Canadian Society of Cinematographers Magazine December 2017

CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS

$4 December 2017 www.csc.ca

Alias Grace

BRENDAN STEACY csc

Lenses Literary Giant

Gregory Middleton csc, asc Game of Thrones Serge Desrosiers csc The Queen of Sin

A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers Celebrating 60 years of excellence

FEATURES – VOLUME 9, NO. 7 DECEMBER 2017

The CSC provides tangible recognition of the common bonds that link film and digital professionals, from the aspiring student and camera assistant to the news veteran and senior director of photography.

We facilitate the dissemination and exchange of technical information and endeavor to advance the knowledge and status of our members within the industry.

As an organization dedicated to furthering technical assistance, we maintain contact with non-partisan groups in our industry but have no political or union affiliation.

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Credit: Sabrina Lantos/CBC/Netflix

Fostering cinematography in Canada since 1957.

The Canadian Society of Cinematographers was founded by a group of Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa cameramen. Since then over 800 cinematographers and persons in associated occupations have joined the organization.

Alias Grace: Brendan Steacy csc Lenses Literary Giant By Fanen Chiahemen

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Game Changer: Gregory Middleton csc, asc Takes on Game of Thrones

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer

Credit: Bertrand Calmeau

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The Queen of Sin: For Serge Desrosiers csc Miniaturization is King

By Fanen Chiahemen

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 2 4 6 8 10 32 34 36

From the Editor-In-Chief In the News IMAGO On Set Spotlight: Stan Barua csc The Masters Tech Column Production Notes/Calendar

Cover Alias Grace Sarah Gadon as Grace Marks. Credit: Jan Thijs/CBC/Netflix

Canadian Cinematographer December 2017 Vol. 9, No. 7 EDITORIAL BOARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc EDITOR EMERITUS Donald Angus EXECUTIVE OFFICER Susan Saranchuk, admin@csc.ca EDITOR Fanen Chiahemen, editor@csc.ca COPY EDITOR Karen Longland ART DIRECTION Berkeley Stat House WEBSITE www.csc.ca ADVERTISING SALES Guido Kondruss, gkondruss@rogers.com EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER Bruce Marshall, brucemarshall@sympatico.ca CSC BOARD OF DIRECTORS Carlos Esteves csc Joan Hutton csc Alwyn Kumst csc Antonin Lhotsky csc Bruno Philip csc Joseph Sunday PhD George Willis csc, sasc CSC EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT George Willis csc, sasc PAST PRESIDENT, ADVISOR Joan Hutton csc VICE PRESIDENTS Carlos Esteves csc, Toronto Alwyn Kumst csc, Vancouver Bruno Philip csc, Montreal MEMBERSHIP CHAIRS Arthur Cooper csc Phil Earnshaw csc EDUCATION CHAIRS Carlos Esteves csc George Willis csc, sasc AWARDS CHAIR Andre Pienaar csc, sasc Samy Inayeh csc PUBLIC RELATIONS CHAIR Bruce Marshall OFFICE / MEMBERSHIP / SUBSCRIPTIONS 131–3085 Kingston Road Toronto, Canada M1M 1P1 Tel: 416-266-0591; Fax: 416-266-3996 Email: admin@csc.ca, subscription@csc.ca

Canadian Cinematographer makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information it publishes; however, it cannot be held responsible for any consequences arising from errors or omissions. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. The opinions expressed within the magazine are those of the authors and not necessarily of the publisher. Upon publication, Canadian Cinematographer acquires Canadian Serial Rights; copyright reverts to the writer after publication.Canadian Cinematographer is printed by Winnipeg Sun Commercial Print and is published 10 times a year.

One-year subscriptions are available in Canada for $40.00 for individuals and $80.00 for institutions, including HST. In U.S. rates are $45.00 and $90.00 for institutions in U.S. funds.

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc

S

upporting one’s profession and community can be done in many ways. Three CSC members are doing just that while uniquely redefining themselves. It’s all still based on their cinematography, but they’ve pushed their careers into new fields of endeavour.

Vic Sarin csc is legend in our industry. Multi-award-winning cinematographer, director, producer, script writer, and now he can add newly published author to his long list of credits. Vic has put his formidable talents to writing and has penned Eyepiece: Adventures in Canadian Film and Television, chronicling his much-storied life and career. An excerpt from the book was printed in the November issue of Canadian Cinematographer and it’s a very good read. It certainly whetted my literary taste buds and Eyepiece is on my reading list for the upcoming holidays. Vic, a long-time member and ardent supporter of the CSC, is generously donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Eyepiece to the CSC. Postproduction and VFX house Red Square Motion has recently become a CSC sponsor. What many people may not know is that RSM was founded by cinematographer Pasha Patriki csc. He’s been in the business for nearly 20 years and in that time, has racked up numerous awards including CSC cinematography awards for Best Music Video and Best TV Drama. Pasha started RSM eight years ago in response to indie filmmakers wanting to finish their films at the time in 4K. Since then, Pasha has built RSM into a fullservice postproduction and visual effects house, catering to the local and international market.

The always intriguing Sarorn (Ron) Sim csc has also moved into sponsoring the CSC with his newly minted company SIM|MOD. Ron, with his beautiful cinematography, has won the CSC Corporate/Educational Cinematography Award six years in a row. A CSC record that I’m sure will not be surpassed for a very long time, if ever. SIM|MOD grew out of Ron’s love of lenses and tinkering with them in his spare time between shoots. The company refurbishes and converts vintage photo lenses to be used in today’s mirrorless and motion cameras. He’s only one of two people in North America that does this specialized work.

Vic, Pasha and Ron are exceptional cinematographers whose devotion and respect for our profession and community is greatly highlighted by their giving back through the CSC. Thank you!

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In The News

Hochelaga, Land of Souls to Represent Canada in Foreign Language Film Oscar Race

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irector François Girard’s Hochelaga, Land of Souls (Hochelaga, Terre des Âmes), shot by Nicolas Bolduc csc, will represent Canada in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 90th Academy Awards, to be held on March 4, 2018. This marks Girard’s first time representing Canada in the race for the Best Foreign Language Film nomination at the Oscars. The Academy will announce the shortlist of nine films, selected from among those submitted, later this month. The official nominations will be announced in January 2018.

Credit: John Narvali

Denny Clairmont to Receive Lifetime Achievement Honour

Denny Clairmont, founder of Clairmont Camera (now Keslow Camera), is to receive the Distinguished Service Lifetime

Achievement Award from the Society of Camera Operators, the society announced recently. The award will be presented at a ceremony on February 2 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles. The lifetime achievement awards recognize outstanding achievement by a craftsperson with at least 20 years of experience. Five more recipients were also announced, among them cinematographer and current President of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences John Bailey asc, who will receive the Governors Lifetime Achievement Award.

The AFC Announces Financial Wellness Program The AFC recently announced that its Financial Wellness Program is now

open to all industry workers. The Financial Wellness Program helps entertainment professionals working in all aspects of film, television, theatre, music and dance build and maintain financial stability. Through the Financial Wellness Program, entertainment professionals have access to accredited financial counsellors who understand the entertainment industry; one-on-one coaching sessions at Credit Canada; one-onone sessions with a specialized financial therapist; and access to online courses in personal finance, business, technology and more through Lynda.com. The AFC is offering access to these services, which usually have a fee attached, for free. More information about the program is available at afchelps.ca/financial-wellnessprogram or by contacting The AFC directly at 1.877.399.8392.

