AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER • NOVEMBER 2017 • MOTHER! – THE MOUNTAIN BETWEEN US – CAMERIMAGE 25TH ANNIVERSARY – RESTORING THE “TOLAND CAMERA” • VOL. 98 NO. 11
NOVEMBER 2017
N
O
V
E
M
B
E
R
2
0
1
7
V
O
L
.
9
8
N
O
.
1
1
An International Publication of the ASC
On Our Cover: Jennifer Lawrence portrays the title character in writer-director Darren Aronofsky’s allegorical feature Mother!, shot by Matthew Libatique, ASC. (Photo by Niko Tavernise, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.)
FEATURES 30 46 58 70
Mother! – A New Testament Matthew Libatique, ASC and writer-director Darren Aronofsky tell a tale of genesis and revelations
The Mountain Between Us – In the Cold
46
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS goes to extremes for director Hany Abu-Assad’s survival story
Camerimage – Polish Hospitality An oral history of Camerimage, in honor of the singular festival’s 25th anniversary
A Storied Camera
58
ASC Museum curator Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK details the search for and restoration of Mitchell BNC No. 2
DEPARTMENTS 10 12 14 24 78 82 83 84 85 86 88
Editor’s Note President’s Desk Shot Craft: Communication Is Key • Histogram • DIY Short Takes: It Happened Again Last Night New Products & Services International Marketplace Classified Ads Ad Index In Memoriam: Vincent G. Cox, ASC, SASC Clubhouse News ASC Close-Up: Oliver Bokelberg
— VISIT WWW.ASCMAG.COM —
70
<<<
NEW, IMPROVED & ONLINE>>> Your Two Best Cinematography Resources
ascmag.com
Filmmakers’ Forum: Michael Goi, ASC, ISC
theasc.com
In his exclusive video series for American Cinematographer, Michael Goi, ASC, ISC offers candid advice to emerging cinematographers and other filmmakers.
You’ll find them all at ascmag.com/videos Goi’s posts include such topics as: “Persistence” “A lot of times in this business, it’s not the person who is the most talented, the most artistic, who is going to make it. It’s the person who — frankly — will do anything to get a job.”
“Just Do It” “Too many people who are trying to make it in this business talk about what it is they want to do. They talk about the script they want to write, they talk about this great movie they want to make… You have no excuses.”
“Finding Mentors” “One of the most important things you can do to get into this business is to be mentored by somebody who is in this business and does what you want to do — who is an expert in their field. You may think you’re bugging them. Well, YOU ARE BUGGING THEM!”
Michael Goi’s extensive credits as a cinematographer include American Horror Story, Glee, Salem and The Town That Dreaded Sundown. He earned ASC Outstanding Achievement Award nominations for the telefilms The Fixer and Judas, the pilot for The New Normal, and the miniseries American Horror Story: Asylum. He also wrote and directed the dramatic feature Megan Is Missing. Goi is a past president of the ASC and long served on the Society’s Board of Governors. He is the editor of the 10th edition of the American Cinematographer Film Manual and has served as an instructor in the ASC Master Class program.
Log on now at ascmag.com/videos to watch these and many other clips.
N o v e m b e r
2 0 1 7
V o l .
9 8 ,
N o .
1 1
An International Publication of the ASC
Visit us online at www.ascmag.com
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF and PUBLISHER Stephen Pizzello ———————————————————————————————————— WEB DIRECTOR and ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER David E. Williams ————————————————————————————————————
EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR Jon D. Witmer ASSOCIATE EDITOR Andrew Fish TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Benjamin B, Rachael K. Bosley, Mark Dillon, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner, Debra Kaufman, Iain Marcks, Matt Mulcahey, Jean Oppenheimer, Phil Rhodes, Patricia Thomson PODCASTS Jim Hemphill, Iain Marcks, Chase Yeremian BLOGS Benjamin B; John Bailey, ASC; David Heuring IT DIRECTOR/WEB PRODUCER Mat Newman NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES David Alexander Willis ————————————————————————————————————
ART & DESIGN CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer PHOTO EDITOR Kelly Brinker ————————————————————————————————————
ADVERTISING ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann 323-936-3769 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail:
[email protected] ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce 323-952-2114 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail:
[email protected] CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru 323-952-2124 Fax 323-952-2140 e-mail:
[email protected] ————————————————————————————————————
SUBSCRIPTIONS, BOOKS & PRODUCTS CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal ———————————————————————————————————— ASC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR John Krasno ASC SPONSORSHIP & EVENTS DIRECTOR Patricia Armacost ASC PRESIDENT’S ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras ASC ACCOUNTANT Shawnté Howard ———————————————————————————————————— American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 97th year of publication, is published monthly in Hollywood by ASC Holding Corp., 1782 N. Orange Dr., Hollywood, CA 90028, U.S.A., (800) 448-0145, (323) 969-4333, Fax (323) 876-4973, direct line for subscription inquiries (323) 969-4344. Subscriptions: U.S. $50; Canada/Mexico $70; all other foreign countries $95 a year (remit international Money Order or other exchange payable in U.S. $). Advertising: Rate card upon request from Hollywood office. Copyright 2017 ASC Holding Corp. (All rights reserved.) Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, CA and at additional mailing offices. Printed in the USA. POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
6
American Society of Cinematographers The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but an educational, cultural and professional organization. Membership is by invitation to those who are actively engaged as directors of photography and have demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC membership has become one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a professional cinematographer — a mark of prestige and excellence.
OFFICERS - 2017/2018 Kees van Oostrum President
Bill Bennett Vice President
John Simmons Vice President
Cynthia Pusheck Vice President
Levie Isaacks Treasurer
David Darby Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky Sergeant-at-Arms
MEMBERS OF THE BOARD Paul Cameron Russell Carpenter Curtis Clark Richard Crudo George Spiro Dibie Fred Elmes Victor J. Kemper Stephen Lighthill Karl-Walter Lindenlaub Robert Primes Cynthia Pusheck Roberto Schaefer John Simmons John Toll Amy Vincent
ALTERNATES Dean Cundey Lowell Peterson Steven Fierberg Stephen Burum Mandy Walker MUSEUM CURATOR 8
Steve Gainer
Mother! is not a movie for the fainthearted. Upon its midSeptember release, the film inspired raves in some quarters and outrage in others, but everyone who bought a ticket agreed that it’s an Experience. I saw it with my cineaste brother, Chris — who, like me, appreciated the Grand Guignol flourishes and the sheer chutzpah of the undertaking. “Man, that was great,” Chris said after the credits rolled, as we shuffled up the aisle past two other guys who were still seated in shock, with their mouths literally agape. “Thank God there are still filmmakers out there who are really going for it.” The project is the sixth feature collaboration between ASC member Matthew Libatique and director Darren Aronofsky, both of whom I first met in 1998 at the Sundance Film Festival, during an exuberant party for their indie debut, Pi. The cerebral style of that black-and-white mindbender led to a nomination for the festival’s Grand Jury Prize and earned Aronofsky the Best Directing Award in the Dramatic Competition. Since that early success, the artistic partners have never played it safe. “Matty and I always push ourselves to go past anything we’ve done before,” Aronofsky testifies in our cover story by Iain Marcks (“A New Testament,” page 30). Libatique takes unequivocal pride in their latest creation. “This is the best movie Darren and I have ever made,” he maintains. Viewers can judge for themselves, provided they don’t freak out during the movie’s apocalyptic third act. As you’re reading this, Matty and I may be in Poland at this month’s Camerimage Film Festival, where we’ve both been known to revel during the world’s most unique celebration of cinematography. AC’s 25th anniversary tribute (“Polish Hospitality,” page 58) includes recollections from many ASC members and associates, along with my own sidebar salute to the event’s fabled Polish Disco. I’ve had many memorable experiences at Camerimage, but topping the list would be meeting Tarkovsky cinematographer Vadim Yusov, whose credits include Ivan’s Childhood and Solaris; delivering a posthumous tribute to ASC legend Haskell Wexler in the Opera Nova’s main theater while flanked onstage by the festival’s beloved presenters, The Cowboy and The Blonde; and, in a bizarre incident worthy of Polanski, being playfully menaced by smart-aleck snowplow drivers while strolling through the Bydgoszcz town square with my first festival guide, Emilia Rebas. As evidenced in our piece, the event is truly one of a kind. Also a singular treasure is Mitchell BNC No. 2, the camera Gregg Toland, ASC used to shoot Citizen Kane and other classic films. Cinematography’s version of the Holy Grail was tracked down by ASC museum curator and Society member Steve Gainer, with invaluable assistance from fellow ASC members Sol Negrin and Roy Wagner. Wagner negotiated its donation to the ASC, and Gainer subsequently undertook a painstaking restoration process, detailed in an article by David Alexander Willis (“A Storied Camera,” page 70). This issue also spotlights Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS and her work on The Mountain Between Us. To lend the survival drama the treacherous sense of reality sought by director Hany Abu-Assad, the crew spent four grueling weeks of the show’s 45-day shoot in the Purcell Mountains, 300 miles east of Vancouver, during the dead of winter. “Hany’s mantra on the film was that it should look harsh and rugged, but also beautiful,” Walker tells Jean Oppenheimer (“In the Cold,” page 46). “You see the obstacles and the danger, but also the beauty of the landscape.”
10
Stephen Pizzello Editor-in-Chief and Publisher
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
EDITOR’S NOTE
PRESIDENT’S DESK 25 Bottles of Vodka!
Photo by Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC.
