Canadian Cinematographer Magazine February 2018

CANADIAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS

$4 Februar y 2018 www.csc.ca

David Makin csc

CRAWFORD Ben Lichty Porcupine Lake • Matt Bendo Legacy

A publication of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers

FEATURES – VOLUME 9, NO. 9 FEBRUARY 2018 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.

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.

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Animal Instincts: David Makin csc Lenses Critter Comedy Crawford

By Fanen Chiahemen

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Credit: Julian Papas

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.

Communal Cinema: Ben Lichty csc on Porcupine Lake

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer

Matt Bendo: Making the Light Dance for the Camera

By Ian Harvey

COLUMNS & DEPARTMENTS 2 4 8 30 32

From the Editor-In-Chief In the News On Set Tech Column Production Notes/Calendar

Cover Kyle Mac as Don in Crawford. Courtesy of CBC (Photo Credit: Jasper Savage)

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Canadian Cinematographer February 2018 Vol. 9, No. 9 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.

International subscriptions are $50.00 for individuals and $100.00 for institutions. Subscribe online at www.csc.ca.

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FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Joan Hutton csc

I

’m not one for crystal ball gazing, but a recent article in AD Age caught my eye. It was an interview with futurist Faith Popcorn and her predictions on which trends will become mainstream 15 to 20 years from now. Some-

times called the “Nostradamus of marketing,” Popcorn seems to have a knack for the seeing of things yet to come. According to BrainReserve, the marketing consulting company she founded and of which she is the CEO, their internal tracking shows a 95 per cent forecast accuracy rate. A hearty boast by her company, that seems to have some chops. For instance, Popcorn apparently told Coca Cola in 1986 that bottled water would become the next big beverage craze. Soon after, and a bit closer to our industry, she advised Kodak that film was on life support and was dying quickly. We all know that film is still being used, but it is a very small portion of today’s filmmaking market.

In her latest trend forecast two decades towards the future, Popcorn says the quest for peace and calm will become paramount and our industry will have a significant role to play in this endeavour. Anxiety will have reached the top health threat in our society. Enter virtual reality as the soothing factor. According to Popcorn, people will be plugging into a VR experience for that relaxing vacation away from home, but never leaving home. Imagine an immersive VR road trip down Route 66 or exploring the mysteries of Machu Picchu, all the while in your living room. Although not VR, an early contender is the Netflix movie Slow TV: Train Ride Bergen to Oslo, which is exactly what the title describes – a train ride between two cities in Norway. With VR, according to Popcorn’s company, nothing will be out of reach, from space travel to a “Narnia-like snow voyage.” Personally, I wouldn’t mind a day hurtling through space aboard the USS Enterprise.

Popcorn also says that VR could work in tandem with sound therapy and drugs administered through embedded microchips for anxiety relief. The drug part did give me a dystopian pause, but is it really that farfetched now that marijuana is becoming legal?

Of course, no one can actually predict the future. Is Popcorn’s prediction fanciful? Maybe. But improbable? I would say not. Everybody in the VR end of our industry may quite possibly be riding a huge new media wave.

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The feature film Wexford Plaza, directed by Joyce Wong and shot by associate member Maya Bankovic, was recently nominated for the Toronto Film Critics Association’s 2017 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award. The $100,000 award went to Ashley McKenzie’s Werewolf at a gala dinner held January 9, but as a runner-up (along with Kevan Funk for Hello Destroyer), Wong received $5,000 from Rogers Communications.

In late November, Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly announced the appointment of Monique Lafontaine to the position of commissioner for Ontario of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

A Toronto-based lawyer, Lafontaine has more than 17 years of experience in entertainment and communications law.

Her areas of specialization include television, radio, new media regulation, program licencing and affiliation agreements, stakeholder relations, and anti-spam and privacy legislation. She has been appointed for a five-year term effective January 2.

Maya Bankovic

Pinewood Toronto Studios Expands Purpose-Built Facilities

Courtesy of A.C. Lighting

Credit: Jordan Masciangelo

In The News

CSC Member Film Nominated for Best Canadian Film Award

(Left to right) Jules Lauve, JF Canuel, Fred Mikeska, Rick Rudolph and Eddie Raymond with the Chroma-Q Color One 100 Series luminaire.

A.C. Lighting Donates Portion of Sales to Behind the Scenes LED lighting solutions brand ChromaQ recently presented Behind the Scenes with a donation from the sale of the Color One 100 Series product line. The presentation was made in November

4 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

during the Live Design International tradeshow in Las Vegas. Behind the Scenes is a charitable organization developed to provide financial assistance to entertainment technology industry professionals who are seriously ill or injured or to their surviving family members.