TIFF Takes Top Canadian Films to China

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Into the Forest

Monsieur Lazhar

Photo Credit: Vero Boncompagni

Rebelle

Courtesy of Item 7

Stories We Tell

Photo Courtesy of eOne Films

TIFF in November brought a collection of classic and contemporary Canadian films to Beijing in partnership with the China Film Archive. From November 3 to 12, the CFA showcased a selection of Canada’s leading films, programmed in association with TIFF, including several highlighted in TIFF’s annual Canada’s Top Ten Film Festival, as well as a selection of retrospective titles from TIFF’s Canada on Screen sesquicentennial series. The selection includes Philippe Falardeau’s Oscar-nominated Monsieur Lazhar (shot by Ronald Plante csc); Patricia Rozema’s Into the Forest (shot by Daniel Grant csc); Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle (shot by Nicolas Bolduc csc), Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell (shot by associate member Iris Ng) and Alanis Obomsawin’s Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (cinematographers include Zoe Dirse csc and Jean-Claude Labrecque). Telefilm Canada and the Embassy of Canada in China were also partners on the showcase, which ran under the title “Canada’s Ten Best: New Cinema From the North.”

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Dispatch from IMAGO Oslo Digital Cinema Conference

Credit: Lauchlan Ough

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t IMAGO’s 2017 Digital Cinema Conference, held at the Norwegian Film Institute in downtown Oslo from September 8 to 10, cinematographers and filmmakers packed into the theatre at the institute for an intensive three days of presentations and screenings. A small gear expo was set up outside the theatre and gave everyone hands-on time with new cameras – the Canon (C200), Panasonic VariCam LT, and the shiny new Sony VENICE CineAlta with its full frame 6K sensor.

The presentations were split up into 30-minute increments and housed a wide variety of topics. Some of the highlights included the workflow behind the new C200 and a behind-the-scenes of a Land Rover commercial in Australia, HDR capture and distribution with David Stump asc, and a remarkable presentation from Norwegian filmmaker and cinematographer Jannicke Mikkelsen on capturing the band Queen live in Barcelona for the first 360-degree 3-D performance, cleverly titled “VR the Champions.”

Sony featured the specs of the new Venice camera and a great demo reel, Leica touched on their new lineup of lenses, and ARRI presented on the future of HDR capture. Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of the conference was the screening

of Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1975 classic The Passenger, shot by Luciano Tovoli aic, asc, with a live post-screening Q&A with Tovoli himself.

It was a fantastic gathering of some of Europe’s finest filmmakers, and thanks to IMAGO President Paul Rene Roestad FNF for the warm invitation to join the conference.

-- Lauchlan Ough, associate member

IMAGO Hosts First International Awards for Cinematography

Award winners, the IMAGO Award sponsor partners and the IMAGO Award organizing team on stage.

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN DOCUMENTARY FILMS Łukasz Żal psc – Icon BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN TV DRAMA Fabian Wagner bsc asc - Game of Thrones, episode “The Winds of Winter” BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY IN FEATURE FILMS Seamus McGarvey bsc asc - Nocturnal Animals

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THE ARRI – IMAGO AWARD FOR EMERGING TALENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY Daniil Fomichev - How Viktor “the Garlic” Took Alexey “the Stud” to the Nursing Home

IMAGO AWARD FOR LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION TO THE ART OF CINEMATOGRAPHY Marek Zydowicz Camerimage

IMAGO INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR EXTRAORDINARY TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT Jannicke Mikkelsen fnf and Joe Dunton bsc

IMAGO INTERNATIONAL AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY Luciano Tovoli aic asc

Credit: Alejandro Lorenzo

Almost 250 international cinematographers, colleagues and friends gathered to celebrate cinematography at the inaugural IMAGO Awards ceremony, which took place in Helsinki, Finland, on October 28. More than 100 films were entered into the competition, with 26 jurors selecting the following winners:

Canadian Cinematographer - October 2017 •

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Credit: Ricardo Hubbs

On Set Credit: Brendon McKenna

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1. Kelly Mason on the set of Buddy Games.

2. Christopher Ball csc shooting the “Golden Days” music video for Kinley on Blooming Point Beach, PEI, with actor Bryde McLean, wardrobe Ellen Egan and key grip Corey Bulger.

3. Cole Graham shooting Daniel Caesar’s music video "Freudian" in Toronto during sunrise.

4. Pierre Gill csc shooting the TV series Fugueuses.

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ACCEPTANCES / AWARDS / NOMINATIONS / Isaac Elliott-Fisher, associate member (DP) Defective (feature), screening at Other Worlds Austin, TX, December 7-10, 2017 Kristen Fieldhouse, associate member (DP) The Feels (feature), won Best U,S, Narrative at NewFest 2017, New York, NY, October 24, 2017

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Ben Hoskyn, associate member (director/producer) 8 Minutes Ahead (feature) Official Selection of the 2017 Whistler Film Festival, November 29-December 3, 2017 Juan Montalvo, associate member (DP) Go Fish (feature) won Best Feature Film at the Forest City Film Festival, London, Ontario, October 29, 2107

Credit: Sean Brown

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Canadian Cinematographer - September 2017 •

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CSC Member Spotlight

What is one of your most memorable moments on set?

Tough to pick, but one of these: in the windscreen-smashed cabin of a heavily-armed technical in Mogadishu; atop volcanos in the Mediterranean; landing my first paid job as a third AC on The Adventures of the Young Indiana Jones, where I joined George Lucas, David Tattersall and Miguel Icaza Solana filming a World War I explosive battle scene in the Kenyan Rift Valley.

Stan Barua csc What films or other works of art have made the biggest impression on you?

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n eclectic art and film list, including the silent films of Charles Chaplin and Buster Keaton, The Conformist (Vittorio Storaro aic, asc), The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Ermanno Olmi), Woman in the Dunes (Hiroshi Segawa), Blade Runner ( Jordan Cronenweth asc), High Noon (Floyd Crosby asc), Rashomon (Kazuo Miyagawa), Star Wars: A New Hope (Gilbert Taylor bsc), The Duellists (Frank Tidy bsc), In the Mood for Love (Christopher Doyle hksc), Gladiator ( John Mathieson bsc), and Roman Catholic sculpture and painting across the ages.

How did you get started in the business?

My younger brother, Jacob, always wanted to be a film director. As kids and teens, we watched old and new films projected under open skies, and black-and-white films screened at cultural centres. I was fascinated by the cinematic conjuring of worlds. I studied formally, completing

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Credit: Julian Hall

What do you like best about what you do?

the MA in Cinematography program at the Polish National Film School in Łódź.

I returned to Kenya, where I first worked mostly shooting commercials.

Who have been your mentors or teachers?

Witold Sobociński psc, Jerzy Wójcik psc, Jacek Korcelli psc.

What cinematographers inspire you?

Philippe Rousselot afc asc; Roger Deakins bsc asc; DP Emmanuel Lubezki amc asc.

Name some of your professional highlights.

Filming my brother’s first films and watching them screened. Co-founding the first independent film and television professionals’ association in Kenya as a 20-something year-old. Admittance to the CSC and serving on its juries. Industry nominations and awards, especially for my first Canadian drama work filmed with minimal resources and great heart.

Anticipating and achieving arresting imagery through multiple genres (both scripted and unscripted), creating worlds and lives almost out of thin air, in collaboration with talented artists, and in sometimes unrepeatable circumstances.

What do you like least about what you do?

As a husband and father, the instability of a cinematographer’s occupation, and the pretense that the message we thrust upon so many viewers means little; that cinematography is primarily about selfexpression, craft, process and business, when it isn’t. We’re cinematographers only to the degree that our work edifies our viewers and us. The pretense that cinematography isn’t about a common good but simply about utility confuses artistic creativity with aesthetic craftsmanship.

The use of light and shadow, colour and contrast, camera choice, placement and movement, composition, measure and rhythm, time and space, the application of the most sophisticated digital, mechanical, financial and logistical tools available is too often ultimately, deliberately against goodness, beauty.

What do you think has been the greatest invention (related to your craft)?

The microchip.

How can others follow your work?

Sometimes on a screen near you. And on stanbarua.com

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Alias Grace

Brendan Steacy csc Lenses Literary Giant

W

By Fanen Chiahemen

hen Margaret Atwood’s historical fiction novel Alias Grace was first published in 1996, it won the Giller Prize that same year and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, but it took some 20 years until the behemoth of a book was adapted for the screen. That task was taken on by Oscar-nominated writer/director/actress Sarah Polley, who developed a script after snapping up the rights to the tome.