Camerimage, the international film festival celebrating the art of cinematography, is having its 25th anniversary this year. That’s a mark of no small importance. For 25 years now, it has been the place where cinematographers of any age, young and old alike, meet. It’s where I first met many of our colleagues — and it’s where I saw some of them for the last time. It’s where we aspire to show our work, and where we find inspiration in the accomplishments of our friends and fellow cinematographers. From all over the world, we travel to Poland — first the festival was in Toru´n, then Lód´z, and now, since 2010, in Bydgoszcz. Whatever the city, the festival feels like a retreat, like some kind of resort. And, of course, it’s certainly a place where Poland’s national spirit, vodka, flows like water. (Even the Polish word for water, “woda,” looks suspiciously close to vodka.) This “water” is quick to lift the festivalgoers into a state of euphoria. Every night, with senses softened by the spirits, our eyes are opened to another great discovery. Seldom are we cinematographers afforded such a chance to indulge in these sometimes esoteric discussions of aesthetics. On set, we are expected to remain levelheaded and certain of our directions. We are expected to be anchors. Not so at Camerimage. There, we are free to be moved by the cresting waves of creativity. The atmosphere itself is intoxicating. And it is unique. The work shown at Camerimage — hailing from around the globe, from students and professionals, from music videos and features — is beautiful and innovative. More than once, the festival’s highlights have gone on to garner major awards and worldwide recognition. Camerimage has grown considerably in its first quarter century. The technical community has embraced it as an ideal showcase for the latest equipment. Agents make a point to attend, frequently meeting new and upcoming talent. And the festival itself has expanded its focus to honor the crafts that work closely alongside cinematographers, including editing and production design. All in all, Camerimage has done tremendous work to raise awareness of cinematography and cinematographers the world over. At this year’s festival, the ASC will have a joint still-photography exhibit with Imago, the European Federation of Cinematographers, as well as various forums presented as part of our two groups’ joint efforts. To me, this is a sure sign of artistic collaboration, and one that could find no better platform than at Camerimage. It is also wonderful to see the festival salute John Toll, ASC with this year’s Camerimage Lifetime Achievement Award. John follows a long and distinguished line of ASC members who have received this honor, including Owen Roizman, Vilmos Zsigmond and Michael Chapman, to mention only a few. This November, the very fabric of cinematography will gather once again in a small town in Poland for a weeklong celebration of our art and craft. Over the years that I’ve attended, I’ve made fond memories and formed lasting friendships. For this and so much more, I raise my glass of vodka in congratulations to this remarkable event, and to honorary ASC member Marek Zydowicz and his team of festival organizers. I sincerely hope these first 25 years are exactly that: the first, with many, many more to come.
Kees van Oostrum ASC President
12
November 2017
American Cinematographer
SHOT CRAFT
I
Communicating Is Collaborating By Jay Holben
A cinematographer’s skills are many and varied, but perhaps the most important on a daily basis is the ability to clearly communicate. From telling the proper parties what equipment will be needed where, when and why, to interpreting a director’s vision and sharing it with the camera, grip and electric departments — not to mention collaborating across departments with the production designer, costume designer and others — precise communication is a keystone for a smooth-running production. It’s not only the cinematographer who has to be able to communicate. Indeed, clear communication is required of everyone on a crew. With that in mind, AC connected with two of a cinematographer’s key collaborators — a camera operator and a visualeffects supervisor — to ask how they try to ensure a clear path of communication, and what information they need to receive for a productive collaboration. The camera operator is a central member of a cinematographer’s team, and communication between the director, cinematographer and operator must be clear and concise. Michael Stumpf has been an A-camera and Steadicam operator in Los Angeles since January 2000. In the years since, he’s notched credits on features such as Contraband, Olympus Has Fallen, Oblivion and Deepwater Horizon, and series including Las Vegas, Gilmore Girls, One Tree Hill and ER. Along the way, he’s worked with cinematographers like Michael Fimognari and Oliver Stapleton, BSC, and ASC members 14
November 2017
Michael Goi, David Stockton and Claudio Miranda. Stumpf recently wrapped the features LBJ and Shock and Awe, both of which star Woody Harrelson and were photographed by Barry Markowitz, ASC and directed by Rob Reiner. When he works with a cinematographer for the first time, Stumpf says, “I often ask if they have a movie or two in mind that they are trying to emulate, or that they’d like to use as a guide for the show we are about to do. If they can say, ‘I really loved the style of such and such movie,’ I will look at that movie and see what they’re looking for. If they don’t have a specific movie in mind, then I’ll generally start bouncing ideas back and forth with the cinematographer and director to see what they like best and what works for them, to get a better idea of where they’re going with the show.” Communication always has to be tailored to the particular people involved. “In life there are people who are terrific at communicating — and there are people who aren’t,” Stumpf notes. “Sometimes the most creative and artistic people aren’t the best communicators, which is fine. That opens the door for me to explore their creativity. “I’ve worked with cinematographers and directors who have a great vision or idea in their head, but they don’t tell me what it is because they don’t know how to communicate it very well,” he continues. “When this happens, the trick is to watch them even more closely. You can’t force someone to communicate something that they might not know how to express or just don’t feel comfortable saying. So let your eyes do the work. See where they place their
American Cinematographer
Photo by Cook Allender, courtesy of Michael Stumpf. Additional images courtesy of Jay Holben.
Camera operator Michael Stumpf is flanked by director Rob Reiner (left) and cinematographer Barry Markowitz, ASC.
Tech Essentials The Histogram The histogram is a bar graph that represents frequency distribution. For our purposes, histograms are a useful tool for quickly assessing the distribution of luminance values — from black to white — in an image. Unlike waveforms (see Shot Craft Aug, ’17), the histogram doesn’t represent the image in a pictorial fashion; it merely displays the number of pixels that are at a given luminance range, with the far left of the display representing black and the far right representing white. In an 8-bit system, 0 bits is black and 255 bits is white. If the image was nothing but a white screen, the histogram would be one straight line at the 255 point (far right) and the rest would be flat (no reading). If the image were a 50percent-gray box, then the 128 mark (the middle of the histogram) would be a straight line and all else would be flat. Images are not one pure tone, however, and the histogram shows us how many pixels in an image are at a given luminance between black and white. The histogram works on a bell curve, so that whatever pixels in the image represent the majority luminance, that value will be at 100 percent on the scale, and everything else will be a percentage of that. For example, if we were looking at a 10-pixel image and two pixels were 70 bits, five pixels were 128 bits, and three pixels were 255 bits, the line in the middle of the histogram, at 128 bits, would be all the way to the top of the histogram, and the line at 70 bits would measure about 40 percent. How does that figure? Well, if 128 bits (50-percent gray) were the majority of 16
November 2017
that gets a smile, a nod or, better yet, a response of ‘Yes, that’s what I want,’ then I’m starting to realize what they’re looking for without their having to communicate much of it to me.” Creative individuals can feel stifled if they’re micromanaged or told exactly what to do, without the opportunity to offer their own input. Each role in a motion-picture production’s crew brings its own creativity, and allowing that creativity to be expressed and even to influence larger creative deci-
sions can be a great boon to the project overall. As a camera operator, Stumpf says, “I personally don’t need autonomy, but it’s definitely nice to have it to certain degrees. Filmmaking is a creative process and a collaboration. When you have a team of talented, creative people working on a film, why not tap into that? The best CEOs in the business world rely on the people they hire to do great work, and they give them enough autonomy to do their jobs to the best of their ability. That helps a successful
the image (five out of 10 pixels), then that line representing 128 bits goes to 100 on the histogram. Five pixels remain, and of those, two are at 70 bits (dark gray); two is 40 percent of five. The remaining three pixels, at 255 bits, would be at 60 percent, as three is 60 percent of five. Histograms can also represent individual red-, green- and blue-channel values, either separately or superimposed over each other. This is very handy, as it is often possible to overexpose one color channel but not the others — especially with flesh tones, which are high in red. The RGB superimposed histogram can be hard to read, though, which is why the traditional luminance-only histogram is often preferable. In a “properly” exposed image, there should A histogram offers a graphic representation of frequency distribution in an image. In a bright image, the graph is be a fairly even distribution — crowded toward the right (top); in a darker image, the weighted toward the center histogram instead peaks toward the left (above). of the histogram — of the luminance range. “Properly” is subjective, however, and greatly depends noise floor, and the image will fall apart on the effect you are trying to achieve and quickly. the content of the image itself. Many camera manufacturers allow In a bright image, the histogram will you to see a histogram of your image on the be crowded to the right; if this is the creative on-board monitor or LCD screen. Many choice, so be it. In a dark image you’ll find HDSLR cameras can also do this, but, with most of the histogram crowded to the left; if some, you need to shoot a still photo first, as this is your final image, there is little problem they cannot display a histogram on a “live” there. However, if there’s any chance that this or video image. image could be changed in postproduction — JH to be brighter, then you’re very close to the American Cinematographer
Top image by Kaity Williams. Bottom image by Jay Holben, from Mothman, courtesy of Mr. Black Productions.
