British Cinematographer - Issue 50 by Open Box Media & Communications

– 064

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

– 063 – 062 – 061 – 060 – 059 – 058 – 057 – 056 – 055 – 054 – 053 – 052 – 051 – 050 – 049

British 050 Cinematographer

– 048 – 047 – 046 – 045 – 044 – 043 – 042 – 041 – 040 – 039 – 038 – 037 – 036

Covering International Cinematography R E F L E C T I O N S F R O M B R E N D A N G A L V I N

DICK POPE BSC TELLS OF HIS TEXAN ADVENTURES ON BERNIE ––– BSC SHOW 2012 REVIEW ––– BSC, IMAGO, GBCT & PRODUCTION NEWS WHO’S SHOOTING WHAT? ––– SPECIAL CLOSE UP on DANTE SPINOTTI AIC ASC ––– FLORIAN HOFFMEISTER on THE DEEP BLUE SEA ––– TOM STERN ASC AFC on THE HUNGER GAMES RON WINDON ACS ––– THE DIGITAL ARCHIVING DILEMMA PART 2 ––– REVIEW OF THE AWARDS SEASON ––– JAMES FRIEND ––– RONALD NEAME & GUY GREEN BCine50.indd 1

13/03/2012 11:54

BCine50.indd 2

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Credits –––British Cinematographer Magazine: Issue 50

Contents.

30 F-Stop Hollywood.

All the news from awards season in LA.

President’s Perspective. John de Borman BSC.

07 Production /

Post & Techno News. All the latest worldwide cinematography news.

16 Who’s Shooting What?

Discover which DPs are shooting what and where.

18 Live & Let DI.

Whose been dialling-in the most recent DI grades and more...

Close-ups. A special on the achievements of Dante Spinotti AIC ASC, plus Florian Hoffmeister on The Deep Blue Sea, and Tom Stern ASC AFC on The Hunger Games.

Grains vs Pixels. Review on the new AMPAS report about archiving.

Camera Creative. Brendan Galvin and his cinematography work on Mirror Mirror.

28 On the Job.

Letter from Antipodes. The Australian society’s historian Ron Windon ACS on the society past, present and future.

Ron Prince ––– has many years experience working in the film, TV, CGI and visual effects industries. He is the editor of British Cinematographer magazine and runs the international marketing and communications company Prince PR (www.princepr.com).

“I was on the main jury at Camerimage, and viewed all 15 films in competition plus quite a few others as well, and got an overall perspective of film and digital side-by-side. It’s not a matter of one versus the other for me, but film has a different look, and it’s very pleasant. Perhaps it’s the grain but, whatever, it looked rather good and made me feel just a little nostalgic.” Dick Pope BSC

34 IMAGO News.

Nigel Walters BSC, president of IMAGO, rounds up the highlyeffective work of IMAGO and its supporters.

GTC. John Rossetti GTC says there’s one vital piece of kit that must be kept in tip-top condition!

42 All Time Greats.

The legends continue… Ronald Neame CBE BSC and Guy Green OBE BSC.

45 Meet the New Wave. James Friend… like’s a nice cuppa!

GBCT News. The chairman’s statement & news from the Guild.

51 Classifieds/Subscription. Subscribe to todays leading publication covering international cinematography.

A special Q&A with Dick Pope BSC who got to grips with digital in Texas on Richard Linklater’s noir comedy Bernie.

BCine50.indd 3

Contributors.

British Cinematographer Issue 050

Life begins at 50! I’m not sure I can quite believe it, but this is the 50th edition of British Cinematographer Magazine. During the course of these editions, over the last nine years, the world of cinematography has changed, gradually and inexorably, in many ways. And those changes have been constantly reflected in our pages. Whilst some of the ‘redefinition’ in the business has been dramatic, some things will always remain constant. Talent is everything – it takes artistry and skill to be a cinematographer. Content is forever king, too. We’ll be taking a view on all that’s happened and, perhaps more importantly, on what’s to come, in our May/Cannes Film Festival edition, with a special supplement entitled Cinematography Now. Looking at the edition you have in your hands gives you a pretty fair reflection of the state of affairs today. You can read about major and not so major projects being shot on celluloid, as well as digital – and how the cinematographers involved went about their craft. Our news pages report on the battle being fought to retain 16mm as a viable production format. Technology development continues apace, and there are plenty of items about the latest 2D and 3D stereo kit you might choose, or find yourself using, from the set through to post production. You can read about the major issue of preserving precious assets for tomorrow’s audiences. You can also discover how cinematographic societies worldwide are grouping together, reflecting the increasing globalised nature of the industry, and the concerns this raises for cinematographers and cinematography. All-in-all these are dynamic times. Of course, we would never have reached this milestone without your help. We express our sincere thanks to all our supporters out there: to the companies who keep the faith and place advertising; to our contributors, whose knowledge, energy enthusiasm and literary skills keep the content informative and fresh; and to all our readers near and far. Keep watching, there’s plenty more to come! Your Editor, Ron Prince

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography. Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 f. +44 (0) 1753 650111 Publishers. ––– Alan Lowne t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 e. alafilmuk@aol.com ––– Stuart Walters t. +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e. stuartwalters@ britishcinematographer.co.uk Editor. ––– Ron Prince e. ronny@princepr.com Sales. ––– Alan Lowne t. +44 (0) 1753 650101 e. alafilmuk@aol.com ––– Stuart Walters t. +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e. stuartwalters@ britishcinematographer.co.uk Design & Creative Direction. Open Box Media & Communications ––– Lee Murphy Senior Designer t. +44 (0) 121 608 2300 e. lee.murphy@ob-mc.co.uk The Publication Advisory Committee comprises of Board members from the BSC and GBCT as well as the Publishers. British Cinematographer is part of Laws Publishing. Laws Publishing Ltd Pinewood Studios Iver Heath Buckinghamshire SL0 0NH United Kingdom. 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.

Bob Fisher ––– has authored 3,000 magazine articles about cinematographers and filmmakers during the past 35 plus years. He has also moderated many panel discussions for both the American Society of Cinematographers and the International Cinematographers Guild. Carolyn Giardina ––– is a freelance journalist based in the US. She previously served as the technology reporter at Hollywood Reporter, the editor of Film & Video, and as senior editor of postproduction at SHOOT. Her work has also appeared in IBC Daily News, Digital Cinema, Post and Below The Line. David A Ellis ––– started out as a projectionist and then moved on to work for BBC Television in London as a film assistant. He has written numerous articles about the industry including many features about cinematographers. John Keedwell ––– 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 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. Adrian Pennington ––– writes about the business and technology of film and TV for publications inccluding The Guardian, Screen International and Broadcast. He is managing editor of The IBC Daily, editorial consultant for TVB Europe, and a producer of the 3D Masters conference.

13/03/2012 11:54

BCine50.indd 4

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Presidents Perspective –––John de Borman BSC BSC President

British Society of Cinematographers Board Members PRESIDENT:

John de Borman BSC IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT:

Sue Gibson BSC VICE PRESIDENTS:

Sean Bobbitt BSC Joe Dunton MBE BSC Chris Seager BSC GOVERNORS:

Land of beauty

I am so pleased this year has kicked off in the way that we at the BSC have wanted – packed with events. We started with a very successful and well-attended BSC show at Elstree Studios, that involved all our patrons and our members, and inspiring filmmakers and cinematographers. They all got together to see the new technology and interacted with each other, which I feel is exactly what is necessary in our industry. This was followed by the beautiful and jawdropping Turbine Hall event, ‘A Celebration Of Film’, at Tate Modern with the artist Tacida Dean. Well over 500 guests, including producers, directors, agents and cinematographers, and all our patrons, attended, and it became an evening of great celebration of not only film and its history, but also what we do and love. Many congratulations to all the organisers. I was so proud that it was an event that was so linked with us, the BSC. We followed this event with an evening with the Directors Guild, where we showed Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, followed by a Q&A, chaired by Quentin Falk, with Steven Daldry, the director, and Chris Menges, the cinematographer. The evening was so well-attended. Unfortunately I was shooting abroad, so wasn’t there, but from all accounts it was a fascinating and entertaining event. We followed this with the showing of Shame, with a Q&A with Sean Bobbitt BSC and Steve McQueen, the director, after the film. What a great treat to investigate the close relationship these two have had together, and to study their offbeat take on storytelling. So this is just a start of what I am hoping is to be a busy year. We have many more events scheduled, when we will see new technology from our patrons, and meet other cinematographers and discover their approach to and methods of filmmaking. I am so determined for us to have an interactive community, and for those who are aspiring cinematographers, or are just interested in these events, please don’t hesitate to become a member of our BSC Club, which will keep you up to date with all our screenings. (Go to our website on www.bscine.com)

BCine50.indd 5

Further to all of these events, I also extend wholehearted congratulations to Remi Adefarasin BSC for such the well-deserved honour of the OBE he received recently. He is such an extremely talented man with a genuinely sensitive touch. To continue my article of the last edition, when I talked about the difficulty of choosing the script to accept for your next film. Well, I have now chosen the film. It’s from a beautiful book called Half Of The Yellow Sun, the screenplay written and directed by Biyi Bandele (first time but very astute director), starring Thandie Newton, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Dominic Cooper and many more. It’s a beautiful love story set in the late 1960s during the Nigerian /Biafran war. Half way through the film it becomes a road movie through Nigeria as they escape the war. Wow… this has so much visual potential how can you resist? Well, of course, things are never perfect in our business. Nigeria is hardly the country one would choose to film during their recent unrests, but the director and producer found a part of Nigeria, called Calabar, which is beautiful, the people are so smiley, polite and really friendly, and it’s rather a sleepy town, so there are no problems on that front. The lack of infrastructure is the problem. We have to bring everything in and, on a low budget, this becomes the problem. It’s so funny one always leaves the previous film by saying to oneself, ‘I’ll make sure that that problem won’t happen again’, but then the next film has a different problem that you can’t have predicted. I went on a recce to Africa a month ago for the film. It’s a beautiful country with such lovely people, and that makes me very exited about this project, whatever the problems. John de Borman BSC President, British Society of Cinematographers

Oliver Curtis BSC John Daly BSC Gavin Finney BSC David Higgs BSC Phil Meheux BSC David Odd BSC Nic Morris BSC Dick Pope BSC Derek Suter BSC Robin Vidgeon BSC Nigel Walters BSC Haris Zambarloukos BSC CO-OPTED ASSOCIATE MEMBER REPRESENTATIVES:

Andrei Austin Rodrigo Gutierrez SECRETARY:

Frances Russell

Love story... John de Borman found the visual potential in Half Of The Yellow Sun irresistible. Photos courtesy of John De Borman BSC.

13/03/2012 11:54

BCine50.indd 6

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Proof positive... films like The Wrestler, Black Swan and The Hurt Locker helped convince the IRT to amend its ruling on 16mm. Tate Modern... Chris Dercon of Tate Modern and Judith Petty from ARRI, address the audience, whilst Tacita Dean accepts an award from BSC president John De Borman at the recent event in the Turbine Hall. Hugh Whittaker of Panavision is deep in conversation. Photos by Jeremy Pelzer.

News –––Production / Post & Technology round-up

Industry clamour for celuloid leaves DPP unmoved

A flurry of recent activity has reasserted the value of film as an economic and creative filmmaking tool in Europe, but the UK’s DPP remains unmoved, reports Adrian Pennington. The relegation of S16mm as a delivery format for HDTV appeared to be as much a fait accompli in Europe as it has been in the UK, but lobbying by German cinematographic committee BVK has scored a notable stay of execution. The BVK has managed to overturn guidelines, produced by the IRT, which had severely restricted the use of S16mm. The IRT is the supervisory body responsible for overseeing the technical aspects of production for Germany’s nine public broadcasters as well as ORF (Austria) and SRG/SSR (Switzerland). Although its guidelines, based on section 2.8 of EBUR132, are not mandatory they are widely followed and caused uproar among local filmmakers. The use of 16mm and then S16mm has a long and proud tradition in these countries, where even now up to a third of TV drama is shot in the format. The momentum behind digital acquisition had, however, been gaining ground with the result that guidelines issued in 2010 had recommended that no film stock rated higher than 100ASA would be tolerated. “The entire premise was wrong and what made it worse was that the false perception of the use of S16mm was being perpetuated by a publically funded institution,” says BVK manager Dr. Michael Neubauer. “When the recommendations stated that we could use no higher speed than 100ASA this was not tolerable. It was limiting our craft, so we decided to fight back. Our goal was to overcome the misconception in the old guidelines.” The BVK puts its case in January 2011 at a symposium in Munich attended by the IRT. It was able to screen a special plea by renowned American cinematographers Roberto Schaeffer ASC (The Kite Runner), Matthew Libatique ASC (Black Swan) and Ed Lachman ASC (Mildred Pierce), among others, arguing the case for S16. “If acclaimed world cinema like Black Swan, The Wrestler and The Hurt Locker are shot on S16 it is ridiculous not to allow S16 for TV production in HD,” declares Neubauer. The IRT proved receptive, but expressed its concern about high levels of grain and noise in certain S16 productions after having been passed through the highly-compressed DVB transmission chain. It invited the BVK to rewrite the description for S16 delivery for HD taking into account those concerns. Explains Neubauer, “What was not clear in the original guidelines, and which we clarified in the revised version, was that to produce S16 for HDTV it was necessary to obviate as much as possible the artefacts and noise introduced to the programme when it is compressed on transmission. “This meant the use of high quality HD optics with excellent MTF factor and minimal chromatic aberration, rather than older S16 lenses. In addition we concluded that producers should use only the latest generation and therefore most reliable and fine grained film stock. Further, in view of the potential loss of sharpness, degraining had to be used with restraint. In some cases perhaps 70% of the film needs degraining, but in other instances hardly at all.” These suggestions were accepted by the IRT and published in new guidelines last October. Indeed there are reports of an uptick in German TV productions shot on S16mm within the last few months include the flagship crime series Tatort: Alles hat seinen Preis (DP: Bernd Fischer); Pfarrer Braun - Ausgegeigt! (DP: Theo Müller BVK; Die Wüstenärztin (DP: Daniel Koppelkamm BVK) and Obendrüber da schneit es (DP: Peter Döttling BVK).

BCine50.indd 7

“At the moment German broadcasters and the cinematographers are happy with the situation,” reports Reinhard Knör, who heads up the IRT’s technical committee. He cautions though that tightening budgets could spell an end to film use. “There will always be those wishing to use S16mm as a creative choice but increasingly the decisions on whether to use film or digital will be driven by the budget,” he says. “The cost of digital production is reducing rapidly against the cost of film processing so inevitably more and more productions will be shot digitally. Some producers may not like this, but they will have to change their business model.” The revision has been welcomed by groups across Europe fighting to protect the future of film as a cinematographic tool. “The battle not to lose the virtues of film achieved a breakthrough when the broadcasters of the Germanspeaking countries succumbed to the evidence offered by cinematographers and manufacturers and decided to recommend that transmission of S16mm film on their HD channels was acceptable,” says Nigel Walters, BSC, president of IMAGO. “Miraculously the impossibility of five years ago in Britain has become possible, but only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland - for the moment.” Kodak Entertainment Imaging agrees that the IRT’s decision “will point the way for Europe with marketing communications manager, Klaus-Georg Hafner adding, “It’s a clear acknowledgement of the entire range of speed of Super 16 film stock and the latest emulsion technologies. Super 16 he says is firmly established as origination media for TV in Germany “where productions are coming back to Super 16 film from digital. The majority of primetime narrative programming broadcast in HD format originates on S16.” 16mm sales continue to be buoyant for Fujifilm Motion Picture and it has even, it says, seen an increase in some sectors. For example, it switched its 16mm stock and processing package to include HD transfers last November resulting in a 65% year on year increase in 16mm sales. “We have also seen an increase in the uptake of 16mm stock for TV commercials, a market which was perhaps less commonplace to shoot on 16mm a number of years ago,” says Jerry Deeney, Fujifilm’s marketing manager, Motion Picture Film. “In regards to shorts and student films, this market has been as strong as ever for 16mm. Even with the tightest of budgets, it seems students and short filmmakers are determined to continue making their films on film and 16mm offers them a viable and affordable option.” ARRI Media says it isn’t currently supporting any TV shows with film equipment though the last series of ITV’s Doc Martin (Season 5) was shot 16mm while Sky 1 show The Cafe was a 35mm shoot.

However, HD delivery specifications for the UK’s broadcasters as outlined by the Digital Production Partnership (DPP) in January, remain in place. Pointing out that Germany is a 720p/50 territory and that film is 25fps, Andy Quested, Head of Technology, BBC HD & 3D confirmed; “This means the Super 16mm film is passing through a chain with around half the maximum resolution of the UK chain. We still approve the use of 35mm film with limited restrictions for 3 and 4 perf and have approximately the same restrictions as the IRT suggest for 2 perf.” Quested adds, “The arrival of the large image sensor cameras as described in EBU R118 Tier LS and especially the models from the traditional film manufacturers, have really changes the landscape so we see no reason the change the current guidelines.” All this comes at a time when UNESCO, the world heritage centre, is being asked to recognise celluloid as an artform. Cinematographers including Guillermo Navarro, ASC, AMC (Pan’s Labyrinth) supported by IMAGO and the BSC are uniting to request UNESCO to recognise the role that film has played by declaring it a world heritage. “The idea is that World Heritage would give film a status and bring to the fore a realisation that it is valuable as an artform in itself,” explains Walters. The call has also come from Chris Dercon, head of Tate Britain and artist Tacita Dean, who’s 11-minute silent 35mm film at Tate Modern, was the backdrop to a Celebratuion of Film event last month about the threat in the shift from analogue to digital technologies to celluloid’s survival. “Culturally and socially, we are moving too fast and losing too much in our haste. We are also being deceived, silently and conspiratorially,” declared Dean. “Analogue, the word, means equivalent. Digital is not the analogue of analogue. At the moment we have both, so why deplete our world of this choice?” Dean’s backing has attracted the attention of Laurence Kardish, senior curator of film at New York’s Museum Of Modern Art who has expressed his support and will help promote the cause at a meeting in March of FIAF, the International Federation of Film Archives. The debate around film’s survival as an artistic medium is also to be found in new documentary feature Side by Side. Directed by Chris Kenneally it includes interviews by co-producer Keanu Reeves with luminaries like Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan and Stephen Soderbergh on the merits of shooting digital and film.

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012 Tinker, Tailor... the moment when TPR and Hoyte Van Hoytema met at Camerimage 2011. Photo courtesy of John Bailie. Improvising… DP Trevor Forrest shooting Una Noche, which was nominated in Berlin. Re-elected... Nigel Walters BSC, seen here addressing the congregation at Tate Modern, will keep true to IMAGO’s founding aims. Photo by John Adderley, cinematographer. Distinguished... Remi Adefarasin OBE BSC pictured with wife Jaya (l) and mother Joyce (r) at Buckingham Palace.

Young British DPs win at Sundance

Adefarasin honoured with OBE

Cinematographer Remi Adefarasin BSC was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to television and film in the 2012 New Year’s Honours. Adefarasin was educated in photography and filmmaking at Harrow Art School in West London, and began his career as a camera trainee at BBC Ealing Studios, where he shot millions of feet of film on vastly varied subjects, including art programmes and documentaries, all over the globe. He first made his mark in British television drama in the early 1980s, when a collaboration with director Mike Leigh yielded a variety of productions, including Grown-Ups, Home Sweet Home and Four Days In July. From here, Adefarasin went on to act as cinematographer for a number of British television films, including Christabel, The Buccaneers, Truly Madly Deeply, Memento Mori and Captives. After leaving the BBC he worked mainly on features such as Sliding Doors, Elizabeth, Onegin, The House Of Mirth, About A Boy, but also embraced challenging TV work including Arabian Nights and Band Of Brothers. His work on Elizabeth (1998) won him awards for Best Cinematography from BAFTA and the British Society of Cinematographers, as well as the Golden Frog from Camerimage and an Academy Award nomination. His most recent work includes Little Fockers, and The Cold Light Of Day, which releases in April 2012. “I would like to congratulate Remi for such a welldeserved honour,” said John de Borman BSC, president of the BSC. “He is such an extremely talented man, with such a genuinely sensitive touch, as well as being selfeffacing and kind. Precious qualities in our business.” Other BSC members to have been honoured with OBEs include Jack Cardiff, Oswald Morris, Ronald Neame, Peter Parks, Douglas Slocombe and Billy Williams. Nic Roeg and Sir Sydney Samuelson are both CBEs, with Joe Dunton an MBE.

BCine50.indd 8

Two young British DPs won awards at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, with a third enjoying separate films in competition at Sundance and Berlin. Ben Richardson picked up the Sundance award for best cinematography, in the dramatic category, for Beasts Of The Southern Wild, directed by Benh Zeitlin. The film is the story of a six-year-old named Hushpuppy who, faced with her father’s fading health and environmental changes that release an army of prehistoric creatures, leaves her Delta-community home in search of her mother. Richardson worked in Prague for five years in animation and photography, when he became friends with Zeitlin, and moved to New York six years ago. He says, he tracked the development of Beasts over several years, and, “pitched the hell out of myself to shoot it”. David Raedeker won the cinematography award in the world cinema dramatic category for My Brother The Devil. Directed by Sally El Hosaini, the film is the story of two teenage brothers who survive the perils of being young British Arabs on the streets of gangland London. Raedeker began his career as a stills photographer, shooting editorials for clients including Vogue and Elle. He also shot numerous award-winning shorts, television dramas, artists projects and four features including the Berlin 2007 nominated film Elvis Pelvis, directed by Kevin Aduaka and exec produced by Agnès B. He was mentored by Barry Ackroyd, under the Guidling Lights programme, part of A Bigger Future, the UK film skills strategy, a joint project set up by Skillset and the UK Film Council. Meanwhile two films lensed by Trevor Forrest gained high exposure on the festival circuit. Grabbers, directed by Jon Wright, was screened to over 800 people in the prestigious Midnight Slot at the Sundance Film Festival, with Una Noche, directed by Lucy Mulloy, shown in competition at the Berlin Film Festival. Comedy horror Grabbers, listed in the ‘Top 20 Things To See In Sundance’ on IMDB.com, sees bloodsucking aliens invade an island off the coast of Ireland, and the heroes discover that getting drunk is the only way to survive. Una Noche is the tale of three Havana street kids dealing with oppressive conditions in Cuba, who hatch a plan to escape to Miami. It was nominated for the Crystal Bear and the Teddy Award. Forrest participated in a Q&As at both screenings. Speaking about Una Noche, Forrest said: “In Cuba we all learnt to improvise. It was a dream, and hard work, making it, but everything we lost through logistical problems we gained back threefold in texture, atmosphere, energy and character. I improvised with Lucy to work with the street-kids-turned-actors and their friends from the streets. Tom Wilkinson, my focus puller, improvised too, with wild action and unusual camera mounts.” The American premiere of Una Noche is expected to be during the Tribeca Film Festival, NY, in April.