The fruit of her labour is a six-part miniseries of the same name, directed by Mary Harron (American Psycho, I Shot Andy Warhol), airing this fall on CBC before heading to Netflix.

The central character of the story is teenager Grace Marks – an Irish servant and recent émigré to what was then Upper Canada – who, along with fellow servant James McDermott, is convicted of the 1843 murders of their employer, the wealthy Thomas Kinnear, and his housekeeper, Nancy Montgomery. Years after her conviction, as Grace tells her story to Dr. Simon Jordan, who is tasked with assessing her sanity, the facts surrounding

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the murder that led to the servants’ convictions are brought into question.

DP Brendan Steacy csc, who shot all six episodes, says when approached to shoot the series he was “excited to work on an adaptation of a Margaret Atwood book that is so much a part of our literary identity. I hadn’t realized what a cinematic book it was until I read the screenplay and started to visualize how it was actually going to be executed.”

The miniseries was shot over three months, mostly on location across Ontario, with 25 days on stage. Unlike regular TV shows, the Alias Grace crew rarely returned to the same location more than once. “We would be in some locations for as little as a single day, occasionally shooting on three or four separate sets, and then we could just as commonly have four days in one tiny bedroom,” Steacy says.

Many scenes were shot in historical homes, which Steacy describes as “a hugely challenging endeavour, as you can’t make the sorts of adjustments that you’re normally accustomed to. It was really difficult to cover any hints of modernity and to match

DP Brendan Steacy csc

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

Credit: Sabrina Lantos

“I hadn’t realized what a cinematic book it was until I read the screenplay and started to visualize how it was actually going to be executed.”

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those locations to the stages, but it also meant in a lot of these spaces we couldn’t do any rigging from above.”

For example, scenes taking place in the home of the governor of the penitentiary – where Grace is hired out to serve as a domestic servant after her conviction – were shot in an historic home in Hamilton, and they weren’t allowed to put anything unprotected on the floors. “If you put anything down, you basically had to bubble wrap it; everything was fragile, everything was real,” Steacy says.

“We did a lot of lighting through windows, which was consistent with the look we were going for, so that was fine, but when we got into some specific moments that required a particular feeling or mood, you still had to work with what was there,” he continues. “We had some daytime scenes, for instance, where you could see three walls of a room full of people, and the window was either in the wrong place, or closed such that we weren’t able to use it to light people’s faces, and you can’t build a grid, you can’t use atmosphere, you can’t even use tape on the walls. I remember begging Mary to let me leave an adjacent door open just to have somewhere to light from. There were a lot of those restrictions, but it was kind of cool; we worked around it and it helped keep the genuine feeling of those locations, and made for an interesting challenge.”

The decision to light interiors primarily through windows was made because the world of Alias Grace is “pre-electricity,” Steacy says. “They wouldn’t even have had gas lamps in their homes. It was really candles and windows,” and that reality served as the jumping-off point for crafting Our only record of how things looked prior to photography the look of the series. Also, Harron is through paintings. We obviously know how things expressed an interest in naturalism look when they’re lit by windows and candles, but it’s in the lighting, which made Steacy think of the Dutch Masters of the interesting to see how people in various pre-electricity art world when contemplating the time periods perceived light and the general feeling of visual aesthetic. “Our only record of their world. While there are hundreds of years between how things looked prior to photography is through paintings,” he says. those paintings and this story, it’s remarkable how “We obviously know how things little the light in these worlds would have changed look when they’re lit by windows and over the course of that time, compared especially to candles, but it’s interesting to see how people in various pre-electricity time how rapidly electric lighting is currently evolving."

Credit: Jan Thijs/CBC/Netflix

Grace Marks is convicted of murder.

14 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

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Credit: Sabrina Lantos

Sarah Gadon as Grace Marks

Suddenly you realize what it means to be in the hold of a wooden ship rocking around on the ocean. You know they were really vile conditions and it was dark and wet, and it must have been a really horrible journey that people took to come to North America. It’s something we all know happened, the journey Europeans took to get here, but as soon as you start visualizing the execution of it, you begin to reach a greater appreciation as to the full extent of it, and realize that it also has enormous visceral, cinematic potential.”

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periods perceived light and the general feeling of their world.

While there are hundreds of years between those paintings and this story, it’s remarkable how little the light in these worlds would have changed over the course of that time, compared especially to how rapidly electric lighting is currently evolving.”

To keep the lighting true to the era, the sets had to be constructed in a way that facilitated side lighting. “You almost never light from above,” Steacy says. “Windows are always from the side. Candles are usually at a place where you can light them, so rarely above your reach, which is great, I love working with side light. But it was interesting to have that always be motivated. A lot of times light sources were actually in the frame.”

Production design was handled by Arvinder Grewal – who has worked with such directors as David Cronenberg (Cosmopolis), Deepa Mehta (Beeba Boys) and Paul Gross (Hyena Road) – and he was a valuable collaborator for Steacy on the Alias Grace shoot. “Arv was really conscientious about making sure he built sets that had windows in appropriate places,” the cinematographer recalls. “I once asked him during prep if he could make a couple of windows higher for me so I could light people’s faces from outside, and he agreed only after first wrapping his head around how that would work with the overall design of the home. He was amazing. He’s fiercely loyal to verisimilitude and the historical accuracy of the set. He designed sets that made sense for the world they were in, and the challenges that presented for me also lent themselves really nicely to the naturalism that we wound up achieving as a result of it.”

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Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

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Credit: Sabrina Lantos Credit: Sabrina Lantos/CBC/Netflix

Top: Alias Grace author Margaret Atwood makes a cameo.

Middle: Sarah Gadon as Grace Marks.

Bottom: Kerr Logan as James McDermott

Steacy used candles for night interiors, at times employing just a single candle, although he acknowledges that doing so was easier in transitional scenes. “But if it was a bigger scene with either more people in the scene or more dialogue, or we had to be more specific about where we were pointing the camera, we

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would just augment very delicately. We’d start with just candles, and then we’d use mostly LEDs, which we warmed up to the colour temperature of the candles and placed over or behind them just out of frame. This allowed us the opportunity to get a little bit more shape or softness or whatever was required,” he says.

A number of nighttime scenes in the script took place in moonlight, some of which Steacy observes are “not supposed to be necessarily naturalistic. It’s written in the script as an expressionistic memory of how bright the night was, so we used large sources on lifts and opened up the exposure a bit more than I may otherwise have done.”

Exterior lighting varied depending on what the situation called for, the cinematographer says. “There were some scenes where it was meant to be overcast immediately after a rain storm, so we brought in large fabrics and cancelled out the sun and shot it using the remaining ambient skylight,” he says. “Some things were as simple as a bounce card or even just a negative fill. It was all over the map. Because we had so many different locations and periods and many perspectives, we just worked with whatever made sense for the feeling and sentiment of that scene.”

Steacy shot with the Sony F65 to fulfill Netflix’s 4K mandate and found that he appreciated the camera’s colour space. “It had a really nice natural colour space; the blue channel was really impressive,” he says. “Mary specifically didn’t want a show that was all toned warm and sepia. She feels that’s become the expectation of historical work, and she was interested in exploring blue a lot and keeping it more neutral and not falling into the default sepia world, so the blue channel was really important for that.” He outfitted the Sony with Leica lenses, which he’s familiar with and finds reliable and predictable with good focal lengths.

Alias Grace unfolds through shifting points of view, but the narrator is also fairly unreliable, recalling murders she may or may not have committed, and Steacy took every opportunity to reflect this in his camerawork. “We tried to give subtle hints as to what was going on in given moments,” he says. “We tried to pay attention to the perspective of the camera, the height of it and how wide the lenses were to indicate whose point of view it might be. But it’s really subtle. It had to be subtle because we didn’t want to be heavy-handed with it. It had to be something that just affects you emotionally without you being cognitively aware of it.”