Each grant is unique to the recipient and could cover expenses including basic liv-

Monique Lafontaine Appointed to CRTC

Pinewood Toronto Studios has expanded its production footprint in Toronto’s Port Lands with a new approximately 27,500 sq. ft. film and television support facility. Building on a 2016 announcement that Pinewood has exercised its option to lease 1.75 acres of additional land from its landlord, the Toronto Port Lands Company, this new facility under construction, complements its existing 300,000 sq. ft. “purpose-built” studio campus on Toronto’s waterfront. Pinewood Toronto Studios’ new support facility consists of an approximately 11,000 sq. ft. sound stage, 7,000 sq. ft. production office and 9,500 sq. ft. of workshop area for services like costume design and set construction. The new facility will open its doors in May.

Cineflix Launches New Company Cineflix Media Inc. announced recently the launch of Connect3 Productions Inc., a new company focused on co-productions for the North American and international markets. Pablo Salzman, previously VP, Commercial Affairs at Cineflix

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At Connect3 he will continue to oversee the initiative, which promotes the adaptation of French-language scripted series and formats created by Quebec producers for the English-speaking global market.

Australian Cinematographers Society Reviews Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, Bullying Policies The Australian Cinematographers Society in December agreed on a review and revision of its policy on sexual harassment, discrimination and bullying. The revised policy now states, “It is the policy of the Australian Cinematographers Society (ACS) that every member of the Society and the greater film and television industry has the right to work in an environment free from any gender, race, disability, religious, sexual orientation discrimination or harassment and bullying of any kind. This includes any verbal, emotional, physical, cyber or sexual harassment. The Society will not tolerate any behaviour that is considered threatening or disrespectful towards or by any of our members or guests.”

Boris Mojsovski csc

Serge Desrosiers csc

The CSC is very pleased to announce that SIMMOD has become the society’s newest sponsor!

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The CSC congratulates the following members who are among the nominees for 32nd Annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards for Outstanding Achievement: Episode of a Series for Non-Commercial David Greene csc, asc Television Robert McLachlan csc, asc for Game ofThrones (“The Spoils of War”) Gregory Middleton csc, asc for Game of Thrones (“Dragonstone”) Episode of a Series for Commercial Television David Greene csc, asc for 12 Monkeys (“Mother”) Boris Mojsovski csc for 12 Monkeys (“Thief ”) Motion Picture, Miniseries, or Pilot Made for Television Serge Desrosiers csc for Sometimes the Good Kill John Narvali

Gregory Middleton csc, asc

John Narvali

Robert McLachlan csc, asc

Sean Leonard

CSC Members among ASC Award Nominees

Winners will be revealed at the ASC’s February 17 ceremony in Los Angeles.

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Canadian Cinematographer - October 2017 •

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Evan Prosofsky csc

On Set

Eric Oh csc

Credit: Harry Israelson

Credit: Barbara Comacchio Oh

New Members

The CSC congratulates the following members on receiving CSC accreditation

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Arthur Cooper csc (right) with his crew on the shoot of the docudrama 5000 Years of Heroes.

ACCEPTANCES / AWARDS / NOMINATIONS / Yorgos Giannelis gsc, associate member (DP) Happy Birthday (feature) Official Selection at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Palm Springs, CA, January 2 - 15, 2018

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Tony Wannamaker csc (DP, Director, UAV Pilot) Chief Doreen of the Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation (documentary short) screening at Belleville Downtown Doc Festival, ON, March 2-4, 2018; Kingston Canadian Film Festival, ON, March 1-4, 2018; Toronto Short Film Festival, ON, March 12-16, 2018

Martin Fuhrer, BSC

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By Fanen Chiahemen

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“I was very fortunate as I had a very strong camera crew that I’ve worked with before, so I knew I’d be able to achieve what I needed to in the short time that we had.”

Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

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Credit: Christos Kalohoridis

DP David Makin csc, director/creator Mike Clattenburg, executive producer Laura Michalchyshyn and John Carroll Lynch having a laugh.

“We didn’t have any problems with the raccoons at any point, and they were great. [Trainer Jim Lovisek] was really well respected by everybody. He just loved all his animals and treated them well. He was definitely a legend within the FIlm industry.”