Nigel Walters re-elected as IMAGO president

Nigel Walters BSC was re-elected president of IMAGO, the European Federation of Cinematographic Societies, at the recent Paris IAGA, by a unanimous vote. He has held the post for four years, after being elected in 2008, and will remain in the role for the next three years. During Walters’ tenure, IMAGO has expanded its membership, outwards from its core of European societies, and now includes 47 societies worldwide. Walters said his work would remain true to the founding principles and spirit of IMAGO – to improve standards of cinematography, protect author’s rights and working conditions for cinematographers and their crews. He also said that part of IMAGO’s remit must be, “to improve understanding amongst the general public to the vital role the cinematographer plays in feature and broadcast production,” and added, “every member of IMAGO should feel a sense of purpose – full and equal members of a society working in an increasingly globalised industry.”

Tinker Tailor

Camera operator John Bailie took this snapshot of the moment when Tony Pierce-Roberts BSC met Hoyte van Hoytema at Camerimage 2011. It was a chance meeting between two cinematographers closely connected with Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Pierce-Roberts shot the original 1979 BBC series, with Alec Guinness as George Smiley, available now on DVD. Van Hoytema, who was responsible for lensing the recent 2011 production, with Gary Oldman as Smiley, confessed that he had perhaps more than one eye on the original series, lensed by Pierce-Roberts, for his creative inspiration. Van Hoytema was a contender for the Golden Frog at Camerimage, and also nominated for BAFTA and ASC Awards, for his work on the film.

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 9

13/03/2012 11:54

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Film industry contributes £8 million to skills and training fund

Olesen… Reel Lite aims to replace the traditional spacelight. Not to be sniffed at… Skills investment has passed £8m thanks to help from Warner Bros. and other sponsors. Life’s too short… Warwick Davis with Zane Lowe at the MediCinema Star Wars fundraiser. OnSight... provided a full 3D stereo production and post package for Madam Butterfly 3D.

Onsight delivers 3D stereo for Madam Butterfly

Production facilities company Onsight completed the post production on Madam Butterfly 3D, a new 3D stereoscopic co-production from RealD and the Royal Opera House, produced by Principal Large Format (PLF). The film was directed for the cinema by Julian Napier and goes on global release in RealD-equipped theatres soon. Onsight’ Lab & Post department provided the production with a full S3D service, including managing the project’s lab requirements, the DI grade and cinema mastering. As the production was shot natively in 3D with convergence on background, the Lab team backed up and processed the rushes with offsets to prepare the files for comfortable offline editing by the film’s director, Julian Napier and co-editor Stroo Olofsson. The work continued with online conforming, encompassing further 3D offsets, alignment checks, colour matching and stereo fixes on multiple SGO Mistikas systems in-house at Onsight. Most of the material was recorded on the ARRI Alexa, allowing the grader to create the desired filmic look. Onsight also supported the production shoot with Optimo 3D lens systems for the Alexas and Sony PMW-F3 cameras on a Steadicam. The picture was filmed last summer during live performances at the prestigious Royal Opera House. ONSIGHT graded the final film in P3 Colour Space, using its recently-installed Barco projection and RealD 3D system. The post team delivered the DCDMs and master DCPs for international distribution, including reversioning in seven languages.

BCine50.indd 10

P+S launches viewfinder extension for Alexa Studio

Responding to feedback that the original optical viewfinder in the ARRI Alexa Studio camera can be too short when shooting cine-style, P+S Technik has launched the PS-Viewfinder Extension. The unit provides a 29cm extension for ARRI’s Alexa Studio Viewfinder, making it more versatile when working in the studio or in the field. The new PS-Viewfinder Extension features a fully-variable zoom function, with around 2 x magnification, and pivotable filter holder and can be attached to the ALEXA viewfinder leveling rod. The robust construction ensures long-term durability, plus a high-resolution, high-contrast image with true colors and little geometric distortion.

The UK film industry’s leading lights came together recently to celebrate their continued investment in skills and training through the Skills Investment Fund (SIF), which recently reached £8 million in total contributions. Representatives from across the industry, including studio heads, producers and leaders of the major funding bodies joined Skillset to raise a toast to UK film’s massive achievement in supporting skills and training over more than a decade. While the SIF is a voluntary levy on productions shooting in the UK, the vast majority (more than 700) have contributed to it, helping to fund new trainees coming into the industry and to provide specialist training for existing professionals. The SIF is one of the key funding streams of Skillset’s UK-wide film skills strategy, A Bigger Future, which provides industry with an innovative, shared approach to investing in skills, helping to drive its growth and competitiveness. The event was sponsored by Warner Bros., which has contributed more than 10% of the SIF’s total, and helped it to pass the £8 million mark with its recent blockbuster Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Film producer and chair of the Skillset Film Skills Council, Iain Smith, said “As we experience the disruptive effect of technological change, it is more important than ever that we continue to invest in the skills needed to sustain and grow our remarkable film industry. By doing this, we will be ensuring that we can continue delivering a broad choice of quality products to the audience at home and abroad.” The Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, said: “Lord Smith’s review of film policy observed that the development of skills and talent provides the backbone which underpins the success of the entire film sector - a sentiment with which I agree entirely. There has been fantastic progress in recent years and it is brilliant that industry has been playing such an active role in this area. Of course, there is more that is to be done and I look forward to working with Skillset and the BFI as they respond to the Review’s recommendations and build on the successes of the work already delivered.” President and Managing Director of Warner Bros., Josh Berger, said: “We are proud of our contribution to the Skills Investment Fund. It is reflective of our long term association with, and commitment to, the UK film industry and our belief in the creativity and talent of those working it in today, and those who will work in it tomorrow.” Skillset is also seeking the input of industry professionals for its review of the National Occupational Standards for camera departments through an online consultation. The introduction of new technologies have dramatically transformed the skills and knowledge required to work with film and TV cameras in recent years, meaning some parts of the current Standards need to be updated. The review will cover the new job roles and skills that have been developing with the transition to digital technology, including new Standards for digital intermediate technicians and changes to the Standards for camera operators. It will also remove dated references to obsolete technologies and legislations. In further news, two short films are aiming to address the skills shortage in the UK’s booming visual effects (VFX) industry by inspiring young people to pursue a VFX career. Funded by Skillset, in partnership with UK Screen and some of the UK’s biggest VFX post-production houses, the films feature VFX artists from some of the UK’s leading companies talking about how they got into the industry and what skills are needed to work on films such as Captain America, Iron Man and Harry Potter. The two films are aimed at young people aged 10plus and 15-plus respectively, as well as careers advisers, teachers and parents and advise what subjects to study and how to get started in the industry. The films are available to view at www.skillset.org/ skillset/VFX/careers. Skillset’s executive director (deputy CEO), Kate O’Connor, said: “VFX is the fastest growing component of the UK’s burgeoning film industry. However the UK is not producing enough VFX talent to fuel this growth, leaving us reliant on skilled migration. This is not sustainable, which is why Skillset has launched a slate of programmes to ensure that the UK produces the talent resource our VFX industry needs to remain a world leader.”

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

What’s shooting on Fujifilm?

Features and TV dramas opting to shoot on the panoply of stocks from Fujifilm include… Summer In February, DP Andrew Dunn BSC, dir. Christopher Menaul; Broken, DP Rob Hardy BSC, dir. Rufus Norris; The Sleeping Beauty, DP Daniele Cipri, dir. Marco Bellocchio; Just The Wind, DP Zoltan Lovasi, dir. Benedek Fliegauf; Bullhead, DP Nicholas Karakatsanis, dir. Michael R. Roskam; The Giants, DP JP de Zaeytijd, dir. Bouli Lanners; Effie, DP Andrew Dunn BSC, dir. Richard Laxton; Where I Belong, DP Georg Diemannsberger; Private Peaceful, DP Jerzy Zielinski, dir. Pat O’Connor. Commercials and Promos supplied with Fujifilm stocks via Island Studios and Panavision include: Royal Bank of Scotland (Rogue Films), DP Jaine Feliu-Torres; Fosters (Hungry Man), DP Antonio Paladino; Maverick Sabre (Black Dog/RSA), DP Lol Crawley; and YMC16 Competition Winner - Flight Of The Pompadour, DP Bjorn Bratberg, dir Karan Kandhari.

Zoom zoom… (l-r): Pierre Andurand, president of Thales Angenieux, Mr. Rodney Charters ASC CSC, Mr. Dominique Rouchon, international sales director of Thales Angenieux at the SOC awards.

Olesen SSL new Reel Lite LEDs

Olesen SSL has just launched Reel Lite, as a 1:1 replacement for traditional spacelights. Reel Lite is the result of 14 years of developing and testing LED based lights in other markets, to bring the high quality, durable and cost effective LED solutions to the film and television industry. The Reel Lite, aimed at replacing the traditional 6k spacelight, uses all of the same skirts, targets and accessories, so users do not need to buy new ones or learn a new lighting technique. It gives off the same amount of quality light as the traditional spacelight while drawing just 3 amps. The Reel Lite has standard DMX and the same stackable footprint of a traditional spacelight. It is available in both 5500k and 3200k, with an upgrade programme for swapping colour temperatures.

Angénieux Optimo Lenses Honored by SOC Star Wars fans raise substantial sum for MediCinema

MediCinema held a Star Wars Charity Dinner And Quiz at the Hilton Park Lane Hilton recently, raising a five-figure sum for the charity that installs and manages permanent state-of-the-art cinemas in hospitals. MediCinema’s 500 guests were joined by over 40 Star Wars characters at the event, the first of its kind and a great success for MediCinema, whose cinemas improve the difficult realities of treatment for seriously ill hospital patients and their families. Edith Bowman, who hosted the night with Alex Zane and auctioneer Martin Bayfield, arrived dressed as Princess Leia. Special rounds were hosted by cast members Warwick Davis and Jeremy Bulloch, and MediCinema patron Nick Frost. Dougie Poynter and Tom Fletcher from pop band McFly joined guests in the bid for lots including Jedi Master Class training at Elstree Studios, under Star Wars stunt master Nick Gillard. Brian May’s electric guitar was also one of the auction’s attractions, going to the London Film Museum for an undisclosed sum. Seven Year Old MediCinema user Uzayr Haider, who is recovering from a recent kidney transplant and has spent an extensive amount of time in hospital, told how MediCinema helps him to forget about his treatment. This was the first major fundraiser by MediCinema CEO Stephen Moore, who thanked George Lucas, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm, TLC and the event committee for their help. Further donations to MediCinema can be made at www.medicinema.org.uk.

BCine50.indd 11

Thales Angenieux was the recipient of the 2012 Technical Achievement Award from the Society of Camera Operators (SOC). The Award recognised the design of the Angenieux Optimo series of hand-held zoom lenses, 15-40, 28-76 and 45-120mm, and was presented during the 2012 SOC Lifetime Achievements Awards Ceremony on February 19, in Los Angeles. The Angenieux Optimo series of hand-held PL-mount zoom lenses combine design elements of light weight (4.3lbs each) and compactness, with high performance characteristics of fast apertures, T2.6 and T2.8, no ramping and minimal to zero breathing. Especially favoured by hand-held and Steadicam operators, the trio of lenses is appropriate for all camera configurations and used in a variety of shooting styles. With the same gear positions, weight and front diameter, the three lenses can be swapped quickly with minimal to no rebalancing on the Steadicam. Rodney Charters ASC CSC, best known for his work as DP on hit television shows 24 Hours and Shameless, presented the award, and commented, “These three short Angenieux zooms are revolutionising the way we shoot television. With their speed, light weight and close focusing, they are the perfect tools for the organic handheld digital age.” Accepting the award, Pierre Andurand, president of Thales Angenieux, said, “Angenieux’s goal has always been to provide the most innovative and highest quality products. I understand that some people here consider the movie The Artist from Michel Hazanavicius is a beautiful gift from France. I would like to tell you that this SOC award is a fantastic gift from Hollywood. Vive le Cinéma!”

DP Gomez Tests MSE motion control system

Long-time Matthews Studio Equipment customer director/DP Rick Gomez, of Rick Gomez Photography, a Los Angeles/South Florida-based production house recently took MSE’s new Motion Control System (MCS) out for a test. MSE’s specially designed Motion Control System, is based around Floatcam’s DC-Slider. MCS features a wide-range of speed settings. The system allows for manual and programmed movements that can be recorded and stored for later use. Each movement can be repeated up to 999 times and extended “time extensions” up to 99 times. Due to the precision counter-balance system on the DC-Slider family, only one motor is required for all functions of the motor control. “A motor is critical to my work for a variety of reasons,” said Gomez. “I need to be able to plan a move and time it really well. The controller on this system allows me to make quick changes in timing without having to re-record the move. I can speed-up or slowdown the move easily until I am content with the speed. I found that, should I need to adjust my timing, the controller on this system lets you try different changes in speed without having to re-record your move”. Gomez found that there are several other factors where DC-Slider with MCS beats other setups. “I can shoot sound,” he says. “It’s that quiet. The power of the motor allows for smoothness and a nice easy ramping. And, it’s so easy to program. It took less than 30 minutes to get comfortable with it.” Gomez’s also put the combo to the test on a music video. “Here, instead of pulling focus, I used the motor to push in and pull out of focus,” he explains. “Once I set my closest focus point, I was able to sit back and just play with the move all the while knowing that I could always move forward and nail my focus at any time.”

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

What’s shooting on Kodak?

Feature films electing to shoot on the multitude of Kodak filmstocks include… Filth (Steelmill Pictures), DP Matthew Jensen, dir. John S Baird; Blood (Neal Street Productions), DP George Richmond, dir. Nick Murphy; Jadoo (Big Rich Films), DP Roger Pratt BSC, dir. Amit Gupta; Production 45 (First Step Productions), DP Anil Mehta. On the TV front, Merlin V is confirmed as shooting on Kodak 35mm in Wales. Commercials and music video using 35mm Kodak stock include… Bisto (Amarillo), DP Luke Cardiff; Shell (MPC), DP Denzil Armour Brown; Natwest (Rogue Films), DP Martin Hill; Boots (Partizan); JLS (Luti Media), DP Niklas Johansson; Vodafone (Gorgeous ), DP Mott Hupfel; Aviva (ITV), DP Haris Zambarloukos BSC; Expedia (RSA), DP George Steel; Mango (Nice Shirt Films), DP Eduard Grau; Rolex (RSA ),DP Mark Patten; ITV Player (ITV), DP Ben Moulden; Cadbury’s (MJZ ), DP Lasse Frank; Matt Cardle (Coy Comms), DP Ben Moulden; Maccabees (2AM Films), DP Oliver Downey; DFS (Ink Films), DP Graham Dunn; L’Oreal (RSA), DP Oliver Cocaul; and Adidas (Somesuch & Co), DP Nicolas Loir. At the 2012 Oscars… in addition to the best picture award for The Artist, films shot on Kodak also won Oscars in other marquee categories – including best director (Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist), best actor (Jean Dujardin, The Artist), best actress (Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady) best supporting actress (Octavia Spencer, The Help), best original screenplay (Woody Allen, Midnight In Paris), and best adapted screenplay (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendents), among others.

Alaska’s beauty captured through Optimo glass

For cinematographer Jamin Conn, the staggeringly beautiful visuals found throughout Alaska have provided the basis of a treasure trove of stock footage for his Anchorage-based production company, Envisioned Studios. He has captured the images in photographs, on film and now with an S35mm digital camera with Optimo zoom lenses. In addition to shooting his own stock footage, Conn is also called upon regularly to work as a DP for the many television commercials shot in Alaska and for shoots that use the wildlife and breathtaking scenery as a backdrop for product placements. He uses Angenieux Optimo zooms for these projects to help ensure the quality and creativity of his work, depending on their consistent performance even in Alaska’s sometimes extreme conditions. He says, “I really like the glints and flares we get with the Optimo glass. And when we use the Optimos for rotoscoping or keying on the green screen, the lens is far more accurate than any lens we have used previously. In fact, we have had to ‘dumb down’ the Optimos with a soft filter to get them to match other brands of glass.” For most productions, Conn primarily sets up on dollies or booms and occasionally hand-held. For every setup, the flexibility of the Optimo zooms means he doesn’t have to stop and swap lenses, enabling the production to move quickly. The Angenieux zooms are designed with a combination of optimum resolution and high MTF. Added to this is a fast aperture and minimal or no breathing. Other design features include the need for reliability and durability to withstand the rigors of on-set production or extreme temperature conditions. “Studio work can be dark, making it hard to read the numbers on a lens barrel,” said Conn. “The Optimos are easy to read with white text/numbering on black.” Conn first started using the Optimo zoom lenses at the start of 2011 and quickly became a fan. Since then, he has had the opportunity to work with both the Optimo zoom lenses and the Optimo DP series of digital zoom lenses and has developed a high regard for both. He says, “In both cases, the glass is super sharp and high quality. And shooting is really easy with the Optimo lenses.” The Angenieux Optimo series includes the 24290mm, 17-80mm, 15-40mm, 28-76mm, and the new 45120mm lens. The Optimo DP series includes the 16-42mm and the 30-80mm lenses.

BCine50.indd 12

Colorfront On-Set Dailies advances realtime 4K workflows and high frame-rate cinematography

ACS France supports War Horse

For three nights in October 2010 the Ultimate Arm crew, from ACS France, was involved in the filming of Stephen Spielberg’s War Horse, at the huge “No Man’s Land” set at Wisley Airfield in Surrey. The team fitted the Ultimate Arm’s extension kit, giving a shooting height of up to 18ft. This enabled the crew to drive ACS’s SUV along the top of the trench, and allowed the camera operator to get spectacular footage of the horse as it raced through the trench. With the off-road tyres fitted, the 4wd SUV had no problem getting up to speed in a few seconds to stay with the horse as it galloped through the set. “We were very pleased to have been involved in this project, and the Ultimate Arm proved to be the ideal tool for this particular form of shooting,” said Luc Poullain, CEO of ACS France.

Academy Award-winning developer Colorfront has released the Winter 2012 version of its On-Set Dailies system, introducing real-time 4K display of dailies for motion picture productions using the new generation of high-end cameras. This release enables cinematographers to dispense with traditional HD monitoring and review, and allows them to view 3K, 4K and 5K RAW material in post-ready 4K quality – on-set, near-set, or at their favourite facility – whilst also providing post-quality dailies instantly to the production. As feature-film makers adopt higher framerate capture (such as Avatar sequels and The Hobbit), On-Set Dailies also delivers RAW, DPX and 16-bit TIFF file format support for 2D/3D stereoscopic projects shooting at 48/60fps. The On-Set Dailies Winter 2012 release includes file format support for the new generation of digital cinematography cameras, including Sony’s F65RAW, SRFile (SStP) and XDCAM EX, RED Epic R3D, Alexa Studio 4K Anamorphic, Canon C300, Panasonic P2 and GoPro. When integrated with 4K projectors from Sony, Christie, Barco and NEC, and any of the 4K monitors being released, Colorfront On-Set dailies provides a full 4K display workflow from set into post production. “Combining On-Set Dailies in a 4K workflow with 4K monitors or DLP projectors gives cinematographers greater accuracy and confidence as they are shooting,” said Aron Jaszberenyi, managing director of Colorfront. “Now a DP shooting RED Epic, ARRI Alexa or Sony F65 can see their rushes on-set, on the day of the shoot, in the best DI finishing quality.”

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Cinedeck… new and improved EX and RX (pictured) software now available. In extreme conditions… DP Jamin Conn favours Optimo zooms in his chilly workplace. Assimilate… SCRATCH Lab has taken the dailies market by storm. Colorfront… new On-Set Dailies support 4K and high frame rate shooting.

Cinedeck upgrades EX and RX recorders Scratch Lab opens dailies workflow for new digital cameras

Since its announcement at NAB 2011, Assimilate’s Scratch Lab has taken the production dailies market by storm with its power, versatility and affordability. The recent announcements of native support for the new Sony F65 CineAlta digital motion picture camera, and the performance breakthrough of 48fps playback of stereo RED Epic streams, are just two examples of why Lab, priced at sub $4,995, has gained favour so quickly on-set. Scratch Lab now delivers the extensive support for production dailies. From RED Epic, ARRI Alexa, Sony F65, Phantom and Panasonic P2, to the Canon EOS C300, 5D/7D, and even the GoPro, Scratch Lab supports virtually any combination of popular native formats in a single timeline. Jody Neckles, DIT from London, UK commented, “My team and I have used SCRATCH Lab on loads of features, television dramas, and commercials over the last year. From rock-solid rendering to incredibly powerful review capability and look management, Lab delivers day-in and day-out. As it delivers such value for money, I’ve been able to buy multiple licenses for the price other vendors charge for just one. This gives me a huge advantage whenever I bid a project.”

BCine50.indd 13

Cinedeck, the developer of mobile capture systems for motion picture and broadcast production, has made significant enhancements to its portable, multi-format, recording, monitoring and playback system, with the release of Cinedeck EX v2.5. Available for immediate download, the new Cinedeck v2.5 software delivers a range of customerrequested features that support an even better operational experience for Cinedeck users. These include a new and enhanced playback engine, expanded timecode operations, upgraded audio metering displays, and a new Windows-based, desktop remote controller for multiple Cinedeck EX systems. The company has also expanded the deployment capabilities of Cinedeck RX, its record, monitoring and playback system for broadcasters and mobile OB operators, with the release of Cinedeck RX v3.1. This free-of-charge, software upgrade extends Cinedeck RX’s support to the record/playback footage from popular Sony and Panasonic HD cameras. It can record and output in the native format of each camera (Sony XDCam 50 and XDCam EX 35, and Panasonic AVCIntra class 50 and 100), or to a range of Avid and Apple editorial standards. Cinedeck RX v3.1 also ushers in remote control of common functions including Record, Pause, Stop and Play, via RS-422 VTR/DDR protocols, including Sony, Odetics and Grass Valley AMP hookedup with traditional broadcast devices. The upgrade additionally supports several third-party control devices via USB connection, as well as USB keyboard hotkeys.

Galloping… Ultimate Arm crew, from ACS France, in action on War Horse.