One of the biggest set-ups in the miniseries was the sequence depicting Grace’s arrival from Ireland to North America, which was shot on a sailing ship brought over from Europe. The ship’s interiors were shot on a soundstage set on a gimbal to simulate the ship’s motions. Recalling the shoot, Steacy says, “We shot a day in the harbour and then a day on the water mostly on the deck and around it, and then we shot a couple days on a stage where they built the ship’s hold on a gimbal. The hold is 40 feet long and we’re in a storm, so it’s dark. And there are no windows because it’s the hull of a ship. The only access to light are these two little hatches at either end. And as if two small holes weren’t challenging enough, the sets were almost black, like really dark wood. I basically had to light a 40-foot ship with two small

holes. I just tried to cram everything I could into those two small holes, lighting with a combination of LEDs and HMIs, and we had some live fire down below like bare candles and candle lamps. We wound up having to invent several different looks because we were in a storm at night in sunlight, in dusk and then on a bright day. And they were all quite different-feeling moments. Also, when we did scenes in the sun the next morning, we wanted to feel the light changing as the ship moves, so nothing could be rigged to the ship. So we had all these lights crammed through these two tiny holes with nothing touching the ship. The scenes run contiguously, but it’s meant to indicate a passage of time over a couple of days in a ship, during which [Grace’s] mother dies, so there’s a pretty massive emotional arc and a lot of things happening. So it was one of the things we had a lot of fun with. It was a really fun challenge.”

It was such scenes that got Steacy excited about taking on the project when he first read the 300-page screenplay. “You start to imagine how you’re going to execute it and suddenly you realize what it means to be in the hold of a wooden ship rocking around on the ocean,” he says. “You know they were really vile conditions and it was dark and wet, and it must have been a really horrible journey that people took to come to North America. It’s something we all know happened, the journey Europeans took to get here, but as soon as you start visualizing the execution of it, you begin to reach a greater appreciation as to the full extent of it, and realize that it also has enormous visceral, cinematic potential.”

game changer

Gregory Middleton

csc, asc

takes on

Gameof Thro DP Gregory Middleton csc, asc shoots a scene from Episode 701 in the snow.

20 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

G

oing from being the cinematographer on arthouse movies such as Kissed and The Secret Life of Algernon to the worldwide appeal of Game of Thrones has been an exciting adventure for Gregory Middleton csc, asc, who has received two Primetime Emmy nominations as well as a CSC Award for his contributions to the epic fantasy HBO series. The seventh and penultimate season reunites Middleton with filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa; the duo previously collaborated on Fugitive Pieces and Five Senses before taking the journey together to Game of Thrones’ fictional world of Westeros, commencing with Season Five.

Unlike the usual practice of having a cinematographer and director shoot back-to-back episodes, Middleton and Podeswa were responsible for Episodes One and Seven, which bookend the seventh season. “They do try to cast directors for certain types of scripts,” according to Middleton, who was half-surprised by the decision. “Although we have a big action scene at the end of Seven, it’s not an action-heavy episode. There are a lot of character and quieter moments that they feel Jeremy handles extremely well.”

Transitioning from Episode One (“Dragonstone”) to Episode Seven (“The Dragon and the Wolf ”) required cast members to switch between the beginning and end of their characters’ arcs throughout the course of the principal photography. “That aspect alone, especially for Jer- “One of the things that emy, was a big deal. It was a big deal for me too. We had a lot I love about the show in of discussions about the characters’ journeys, and also visu- general is the characters ally how we were going to try to progress. We did do a lot of stuff are complicated, as from Episode Seven during the they do both good first two or three weeks. It was a difficult thing to try to pull off, and bad things.” and difficult for the actors. The first day of the shoot for Peter Dinklage was the big scene [his character] Tyrion has with Cersei [Lena Headey] in her office. It’s arguably the climax of their relationship over the last seven seasons!”

ARRI Media supplied the camera equipment for Game of Thrones, which has two main camera units, traditionally named “Dragon” and “Wolf ” by the crew. “The main package for the two main units includes the ALEXA XT, the ALEXA Mini for handheld, Steadicam and drone work; and Cooke S4 Primes and Angénieux Zooms,” explains Middleton, who often gets footage by deploying two cameras. “We moved up to shooting to 3.2K open gate in Season Six, shooting mostly ProRes 4.2.2.

HQ except for green screen work, which was ARRIRAW. The

Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

ones

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

21

Credit: Macall B. Polay/HBO

o

Director Jeremy Podeswa with DP Gregory Middleton csc, asc.

Pugh served as the key grip. Making seven rather than the usual 10 episodes did not allow for more breathing room for the production crew. “If you look at the scope of the episodes, in terms of length and the number of things in them, we shot probably longer than the previous seasons even though there were fewer,” Middleton notes. “After I finished my episodes, I stayed and did some visual effects work. I shot the motion control of people riding the dragon [for all of the episodes], which is something I also did at the end of Season Six; that alone was a month worth of work.” Normally, it would take two episodes to touch every storyline, but the pace quickened for Season Seven. “Part of the reason for that is there are fewer things to set up. You want to go back to a storyline when something is going to happen. It also feels faster because main characters have died and the world is getting smaller. By the end of the season, almost all of the main characters are heading north and there are a few characters at King’s Landing [the capital of the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros], but that’s it.”

“They do try to cast directors for certain types of The head of one of the noble houses, Walder Frey (David Bradley) seems to be resurrected from the scripts. Although we have a big action scene at the end dead at the beginning of the “Dragonstone” episode only to be revealed as rival Arya Stark (Maisie Wilof [Episode] Seven, it’s not an action-heavy episode. liams) in disguise vengefully orchestrating a mass dinner banquet murder. “That was the first scene There are a lot of character and quieter moments on day one of shooting the season,” Middleton remarks. “Maisie Williams gave me chills when we did that they feel Jeremy handles extremely well.” aspect ratio is 1.78:1, and sometimes we shoot 4:3 mode for visual effects moments.” The grading company was Chainsaw Edit with colourist Joe Finley utilizing DaVinci Resolve. “Just before Season Six we moved from ARRI Media to Panalux for the lighting equipment. We try as much as possible to rig things and not derig them because the lighting on some of the sets is significant. Last year we carried about 80 20Ks and moved into using a lot more LEDs. Although LEDs are expensive to rent, there are big benefits to power, rigging, and they’re easy to control in terms of colour, so we were moving into the future with that stuff.”

For the Dragon unit, the gaffer was Tom Gates, who has been on the show since Season Two, and the key grip was Pat Garrett; while the Wolf unit had a new gaffer, Lee Knight, and Steve

22 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Clockwise: Ed Sheeran as Ed. Ellie Kendrick as Meera Reed. Ben Crompton as Dolorous Edd. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys and Jacob Anderson as Greyworm.

“We had a lot of discussions about the characters’ journeys, and also visually how we were going to try to progress. We did do a lot of stuff from Episode Seven during the first two or three weeks. It was a difficult thing to try to pull off, and difficult for the actors.”

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

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Photos: Courtesy of HBO

Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen and Drogon. Bottom: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister and Jerome Flynn as Bronn.

“We try as much as possible to rig things and not derig them because the lighting on some of the sets is significant. Last year we carried about 80 20Ks and moved into using a lot more LEDs. Although LEDs are expensive to rent, there are big benefits to power, rigging, and they’re easy to control in terms of colour, so we were moving into the future with that stuff.”

24 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

her close-up and she says, ‘Tell them that winter has come for House of Frey.’ I told her afterwards, ‘I believe that you are the kind of girl who might kill her sister.’ It’s really done in cuts and camera positions. David Bradley did a nice job, seeming a bit off with his speech and pretending to pull his whole face off. We cut to Frey’s wife’s point of view and then go to Maisie removing the rubber mask. By matching the motion and arm position, it gives the impression that she just pulled the thing right off. I put more candles there than before for two reasons – I wanted to have additional light for the Freys spitting up blood and poison, as well as to have more things for them to knock over.”

For a pivotal scene depicting the arrival of Daenerys Targaryen (a monarch also known as Dany) at the island fortress of Dragonstone, preferred areas of the beach were mapped out.