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T

he new CBC original series Crawford is an unconventional comedy that chronicles how one particularly dysfunctional family is affected when raccoons invade their home. The family is made up of son Don (Kyle Mac), who has moved back in with his parents after a failed music career only to discover he can communicate with raccoons; mother Cynthia ( Jill Hennessy), an awardwinning cereal executive; father Owen ( John Carroll Lynch), a retired police chief, who is left speechless after a stroke and communicates via his smartphone; older sister Wendy (Alice

Moran) and younger brother Brian (Daniel Davis Yang). The half-hour comedy series, which began streaming this month, was shot in Toronto and created by Mike Clattenburg (Trailer Park Boys, Black Jesus), and co-created by recording artist Mike O’Neill (Moving Day, Trailer Park Boys: Don’t Legalize It), with Laura Michalchyshyn executive producing through her and Clattenburg’s Rabbit Square Productions.

Series DP David Makin csc says Clattenburg “wanted a very cinematic look to this show with odd compositions, wider lenses for the close-ups, and more of a natural lighting palette than other broader comedy shows.”

The show’s central location is the family’s home, which was a studio set, and Makin says 90 per cent of the time he lit through windows due to the way Clattenburg wanted to shoot and because they would be doing a lot of wide shots in which the ceilings, floors and walls would be visible, so there was no place to hide lights. During the designing of the sets, Makin was involved in where the windows were placed, how big they were and how far off the floor they were. “We tried to place them in the positions they would work for lighting most of the scenes without having to bring lights into the set,” he says.

As much as window placement was important, practical lights became an integral part to lighting the sets as well. “Our ‘movie’ LED lights are film-friendly, but when you’re using consumer or architectural lights for a set, there can be many complications including unusual colour temperature. During prep, I did extensive tests with ‘consumer’ LED lights to decide on which ones would best fit our budget and achieve the look we wanted,” he says. “Consumer LED lights have ballasts that are not made for shooting movies, so when you’re shooting at different frame rates and different shutter angles, you can sometimes get flickering, strobing or banding, so you have to be very careful using them.”

In the main house he went with tungsten LEDs, mostly for counter lighting and a few other elements within the sets. “We used one T12K outside the main window to give the sun patterns within the set. With some of the smaller windows, we used 5Ks to continue the sun effect,” he says.

He also created an “off-camera” skylight in the main stairwell of the house to allow more light into the middle of the set. “This added another bright spot within the room to give depth and layer to the actual set,” he explains. To create the illusion of the skylight, he put a Kino soft box “flagged as if there was a soft light coming from above that had a daylight colour temperature.

We also used a Leko with our own window gobo and pointed it to part of the set, which helped give the illusion of sunlight coming through a skylight. I used the bounce off these hard sun lights, whether it’s the T12s bouncing off the floor or the Leko bouncing off a wall, to add a softer light to the actor’s face,” he adds.

The other major set was the office where Cynthia works as a cereal executive, known as Cereal HQ. That world is essentially divided into two categories – those that have created winning cereals, and those who have not. Clearly delineated by the décor, the lowly assistants and interns work in dim office spaces with Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

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Courtesy of CBC (Photo Credit: Jasper Savage)

The crew setting up a shot under the guidance of DP David Makin csc.

“We were only able to have one dolly on this show, so our second camera was always on sticks with a camera slider. This added to our challenge of incorporating the second camera much of the time, but sometimes those restrictions can lend themselves to trying something different and more creative.”

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low ceilings, and desks, carpets and chairs left over from the ‘80s, using old electronics and first-generation laptops. “In this area we used standard cool, white florescent lights to give it a cooler, less appealing green hue.”

The more successful employees work in office spaces decked out with high ceilings, windows, glass walls, shiny new modern furniture and the latest technology. “Here we used the newer LED florescent fixtures we tested to give it a cleaner, more colour-balanced look,” Makin says.

The sets presented a couple of challenges for the DP – with its hard ceilings, a lighting grid was out of the question, and all the glass partitions in the space created a lot of reflection – so naturalistic lighting came down to strategic placement of the overhead fluorescents, along with the T12 “daylight” coming through the windows. “We could turn select banks of the overhead office lights off or on to create more of a key side and a fill side without having to put a lot of lights on the floor. This plan was for speed and efficiency, and to help with the reflections in all the glass,” he says. “We also had the glass windows, as well as the glass partitions, able to gimbal so we could actually change the angle to get rid of some reflection.

Makin says his most demanding lighting setup was on a night scene with a shack in the woods that included a power outage and shooting a flare gun into the air. “It was a bit challenging because the time we had to do it in was very restrictive. Since it was in the woods and the power gets pulled, you’re basically dealing with moonlight and trying to find a space to put a crane to add the moonlight that’s from the best angle,” he recalls.

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Kyle Mac as Don.

Jill Hennessy as Cynthia, Daniel Davis Yang as Brian, and Alice Moran as Wendy.

Hennessy with John Carroll Lynch, who plays Owen.

