he earned a BAFTA, and the highly-acclaimed Shakespeare In Love (1998), for which he was Oscar-nominated.

Although he no longer shoots movies, having moved into the world of photography, he still likes to tell stories with his cameras. Brandishing his Canon or Panasonic Lumix DSLRs, he photographs local people, artisans making beautiful or functional objects – such as bicycles and guitars – and also does community work with disadvantaged children.

“Thiry years as a cinematographer taught me a great deal about storytelling,” he says. “I use the tools and methods of filmmaking in my photography. Composition, structure and rhythm. Establishing shots, close-ups, points-of-view and eyelines. Montage, dissolves and superimposition. Together they make stories. We all need stories.”

70 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Richard Greatrex was born in Swansea, South Wales, in 1947. After leaving school he trained to be an electrician, staying in that role for eight years. In 1968 he worked as a technician at the University Of Sussex. Following this he became a mature student at Coleg Harlech (Wales). He then entered Balliol College, Oxford and studied politics, philosophy and economics, which he says gave him a questioning mind.

It was whilst at university that his interest in film began, previously having had no interest in the business. A fellow student, who became a friend had a Sony Porta Pak video camera which he couldn’t operate. Greatrex, who was technically-minded did some shooting for him, covering the mining community in South Wales. Later, Greatrex went to America for a couple of years working in Tennessee on community videos and worked on material for the United Mine Workers of America. On his return to South Wales he made a series of videos documenting what life was like without the pit.

Having grown tired of the video equipment he was using, he decided he wanted to learn about film cameras. He went to the National Film & Television School to of t se On the study cinematography, and says it was s rie se niTV mi the best three years ever, because he Moby Dick was introduced to a whole new world he knew nothing about. This included being introduced to Michael Samuelson, who would take students around film sets to investigate the lighting being used.

Several years later, it was Samuelson who suggested that Greatrex join the BSC.

Before leaving film school as a qualified DP, Greatrex shot concerts. After leaving, his film career took off. His early projects included shooting the heavy metal band Judas Priest and the opening night of Channel 4. His first feature for the cinema was Knights And Emeralds (1986, dir. Ian Emes).

Recalling the challenges of being a cinematographer, he says Warriors (1999, dir. Peter Kosminsky), about the PTSD affecting a Bosnian peace-keeping force after their return to civillian life in the UK, has became one of his favourites.

“The director’s style, was to try to recreate things as they really happened,” he says. “For example, you couldn’t be the other side of a door, you had to go through the door with them, which meant changing the exposure correctly as you walked through. There were lots of physical challenges like this. In a battlefield scene none of us were really sure where the safe explosions were, neither did the actors or the extras.

“Shakespeare In Love was tough too, because it was a huge set-up, which I hadn’t experienced before. It cost a lot of money and there was a lot of expectation riding on it. Also, it was a long shoot and the studio were watching all the time. People from the company would want to watch dailies with you.

So I got into the habit of going to the lab at five in the morning to see the dailies before anyone else.”

Sir Sydney Samuelson CBE said, “The movie Shakespeare In Love was beautifully photographed. One of my great puzzlements was how come it did not go on to win the actual Oscar.

Richard was not only a superb technician, he was really a nice guy, a pleasure to be with and a loyal rental customer of ours.”

Greatrex says he never worked on second units, but was always conscious of wanting a consistent look to each production and asked his main camera team to shoot second unit footage.

“I think bringing in a second unit completely cold, and without any of our members, was a tough one. When we needed a second unit,

A Knight’s Tale

Stills project... Cuba Noticed

I ensured the B-camera operator went along with a crew they chose.”

Greatrex, who shot all of his films on celluloid, admits to not being overly technically-minded. “I am not really interested in things like that. I would always keep the technical stuff as standard and consistent as I could, so I knew what I was going to get. I stuck with the same filmstock for years and I would stick to the same camera.” He says he started out with Panavision and later went on to ARRI cameras. “The camera was important to me in only two respects. Did it have a good viewfinder, and would it take a set of lenses I always liked, which were Canon.”

Asked what he thinks of digital imagemaking, he says, “It’s a completely different world to film, but the cameras are only there to record the story that you are going to put in front of the audience. So saying one is better than the other is nonsense. I think people who say they prefer the look of film are being nostalgic. Digital as well as film is a recording media and it is up to you to make the story in front of it. With digital you can make it look like anything as long as it’s been exposed properly.”

Shakespeare In Love

Stills project... Resistance Reimagined

Are there any cinematographers he admires?

“As far as DPs go I admire the work of those where you cannot tell who shot it. I don’t have a great deal of admiration for DPs who bring a style to the film regardless of the needs of the film. One DP who shines to me is Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC. He reads the script, he understands the director, he knows the story, he knows what is needed and can change his style.”