VMI Camera Rentals moves into new premises

After 20 years in North West London, VMI Camera Rentals has moved into a brand new facility in Acton, West London. As well as providing state-of-the-art test rooms and engineering spaces, VMI’s new headquarters has also been designed to be highly energy efficient. Facilities at the new 10,000sq/ft facility include two purpose-built camera test rooms, plus dedicated engineering and lens projection rooms, for production crews to test fully during camera prep. The need for increased space was created by strong growth in equipment rental, especially in the domain of large sensor cameras. In recent months, VMI’s services have been used by high-profile productions including BBC’s Planet Word With Stephen Fry, the forthcoming Bert & Dickie, and Sky Arts HD’s The Ronnie Wood Radio Show and Leonardo Live. The company’s product range includes the new Canon C300 and RED Scarlet cameras, plus a range of film lenses. VMI’s new facility features low energy, cool running LED light panels throughout. These help to reduce the environmental impact of equipment transport, as the new location is 100m walk from North Acton underground station, and in close proximity to Central and West London Studios.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Take 2 bags Alexa Studio

Take 2 recently became the first rental house in the UK to receive ARRI’s Alexa Studio. The Studio is the latest release from the ARRI stable and is anticipated to be in high demand from commercials and feature producers. Take 2 intends to invest £1m in 2012, in addition to its purchase of over £3 million worth of stock last year. Glyn Edridge, MD of Take 2, commented, “We are very excited to be the first rental company to take possession of the ALEXA Studios. Take 2 always strives to be ahead of its competitors so it’s fantastic to be the first to stock this latest product.” Milan Krsljanin, new business developer at ARRI, added, “We are really pleased that Take 2 is the first UK customer to receive the ALEXA Studios. We are incredibly proud of the new camera and can’t think of a better company to launch with in the UK!”

Fujifilm Shorts 2012 deadline approaches

The deadline for Fujifilm Shorts 2012, the short film competition run by Fujifilm Motion Picture, is fast approaching. Filmmakers have until 30 March 2012 to submit their entries. The award, now in its fourth year, has one category with an open brief. As in previous years, two prizes will be awarded - ‘Best Film’ and ‘Best Cinematography’. All submissions must be shot, in their entirety, on Fujifilm Motion Picture film stock and must have been completed after 1 January 2010. All submissions must be less than 30 minutes long. Fujifilm Shorts is free to enter and entrants can submit as many short films as they like. Fujifilm Motion Picture will select a shortlist of nominated films for final judging. A panel of industry experts will be selected by Fujifilm to judge the finalists. The entry form and full terms and conditions can be downloaded at, www.fujifilmshorts. com. The winners will be announced at the Rushes Soho awards ceremony on 19 July 2012.

Last years Fuifilm Shorts winners, Thirteen and a half & The Pit. Technicolor… has acquired several Quinta Industries companies, including Duboi, which graded The Artist.

Cinec 2012 dates announced

Deluxe Digital Cinema investment in Europe

Technicolor acquires Duboi in Paris

Duboi, the Paris-based grading facility responsible for grading The Artist, as been acquired by Techicolor. The transaction, which also covers 12 employees, completes the purchase of the post-production and digital conversion activities of the Quinta Industries group. The overall acquisition includes of the activities of ADJ (Auditoriums de Joinville), SIS (Société Industrielle de Sonorisation) and ScanLab, involving a total transfer to 54 employees, including skills and experts highlyesteemed within the French film industry. Going forward, these initiatives are designed to enable Technicolor to play a key role among French and European studios. “We are proud to enter the French market for digital post-production and distribution and to put our skills and expertise at the service of the French cinema industry,” said Frédéric Rose, CEO of Technicolor. “These moves align perfectly with our strategy in the Media & Entertainment domain and will enable us to further reinforce our worldwide leadership positions.”

BCine50.indd 14

Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc. has announced the expansion of its UK Digital Cinema operation into a new, purpose-built facility in Soho. The £4, planned investment will increase capacity by nearly 80% to meet the demand of its theatrical distribution client base. Over the past five years, Deluxe businesses worldwide have invested over £15m into their Digital Cinema offerings, and work with the majority of major studios and film distribution companies. The expansion into Meard Street, Soho, will create a custom-built Digital Cinema solution which will sit beside the film restoration centre also housed on site. An aggressive timeline will see the new facility completed within six months, and will include the creation of six new preview theatres which can accommodate both film and digital formats. In addition, an advanced CXFS SAN infrastructure will be at the heart of the facility, together with dedicated storage for ‘Babel’, Deluxe’s proprietary toolset for advanced 3D subtitling. “Our Digital Cinema volume has increased ten-fold since we began offering the services in Europe, and this additional investment will see a substantial increase in capacity once again. This enhanced capacity also allows us to continue to deliver within the ever-decreasing timeframe between delivery and release,” said Peter Wright, MD of Deluxe’s digital operations in Europe. Ken Biggins, Managing Director of Deluxe Europe, said, “This investment ensures Deluxe remains the natural partner for filmmakers and distributors not only in the UK but across the globe as they transition from traditional film acquisition and distribution workflows into the digital domain.” The transition of film screens to digital has now reached over 20,000 across 6,300 sites in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Cinec, the biennial film and TV equipment and technology show, will take place on 22nd – 24th September 2012, at the MOC Events Centre in Munich. Over 170 leading manufacturers from 15 countries presented their novelties two years ago, and 60 exhibitors have already registered for this year’s event. The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive programme of presentations and discussions. The best innovations will be awarded with Cinec Awards.

Countdown to the 2012 Animago awards

The countdown to the 16th Animago Awards is underway. Creatives from all over the world have until 30 June 2012 to submit their work in the fields of 3D, visual effects and interactive media to the international competition online at HYPERLINK “http://www.animago. com/”www.animago.com. Participation is free and open to professionals and fresh young newcomers. The internationally-renowned competition has been organised for the past 16 years by Digital Production, a leading industry magazine covering the entire spectrum of media production and visualisation. The awards presentation will take place on Thursday 25 October 2012 as part of the Animago Award & Conference at the fx.Center in Potsdam-Babelsberg. “In 2012, we’re once again expecting 1,000 submissions from Germany, Europe and the rest of the world,” noted Jana Freund, project manager of the Animago Award & Conference. “Last year, we received submissions from exactly 62 countries, and this proved to us that the award has succeeded in achieving even greater international prominence and acknowledgment.” The categories of Animago Award 2012 include: character animation, post-production, short film, advertising production, interactive production, game design, stereo-3D production, visualisation, young production (with €3,000 Euros prize money from Digital Production), a Jury Prize and a best still reader’s prize from Digital Production. The best still will be judged on the qualities of photorealistic presentation, design, artistic standard and technical execution.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 15

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Who’s Shooting What? –––Which cinematographers are working on what...

Magic camera

Mortal combat... Graham Smith’s been shooting The Human Body in 3D. Wicked... David Raedeker at the Sundance Film Festival, with his trophy for My Brother The Devil. Swell fellow.... Dave Marsh likes to be beside the seaside. One day in the life of... DP Mark Patten Mark shooting with Jim Weedon on location in Kiev. Be strictly careful... Paul Lang in the the Egyptian desert with Ann Widdecombe. Happy families are all alike... (l-r) Seamus Mcgarvey BSC ASC, Phil Hardy, Dean Morris,Leigh Gold,Ryan King, Peter Robertson ACO, Gary Hutchings and Iain Struthers shooting Anna Karenina.

BCine50.indd 16

James Martin’s debut feature film as DP, Payback Season, is due for nationwide release soon. The film, for Pure Film Productions under the helm of new writer/director Danny Donnelly, is an original story, and tells the tale of Jerome (Orange BAFTA Rising Star Winner Adam Deacon), a young footballer being extorted by his old crew (lead by David Ajala) from the rough estate he grew up on. Stuck in the middle are Jerome’s love interest, Lisa (Nichola Burley) and his agent, played by English football legend Sir Geoff Hurst MBE, making his acting debut. James is a graduate of the Met Film School, where he was mentored by Paul Wheeler BSC. Payback Season was shot on RED MX, with Angenieux Optimo lenses supplied by AIM Image, and one sequence also filmed on the Phantom HD Gold. James employed a number of different techniques to help separate the glamorous footballer’s lifestyle with his council estate counterparts. These included a healthily-stocked case of filters and a mixture of operating styles. His team on Payback Season included camera assistants Matt Choules, Jake Martin and Steadicam operator Pete Murray. DP Ed Mash wrote in to say he has finished shooting another Moonpig campaign with director Stephen Judge, as well as two small corporates for RBS and O2, and spots for Steradent and McArthur Glenn.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Dinedor Management’s Aaron Reid is in Australia for Luti Media’s secretive fashion documentary feature. Mattias Nyberg is on more Night Haunts. Stephen Murphy is up to his knees in mud on First World War short film Coward. Andrew Johnson shot another block of Holby City. Mike Fox BSC shot more material for David Attenborough for the BBC, as well as Blakeway Productions’ Coronation documentary. Ruairi O’Brien ISC shot the Chris O’Dowd vehicle Moone Boy for Sky. Ben Filby lensed pick-ups for Darlow Smithson’s Seconds From Disaster. Tom Townend, Steve Annis, Marc Gomez del Moral, Mattias Nyberg, Tony Brown, Ben Filby, Stephen Murphy, Eric Maddison FSF and Peter Field are all busy shooting spots for everything from oil companies to stock cubes. Hubert Taczanowski is shooting The King Of Soho for Michael Winterbottom. United Agents’ John De Borman BSC is attached to Half Of A Yelllow Sun, shooting in Nigeria at the end of April, with director Biyi Bandele. Barry Ackroyd BSC is prepping Paul Greengrass’s new film Maersk Alabama (aka Captain Phillips). Tony Slater-Ling is in South Africa shooting Mad Dogs III with director Adrian Shergold. Andrew Dunn BSC is about to finish shooting Summer In February, directed by Chris Menaul and has been grading The Perks Of Being A Wallflower. Brendan Galvin is off to New Orleans to shoot The Tomb, directed by Mikael Hafstrom. Baris Ozbicer is scouting a feature Yozgat Blues, directed by Mahmut Fazil Coskun, in central Anatolia. Peter Suschitzky BSC is in the US on M Night Shyamalan’s new film After Earth. Robert Alazraki AFC has finished a French television film Pour Toi J’ai Tue, and is prepping Hotel Normandy, a feature film directed by Charles Nemes. Danny Cohen BSC is prepping Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables for Working Title. Dale McCready has wrapped on BBC legal drama SILK, and is now on the final series of Merlin. David Higgs BSC completed the The Pursuit, starring Paddy Considine. Alan Almond BSC is shooting Antony & Cleopatra for Red Productions, starring Derek Jacobi. Ian Moss is prepping Baby Cow’s Hunderby for Sky Atlantic. Kieran McGuigan is on DCI Banks for Left Bank. Carlos Catalan received the Best Cinematography award for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (dir Zoya Akhtar) at India’s 2012 Filmfare Awards. Jonathan Harvey shot Two Episodes Of Mash, a BBC promo for director Jonathan van Tulleken. Benjamin Kracun’s work can be seen on Once And For All, a promo for band Clock Opera. Zac Nicholson will operate for Danny Cohen Les Miserables. David Raedeker won at Sundance for My Brother The Devil, the only British film in competition this year! Ben Wheeler is starting BBC series SOME GIRLS for director Adam Miller. Dan Bronks, Simon Chaudoir, Florian Hoffmeister, Alex Melman, Simon Richards, Joost Van Gelder and Niels Reedtz Johansen have all been busy on commercials. Tim Maurice-Jones’ feature The Woman In Black opened to box office success in the US and London, Tat Radcliffe just shot the new promo for Plan B with Yann Demange through Rokkit in London.

BCine50.indd 17

Casarotto’s huge congratulations to Remi Adefarasin BSC who was awarded an OBE for services to film and television. James Aspinall shot block 2 of Wall To Wall’s series New Tricks directed by Robin Shepperd. Sean Bobbitt BSC has wrapped Neil Jordan’s Byzantium, starring Saoirse Ronan, Sam Riley and Gemma Arterton as a mother and daughter vampire duo who form a deadly pact. After finishing on the Keith Lemon Movie, Julian Court, is shooting Ripper Street with Tom Shankland for Tiger Aspect in Dublin. PJ Dillon is gearing up for Block 2 on this exciting series in early April. Mike Eley BSC is grading Parades End, a co-production between Mammoth Screen and HBO about the life of Christopher Tietjens during the First World War. Matt Gray is on Whitby Davison’s new BBC2 drama, Best Of Men, directed by Tim Whitby, set in the forties, telling the true story of the birth of the Paralympics. Rob Hardy BSC is prepping Ralph Fiennes’ The Invisible Woman, the story of the hidden love affair between Charles Dickens and the actress Ellen Ternan. Congratulations to David Katznelson who received an ASC nomination for his work on Downton Abbey. Steve Lawes is working on the Kudos Spy drama, Nemesis, and will go on to shoot the RSC’s Julius Caesar. Chris Menges BSC ASC is well into the shoot on Hummingbird, Steven Knight’s directorial debut. The thriller centres on an ex-special services soldier who turns criminal. Tim Palmer is shooting Bob Servant a BBC4 series based around a character from the successful Radio Scotland show. Urszula Pontikos has been grading two short films Cool Box for Tiger Lily Films and The Minor Character, directed by Richard Curson-Smith for Sky Arts Playhouse Shorts. Huge congratulations to Antonio Riestra who was nominated for a 2012 Gaudi Award for Kathmandu: A Mirror In The Sky and a Czech Lion Award nomination for Lidice. Lukas Strebel is on the next series of HBO’s Luck starring Dustin Hoffman in LA. Wojciech Szepel received a 2012 ASC award for Any Human Heart. Wojciech is now shooting Fresh 1 Production’s Spies Of Warsaw. James Welland is grading Titanic: Blood And Steel, following the lives of people in Belfast before the legendary ship set sail. Independent’s Chas Bain has been busy on commercials, as have Bjorn Bratberg, Jess Hall BSC, John Mathieson BSC, Carl Nilsson, Mark Patten, Martin Ruhe and Fraser Taggart. Ben Davis BSC is in NY shooting Masters & Johnson for director John Madden. Anthony Dod Mantle DFF BSC ASC is lensing Ron Howard’s F1 racing drama Rush. Edu Grau is in Vancouver shooting A Single Shot for director David M. Rosenthal, starring Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy and Forest Whitaker. Darius Khondji AFC ASC shot James Gray’s Lowlife. Dan Landin has wrapped on Jonathan Glazer’s Under The Skin. Mattias Montero is shooting Lasse Hallstrom’s The Hypnotist. George Richmond BSC is framing Nick Murphy’s gritty northern thriller, Blood, starring Mark Strong, Paul Bettany, Brian Cox and Stephen Graham. Chris Ross BSC is on the Stone Roses-inspired film Spike Island for director Mat Whitecross. Ashley Rowe BSC shot Stephen Poliakoff’s new 1930s jazz drama, Dancing On The Edge, with Ruby Films for the BBC. Ben Seresin BSC ASC will lens Michael Bay’s next feature, Pain & Gain, starring Mark Wahlberg and Ed Harris. David Odd BSC shooting Series III of Love/Hate with director David Caffrey. Ben Smithard BSC is lensing director Richard Eyre’s Henry IV with Neal Street Productions for BBC2. Mark Waters is shooting Aliens & Wizards with producer Brian Minchin for CBBC, a Russell T Davies project shooting in Wales.

Sara Putt Associates’ Marc Benoliel, steadicam operator, has just joined the roster. Torquil Fleming-Boyd and Fabrizio Sciarra have both been Steadicam operators for LutiMedia on a Kanye West documentary. Gareth Hughes have completed on Soko Lepizig in Germany. James Leigh will operate on the next block of Holby. Camera/Steadicam operator Vince McGahon is on IWC Media’s Leonardo 3D, and Julian Morson is confirmed on Hummingbird. Al Rae is on Ron Howard’s Rush about F1 drivers James Hunt and Nikki Lauder. Philip Sindall has completed a Sky Arts short Playhouse for Mike Barker, and is on a block of Silent Witness. Des Whelan is on the new Die Hard movie A Good Day To Die Hard for 20th Century Fox. Peter Wignall has completed Get Lucky, and is lighting Plastic. Rick Woolard was Steadicam Operator on a Jessie J music video for Pulse films. Si Wagen has been in Sweden lighting for Top Gear. DP Paul Lang has been overseas with Ann Widdecombe on a documentary about landmines. Lighting cameraman Nigel Kinnings is on a project for Pilot productions. Ed Moore lit a commercial this week shooting on the new Sony F65. Dirk Nel is lighting The Objects of Desire - Story Vault for Sky Arts. Oliver Cheesman is on the second series of Burnistoun for the Comedy Unit, and Nick Dance is confirmed on Switch for Touchpaper TV. Peter Edwards completed the pilot Cloned for BBC Entertainment, a six-camera Alexa job. Peter Greenhalgh is lighting The Secret Of Crickley Hall for the BBC. Dave Marsh is lighting Coming Up, a new talent short for Touchpaper Productions and C4. Dave Prevost has returned from the states where he was assisting Graham Smith on The Human Body 3D. New stereographer Adam Sculthopre has been working on This Royal Land on location in Jersey. McKinney Macartney Management’s Balazs Bolygo is on board Best Possible Taste, a BBC 4 biopic of Kenny Everett with director James Strong. Ben Butler, Mick Coulter BSC, Denis Crossan BSC, Gavin Finney BSC, Alessandra Scherillo, Katie Swain, Clive Tickner BSC, Darran Tiernan have all been busy shooting commercials. Seamus Deasy is prepping 13 Steps Down with Marek Losey directing for Parallel Films, Dublin. Polly Morgan is back from the States where she was filming Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes for Francesca Gregorini. Having just completed filming The Girl for director Julian Jarrold, in South Africa, John Pardue is now busy shooting commercials. Chris Seager BSC has been on location in Ottawa filming Penthouse North for Lionsgate Productions with Joseph Ruben directing. Mike Spragg is in Cape Town filming Strikeback III for Bill Eagles. David Tattersall BSC is in Italy shooting Romeo & Juliet for Amber Entertainment with Carlo Carlei directing. Fabian Wagner is filming Mrs Biggs with Paul Whittington directing. Having just completed My Murder for Bruce Goodison and Coming Up for Prosanna Puwanarajah, Felix Wiedemann is prepping We Are the Freaks for director Justin Edger for 104 Films. Michael Wood is prepping for 2nd unit on Ron Howard’s film Rush. Princestone’s DP Stephan Pehrsson just completed on Nemesis for Kudos, and has returned to Doctor Who with director Saul Metstein shooting in Cardiff and Spain. DP Gary Clarke has been shooting the feature Luck for director Liviu Tipurita on location in London. Of the company’s camera & Steadicam operators Peter Robertson completed the final freezing shoot in Russia on Working Title’s Anna Karenina for director Joe Wright and Seamus McGarvey BSC ASC. Simon Baker is shooting Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, part of the BBC’s cultural Olympiad along with NBC. Director is Richard Eyre and with Ben Smithard BSC the DP. A stellar cast includes Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston, Julie Walters and Simon Russell Beale, and its shooting at Ealing and various locations. Gerry Vasbenter is shooting Summer In February for director Chris Menaul and DP Andrew Dunn BSC. The film is set amongst the Edwardian artists of the Newlyn School, with a cast including Dominic Cooper and Emily Browning. Mark Milsome has completed The Accused and DP Fabian Wagner and is about to shoot Nemesis with DP Steven Lawes. James Layton is shooting the disturbing horror feature from Sterling Pictures The Seasoning House on Alexa for director Paul Hyett, with Sean Pertwee in the cast.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Live & Let DI –––Who’s dialling-in the DI grades

Company 3 London… graded Working Title’s Contraband, lensed by Barry Ackroyd BSC. Egg Post Production... used Nucoda to grade the hauting feature-doc Dreams Of A Life. EFilm Hollywood... responded to the grading challenges in John Carter.

Flying colours

Technicolor UK… pulled out the DI stops for My Brother The Devil, the feature that won DP David Raedecker a best cinematography award at Sundance 2012, plus Aardman’s Pirates.

Egg Post Production Company 3 London

Wrath Of The Titans has dominated the facility recently as it completed the full DI for the latest Titans adventure, lensed by Ben Davis BSC and starring Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson. Adam Glasman graded the feature, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, which is due for theatrical release on March 30th 2012. Company 3 delivered both 2D and 3D stereo digital and analogue versions, together with digital and print conversions for IMAX. Rob Pizzey recently added Contraband, shot by Barry Ackroyd BSC, to his growing list of DI projects. This latest Working Title project for Universal is set in the grimy underworld of New Orleans, and the facility says that Pizzey’s interpretation of Ackroyd’s vision adds an amazing visual dimension to this thriller. Starring Mark Whalberg and Kate Beckinsale, Contraband was directed by Baltasar Kormakur. Shot on S16mm to give an authentic feel to the period of WW1, Private Peaceful, directed by Pat O’Connor has been graded by Rob Pizzey at Company 3. This emotional drama is lensed by Polish DP Jerzy Zielinski, and exec-produced and written by ‘War Horse’ writer Michael Morpurgo.

Technicolor UK

Dan Coles has been busy grading all manner of productions. These include Bentley Productions’ Midsomer Murders and ITV Studios’ Lewis VI, which both got full post production. Coles also graded the HBO drama Veep, Kudos Film and TV’s Eternal Law, starring Ukweli Roach, Samuel West and Orla Brady, and Revolution Film’s Seven Days, directed by Michael Winterbottom, for which the company also completed film, and video deliverables. Paul Ensby graded Austenland, directed by Jerusha Hess, with Larry Smith BSC the cinematographer, starring Keri Russell, JJ Feild and Jennifer Coolidge, and also the Blood Brother Films/ Pascha production My Brother The Devil, directed by Sally El Hosaini, lensed by DP David Raedeker. Both films got the full 2K DI treatment, plus film, video and digital cinema deliverables at Technicolor UK. The Film London Microwave Feature Borrowed Time, was graded at 2K by Lee Twohey. The film was directed by Jules Bishop, produced by Olivier Kaempfer, and was lensed by DP David Rom. Technicolor also completed the film, video and digital cinema deliverables. Meanwhile DI grader Max Horton pulled out the stops for Aardman Animations’s Pirates, directed by Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt, and featuring the voice talents of Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and Jeremy Piven. Along with the 2K DI, Technicolor also completed the film, video and digital cinema deliverables.