“The art department built a great shack, and it was scripted that there is a flicker of a TV inside before the power goes out, but I knew that wouldn’t be enough of a dramatic lighting change to emphasize how they were trapped in the darkness of the forest.

We had the art department add a couple of exterior photoflood lights around the shack to help with the lighting cue to blackout.

“The biggest challenge for this scene was the light from the flare once it was shot into the air,” he says. “It had to overtake the

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moonlight and throw moving shadows from the trees as it drifted back to the ground. We went over many options, including simulating the flare with one of our bare 10K bulbs and doing it practically with an actual flare. The real flare had its own set of issues, including controlling where it might travel, as well as the safety restrictions. In the end, we used a magnesium flare, which was larger and brighter than a standard emergency flare. We lit the flare in a condor bucket that we lowered, which enabled us to control where it would go and the speed of its descent. This gave the illusion of a flare floating slowly back to the ground. It worked out great!”

Makin says he was fortunate to be able to shoot with his number one camera choice of late – the ARRI ALEXA, which he outfitted with master primes provided by SIM Group. He wanted to use selective focus using a narrow depth of field, so he shot with a wide aperture which the master primes allowed. “This made it tough for the camera assistants pulling focus, but they handled it without a hitch,” he says “I was very fortunate as I had a very strong camera crew that I’ve worked with before, so I knew I’d be able to achieve what I needed to in the short time that we had. That took a lot of pressure off of me, knowing that I could get what I’d like to get without having to compromise the schedule.” His crew included operators Giles Corbeil, Perry Hoffman and Brian Gedge, as well as gaffer David Gibbons and grip John Tennant. First Camera ACs were Philippe Champion, Stephen Butson and Kevin LeBlanc.

Most of the close-ups were shot on a 27-mm lens, Makin says, “which is great because you can see the environment and you can get right up close to the actor. The only limitation of that is a lot of the time you are trying to shoot with two cameras, and doing close-ups with the 27 mm limits the ability to put in a second camera.

“As well, we were only able to have one dolly on this show, so our second camera was always on sticks with a camera slider,” he recalls. “This added to our challenge of incorporating the second camera much of the time, but sometimes those restrictions can lend themselves to trying something different and more creative.”

Makin was also impressed with the animals that worked on the show, most notably the two adult raccoons and five baby raccoons provided by the late Jim Lovisek, a well-known animal wrangler, who died in November 2017, not long after the Crawford shoot.

“It’s tough enough to train a cat, a raccoon even more so,” Makin muses. “There is one scene where Don is coaxing a raccoon out of a tree into his basket. We would usually shoot this in pieces – a shot of the raccoon with the trainer off camera, a shot of the actor coaxing the raccoon off camera… But on the day, the raccoon came down, and for whatever reason, did exactly what was scripted. It climbed out of the tree, climbed into the basket and the actor walked away with the raccoon. We didn’t have any problems with the raccoons at any point, and they were great.

[Lovisek] was really well respected by everybody. He just loved all his animals and treated them well. He was definitely a legend within the film industry.”

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Canadian Cinematographer - January 2018 •

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Communal Cinema

Credit: Julian Papas

Benon Lichty PORCUPINE

Kate (Lucinda Armstrong Hall) and Bea (Charlotte Salisbury).

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“

Ingrid and I didn’t get as

specific as storyboards or concept art but definitely referenced other films and got our language

LAKE

together as to how we wanted to approach it.”

By Trevor Hogg, Special to Canadian Cinematographer Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

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I

n her sixth feature-length film, Porcupine Lake, Ingrid Veninger explores a coming-of-age tale in which two 13-year-old girls forge a deep bond over the course of a summer in Port Severn, Ontario. The cast features newcomers Charlette Salisbury and Lucinda Armstrong Hall, as well as veterans Christopher Bolton and Delphine Roussel. Supporting Veninger and her cinematic vision were seven core production crew members, including cinematographer Ben Lichty, with the film’s world premiere taking place at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival.

Unlike I am a Good Person/I am a Bad Person where Lichty and Veninger were part of a crew of four travelling across European cities discovering performers and locations along the way, Porcupine Lake followed a more conventional process of shot listing, location scouts and casting. “Ingrid and I didn’t get as specific as storyboards or concept art but definitely referenced other films and got our language together as to how we wanted to approach it,” Lichty explains. “A big influence was the

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Credit: Julian Papas

Director Ingrid Veninger lines up the shot with lead actress Charlotte Salisbury (Bea) and DP Benjamin Lichty.

Dardenne brothers from Belgium and their film Two Days, One Night. We were inspired by how they would use long takes to capture scenes rather than relying on editing.”