hands, watch what they look at, see where they might smile at one thing or cringe at another. “After I’ve set up a shot for the cinematographer to look at, they might say, ‘That’s not what I want’ — and then not offer any explanation of what they do want,” Stumpf adds. “Watching out for what they’re looking at might ‘tell’ me what they want. I can then ask, ‘What about this?’ and suggest pointing the camera where I saw their eyes looking. If
business to run smoothly.” Likewise, Stumpf adds, “Directors hire a cinematographer they trust will make their film look great, and they also trust the cinematographer to hire the right people to do great work. It’s awesome when a cinematographer turns to me and says, ‘What do you think?’ or ‘Do you have any ideas?’ or ‘Show me a great shot.’ If they trust me to line up a shot, and then they like it and the director likes it, then it’s a win for all of us. Then the cinematographer knows they can rely on me to get a great shot, and they can concentrate more on working with the gaffer and key grip to light the scene. “Of course, guidance is always DIY The Pie-Pan Leko Gobo Last month we talked about ellipsoidal reflector spotlight (ERS) fixtures, aka “Lekos.” One feature of an ERS is that it can accept a metallic gobo in a holder in the body of the fixture so that it will project a pattern of light. Companies such as Rosco and its GAM Products division manufacture these templates in nearly any shape and pattern you can imagine. But that isn’t the only way to get what you’re looking for. A do-it-yourself technique that I’ve employed many times is to create my own gobo using just a few simple tools that should be readily available at your local grocery store. This project starts with an aluminum pie pan. These typically come in 8" rounds and are a fairly thick aluminum. Although the sides are often crimped and textured, the base is usually fairly flat — and it’s the base that will be of use to us. Using a pair of heavy scissors, tin snips, a box cutter or an X-Acto knife, cut the circular base away from its sides. Slip the base into the Leko’s gobo holder and trace around the opening with a Sharpie; then, trace around the whole holder. Pull the pan base out of the holder. Now, using that area within the traced circumference of the opening as the canvas for the gobo design, draw out whatever shape or pattern you have in mind: clouds, a window pane, tree branches, stars — anything. Then, using an X-Acto knife, cut out the “light” portions of the template — those areas that you want the light to 18
November 2017
welcomed and encouraged if the cinematographer or the director has a different idea in mind,” the operator continues. “If I’ve pitched an idea and the cinematographer says, ‘What do you think about this instead?’ — if it’s a great idea for a shot, I’ll say with a smile and a bit of a laugh, ‘That’s awesome! Your shot is going to look great on my reel!’ That type of teamwork and camaraderie is always welcomed.” To help cinematographers clearly communicate with their operators, Stumpf offers these guiding thoughts: “If, as a cinematographer, you have specific ideas of what you’re looking for, don’t be afraid to say it in simple terms. Operators are
there to execute the shots that the cinematographer and director are looking for — so speak to them about it. “Think of it like this,” he continues. “If you wanted to remodel your house, you’d call in a general contractor to execute your idea. The more you speak to the contractor about what specifically you have in mind, the closer you’ll get to what exactly it is that you want. And if you aren’t fully sure what you want the remodel to look like, you’d ask for the contractor’s input. If you have a general contractor with years of experience and great reviews and recommendations, there’s a good chance you’ll love the way the remodel of your
pass through. This can take a bit of practice and definitely requires some forethought, as the solid portions of the gobo’s pattern — the pieces that will block the projected light — need to connect to the gobo’s outer edge so that they don’t just fall out. Once the pattern is set, trim the pan bottom along the tracing you made of the whole gobo holder. To ensure the gobo will slip nicely into the holder, cut the pan bottom ¼" inside the outline of the holder
— or you can cut ¼" outside the circumference you traced for the center opening. It’s important to use a metal material for this task — which is why a pie pan is so convenient. It’s thicker than aluminum foil, but not so thick that it can’t be easily cut. The aluminum will hold up well in the high heat of a tungsten ERS fixture’s conjugate focal point. — JH
American Cinematographer
house turns out. “Think of your operator like the contractor,” Stumpf concludes. “If you have specific ideas, let us know! We’re here to execute those ideas for you. And if you aren’t sure what the shot should be or DIY Temporary Wallpaper White walls are the bane of cinematographers everywhere. They’re ubiquitous in practical locations the world over, and they are the worst backdrop imaginable for creating any photographic depth in an image. When shooting in a practical location, it’s often not possible to paint the walls, and for a low-budget production, even erecting a façade over an existing wall in order to darken its color or add texture can be costprohibitive. A budget-conscious alternative is to wallpaper the room — temporarily, that is. Wallpaper isn’t as trendy as paint these days, but if you plan ahead, you can find a paper that will work for your needs
20
November 2017
Minority Report, and quickly moved into visual effects after that. Now based out of New York, Russell’s effects résumé includes Sleep Dealer (AC April ’08), Synecdoche, New York, The Adjustment Bureau (AC March ’11), Tower Heist, Europa Report, The Wolf of Wall Street (AC Dec. ’13), A Most Violent Year (AC Feb. ’15) and The Promise (AC May ’17). Echoing Stumpf’s thoughts on how to begin a collaboration, Russell offers, “Every job is different, but the first thing I try to do is get a list of the reference films that the director and cinematographer have been thinking about. That really helps me get my head into the same space as theirs. It seems so simple, but often these films and ideas are discussed between the director and cinematographer and then never shared with anyone else. “From there,” Russell continues, “I find it really helpful to sit with the cine-
and order it online. You’ll also need a 2" roll of low-tack blue painter’s tape and a 1" roll of double-sided carpet tape. Measure out the width of the roll of wallpaper, and then stripe the wall — from ceiling to floor — with the 2" roll of painter’s tape, with its center positioned to align with the edge of the wallpaper. Keep striping the wall with the painter’s tape until you’ve spanned the area you need to cover with the wallpaper. Next, stripe the center of the painter’s tape with the double-stick carpet tape. Now it’s time to place the wallpaper. Making sure it’s perfectly square and straight, align the wallpaper with the stripes of tape. Carefully unroll the wallpaper over the double-stick tape as you peel off the tape’s protective layer. Take your time — this is a
delicate process, and you don’t want to end up with any wrinkles or bubbles in the wallpaper. Once the first strip of wallpaper has been secured, repeat with the next section, continuing until the wall (or room) has been covered. Removal should be clean, but don’t pull the blue tape off too quickly, as even low-tack tape can remove paint or otherwise damage the wall. Remove it slowly, with even pressure. This simple technique can vastly — and economically — improve a practical location, transforming it from a bland white box into a set with great photographic depth. — JH
American Cinematographer
Top photo by Adrian Ratley, courtesy of Mark Russell.
Visual-effects supervisor Mark Russell.
you’re open to more collaboration, ask your operator, ‘What do you think?’ That’s important because no one person will have the best answer or the best idea every time. You can always disagree, but if you have an experienced operator on your side, there’s a good chance you’ll like their ideas — and together you’ll make a great-looking show.” Among a cinematographer’s many collaborators, it’s important to not overlook those who will help shepherd the image through postproduction. For example, to ensure the seamless blend of photography and digital effects, it’s critical to maintain a clear and open dialogue with the visualeffects supervisor. Mark Russell is a visual-effects supervisor who’s been working in the industry for two decades. He began his career working for Bonnie Curtis and Steven Spielberg on films such as Saving Private Ryan and
matographer and look through their location photos and lighting references. A large part of my job is to extend the photographed world into the digital world, so the more information that a cinematographer can share about their intent, the easier my job becomes. “Having spent a number of years working in commercials between features, I learned very quickly that my relationship with the cinematographer is critical to my success,” Russell continues. “There can be unnecessary tension between cinematographers and visualeffects supervisors. We each put a lot of faith in the other’s abilities, yet we have very different methods for achieving results. “Most of the issues I’ve had have stemmed from a lack of trust that the end result will look ‘right’ — which is a very subjective thing,” he adds. “In those cases, I find it’s imperative to perform tests early on for the entire [workflow]. If you’re worried that something isn’t going to look the way you want it to, then let’s shoot a test and make sure everyone is thinking the same thing. Everyone learns something and you then have a solid example that you can point to and say, ‘Yes, this is exactly it,’ or ‘we should adjust the lighting in the foreground plate so it blends better with the digital background’ — whatever the case might be.” Asked how collaborators might improve communication, especially if the relationship begins with a certain amount of static, Russell offers, “It starts with acknowledging that we’re all after the same goal, which is to make the best product possible. It might seem like we’re at odds on set, but oftentimes it’s because we’ve had previous experience with something that we’re hoping to avoid, whether it’s that we’ve struggled with poorly lit greenscreen or that we’ve had to spend too much time fixing things in post that could have been fixed on set. But we’re still all working toward the same end result. The more information the cinematographer and visual-effects supervisor can share, the easier that becomes. If we welcome each other as part of the creative team, then we can all achieve the best results.” 22
Russell submits, “My ideal working relationship with a cinematographer is one where we share ideas and collaborate on how to achieve those ideas in the most practical and efficient way possible. What might be easy for me in post might be extremely complicated to do in camera — although it’s more often the opposite. I’ve found the best situations have been the ones where I was able to collaborate with the cinematographer and the director early in the process to solve problems before it’s too late.” Russell can point to particular working relationships that have formed a template he hopes to follow with future collaborations. “Working with Fred Elmes [ASC] on Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York was a great collaboration for me,” he says. “We all had very limited resources, so it was essential to maximize all of our tools early on. Another great experience was working with John Toll [ASC] on The Adjustment Bureau. There were a number of scenes where we married different locations together with seamless digital transitions; John was a great collaborator in those situations, and we built up a trust through the course of production. Working with Bradford Young [ASC] on A Most Violent Year was a similar experience. Bradford had very clear ideas about how he wanted things to look, and we worked together to find the best solutions in each situation.” Without a doubt, communication is the key to a good production. Often the onus is on the cinematographer to refine that communication across departments to ensure a smooth experience. The effort is well worth it. As Russell emphasizes, “When we work together, everyone ● wins.”
SHORT TAKES
I
Trouble at Home By Jay Holben
Between seasons battling raging infernos, Chicago Fire cinematographer Jayson Crothers often takes on other projects. One such endeavor is It Happened Again Last Night, directed by Gabrielle Stone and Roze. Based on a 13-page script, the short tells the story of Paige (played by Stone), who contends with an abusive relationship at home and finds comfort in the arms of another. Crothers employed Arri’s Alexa Mini — paired with Kowa anamorphic lenses — which recorded ProRes 2.8K in 4:3 sensor mode to CFast 2.0 cards, and framed for the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The production was captured in two days, at two locations, with an all-volunteer crew. American Cinematographer : How did you first become involved with It Happened Again Last Night? Jayson Crothers: I have a long relationship with Roze. We first met on a short film he was production-designing, right after I graduated from AFI, and we struck up an immediate friendship. He reached out to me about this project, and the timing worked and I was absolutely interested. My relationship with Roze was the initial motivating factor, but I really responded to the story. Gabrielle Stone was so passionate about this story and this film that it became infectious, and that really cinched it for me. I knew she was committed to making the best film possible. Emerging cinematographers often view short-form 24
November 2017
projects as a means to an end. What’s your perspective as a successful network director of photography? Crothers: I think many people view shorts as steppingstones to doing features or television, but I view them simply as different narrative opportunities. Especially coming from episodic television where I’m shooting one long narrative for 170-plus days, the opportunity to do something completely different, both narratively and creatively, was very appealing. I’m drawn to working on good material with people I trust and respect, and who will push me in some way, whether that pushing be photographic or purely collaborative. I love being out of my comfort zone, because I think that’s when people do their best work. How did the decision to use Kowa anamorphics come about? Crothers: Gabrielle was especially interested in a rich, ‘big’ look. She didn’t want the film to feel gritty and small, so shooting widescreen was an early conversation. Roze has always been game for anything new to him, and after I sent some videos of anamorphic-lens tests to Gabrielle, she was on board. The choice of the Kowas was largely budgetary. My friend Marc Ritzema, an amazing cinematographer who owns an Alexa Mini package and a set of Kowas, graciously arranged for us to use his package for the two-day shoot. The most appealing part of shooting anamorphic is all of the characteristics and aberrations that come with the lenses, which were especially appealing for the flashback sequences. My first AC, Luis Fowler, is a genius focus puller and was invaluable in helping to get the best out of those lenses. ➣
American Cinematographer
Images courtesy of the filmmakers. Photo of Jayson Crothers by Elizabeth Morris.
Paige (Gabrielle Stone) feels trapped in an abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Stephen (Randy Wayne), in the short It Happened Again Last Night.
Above: An overhead shot captures an intimate scene between Paige and Kris (Alex Lynn Ward). Left: A previs rendering of the same scene. Bottom: For a flashback scene, cinematographer Jayson Crothers created an overall warm look with an Arri M18 and a K 5600 Joker-Bug 800, both with Full CTS, positioned outside the window.