BCine50.indd 18

(which must have one of the best-ever web addresses - www.egg.ie) used its Nucoda Film Master system to grade the haunting documentary feature film Dreams Of A Life. Written and directed by Carol Morley, with grading by Sebastian Guest, the film tells the true story of a 38-year old woman Joyce Vincent, who lay dead in her bedsit above a shopping mall in North London undiscovered for three years. Chillingly, her remains were surrounded by the Christmas presents she’d been wrapping, the gas and electricity supply had never been cut off, and the television was still on. Filmed on location in England and Ireland the shoot, which was overseen by DP Mary Farbrother, involved a number of different formats as the director wanted to keep to the authenticity of the four decades that spanned Joyce’s (Zawe Ashton) life beginning with her childhood in the seventies. The fabric of the film is made up by interviews shot by DP Lynda Hall with people who knew Joyce and imagined scenes from her life (shot by Farbrother). Guest explains, “They used mini DV and S8 for the gritty street scenes, Digi for the rostrum scenes, HDCAM for the interviews, 16mm for Joyce’s earlier life and finally RED for her recent adulthood and the time leading up to her death.” Morley deliberately used each format to keep specific looks for particular purposes and environments. Guest says, “When Joyce was growing up in the seventies for example, there is a certain look that reflects that era created by Mary Farbrother using 16mm with swing and tilt lens and also by the lighting. When we graded the 16mm we gave it a really nice palette that was true to the decade.” He continues, “The multi-format aspect of the film works very well with the toolset on the Nucoda Film Master, particularly the DVO image enhancement and restoration tools. We had to upscale from SD for certain parts of the project and remove artefacts from the film components such as scratches and dust. The DVO Clarity noise and grain reducer was another tool that we used quite frequently as there was a lot of night time material that was slightly too dark. In the scenes where Joyce’s remains are finally found by forensics, Guest wanted to create an uncomfortable and unnatural colour balance to emphasise the morbid and awful nature of the discovery. He says, “We added slightly burnt out highlights and a yellowish green look to those scenes. When they find her they discover a blue dress where the body would have been. This was a device that was used to remind the audience that this was a human life as there’s really nothing left of the remains. It was important to make sure that we didn’t lose the connection between the viewer and this blue dress in the grade.” Dreams Of A Life is still playing in cinemas across the UK and premieres in the US at SXSW in March.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Studio Hamburg

The German post production and broadcast services provider, has further expanded its Nucoda DI suite within its post production department. Following a rigorous testing period, that saw Studio Hamburg review a number of high-end colour grading systems, the facility selected a third Nucoda Film Master with Precision control panel. The Nucoda system was chosen due to Studio Hamburg’s strong confidence in the system, its high recommendation by colourists and its ability to fully meet the workflow requirements of the facility.

EFilm Hollywood

Has been responsible for the following DIs: Universal Pictures’ Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda, with Jason Hanel the colourist; Pantelion Films’ Casa De Mi Padre, directed by Matt Piedmont, with Ramsey Nickell the DP and Mitch Paulson the colourist; 20th Century Fox’s The Three Stooges, directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly, lensed by DP Matthew Leonetti, with Mitch Paulson at the DI controls. Paulson also graded Walt Disney’s John Carter, directed by Andrew Stanton and shot by Dan Mindel ASC.Speaking about his grading work on John Carter, Paulson said, “A major challenge came from creating a specific look to the planet Barsoom, so you didn’t feel like you were on earth anymore. The director, Andrew Stanton, had a good idea of how he wanted it. I worked closely with the color consultant, Sharon Calahan, and we came up with different looks to present to Andrew. From there we established a look for Barsoom, which was usually a dry, hot and dusty look. “Another challenge had to do with adjusting the Thark character’s green colour. They originally varied quite a bit in hue and saturation. We used a lot of mattes provided from the visual effects vendors to isolate each character, to create a more consistent look to the Tharks. We did a lot of work to separate the skin tones also. The people of Barsoom have red skin, John Carter has a more normal looking skin tone. A lot of the time, the red skin color didn’t read too well. We had to select the skin separately and make that redder. We had to cool down John’s skin at the same time. Some of the exterior scenes he was getting tanner from being out in the sun all day and needed to look cooler then the people of Barsoom. This was a challenge throughout the whole film. Blue skies were a challenge too. Anytime we were on Barsoom, we never had overly saturated blue skies. We did a lot of work to pull out the blue, so it didn’t feel like we were on earth.”

BCine50.indd 19

Jason R Moffat

As a colourist with a reputation for delivering a great film grading, Jason R Moffat is understandably fussy about the equipment he uses. This is particularly true of colour grading monitors, which need to be critically accurate in a film grading studio, where ‘almost there’ is not good enough. For this reason Moffat, who owns and runs a DaVinci Resolve-based grading suite in London, recently upgraded his Grade 1 picture display to a Penta HD2Line Pro 32” monitor, which was supplied, installed and calibrated by leading UK monitor supplier Oxygen DCT. “I wasn’t happy with the level of calibration I was achieving with my previous monitor, so I decided to upgrade,” he explains. “Steve Shaw from LightIllusion, who provides some of my film profiles, recommended the Penta and when I approached the company for a spec they put me in touch with Oxygen DCT.” Moffat conducted extensive testing within his work environment before choosing the 32” Penta as most suitable for the size of the room and detailed images. “Numerous grading houses and post facilities including Framestore, Objective Productions, Mwinci, Films@59, Sequence Post, BBC, C4 and ESPN have chosen Penta Series picture monitors because they offer such exceptionally high performance – and they are tremendously affordable,” says Oxygen DCT’s MD Steve Hathaway. Since installing his Penta, Moffat has used it to grade a variety of film projects and commercials, including Romola Garai’s directorial debut Scrubber, shot on 35mm, one of Nigeria’s most celebrated directors Kunle Afolayan’s new feature Phone Swap, and Emily Wardill’s art feature Full Firearms, in association with the Serpentine Gallery, where precise colour palates were a critical part of the process. “The majority of my work involves fiction features and shorts and there tends to be an even split of 35mm and 16mm film and digital formats,” he explains. “Depending at what point I enter the process, my job can range from just working on the final filmed project, through to consulting during the pre-production stage and providing tests setting the basis for film stock choices, lighting conditions and palettes.”

Annapurna Studios

Has expanded its DI operation with the acquisition of a second Mistika 4K DI system at its Hyderabad facility. Meanwhile, four Mistika-related projects recently received awards from the International 3D Society in Hollywood: Paramount Pictures’ The Adventures of Tintin, which was post produced using Mistika at Park Road Post in New Zealand; Pina, Neue Road Films production, which was post produced using Mistika by Christian Troeger and Sven Heck, in Germany; The Foundling, for RSA Films, post produced by David Cox at The Framestore in London; and Champions League Final, BSkyB, post produced in the UK at British Sky Broadcasting.

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Close-Up –––Florian Hoffmeister The Deep Blue Sea

Regardless of who wrote them, some plays are doomed never to be staged again after their first production. Others are blessed with regular revivals. Terence Rattigan’s The Deep Blue Sea falls into the second category. Since the first performance in 1952 it has been produced several times in the theatre and been adapted for both film and television. The writer’s centenary, in 2011, was marked with new stage productions, and a film version by Terence Davies. Working with the veteran director on this was cinematographer Florian Hoffmeister, whose grounding in older-style camera techniques proved useful for the shoot. The Deep Blue Sea is Hoffmeister’s first film with Davies, who, other than his 2008 documentary Of Time And The City, had not directed a feature since 2000’s The House Of Mirth. Hoffmeister was excited to have the opportunity to work with Davies and felt a working relationship beginning to form during the initial interview with the director: “The key for me in working with Terence is that I find him someone who is tremendously guided by his emotional response to images and story. There’s something very intimate and close about the way he makes films.” The Deep Blue Sea has many similarities with Davies’ past films; the preoccupation with the Second World War, and its aftermath; and the intricacies and failings of human relationships, all presented in an enclosed way, almost claustrophobic. The film focuses on Hester Collyer (played by Rachel Weisz), the wife of a High Court judge (Simon Russell Beale), whose tempestuous affair with unstable former RAF pilot Freddie Page (Tom Hiddleston) has driven her to a suicide attempt. Davies plays with time, cutting backwards and forwards from this event; the one constant is the rented room where Hester lived with Freddie and tried to take her own life. While other settings and locations are used, this room is the core of The Deep Blue Sea as much as Hester’s anguish. Hoffmeister explains this approach dictated to a great extent how he shot the film: “The script was always very specific. It is written in a way that you can see each shot and there will be descriptions of tracking shots and in which direction the camera should go. When you agree on a particular concept, whether intellectual or emotional, there are not many options anyway but I didn’t feel this as a restriction.” Davies turned 66 last year and the now 42-year old Hoffmeister acknowledges there was a generation gap in their cinema influences but says this was soon resolved. “All his inspiration comes from films shot long before I was born,” Hoffmeister says. “There was a bit of worlds colliding and my first intuition as to how to shoot this was being drawn to kitchen sink realism, because a lot of the stuff I love today stems from that movement. I explored that but two weeks before we started shooting Terence was stressing what he had been saying during prep, that he wanted it ‘super-natural’.” Hoffmeister realised what Davies was asking for during BFI screenings to celebrate the director’s birthday last year. “Terence had said he wanted a look that was dark and minimal but still beautiful, which is how he remembered those times,” he says. “I saw the screening of Max Orphuls’ Letter From An Unknown Woman (1948) and understood what he was talking about.”

A clear influence of Orphuls on Davies is the use of soft focus, which Hoffmeister worked on from the start for The Deep Blue Sea: “Terence is not interested in harshness. He wanted soft resolution, so we did all kinds of experiments with netted lenses and soft filters on the camera.” Hoffmeister shot on 3-perf 35mm Kodak stock using a Panaflex Platinum and primarily Panavision Ultra Speed lenses. Tests were done on the Red camera but Hoffmeister comments that film better-suited the approach he and Davies were taking. As Hester prepares to kill herself at the start of the film, she closes the curtains in the room, shutting out the daylight. From that point the action takes place at night or in gloomy lighting. Hoffmeister observes that he pushed as much as he could with low light, to the point where even his long-standing focus puller Rupert Hornstein had doubts. During an exchange between Hester and her landlady, Mrs Elton, Rachel Weisz was standing in complete darkness while Ann Mitchell, playing Mrs E, had ¾ light. “Rupert asked me ‘Are you sure?’ but there was still enough illumination to see Rachel’s face,” Hoffmeister recalls. To control the contrast on some shots without manipulating the lamps, Hoffmeister used the ARRI Varicon, a matte box-mounted device he has recently re-discovered. This brings a controlled colour to a frame by reducing contrast and giving a slight tint to shadows. It played a part in creating the look of the room, which was built on a sound stage at 3 Mills Studios. At the end of the film light begins to come back into Hester’s life. When she and Freddie sit in the room and agree to part, Rachel Weisz’s face is illuminated to give the impression Hester is glowing from inside. “There was no light on her face,” Hoffmeister explains, “so I worked with bounces - 50mm Panavision Primo lenses on a stop of 1.0 - so everything was channelled towards the face.” Just as the story begins with Hester drawing the curtains, it ends with her pulling them open to let bright, optimistic sunlight into the room. “Lighting that was a bit of a Catch-22,” comments Hoffmeister, “because we wanted the light coming in but we also wanted the flames in the gas fire to be visible because it shows that this time she is not trying to kill herself with gas.” Among the locations used was the now disused Aldwych Underground station, where Hoffmeister and Davies staged a direct reference to another story of illicit love, Brief Encounter. As Hester moves towards the platform edge, a train rushes past, represented only by light flashing across her face. This was achieved by what Hoffmeister describes as the “old school” technique of lights and mirrors. The Deep Blue Sea clearly had a powerful effect on Florian Hoffmeister, giving him the same emotional state of mind he had when shooting his first film: “It was a big reminder of film in its purist form and I’m glad I got to revisit that.”

Close Ups were researched and written by Bob Fisher and Kevin Hilton.

BCine50.indd 20

13/03/2012 11:55

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Close-Up –––Ton Stern ASC AFC The Hunger Games

Tom Stern ASC AFC was in the final days of shooting J. Edgar, with his frequent collaborator Clint Eastwood, when his agent told him that Gary Ross wanted to speak about a film he was going to direct called The Hunger Games. “I had never worked with Gary, but I admired his films,” Stern says. The Hunger Games is an adaption of a fiction book with the same name. The story takes place in the distant future. The United States, Mexico and Canada are one country called Panem that is ruled by an autocratic government. Panem is divided into 12 districts. Every year, a boy and a girl between the ages of 12 and 18 in each district are chosen by a lottery to compete in a life and death competition called “The Hunger Games”. There is only one survivor. The annual games were initiated as a punishment for a rebellion by people who lived in a 13th district that was destroyed. The competition is broadcast live on television. Ross co-authored the script with Susan Collins who wrote the book. Stern brought an eclectic background to the project. During the beginning of his career, he was a lighting technician and gaffer on commercials and around 30 documentary and feature film crews led by Albert Maysles, Conrad Hall ASC, Haskell Wexler ASC, Owen Roizman ASC, Jack Green ASC and other talented cinematographers. That was his film school. Stern has earned 23 cinematography credits on narrative films since 2003. A short list includes Mystic River, Flags Of Our Fathers, Changeling, Gran Torino and Invictus. Collins wrote the book in first person from the perspective of 16-year old Katniss Everdeen. The teenager lives in the capital of Panem, whose ruler has absolute power. The story begins during preparations for the 74th Annual Hunger Games. Katniss volunteers to replace her younger sister who was chosen in the lottery. Peeta Mellark, a baker’s son who once gave Katniss bread to feed her starving family, is the other person chosen from the 12th district. Before the game begins all participants are interviewed during a live television broadcast. Peeta talks about his love for Katniss. His interview inspires a new rule that is announced mid-way through the competition. Two people from the same district can survive as a team. “Gary created a lot of pre-visualisation renderings which gave me insights into how he envisioned the story unfolding,” Stern says. “I was told that it was going to be a digital production, but as we moved forward the producers asked if we wanted to shoot it on film.” That question came in the wake of Stern pointing out that the many pursuit scenes filmed in the forest required fluid camera movement from areas lit with bright sunshine into shadows and darkness. Ross and Stern embraced the opportunity to shoot on film. The Hunger Games was produced at practical locations in North Carolina and on sets built in an empty building that used to be a cigarette factory. “The story begins in the native village where Katniss and her family live,” Stern says. “The audience gets to know her as a human being. The Hunger Games take place in a different arena every year. This year it’s the forest. We spent months scouting for the right locations.” Stern and Ross decided to produce The Hunger Games in Super 35 format in 2.4:1 aspect ratio. The camera package included two lightweight Arricam LT bodies with a range of Zeiss Super Speed and Angenieux Optimo zoom lenses provided by Arriflex CSC in New York.

“Gary had a specific vision that called for images that look and feel organic,” Stern says. There were storyboards for some scenes and shot lists for key sequences, but it was a constantly evolving process. Ross frequently gave Stern revised lists in the morning for scenes they were going to shoot that day. There were CGI shots with a 140-foot long greenscreen. Many people on the crew that Stern assembled had worked with him on other projects. They included gaffer Ross Dunkerley, key grip Guy Micheletti, camera operator Duane Manwiller and second unit cinematographer Robert Baumgartner. Action scenes were generally covered with A and B cameras, and sometimes the second unit crew would join them. “When we were shooting on sets, we had to emulate a realistic look for the environment where the scene was happening,” he says. “It was kind of contrasty light that felt a little oppressive, which was the right look for people who were living in a totalitarian nation. “It came down to trusting our instincts. Sometimes the background light came from slightly odd angles. I lit people in the foreground more normally,” he says. Stern estimates that more than 60 percent of the film were exterior scenes. “The light was always changing in the forest and the weather was unpredictable,” he explains. “Gary compared it to riding a wild horse. There were no Steadicam or handheld shots. We used long focal length lenses to show the audience the unfolding drama through the eyes of characters. Sometimes we hung a camera on bungee cords. When we used a dolly, there was usually some sort of elastic support between the dolly and the camera.” They scheduled scenes with the youngest kids early in the day, to be consistent with mentoring sessions scheduled with teachers, as the film was shot during the school year. “It’s a pretty physical film, so everyone needed to know the kids weren’t going to get hurt, and that we were there to help them,” Stern says. “We tried to make them feel were in kind of a cocoon of safety. I happen to like young people a lot, so we had a good time.” Most forest scenes were recorded on the new Fuji 500T Vivid 5847 and Fuji 250D Vivid 5846 colour negative films. Stern had an array of other Fuji and Kodak films on his palette. The negative was processed at Technicolor in Los Angeles. Mark Sajan timed and provided dailies in DVD format. Stern timed the DI at 2K resolution with Technicolor colorist Michael Hatzer. Lionsgate is scheduling The Hunger Games for release in late March 2012.

Images shot by, and courtesy of, Douglas Kirkland.

BCine50.indd 21

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Close-Up –––Dante Spinotti Special Close-Up feature

Dante Spinotti AIC ASC is the recipient of the 2012 American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement Award. That recognition from his peers comes in the wake of Spinotti receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for Cinematography at the 32nd Annual Manaki Brothers festival in Macedonia. Spinotti has earned more than 60 narrative credits during his still-evolving career. He earned BAFTA and Academy Award nominations for The Last Of The Mohicans in 1992. He won the BAFTA award and an Oscar nomination for L.A. Confidential in 1997. There was another Oscar nomination for The Insider in 1999. His other credits include such memorable films as Beaches, True Colors, Bandits, Wonder Boys, Red Dragon, Pinocchio, Public Enemies and The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader. Spinotti was born and spent his early childhood in a rural farming community near Venice, Italy. He began taking still photographs and making enlargements in a homemade darkroom when he was 11. When he was 17 years old, his uncle, who was a documentary and newsreel director/cinematographer, took him to Kenya in Africa. Spinotti paints vivid word pictures of his experiences shooting newsreels in Kenya with a handheld, spring-loaded 35mm Eyemo camera for United Press International. “One of my first assignments was filming Jomo Kenyatta being released from prison,” he recalls. “I had to elbow my way into a crowd of documentary and newsreel cameramen. About a year later, Kenyetta became the first president of the newly independent Kenya.” After spending a year in Kenya, Spinotti returned to Italy, where he shot commercials, documentaries and dramatic films for RAI, the state television network. “I have always tried to work on films that have something interesting to say about humanity,” he says. “I was lucky because the first pictures I did were with talented directors. I worked with Lina Wertmuller on several films, including Sotto… Sotto (Softly, Softly in 1984).” Dino De Laurentiis noticed that there was a budding star in the galaxy of young Italian cinematographers. In 1986, he told Spinotti that he was going to open an independent film studio in North Carolina. De Laurentiis invited Spinotti to make that journey with him. “Dino offered me a three-year contract,” he recalls. “It was like the scene in Alice In Wonderland when the door opens and there is a whole new world.” Manhunter was Spinotti’s first U.S. film. The script was based on the life of the serial murderer Hannibal Lector. The director was Michael Mann.

BCine50.indd 22

“Michael’s decisions about the visual dynamics, including why we put a camera two inches to the right as opposed to two inches to the left or two inches higher as opposed to two inches lower, or why the background has to be slightly blue-green, were fascinating,” Spinotti says. “That was a total immersion in a filmmaking experience.” His next film was Crimes Of The Heart with Bruce Beresford at the helm. “It was the first time in my career that I was working with three big movie stars, Diane Keaton, Jessica Lange and Sissy Spacek. I had to find ways to transfer these beautiful faces and interesting personalities to the screen along with the quality of depth that is inside of their souls. It comes through their faces and eyes.” Spinotti also shared memories of his collaboration with Mann on The Last Of The Mohicans, which was set on the Western frontier of the United States during the 1700s. He was in Rome when one of the producers called and said Mann wanted him to shoot The Last Of The Mohicans. “They booked me on a three-hour flight to England,” he reminisces. “I was jet-lagged when I arrived and saw this amazing set of a British fort with actors dressed in military uniforms from the 1700s. All of our lighting had to be based on sunlight, moonlight, bonfires, torches and candles. “Michael wanted a monochromatic look. One of the scenes I was happiest with reproduced the pounding power of a waterfall in an interior shot set in a cave at night. You can’t see the waterfall, but you can feel its immense power of the pounding water reflected on faces. We bounced light from a couple of 4K Xenon’s with some big 12 x12 Mylar frames that a grip was shaking in front of them You can see the light on their faces and feel the power of the waterfall.” Spinotti was in the Alps, shooting a documentary when Curtis Hanson contacted him about L.A. Confidential . They began production about three weeks after Spinotti returned home. “Every movie has is a different language,” he says. “Los Angeles was a very different city in the 1950s when the story took place. Someone mentioned an exhibit of still pictures taken by Robert Franks during the 1950s. We visited the exhibit. The lighting in his pictures came from natural sources. I suggested that we shoot L.A. Confidential as though I was using a Leica camera.” Tower Heist is Spinotti’s most recent film. The film was produced in New York City with Brett Ratner at the helm. “Brett wanted every shot to be perfect,” Spinotti says. “Realism was an important part of this story. The original plan was to produce Tower Heist with the Alexa digital camera, but Brett liked the idea of shooting on film in anamorphic format. We did that except for three night scenes, which we shot with the Alexa camera and Hawk lenses.” In retrospect, Spinotti says that his early experiences shooting documentaries and newsreels gave him handson experience shooting films without preconceptions. “Every time I shoot a movie, I try to forget what I did in my previous films and discover something new,” he says. “Cinematography is a constantly evolving language. It begins with understanding the intimate meaning of the story and deciding how to tell it…which could very well include breaking rules. I think it’s going to be very interesting to see how the next generation breaks rules in ways that allow them to help create more interesting stories.”

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 23

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Grains vs Pixels –––The Digital Archiving Dilemma part 2

Yesterday’s and today’s films will give future generations a picture of the world that preceded them. But will anyone see them? BCine50.indd 24

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the United States hosted a February 2012 screening of Wings, which just happened to coincide with Paramount Home Entertainment releasing a DVD of the classic silent movie, which won an Oscar in the best picture category in 1927. The timing couldn’t have been better. It was the same week that the Academy published the Digital Dilemma 2 report in conjunction with the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program run by the Library of Congress, writes Bob Fisher. The 126-page report summarises the current archival status of independent motion pictures and documentaries produced by American filmmakers. Andy Maltz and Milt Shefter co-authored the report based on research they began in 2008. Their research included surveys and interviews with hundreds of independent and documentary filmmakers, plus people who work at audiovisual archives in the United States. Maltz is the director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Technology Council. Shefter is president of Miljoy Enterprises, Inc., a Los Angeles based media asset preservation firm that provides consulting and project management services. Digital Dilemma 2 follows in the wake of the 2007 Digital Dilemma report they co-authored, which focuses on films owned by the Hollywood studios. During the dawn of his career, Shefter planned and supervised the building of archives on the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Hollywood. Wings, which was digitally restored, is one of the many hundreds of films in those archives. In addition to potential financial value, Shefter and Maltz stress that yesterday’s and today’s narrative films and documentaries will give future generations a picture of the world that preceded them. The lists of non-fiction filmmakers surveyed were provided by The International Documentary Association (IDA), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences. Approximately 150 of the filmmakers who responded to the survey and people at 26 audiovisual archives were interviewed. The surveys and interviews were limited to US filmmakers for practical reasons, however Maltz and Shefter both stress that this is a global issue. “We believe this is the most comprehensive study ever done about the archival status of independent narrative films and documentaries,” Maltz says. “We want everyone who is concerned about ensuring long-term access to yesterday’s and today’s films to be able to read the report that is posted on the Academy website http://www.oscars.org/tdd2.”