His advice to newcomers wanting to become cinematographers is simply go out and make films.

“There is nothing to stop you today, because so many of the costs have been reduced. Digital equipment is much cheaper and simpler to use, and you don’t need the big crews. The less kit I could see on my set the happier I was, and if you could do it with one light source you were getting there.”

Asked why he retired from cinematography – his last outing as a DP was the TV mini-series Moby Dick (2010) – he says, “I quit when things were really good. I didn’t want to go through any professional decline. I had seen fellow DPs start to take on rubbish projects, because they felt they had to as the

offers weren’t coming like they used to.

“The other reason was, if you have developed a good working relationship with a director and were lucky enough to continue that relationship, which I had with three or four, you could have a say in the way the story was told, the way it was developed and the way the shots were put together. You could become a creative member of the team. The one thing you never had influence on was the story itself. I reached a point that I wanted to tell my own stories in my own way.”

Greatrex now lives in the small, historic town of Hay-on-Wye, Powys in Wales, from where his plies his trade as a photographic storyteller. His visual works include portraits of industry friends and colleagues such as Nina Kellgren BSC, Steadicam operater Gerry Vasbenter and Russell Allen at ARRI, travelogue images from places such as Japan and Cuba, illustrative pictures for books, and shots of local artisan makers. Many of these are published on his website.

“Stories help us make sense of our world, whether thay are brief or extended, simple or complex.” He says.

“I see myself as a storyteller.” n

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Subscribe online at www.britishcinematographer.co.uk/subscribe British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 71

GAFFERS ‘R’ US / TOM GATES

SHINING A LIGHT ON

TOM GATES

Age: 59 Education: London Comprehensive School Hobbies/Passions: I don’t watch that much telly these days. I tend to go out with our dogs, or sometimes down the pub.

Selected filmography (as gaffer unless otherwise stated):

The Nevers (TV series) (2020) Supernova (2020) Game Of Thrones (TV series) (73 episodes) (2011-2019) Britannia (TV series) (2017) Downton Abbey (TV series) (2013-2014) Serena (key lighting gaffer) (2014) Saving Mr. Banks (gaffer: UK) (2013) Alan Partridge (2013) I, Anna (2012) Lost Christmas (2011) Silent Witness (TV series) (2011) Framed (TV movie) (2009) Margaret (TV movie) (2009) He Kills Coppers (TV movie) (2008) The Broken (2008) The Dinner Party (TV movie) (2007) Meadowlands (TV series) (2007) Housewife, 49 (TV movie) (lighting gaffer) (2006) Comme t’y Es Belle! (2006) The Truth About Love (2005) The Jacket (2005) Wondrous Oblivion (2003) Tipping The Velvet (TV mini-series) (2002) Bridget Jones’s Diary (lighting gaffer) (2001) Beautiful Creatures (lighting gaffer) (2000) Essex Boys (2000) Clocking Off (TV series) (2000) Roger Roger (TV series) (1999) Little White Lies (TV movie) (1998) Eye Of The Eagle (1997) The Affair (TV movie) (1995) Seaforth (TV mini-series) (1994) Double X: The Name Of The Game (1992) Lorna Doone (TV movie) (1990) 72 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

Getting started…

It’s simple… if you know the right people. I went straight from school to Lee Lighting in 1976. My best friend at school was Perry Evans, who also trained at Lee Lighting.

It was about who you knew in those days. I started working in the stores, then became a floor electrician, before moving to proper film sparks and then my first gaffer jobs on pop promos 30 years ago.

You need a few lucky breaks too, and I got them from DPs such as John Metcalf, who started me gaffering pop promos, and John Matheson BSC, and I built it up from there.

Ambition I got a big break from Stuart Dryburgh NZCS ASC on Bridget Jones’s Diary in 2001 and the rest is history. But it was always clear to me that I wanted to be a gaffer.

I didn’t want to do rigging for the rest of my life. So I paid attention to how DPs worked and how the whole lighting team functioned on-set. Eventually it all just clicked into place. It’s something you can’t really learn from books. You just absorb it on the job.

What makes for a good gaffer?

It’s about combining lots of skills, and have to get on with different people. First, you have to be able to effectively manage your lighting team. Then there’s the grown-ups in different departments – the camera team, art department and locations. Sometimes directors of photography can fire 20 different instructions at you after rehearsal. You have to take the changes on-board, and not get stressed out about the pressure.

In addition to having to have a good attitude and

management skills, what DPs really like is for their gaffers to develop an eye for lighting. Again, it’s not something that you can teach really. But I found that suddenly I felt comfortable on any set in the world and in any scenario. I knew what lamps to use, what cranes and cherry pickers we’d need. It all just seemed to fall into place one day.