At what aperture did you shoot? Crothers: I shot most of the film at around a T5.6. While I might have shot at wider stops had we been shooting on more modern anamorphics, or even spherical lenses, with the Kowas I found stopping down helped them perform much better. I also wanted to give Luis more to work with, focus-wise, and having some wiggle room in that regard took some pressure off of everyone. And by shooting at a deeper stop, 26
November 2017
I was able to do a lot less in terms of my lighting. Shooting at wider stops would have meant more grip work to build in more contrast, but shooting at a deeper stop allowed me to let things fall off more naturally and do less work on set. It’s that common discussion — a 1-stop difference when shooting at a T2 might be 3 footcandles, whereas when shooting at a 5.6, it’s now a difference of 25 footcandles. How was your experience American Cinematographer
working with a limited lighting package? Crothers: Our lighting package consisted of an Arri M18 HMI, [a K 5600] 800-watt Joker-Bug and two 4-foot 4 Bank Kino Flos; we also used a China ball for one scene and a PAR can for two shots, but the entire film was lit with just those six fixtures and some practicals. Virtually every scene was lit with just one or two lights. Since the look of the film was rooted in [naturalism], the minimal lighting worked for the look, the energy on set, and the crew. Going into the film, my primary concern was to create a strong environment for the actors. I wanted to give them as much time as possible and keep things as simple as we could, so they would have ample time to finesse their performances in a space that was uncluttered. What techniques did you employ for the warm light streaming through the window in the flashback sequence? Crothers: We [aimed] an Arri M18 through the window and an 800 Joker through the window sheers, both with Full CTS, to put an edge on the actors. We also shot with a Black Pro-Mist 1 and a Soft/FX 1 filter to get more blooming from our
Right: Paige listens to angry voicemails from Stephen. Below: Crothers measures the light.
highlights. I set the camera to 8,500K to emulate a warmer look, knowing we’d finesse it a little in our final color grade [which was performed by Lauren Malis at The Colonie with Blackmagic Design DaVinci Resolve for a 2K DCP final deliverable.] Throughout the shoot, we only incorporated flares that happened organically within the frame. At one point we aimed a PAR 64 toward the lens to create more flares for these sequences, but it felt forced and we maintained our simple approach of less-ismore. Tell us about the opening overhead shot of the intimate scene between Gabrielle and Alex Lynn Ward in a bedroom. Crothers: Years before we shot the film, Roze and Gabrielle had made a trailer to raise some money for it, and the entire trailer was a variation of that image, so going into the film, they both talked about that 28
November 2017
shot quite a bit. I think that shot got more time than anything else in the entire film because it had to be just right for everyone. The first and last shot of a film are especially important to me, as are the images of the first time you introduce a character — and this was both the opening image and it introduced us to two of our main characters. We lit it using an M18 through a 4-by-4 of 250 [diffusion] and then through an 8-by-8 of Light Grid. We had a lot of duvetyn off camera for negative fill, and that’s it. In fact, the entire opening scene of the film in the bedroom used that one setup, with a little extra light coming through a small window courtesy of a 4-by-4 Kino Flo. How did you accommodate the challenges of a small budget, short schedule, and limit of two locations? Crothers: It became a matter of trade-offs. One house had a great dining room but not a great kitchen, and another house had the ideal bedrooms but incredibly small bathrooms. We had to work exceptionally fast, and often many decisions were made based on what we could do rather than what we’d like to do. There’s a sequence early in the film that takes place in a bathroom — Paige is getting ready to return home and is listening to increasingly angry voicemails from her abusive boyfriend. We wanted a few different shots, but the size of the bathroom was so small that I literally couldn’t extend my arms out, side to side. It was the last scene of the shoot and the sun had set, so we bounced an M18 into a 4-by-4 muslin outside the window, and used an 800 Joker coming through sheers to put an edge on Gabrielle. It was a simple American Cinematographer
setup that kept equipment out of the room and let us work quickly. Between me operating the camera and Gabrielle, however, there was no room for anything or anyone else. Fortunately, I come from a background of independent features, so working quickly with limited resources on location is something I’ve got a lot of experience with, and it was fun flexing those different creative muscles — as opposed to the more managerial and logistical muscles that are predominantly employed on a large television show. We were after a natural look with rich contrast that was also fast to set up and didn’t require a lot of time and work to maintain for each new setup. Looking back, if we’d had more equipment and more crew, I’m not sure I would have done anything differently. In general, if the scene can be done with a practical and a bounce card — the bedroom sex scene later in the film, for example, is nothing more than two 60-watt practicals and a China ball with a 100-watt bulb in it — I’m thrilled. If it requires a truck of lights and a small army of crew, so be it, but usually the simplest solution is the most elegant and correct. I was very fortunate that gaffer Jason King was available to join the shoot. It’s been a few years since we worked together, but from the very first setup, we fell right back into a rhythm, and he helped keep the set running smoothly by lighting sets ahead of me and guiding our crew of volunteers. ●
A New
Testament Matthew Libatique, ASC and director Darren Aronofsky reteam for the biblical allegory Mother!, their sixth feature collaboration. By Iain Marcks •|•
30
November 2017
O
n the surface, Mother! is a thriller that follows a reclusive poet ( Javier Bardem) and his wife ( Jennifer Lawrence), as he labors to produce a new work, and she labors to restore his secluded Victorian country home after a fire burned it completely to the ground. On a deeper level, the film trades heavily in biblical allegory: Bardem’s character, credited as “Him,” can be viewed as a metaphor for the Christian God; Lawrence’s character, called “Mother,” may personify Mother Earth in her role as muse and protector of their Edenic home. The couple’s idyllic bubble is burst when an ill-mannered family — patriarch Ed Harris, matriarch Michelle Pfeiffer, and rival sons played by real-life siblings Domhnall and Brian Gleeson — insinuate themselves into the couple’s lives. The family’s disruptive behavior is symbolic of
American Cinematographer
Unit photography by Niko Tavernise, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
Opposite: In the feature Mother!, the title character (Jennifer Lawrence) struggles to preserve the Edenic home she shares with her poet husband. This page, top: The poet, identified in the film’s credits as “Him” (Javier Bardem, center), is swarmed by acolytes following the publication of his latest work. Above: Cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC.
mankind: Harris’ character is named Man, Pfeiffer is Woman, and the two unnamed brothers are avatars for Cain and Abel. Even the production itself was referred to as “Day 6” (the day God created man). An inheritance dispute ends with the younger son’s brutal murder by his older, jealous brother, and Man’s grief at losing a son ignites the poet’s creative spark. Mother! is the sixth feature collaboration between director Darren Aronofsky and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, ASC. Their
creative partnership began in the early 1990s, when they were the youngest students in their respective departments at AFI. “We both grew up in New York,” Aronofsky relates, “Matty in Queens and me in Brooklyn. We liked the same music and got each other’s styles, and we had a lot of respect for each other. There are things he does that I could never do. He’s a master of light, always thinking about how it hits the actor’s face. I’m more concerned with movement and framing.” Libatique asserts, “This is the www.ascmag.com
best movie Darren and I have ever made — certainly since Requiem for a Dream [AC Oct. ’00], where it felt like we were able to accomplish everything we set out to do, without compromise.” The cinematographer chalks it up to experience and knowing how to balance creative ambition with practical resources. “Darren’s spent his entire career trying to strike a balance between the commercial and the artistic,” Libatique adds. Mother! therefore presents a rollercoaster ride of shocks and thrills while simultaneously delving November 2017
31
◗
A New Testament into topics such as environmentalism, the nature of religion, and the creative impulse. The filmmakers elected to work primarily in the Super 16mm format for the 40-day shoot, using Kodak Vision3 200T 7213 film stock. Libatique also employed 35mm Vision3 200T 5213 for certain visual-effects shots, and Red Epic Dragon camera arrays to capture dayand night-exterior background plates for later use by the visual-effects team. “Analog film spoke to Mother’s earthy, bohemian qualities, as opposed to the synthetic quality of digital,” Libatique muses. He adds that as digital cinema began to gain a foothold in the motion-picture industry, film-stock manufacturers started optimizing their product lines for image clarity and resolution. “Now 35mm feels almost too clean,” he says. “Darren wanted to see grain, and 16mm is an automatic read. You know you’re not watching a digital image.” Preserving the film stock’s texture meant shooting with sharp lenses. “The only frustrating aspect of 16mm is that there are very few choices,” the cinematographer laments. “I tested wideangle 35mm Primos, but ended up renting 16mm [Arri/Zeiss] Ultra 16 primes from Mels in Montreal, which sub-rented them from Otto Nemenz in Los Angeles. We used Ultra 16s on Black Swan [AC Dec. ’10], so I knew what they did; I was searching to see if there was something better, but I didn’t find it.” Mother! demonstrates Aronofsky’s continued penchant for telling his stories from a subjective point of view, a technique he began exploring with Pi (AC April ’98). On that film, the director reflects, the subjective style “came out of having a very limited budget and only one actor. When we did Requiem for a Dream we had four characters to follow, which added complexity — split screens and all these other ideas of expressionism. The Fountain [AC Nov. ’06] moved into more of an objective space, and then The Wrestler [shot by Maryse Alberti; AC Jan. ’09] and Black Swan brought me back towards subjectivity. But Mother! is
Top and above: The house belonging to Mother and Him was constructed in two forms, one on location in a field outside Montreal, the other on a soundstage. Right: Libatique and writerdirector Darren Aronofsky chart their course with the aid of a floor plan.
32
November 2017
American Cinematographer
www.ascmag.com
November 2017
33
This lighting diagram reveals the array of fixtures used throughout the stage set’s first floor.
◗
A New Testament the first time I’ve completely committed to these rules.” “In Pi,” says Libatique, “it’s a clean shot on Max Cohen [Sean Gullette], it’s over his shoulder to any other character, and it’s his POVs. Mother! uses the same language.” “There’s an infinite number of places you can stick a camera, but in reality there is only one place where the camera should be,” Aronofsky adds. “Putting limitations onto yourself, creating boundaries, is exactly what helps you push a narrative forward.” Single shots of Lawrence were made with a 14mm, while her POV was shot with a 12mm. Overs or reverses were captured with one of those two focal lengths. If an objective wide shot was to be used, Mother had to be by herself in the house — the justification being that she and the house were in fact one and the same. “A shot of the house is also a shot of her,” Libatique explains. The cinematographer also made sparing use of 18mm, 25mm and 50mm focal lengths. The filmmakers rehearsed for three weeks prior to filming, on a stage in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights. There, they taped out the house and, working with the actors and camera crew, shot the entire movie on a Canon EOS 5D. This extensive rehearsal period enabled cast and crew alike to understand the space and acclimate themselves to the subjective camerawork and minimal-coverage approach. As an example, Libatique unpacks the scene in which the brothers fight with Man and Woman in the drawing room. Mother runs down from the second floor and stops in the middle of the staircase. “From her perspective everyone is in profile except one of the brothers,” Libatique explains. “When Man is hit and the brothers go to the floor, the only coverage Ed gets is a whip pan from Jennifer’s point of view. When we follow her into the kitchen to get some towels, there’s all this action in the drawing room taking place without a camera on it, and when we come back,
Right and below: The poet tries to comfort his wife after their life is disrupted by the arrival of Man (Ed Harris) and, soon thereafter, Woman (Michelle Pfeiffer). Bottom: He restrains the Oldest Son (Domhnall Gleeson).