Cell phones and computers do not make an appearance in Veninger’s latest film. “Even though Porcupine Lake is set in the present day, it has a nostalgic feel which is helped by the lack of technology,” Lichty says. “The strength of these two young actresses allowed us to play a real feeling scenario.” The two adolescent leads share a kiss with each other at one point. “It could be interpreted in a few different ways like falling in love, exploring who they are, exploring relationships, and not knowing how to grow up yet.”

A lot of the camerawork in the film flows organically from the action. “Ingrid and I slowly build the blocking that turns into how the scene might look, then the camera comes into play, we explore the angle that it might approach from, why it might approach from that angle, and then start to record. We end up doing a lot of different takes that evolve to the point where we have

“

Ingrid and I slowly build the blocking that turns into how the scene might look, then the camera comes into play, we explore the angle that it might approach from, why it might approach from that angle, and then start to record. We end up doing a lot of different takes that evolve to the point where

Credit: Julian Papas

we have the performance recorded in a way that Ingrid wants it captured.”

the performance recorded in a way that Ingrid wants it captured,” Lichty says.

The shot composition changes as the story progresses. “At the beginning of the movie we wanted to get to know the characters through the locations and save the close-ups for the end of the film.”

No production designer was part of the crew. “Our production design relied on the existing location, and we would do simple things like rearrange a room,” Lichty states. “It became a collective thing. We had a great production manager named Shant Joshi and he would help out in any way that we needed. Ingrid’s daughter Hallie Switzer was the wardrobe designer and also assisted with the production design.” Settings such as the Snack Shack where Bea’s (Charlette Salisbury) family lives were decided upon before the Toronto-based cinematographer came onto the project.

“The more exciting location for me was finding Porcupine Lake,” Lichty reveals.

“We were looking for this secluded area with a walk up to it and an ability for Bea and Kate [Lucinda Armstrong Hall] to get into the water. We looked at few different places and spotted one from across the lake, which was in a great position for dealing with the sun. We found our way to it and walked that same walk in the movie and said, ‘Wow. This is the perfect journey for them.’”

Principal photography took place primarily in and around Port Severn, as well as in Barrie and Parry Sound over a period of 23 days from August to September in 2016. “We had our editor, Chris Mutton, on set managing our data, and I had one assistant called an all-rounder, Michael Maddeaux, who would help me with camera and lighting,” Lichty explains. “The camera was a Canon C300 with C200 PL mount and Zeiss Super Speed Prime lenses [25 mm and 35 mm were the most common along with 18 mm, 55 mm and 85 mm]. All of our camera gear was provided by SIM Digital. The biggest light that we had was the 1.2K HMI PAR, which was used sparingly, and a lot of Kino Flo fixtures and small Fresnels supplied by William F. White.”

Left: Bea meets Kate's family.

Above: DP Ben Lichty

Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

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Credit: Julian Papas

“With this one we all stayed together in cabins, which were also used for the back of the Snack Shack where Bea’s family lives. Every night after shooting we would have a big family dinner, and the food was prepared by Ingrid’s partner John Switzer.

Everyone would share a word about what they had experienced that day. It created this amazing community of collective filmmaking that consisted of 15 to 20 people, depending on how many of the cast were there at the time,” Lichty recalls, adding that the “do-it-yourself ” attitude guided the production of Porcupine Lake. “Truthfully, this was a pretty low-tech shoot because filmmaking with Ingrid Veninger is much more about the creative process than the technical workings.”

Credit: Cassaundra Sloan

Sunlight and practical lamps were the primary light sources.

“My goal was to use as much natural light as possible,” Lichty says. “I wanted to have a natural-feeling film. I didn’t want to impose lighting or a specific lighting look.” The footage was 1920x1080 HD and finished in 2K DCP with the aspect ratio being 16:9. “The majority of the film was shot handheld with the occasional time where we used a tripod for support. It presented a challenge for me because I’m six feet tall and our lead actresses weren’t nearly as tall. I didn’t want to put the camera on my shoulder, as I would end up looking down at them. We built a small body rig that I used to mount the camera closer to my chest height, which gave a great eyeline for the two girls,” he says.

“I pulled focus myself on this film,” the cinematographer reveals. “Often people are surprised by that info, as it’s much more common to work with a focus puller. Ingrid has a workflow that involves a lot of actor and camera rehearsal as we all build the scene together, and that allowed me to be [mostly] confident to pull focus and operate. I also knew that we would be mostly shooting on wider lenses and I wanted to build a look with more depth of field, rather than the razor-thin depth we often see now.

I felt that using a wider depth also played well into the nostalgic/vintage look and feel we were aiming for.”