The gaffer/DP relationship I have worked with 50 or 60 directors of photography over the years. Some DPs I met at the start (such as Stuart Dryburgh) I’m still doing work for. They are all different, but the relationship works best in my opinion when the DP hardly needs to tell you anything.

Gaffers and DPs can develop a chemistry together. When I work with Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC, for instance, we just bounce off each other. I know what he wants. I just need to see the location/technical drawings and the script. When I have finetuned everything, he comes in. If he’s there more than half an hour tweaking things I know I haven’t done my job properly!

Core team It varies job-to-job, but it’s nice to have a permanent rigging crew with a rigging gaffer, charge hands and best boy. On Game Of Thrones we had a core team of 28 in the electrical department and I hand-picked them all. My rigging gaffer is Brett McCrum, rigging gaffer (locations) is Eddie Knight, and rigging gaffer for studios Vince Madden (they are both chargehand rigging gaffers).

Tom with Seamus McG arvey BSC ASC

Rise of the desk operator One of the most important jobs in film lighting these days is the desk op. They can control the lighting on the whole set from a single tablet or iPad, often sitting close to the DP and communicating directly with them.

In the LED world, lighting has become a lot more controllable and the quality of the LED light sources is much better now. Being able to dial-in colours and lighting intensity saves tons of time and energy, and this is generally a good thing because the carbon footprint of film lighting is becoming an increasingly important consideration. When you think that a single Sky Panel is 400W and a Spacelight is 5KW, LED saves money on fuel and time spent rigging.

Game Of Thrones experience I spent nearly a decade lighting Game Of Thrones, which has been a fantastic experience. I’ve worked with some outstanding DPs – the likes of Jonathan Freeman (I’m going to do the new Star Wars film at Pinewood with him this summer), David Franco and Fabian Wagner BSC ASC.

But I’ve also seen some of the toughest conditions out there in Ireland – plenty of wind and rain, which is never good for lighting. Every season of Game Of Thrones presented big challenges – none more so than the last, season eight. We did 12 consecutive weeks of night shooting in one hit, starting in January through to April. I’ve never heard of anybody else doing that much night shooting. It took months of preparation and planning. The sheer amount of dimming and cable was quite something. We used lots of cranes, cherry pickers and booms, all with full, half and quarter Wendys. There were lots of quarter Wendys on the floor for trench fire and torches, and on top of all that, Sky Panel soft boxes to create moonlight. It required a seemingly endless amount of lighting technicians and riggers, but it all came together. It was definitely the most logistically complex thing I’ve done, but the results were amazing. Night is always more dramatic.

Advice for gaffers My best advice is serve your time and don’t be too impatient. I was 29-30 when I first started, and I worked in every department on the way up. I’ve been doing this for 43 years and I’ve been a gaffer for 30.

I still don’t know everything, and no gaffer every will. Bite off too much too soon and film lighting can bite you back. It can really phase you big time – your brain will cook and you’ll be traumatised. The pressure can be immense. I’ve known gaffers who have gone in too quickly and it’s just destroyed them. Just remember that the buck stops with you as a gaffer. But if you do your homework, and your apprenticeship, you’ll be fine and you’ll pull it off.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC says: The Nevers was my first experience working with Tom. He came with a legendary reputation and I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not just saying this – it was a fantastic experience working with him. He really is one of the most sensitive, hardworking and creative gaffers I’ve ever worked with. Coming from Game Of Thrones he was able to get on-board immediately with the pace of it.

Tom is an extraordinary planner, executing the lighting plan quickly with the minimum fuss and maximum efficiency. Jumping from location to location very fast, he was supported by a team of amazing sparks. He has this mind for complicated set-ups and has the ability to work quickly at scale.

I realised I could do anything with him. Every set was always ready on the morning we wanted to shoot with the lamps not just in position but focussed and ready-to-go.

The gaffer/DP relationship is one of the key creative relationships in film and it helps if you can form a personal bond with a gaffer – it helps establish a creative camaraderie. Tom and I immediately hit it off with a rapport that meant we could talk abstractly about the look and feel of the film. Tom got the strong look immediately.

He’s also great fun to be around. Sets can be high-octane places and tempers can flare, but Tom is one of the calmest gaffers around when the shit hits the fan. He’s great at managing his crew and at nurturing the precious relationship between lighting and the DP and camera team, ensuring there is no unnecessary noise or bad energy around the set.

Cinematographer Fabian Wagner BSC ASC says: We first met on Game Of Thrones and have been working together for eight years now, so I know him pretty well. We have become very good friends. I adore Tom. He’s one of the best – great to work with, very intuitive, very helpful. On a new film Tom is probably the person I’d call first, along with my focus puller and DIT.