34
November 2017
American Cinematographer
◗
A New Testament the actors are in mid-performance.” The strict adherence to this subjective camera language meant that the actors’ blocking, particularly Lawrence’s, would make all the difference when it came to composition. “Jennifer pushed and pulled the camera with the way she moved,” says Aronofsky. “The operating was very difficult because every shot was handheld, and the takes were often long oners,” says Acamera operator Chris Moseley. “We would track Jennifer throughout the house, in and out of rooms, up and down stairs, sometimes backwards with her in a close-up, mimicking her movements and perspective.” “The style was wide and close, following Jennifer around the house,” says 1st AC Dany Racine. “We quickly realized that it was most interesting to have as shallow a depth of field as possible.” “The challenge,” Libatique adds, “is that it’s hard to get your lenses shallow with Super 16mm. It’s pretty forgiving from a focus puller’s standpoint because you have a smaller negative — and we were using wider lenses.” After starting at T2.8, Libatique quickly decided to add ND filters in order to shoot wide open at T1.3 for the rest of the film. Alongside the visual language, preproduction discussions focused on the design of the house. Aronofsky envisioned a two-story structure with an octagonal layout — a mandala comprising a central atrium surrounded by rooms — and he turned to production designer Philip Messina to execute the practical vision. “I designed a house that was essentially a rat maze, with huge windows on all sides and nowhere to hide,” Messina explains. “We could be looking into many rooms with differently oriented windows in any given shot. “Darren and I gave Matty quite a challenge with this one,” the production designer continues, “but never once did he ask me to dial back the design to make it easier to light. I knew as I was
Above and right: Mother communes with the house, which she’s been rebuilding following a past conflagration. Bottom: She discovers a previously hidden chamber in the home’s basement.
36
November 2017
American Cinematographer
◗
A New Testament
Red Epic Dragon cameras were used to capture exterior plates for visual effects, which were later composited into position outside the stage-bound set’s windows.
drawing the set that it would be quite the task to light and move around in, but we were able to incorporate his lighting needs into the design of every room.” Messina and his department constructed the house in two forms. “We struggled with how one set could accommodate the naturalistic beginning of the film and also work for all the lighting and staging changes that follow in the third act,” the production designer notes. “What we settled on — and this was a big deal for a modestly budgeted film — was to build two house sets. We built one in a [remote] field [outside Montreal], mainly for the beginning of the film, where we shot mostly during the day; this [set featured] the entire first floor and part of the central staircase. Then, on stage [in Montreal], we built a two-story set to accommodate the night 38
November 2017
work, practical effects and stunts that take place during the latter parts of the film — this was the set that essentially gets destroyed. It’s to Matty’s credit that the two tie together so seamlessly.” In one of the first shots of the film, the camera follows Mother as she gets out of bed, exits the bedroom, walks into the study, then goes downstairs to the kitchen. The camera stops in the atrium at the foot of the stairs and rotates with her as she walks from the kitchen to the pantry, the dining room, the foyer and finally the front door. “The whole purpose of that shot is to meet Mother and establish the geography of the house,” Libatique remarks. Thanks to the Brooklyn-based rehearsal process, Messina notes, “I was able to incorporate certain door openings and furniture placements to American Cinematographer
accommodate the camera moves. There was a lot of discussion about how the camera would move up and down the narrow staircase while keeping the frame on Jen; we opted to widen it a bit from the initial design, and we had sections of railing that were removable. We would also pull elements such as kitchen cabinetry into the wall or fold down counters in the middle of a shot to accommodate the moving camera. That was really fun, trying to solve that as simply and elegantly as possible.” The filmmakers’ rigorous specificity extended to the film’s color palette, which Libatique says was designed to convey Mother’s natural persona. “When she goes down into the basement and opens up the trunk filled with linens,” he notes, “you get the whole tonality — layers of gray, blue, tan. That’s the house. You even see it in the spackle she chooses when she’s working on the bedroom wall.” “Especially at the beginning of the film,” Messina adds, “it was absolutely necessary that we strike a naturalistic tone with both the color palette and the lighting. We needed a relatable tonal baseline from which we could vault into the insanity that’s to follow.” Libatique’s photography sustains the naturalistic mood throughout the first two acts, then becomes increasingly heightened in the third, as the story grows ever more surreal. “We wanted to earn the things you see in the film,” says the cinematographer. “Nothing photographically should take you out of the reality of the situation.” Constructing the first floor on location was critical to this approach, as Aronofsky wanted the real world to always be visible through the house’s wide-open windows. “Featuring the landscape was very important,” Messina attests. “We even chose to forego any artwork on the walls so the verdant green of this idyllic field, framed by the huge windows, would be what would break the pale color tones of the house and costumes.” Because the camera would see
◗
A New Testament The adoring masses descend on the home in a night-exterior sequence filmed on location.
everything as it moved from room to room, no light stands could be placed on the floor either inside or out. Instead, Messina explains, “There was a lot of lighting incorporated into the ceilings in the interior rooms and above the windows on the wraparound porch.” “I didn’t want the lighting to be noticed,” Libatique adds. “I tried to make it as soft and omnidirectional as possible, like the quality of light bouncing off the room.” The cinematographer used iris pulls to maintain exposure while the camera moved, and key grip David Dinel flew 12'x20' solids above the kitchen windows to control the light coming in from the south. A combination of ND.3 and ND.6 Rosco hard gels 40
November 2017
were used as needed on the windows themselves. “The skylight [above the center of the house] was really the only source I had any control over,” Libatique remarks. “We could always match the intensity of the light at the center of the house to what was coming in naturally through the windows.” On location, gaffer Jean Courteau bounced eight Arri M40 HMIs into a bleached-muslin rigged above the skylight; the light was then diffused with either 1⁄4 Grid Cloth, 1⁄2 Grid Cloth or 1⁄2 Soft Frost rags positioned inside the set. On stage, the crew employed a 20'x20' soft box with 18 Arri SkyPanel S60s and 1⁄2 Grid Cloth; this was sometimes double-diffused American Cinematographer
with a 1⁄4 Grid rag hanging low above the staircase. A convincing daylight atmosphere throughout the rest of the house was achieved by surrounding the location set with Arri M40s on chain-motor box trusses and bouncing those off bleached muslin sheets laid beneath the windows outside. 18K Fresnels gelled with Rosco 1⁄2 CTS further enhanced the inside ambience, or created beams of sunlight and sunset effects. Libatique describes another light inside the house as a “jellyfish”: A SkyPanel S60 rigged to the ceiling and bounced into a corner, then doublediffused with bleached muslin. Courteau — who refers to that setup as a “spider’s cocoon” — says via email, “Since most of the film was shot on one set, we needed tools that could easily adjust to any situation. The Arri SkyPanel gave us that versatility by being able to switch to any color. We used it not only in the skylight over the staircase — which was the heart of the house — but extensively all around the set as our go-to lamp for backlights, bounces, or direct fill through a thick diffusion like Depron.” The crew also employed a custom eye light made with multi-layered strips of bicolor LED tape from Moss LED rigged inside a Chinese lantern by LED technician Daniel Gagnon, who used the same LED tape in all of the practical sconces around the staircase. “A lot of the practicals were there
◗
A New Testament
The dining-room set is shown rearranged for an impromptu book signing, an early chapter in the third act’s “fever dream” sequence, in which the home is torn asunder in an increasingly outrageous and horrific series of events.
so I could see definition in the shadows on Jennifer’s face, and so there would be something in the background to balance out the image,” Libatique explains. “There’s always some kind of source in the scene, especially at night, but maybe where she’s standing she’s two or three stops down.” Citing a lecture that Conrad L. Hall, ASC gave to his AFI class, about shooting the feature Black Widow with Debra Winger, Libatique says the use of the space between light sources is as important as the light itself. “At one point,” Libatique recalls, “[Winger] asked Connie where her light was. He showed her — and said, ‘But I don’t want you to forget the space in between.’” Inspired by Man’s loss, Him finally publishes a new work — one might call it a New Testament — and Mother at last conceives a child. The new poem is a massive success, resulting in a deluge of adoring, possessive fans who overrun the house. Unable to stem the tide, Mother watches in horror as her world literally collapses around her: A massive party gives way to looting, human trafficking, a violent clash between protesters and riot police, executions, a military invasion, war, and, ultimately, desolation. Filmed onstage in Montreal, this sequence was dubbed 42
November 2017
“the fever dream.” “Once we got to the fever dream and started ripping the house apart, we had to shoot in chronological order, all the way up to the birth,” says Libatique. Though he and Aronofsky have developed an intuitive working relationship, the fever-dream sequence required precise logistics, and every shot was therefore storyboarded. “We knew our goal for one day would be to get from the human slavery scene to the Molotov cocktail scene,” the cinematographer explains. “The next day we had to get from the protesters to the executioner, then the next day we had to get from the war zone, with paratroopers and explosions, to the refugee camp.” Once a set had been shot for a particular portion of the fever dream, Messina and his art department would then work overnight to tear everything out and build new rooms for the following day. As the set transformed, so too did the quality of light, with dimmerboard operator David Bergeron activating preprogrammed cues as the camera moved from room to room and scene to scene. For the scene in which the poet’s publisher (Kristen Wiig) executes a line of prisoners in the bombed-out dining room, Libatique used exterior lamps — American Cinematographer
two old Klieg housings found by Courteau and retrofitted for HMIs — to rake dramatic light and shadows across the set. When Mother is pulled through the war-zone part of the fever dream, an 18K Arrimax on a doorway dolly, on the stage floor outside the set, tracks with her so that it hits every window as she crosses to her final position. “The fixture was not visible,” Courteau notes, “only the effect it produced.” “It was the kind of shot I love,” Libatique enthuses. “Interdepartmental choreography.” Libatique rated the 7213 at ISO 500 and had it processed normally to establish a texture for the beginning of the film. For the third act, he started rating the film at ISO 320 and pushed it one stop to increase the contrast and saturation. By that point, the sea of people in every scene created a giant negative fill, so rigging gaffer Gilles Fortier was tasked with hanging as many lights as the set would hold. The traumatized, laboring Mother is pulled from the rubble and guided through a refugee camp to the house’s atrium, where a throng of cult members devoted to Him safely ensconce her in the second-floor study. There, Mother gives birth to a baby
◗
A New Testament
Libatique, Aronofsky and crew regard the set from on high. The house’s skylight ambience was created on stage with a 20'x20' soft box.
boy. Against her will, the poet takes the newborn and presents it to his followers in a beatific tableau, surrounded by flickering candles and prayer cards bearing an illustration of Him. Mother exits the study just in time to see her helpless child being passed through the crowd. Starting with the first appearance
44
of Man, Libatique steadily introduced more color into the lighting — particularly red — escalating its intensity in time with the dramatic beats. He accomplished this with SkyPanel S60s, which he combined with white light to control saturation. “Color can have many meanings, but red makes such a
strong visual statement for the film’s emotional climax,” he says, referring to the scene in which Mother desperately claws her way through the throng as they tear her son to pieces. “By the time you get to the dining room, with the altar and the cult members eating the ‘body of Christ,’ it’s more red than anything you’ve seen in the movie so far.” In a fit of righteous fury, Mother annihilates the home, mankind and herself in an apocalyptic fire. The poet emerges from the ashes to rebuild his world once again, and Aronofsky’s cosmogonic cycle begins anew. The film’s visual effects were split between Industrial Light & Magic in San Francisco and Mr. X in New York, and supervised by Dan Schrecker, a veteran of Black Swan and Noah (AC April ’14). Asked about his collaboration with the visual-effects supervisor, Libatique responds, “I just had to understand what he needed.”