A makeshift camera rig was also constructed for the opening car window shot of Bea seated in the backseat. “We had shot a lot of that sequence previously with the camera inside the car, and all of the drive-bys and POVs,” Lichty notes. “However, we wanted something that offered a different look of Bea. I thought it would be neat to have a shot of her looking out with this view that she’s passing reflecting in the window. They gave us an hour and a half to try to figure something out. Michael and I pulled out all of the pieces in the truck, started building and were able to put that little rig together with some basic gear [pipes, clamps, safety straps] that William F. White had given us.”

While in the car, a canine cast member is captured yawning.

“I have to give a lot of credit to the dog that we had, owned by singer/songwriter Jane Siberry,” Lichty says. “I’ve worked with dogs and animals on set before, and Gwyllym was the most amazing performer. He wanted to be in the movie. What this dog enabled us to do was write him in more because he would do repeatable actions. We could put him in the back, and he’d be a part of that. Gwyllym wouldn’t run away. We had not only dogs but also a baby and a very young child in the film, and sometimes they would do things that you’re not expecting, and it became a golden moment.”

Emulating a goldenness and feeling of Kodachrome was an important part of the overall visual aesthetic. “I captured with the Canon C300 using the C-Log capture,” Lichty says. “Our colourist at Deluxe Post Production, Bill Ferwerda, was a key partner in developing the look of the film. I had done a first pass of colour on my own, so we had that as a reference. Then Bill came in, perfected it, and helped us execute this vision of warmer browns. We didn’t have a pre-developed LUT. When we were shooting it didn’t look like this at all. We edited with a much more natural palette.

Top: Veninger discusses a scene with Lichty.

Middle: Charlotte Salisbury as Bea. Bottom: Maxime Robin (Emile) in a scene with Lucinda Armstrong Hall.

Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

27

MATT BENDO Making the Light for the Camera

By Ian Harvey

24 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

Credit: Cameron Bryson

L

ight is the clay with which cinematographers sculpt their stories.

On big-budget features there is an army of grips with a battery of lights, controllers, filters and more to get the mood in line with the director and DP’s vision, but when you’re an up-and-coming cinematographer with almost no budget and a burning desire to do something different, you get creative. Really creative.

CSC associate Matt Bendo turned heads last year with his 1.18-minute piece Storm, featuring a Lamborghini Aventador SV LP750-4 sporting an Armytrix Titanium Exhaust for YST Tuning Canada juxtaposed with moody lighting, brooding clouds and a beautiful woman. His racy and powerful images brought him the Branded/Corporate/Educational Content Cinematography Award at the 2017 CSC Awards, and at just 25 years old, he’s the youngest winner of the national award.

He’s at it again with a branded content piece – Legacy for Mississauga boxing gym Kombat Arts Training Academy. It’s a three-minute visual narrative focussing on two boxers and their obsessive motivation to rigorously train and face adversaries from self-doubt, weather, emotions and, of course, in the ring itself. What’s remarkable is not just the finished product but the story behind how it came to be made, and the fact it was done with almost zero budget.

The four main narrative scenes are lit unconventionally and, as it turns out, innovatively, with an imaginative use of everyday items, including a mason jar with some gaffer’s tape, a reflective space blanket and a broom.

The result is an eerie, dynamic and gritty look, complementing the rumbling audio and hard-edged voiceover that combine to bring the viewer deeper into the lives of the boxers and their dreams.

“I am a boxing fan and I always wanted to make something which captured the essence of their training, because a top boxer

DANCE

A portrait of Matt Bendo taken during the production of Storm.

A still from Legacy.

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“I am a boxing fan and I always wanted to make something which captured the essence of their training, because a top boxer is among the fittest of any athlete.” is among the fittest of any athlete,” Bendo says. “So I approached Kombat Arts with an outline, no storyboard or anything, just an idea basically.” Of course, they were sceptical at first but agreed to collaborate and to help fund it, though it didn’t cover the entire cost.

The key shots involve a living room, where a fire-like flickering juxtaposes against a television showing an inspirational Muhammad Ali match; an exterior of the character running in the rain bursting through fog from a Roscoe V-Hazer for dramatic effect; an elevated boxing ring with harsh white spotlights blasting down, isolating the scene, again with a generous helping of haze; a bedroom where a child sleeps in a crib with the early morning sun filtering through the windows; and a kitchen,

30 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

Matt Bendo communicating with gaffer Sam Pollock (off camera).

again in early morning light, where the character gathers his thoughts before facing the maelstrom of the boxing ring. All these sets reference the gym, a workout in a dilapidated shed, set against

an approaching storm, which passes through during the timeline and finally leaves a feeling of calm and peace at the end.

