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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.
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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