As an example, the cinematographer points to a shot from the beginning of the film, of Mother rising from the ashes of the bed. “Before I did the liveaction plate on a dolly and track, I asked Dan to mock up the shot so I had a better understanding of what it was going to look like,” Libatique explains. “It wasn’t a real bed; it was a mechanical platform that raised her up, and the bed was created in post. We strove for the practical but always ended up augmenting it with CG. There are subtle, invisible tweaks to reality all throughout the film, from frogs to bedsheets.” FotoKem processed the negative, and EFilm provided HD dailies, which were colored by Benny Estrada and delivered to the filmmakers via the Pix System. The digital intermediate was performed at Company 3 in New York, where colorist Tim Stipan — another of Libatique’s and Aronofsky’s longtime collaborators — worked with Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve
for a 2K finish. “When you shoot on film, the decision about what it’s supposed to look like has already been made,” says Libatique. “We didn’t deviate from that.” “Matty was looking for a light touch,” Stipan agrees. “We wanted to create color separation by cooling off the shadows and warming up the skin tones. That gave the color design a unique feeling that enhances the uneasiness of the setting in the house.” The cinematographer and colorist found the film’s look in a week, and after Aronofsky made his notes, they did another pass to match color from cut to cut. “After that, we heard the sound mix, and that changed things,” Libatique adds. “Now we could ramp up the density when the sound cues dramatically, or manipulate shadows to create the impression of a door closing off-camera.” The old film-industry cliché is that the relationship between a cine-
matographer and a director is a lot like a marriage: a partnership for better or worse, in sickness and health. For Aronofsky and Libatique, each has served alternately as the other’s muse and poet, depending on the situation. “That’s what any good relationship has, a kind of give and take,” the director reflects. “But no matter what, Matty and I always push ourselves to go past anything we’ve done before.” ●
TECHNICAL SPECS 2.39:1 Super 16mm and Super 35mm Arriflex 416, Arricam LT, Red Epic Dragon Kodak Vision3 200T 7213, 200T 5213 Arri/Zeiss Ultra 16, Ultra Primes Digital Intermediate
45
In the Cold
Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS employs ambitious techniques both on stage and in sub-zero climes to frame The Mountain Between Us. By Jean Oppenheimer •|•
46
November 2017
S
hooting a feature in the middle of winter on a towering mountaintop in British Columbia, where the temperature routinely dips to -40°, would not be every director of photography’s idea of fun. But Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS was thrilled about the challenges the bone-crushing cold would present. The Mountain Between Us is a story of survival that gradually broadens into a romance. Kate Winslet and Idris Elba star as two strangers — photojournalist Alex Martin and neurosurgeon Ben Bass — who charter a private plane when bad weather grounds all commercial flights out of the region. The plane crashes. Though injured, the two passengers survive. Realizing that the pilot never filed a flight plan, the duo has no choice but to try to make their own way down the mountain. Amid the production’s 45-day shoot, four weeks beginning in early January were spent in the Purcell Mountains —
American Cinematographer
Photos by Kimberley French, SMPSP, courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
Opposite and this page, above: Photojournalist Alex Martin (Kate Winslet) and neurosurgeon Ben Bass (Idris Elba) fight for survival after their plane crashes on a remote mountaintop in the feature The Mountain Between Us. Left: Cinematographer Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS lines up a shot.
300 miles east of Vancouver — which stood in for northern Utah’s High Uintas Wilderness. Eight of those days were spent at the top of the mountain, at an altitude of nearly 11,000'. The other three weeks were spent at lower elevations that corresponded to the couple’s descent: the tree line at around 7,000', then down to approximately 3,500' where the production built a back lot and set up base camp. Based on the novel of the same name by Charles Martin, The Mountain Between Us is very much a story of man against nature, and director Hany Abu-
Assad was determined not to take any shortcuts. As most of the movie’s action comprises Ben and Alex’s treacherous descent, Winslet and Elba struggled through 3'-5'-high snow throughout their time on the mountain — with greenscreen employed only for a couple of minor fixes, as well as for a shot of a cougar slinking around the crash site and Ben’s slide down the mountain. The physical demands on both cast and crew were grueling. Fortunately, Walker’s crackerjack Canadian team had extensive experience shooting in such conditions. First AC Doug Lavender; key grip www.ascmag.com
Mike Kirilenko; and camera operators Peter Wilke, SOC and Roger Vernon, CSC — the latter of whom also served as 2nd-unit cinematographer — pulled off one small miracle after another. “Hany’s mantra on the film was that it should look harsh and rugged, but also beautiful,” says Walker, who sat down with AC over the course of several color-timing sessions. “You see the obstacles and the danger but also the beauty of the landscape. “We could only shoot during daylight hours because the helicopters that transported us up couldn’t fly in the November 2017
47
◗
In the Cold
Top: Alex and Ben traverse a tarmac, beginning their ill-fated journey. Above: The crew readies a scene on the tarmac.
dark,” she continues. “It took an hour to helicopter up cast and crew and unpack the gear, and another hour to chopper down, leaving only six hours during which to shoot. We didn’t take any lighting equipment with us and, because the atmosphere up there is so thin, the natural light is very contrasty — the sky is bluer, the clouds and snow whiter, and the shadows darker.” The Australian-born cinematographer knew it would be tricky maintaining a balance between the different skin tones of the actors’ complexions and the exceedingly bright snow, which is why she opted for Arri’s Alexa 65 for all snow exteriors. “My tests — shot on nearby Whistler Mountain during preproduction — showed I could expose, for instance, for the shadows on Idris’ skin and the snow, just using available light,” Walker says. “The 65 picked 48
November 2017
up more detail and definition in the shadows and the highlights in the snow than [the] 35mm Alexa. And digitalimaging technician Leon Rivers-Moore made sure that the snow never peaked and Idris never went too dark.” Before leaving Los Angeles, Walker had tried out a variety of lenses and chose Panavision Sphero 65s. “They drop off at the edges and are not super sharp, so they give a more cinematic look,” she says. Walker sought improved illumination for the 24mm and 29mm Sphero primes, so Panavision’s vice president of optical engineering and lens strategy, ASC associate Dan Sasaki, redesigned them, producing a T2.8 and a T2.5, respectively. Due to the extremely cold conditions the equipment would face, Sasaki applied a special lubrication to all the lenses. The large format was ideal for American Cinematographer
snow exteriors, though after her tests Walker felt it was too harsh for interior close-ups of the actors. All interior scenes, the majority of which were shot on stage, were captured either on Alexa Mini or Alexa SXT cameras. For these scenes, Walker tested Panavision’s 35mm anamorphic C, G and B Series lenses — as well as Xtal Express glass — before deciding upon the Cs. As with the Spheros, Walker liked the cinematic look produced by the Cs. “We used them only [with] IRNDs and straight ND filters,” she says. “I did have them flattened by Sasaki, which I always do with anamorphic lenses.” Sasaki adds that this process involves reducing the lenses’ “field curvature and astigmatism.” Lavender reports that the production occasionally acquired 70-200mm, 48-550mm and 270-840mm zooms for 35mm capture. The 65mm package included a 60-360mm and 150600mm large-format zoom. “On [the anamorphic 35mmformat lenses], I shot T4 on just about everything,” she continues. “I believe we kept the Spheros between T4 and T8 [for the Alexa 65 material]. I felt they got too contrasty when the aperture was closed too much, so rather than closing down the lens when I wanted to focus less on the environment and more on the actors, I lowered the depth of field with NDs at strengths ranging from .3 to 2.4, sometimes combining them.” Arri Rental supplied three Alexa 65 bodies, and Panavision provided two Alexa SXTs and the Alexa Mini, as well as the lenses for all camera models. The lens package also included a 55mm Macro Auto Panatar — mainly for the Mini — as well as a dual-format super-telephoto lens that was customized by Sasaki, which had a focal length of 2,700mm when on an Alexa 65, and 2,800mm when used on a 35mm. Renowned lens designer and advisor Sasaki elaborates, “We converted the lens to have a universal mount adapter. For the large-format spherical, we had a dedicated 65 mount with a built-in expander to accommodate the larger diagonal. When we switched to the 35mm version, we made an anamorphic adapter that went on the back.” The Mountain
crew referred to the specialized telephoto as “Walker’s Wonder.” The Alexa 65 footage, which comprised approximately half of the shoot, was captured at 6560x3100 in Open Gate mode to 2TB Codex SXR Capture Drives; the Alexa SXT captured 2880x2160 to 512GB Codex XR Capture Drives; and the Alexa Mini captured a resolution of 2880x2160 to 256GB CFast 2.0 memory cards. All cameras recorded ArriRaw in Arri Wide Gamut/Log C color space. Thus, reports EFilm vice president of technology and ASC associate Joachim Zell, “color and contrast matching was not an issue” for either dailies or the final grade in terms of employing footage derived from the different camera types. Zell further notes that with the filmmakers’ immediate access to the uncompressed footage — along with “the best possible sizing algorithm” — dailies colorist Ben Estrada and Walker were able “to see a DI-like image right then and there.” Zell adds, “The final grade was performed by EFilm’s DI colorist Natasha Leonnet on an Autodesk Flame Premium Lustre at our EFilm theater located on the Fox studio lot. The working resolution was 2460x1040, and the final deliverables are a 2K DCP, an HD Rec 709 and an HD HDR.” The production spent its first three weeks not on the mountain, but on a stage at Vancouver-adjacent Mammoth Studios, tackling the movie’s most difficult scene right off the bat. It’s a single, continuously moving, four-and-a-half-minute shot inside the small aircraft, which begins with Alex and Ben chatting and admiring the view out the windows, then sees the pilot (Beau Bridges) suffering a stroke, and the craft taking a nosedive. AbuAssad credits production designer Patrice Vermette with suggesting that the scene unfold in one continuous shot. “It was a brilliant idea because it makes the audience part of the journey. They are trapped inside that airplane with the characters.” The plane sat on a gimbal, some 15' off the stage floor. Its roof was removed — to be painted back in post — and replaced with an I-beam skate rig designed by
Top: Ben assesses the crash site. Middle and bottom: The crew shoots on location in the Purcell Mountains in British Columbia.
www.ascmag.com
November 2017
49
◗
In the Cold
The interiors of the plane were shot on stage at Mammoth Studios outside Vancouver.