When I first came on board Game Of Thrones it was the biggest thing I had done. I was quite overwhelmed by the scale of the production and the size of the sets. Tom was there straight away, being supportive and friendly – everything you could wish for in a gaffer really.

Another thing I liked immediately about him was how on Game Of Thrones he took on a bunch of very inexperienced sparks (a lot of them weren’t film sparks) and made them into some of the best I have ever worked with. He has allowed them to develop professionally and taught them how to be on a film set. The way that Tom works is reflected in the people on his team. He’s trained them with the same skills and attitude. n

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British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 73

LIVE & LET DI / DIALLING-IN THE DI GRADES

FINESSING TOUCHES

Cheat, London: colourist Toby Tomkins reunited with Jonathan Entwistle and DP Justin Brown on I Am Not Okay With This, after working with them both on The End Of The F***king World. In fact, having worked with Brown for over ten years, Tomkins says, “We know exactly what to expect from each other and it makes the process a lot easier.”

For I Am Not Okay With This, Tomkins graded all seven episodes of the first series using DaVinci Resolve, taking 24 days to perfect the look.

“We wanted to create a cinematic, Americana feel.

And, whilst the show is tied to this specifically American location, I wanted to complement the narrative so that it doesn’t feel connected to a specific time period,” said Tomkins. “Looking at the style of the American diners and ambiguous clothing worn by characters in the show, there’s not much that defines when it’s set. I worked to draw out a lot of warmth in the grade, working towards this timeless aesthetic, whilst also emphasising the situation of the characters – they’re in high school, they’re in their hometown. Despite what they face throughout the series, there’s a level of comfort in the locations. We wanted to make sure this was felt in the grade.

As the series was based on Charles Forsman’s graphic novel, Tomkins also wanted to highlight specific colours, such as red, to add ‘pop’ to some scenes. “There’s a really nice blend of a warm, comforting grade alongside some more exciting visual choices that complement both the show’s comic book origins and the supernatural elements we’re introduced to,” he added.

The Look, London: Netflix’s 4K HDR series, Sex Education, from Eleven Film, has returned for a second season. It was shot in Wales by DP Jamie Cairney using Sony Venice fitted with Zeiss Master Primes. Post was carried out in ACES via the firms six Rios in London and Cardiff by senior colourist Thomas Urbye. Cairney and director Ben Taylor were keen that Urbye took the look from season one a little further, which meant more mid-tone contrast and careful saturation increases.

A custom, proprietary lens effect was used to give chromatic aberrations and softness while maintaining 4K centre sharpness. On wide shots Anamorphic bend was also added for effect. The grade was carried out in HDR and Dolby Vision was used to create the SDR versions.

Urbye also conducted the grade on Sky’s 4K HDR series, Cobra, from New Pictures, shot in the UK by DP Laurens de Geyter on ARRI Alexa fitted with Signature Primes. De Geyter and director Hanns Herbots wanted the aesthetic of a classic 35mm political thriller, with framing inspired by Children Of Men (2006, dir. Alfonso Cuarón, DP Emmanuel Lubezki AMC ASC. Urbye desaturated the original image and then added in a slight magenta to the mid-tones and deep blue to the shadows in HDR, and used Dolby Vision to create the SDR versions.

Cheat, London...

I Am Not Okay With This

Technicolor, London: senior colourist Dan Coles has been busy on a trio of projects. He recently graded Little Birds, a period drama for Sky Atlantic, directed by Stacie Passon with cinematography by Ed Rutherford, Because The Night a suspenseful four-parter directed by Niall MacCormick and shot by DP Ben Wheeler, plus Run, a new HBO series shot by cinematographers Matthew Clark and Kristin Fieldhouse.

Colourist Jodie Davidson is back working with cinematographer David Raedeker BSC on The Souvenir 2, the highly-anticipated sequel to the criticallyacclaimed 2019 film The Souvenir by director Joanna Hogg. Senior colourist Kevin Horsewood has been grading with DP Gustav Danielsson on episodes one and two of Brave New World, based on the utopian novel by Aldous Huxley. And colourist Sam Chynoweth dialled-in the grades for cinematographer Matthew Wicks and director Marley Morrison on British indie feature Sweetheart.

Molinare, London: has officially opened a new ADR suite at its Soho HQ in anticipation of increased ADR output, and to complement its recent CAS awardwinning ADR work on Fleabag. Other recent ADR credits for the company include Good Omens, The Capture and Strike Back.

The Mill, New York: Uncut Gems, the latest movie from the Safdie Brothers, shot by Darius Khondji AFC ASC, was graded by colourist and director of DI, Damien Van Der Cruyssen, He had previously worked with the directors and the DP on the Jay-Z video for Marcy Me.