Warning... Milt Shefter and Andy Maltz’s new archiving report says that documentary and narrative films archived in digital format may not survive.

Maltz says that anyone can download the report. Schools and other educational organizations can get free printed copies upon request and anyone can purchase them. Film preservation isn’t a new concept in the United States. The National Archives Act of 1934 recognised the value of preserving motion pictures for future generations. The National Archives house one of the world’s largest collections of newsreels and documentaries. The National Film Preservation Act was passed by Congress in 1988. The National Film Registry was founded the following year with the mission of restoring, if necessary, and archiving 25 motion pictures a year that fit the criteria of being culturally or aesthetically significant. Shefter observes, “Analogue films are relatively easy to maintain. The original films will last for 95 or more years in proper humidity and temperature-controlled environments. Ken Burns used cinema newsreels going back to the 1930s and television news film in Baseball, his series of documentaries that aired on the PBS network.” The Digital Dilemma 2 report points out that there are 550 public moving-image archives in the United States, where older films can be optically or digitally copied onto new film masters for archiving in proper environments. That is the bright side of the picture. The darker side is that most of the narrative and documentary filmmakers who Maltz and Shefter surveyed and interviewed did not seem concerned or even aware of the likelihood that their digitally acquired and post produced master files could be lost to future generations. “More than 60 percent of the documentary and independent narrative filmmakers who responded to the surveys and participated in interviews said that they have thought about migrating older digital files,” the report says. “However, only eight percent of them said they regularly migrate content. Twenty-six percent said they do it occasionally.” The report goes on to say that only a few of them were aware that in addition to the historic importance of preserving films, US copyright laws allow them and their heirs to financially benefit from their work for at least 95 years. “Most of the filmmakers we surveyed and interviewed have given little thought to what happens to their work after it is completed,” Shefter says. “Most of them pay for some type of storage of the master, but only a few of them store and archive their narrative films and documentaries in proper environmental conditions or manage their digital master files using appropriate preservation practices. Many of these filmmakers depend on distributers to take responsibility for preservation.” Steven Poster ASC, president of the International Cinematographers Guild in the US, is urging members and peers around the world to play an active role in urging producers to ensure that their films are there for tomorrow’s audiences. “The films that we help to create are our legacy for the future,” he says. The Digital Dilemma 2 report cautions that some public archives aren’t equipped for long-term storage of digital files. “Digital hardware and software technologies have finite useful lives,” Shefter says. “Hard drives will eventually fail and the evolution of computer technology and software will obsolete older files. The bottom line is that documentary and narrative films archived in digital format won’t survive unless they are periodically migrated to new formats. The digital dilemma is far from solved. We are concerned because treasured films will be lost if a solution isn’t found. We hope that we don’t have to explain to future generations who ask us, ‘Why didn’t you save those important films?’”

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 25

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Camera Creative –––Brendan Galvin Mirror Mirror

Family affair Or as cinematographer Brendan Galvin describes, “Working with Tarsem is an intense, but enjoyable affair, an organic process. He’s a dynamic, creative force, and whilst my job is to create great visuals with him, I have to countenance the pace at which he likes to work. He gathers a group of people around him, who facilitate the way he works. It’s a close as you can get to being a family in this business.” Mirror Mirror: The Untold Adventures Of Snow White, from LA production house Relativity Media, is a spirited adventure comedy that blends jealousy, magic, romance and betrayal with a host of witty one-liners. The online trailer has been giving people a taster of what they can expect. For example, the usual film voiceover about a ‘beautiful princess’ with ‘skin as white as snow’ and ‘hair as black as night,’ is brutally interrupted by the Evil Queen, who sneers, ‘Her hair is not black, it’s raven. She’s 18 years old, and her skin has never seen the sun. So of course it’s good!” Amongst the cast of the forthcoming film are Phil Collins’ daughter, Lily as Snow White, Julia Roberts as the insecure and comically disgruntled Queen Clementianna, Armie Hammer playing the charming Prince Andrew Alcott, and Sean Bean as the King. As one would expect, the plot is familiar. An evil enchantress schemes and scrambles for control of a spirited orphan’s throne and the attention of the charming prince. When Snow White’s beauty wins the heart of the prince, the Queen banishes her to the forest, where a ravenous man-eating beast hungrily awaits. The exiled princess enlists the help of seven resourceful rebels to win back her birthright. Snow White grows into an indomitable young woman determined to take regain realm, as the treacherous Queen transforms into a haggard harridan. But it’s all done with Tarsem’s signature jaw-dropping style. “The tale of Snow White exists in so many countries and cultures, each with its own version and adaptation,” says Galvin. “I read many different versions beforehand, and thought it important that we continue the tradition; to make our version of the story, specific to our time, and our generation.” Production began on June 20, 2011 at Mel’s Studios in Montreal, Canada, under the tentative name of Untitled Snow White Project, and wrapped on 24th September with the Mirror Mirror moniker. This was familiar territory for Galvin, as he had shot Immortals for Tarsem the previous year at the same studios, and with most of the same heads of department, and local crew.

BCine50.indd 26

The story of Snow White could be considered as the tale of a completely dysfunctional family. Yet the production story of the Tarsem Singh’s new and spectacular re-imagining of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale for the big screen, is one of an extended family working in admirable harmony, and with impressive momentum.

“Although Mirror Mirror is a totally different film to Immortals, many of the starting ingredients were similar,” says Galvin. “It was great comfort to work again with Tom Foden (Matchstick Men), the production designer and Eiko Ishioka (The Cell), the costume designer. And also to be reunited with the camera crew.” The crew eho worked with Galvin on both Immortals and Mirror Mirror were: gaffer Jean Courteau; key grip Alain Masse; François Daignault, the ‘A’ Cam operator/ Steadicam; Nicolas Marion, the A-cam 1st AC; Roch Boucher, A-cam 2nd AC; and DIT Julie Garceau. Galvin was born in Ireland, and attended the Dublin Institute of Technology. He started in the business as a trainee, progressing through the grades of films such as Alan Parker’s The Commitments (1991) and Neil Jordan’s The Crying Game (1992) as a clapper/loader, on Far And Away (1992) directed by Ron Howard as 2nd AC, before operating on a film entitled Curdled (1996). It was the feature Rat (2000), directed by Steve Barron, that launched his feature career. Galvin went on to shoot Behind Enemy Lines (2001) directed by John Moore, who he teamed up with again on Flight Of The Phoenix (2004), which earned Galvin an Irish Film and Television Award (IFTA) nomination. His work on Veronica Guerin (2003) directed by Joel Schumacher, earned him a second IFTA nomination. Galvin has worked with Tarsem for over 20 years, predominantly on commercials. Indeed, at the time of this interview, he was with the director in Switzerland, working on a Mercedes Benz commercial for the Chinese market, featuring Roger Federer, before jetting off to shoot the car in snow, desert, forest and cityscapes in California. Speaking about the creative process with Tarsem, Galvin says, “Our creative discussions do not happen as many people might expect. We don’t have definitive conversations and work from there. It’s very much an organic, evolutionary process. Apart from the VFX, there are few storyboards, if any, and the starting point and what we end up with can be quite different. He’s incredibly instinctive, so it’s not so much about the nuts and bolts of what you do, but more about how to get the results he’s after.

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

“When we shot Immortals, Tarsem’s brief basically boiled down to ‘Caravaggio meets Fight Club’, and we produced quiet a hardcore action film done in Renaissance painting style.” For Mirror Mirror Galvin says there were even fewer distinct creative references as regards the ‘look’ of the film. In view of the fact that they were creating an escapist fantasy film for families, Galvin wanted the visuals to be warm, luscious and softly inviting. “If anything, I had Hollywood pictures of the 1950’s and early 1960’s, Audrey Hepburn movies in particular, in my head. I also paid attention to Jean Cocteau’s wonderful La Belle Et La Bête. We had breathtaking costumes and wonderful sets being created by Eiko and Tom, and I spent time with them, and took inspiration from their work. I wanted to capture the imagery with both hard and soft light. It might sound contradictory, but you can have both in the same frame.” The other early consideration for Galvin is the pace at which Tarsem likes to work. “I think of Tarsem as the Duracell Bunny – he has more energy than anyone else on the crew, and the challenge you have is keeping up with him. But if you can go with the flow, and keep the momentum going for him, the results are rewarding and far better. My approach to any job with him includes choices of how to keep that momentum going.” Galvin had nine weeks prep prior to the shoot, with principal photography lasting 67 days in total. The production shot five days a week, which Galvin says is always his preferred path, especially when shooting in a studio. “We worked it out afterwards that we managed to get through between 50 and 70 set-ups per day. Working at that intensity you can only work so many hours of the day. When we had Julia on set, the length of the days were very controlled with the crew spending a little longer getting the stage set for her. But, I think the desire should be to work five days, and then have two days to recover and prepare for the next week. It’s a huge asset to the entire crew.” Galvin framed the production in 1.85:1, using Sony CineAlta F35 cameras, supplied by Panavision, Woodland Hills, along with a selection of Panavision Primo spherical lenses. The production often shot using two cameras, with four cameras on the stunt sequences. Bearing in mind the ‘look’ and practical demands, Galvin says of his kit selection, “I look at every digital camera as a digital film stock. The F35, fitted with the Primos, was the closest I could find to the softer look that I wanted. It has the same sensor as the Genesis, which we used on Immortals, but I think that after the image is processed in the camera it is slightly softer. On a practical level I knew the F35 and Primo lens combination would be fast to deploy on each set-up.

“At the time I was choosing the cameras, there was a popular clamour out there for the ARRI Alexa and RED Epic, but I thought it important not to get caught up in that. I knew that Panavision would have no trouble in providing kit and giving me back-up in case of emergency. Your team are far more important than equipment as far as I’m concerned. If you find yourself in the shit, it’s the people who will get you out of it.” As with his kit choice, Galvin also took a similar strategic approach to the lighting. “Tarsem is very visually aware, and we did most of the camera and lighting setups together. With the tight schedule firmly in mind, we generally prepared to shoot and light for wide, before moving into the mid-shots and close-ups. This meant we cold keep the process going at pace, without too many time delays.” Another crucial member of family is French colour grading artist Lionel Kopp, who Galvin describes as “the glue that keeps us all together.” Kopp has also worked with Tarsem down the years on commercials and graded Immortals. Kopp established a Nucoda-based grading suite, with digital projection, on site at Mels Studio. Along with the final DI grade, he was intimately involved during pre-production and production on both films. “We had the luxury of having the production and post production working side by side, and it reminded me of the old studio system when they had everything on site. Whilst we were in pre-production in Mirror Mirror, Lionel was finishing the grade on Immortals. This meant we could include him in conversations about the shoot, the costume and set design, and I could shoot tests and review the results. It helped to inform us all. “But further to that, we were able to watch projected dailies during production, something that is sadly disappearing from the business. Apart from the obvious advantage of not having to view dailies on a DVD or off a website, it meant the crew could all watch the results together. Bringing everyone together is a really important part of the filmmaking process. It inspires you to want to get out there and do even better the next day.” Galvin has some further practical observation of having the grading facility on-site during production. “We might apply a basic LUT on set, that would follow the footage to the grading suite, and Lionel would then take this a stage further and give us beautiful dailies. Also, as we were shooting so many set ups per day, we could also keep a close eye on balancing shots there and then during the production, rather than having to revisit this months afterwards in the DI suite. On multicamera takes, say involving smoke, the images are never going to automatically match. Working with Lionel, we could pop upstairs, work on the contrast and exposure values, and get these to match too. “Saving time on things like grading meant we could spend time focussing on other aspects of the production. And I think this level of digital filmmaking really helped us in getting the film ready faster for release. When you think about the fact that we wrapped in mid-September and the picture is ready for release now, that’s quite extraordinary,” he adds. “We had many VFX shots in there too and the VFX crew having immediate access to the DI suite was very helpful and saved time.” As for the final result, Galvin says, “I think the film has a very inviting and unique feel to it, that we’re very pleased with, and it’s our hope that it will capture the imagination of audiences the world over.” Mirror Mirror is scheduled for a release worldwide in April 2012. Since this interview Galvin has kept up his own amazing pace and joined The Tomb, a feature shooting in New Orleans, directed by Mikael Hafstrom with Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel.

BCine50.indd 27

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

On the Job –––Dick Pope BSC Bernie

Personal portraits That’s the premise behind Richard Linklater’s latest movie, Bernie, starring Jack Black and the eponymous hero, and Matthew McConaughey and Shirley MacLaine. The feature, based on real events in Carthage, Texas, cleverly combines interviews amongst local townspeople as they recount events and elaborate on the characters, with staged scenes with the principal actors. The production was shot by Dick Pope BSC in and around the town of Bastrop, which doubled for Carthage. It is Pope’s second film with Linklater, the pair having collaborated on the BAFTA- and BIFA-nominated Me And Orson Welles (2008). Unlike, their previous film, Bernie is very much about portraits of the townsfolk, an aspect that typifies much of the work Pope has accomplished with British director Mike Leigh. Bernie was the cinematographer’s first full digital shoot. Ron Prince caught up with him over Skype, to chat about his experiences… How did you get involved with the production? Rick had seen my work on Topsy Turvy (1999) and The Illusionist (2007, for which Pope was Oscar-nominated) – both period films and both set in theatres so he asked me to shoot Me And Orson Welles, also largely set within a theatre. I got on great with him, and he must have liked what I gave him as he asked me back to shoot Bernie. What appealed to you about Bernie? Firstly, being asked back again by Rick – he is a cool guy to work with. Bernie is a completely different type of film to Me And Orson Welles, and I was attracted by the challenge. I loved the script too. It’s a very affectionate, personal portrait of a small town in Texas, near where Rick lives, and it was his first film with Jack Black since School Of Rock. It’s also partly in documentary style, which greatly appealed to me, with many portraits of local characters both real and imagined, as witnesses to the events that unfurled. But the clincher was that the film has a big US courtroom scene, which is something I’ve always wanted to shoot. What research did you do? The biggest research I did before I arrived in Texas, was to shoot a short film for Mike Leigh in London, called A Running Jump, commissioned for the 2012 Olympics, which I shot using the then very new ARRI Alexa. That was invaluable as a learning curve, as I had hardly shot digital before. This film with Mike, and the extensive testing I did at MovieTech, were ideal for me to get to grips with the camera and the workflow. A Running Jump is a very colorful, quite crazy film, with Eddie Marsan in the lead, that we shot over three weeks. I discovered that the Alexa is quite straightforward and, apart from the electronic viewfinder, offers you a filmfriendly experience, and I loved the results. We used the Codex on-board recorder and I knew that the long runs before changes would be invaluable for Rick as he likes to turn and turn without interruption.

BCine50.indd 28

In a small Texas town, the muchloved local mortician strikes up a friendship with a wealthy, but much-loathed, widow. When he kills her he goes to great lengths to create the illusion that she’s alive.

When you first discussed the look of Bernie with Richard Linklater, how did you envisage the film? Intimate and naturalistic, set in a wide variety of locations, building a warm, compelling portrait of Carthage. What aspect ratio did you select? Bernie is not a landscape movie; there are no big Texan vistas. It’s character-driven and so in keeping with the intimate subject matter, I chose to go with 1.85:1. Can you describe the portraits? The portraits (or ‘gossips’ as Rick called them) appear throughout the film to flesh out the backstory, and are counterparts to scenes with the principal actors. Most of these feature ordinary towns people who remembered the characters and the events that took place. We shot them at home or in their workplaces, documentary style, and I used a very still, unobtrusive camera, so the audience aren’t sidetracked and can just get to know these folk as they reveal their thoughts and feelings. It’s quiet, observational filmmaking – one of the things I love. Tell us your reasoning behind your choice of cameras, lenses, film stocks, lights and grip? Rick already wanted to shoot digitally and I sold him the idea of using the Alexa about six months before we began. But when we finally kicked off there were still only a total of 30 Alexas in the USA and it was all a bit of a struggle. The SxS picture cards we were going to be using only got enabled by ARRI just before we started, and trying to obtain our second camera was interesting. In fact, Steve Speers, my 1st AC, purchased an Alexa, which arrived on the very last day of prep, resulting in much relief all round, particularly on Steve’s face! For the portrait work we wanted long, uninterrupted takes and the smallest crew and profile as possible to make the subjects feel at ease. The Alexa, with 444 ProRes LogC was perfect for that. I used the 18-70 Optimo zoom so we could maintain a very low profile with no fuss concerning lens changes. As Rick conducted the interviews, I used my own judgement as to the framing and size of shot, and used either natural light or very small lighting units powered locally. There was no generator, lighting or grip truck. We kept the gear to an absolute minimum so it would fit into a single van so we could move on to the next location as speedily as possible. However, the main part of the shoot was with big stars and the full ‘movie-comes-to-town’ experience. For this I employed a full grip and electrics package, and used mostly Cooke S4 prime lenses unless we were on a crane.

(Middle image) Holding court... Dick Pope (c) explains to director Richard Linklater (l) what he wants in the courtroom scene.

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Where did the kit come from? Apart from some that Steve Speers supplied, most of the camera gear came out of MSP in Dallas, run by Marc Stephens. The camera situation was a bit of a worry as the Alexa was still so new, but MSP had a great relationship with ARRI and got us our main camera. Their gear was really good. Was the camera generally on a dolly, handheld or on a Steadicam? The portrait sections were on sticks. On the main shoot there was no Steadicam, a joint decision by Rick and I, and were mostly on a dolly or a hothead on a crane. The only hand-held was where the camera became a TV news-gathering camera with the footage generated onto TV sets. Did you shoot at practical locations, on sets, or both? There was no studio work. We shot the entire film at locations, although some sets were built within those locations. You said always wanted to shoot a US courtroom scene. Tell us how you approached this. I’m a great fan of courtroom dramas, like 12 Angry Men. For Bernie, I wanted a pretty classical look, a real Southern feel, with slow moves on dollies into the witnesses, the accused, defendants, the judge and his gavel. I love all that, and the process of plotting it out. It’s one of my favourite parts of filmmaking – how to shoot for best emotional effect. In this courthouse to ensure coverage, and to meet the schedule, we shot with two cameras. For the theatre work in Me And Orson Welles, we had scale models of various sets with actors, and Rick and I would sit there for hours devising how to shoot every set-up. We didn’t go that far on Bernie, but we did talk endlessly in prep and at the location, mapping out exactly what we wanted to do. The courthouse in Bastrop is wonderful, late 1800’s, built from wood, but it’s at least 30ft up, on a high first storey with bare windows . I couldn’t be at the behest of the sun, and we could have a scaffold rig or cherry picker outside to bring light in through the windows because we were often looking straight out, and weren’t allowed to touch the extensive gardens below. So I asked Bruce Curtis, our very creative production designer to reinstall old-fashioned wooden plantation shutters over the windows. This allowed me to smash 18ks against each window from down below in the gardens. These wooden shutters lit up like they were being blasted by sunlight and I could adjust them to direct the light up onto the ceiling and bounce back into the room. I also had diffusion frames made that could slip onto the windows behind the shutters when we were looking that way. This combination gave me a natural but subdued light. As there were no lights on the floor, we could quickly move the cameras 360 degrees and when the sun went down, no problem.

BCine50.indd 29

What were your main concerns during the shoot? Moving fast to make the days whilst protecting the look, as we had such a tight schedule, with multiple location moves most days. So I had every location as pre-rigged as possible. I was also concerned about using the only recently enabled picture cards as our recording device, but they worked just fine with never a problem. What part does risk-taking play in your work, if any? Well, to me, one of the biggest risks I feel I take is jumping on a plane with my meters and flying off alone somewhere to work with what is often a complete bunch of strangers. Were there any happy accidents, unexpected things that worked out well? Finishing the film on time! How was the experience of shooting in Texas? Fantastic! Austin, what a city. I totally loved it and could have settled there quite happily. I had a great local crew. Mark Manthey, had previously gaffered for Emmanuel Lubezki, on Tree Of Life, also out of Austin and also with minimal equipment and a small crew, so he was the perfect choice for me. My key grip was Marc Andrus, terrific, as was Dustin Cross, our DIT. Dustin is one of America’s top DITs, and it was reassuring to be able to look over his shoulder on set. He even delivered the timed and synched dailies to us on Apple iPads. Brilliant. Steve Speers, my superb 1st AC was not-Austin based, but came down from Minneapolis, where six months before I had worked with him on ‘The Convincer’. Where did you do the DI? I graded the film at Deluxe Digital in LA, over the course of ten days, with colorist Kevin O’Connor. One of the great things about shooting digitally is that in the DI suite, once everything is applied correctly, the files transfer and snap-in so consistently well onto the screen – certainly good enough to share with the director and producers from a very early stage. Will you ever shoot on film again? Yes definitely. If there’s still celluloid around it would be fun to shoot on film again, but I have not shot any for two years. The commercials have all been on the Alexa too. But I would certainly not write film off. Only a few months ago I was on the main jury at Camerimage, and viewed all 15 films in competition plus quite a few others as well, and got an overall perspective of film and digital side-by-side. It’s not a matter of one versus the other for me, but film has a different look, and it’s very pleasant. Perhaps it’s the grain but, whatever, it looked rather good and made me feel just a little nostalgic.

Postscript:

In September 2011, a massive wildfire covering more than 34,000 acres rampaged across the Bastrop district where Bernie was filmed, destroying around 1,500 homes, and leaving several people dead. The sky was described as volcanic during the peak of the blaze. Director Linklater was himself evacuated during the fires and, while much of his property was damaged, all of his neighbours lost their homes to the blaze. Every single house in the neighborhood where they filmed ‘Bernie’ was lost.

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

F-Stop Hollywood –––The inside track on what’s going on in Tinsel Town

Legion of honour

BCine50.indd 30

ARRI winners... Franz Kraus (l), Wolfgang Reidel (m) and Johannes Steurer (r) accepted the Academy Award of Merit during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Achievement Awards on February 11, 2012, in Beverly Hills, California. All photographs are copyright© A.M.P.A.S. Scitech winners: Front row (l-r): Jonathan Erland, Uwe Weber, Johannes Steurer, Wolfgang Riedel, Milla Jovovich, Richard Edlund, Tom Sherak, Douglas Trumbull, Franz Kraus and Greg Marsden. Second row (l-r): Mark Elendt, Andrew Clinton, E.F. Nettmann, Fred Miller, Ryutaro Hosoda, Hiroshi Hirano, Michael Vellekoop and Michael Sayovitz. Third row (l-r): Ian Cavén, Kimball Thurston, Ian Godin, Dr. Katsuhisa Oozeki, Hideyuki Shirai and Raigo Alas. Back row (l-r): Andy Jantzen, Petru Pop, Christian Bannert, Richard F. Toftness, Tim Connolly, Radu Corlan, Mary Lowry, Mike Inchalik and Michael Lewis. All photographs are copyright© A.M.P.A.S.