“We figured out the tides, where the boat would go, and took a bunch of pictures,” Middleton explains. “Production had big discussions about what to do about the gates. They wanted to construct them on location, but we didn’t know if the location would allow large builds.” Scouting the location beforehand was indispensable for producing the previs. “The visual effects department did LiDAR scans of the whole beach area so they could build an entire 3D virtual set of that location in [computer animation software] Maya.” The data was combined with storyboards, location photos, and the firsthand knowledge of what the real light and textures were like in the setting to produce the previs. In the end, the sequence involved a skiff in a quarry for green screen, the beach in Zumaia (a Spanish seaside town), the gates built on stage, the staircase at another location in Spain, and two new sets on stage for inside Dragonstone castle.

The biggest creative challenge was to keep the dialogue-free sequence visually interesting and to hit all of the story beats. “The

writers didn’t want this rushed through too much because Dany has been talking about wanting to go home for six and a half years, so it meant a lot to her and was a way for her to reconnect with her long dead family.”

A huge task was the dragon pit scene in “The Dragon and the Wolf ” episode when two opposing sides for the Iron Throne, represented by Daenerys Targaryen and Cersei Lannister, meet in King’s Landing to discuss forming an alliance against the impending threat of the White Walkers, an ancient race of humanoid ice creatures who come from the far north of Westeros. “We shot a lot of that stuff with three cameras,” Middleton states. “There were so many looks and characters accessing each other. We had a visual effects sequence with a dragon landing and Dany getting off of it. Then you have the effect of the zombie coming out of the box and crawling on the ground without legs. It was the largest number of the cast that we have ever had to handle on the show.”

A difficulty was to make the negotiations between the two warring groups appear to be visually interesting. “I put Dany on the side that she would never face the sun and Jon Snow [Kit Harington] on the side where he occasionally faces the sun during the course of the shooting day. It was built into my lighting plan so the morning and afternoon would look a certain way because the coverage was being shot over multiple days,” Middleton says. The walk towards the dragon pit required the use of an electric go-kart along with two grips carrying an ARRI MAXIMA with an ALEXA Mini, which was less vulnerable to wind than a Steadicam.

An overriding question for Season Seven was whether Arya Stark would kill her sister Sansa (Sophie Turner), but instead she executes Littlefinger (Petyr Baelish), who has schemed against the Stark sisters. “The writers wrote the scene to make you think that this might come down to a confrontation between Arya and Sansa,” Middleton remarks. “We staged all of the Knights of the Vale and other Northmen on the edge of the light to make them an intimidating force. It looked like something that even Arya couldn’t fight her way out of. They were determined to have Littlefinger in his usual position off to the side as if watching this ping pong match between them.”

The flashback where Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) witnesses the marriage of Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding) and Lyanna Stark (Aisling Franciosi) is crosscut with a presentday love scene between Dany and Jon. “We tried to keep things moving in a lyrical way even though it is not a fast cut sequence.

The flashback was shot on a day that was very blue and grey, so I tried to give it a little bit of daytime sunshine so it felt like another time and place.”

The fortification known as the Wall finally falls down with the help of a resurrected dragon and the Night King (the supreme leader and the first of the White Walkers). “I got to shoot a lot of the effects for that section, which was previs,” Middleton remarks. “We built a small section of the top of the Wall set, which has a corridor and a crow’s nest. The other crows' nests were either digitally created or used the set as an element. Some of those large shots of the Army of the Dead [minions of the White

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Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

25

Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

Gwendoline Christie as Brienne of Tarth and Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne.

“A lot of the things that Game of Thrones demands I have done on other shows but not all together. It requires you to think intimately about the characters and places, and how you want to pull off a scene but also understand the complexities of everything else. I also loved the chance to collaborate with other cinematographers because we don’t often get to work together…It’s rare, tremendously useful and fun to be able to work with other cinematographers I respect so much.”

26 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

Walkers] coming out of the forest were done in a large quarry in Belfast with snowed-out ground.”

A favourite moment is the winter exterior scene when Arya and Sansa talk to each other at the conclusion of the episode. “It was nice to see them acknowledge each other and their differences. One of the things that I love about the show in general is the characters are complicated, as they do both good and bad things. It was moving when they echo the speech that their father gave them which is, ‘The lone wolf dies but the pack survives.’ We did a lot of shots that linked Maisie and Sophie together to keep them united. It was shot at the end of July. It was sunny the whole time and bright green everywhere. I had to block the sun and the bounce off all of the green grass. It was quite the lighting job. The whole thing is 40 feet in the air because we’re on top of a battlement so everything is on cranes and lifts. Everything that is not on camera does not have a lot of fake snow on it, so I put white where the snow would be.

“A lot of the things that Game of Thrones demands I have done on other shows but not all together,” Middleton observes. “It requires you to think intimately about the characters and places, and how you want to pull off a scene but also understand the complexities of everything else. I also loved the chance to collaborate with other cinematographers because we don’t often get to work together. For example, when we were doing scenes at Winterfell [a castle and home to the House of Stark] with the shutters closed, that was something we all discussed doing. We will watch each other’s dailies. Especially with the same crew and sets, we have to be mindful of each other as to how we each work differently. It’s rare, tremendously useful and fun to be able to work with other cinematographers I respect so much.”

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#

THESerge QUEEN OF SIN Desrosiers

for csc

MINIATURIZATION IS KING

By Fanen Chiahemen

28 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

Credit: Bertrand Calmeau

S

ince 2001, Montreal-based Incendo has been producing television programming for international distribution, including series, movies and documentaries. Now with a library of more than 65 domestically-produced programs, the prolific company has such a streamlined production process its TV movies are usually made in 16 days on a $2 million budget. This year, the company produced five TV movies, among them The Queen of Sin, a thriller that follows a serial monogamist in her late 20s whose dalliances with men take a sinister turn when she meets a handsome and worldly businessman. The movie stars Christa B. Allen (Revenge) in the lead role, as well as Richard De Klerk (Motive) and Amber Goldfarb (Lost Girl; Murdoch Mysteries).

Like most Incendo films, The Queen of Sin was shot on location. “We never went into the studio,” DP Serge Desrosiers csc says. “It was all in houses, offices, hotel rooms, suites. I think it’s sometimes a little bit easier to be on location than in a studio because everything is there, the ceiling is there. If we’d built this in a studio, I don’t think we would have done the same things, and we would have done something that looks more studio-ish than location-ish.”

With its dark themes of captivity, violence and surveillance, the movie lent itself to a strong visual style from director Jean-François Rivard, who works primarily in television and who earlier this year shot another made-for-TV Incendo drama, Separated at Birth. “There was a vision to this film,” Desrosiers says of The Queen of Sin. “This film I can say is probably one of hardest scripts that Incendo has shot because we really go on the dark side. There are scenes in this movie that

are a bit horrifying for anybody, but for Incendo it’s like, ‘Wow, are we going to shoot this?’”

Desrosiers, who has long enjoyed shooting on film during his 20-plus-year career, embraced the facility of today’s miniaturized digital tools, which he indicates helped set him free from the constraints of time and budget on the Incendo shoot.

Although the company has been shooting movies with the ARRI ALEXA for several years, Desrosiers chose to shoot

The Queen of Sin with the ALEXA Mini because of its size and weight. “We wanted to put the camera on a gimbal, and the Mini is the best choice for this,” the DP says. “And I really enjoy this camera. I really love the viewfinder that comes with it, with the menus and stuff like that. For me, it’s probably one of best choices of camera we have because of what we can do. It’s so easily riggable. We can put it wherever we need to put it.

“Miniaturization has helped open up

heavy for the gimbal, so he ended up using the Cooke S4, shooting at T.2, instead. “They were less heavy than the master primes,” he says. “We basically only had three lenses because the director wanted only three lenses, which in the beginning got me kind of scared because you’re shooting 16 days and working rapidly, and you are stuck with only the 25 mm, the 35 mm and the 65 mm. Almost 80 per cent of the movie was shot on the

Miniaturization has helped open up filming a lot. Instead of trying to use these GoPros or whatever, we can put the camera in a car or in a corner or something and make it work. That’s what’s fun about this miniaturization.