Kirilenko and rigging grip David McIntosh. The rig was fitted with a Mini Libra remote stabilized head, and ran the length of the plane. This setup allowed the Alexa Mini — paired with a 40mm anamorphic lens with a +1⁄2 diopter — to glide through the plane, practically graze Alex’s cheek as it passes between her and Ben, then execute a series of 180-degree turns to capture the dialogue and movement of all the characters. The actors had to be mindful of the camera’s position and keep its path clear. According to Lavender, Walker had been looking for a lens “that would allow us to get in as close as we needed with our anamorphic format, but also wide enough to capture the [plane’s] full interior [as well as] the mountains beyond. Panavision came up with a [55mm Macro Auto Panatar] lens, 50
November 2017
which can focus from 13 inches to infinity, which is a real challenge for a focus puller. In the end, Mandy and Hany opted for the wider lens [for the singleshot scene], but Mandy really liked the [Macro] Panatar’s falloff and portrait quality, and — much to my anxiety — it became our go-to lens when we were doing close-ups in the tight sets on our stages.” The ambitious extended shot includes a maneuver in which the camera moves from behind Ben and Alex, to the cockpit, then catches Bridges’ profile before turning to face the pilot as he’s seized with sudden affliction. “We took out the pilot’s windshield, and the whole front of the plane moves in and out on a rig as the camera pulls back to face Beau straight on,” Walker relates. “The Alexa Mini is actually outside the plane at this point. As American Cinematographer
the camera pushes back into the aircraft, the front of the plane is also moving [back into place].” The camera turns as it moves farther back into the cabin, as all hell breaks loose. The tail of the plane rips off — a visual accomplished by removing a small cover on the interior set and applying wind effects — as the small craft careens downward. The screen cuts to black at the moment of impact. Dolly grip Ryan Monro, who controlled the I-beam track, was strapped to the bucking gimbal so he could see the actors through the windows and make sure the camera stayed clear of them. The sequence had been storyboarded and the crew spent two full days rehearsing — one run-through with stand-ins and the second with the actors. Wilke operated A camera remotely with the aid of a monitor on the stage floor. Walker and Abu-Assad viewed a monitor nearby. Lavender — on a scaffolding platform that placed him at the same level as the plane — had a 13" SmallHD monitor, but was also able to look through the plane’s windows. Wilke notes, “Doug, Ryan and I were all on headsets, talking to one another during the shot.” Walker and gaffer Stuart Haggerty were tasked with devising a lighting scenario that eliminated all camera shadows in the plane’s 360-degree world. A large, white tent consisting of two layers of Half Grid surrounded the plane and gimbal, covering it completely. The plane interior would be lit solely by lights set up outside the tent. Haggerty and his team placed five 5K Skypans on each side of the tent, ran Image 85s along the top, and positioned T12s in scissor lifts down the sides, which served as key, fill and edge light, respectively. The camera saw only white outside the windows; visual effects later keyed in the background. As the camera traveled throughout the cabin, Walker controlled the T12s via Haggerty — who communicated with board operator Peter Siller — turning them off “when there was a potential camera shadow,” the gaffer says. The sequence demanded weeks of meticulous planning. Lavender studied the behind-the-scenes footage of Children
◗
In the Cold
Top: In-flight plane interiors were shot within a fuselage mounted to a gimbal. Above: Walker, director Hany Abu-Assad (right of monitor, back to camera) prep a plane-wreckage interior.
of Men, shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC (AC Dec. ’06), specifically for a similar shot in that production, which takes place inside a moving car. Expressing a sentiment widely shared by others on the crew, the 1st AC attests that the plane-crash scene “was one of the most satisfying shots of my career.” Shots inside the plane wreckage, where Ben and Alex remain while recovering from their injuries, were captured on stage as well. For these scenes, Walker opted to frost all the plane’s windows. “That would give me continuity of light and no direct sun, ever,” she explains. “I had to do the interiors before the exteri52
November 2017
ors and didn’t know whether the sun would be out or not [on the mountaintop], so I made it [in such a way] that there would always be a very diffused light. Visual effects would later fill in the background outside some of the windows, and we had a photo backing outside the rear of the plane where the tail had been pulled off.” To produce this light, Haggerty erected a soft box over the set using Arri SkyPanel S60s — with Babies, T12s and additional fixtures added during daytime scenes. For night interiors, “the SkyPanel overhead soft box was used for ambient moon,” Haggerty says, and Babies and American Cinematographer
Tweenies were employed for edges and backlights. The small campfire Ben builds within the fuselage to ward off the cold also served as a light source for the actors. “We used a three-light covered wagon — which [comprised] three 100watt bulbs [diffused] with Full Grid, plus Full and Half CTO — as well as muffin tins with 12 MR16 bulbs and either Full or Half CTO,” the gaffer says. “The bulbs were wired into three circuits and produced great fire effects. We placed the covered wagons at right angles inside the plane, so they reflected in the windows and [bounced back] additional light.” Walker added wood to the gas fire to give it color, since a straight gas fire burns white. To shoot within the small aircraft’s interior, “we tried to keep the plane intact and simply maneuver the camera in and around the tight spaces,” Walker says. “We again used the Alexa Mini on the Mini Libra stabilized head, this time on a 30-foot Technocrane.” The production’s eight days on the mountaintop — comprising five separate locations — turned out to be non-consecutive, due to the unpredictable weather conditions. Four call sheets were handed out each day: mountaintop in sunny weather, mountaintop in cloudy weather, the back lot on sunny days, and the back lot on cloudy or snowy days. “We were working on or in the immediate vicinity of the Delphine Glacier,” Vernon says. “The fuselage was situated on the shoulder of Mount Catherine.” Walker notes that due to the cold temperatures, the production had to keep “our cameras turned on — not recording — for 24 hours a day so they wouldn’t freeze.” It wasn’t possible to fly a Technocrane to the top of the mountain, so the grips built a 24' fixed crane onsite. The Alexa 65s were almost always on the fixed crane or a sled dolly — though a Steadicam was used when Ben climbs to the mountain’s summit. In the thin atmosphere, every step proved exhausting. Ben reaches the top, a small plateau just 12' in diameter, surrounded on three sides by steep cliffs — an area,
◗
In the Cold
With the camera mounted atop a sled dolly, the crew follows the actors as they trudge through the snow.
Walker reports, known as Black Wall. Wearing the 88-pound Steadicam, Wilke followed closely behind Elba up the final 250 meters to the summit, then made a full 360-degree circle around the actor. Elba made his own 360 as his character surveys the landscape in all directions. “It was by far the hardest shot I have ever done in my life,” Wilke says. “That last 250-meter hike up the ridge was treacherous. Snow that looked solid crumbled underneath your boots, revealing jagged ancient rock that was sometimes slick with ice.” With the camera focused on Elba, Wilke couldn’t see where he was stepping as he circled the actor on the peak, so dolly grip Monro guided him from behind. When the snow gave way under one of Wilke’s legs, Monro gently lifted him up and kept 54
November 2017
him moving. Meanwhile, Lavender was not only pulling focus but also giving timing notes to Elba and Wilke so they could sync up their respective 360s. “That shot was a testament to the teamwork it takes to make a film,” Wilke submits. It was exceedingly windy along the ridges, and Kirilenko and Monro carried windbreaks to help shield the Steadicam. Though windbreaks are normally black, Walker asked her key grip to make them white, so they could bounce back a little sun onto Elba. Because the two grips couldn’t also hold bounce cards, Walker had them wear white painters’ suits — in effect becoming the bounce. The filmmakers had originally considered using Steadicam for many of the mountaintop scenes, as well as for American Cinematographer
the descent, but Wilke and Kirilenko realized that it wouldn’t work for the numerous 300-to-500-meter walk-andtalks in the deep snow. “We started thinking about a pontoon-style snowboard rig with a Libra 5 [stabilized head] on it,” Wilke recounts. “From there we progressed to a double-snowboard base with an adjustable pipe platform on which we mounted the Libra head.” This proved a far better alternative, although it took every bit of energy Monro and B-camera dolly grip Todd Hlagi had to push the sled through the snow. Wilke notes, “We were able to track with the actors without [having to dig] channels for me to walk on, had I used the Steadicam.” Kirilenko and his team built two sled dollies. “I got high-quality snowboards and converted my Rickshaw Dolly, fabricating pieces to adapt the snowboards to the axle, then mounted the Libra to the Rickshaw,” the key grip says. “The second dolly was smaller, and made from speed rail with push bars and fabricated pieces to mount the snowboards to the sled.” Kirilenko also designed an additional dolly to use on awkward terrain. “It basically tracked along a piece of 20-foot customized ladder truss and could be quickly set at any height we wanted.” The telephoto lens was ideal for shooting the actors in this environment — “as we sometimes had one camera very wide and one telephoto for effect at the same time,” Walker says — juxtaposing the two tiny human figures against the vastness of nature. One of Walker’s favorite shots is of Ben pulling the injured Alex on a small, flat sled that he has constructed. “It’s snowing,” Walker describes. “The camera is about a half mile away and his size hardly changes. There are layers and layers of snow falling between the camera and the actors.” Wilke adds, “Idris is trudging through waist-high snow across a beautiful valley, and it looks hard because it is hard. The danger within the beauty is something Hany talked about a lot, and you can see it in this and other scenes.” Walker opines, “Hany has a very
◗
In the Cold Left to right: First AD Paul Barry, Abu-Assad, Walker, and A-camera/ Steadicam operator Peter Wilke.
European aesthetic. We didn’t do a lot of coverage and we didn’t do a lot of cutaways. His interest is the emotional journey of the characters and the camera moving with them.” The cinematographer adds that she wanted a more filmic look for the images. In that regard, Rivers-Moore notes, “Our show LUT was a modified Kodak film emulsion which added some warmth and soft contrast to our Log C
56
image. On set, I made adjustments with ASC CDLs to give us the handful of looks we used on the picture. “On location, we were dealing with fairly extreme contrast,” he continues, “so I was continually monitoring our Log to ensure as much detail as possible in the snow was preserved while exposing for Idris. The Alexa’s dynamic range handled this magnificently.” The DIT also controlled the iris.