“At that point I got a good understanding of their relationships and how I could fit into the equation,” said Van Der Cruyssen.

Visually, Uncut Gems has a classic New York City look, but with a modern twist. “The Diamond District hasn’t changed much over the last 40 years, so it automatically had that ‘70s ‘noir’ feel. But we wanted to break The Look, London...

Sex Education away from the steely, gritty New York to a more real-life aesthetic – less forced and contrived.”

The Mill, New Yo rk...

Uncut Gems

74 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

The vast majority of the movie was shot on 35mm film to give it a natural look, which meant Van Der Cruyssen had to treat the remaining digital footage to match.

“Marrying the film footage with the digital scenes was quite challenging,” he explained. “So I asked the crew to shoot some grain elements that could be overlaid in Baselight and adjusted per scene.”

Conversely, there were some scenes that were deliberately treated with a modern feel, such as a nightclub with black (ultraviolet) light.

“For this scene, we pushed all the green and blue hues that are present in the black opal you see in the opening title shot,” said Van Der Cruyssen.

The team took advantage of Baselight’s BLG metadata workflow to speed the grade from dailies right through to final deliverables. “I actually graded the dailies on Baselight,” Van Der Cruyssen recalled. “We saved those precious settings in BLG files as a starting point for the final DI – that saved at least a day. The show LUTs were then created and adjusted through production so we had a solid base.”

Van Der Cruyssen and Khondji then worked together closely on the final grade. “We initially did a loose session, starting from the dailies settings, before starting the two weeks of final grade. Darius prefers to think in printer points, so the main work was done in Baselight’s Film Grade, using printer points for contrast, saturation and exposure – mimicking what a print lab would do. While the directors attended often, Darius was there every day. It could get a little frenzied with all of us in the room, but more often than not we were on the same page.”

UPP, Prague: The Painted Bird, from Czech director Václav Marhoul was filmed in Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic by DP Vladimír Smutný for more than a year. The boldest decision was to shoot this near three-hour movie on 35mm B&W negative.

Smutný reveals, “For every cinematographer, this is a wonderful gift. Although this was my first B&W feature, I grew up with B&W photography. The challenge of B&W is that you must create the image using contrast alone. You don’t have to stick with realistic lighting design. You work with contrast and shapes when creating the B&W transposition of a colourful reality.”

UPP senior colourist David Koubik was charged with translating the film negative into a deliverable movie, and the work was undertaken in one the company’s four Baselight colour grading suites.

Koubik and Smutný have collaborated for more

Technicolor, London...

The Souvenir

UPP, Prague...

The Painted Bird

than a decade. “Working together for that long, there’s a shorthand,” Koubik said. “It guarantees a certain continuity, and at the same time a joint discovery of new grading possibilities.”

Koubik was involved in the project for three years, starting with lens, camera and stock tests.

“Initially, positive prints of our 35mm test footage were made. We found that it did not work very well for us in terms of tonality – the amount of detail in the darker areas – so Vladimír and I had to slightly reconsider our approach.”

Smutný added, “I shot some night exteriors during the day, especially when I wanted the landscape to be visible.

I exposed normally because I needed strong highlights. For these scenes, David and I created a night look in the grading suite. When Park Road Post, We I wanted to achieve Lowdown Dirty Cri llington... minals strong blacks, I shot at night. We combined both approaches.”

It demanded intensive work in the grading suite, despite there being no colour. The initial grade took 17 days, rising to 25 days to include VFX and trim sessions.

“I relied on Baselight’s Base Grade, with its intuitive way of controlling the tonal range, which is critical in B&W,” Koubik said. “We had to deal with exterior scenes where the weather was not good, so the image was quite flat. And we were certainly limited in adding contrast because of the grain. I really respect Václav for making this happen. I appreciated the chance to work on what I consider to be a masterpiece of cinema.”

Park Road Post, Wellington: colourist Clare Burlinson recently harnessed the company’s SGO Mistika set-up for the DI grades on director Paul Murphy’s comedy Lowdown Dirty Criminals, shot by DP Rob Marsh, and the gangland drama Savage, helmed by Sam Kelly and shot

by DP James L. Brown.

Molinare, London... new ADR suite at its Soho HQ

In Lowdown Dirty Criminals, two best buddies find work with a small-time crook who sends them on a fool’s errand of hilarity and violence after they bungle a straightforward job. In search of the right feel for the film, director Murphy and colourist Burlinson found a “dirty brown back alley feel” for the fast-paced caper.

“The golds, greens, pinks and purples were inspirations from the production designer and existing locations, including a richly eclectic nightclub and seedy motel. The intention was to embrace and encourage these tones without compromising

the grounded nature of the world,” said Burlinson.