Credit: Jean-François Sauvageau

Serge Desrosiers csc

filming a lot,” he continues. “Instead of trying to use these GoPros or whatever, we can put the camera in a car or in a corner or something and make it work. I was lucky to test the DJI Ronin 2 on this film, which ended up as a great toy with the Slingshot, and I also used a camera crane as a remote head. That’s what’s fun about this miniaturization.”

Desrosiers also used DJI’s tiny 4K Osmo camera on the shoot. “You can hold it in

Above: Serge Desrosiers csc shoots a scene with actress Christa B. Allen. Top right: Jacques Bernier 1st AC and the Ronin 2. Bottom right: Serge Desrosiers csc with the Ronin 2.

your hand. I used it as a surveillance camera. I would put it on a tripod and raise the camera up to 28 feet high in the air and remotely access the camera with my iPhone,” he recalls. “It’s easy, I can pan and tilt up with the camera and frame with my iPhone. So these little toys do give us a lot of opportunities.” He also sometimes used a Canon C300 for insert shots with the100 mm macro lens, he says.

He wanted to outfit the ALEXA Mini with master primes, but they were too

35 mm lens. Even when we did close-ups, Jean-François wanted to keep the 35, for the aesthetic style and just to make sure that we would not get lost with having too much equipment. And for me, pushing in with the 35 mm and being closer to the actors means we do see a little bit wider.

“But I had to be very careful lighting this way,” he acknowledges. “Because you can’t just light something and just change the lenses where the camera is. No, you’ve Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

29

Two photos credit: Serge Desrosiers csc

Top: The crew prepares to shoot an exterior scene. Bottom: Actor Richard De Klerk.

Opposite: Shooting on location.

I really loved Jean-François Rivard’s camera movement. He really lives and feels the camera. I really enjoy having a camera be someone or something in a film and not just passive. It’s fun because you are there and you feel that you are part of the movie.

30 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

got to move in and then widen it up, and so you do see more in the background.

So I had to plan ahead with this kind of shooting with three lenses.”

Rivard’s desire to create a variety of camera movements in the film meant that in addition to the Ronin 2 gimbal, Desrosiers, who operated the camera, employed the Steadicam, dollies, cranes, as well as plenty of handheld shooting.

In one instance, to get a driving shot, “I was on my rollerblades on a side mount of a car with an overkeeper,” he recalls. “We installed the overkeeper, the Matthews Slider, the 48-inch one, on the side of the car and when the car was stopping, I would unlock the overkeeper and slide it all the way over the hood, see the actress walking on the pavement and then the camera would come back to the driver on the phone. Which made an incredible shot; it was absolutely beautiful, but I had to do this with my rollerblades on the side of the car. So I’m kind of a rodeo cameraman guy. I like doing these things.”

The Slingshot – the ergonomic gimbal support system developed by Ray Dumas csc and designed by Walter Klassen – came in handy for some running sequences. “When you run with a gimbal, there’s something in the image that’s in between handheld and Steadicam. It does wiggle a bit from left to right, but it’s more stable than handheld for sure and it's less stable than a Steadicam,” Desrosiers observes. “But in night sequences and running sequences, it gives a good feeling of what can happen; it gives a feeling of danger. The movements with the Slingshot are so subtle. You move just a bit and it looks like you’re moving a lot.

It’s made for running purposes or following something that’s in movement.”

Although some of the scenes in The Queen of Sin called for natural-looking lighting, many scenes exploring the darker elements in the film necessitated some “more gory” lighting, Desrosiers says. “And this is where I went a little bit over-natural.” LEDs were the obvious

Credit: Serge Desrosiers csc

This doctor makes studio calls. choice on a shoot like this, and his kit included ARRI’s Skypanel, Dracast BiColor LEDs, Moss LEDs and American DJ LEDs. The SkyPanel helped fulfill Rivard’s desire for a colour-rich palette. “It gave us the facility of choosing the colour we wanted with the director,” Desrosiers says of the ultra-bright compact LED fixture. “We were able to choose live on set the colour that we wanted, and we didn’t have to test or go through a very long process and a lot of gels to get this look. Basically we just take the USB card and put it in the Skypanel and set up the Skypanel with the colour chosen and we were able to shoot.”

He describes shooting a scene on the grounds of a mansion where the light was meant to come from the pool, creating a rippling lighting effect on the house. He and gaffer Alex Amyot (who designed the Matthews Slider) tested the American DJ H2O LED, which simulates multi-coloured water flowing effects. “They were really hard to find because nobody has them. There were four available in Canada, and I needed six, so they had to bring two in from L.A.,” he says. “And it’s not an expensive light, it’s like $400 or something because it’s a light for conferences or shows, it’s not a television light at all. But it does this nice effect. I really enjoyed the H2O.” The DP also employed ADJ’s remotecontrolled WiFly WLC16 – a wireless DMX controller – with the company’s console. “I used it to control all the DMX lights on set because I like to control the Skypanel. Right near the monitor there is this WiFly controller and I can lower the intensity and change the colours all

remotely. And it’s also battery-operated so you just unplug it and walk with it on set and change the lights and the colours and also the intensity of lights. A lot of gaffers are using stuff like that. I’m trying to work a lot with the DMX and LEDs for theatre lighting on my sets. It’s like theatre lighting is on the left and we’re on the right; nobody talks to each other.

But today all of our lights basically are coming up with RGB – Skypanel came out with RGB, the CELEB, everybody’s coming out with a lot of RGB lights, because you can choose whatever colour you need. That’s basically what is great about LEDs,” he says, adding that Montreal-based post house MELS put the finishing touches on the film.

Desrosiers is quick to attribute much of his success in being able to create striking images on screen to the support he has received over the years from industry manufacturers and suppliers. “I am lucky to be who I am as a DP because of the great suppliers that have helped through my career and in the making of my success,” he says, citing Cinepool, Vidéo MTL, Departement Keslow Camera (formerly Clairmont Camera) and SIM Video.

On working with Rivard for the first time, the experience was “absolutely great” because of the way the director likes the camera to take on the quality of a separate character, “which is very nice for us DPs,” Desrosiers says. “I really loved his camera movement. He really lives and feels the camera. I really enjoy having a camera be someone or something in a film and not just passive. It’s fun because you are there and you feel that you are part of the movie.”

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

31

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The Masters

“In recognition of those who have made an outstanding contribution to the art of cinematography.”

2017 is not only the CSC’s 60th anniversary, it also marks 30 years of recognizing extraordinary excellence through the CSC’s Masters Award. This special honour is conferred upon cinematographers who have transcended from just practicing their craft into leaders of their craft by influencing the cinematic art form through their exceptional creativity, technical skills and ingenuity. Originally called the Kodak New Century Award, it was renamed the Masters Award in 2014 to reflect industry changes brought about by the digital age.

In celebration of the CSC’s 60th anniversary, Canadian Cinematographer is presenting a 10-part series on the exceptional cinematographers who have received the Masters Award. This is part six.

By Guido Kondruss

32 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

Guy Dufaux 2002

I

t was almost as if Guy Dufaux was preordained to become a cinematographer. He was born on July 18, 1943, in Lille, France, into a family whose business was a photography shop and processing lab. It was fertile ground for a young boy’s inquisitive mind, and where Dufaux developed his love and fascination with images. As a young adult, Dufaux continued his adventure with photography by studying at the École supérieure des beaux-arts in Marseilles. However, by 1965, wanderlust grabbed the young student and led him to Canada.

Dufaux was working as a photographer in Montreal when the legendary director and cinematographer Michel Brault took him under his wing as an electrician trainee. A year later, Dufaux was made camera assistant. Not long after, Dufaux was quickly making a name for himself as a cinematographer, shooting documentaries for the National Film Board. But it was with the structured narrative that Dufaux was to have his greatest impact on cinema.

Dufaux is often credited with leading Canadian cinematography in a new direction during the 1980s. His unique sense of story and brilliant use of lighting to define the character of a film triggered critical acclaim both domestically and internationally.