Robert Richardson, ASC won his third Oscar at the 84th annual Academy Awards. He was recognised for his lensing of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, which was both Richardson’s first feature to be lensed digitally and his first in 3D, writes Carolyn Giardina. “Marty, you’re a genius as usual and Graham (King, producer), sticking in there all the way,” Richardson said as he accepted the trophy. “And to all the past, future and present filmmakers, this is for you.” During the evening, Hugo and The Artist won five Oscars each. The Artist claimed the top prize for best picture, as well as for best director, best actor, original score and costume design. In a backstage interview after winning the trophy for direction, helmer Michel Hazanavicius said, “It’s my third movie with (director of photography) Guillaume Schiffman … we can work together very easily. One of the best performances in that movie is that we shot it in 35 days and to keep that quality of image in 35 days is really something very special. … He did a wonderful black and white.” During Oscar week, Kodak announced that seven of the nine best picture nominees this year, including The Artist, were shot on Kodak film. In addition to cinematography, Hugo won trophies in the categories of art direction, sound editing, sound mixing, and visual effects. Production of Hugo took place on sound stages at Shepperton and Longcross, as well as on location. Richardson used ARRI Alexa cameras on Cameron-Pace Group 3D rigs. Backstage in the interview room, Richardson emphasised that 3D is “a tool, not a gimmick.” In winning the Oscar, Richardson topped a group of nominees that included Guillaume Schiffman AFC for The Artist, Jeff Cronenweth, ASC for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo; Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC for The Tree Of Life; and Janusz Kaminski for War Horse. Also backstage, Richardson said, “I have to say, personally, I love the work of Chivo in The Tree Of Life. I, also, think he’s well overdue (to earn an Oscar), but that said, I am extraordinarily happy. I do love that man, so, I would like to see that not too far in the future.” Two weeks earlier, Schiffman claimed the BAFTA Award, while Lubezki won the ASC Award for feature cinematography. Also highlighting the ASC Awards, Dante Spinotti AIC ASC received the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by Michael Mann. Separately, at the 2012 Society of Camera Operators annual Lifetime Achievement Awards, Stephen Campanelli, SOC and Andrew Mitchell, SOC claimed top honours in the two competitive categories. Campanelli was named feature film camera operator of the year for J. Edgar, while and Mitchell was recognised as television camera operator of the year for his work on Glee. Also during the evening, Campanelli presented the SOC Board of Governors Award to Clint Eastwood in recognition of his contribution to the art and craft of filmmaking. Eastwood and Campanelli have worked

Winners... TV Camera Operator of the Year recipient Andrew Mitchell, SOC (l) Mike Frediani, President of SOC (m) and Feature Film Camera Operator of the Year Stephen Campanelli, SOC (r). Photo Credit – Craig T. Mathew/Mathew Imaging.

together on Eastwood’s film from Bridges Of Madison County to J. Edgar. During awards season, the Art Directors Guild gave a special Cinematic Imagery Award to the team behind the Harry Potter franchise, including David Heyman, David Barron, Christopher Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell, David Yates, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kolves, Michael Goldberg, Stuart Craig, Neil Lamont and Stephenie McMillan.

Sci-Tech Recognition

ARRI received an Academy Award of Merit, an Oscar Statuette, for its Arrilaser Film Recorder, during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Scientific and Technical Awards presentation. Franz Kraus, Johannes Steurer and Wolfgang Riedel received the award, an upgrade from its previous Scientific and Engineering Award (an Academy Plaque), for development of “a compact, user-friendly, low-maintenance device, while at the same time maintaining outstanding speed, exposure ratings and image quality.” Also during the ceremony, Douglas Trumbull was presented the Gordon E. Sawyer Award, and Jonathan Erland received the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation. Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques) were awarded to Radu Corlan, Andy Jantzen, Petru Pop and Richard Toftness for the Phantom highspeed cameras; Dr. Jürgen Noffke and Uwe Weber for ARRI Zeiss Master Primes; Michael Lewis, Greg Marsden, Raigo Alas and Michael Vellekoop for the Pictorvision Eclipse; E.F. “Bob” Nettmann, Michael Sayovitz, Brad Fritzel and Fred Miller for the Stab-C Classic, Super-G and Stab-C Compact stabilising heads; John D. Lowry, Ian Cavén, Ian Godin, Kimball Thurston and Tim Connolly for the image processing tools known as the “Lowry Process,” offered at Reliance MediaWorks; and Fujifilm, Hideyuki Shirai, Dr. Katsuhisa Oozeki and Hiroshi Hirano for black and white recording film ETERNA-RDS 4791. Andrew Clinton and Mark Elendt received Technical Achievement Awards (Academy Certificates) for microvoxels in the Mantra software. During the ceremony, the community remembered honourees Lowry, who passed away three weeks before the ceremony; and Noffke, who died in 2011.

NAB Approaches

With the approaching 2012 National Association of Broadcasters convention, slated to run 14-19 April in Las Vegas, there is plenty of interest in digital workflows, particularly those that support the latest digital cinematography cameras, such as Sony’s F65. Codex, for instance, is launching its new product line, the Vault, at NAB and plans are to incorporate the ability to ingest files from the Sony F65. The files would automatically be archived to LTO-5 media and Codex Transfer Drives, allowing for delivery to a post house. The Codex Vault incorporates the Codex Virtual File System, allowing for the creation of dailies deliverables including Avid DNxHD MXF, Apple ProRes, DPX and OpenEXR using an ACES workflow. In addition, the Codex software will provide a workflow for the F65 on Mac OSX, also incorporating the Codex Virtual File System. Either can be integrated with other products including Colorfront On-Set Dailies via a 10gigE connection. The newest version of Colorfront’s On-Set Dailies introduced a real-time 4K display of dailies. The On-Set Dailies Winter 2012 release includes file format support Sony’s F65RAW, SRFile (SStP) and XDCAM EX, RED Epic R3D, Alexa Studio 4K Anamorphic, Canon C300, Panasonic P2 and GoPro. On-Set Dailies also delivers RAW, DPX and 16-bit TIFF file format support for 2D and 3D stereoscopic projects shooting at 48/60fps. Colorfront reported that its On-Set dailies can be integrated with 4K projectors and any of the 4K monitors being released. Cinedeck will be showing the latest advances in its range of recording, monitoring and playback systems for cinema, broadcast and mobile OB. The company will showcase the very latest versions of Cinedeck EX, its portable multi-format, multi-codec, HD-SDI recording system, plus Cinedeck RX, the new, rack-mountable, multi-channel, solid-state recording and playback system. At NAB, Filmlight will introduce Flux, software aimed at simplifying data management and wrangling. Plans are to sell the software as a package with Filmlight storage. The company expects Flux will find applications on-set and near-set, as well as in post facilities.

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 31

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Letter From Antipodes –––Ron Windon ACS Historian and past federal & NSW state president

National anthem

Russell Boyd ACS ASC, Syd Wood ACS, Don McAlpine ACS ASC, Dean Semler ACS ASC, Ron Johanson ACS, John Seale ACS ASC & Ron Johanson again.

A look at the Australian Cinematographers’ Society, prepared by Ron Windon ACS, historian and past federal and NSW state president

Founding of the ACS (1958)

The Silent Period (1895-1929)

History indicates that the Frenchman Louis Lumiere invented in 1895 the world’s first motion picture camera. He called it the Cinematographe, and it could be said that Lumiere’s invention gave birth to the production of motion pictures. Soon after, Australia rapidly and enthusiascally embraced this exciting development and before long, the Australian film industry became one of the most prolific film producers in the world, even so far as producing the world’s first full length feature film in 1905, The Story Of The Kelly Gang photographed by Millard Johnson, Ollie Perry and Reg Perry. This was the beginning of Australia’s newfound film industry, and gave birth to many imaginative Australian cinematographers that were to follow in their wake – silent day greats such as Lacey Percival - Arthur Higgins - Reginald Edwards - Bill Trerise – Walter Sully etc. With the advent of sound technology in the late 1920s came the first “talkies”, and a new era of cinematography was born. Movietone News and Cinesound Review led the field in the production of cinema newsreels, whilst Cinesound was also engaged in the production of major feature films. From 1929 to 1970 a new breed of cinematographer started making names for themselves, George Heath, Ross Wood, Syd Wood, Carl Keyser, Ron Horner, Keith Loone, John Leake, Ted Taylor, George Lowe, Volk Mol, Bren Brown, Robin Copping, etc. plus a number of others. However during the 1950s & ‘60s the Australian feature industry fell into the doldrums, with very few films being produced, in fact no Australian feature films were produced between 1959 and 1966. The local industry was clearly on the decline. Consequently most cinematographers relied on shooting cinema newsreels and documentaries, i.e. until television came to Australia in 1956. This opened the way for our cinematographers to get involved in the shooting of television commercials plus major TV series and gain a great deal of lighting experience.

BCine50.indd 32

Since the arrival of television in 1956, with many new faces, young and old, now in the world of cinematography, there seemed to be a need for some form of basic group to gather together for the betterment of cinematography. After a few informal discussions among a group of leading cinematographers, they decided to act. The first meeting was held at the Film Club in Sydney, on September 12, with an attendance of well over 50. Syd Wood, Movietone News’ chief cameraman, was elected chairman. The meeting was very convivial and most attending felt that the time had come to weld themselves into a group. A further meeting was held on Friday, October 31, 1958. The agenda, “The proposed formation of an Association of Cinematographers.” At this meeting Syd Wood was elected chairman, Ron Horner (secretary) and Keith Loone (treasurer), plus a committee of eight highlyrespected cinematographers. Their aim, to further the advancement of cinematography in Australia, both professionally and socially. On November 28, 1958, the elected committee held its first general meeting and had the pleasure of having an overseas guest in attendance, British cinematographer Gordon Dines BSC. Gordon was in Australia as DP on the Ealing Studios Production The Siege of Pinchgut. Gordon Dines spoke of his vast experience and enlightened us about the role of the British Society of Cinematographers in the UK film industry. In conclusion his talk brought a response of loud applause from his audience of Australian cinematographers. At a further meeting and after some slight amendments, the association was officially named the Australian Cinematographers Society. The ACS was created for all cameramen, young and old, for the betterment of xinematography, and although the “Senior Citizens” may have dominated the early formation, it is indeed gratifying to see so many younger faces now serving on the executive. Apart from accredited cinematographers, the ACS welcomes assistants, operators, focus pullers, etc., into its fold with no discrimination. However, to obtain accreditation with the right to use the letters ACS after one’s name there are strict guidelines that must be met, so one has his work assessed by his peers and must have a proven record in the industry. On the first Thursday evening of every month we hold evenings at our beautiful clubhouse that are both social and educational. Sometimes there is a demo of the latest equipment, and we conduct Q&A nights when DPs screen their latest work and the young, less-experienced camera-persons have the opportunity to learn by socialising, listening and asking questions of the DP.

Australian Feature Industry (Re-Birth)

The 1970s saw the re-birth of Australia’s feature film industry and a new breed of young Australian Cinematographers photographing films such as – Alvin Purple DP Robin Copping ACS (1973) - The Cars That Ate Paris DP John McLean ACS (1974) - Picnic at Hanging Rock DP Russell Boyd ACS ASC (1975) – Caddie DP Peter James ACS ASC (1976) - My Brilliant Career DP Don McAlpine ACS ASC (1979) Mad Max DP David Eggby ACS (1979) – Mad Max 2 DP Dean Semler ACS ASC (1981) - Babe DP Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC (1995) These cinematographers played a major role in making these Australian films very successful and popular box office attractions. Each of these cinematographers have since gone on to have very successful careers both in Australia and internationally. I should also mention Mark McDonald BSC, David Muir ACS BSC, Peter Hannan ACS BSC and Mike Molloy ACS BSC who all went to England in the 1960s and embarked on successful careers.

13/03/2012 11:56

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Highlights of Australian Award Winners Robert Krasker BSC ASC 1950 Academy Award (for best B&W Cinematography) – The Third Man 1954 BSC Award – Romeo And Juliet 1961 BSC Award – El Cid Russell Boyd ACS ASC 2003 Academy Award & BSC Award – Master And Commander 1977 BAFTA Award – Picnic At Hanging Rock Dean Semler ACS ASC 1990 Academy Award – Dances With Wolves John Seale ACS ASC 2011 Plus Camerimage Festival – Lifetime Achievement Award 1997 BAFTA Award & 1996 Academy Award – The English Patient Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC 2003 BAFTA Award & 2002 Academy Award – Lord Of The Rings Dion Beebe ACS ASC 2006 Academy Award & BAFTA Award – Memoirs Of A Geisha 2005 BAFTA Award – Collateral Don McAlpine ACS ASC: 2008 ASC International Award 1981 AFI Award – My Brilliant Career The ACS is proud to have an award system that covers all fields of cinematography. Apart from feature films, we also honour cinematographers that specialise in many other forms of cinematography, such as wildlife. The most outstanding cinematography of the year earns the cinematographer the ACS Milli Award and the title Cinematographer of the Year. We also have the ACS Hall of Fame.

ACS members currently photographing major productions. David Eggby ACS – The Chronicles Of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking Stephen Windon ACS – Fast And Furious Six John Seale ACS ASC – Mad Max – Fury Road Don McAlpine ACS ASC – Ender’s Game Dion Beebe ACS ASC – The Gangster Squad Andrew Lesnie ACS ASC – The Hobbit Simon Duggan ACS ASC – The Great Gatsby Peter Menzies Jnr. ACS ASC – Killing Season Ross Emery ACS ASC – I Frankenstein Adam Arkapaw – Top Of The Lake Germain McMicking – Dead Europe It was becoming evident that the ACS needed to lift its international profile, so, in 2008 after an invitation, the ACS joined IMAGO: The European Federation of Cinematographers. Our then Federal President, Ted Rayment ACS, was instrumental in us becoming a part of IMAGO, attending the Annual Assembly in Amsterdam and presenting our credentials. Since then we have been represented at all but one Assembly, in Estonia in 2011. 2012 saw IMAGO celebrating its 20th anniversary. Without doubt IMAGO is a truly international federation representing the world’s cinematographers and the issues that confront them, and the ACS is proud to be an Associate member. The ACS has realised many dreams since 1958, none more recently than the soon to be published book, The Shadowcatchers: A History of Australian Cinematography by author and former cinematographer, Martha Ansara. The Shadowcatchers is a stylish and beautifully produced 288-page coffee table book presenting over 380 photographs of working cinematographers taken on film sets from 1901 to the present. It includes a groundbreaking, highly readable historical text, biographies of significant cinematographers, and fascinating personal anecdotes from some of the great characters of the Australian film industry and will be published by the Australian Cinematographers Society, The ACS is proud of the role it has played in the development of Australian cinematography, and particularly proud of its members and their standing in the international world of cinematography.

BCine50.indd 33

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

IMAGO –––Nigel Walters BSC President of IMAGO

IMAGO in Paris – 20th Anniversary IAGA The South Korean Society was adopted as a new associate member. A special welcome was reserved for the Canadian president Joan Hutton, and the president of the Philippines Society Isigani Sioson, both of whose societies were represented for the first time. They gave a resumé of the conditions in their respective countries, as did Yannis Daskalothanasis, whose Greek Society is undergoing reorganisation. There was a welcome return, after a long absence, to the presence of the Croatian Society (HFS), ably represented by Goran Mecava. The long journey from Australian and Japan had been made by their respective presidents, Ron Johanson and Kitaro Kanematsu, who was accompanied by Koichiro Ichida (interpreter was Mami Capelle). Ricardo Arronovich AFC ABC represented the Brazilian Society and the Argentinian Society was represented by Lauro Escorel. The IAGA was preceded by an Extraordinary General Assembly, the purpose of which was to finalise the transfer of the IMAGO registered office from Paris to Brussels. The financial report was introduced by general secretary Louis-Philippe Capelle SBC, the audited accounts revealing a profit for ordinary activities for 2011 of 1,937 Euros. Inevitably the move to Brussels involved much discussion about the new statutes, and the legal and practical implication for the working of IMAGO. The IAGA endorsed the new statutes and the transfer from Paris to Brussels was accepted unanimously. The delegates were warmly welcomed by the president of the AFC Caroline Champetier. In his opening address IMAGO President, Nigel Walters BSC thanked the staff of the French Society for all the work that had been involved in bringing so many delegates together to form the largest gathering representing international cinematographers ever held. Especial thanks were expressed to the general secretary Louis-Philippe Capelle SBC, Richard Andry, vice-president of the AFC, his colleagues Robert Alazraki, the first vicepresident under Luciano Tovoli, and Eric Guichard.

BCine50.indd 34

A message from the ASC president Michael Goi was read, which included regret at not being able to be present due to the ASC’s Outstanding Achievement Awards. On this 20 Anniversary of IMAGO the message to IMAGO continued; “For two decades you have upheld the importance of the craft of cinematography and have worked diligently to resolve issues both administrative and aesthetic, in the quest to give all who work in this most dignified profession a unified voice. For this you have the gratitude of the entire cinematographic community.” After mentioning the importance to IMAGO of the ASC Summit Conference, held last summer in Los Angeles, in strengthening the resolve for improved communication and international understanding, praise was given for a servant of IMAGO who had given unselfish devotion to the ideals of the federation. PaulRene Roestad FNF, a previous general secretary was presented with the IMAGO Tribute for his tireless work and words of wisdom when facing difficult challenges. The budget for 2012/2013 was presented, but not formally ratified until contact had been made with member societies regarding the board’s recommendation to raise the subscription rates from 20 to 22 Euros per member. This was despite conference learning that the substantial revenue from the eDIT Festival would disappear if threatened changes in Frankfurt were implemented. The historic decision to elect the first lady cinematographer to the IMAGO board was taken by the appointment of Birgit Gudjonsdottir BvK, a delegate of the German society at many past IAGA’s and highly respected cinematographer.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

The New IMAGO Board

Projecting... Nigel Walters and some of the board at the Paris IAGA. Photo Marek Jicka ACK. The Board... Luciano Tovoli AIC, Ivan Tonev BAC, Richard Andry AFC and Nigel Walters BSC. Taking the mic... webmaster Tony Costa AIP and Cristina Busch IMAGO’s legal adviser. The wheels on the bus go round and round... Casper Hoyberg DFF, Caiaran Tanham ISC President: 2nd Row Astrid Heubrandtner AAC President, Hermann Verschuur NSC. Photo by Andreas Fischer- Hansen DFF.

The new Board was voted as recommended by the Election Committee and consists of: Nigel Walters BSC President Richard Andry AFC Vice-President Ivan Tonev BAC Vice President Louis-Philippe Capelle SBC General Secretary/Treasurer Birgit Gudjonsdotttir BvK Board Member Luciano Tovoli AIC Board Member Paul-Rene Roestad FNF Board member The suggestion that the board should be further strengthened by the addition of Ron Johanson ACS and Idan Or ACT, with particular relevance to the Master Class and Working Conditions Committees, was withdrawn until the next IAGA. The results of the extensive IMAGO questionnaire were presented to conference by Professor Cristina Busch, IMAGO’s legal advisor and Tony Costa AIP web master. They were both thanked for the incredible amount of work involved in this excercise. (The full report of this questionnaire is to be found on the IMAGO.ORG web Site.) The results have also been sent to Uni-mei. The general opinion from the delegates involved was that greater understanding of the problems of cinematographers had been achieved by contacts within the EU in the past year. Cristina Busch stated that IMAGO was now closer to the EU Administration and stressed the importance of maintaining our future presence at relevant meetings in Brussels. A main priority would be continuing and expanding this work in 2012.

This conference will be better remembered for its lack of positive decisions than the contrary. This can be partly explained by time spent interpreting the new statutes regarding several important proposals. At the end of a debate on the contentious issue to open up the membership of the “associate” societies to full membership if they so wished it was agreed to delay a decision until firm proposals could be debated at the next IAGA. The board were instructed to clarify certain implications for IMAGO including the effect of EU funding if the 32 European societies were expanded by the addition of the 15 associate societies. The President, Nigel Walters, argued for the proposition that all members should be eligible to apply for full membership in IMAGO and that, with the formation of a Global IMAGO, cinematographers would stand stronger in all aspects, not least authorship and working conditions. It would also create a better economy to improve the financial fragility of IMAGO. (See the précis of the President’s introduction speech). Conference rejected the recommendation of the election committee of Jan Weincke DFF and Kurt Brazda AAC, that Ron Johanson ACS and Idan Or ACT should become board members because of the invaluable work they had achieved for the Master Class and Working Conditions Committees. The IAGA asked the board to form a committee to examine the consequences to IMAGO of a change to a Global Federation. Despite the Italian society proposal at the Tallinn IAGA 2011 to form an IMAGO International the founder of IMAGO Luciano Tovoli AIC ASC suggested keeping “IMAGO Europe”, as it is today. Logically, Viola Laske BvK argued that the issue should be discussed within every member society before an IMAGO delegate could be expected to vote on such an important change. Jan Weincke DFF pointed out that a report has to be given three months ahead on this matter, as it would involve changing the statutes. Suitably admonished, the board and the IAGA agreed to the formation of an “IMAGO Global Committee” consisting of the delegates Kurt Brazda AAC, Ron Johanson ACS, Porfirio Enriques AEC, Cristina Busch, Carlo Mendoza FSC and Lauro Escorel ABC. The IMAGO committee reports focussed on the Master Class in Copenhagen where, thanks to the generosity of the Danes in raising a budget for 45,000 Euros, five cinematographers, Haskell Wexler, Mandy Walker, Lajos Koltai, Oliver Stapleton and Wolfgang Thaler spent a week-end talking to cinematographers from many countries on the popular IMAGO theme of “Inspiration”. Thanks to the generosity of sponsors an equally successful morning on the same theme represented IMAGO’s first venture of this nature in Camerimage with the help of again Oliver Stapleton BSC and Roberto Schaefer AIC ASC. The Technical Committee reported that their main effort had been to consolidate the 60-frame rate an ISA standard. IMAGO has been working on the Silver Screen issue but reported that the Super DPX was now overshadowed by AMPAS ACES and IFF. There is a conviction that 60-frame rate will be standard on 3D projects. The new chairman of the Technical Committee is Hakan Holmberg FSF.