Savage was inspired by the stories of the men w York... who formed Harbor Post, Ne hthouse Lig e Th New Zealand’s early street gangs. It follows Danny at life-defining moments that push and pull him between his blood family and gang family, as he grows from a boy into a violent gang enforcer.

“Sam wanted a gritty, uncompromising and brutal look with shadowy menace and inky tattoos,” said

Focus Motion Canning Action99

Technicolor, London...

Because The Night

Burlinson. “Working through the stages of the main character’s life we developed three different treatments applied to the film, intercutting from childhood to maturity.”

Harbor Post, New York: “I’m proud of how The Lighthouse turned out because the film looks so authentic. It feels like an old film that was discovered in the basement of a film archive”, says colourist and company founder Joe Gawler. Director Robert Eggers and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke had very specific ideas on how the film should look and that attention to detail paid-off, with the movie receiving the ASC Spotlight Award this year.

“We played the blacks down to a rich-inky level and maintained the beautiful graininess of the film stock” explains Gawler, “shooting on Kodak B&W Double-X 5222 panchromatic negative went a long way to creating the authentic old look of the film.”

Gawler’s experience of remastering a number of classic B&W films for the Criterion Collection, including Fellini’s 8 1/2, Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and Jean LucGodard’s Breathless, proved invaluable when it came to grading The Lighthouse. Shot in Nova Scotia in unforgiving conditions, the movie is unique and evocative in its look and feel.

The tight collaborative relationship between director Eggers and cinematographer Blaschke was apparent during the grade. Gawler found great pleasure in helping bring their vision to the screen, and he acknowledges the useful process of watching the grade with the sound mix at full tilt in the DI theatre.

“The sound is such an important character in this film and watching scenes over and over with the sound, designed by Damian Volpe, helped inform if we were keeping up and making sure the images were strong enough,” he added. n

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British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 75

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / BY TIM POTTER - CHAIR - GBCT

PRIZE EXAMPLES?

We all love a pat on the back. Every part of industry or walk of life seems to have a plethora of awards, prizes and accolades. Often broken down into tiny categories that will bring to mind the phrase “All shall have prizes”.

H

ow often have you seen the line “Product of the year” on packaging? When chased back to its source, one finds that the parameters of the competition are so circumscribed by conditions that it was the only product eligible for the ‘prize’. As a communications industry, we have done a very good job of patting ourselves on the back and, more to the point, making a very public show of it. The Oscars has become an interminable television show, even with the minor technical awards happening off-camera. All major film and television producing

Roger Deakins CBE BSC ASC won the BAFTA for 1917

76 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

countries have some form of awards night and every film festival has a competition section.

The start of the calendar year has always been the ‘awards season’ in our business. Various bodies in the UK give awards for film and television. Laudably, these extend in depth to many technical categories.

It is valuable that those in all areas behind the camera are given the recognition that they deserve. After all there is no point in pointing a camera at poor makeup, shoddy costumes or a bad set. The process of making film and television is multi-layered: each area of expertise contributing to the final creation.

As camera folk, we have a long track record of awards and prizes for our own achievements. These are not just for excellence in cinematography but also for operating, visual effects and technical innovation. The British Society Of Cinematographers started giving its award for best cinematography in 1953, long before BAFTA added this category to its awards in 1969. The BSC started its awards tradition in 1949 with the Bert Easey Award for technical innovation. Named after its founding

Phil Méheux BSC receiving the ARRI John Alcott Memorial Award from Judith Evans

father and only awarded in years when it is merited, the award’s recipients read as a list of the foremost innovators in our industry.

The BSC tradition of honouring our camera operators with an annual dinner was enhanced when the GBCT sponsored an award for the best operator of the year, which, since 2012 has been jointly given by the BSC, ACO and GBCT and voted on by their full memberships. The celebrations of Operators’ Night have since evolved into the foremost awards night for the UK camera world. The practice of naming awards after prominent members of our profession (often as a way of remembering those who have passed) was continued by the introduction of the John Alcott Memorial Award (sponsored by ARRI) in 1990 and the Charles D Staffell Award in 2001. The former was given to someone who has done most to forward the aims of the BSC and the latter for technical excellence in the field of visual effects.

Over the years some awards have come and gone. For many years, the best focus puller of the year was awarded what became known as the ‘focus puller’s knob’. In reality it was a gold-plated Panavision focus wheel from old PV R200 cameras. Also, there was an award given to someone who has done the most to improve the conditions under which camera folk work. Named after David Lenham who was a prominent activist in ACTT and who died while proposing a motion before a meeting of the Camera, Script Supervisors and Stills Branch.

How do awards cease to be awarded?

Sometimes it is because they are no longer relevant, sometimes it is because no one remembers the person being remembered.