Dufaux is the director of photography on many of the highestprofile films ever made in Quebec. The gritty and edgy feature Night Zoo (1987) cemented Dufaux’s reputation as a cinematic innovator. The film won a record-smashing 13 Genie Awards.

His other films such Les fleurs sauvages (1982) and Jesus of Montreal (1989) picked-up major prizes at Cannes. Jesus of Montreal also received an Oscar nomination as did The Decline of the American Empire (1986), while The Barbarian Invasions took home the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004.

Throughout his career, Dufaux has received many accolades for his cinematography. Based in Montreal, Dufaux continues work as a top ranked director of photography.

Ron Orieux csc 2003

Paul Sarossy asc, bsc 2004

I

M

t was 1967 when a young Ron Orieux walked out of the University of British Columbia with a civil engineering degree in hand. Becoming a part of the fledgling Canadian film and television industry was not an ambition. Orieux found work in a mining company where one of the partners had a sideline in the film business producing short industrial films for mining companies and various construction projects. Orieux was intrigued and soon found himself on the filmmaking side of the operation, involved in producing, scripting, directing and cinematography.

Engineering eventually lost its lustre for Orieux, who left the mining business, bought a camera and went freelance, shooting news, documentaries and educational films. By 1976, Orieux was the director of photography on his first feature, Skip Tracer, which has become a Canadian cult classic. He was also the eye behind the camera that filmed the outstanding images in the Phillip Borsos’ short film, Nails, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1980.

Orieux became known for his resourcefulness as a cinematographer. Because of his ability to produce clean and sharp images, Orieux was the DP behind dozens of television dramas and television series in Canada and in the United states. Orieux used his lighting technique to conceal the camera and his presence from the viewer. After analysing the script and the director’s vision, Orieux would light to “accentuate the mind’s inner state” of the characters, enticing the audience to be engulfed by the drama and action on the screen totally unaware of the cinematography.

During his career, Orieux was the cinematographer on nearly 100 productions, which included the critically acclaimed The Tuskegee Airmen, The Passion of Ayn Rand and The First Circle for which he was awarded a Gemini for Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series.

Orieux left the film and television industry in 2003 to become a housing developer and continues to live in Vancouver.

ovies cast a spell over Paul Sarossy asc, bsc at an early age. Born in Barrie, Ontario, on April 24, 1963, he was the son of respected cinematographer Ivan Sarossy csc. Each evening, the elder Sarossy, who worked at a television station, would bring home a feature film to project in the family living room much to the delight and fascination of his very young son. The die had been cast for Sarossy, who as a teenager began learning the film profession from his father while shooting news and sports for the local television station on weekends and summer vacations. Sarossy graduated from the York University film school, where he was much sought after as a cinematographer for his camera acumen and keen eye. Even then, Sarossy was creating waves with his work having won a CSC student cinematography award three times.

Professionally, Sarossy was successful shooting music videos and commercials, but it is with the dramatic narrative that the full force of his art can be felt. Considered a wizard with his nuanced reflective lighting, Sarossy is able to create absorbing, multilayered images that speak volumes about a scene or character. He has worked with some of the finest directors of his generation, but none more so than with director Atom Egoyan.

Their legendary collaboration has produced 12 feature films over the past three decades. Films such as The Sweet Hereafter, Felicia’s Journey, Exotica and Ararat have burrowed deep into the Canadian film psyche and have been honoured the world over.

In 2016, Sarossy and Egoyan were presented with the prestigious Cinematographer – Director Duo Award at Camerimage for influencing each other’s visions to produce an outstanding cinematic body of work.

Sarossy has received many other accolades during his work, which include six CSC awards, five Genies and a Canadian Screen Award for his cinematography on the acclaimed TV series The Borgias.

Sarossy is based out of Toronto.

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

33

Tech Column

LEDs Just Keep on Trucking

Courtesy of S1

C

raig Samuels has marked another milestone in the progress of LED lights with the launch of S1’s LED truck. As the name suggests, it’s a loaded, ready-to-roll truck fitted with an array of LED lights just like any other HMI lighting truck.

“I think the S1 LED Truck is the first of its kind in Canada, and possibly North America, because I have not been able to find any on the web,” Samuels says proudly. “One of our clients said we were a disruptor, though I never really thought of it that way. What attracted me, really, was I’d been going to a lot of trade shows and I thought we’d come to a tipping point for LEDs and that’s what drove me to the truck project.”

While LED technology has clearly come of age, Samuels says, it wouldn’t be at this point if not for similar advances in camera sensitivity to take advantage of the evolution of lighting. Still, he says, it was a risk because he wasn’t sure how the industry would react to it.

34 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

When he spoke to this magazine, the truck had just rolled out three weeks earlier and it was already creating a buzz with bookings flowing in. He’s been meticulous in the details, not just in the payload but in the truck itself – the 2017 Hino 268 with an emission control diesel engine is about as green as trucks that size get, and is B20 BioDiesel-rated.

Inside, things get funky with four Cinemills Sufas 800 equivalent to 4K HMI and three Sulfa 400s (1.2K) HMIs that are IP65-rated and weather-tight, Kino Flo Selects, LiteGear, Mole-Richardson, LitePanels, Quasar and Fiilex.

“There’s even an option generator package, but no one is taking it because you can plug these lights into a regular circuit,” Samuel says.

The package also includes the complete MSE Grip Package, American Grip Wind-Up Stands with 220lb payload (Blackbird, Roadrunner, Boa), a work counter with shore power outlets for battery charging station, MSE Dutti dolly

with track, fog machine, custom-built carts and a full range of expendables.

In addition to the generator options, there’s also an option to add a Wi-Fi hotspot for an extra $50 a day.

“One of the advantages of the truck, apart from the obvious LED reasons, is we designed it to be fast in terms of loading out and in for a single-man operation,” Samuels says. “Most of the fixtures are on wheeled cases and can be moved right to where they are used. We designed the truck with five carts, some of which are preloaded, and they can ferry items back and forth. These carts are custombuilt in L.A.” “It was a really good package, well organized and labelled, easy to roll out,” says Kevin Wong csc, a Toronto-based DP who used the truck for a Sunwing commercial shoot at an airplane hangar for a day. “Those sulfa lights are really punchy but easy to set up.”

The ease of use meant lighting the exterior of the plane was easy, and inside

the cabin temperatures didn’t get out of hand. “We didn’t need a generator truck or cables or anything,” he says. “It really worked well for that job.”

Coincidentally, Mike Kirsh of Films Morrison also rented the truck for a shoot at Pearson airport’s Terminal 1, but for Air Canada. He too found almost everything they needed.

“It was great, working in the tight space of the cockpit and the cabin it didn’t generate a lot of heat, which Air Canada was worried about because of all the plastic there,” he says. “The one thing is there were no dimmers, but we told S1 and they’ve fixed that.”

Clearly, Samuels sees commercial viability for the package, and initial reaction suggests his bet will pay off. It’s also a matter of knowing S1’s clientele, he says, and the sweet spot they’re looking for in terms of rentals. They’re smaller productions, not necessarily for broadcast and not feature films. Many of them are shooting corporate videos or web videos but want high-quality capture from the get-go.

For gaffers it means being able to set up without having to run a generator truck, having someone on standby and point duty for that piece of equipment, running cables and risking damage to a rented location.

“For a crew shooting recently in a very luxurious home, there were concerns the cables and the heat from HMIs might cause some damage,” Samuels reports.

“And of course, you can run batteries with some of these units, which are also DMX controlled.”

S1 will continue to rent trucks loaded with HMIs, or even a combination of LEDs and HMIs, he says. “These lights aren’t going to replace a 9K or 18K because if you need to overpower daylight you’ll need an M90,” he says. True. But given the rapid evolution of LEDs, you never know.

Ian Harvey is a Toronto-based journalist who writes for a variety of publications and covers the technology sector.

He welcomes feedback and eagerly solicits ideas at ian@pitbullmedia.ca.