Representatives from thirty-nine Societies of Cinematographers gathered in Paris for the Annual General Meeting (IAGA) of IMAGO in February. The unlucky fortieth delegate Aleksandr Shygaiev, president of the Ukrainian Society, had the double misfortune of originally booking his flight from Kiev on Malev Airlines, which proceeded to enter administration. Then, after finding the finances to rebook on Air France, he discovered, on his day of travel to Paris, that the airline was unable to fly due to strike action

BCine50.indd 35

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

The Technical Committee agreed to examine the interesting proposition from Marek Jicha ACK who informed the delegates of the standard Czech DRA system for archiving and restoration. This is a costly but superior system for restoring film to a digital master. A proposal from the Polish Society from Jarek Szoda PSC to create an IMAGO Projection Standard for Theatres resulted in Jarek being invited by Kommer Kleijn to join the Technical Committee. He was duly elected and the issue will be pursued. Whereas every intention had pointed towards the next IAGA being held at Camerimage in late November 2012, the absence of positive news from the Polish organisers resulted in many alternative suggestions. The IAGA with the growing number of societies has become an expensive drain particularly on the resources of the hosting society. The future financial subsidy to IMAGO will have to be reduced, but there were many offers from the societies of Spain, Austria, Croatia and Ireland, all of whom would like to host the event if financial support is forthcoming. The general secretary reported that it would be a financial challenge for IMAGO to arrange two IAGAS in one year. The possibility that eDIT Festival, Frankfurt, will no longer be a “shop window” for cinematography was regretted by the president who pledged support for the fledgling Festival at Ostrava in the Czech Republic, the Manaki Bros in Macedonia and a possible repeat of the successful Master Class at Camerimage. Files relating to the IMAGO book “Making Pictures, A century of European Cinematography” have now been deposited in a new home in Amsterdam in ten boxes. They are now stored at the Film School under the supervision of Herman Verschuur NSC. They have been examined by Cristina Busch who concluded that to republish this magnificent book would require communication with the rights holders of photographs illustrating the 100 films chosen to represent the last century of film making. The original agreement was to make 17,000 copies but only 7,500 had been made. The advice received is that within the original contract

there exists no carte blanche to print the remaining 9,500 copies. It is suggested that a “simulation” exercise to ten rights holder would reveal a truer picture of the real projected cost of republishing and recovering some of the original outlay. Gratitude was expressed to Cristina Busch and Herman Verschuur for the time and energy spent on this research. In concluding the IAGA in Paris the President thanked all delegates and especially the AFC and President Caroline Champetier for the faultless organisation. Richard Andry AFC received special gratitude from the Board and the IAGA for his extensive work in organising the perfect IAGA. The final day of the Paris IAGA was spent at the AFC Micro Salon where Richard Andry had organised a “carte blanche”, which included a showing of the first IMAGO film “Together, The Spirit of IMAGO” which he had conceived, produced, shot and edited. This is available for viewing in the video section of the IMAGO. org web site. IMAGO wishes to express its gratitude to Haskell Wexler ASC for permission to use material from his films on the ASC International Summit which are also available to be seen in four parts on the IMAGO. org web. We would also like to express appreciation to Panavision for supplying equipment to shoot the film, to Directors Cut in London for the post production, and the sponsors without whom the event would not have been so successful. Nigel Walters BSC President of IMAGO

Speak up... Carlo Mendoza of the FSC addressing the IAGA on behalf of the Phillipine Society. Lend me your ears... Richard Andry AFC with Nigel Walters BSC and PaulRene Roestad FNF. Hard at work... the delegates study a presentation. Phot credit: Andreas Fischer-Hansen DFF.

BCine50.indd 36

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

“United we stand” President’s IAGA introductory speech

It is twenty years since a few men of vision from France, Italy, Germany and Great Britain worked out a plan to unite the cinematographers of their own societies in an organisation we know today as IMAGO. In 1992 Europe was in some turmoil, particularly for our profession, as our colleagues from large tracts of the former Eastern Europe were allowed to cross frontiers without barriers for the first time to seek freedom and employment. The original four were soon joined by the neighbouring societies drawn together in a spirit of comradeship and co-operation. Slowly on the path to the horizon, that original vision had grown to be a European dream as societies joined until there were no more left to become members of IMAGO. They had seemingly reached the Eldorado of their dreams-or had they? Having conquered the aspirations of that horizon of hope they could see another horizon, crowded with societies of cinematographers searching for answers. It was the bigger world beyond. It was realised that challenges, mutual problems and aspirations were shared in common further away from that artificial barrier we know as the EU. Cinematographers were feeling vulnerable. More members joined IMAGO in the realisation that the new technical challenges and problems facing cinematographers were indeed global, and needed a commensurate response. The world was changing and still is. We ignore change at our peril. Like the three musketeers who found strength in unity, with the fourth they were even stronger. The dark clouds gathering more than a decade ago gave birth to a new expression, which further challenged cinematographers to adapt or die. It became known as the digital revolution. Over one hundred years of peaceful progress in cinematography had been traumatised in a decade. Digitalization is the bond which unwittingly has brought us together in Paris. The aspiration to improve the general standard of cinematography is shared by all. The abuse of our imagery through the bewildering methods of transmitting new technology has left us more determined to pursue our legitimate rights to secure proper remuneration by universal recognition that we are authors of our cinematography. The realisation that the concept of authors rights would bring a new found respect and justice to cinematographers was shared by many societies as diverse and far apart as Australia, Brazil, and Japan. The battle to win some European minds still continues. New challenges arose. Threats were perceived, some real, some imaginary. The perception of the world became a Global one. No longer did Europe have the luxury of manufacturing film cameras almost exclusively the Éclair, Angenieux or Arriflex, the lenses by Zeis, Angenieux or Cooke, of even the satisfaction of manufacturing its own film stock. The new order has opened new pressures to both manufacturers and creative artists. It has also brought fresh opportunities. How we deal with them will determine the future of our profession as cinematographers.

BCine50.indd 37

The Russian red flag has been replaced by the Red revolution of America, ironically. It is incredible how that Red camera has changed our thinking and ultimately our lives. The greatest threat to film it now transpires is probably not the Red, but whether film will continue to be manufactured. The aesthetic considerations of the choice for the cinematographer and his director as to whether or not to shoot The Hurt Locker or Black Swan or The Wrestler on Super 16mm will no longer be available. There will be no stock to film on. This commercial decision is no longer in the hands of Europe or cinematographers. The significance of this IAGA is to establish the next stage on the journey for IMAGO. Whether we consolidate and introduce a policy of “laissez-faire”, a mental European barrier of complacency or whether we move forward and tackle the challenges that we know we all face on a global basis. In the last year IMAGO has experienced invaluable goodwill and assistance from the Societies of Australia and Israel in helping our Master Class and Working Conditions Committee. Would it not make sense to harness this energy and become stronger? There will be more of you associates Societies who would rise to the challenge of forming alliances of co-operation in your part of the World, under the umbrella of IMAGO. Are all our “Associate” countries not worthy of been classed as full members with voting rights if they wish to constructively assist in achieving IMAGO’s wider goals? Proposals have been presented prior to this IAGA to elect two members from outside Europe as Board members. In other words they would be welcome to serve as full Board members but their Societies would not have the dignity of being classified as full members of IMAGO! The logic of this defeats me. This is the fundamental issue for me at this IAGA. Perhaps we should remember that the influence of our friends from the RGC of Russia stretches far beyond China to their borders with Japan. Members of a full IMAGO Society are filming today in deepest Asia. Recently Monsieur Francoise Hollande, who may be the next Socialist President of France, quoted Shakespeare. Most people are aware that unfortunately for him it was not the Shakespeare of Stratford fame but a Nicholas Shakespeare. I would like to draw your attention, not the humour of the situation, but the words he really did quote, “They failed because they did not begin with a dream”.

Today IMAGO has reached the new horizon and is facing with the world proudly with our heads held high. Our Associates now number fourteen societies representing Cinematographers. An email recently from the Hong Kong President indicated a positive response to IMAGO’s invitation. The dream is there and the opportunity for an even stronger Federation exists. There must be no turning away from the task in Europe. On Authors Rights our friends outside the EU are enthusiastically awaiting the results of the progress which is being made thanks to the indefatigable work of Dr Busch and in particular the BvK in Germany and the AEC of Spain. We all share the aims of a decent reward for cinematographers, improvements in working conditions and above all an improvement in standards of cinematography which IMAGO assists by organising Master classes and seminars. If I have learnt one thing in four years as President it is that we cinematographers are incredibly generous towards one another. The designers, editors, sound engineers, directors, musicians have nothing like IMAGO and are envious of the great Festivals for Cinematography such as Camerimage in Poland, the Manaki Brothers in Macedonia and the young Festival being established in Ostrava in the Czech Republic with IMAGO support. My fellow delegates we are here today because of a man who did begin with a dream, Luciano Tovoli. His dream was to unite cinematographers from everywhere. His dream I am sure did not stop at the borders of Portugal, Greece or Norway. My dream is that today we extend his vision to encourage the Societies of South America, the great cinematographers of India and Asia, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to unite with one another and play a constructive role in IMAGO as full members in our extraordinary brotherhood. There is nothing to fear.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 38

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 39

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

GTC –––John Rossetti GTC

Look out

This February we’ve had the BSC show at Elstree and BVE (for the last time at Earls Court) so, my readers, most of you will probably already have in your mind a tasty piece of new kit worthy of mention here. When I was asked to write about something that members of the BSC, GBCT and GTC might be interested in, I had to have a good think, a camera perhaps, the Canon C300 or ARRI Alexa Studio, a new lens from Cooke Optics, the impressive TechnoCrane that almost reached from one side of Earls Court 2 to the other, then it clicked, surly the thing most common to us all is that mega pixel, variable zoom, 3D, full colour index device… the eyeball! With it we define composition, lighting, colour, motion and surprisingly sound. Whilst we test our cameras, check our lenses, go to great lengths to keep everything clean, and finally insure the kit, when was the last time you tested your eyes? Or gave them some maintenance, as for insurance? Yes I thought so. I decided that most BSC members would probably skip this article, GBCT and GTC members might read it, but hopefully students will read this as all good students should read everything in this magazine, twice, at least. So good student I write this for you, you are almost certainly under 25 and, God willing, have a couple of Mk 1 eyeballs in tip top condition, with them you will define your career through your experiences fed to you through them. You will be judged solely on what you do with them, and what you learn from them, when you frame a shot, define the focus, set the lighting and check the colours from them. These devices nature gave you, for free, will be your greatest assets, forget all the expensive test equipment, your eyes tell you much more about a picture than a waveform will. They are great two-way devices – in one direction you learn, and in the other you apply. For those of you who think I’m stating the bleeding obvious, I make no apologies, let me ask you, yes you lurker reader, when, before you were 50 (being generous) did you have your eyes checked and cleaned ?

BCine50.indd 40

Take care of your most precious piece of kit!

In the Autumn of 2010 good friend and lighting guru, Alan Bermingham wrote an article for the GTC magazine Zerb about “Safety Of The Eye”. In his article he went to great lengths to warn about UV radiation from LED lighting, as everyone these days seems to be running into their nearest shop to buy one of these lights, it might be a good idea to make the point again. Some cheap LED heads are quiet high in UV around the 280nm to 400nm range. As these lights tend to be used closer than conventional lighting it should be noted that excess exposure within this range can: accelerate the ageing process in the eye accelerate the formation of cataracts (clouding of the lens) cause a form of sunburn of the cornea (snow blindness, photokeratitis) cause sunburn cause skin cancer To be fair, these problems can be caused by conventional lighting with the wrong, or no lens on the front, and the old Arc Lights certainly did claim a victim or two (arc eye). So dear student, next time you jump from the Matterhorn with your Mk2 GoPro, remember your Mk1 eyeballs and protect them, also, the next time you use your treasured camera, do think about who else might have used that eyepiece. Good luck, good looking. John Rossetti

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine50.indd 41

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

All Time Greats –––Ronald Elwin Neame CBE BSC Guy Green OBE BSC

Lifes work

In 1933 he photographed his first feature called Happy with cinematographers Claude Friese Greene and Bryan Langley. He went on to shoot a number of quota quickies. He also worked at Ealing Studios on several George Formby films. Other features he worked on in the role of cinematographer included Major Barbara (1941), In Which We Serve (1942) and One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942), for which he received an Oscar nomination for best special effects. In July1943 Neame formed the production company Cineguild with David Lean and Anthony Havelock-Allan. It originally set out with the intention of filming the plays of Noel Coward. That period produced a number of outstanding films including Brief Encounter (1945), and Oliver Twist (1948), which Neame produced. His last film as a DP was Blithe Spirit (1945). He did a number of jobs on Brief Encounter. He was one of the producers; he helped to write the script, was credited along with others in charge of production and was the DP on additional photography. He received Academy Award nominations for the screenplays of Brief Encounter and Great Expectations. In 1947 he directed his first film Take my Life for J. Arthur Rank. Rank suggested that he studied the Hollywood production system. In 1950 he directed Golden Salamander and gave cinematographer Oswald Morris his break as a DP. Morris said: “I first met Ronald Neame in 1934 at Elstree Studios. He was operating for DP Claude Friese Greene, the son of film pioneer William Friese Greene. I operated a lot for Ronnie at Wembley Studios. He was buoyant in his work and was a born leader.”

BCine50.indd 42

Ronald Elwin Neame CBE BSC was born on 23 April 1911 in London. His father Elwin was a photographer, who went on to direct features. Tragically, in 1923, he died in a motorcycle accident. After his father’s death there were financial difficulties so Neame junior was forced to leave public school and get a job. After leaving school he went to work for the Anglo Persian Oil Company as an office boy. His mother was the actress Ivy Close, and through her contacts he managed to get a job as a messenger boy at Elstree Studios. He went on to learn about cameras and assisted on several films. After ten months he replaced Jack Cox’s assistant on Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail (1929).

Several of the films he directed, including The Million Pound Note (1954), featured American stars. The idea presumably was to attract American audiences. Neame directed the great Alec Guinness in four films including Tunes Of Glory (1960), of which he said was his proudest, and received two BAFTA nominations for his work. In 1963 he directed Judy Garland’s last film I Could Go On Singing. Camera operator Paul Wilson said Neame presented him with a tankard at the end of the film inscribed ‘For Stamina’. Wilson said that Garland was fine while singing but during her acting she would sometimes move the wrong way. Referring to one sequence Neame said: “Suddenly Judy had become the real Judy. It was no longer acting and it was absolutely wonderful. She bared her heart. I kept the camera running and at the end of the sequence everyone on the set was in tears. I said, ‘That’s it. We’ll never get that again’.” Neame’s last film before moving to America was Scrooge (1970). 20th Century Fox asked him to direct The Poseidon Adventure (1972) after the original director decided to leave the production. The film was a success and Neame collected 5% of what it earned. In 1996 he was awarded a CBE for services to the film industry and a BAFTA Fellowship for his contribution to the film industry. In 2002 he published his autobiography Straight From The Horses Mouth, published by Scarecrow Press. The title was taken from Neame’s 1958 film The Horses Mouth. The star Alec Guinness won the Best Actor trophy at the 1958 Venice Festival. His last film was a short called The Magic Balloon (1990). He passed away on 16 June 2010 aged ninetynine in a Los Angeles hospital, six weeks after having had a fall. Sadly his son Christopher, who was a writer and producer, died one year after his father. Neame’s brother Derek and grandson Gareth also joined the film industry.

Ronnie Neame with John and Hayley Mills, when he was directing The Chalk Garden 1964. You’re nicked.... Ronald Neame with Laurence Olivier. Experienced eyes... a portrait of Ronald Neame. Watch the birdie... Ronnie Neame on set.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Two greats together... Guyr Green BSC with Oswald Morris BSC on the set of Oliver Twist. Composed... Guy Green at work beside the camera. Hands on... portrait of cinematographer Guy Green.

Guy Green OBE BSC was born on 15 November 1913 in Frome, Somerset. He left school at sixteen joining a passenger liner as a projectionist for the commercial Maritime Film Service. He went on to work as a clapper boy with a company that shot advertisements. He became a partner in a portrait studio and in 1933 he became an assistant cameraman. He went on to become a camera operator, working with DP Ronald Neame on One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing and In Which We Serve (1942).

By David A. Ellis

BCine50.indd 43

In 1944 he photographed his first feature The Way Ahead, a remake of The New Lot (1943). For this he received an Oscar. He went on to shoot and receive an Oscar for David Lean’s Great Expectations (1946), produced by Ronald Neame. Green then went on to film his first Technicolor feature Blanche Fury (1948). His operator was Oswald Morris, who later the same year operated for Green on Oliver Twist, another Lean picture produced by Neame. Morris said: “I watched Ronnie and Guy very carefully, observing their techniques. Guy was a very quiet person, he never shouted when he was working.”

Green considered Oliver Twist to be his best work as a DP. He said: “It was about grim, dirty interiors and I used a lot of diffused light, something which has become fashionable now with colour. I tried to get the effect of light coming through small dirty windows. It had a kind of richness of its own.” He shot two more films for Lean, Passionate Friends (1949), produced by Neame and Madeleine (1950). After shooting Rob Roy (1953) he turned to directing. The first film in his new role was River Boat (1954). In 1958 Green, Michael Relph, Basil Dearden, Jack Hawkins, Brian Forbes and Richard Attenborough formed Allied Filmmakers. Their first outing was The Angry Silence, released in 1960. It was directed by Green and photographed by the late Arthur Ibbetson. In 1968 he directed The Magus shot by award winning cinematographer Billy Williams BSC. Williams said: “Guy was a lovely man and very good to work with. He let me do my own thing; he didn’t tell me how to do it. Sometimes I wonder if it would have been better if he had given me a few hints.” Green had several talents. As well as directing and being one of the producers on the much-acclaimed Patch Of Blue (1965), he wrote the screenplay, which was nominated for a writer’s Guild award. Green’s last cinema feature was The Devil’s Advocate (1977), also photographed by Billy Williams. He went on to direct several TV movies. In 2002 he was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by BAFTA for his outstanding contributions to British cinema. In 2004 he was awarded the OBE. There are many similarities between Neame and Green. They were both cinematographers who went on to directing and producing, they were both screen writers and they both went to live in the States. Guy Green passed away at his home in Beverly Hills on 15 September 2005.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine51May2012 Cinematography Now Special supplement Photochemical & Digital\On-set to Post With 50 editions under our belts, we thought it time to look at cinematography now, and how it might evolve in the future. Inside this unmissable supplement...

–– Landmark moments in the last 10 years –– Great Debate: Industry leaders and top DPs give us their views Where does film stand vs digital? What are the biggest challenges facing DPs today? How will cinematography change in the future? –– Warner Bros Studios Leavesden Your guide to the UK’s new super-studios –– Editorial special covering on-set to post Cameras, lenses and lighting kit for 2D and 3D stereo New filmstocks On-set tools, the DIT and workflow Traditional labs vs digital labs Dailies and editorial LUTs and colour science DI facilities, digital projection and DCPs –– Production close-ups Features being shot on film and digital, including 007 James Bond Skyfall

BCine50.indd 44

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Meet the New Wave –––James Friend Cinematographer

A F

L R

Filmography (so far): The Liability (2012), Papadopoulos & Sons (2011), Piggy (2011), Turnout (2010), Ghosted (2010), The Academy (TV) When did you discover you wanted to be a cinematographer? I always wanted to be a filmmaker since I can remember. The first time I saw Alien when I was 13, I didn’t know how to articulate who was responsible for the atmospherics and why I was so drawn to it. Before film school I did plenty of research and I gravitated to camera and lighting. Where did you train? I studied electrical engineering when I left school and went up through the lighting department. I attended the Craft Extension Programme in Cinematography at the London Film School and most of the short camera courses at the NFTS. Paul Wheeler BSC took me on as an apprentice when I was 18 and remains a great mentor to this day. I have had the honour of being his operator and 2nd unit DP. What are your favourite films? Alien (1979, DP Derek Vanlint CSC), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962, DP Freddie Young BSC), Road To Perdition (2002, DP Conrad L. Hall), The Godfather (1972, DP Gordon Willis ASC), Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996, DP Alex Thomson BSC) and the 007 James Bond movies – for being part of my childhood. What’s the best advice you were ever given? Paul Wheeler taught me to light one lamp at a time, and that sometimes turning lights off is more effective than turning them on! Who are your industry heroes? Paul Wheeler BSC – for endless advice, support and teaching me everything they don’t at film school. Phil Méheux BSC – I adore his work and for being a great mentor. Roger Deakins BSC ASC – for being a master of the craft and his naturalism in his imagery. Doug Slocombe BSC – a master of the craft too. What’s your proudest moment so far? Being asked to fly to LA to shoot a pop promo for Ozzy Osbourne. Tell us about your best and worst moments on set? Best: shooting on Underwater Stage at Pinewood for the film Ghosted. The scene is the film’s finale and also the day we wrapped. Must also be last year working with Sir Ian McKellen and Tim Roth. Two heroes of mine. Worst: as an arachnophobe, I shot a music video with fifty tarantulas on set, When we wrapped only 47 were found! What’s your most hilarious faux pas? Mistakingly using a prop toilet - it looked real! Away from work, what are your greatest passions? My family, friends, sailing holidays and my three beautiful golden Labradors. Great food, 12-hours sleep and going to the cinema on my own. Its sad, perhaps, but I live and breathe film. What was you biggest challenge on you latest production? In December last year we started shooting a continuous action scene over five days in the most Northern point of the country, in very dense woodland. On the recces I discovered we only had six hours of usable light per day, and we were hit with every weather condition you can think of. We made the page count - just about!