Aside from the intriguing entertainment value packed into the three-minute reel, there’s an overriding sense of “how did he do that?” It’s a question Bendo’s been asked a lot since the clip was posted on Vimeo last June. (vimeo. com/222805319) “Sometime before we made that video, I was explaining the concept of undulating light to my girlfriend one night at home,” he says. “I reached for something to show how light could be manipulated to create effects, and I literally reached for a mason jar, which was on the night stand. I shone a flashlight through it, and the different textures in the glass and the raised printing on it created these effects.”

He was intrigued and started taking pictures of his hands lit by shining light through a mason jar from different angles and distances. “I’d shot through a glass before to get an effect, but I hadn’t seen anything like this,” he says. He reached

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Key grip Xander Smith rotates a mason jar in front of a Fresnel light in order to create the lighting effect used throughout Legacy.

out to his friend and gaffer Sam Pollock and the pair hooked up on FaceTime live for a demonstration. The conversation took off, and soon they were swapping ideas back and forth as to how to rig a set to take advantage of the idea and to move from static lighting to dynamic lighting. “We pulled out a glass casserole dish, all kinds of stuff,” Bendo says.

When the opportunity to shoot Legacy came up, they were determined to put their ideas to work. Using LEDs they begged and borrowed, one effect was achieved with a reflective space blanket that was being shaken during filming to create unsettled light. Another setup used an LED shining through a mason jar that was mounted onto a shaved down hockey puck turned by a hand crank. Still another involved lighting through the bristles of a broom to get a diffused light, and yet another involved the faithful mason jar lighting one side of the scene to render a sepia-tone blue, while the other involved a low-tech tung-

sten to create a brown sepia. Add in grips shaking three branches and directing a garden hose to simulate driving rain, and it’s about as low budget as it gets, yet it’s a triumph of creative cinematography magic.

They shot for three days with an ALEXA Mini using Cooke SS lenses and then spent a month or so editing, posting in June 2017 to an immediate rush of accolades.

“I wanted to take a risk, to be bold, to show what I can do,” says Bendo, whose cinematic influences include Roger Deakins asc, bsc-lensed projects like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and No Country for Old Men (2007). “For some of the lighting I wanted to create an aurora borealis effect, and I think we did that,” Bendo says.

It’s another step on a journey that began at the University of Windsor’s communications program and a meeting with Bert Dunk csc, asc. “I must have Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

27

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asked Bert 100 questions,” Bendo says, laughing. “But I knew then I wanted to be a cinematographer.”

Bendo was offered a scholarship at Ryerson but dropped out after a couple days.

“I saw a music video [shot] by Sebastian Winterø of Denmark – ‘Chandelier’ by Sia – so I contacted him and he sort of mentored me,” the cinematographer says.

He started working on sets and learning by watching and asking. “I’d go home and write it all down and deconstruct it,” he says. “I had no idea of how things were done.”

Clearly, he’s a fast learner and his work to date proves it. He’s aiming for feature films, but in the interim, like any one starting out, taking whatever work comes his way, commercials, documentaries, corporate or whatever.

32 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

Matt Bendo composing a shot for Legacy. The shot featured an ensemble of many Canadian professional and amateur boxers.

Credit: Julian Lomaga

“I wanted to take a risk, to be bold, to show what I can do…

For some of the lighting I wanted to create an aurora borealis effect, and I think we did that.”

Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

33

Tech Column Credit: Courtesy of PRG

Classic Vaudeville Gag Gets Tech Makeover

B

ack in the day, legendary clown Emmett Kelly got a lot of laughs in his act sweeping up the spotlight on vaudeville stages and, later on, television. It was funny because the light seemed to be infused with a mischievous character of its own, taunting Kelly as he either tried to step to the side of it or, ul-

30 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

timately, sweep it away.

The followspot, of course, was the standard item he turned into a prop and a gag. It was the must-have light at all live theatres, and transitioned to TV stages and touring rock shows. Over the years, it didn’t really change much – it was a spotlight with an adjustable beam set

high up in the rafters or in the overhead trusses with an operator who directed it as required.

The PRG GroundControl Followspot System is about to change all that, bringing the spot operator down to the stage floor but leaving the light in place up above – or wherever the lighting director wants to put it, up to 2,000 feet from the control position.

It’s available as a rental from PRG in Etobicoke, and the design consists of a digital control console with a joystick and a selection of eight rocker switches. The operator sits at stage level and directs the light with the joystick, dialling in the type of beam and the angle required. There’s no more climbing up into the rigging and perching for hours until wrap.

System is essentially three parts: a digitally-controlled spotlight with a builtin HD-SDI 1080p camera and optical zoom, night vision and targeting reticle; a set of cables for power, camera signal and control signals, and the operator console with an arm rest, joystick and switches, and a monitor screen that shows what the spotlight is targeting.