CSC at HD Source 3rd Annual Open House OCTOBER 12, 2017, TORONTO

Karen Longland and Antonin Lhotsky csc talk with prospective members.

Photos: Bruce Marshall

Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017 •

35

Camera Operator Andreas Evdemon

to March 20, 2018

Toronto

ARROW VI (series)

DP Gordon Verheul csc & Bruce Worrall csc

to April 20, 2018

Vancouver

(alternating episodes) THE BEAVERTON II (series)

DP Gerald Packer csc to

February 2, 2018

Scarborough

BLOOD AND WATER II (series)

DP Fraser Brown

to December 8

Toronto

BLUE BOOK (series)

DP C. Kim Miles csc

to April 26, 2018

Surrey

BYE BYE 2017 (TV special)

DP Geneviève Perron csc

to December 18

Montreal

COLONY III (series)

C Cam Operator Stirling Bancroft csc

to February 16, 2018

Burnaby

DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW III (series)

David Geddes csc, asc (even episodes)

to February 26, 2018

Burnaby

DP Michael Storey csc B Camera First Assistant

to March 23, 2018

Toronto

to December 8

Toronto

DESIGNATED SURVIVOR II (series)

Jim Chirayouth Saysana EXPANSE, THE II (series)

DP Jeremy Benning csc & Ray Dumas csc (alternating episodes)

FALLING WATER II (series)

B Camera Operator Perry Hoffmann

to March 20, 2018

Toronto

FLARSKY (feature)

DP Yves Bélanger csc

to January 16

Montreal

B Camera Operator Alfonso Maiorana FLASH, THE IV (series)

DP Brenton Spencer csc & Alwyn J. Kumst csc

to April 21, 2018

Vancouver

FROZEN IN LOVE (MOW)

DP Ron Stannett csc

to December 8

Burnaby

GOOD DOCTOR, THE (series) c

DP John Bartley csc, asc

to December 20

Coquitlam

GOOD WITCH, THE IV (series)

DP John Berrie csc

to December 14

Toronto

HEARTLAND XI (series)

DP Jarrett Craig

to December 4

Calgary

IMPOSTERS II (series)

1st Assistant Ciaran Copelin

to December 1

Toronto

IMPULSE (series)

DP David Greene csc, asc

to January 26, 2018

Etobicoke

IN CONTEMPT (series)

DP Kim Derko csc

to December 19

Toronto

iZOMBIE IV (series)

DP Ryan McMaster csc & Michael Wale csc

to January 23, 2018

North Vancouver

LETTERKENNY III, BLOCK C (series)

DP Jim Westenbrink csc 1st Assistant Tony Lippa

to December 11

Sudbury

LIFE SENTENCE (series)

DP Kamal Derkaoui csc Camera Operator David

to January 12, 2018

Burnaby

Bercovici-Artieda MAGICIANS III (series)

DP François Dagenais csc

to December 14

Vancouver

MENSONGES IV (series)

DP Jérôme Sabourin csc

to December 31

Montreal

DP Yuri Yakubiw csc Camera Operator Brian Gedge

to December 8

Toronto

MURDOCH MYSTERIES XI (series)

1st Assistant Kevin Michael Leblanc NELLY BLY (MOW)

DP Luc Montpellier csc 1 Assistant Pierre st

to December 27

Winnipeg

Branconnier ONCE UPON A TIME VII (series)

DP Tony Mirza 2nd Unit Operator Neil Cervin csc

to April 2, 2018

Burnaby

RIVERDALE II (series)

DP Brendan Uegama csc

to March 21, 2018

Langley

DP Mike McMurray csc & David Herrington csc

to May 15, 2018

Mississauga

to April 27, 2018

Burnaby

DP David Makin (odd episodes) csc

to February 6, 2018

Toronto

DP Boris Mojsovski csc & Brendan Steacy csc

to May 21, 2018

Toronto

SHADOWHUNTERS III (series)

(alternating episodes) Camera Operator Drew Potter SUPERNATURAL XIII (series)

DP Serge Ladouceur csc Camera Operator Brad Creasser

TAKEN II (series) TITANS (series)

(alternating) UMBRELLA ACADEMY, THE (TV series)

Craig Wrobleski csc

to July 11, 2018

Etobicoke

UNTITLED PIPPA BIANCO PROJECT (feature)

Camera Operator Kristin Fieldhouse Data

to December 1

Toronto

to December 15

Montreal

Calendar

Management Technician Marc Forand DP Jonathan Decoste csc

WHEN CALLS THE HEART V (series)

DP Michael Balfry csc

to December 22

Burnaby

WINGS OVER EVEREST (feature)

DP Danny Nowak csc

to April 27, 2018

Vancouver

WYNTER (pilot)

DP Samy Inayeh csc FEBRUARY 5, CSC Annual General Meeting, Technicolor Toronto MARCH 11, Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto, academy.ca/awards/ 1-4, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Kingston, ON, kingcanfilmfest.com

36 • Canadian Cinematographer - December 2017

35 4x5.6 Schneider filters: ND’s, color correction, diffusion, grads 2 138mm Tiffen Tobacco, Sunset grad 2 138mm Schneider Tru Pola, 85 Pola 2 138mm Schneider CU diopter #1, Cu Diopter • includes case and pouches for every filter.

• Excellent condition • 4x5.6 and 138mm. clears included Today’s value in U.S. dollars $13,705 U.S. Selling price $9,500 CDN PLEASE CONTACT: Bert Tougas H: 514-634-2374 C: 514-913-2376 I have 15 - 3x3 Tiffen filters for sale - fogs, Promists Grads, 812's etc. all with cases $185.00 - contact Barry Casson csc - 250721-2113 or e-mail bcasson@speakfilm.com TIFFEN ULTRA STEADICAM , HD Ultrabrite color monitor ,HDMI Decimator 2,Iso-elastic arm, 4-24 volt batteries, 1-Pag battery charger 24v,1-Lentequip battery charger 12/24v,Klassen vest and carrying bag, 1 Preston F1+Z transmitter 1 Preston MDR-1 receiver,1 Preston control, 2 motors, 2 batteries, charger, numerous Hill motor mount brackets rossette brackets and rods, 1 long dovetail plate,1 short dovetail plate, 1 docking bracket,1 fgs wheel chair/dolly adaptor,rain cover, too many cables, hard cases and accessories to list.This rig was well maintained looks new,all it needs is a few upgrades. $ 35000.00 can 416 817 3938 or acadian@rogers.com Rick Kearney Preston FIZ 2 kit - $13,000 2 x Arri MB-20 studio matte box - $8,000 Arri LMB-15 Clip-on matte box - $1,200 Power-Pod Classic - $13,500 Please contact Michael Balfry csc @: michaelbalfry@gmail.com for a complete list of items.

Looking for a set of old, no longer used, standard legs with Mitchell base. Or any type of disused heavy camera support.

This is to be used to mount a Mitchell BNCR camera in order to place it on display. Anyone with access to such a tripod or with information about one, please contact me: rawi@earthlink.net 416-691-6865

CAMERA CLASSIFIED IS A FREE SERVICE PROVIDED FOR CSC MEMBERS. For all others, there is a one-time $25 (plus GST) insertion fee. Your ad will appear here and on the CSC’s website, www.csc.ca. If you have items you would like to buy, sell or rent, please email your information to editor@csc.ca.

@canadiancinematographer

VICTOR LESSARD II (series)

DECEMBER 2-3, CSC Tabletop Lighting Workshop, Toronto, csc.ca JANUARY 18-28, Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah, sundance.org 31, CSC Awards entry deadline, csc.ca

Classifieds

Production Notes

ANNE II (series)

EQUIPMENT FOR SALE

Winnipeg

@csc_CDN

Canadian Cinematographer welcomes feedback, comments and questions about the magazine and its contents. Please send your letters to editor@csc. ca. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

8-28, International Film Festival on Art, Montreal, artfifa.com APRIL 14, CSC Awards, The Arcadian Court, Toronto, csc.ca April 26-May 6, Hot Docs, Toronto, hotdocs.ca

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