When neither of these conditions apply, we are duty bound to ask why not continue these awards. We certainly need to recognise the excellence of our focus pullers and we still need people who will stick their necks above the parapet to fight for better working conditions.

So, I’ll leave you with the question. What awards do we need, and which areas should we celebrate? n

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / BY JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT / UAV PILOT 2020 BSC Show

2020 VISION

W

ell, what a start to 2020! The UK finally, technically, left the EU, although there are many obstacles to overcome before the end of 2020. Against some projections made, aeroplanes are still flying, we still have electricity, gas and water, and we can still buy food, get medicines and buy loads of stuff from all European countries. And they are still happy to buy stuff from us, so that’s all lovely.

We also experienced the 2020 BSC Show, which was a magnificent success with record numbers attending and the show spilling out even further into what was the car park last year. The sheer amount of film students there in attendance was great to see, as they will form the medium distance future of the craft of filmmaking. They will need to be willing to learn more as they go, due to rapidly advancing technology, and so training and experience will count massively.

And at the time of writing the BAFTA awards had just been held in February. The issue of diversity and voting for traditional mainstream cinema took centre stage. I will come to that issue later and examine how it can potentially change for the future.

And, if that wasn’t enough excitement, there were the Academy Awards, showing who was the best in their respective fields, and the issue of lack of diversity amongst filmmakers and talent came to the fore there too.

These events, although apparently quite separate, will all have an impact and connection for the business of filmmaking and cinema going forward. How things eventually play out can be exciting times or potentially scary, depending upon your outlook and framing. I tend to look at the more positive consequences, and the potential for great opportunities going forward. One of the positives I took away from the BSC Show was the general opinion from rental houses and eminent attendees that, for many reasons, it is about to become a very busy time ahead in the picture-making business.

The biggest innovation to hit the business in recent years has been the way the customer views the movie content, either at the cinema (as we know it) or through DVD players and streaming. The rise of quality streaming services has already revolutionised the way content is being viewed at home compared to the cinema. This area is advancing rapidly with many new services and developments in the pipeline this year. Some are already readily available in the USA, with many others being available in the UK in the next few months.

The big studios are gobbling up the business, and Netflix has undoubtedly revolutionised the way many people now watch films. With 158 million members in 190 countries you can now watch content almost anywhere with a phone, laptop, tablet or TV. You can also download and watch all of your favourites offline if you are on the go and you don’t have an internet connection.

In addition there are many additional streaming services about to be launched, and there is also the rise of Apple TV+, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ and Warner Media amongst many others such as Sony Crackle, Hulu, IMDB in the States, Plex, Roku, Pluto TV. Some are only available in the USA at the moment, yet many are coming on stream in the next few months. In addition, there have been contracts signed for content providers to supply new content, and the likes of J.J. Abrams’ company Bad Robot have recently signed a $250 million production deal with Warner Media to produce new content for the company.

All this activity means three potential effects:

1) There will be a huge demand for new original content. This means many more productions being produced, with the potential of a huge upsurge in the requirement for talented camera crews, writers, actors, studio space, sound recording and post production, cameras, lighting, locations and all of the many other additional services requirements a movie will need. All this is great for the various areas of the film production.

2) There will be many more people wanting to watch the content on a large 4K television at home. There will be a paid subscription of perhaps £5.99 per month Disney+ will and the whole family can launch in 2020 watch high quality images and sounds when they wish.

3) Watching content on a mobile phone means a very different viewing experience that is lacking a connection from the viewer for many reasons. The story needs to be stronger and more engaging without the subtleties of plot, cinematography and sound a film made only for

cinema projection will deliver. Without the traditional blackout from a conventional cinema there will most likely be reflections on the screen, house lighting and less than optimal sound fidelity. A cinema will have a high-power sound system able to play the sound at a much higher sound level and have a higher dynamic range than any TV at home, especially if you have neighbours with a new-born baby! However ideal a purpose-built TV/Cinema room with proper seating and sound system would be, there are not many people who have that luxury right now.

This is potentially both good and bad, as many people want the choice of going out to see a movie, and also have the choice of watching content in comfort at home. Yet it is a big chunk of time and money to get to the cinema at a certain time, perhaps then have something to eat, watch the adverts and then finally watch the main attraction. It is especially hard to leave the house if it is pouring with rain and it is cold outside, of course. Yet the experience of the cinema is a more of a total immersion, so I would always want to have that option and choice, as many others will.

The ultimate conclusion will be more highquality films being made, with more outlets to watch the content, and more opportunities to create a more diverse and brave new content with new talent from different walks of life. The potential is enormous.