When you think about it, the technology behind PRG’s followspot is actually pretty simple and logical. The big question is what took them so long? PRG’s product manager, Chris Conti, says the details, as always, were bedeviling. “We first had the idea back in 2009, but the technology wasn’t there, and what did exist was too expensive,” he says. “We kept at it until about 2012, but it still wasn’t all there.”

Two years later, however, came the breakthrough and the launch of the system, and the reaction from the industry – especially live TV such as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live – has been huge, he says.

The advantages of the system go beyond having an operator in a safer, more comfortable place. The lightweight factor

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means they can be placed almost anywhere, mounted on walls, mounted on lifts, balcony rails and booms, for example. Further, says Conti, the video game joystick controller has a flat learning curve, so operators can transition in a couple of hours.

The controls allow dial-in of colour, intensity, frosting and, of course, angle from narrow to wide.

The system comes in three flavours – the GC Best Boy, for short throws of 10 to 75 feet with 30,000 lumens; the GC Bad Boy for medium throws of 50 to 150 feet and 50,000 lumens; and the big-gun GC Longthrow for more than 150 feet throws with well over 50,000 lumens designed for bigvenue awards shows and stadium shows. They also offer a four-way controller, allowing one operator to switch between four different spots. It’s also DMX compatible and can be controlled directly from the lighting booth for instant blackouts across all lights and other effects.

The system doesn’t displace operators, Conti notes, it actually preserves those jobs.

“There are guys getting older now who can’t climb like they used to, and now they can sit and operate at ground level, so it actually extends their careers,” he says.

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.

Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018 •

31

DP Bernard Couture csc (alternating episodes) Camera Operator Jim Van Dijk

to May 8

ANNE II (series)

Camera Operator Andreas Evdemon

to March 28

Toronto

ARROW VI (series)

DP Gordon Verheul csc & Bruce Worrall csc (alternating episodes)

to April 20

Vancouver

BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY (feature)

Camera Operator Keith Murphy

to February 7

Etobicoke

THE BEAVERTON II (series)

DP Gerald Packer csc

to February 2

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BLUE BOOK (series)

DP C. Kim Miles csc

to April 26

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DC’S LEGENDS OF TOMORROW III (series)

David Geddes csc, asc (even episodes)

to February 26

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DESIGNATED SURVIVOR II (series)

DP Michael Storey csc (alternating episodes)

to March 23

Toronto

FALLING WATER II (series)

B Camera Operator Perry Hoffmann

to March 20

Toronto

FLASH, THE IV (series)

DP Brenton Spencer csc (odd) & Alwyn J. Kumst csc (even)

to April 21

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FORT JAMES III (series)

DP Philip Lanyon

to February 28

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THE GOOD DOCTOR (series)

DP John Bartley csc, asc

to March 1

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John Berrie csc

to February 2

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ONCE UPON A TIME VII (series)

DP Tony Mirza

to April 2

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POLAR (feature)

B Camera Operator Juan Montalvo B Camera 1st Assistant Ciaran Copelin

to April 3

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POPPY DONE TO DEATH #8 / ALL THE LITTLE LIARS (series)

DP Ron Stannett csc

to February 21

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RIVERDALE II (series)

DP Brendan Uegama csc

SHADOWHUNTERS III (series)

DP Mike McMurray csc (alternating to May 15 episodes) Camera Operator Drew Potter

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SUPERNATURAL XIII (series)

DP Serge Ladouceur csc Camera Operator Brad Creasser

to April 27

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TAKEN II (series)

DP David Makin csc (odd episodes)

to February 6

Toronto

to March 21

Vancouver

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TIN STAR II (series)

DP Paul Sarossy csc, bsc, asc

to August 3

Calgary

TITANS (series)

DP Boris Mojsovski csc & Brendan Steacy csc (alternating)

to May 21

Toronto

UMBRELLA ACADEMY, THE (TV series)

Craig Wrobleski csc B Camera Operator Peter Sweeney

to July 11

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WINGS OVER EVEREST (feature)

DP Danny Nowak csc

to April 27

Vancouver

WYNTER (pilot)

DP Samy Inayeh csc

to February 13

Winnipeg

MARCH 11, Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto, academy.ca/awards/ 1-4, Kingston Canadian Film Festival, Kingston, ON, kingcanfilmfest.com 8-28, International Film Festival on Art, Montreal, artfifa.com

32 • Canadian Cinematographer - February 2018

APRIL 14, CSC Awards, Arcadian Court, Toronto, csc.ca May 7, CSC Annual General Meeting, Technicolor Toronto

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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.

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