BCine50.indd 45

I I

E N

N D

What one piece of kit could you not live without? I have a lucky light meter pouch and a pan glass that was given to me by my mentor. What’s weirdest place you’ve ever shot in? A fully-functioning Wild West town in rural Kent called Loredo. People would live there in cowboy costumes for extensive periods of time with no electricity. What’s the hardest shot/thing you’ve had to light/frame? A three-minute wonder for channel 4 that was one tracking shot with 200 dancers. Everyone had to hit their marks otherwise the shot was useless. Nearly forty takes later we got it on the final one as the sun was going down. Tell us your hidden talent/party trick? I am quite good at impressions. In the entire history of filmmaking, which film would you love to have shot? Can I have two? Alien (DP Derek Vanlint CSC) and Lawrence Of Arabia (DP Freddy Young BSC) What are your current top albums? Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Stones and Ennio Morricone are all I need. What’s your greatest extravagance? A strong blend of English Breakfast Tea from Fortnum & Mason. What’s the best thing about being a DP? The craft never stops evolving. I have never had the same day at work since I have been behind the camera. Collaborating with new people, with fresh ideas in different environments and that every day offers new challenges. It’s a craft that allows you to imbue a story with your imagination. What’s the worst thing about being a DP? I feel that I let my family and friends down too frequently with work commitments. I had to travel from my grandfather’s funeral straight to set on one occasion. Also, I dislike trying to shoot a feature film in four weeks – I feel that I never can reach my full potential. We as cinematographers/filmmakers have to compromise too much and are judged on how the picture looks, not what it could have looked like with an extra ten minutes! But sometimes we do enjoy the chaos. Give us three adjectives that best describe you and your approach to cinematography? Enthusiastic. Simple. Passionate If you weren’t a DP, what job would you be doing now? I’d be a secret agent. What are your aspirations for the future? To continue being challenged. Perhaps to shoot more commercials. To never stop learning, and one day, when I’m ready, to become James Friend BSC.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

BCine51 Cinematography Now Special supplement Photochemical & Digital\On-set to Post May2012

BCine50.indd 46

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

GBCT –––The chairman’s statement & news from The Guild

Tim Potter (1AC/Focus Puller) (Chairman) Sarah Hayward (Script Supervisor) David Worley (Camera Operator) (Vice-Chairs) Jamie Harcourt (Camera Operator) Jem Morton (Key Grip) John Keedwell (Lighting Camera) Keith Mead (Key Grip) Louise Ben-Nathan (2AC/Clapper Loader) Trevor Coop (Camera Operator) Darren Miller (Camera Operator) Julian Morson (Camera Operator) Hilda Sealy (1AC/Focus Puller) (Board Members) Rod Marley (1AC/Focus Puller) (Honorary Treasurer)

The rules When you first play a game you try to learn the rules as quickly as possible. When I went freelance as a clapper/ loader I needed to find out the rules of our game, and fast. I did the most sensible thing I could think of: I sat a grip down in a bar with a pint and got the low-down on what to charge for, what hours etc. Having a set of rules (however, vague) made sense to me. There was no need for negotiating every little detail of every contract every time you started a job. Both worker and producer knew where they stood. There was always room for being flexible around the edges and to adjust for good reasons if the job required it. These were not halcyon days as there was always someone who would try to pull a fast one, but on the whole you knew the basic rules of the game and how far you could go. The game was understood by all. When the old feature film producers’ organization (BFTPA) merged with the body that represented the independent television producers (IPPA) to form PACT, just over twenty years ago, they seemed to want to continue with the notion of a rule book for the workplace. However, their idea of a set of rules was one that was lowest common denominator. It was a package that was carefully constructed so that every condition, penalty or restriction could be bought out by a payment so minimal that it could be considered part of each worker’s basic deal. PACT’s negotiators pushed this agreement through by exploiting the parlous state of the industry in the early 1990s, and by the simple tactic of just saying ‘No’ to every point put by the Union. This was a style of macho management that smacked of an earlier era in the 1980s. BECTU’s negotiators saw this for what it was, a charter for non-compliance, and, when it was clear that no progress could be made, rejected the whole deal. They were overruled by a frighten executive and the PACT/BECTU Agreement passed into history as a totally unused and discredited document. We entered a period of twenty years of effectively unregulated industrial relations. This was only relieved by two things in the intervening years. The passing into law of the Working Time Regulations brought into being the mandatory 11hr break between work periods, putting a block on excessive hours as it became very difficult to schedule them. The only other relief was the short-lived period, in 1994, when BECTU unilaterally published the rates that workers were actually getting on jobs. This raised howls of indignation from the producers and temporarily brought them back to the table. How dare the workers know the real rules of the game!

BCine50.indd 47

Guild of British Camera Technicians Board Members.

Over the past five years the Union has returned to this powerful idea and made a concerted effort to publish going-rates information to all areas of the industry. This was a movement to get the real information out to those who could use it. The thinking was that if everyone knew what everyone else was being paid, they would be in the best position to argue for getting that rate themselves. Once, a long time ago, a muchtreasured union official said to me “What is the point of a union that does not negotiate its members pay?”. This was the motivation behind this campaign. This, combined with valiant individual efforts from groups in specific areas like construction, electrical and, of course, the grips has gradually brought us to the position where the producers of feature films have come round to the point where they are asking for a set of rules. It was a pleasure recently to sit down across the negotiating table for the first time in twenty years, and this time see people who appeared to actually want an agreement that we could all work with. The negotiations are at an early ‘fact-finding’ stage (which everyone who works on pictures can help with by telling the Union, in strictest confidence, what they were paid on pictures in 2011 and the hours that they worked, just send the info to film2012@bectu.org.uk). It is hoped that, armed with these facts, we will arrive at a point where we will we able to agree a set of rules that reflect best practice and actual pay. The key to any new agreement is the ability to make all involved comply with its terms. The history of lack of compliance from the producer’s organisation is a long legacy to have to deal with. It is clear from the honourable producers we have been talking to that compliance will make their life and work more manageable but it remains to be seen if their organization will really be able to overcome its past reluctance to discipline its members and become an agent of fair industrial relations that is truly fit for purpose. Tim Potter, Chair, GBCT

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

The BSC Show 2012 Report by John Keedwell GBCT

Elstree Studios was once again the home to the BSC Show, and was extremely busy on both days. Getting a feel for how successful 2011 had been came with mixed messages. 2011 was not widely regarded as a particularly high point, even though there were many British films produced. It was a busy year for some, yet many were less than happy with their output. So there was general air of optimism for the camera crews I spoke to as they looked towards 2012. The show had a wide variety of new products and ideas, and it was great to experience so many people advancing a wealth of new tools for filmmakers, often pushing the boundaries of science. However, there are several areas that are bad news for the cinematographer. 2011 will perhaps be defined as the time when digital cinema gained a real hold over film. Albeit inaccurately predicted for tens of years now, this time it feels different, with the apparent demise of Kodak, after a 131-year history in film manufacture, and many films now being shot digitally. The changes were poignantly demonstrated at the Oscars ceremony this year. Each year Hollywood says its own fond farewell to the stars and filmmakers who have passed away in the past year. This year, the awards show also bade farewell to the Kodak Theater. The stars and presenters were told to call it the Hollywood and Highland Center. Even though seven out of the nine “Best Picture” nominees were shot on Kodak the 2012 cinematography winner, Hugo was shot digitally. www.elstreestudios.co.uk

BCine50.indd 48

Images from Hugo.

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Cameras

LIGHTING

ARRI

2011 and 2012 might be seen in years to come as the defining years for a shift in lighting equipment, with LED lamps becoming more frequently used in major productions. There had been a distinct lack of enthusiasm for several years concerning the use of LED’s in major productions, however, the many advantages of some LED lights have helped them grow in popularity in recent years. Some of the advantages are: 1/ Low power draw with an extremely high light output mean production power bills are reduced considerably. 2/ Cool running means less heat transferred to actors and studio, keeping the studio air conditioning costs low. 3/ They are mostly now dimmable with no colour shift. 4/ They are either daylight or tungsten balanced that can match other forms of lighting. 5/ Lightweight fixtures that can be placed anywhere. 6/ They are generally quite rugged, have a consistent illumination life of tens of thousands of hours, and you don’t need to carry spares. LED’s certainly have their own particular difficulties in manufacturing, and it is far more difficult than imagined for some manufacturers to achieve a good colour rendition unless the fixture is managed correctly in many ways. Generally the more costly the fixture the better care has been taken over colour and heat management that will ensure consistency. Kino Flo were on the Cirrolite stand, and Frieder was there showing the new, soft source, Celeb LED lamp that draws very little power compared to its output. The main features include: • A dial-in variable colour temperature control • Full-range Dimming without colour shift • Programmable presets ranging from 2700K – 5500K • 100W of soft light with more lumens than a traditional 750W tungsten soft light fixture • Onboard and remote dimming • Universal power supply for 100VAC-240VAC or 24VDC • Gel frame and honeycomb louver • Centre mounting point for 360 degree use Dedolight was also in attendance, demonstrating its new LED Classic range of 40W fixtures with the legendary dedolight optics as control. There is a daylight, tungsten and Bi-Colour version. There was also the Panaura 7 Octo, and this is similar to the well known 5ft Octodome www.cirrolite.com www.kinoflo.com www.dedolight.com

Perhaps the camera to run away with the most respect is the ARRI ALEXA, with the ALEXA Studio at the pinnacle of the range. The obvious benefit that delighted operators is the inclusion of the optical viewfinder – they can see exactly what is happening, as it happens, with less eye fatigue. Cinematographers also appreciate the 14 stops of reported latitude and the quiet, adjustable mirror shutter that avoids the “rolling shutter” effect. The ability to judge lighting and lens choice through the viewfinder and to work with the camera even when it is powered down, with blocking, setting up shots, pre-lighting or rehearsing before the camera is powered up are vital, and can save precious time on-set. The ALEXA also has a 4 x 3 aspect ratio Super 35 sensor that enables native anamorphic shooting. Anamorphic lenses create a unique, cinematic look, appreciated by cinematographers for over half a century, that cannot really be created in post. The ability to shoot at 120fps is a major advance too – there is now no additional expense of carrying an extra high-speed camera body. High Speed mode uses the same number of pixels and the same Super 35 sensor area as Regular Speed mode, and the images keep the same cinematic shallow depth-of-field and the same angle of view for all lenses In some ways digital cameras took us back a step from the methods we all know and understand. ALEXA perhaps is a move back in the right direction. www.arri.com www.arrimedia.com

P+S Technik

P+S has added the PS-Cam X35, to add to its impressive camera line-up, including the WEISSCAM HS-2 MKII that can shoot up to 4,000fps on a single CMOS, sized at Super 35. The PS-Cam X35 is a film-style digital camera with many creative speed and motion effects. Frame rates from 1fps up to 450fps can be achieved, with the possibilities of slow, normal and ramped speeds and also time-lapse. All this is combined with a 35mm-sized CMOS sensor with a base 640 ISO rating, and reported 11-stop range. www.pstechnik.de

Take 2 Films were proudly showing their range of Mole Richardson lamps, as they were recently confirmed as a new dealership in the UK. Mole Richardson has a long history of building large arc, HMI and Fresnels lamps, and was last represented in the UK 25 years ago. The Mole Richardson lamp is an iconic design, and its range of lighting is huge. In particular the 24kW Daylight Fresnel was of particular interest to many, as it is the largest single HMI Fresnel lamp in the world. Tremendous care has been taken in light control, performance and the physical challenges of the dissipation of heat this type of lamp generates. www.take2films.co.uk Licht Technik took the award for perhaps the largest area of light in the BSC show, with the huge Skylight. The “artificial sky” is particularly suited to car shoots, or many other applications where a large source is required. The light has eight modules with 80W T5 tubes. It is all controllable by DMX, and can be dimmed from 100% down to 10%. This light gives a huge soft source that is extremely controllable, just make sure the studio is big enough! www.licht-technik.com Gekko Technology unveiled the Ohm. This is a high output, colour correct, broad spectrum, soft light source. The Ohm was designed specifically for motion picture and television applications, where a large volume of ambient top light is required. However, it is unlike similar tungsten-based sources, as it has the ability to dim and still produces consistent colour within the whole dimming range. What makes the Ohm truly special is each unit is individually calibrated at the factory, and the lamp incorporates closed-loop feedback and algorithms to preserve colour quality over the life of the unit. This ensures an excellent match with other units irrelevant of manufacturing batch. The lamp has the ability to guarantee light output at a wide range of ambient temperatures. Features include: colour-tunable LED technology, CRI rating >92 at 3200K, and a 35,000 hour operational life. www.gekkotechnology.com

BCine50.indd 49

13/03/2012 11:57

British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

Digital Recorders:

When shooting on any digital camera, you need reliable storage, and there is more choice than ever now. The Cinedeck EX is an on-board camera recording device, and the new Cinedeck RX is an ultra-compact, rackmount, twin-channel HDTV recording device that is totally tapeless. It gives anyone with a HDMI, HD-SDI and LAN capable camera access to cinema-grade recording at a fraction of the price of a comparably featured tapedeck. Record settings and playback transport are accessed via a stunningly straightforward 7” high-rez, touchscreen user interface. Two decks can be fitted side by side in a 19” 4RU rack and it has four removable 2.5” SSD drives that are accessed from the front of the unit. Cinedeck RX captures from all leading production formats, and can be used for single input, dual-input two camera, or 3D stereo shoots. Cinedeck systems create edit-ready material and natively support Avid and Apple standards – supporting Avid DNxHD (wrapped as MXF OP-Atom or QuickTime), JFIF for proxies, and all Apple ProRes codec formats, including 4444, CineForm and uncompressed 444 (10-bit) or 422 (8- or 10-bit). www.cinedeck.com

Codex

Another British company leading the world in camera data storage and file-based workflow solutions is Codex. The company showed the Codex Vault, a standalone solution requiring no external drives or processing. It has its own internal processor and works with Codex 1TB Transfer Drives for automatic back-up of camera original data. It provides a single, standardised workflow regardless of the camera. It also has the capability to produce deliverables in all formats required for dailies review, post production and archival purposes. Codex also has the Codex Onboard recorder and the ARRIRAW Recorders. The Codex Onboard can record uncompressed or wavelet cinema-quality HD material – plus audio and metadata – onto a single, removable data pack. When shooting is done, it offloads material much faster than real-time – typically three to five times faster.

The ARRIRAW Recorder can record one channel of ARRIRAW up to 30fps – plus audio and metadata – onto a single, removable data pack. The ARRIRAW PLUS Recorder is additionally able to record two channels of ARRIRAW (ideal for stereoscopic) up to 30fps and allows the recording of ARRIRAW at frame rates up to 60fps. The recorders can be mounted directly on a wide range of camera systems including the Sony F23, F35, Arri D-21 and Arri Alexa. There has been a great success in 2011, with over 50 major films being shot on the Codex on board recorder. www.codexdigital.com

Lenses Cooke Optics

Cooke Optics’ name is synonymous with quality, British-made optics and workmanship, and many cinematographers choose their lenses for the “Cooke Look” - a sharp, subtle, smooth rendering that provides dimensionality and high contrast, and pleases the eye. Cooke showed its full range of lenses, with the 5/i range being of great interest. This range is promoted as the lenses that can “See in the dark”. The lenses have T1.4 speed and a focus ring that illuminates when you need it. External lamps are no longer necessary for the focus puller to see in the dark because this new design incorporates a simple on/off and dimmer to adjust the level of illumination desired on the aperture ring, without affecting the light coming into the camera. All of the 5/i Prime lenses are supplied with /i Technology, and are designed for all PL mounted professional motion picture film and electronic cameras. /i Technology provides cinematographers and camera operators with vital information on lens setting, focusing distance, aperture and depth-of-field, hyperfocal distance, serial number, owner data, lens type and focal length in both metric and footage measurements. For zoom lenses, the zoom position is also displayed. www.cookeoptics.com

Grip & other kit: Panavision

The Panaconda, from Panavision Remote Systems, is a motorised mobile and multi-terrain crane base. It enables a 50ft Supertechno telescopic crane to traverse over rough terrain. Four hydraulic levelling jacks keep the base level on uneven surfaces, and the lens height of 48ft can be achieved with the 50ft Supertechno. It is operated via a joystick or with a handheld wireless remote control unit. www.panavision.co.uk

Filters:

Lee filters introduced Perforated Diffusion filters. These filters work with large soft lighting sources such as LED panels and Kino-Flo, and the filter diffuses light, in a different way. This reduces contrast between highlight areas and produces a soft directional source by allowing a combination of direct light and diffused light to combine to produce an interesting and unique look. The 439P Perforated Heavy Quiet Frost utilises a combination of both direct and strongly diffused light for a subtly different effect. www.leefilters.com

9th International Trade Fair for Cine Equipment and Technology Munich M,O,C, 22 – 24 September 2012 www.cinec.de

Once upon a time there was 3D stereo with two cameras, but how about these plenoptic cameras? How fly!

BCine50.indd 50

13/03/2012 11:58

W CO W W O W B-M.UK .OB C W W OB O.U W. C.C W -MC W O O W CO W -MCK W B-M .UK .OB.CO. W O W U W B-M.UK .OB.CO. W C.C WW-MC K W C W U .O O W OB O.U W. C.C W -MC K W B- .UKW.O.CO WW M . W O O W CO W -MCK W B-M .UK .OB.CO. WW C.C WWB-MUK W.OB W O W U W B-M.UK .OB.CO. W C.C WW-MC K W.OB O.U W.OC.CO WWMC .C - K C W U .O O W OB O.U W. C.C W -MC K W B- .UKW.O.CO WWMC WWB-M .UK .OB O.U .C M . W O O W CO W -MCK W B-M .UK .OB.CO. WW C.C WWB-MUK W.OB O.U W.OC.COWW MC K W W OB .U . .C W C W - UK .O O W C W -M K B .U W .C W . M . W . O O W -MCK W B- O.UK .O .CO WW C.C WWB-MUK W.OBCO.U W.OC.C WW MC K WOB- .UKW.O .U W.O .C WWMC W B-M.UK .O O. W C.C W -M K B- O.U W. .CO W MC W B-M K B O .C W C W B U .O O W C W M K O . W .C W C. WW -M .UK .OB O.U W. .CO W -MCK W B-M .UK .OB.CO WW C.C WWB-MUK W.OB O.U W.OC.CO .U C W C W - K O W B- O.U W.O .CO WWMC. W B-M.UK .OB.CO. W C.C WW-MC K W.OB O.UKW.OC.CO WWMC K W B-M.UK -M C W W - U .O O W . M K B .U B . . .C W C W W C.C WW-MC K W.OB O.U W.OC.CO WWMC K W B-M.UK .O CO.UWW C.CWW -M UK OB- O.U W. .CO WW K . O C W K OB- O.U W. .CO WW-MC W B-M .UK .OB.CO. WW C.C WWB-M K W.OB O.U W.O .CO W MC K W B- .UK .O W O . W .C W MC K W B- .UK .O .CO W C. W -M UK .OB O.U W. C.C W MC K W B- .UKW.O CO WWMC WWB-M .C M O W .C W M B . . C W C W - K O O W . C B .U -M.UK .OB O.U W C.CWW -MCUK WOB- O.U W.O.CO WWMC W B-M .UK .OBCO. WW C.C WW -M K W.OB- O.U W. . U . O .O C . W M K . K W W W C.CO W -MCK W B- O.U .O .CO WW C.C WWB-MUK .OBCO.U W. C.C WW-MC K WOB- .UKW.O .CO WWMC. W .O O O W . W B . . M W M K B .U W B-M.UK .OB.CO. W C.C WW-MC K W.OB O.U W.OC.CO WWMC K W B-M.UK .O CO.UWW C.CWW -M UK O. WW C. WW -M UK .OB O.U W. .CO W -MCK W B-M .UK .OB.CO. WW C.C WWB-M K W.OB O.U W. C. W . W U . C C W -M K O U C O M K WOB- O.U W.O .CO WW C. WWB-M.UK .OBCO. W. C.C WW-MC K W.OB .UKW.O .CO WWMC. K C C U O O W M K B . B .O .CO WW C.C WW-M UK .OB O.U W. C.C W -MC K W B-M.UKW.O.CO. WWMC. WW -M .UK . B- .U .O O W C. W -M K OB O. W .C W C W B UK .O CO W C W MC K W B- .UK .O CO WW C. WW -M UK .OB O.U W .C W -MC W B- .U . . M O . .U W.O .CO WW C. WWB-MUK .OBCO. W. C.C WW-MC K W.OB- .UKW.O .CO WWMC. K C U O O K B W C. W -M.UK .OB O.U W. C.C W -MC K W B- .UKW.O.CO WWMC WWB-M .UK . .C C W C W - K O O W . M C B .U B- O.U W. .CO WWMC W B-M .UK .OBCO. WW C.C WW -M K W.OB O.U W. . O W U W MC K W B- .UK .OB.CO W C.C WW-M K W.OB O.U W.OC.C WWMC K C O .U .O O W .C W M W . - K K .OB O.U W. C.C W -MC K W B-M.UKW.O.CO. WWMC. WWB-M .UK . W -M K OB O. W .C W C W B U .O CO W C W C W - UK .O O W .C W -M K W B .U . . W .C W MC W B- .U .O O W C W -M K .O O W .C W M K B .U . .C B- .U .O O W C. W -M K OB O. W C. M K W B- .U . CO WW C W -M UK . O C. W CO W MC K W B- .UK .OB.CO W C. M . . .U W.O CO WW C W -M UK . K B .U . .C W C W -M K OB O. W . W C W - UK . W .C W MC .O O W . B- .U . K British Cinematographer Covering International Cinematography www.britishcinematographer.co.uk Issue 050 ––– March 2012

[72mm x 78mm]

TO ADVERTISE IN BCine MAGAZINE PLEASE CONTACT:

Stuart Walters

e/ stuartwalters@britishcinematographer.co.uk t/ +44 (0) 121 608 2300

BCine50.indd 51

Classified –––Advertisements and subscription

SUBSCRIBE TO

SuB SCr ibe.

AWARD WINNING

BRITISH CINEMATOGRAPHER MAGAZINE

WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE YOU WILL RECEIVE AN UNRIVALLED INSIGHT INTO INTERNATIONAL FILM PRODUCTION.

NEXT ISSUE:

BCine +1 IS 50

–– SPECIAL CELEBRATORY ISSUE+SUPPLEMENT

––– Each issue will carry HEADLINE INTERVIEWS with key industry players. The film business is a people business – meet them here. ––– COMPREHENSIVE ROUND-UPS of INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTION NEWS and informed comment from industry bodies. ––– SPECIAL FEATURES will review key areas of the production industry. We will examine post-production and visual effects, H/D shooting, studios and locations, distribution and exhibitions, production companies, film lawyers and finance. ––– CAMERA CREATIVE. The UK boasts some of the top creative talent in the world. Readers get a unique chance to learn from them and examine exactly what makes them tick. ––– POST & TECHNO NEWS. Equipment, skills, stock and film technology. ––– NEWS, NEWS & NEWS. From around the regions, from Europe and F-Stop Hollywood. We will bring you up to speed with all the relevant news that affects your business.

Sign me up for 6 editions of British Cinematographer...

YES PLEASE!

(please tick box provided)

Name Title Company Address Post code Telephone Email Cheque enclosed for £/US$/€ made payable to Laws Publishing Ltd.

PLEASE RETURN YOUR COMPLETED FORM & PAYMENT TO: Subscriptions at British Cinematographer. Open Box Publishing. Regent Court, 68 Caroline St. Jewellery Quarter, Birmingham B3 1UG Any queries please contact: stuartwalters@britishcinematographer.co.uk

Published 6 times a year, you can receive the magazine posted to your home or office for just – UK: £36.00 / Europe: 58 / USA: $69 – all prices include post and packaging (Cheques made payable to Laws Publishing Ltd).

13/03/2012 11:58

BCine50.indd 52

13/03/2012 11:58