With the need for more content it will lead to more possibilities for content made by newcomers from different backgrounds and ideas, and a wider spread of ideas and stories told in different ways. I do hope new talents break through, no matter what background, ethnicity or gender they are. n

British Cinematographer | March 2020 | 77

GBCT / NEWS FROM THE GUILD / BY JOHN KEEDWELL GBCT / UAV PILOT Blue Story

BAFTA DIVERSITY

T

he 2020 BAFTA awards were unfortunately noted for their lack of diversity in the business, with no female directors nominated since 2013, and a lack of ethnic minority actors being nominated and winning awards.

Prince William announced BAFTA’s highest award, the fellowship, given to Kathleen Kennedy, one of the most powerful producers in Hollywood. During his speech he said “In 2020, and not for the first time in the last few years, we find ourselves talking again about the need to do more about diversity in the sector and in the awards process. That simply cannot be right in this day and age.”

He appears to suggest BAFTA members were biased in their choice of directors and actors based on ethnicity and gender, and that there need to be more nominations and winners from these areas.

Joaquin Phoenix also stated, “I think that we send a very clear message to people of colour that you are not welcome here.” I, for one found that incredibly insulting. The suggestion is BAFTA members make their choices on based on gender and ethnicity. Nothing could be further from the facts.

This is a misunderstanding of how the voting takes place. There are around 6,500 individual members of BAFTA who are all professionals in the business. It is not like the House of Commons where members sit in a large room and we all discuss the merits of each performance, and all know how everyone else voted.

We don’t. Members vote for their favourite film/acting/ cinematography etc. based on individual choices on

what they have seen and their professional experience.

In my opinion any film should have a good story well told, and hopefully should either make you laugh or cry, shock or scare you, make you feel wonderful, uncomfortable or sad. It needs to entertain and grip the viewer, be a cinematographic treat and take the viewer on a journey. 1917 is a film with all those elements.

There were some excellent films directed by women last year, such as Little Women (dir. Greta Gerwig), A Beautiful Day In The Neighbourhood (dir.

Marielle Heller), The Souvenir (dir. Joanna Hogg), Harriet (dir. Kasi Lemmons), Portrait Of A Lady On Fire (dir.

Céline Sciamma) and Hustlers (dir. Lorene Scafaria), to name just a few.

When it comes down to choosing five films from the whole year I personally feel a few of these films were in the running for the year’s best film. They are all very well-directed, and yet according to the votes cast by BAFTA members they didn’t hit the outstanding directing skill required to achieve the best director award status. This is not because the director was a woman, they simply didn’t grip the audience as well as other films.

There were other films such as Rapman’s Blue Story that showed life on the streets of London as a real-life gang member, and the rivalry between gangs.

It certainly took the audience to places most were unfamiliar with. The film was originally short-listed alongside nine other films for the BAFTA category of outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer, yet did not make the final selection. It also did not make it into the final nominations for Best Film or Outstanding Harriet British Film. It is a fine line for many films to be chosen or not.

The first voting stage has six votes cast out of all the films made in 2019. If it doesn’t make the first vote it’s not included to go on and be in the finals. This is a

Hustlers

78 | British Cinematographer | March 2020

mammoth task for the BAFTA members with so many films released. It is simply impossible to view them all in the time allocated. The distributors organise special screenings, DVDs are sent out and there are some available via online streaming.

This is one area I do think needs to be looked at.

We all want to make the best decision and award the very best in each category, yet many screener DVDs arrived in the last week of December, leaving the BAFTA voters no time to view them all. I did note this year a larger proportion of films were streamed. This cuts down the cost of producing DVDs, yet watching a film on a computer screen is a very devalued experience compared. As far as I am aware all the films that won in any category were supplied on DVD.

This is a tough business to work in and work your way up. It always has been, and always will be.

To be at the very top is an achievement beyond most people’s comprehension. Even to be nominated means you need to be exceptional. Choosing a few films from the thousands made is extremely difficult, yet it is made slightly easier with a pre-selection by distributors which films get viewed.

We definitely need more talented individuals to rise through the ranks, yet this takes time as the progression is based on years of previous experience.

To direct a major film or gain a starring role with a well-written part for an actor is extremely difficult for anyone, and it should not be handed to anyone unless they have talent. It also works like this in the camera department. To walk out of film school expecting to be a DP without previous experience is highly unlikely.

It is a progression through the ranks, and many years watching other DPs and learning from them.

A BAFTA award is a top honour award to win.

The people who win know their craft. To artificially skew the results of the BAFTA awards due to a quota system or diversity box ticking would do the awards no favours. It would potentially artificially dilute the value of the achievements of talented award winners who would have made it on merit.

It could also crowd out others who have talent, yet get overlooked because they do not fit into a category. By all means have training schemes, and go into schools to educate the establishment that a film career is just as valid (if not more) as a career in banking. n

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