As Ben and Alex reach lower elevations and spring approaches, the snow begins to thaw. Alex falls through a patch of thin ice and screams for Ben, who has gone off to find the dog — the third survivor of the crash. Ben hears the scream and runs in the direction of her voice. “We used the 40mm Sphero 65 for the wide shot of [Winslet’s stunt double] falling through the ice,” says Lavender. “For the shot of Idris running through the forest, we were [employing an Alexa 65 on] the 50-foot Technocrane mounted on a Taurus base, fitted with snow tracks instead of tires.” Walker picks up the story: “We had a lot of discussion about how we would shoot this scene, because everybody was concerned about Kate being soaking wet at minus-20 degrees Celsius. We were going to do it on stage, then on a back lot in Vancouver, but in the end Kate said she’d do it on location — the back lot at base camp, elevation 3,500 feet.” Thus, the underwater shot of Kate was captured in a
tank in the warehouse back on stage in Vancouver, while the exterior shot of Idris reaching into the icy water — which was actually an underground tank filled with heated water — and pulling her out was performed outdoors. Like most of the scenes throughout the production, there were no rehearsals beforehand. The shot was good but not perfect. Winslet volunteered to do the scene again, and ended up doing it three times. “What a trouper she is,” Walker attests. Perhaps the toughest experience anybody underwent on the shoot was when Vernon spent the night on the mountaintop with two other crewmembers in order to get dusk and dawn shots of the crashed plane and the gorgeous vistas surrounding it. The men stayed in the emergency shed, doing their best to shield themselves from temperatures below -40°. “The AC [Alex Martinez] said it was one of the worst nights of his life,” Walker submits. “He took a flask of Bourbon and it froze.”
Vernon notes via email that the Alexa 65 had worked very well throughout the shoot, “although in this circumstance we did not have heated overnight storage, so it was a bit of a gamble. We took 10 block batteries, which in most situations would have been overkill, but we used every single block and squeezed every single volt out of them. Battery life at those temperatures plummets.” Vernon awoke at 2 a.m. to find that the camera was cold as ice. He slipped it into his sleeping bag to warm it up, and “our sunrise shot went off without a hitch,” he says. Walker attests, “The whole logistics of this shoot really revolved around the cold — and amazingly, we never had any technical issues! I loved my Vancouver crew; they were fantastic.” Rivers-Moore offers, “We were all inspired by Mandy’s incredible precision, work ethic and Australian wit. She made the shoot an absolute pleasure.” Asked about her reputation for
equanimity, Walker thinks for a moment and replies, “Australia was my first really big film [AC Nov. ’08], and I remember director Baz Luhrmann telling me, ‘You’re an artist, but on a film like this you are a general.” And I thought, ‘Now, what kind of general do I want to be? I need to be a good communicator, a collaborator, be very organized, and not be the person letting things go out of control.’ Maybe it’s an Australian thing — when something goes awry, you don’t sit back and whinge about it; you just deal with that and get on with it.” ●
TECHNICAL SPECS 2.39:1 Digital Capture Arri Alexa 65, Mini, SXT Panavision Sphero 65, C Series, Macro Panatar, modified telephoto
57
Polish
Hospitality For a quarter century, the Camerimage International Film Festival has drawn filmmakers to Poland in celebration of the art and craft of cinematography. Compiled by Benjamin B, Michael Goldman, Jim Hemphill, David Heuring, Darek Kuzma, Iain Marcks, Jean Oppenheimer, Jon Silberg, Stephen Pizzello and Jon D. Witmer •|• 58
November 2017
F
rom Nov. 11-18, filmmakers and cineastes from around the globe will descend on the Polish city of Bydgoszcz for the 25th installment of the Camerimage International Film Festival, an annual gathering of cinematography’s practitioners, students and admirers. “Camerimage is a unique event for cinematographers from all over the world,” enthuses ASC President Kees van Oostrum. “Not only does it present a fine selection of cinematography, it also consistently embodies a social and artistic purpose that is unsurpassed.” Reflecting on the festival’s first 20 years for the Dec. ’12 issue of AC, Marek Zydowicz — who co-founded Camerimage with Kazimierz Partuki — mused, “We started with an idea, but the worldwide community of cinematographers made this festival what it has become: a warm, welcoming gathering of cinema lovers who celebrate the human,
American Cinematographer
Photos by Ewelina Kami´ nska, Michal Koepke, Stephen Pizzello and Paweł Skraba, courtesy of Camerimage and the AC archives.
emotional connections that cinematographers forge with their images across cultures. The festival bonds different generations of filmmakers, from students to experienced and renowned artists. We also celebrate the evolution and revolution of new technologies that make every cinematographer’s work more challenging day by day — hoping that advancing technology will not overshadow the human aspect of our work.” For its first seven years, the festival was held in Toru´ n, Poland; in 2000, it relocated to Lód´ z — home to Poland’s National Film School — and, since 2010, it’s called Bydgoszcz home, occupying the Opera Nova theater and other nearby venues. Forty-two films were screened during the inaugural Camerimage; last year, 264 movies were presented for an audience that included 610 cinematographers from 45 countries, 760 students representing 134 schools from 40 nations, and 850 other industry professionals — plus about 1,800 additional attendees. Recognizing the festival’s importance to the worldwide cinematography community, the ASC named Zydowicz an honorary member in 2013. “What’s unique about Camerimage is the number of filmmakers sharing with each other and with young people,” offers Kazik Suwala, the festival’s managing director. “Young people come to learn, and older people come to recharge their batteries in an artistic environment. Some festivals are about glamour; Camerimage is an artistic brainstorm.” What follows are the personal remembrances of a number of the festival’s attendees and honorees. ** * Owen Roizman, ASC (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2001): This festival is about cinematographers. That makes it more meaningful. The excitement of being honored at a major festival dedicated to cinematography — that’s really special.
Opposite: This November, the Camerimage International Film Festival will celebrate its 25th year as a showcase for cinematography. This page, above: Michael Chapman, ASC with his Lifetime Achievement Award. Left: Stephen Lighthill, ASC (right) presents Camerimage co-founder Marek Zydowicz with a plaque in recognition of the latter’s honorary membership in the American Society of Cinematographers.
It’s a fantastic experience to be among your peers at something like that. It’s very unique. Michael Chapman, ASC (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2016): I’ve gone three times now — I was honored to be invited. Everyone involved is very respectful of the cameraman. Last time I was there, I was person of the year, and I very much liked www.ascmag.com
it. We all love it. It’s good to be made a big deal of; it doesn’t happen all the time. Why shouldn’t you just lap it up? Garrett Brown (ASC associate): Every festival I’ve been involved with has cherished cinematography, but only in the swim with those darned other disciplines: directing, writing, acting, producing, ad filmeum! Suddenly, here we are, and here everywhere are our November 2017
59
◗
Polish Hospitality
In addition to screenings, seminars and master classes, Camerimage presents a “marketplace,” where international vendors can showcase the latest motionpicture tools and technology.
peers, at the heart of our own festival. It’s intoxicating, and enlightening, and great fun — and Bydgoszcz is warmly welcoming. Robert Hoffman (ASC associate, Technicolor): It’s a total pain in the ass getting there — but once you arrive, the effort dissipates and you’re greeted with a level of informality that is
absolutely singular for any major festival. There are no roped-off areas. Everyone hangs out together — at breakfasts, in screenings, grabbing a beer at the Opera Nova, or during the festival dinners. Frank Kay (ASC associate, J.L. Fisher): Marek is a risk-taker. Who’s going to come to Poland? Well, guess
John Bailey, ASC “In early winter of 1994, the Camerimage Film Festival was only in its second year in the historic medieval Polish town of Toru´ n. Founded in the early 13th century, the city is the birthplace of the great astronomer Copernicus and the site of his namesake university. In 1997, Toru´ n was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site — its stunning Gothic City Hall and other medieval buildings having been largely spared the bombings of World War II. It is altogether right that the city of the great Copernicus, scientist and ‘lensman’ of the heliocentric view of our solar system, should host a film festival of another kind of ‘lensing,’ the art of cinematography. “In 1994, Poland was still emerging from its sociopolitical isolation behind the Iron Curtain, and the signs of corporate branding and advertising were hardly seen on the city streets. Walking the foggy, mostly wet pavement in the mid-afternoon’s already creeping darkness was, for sunworshipping Southern Californians like my wife, Carol [Littleton], and me, not unlike being thrust back into a time machine and emerging onto ancient streets and into buildings that seemed as if all the humans were powered by smoking sticks thrust into their mouths. It was difficult to tell if the soupy air was more polluted by cigarette smoke or by coalfired domestic chimneys. In local hotels, phones were still a rarely working commodity, and internet and email were virtually unknown. Fresh fruit and vegetables were a memory from the previous summer — although almost any foodstuff, however grand or modest, could be found preserved in aspic. “None of this mattered a whit to all of us Americans 60
November 2017
what — everybody was coming. And the excitement is just crazy there. It’s like going to Disneyland. It can be a long trip, but once you’re in it, it’s a great place to be. Caleb Deschanel, ASC (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2014): I think if it was in some big city, you might not have the same concentration of attention. You fly into Warsaw and then have a several-hour car trip to get there. The relative isolation helps people interact, and spend time talking and comparing notes — rubbing elbows with students and with young cinematographers. That’s what makes it great. Nancy Schreiber, ASC: I ended up going really early in its history. I had a film called Dead Beat that was in competition in 1994; it was one of the first things I shot. So there I went to Poland — over Thanksgiving. I’ll never forget all the Americans sitting around
who had made the perilous trip over a road from Warsaw that seemed at times barely more than a paved cow path, its fatal accident sites marked by roadside crucifixes and statuary, like beads on an old nun’s multi-decade rosary. “Inside a single-screen auditorium, it was sometimes difficult to see if the movie was in focus or not because of the clouds of Turkish tobacco smoke drifting in front of the projector — a self-styled fog filter. “But, there were the movies: glorious, wild, experimental, dark in theme and lighting, most of them giving no quarter to any commercial considerations. That year, the Golden Frog award was shared by the Polish film Crows, photographed by Arthur Reinhart [PSC], and the Hungarian film Woyzeck, photographed by Tibor Máthé [HSC]. Each movie was submitted by its country for consideration for the Motion Picture Academy’s Foreign Language Film Award. “It was a heady time that year at Camerimage — years before there was any taint of international mainstream presence or influence. I’m proud to keep fast in my memory how such a fragile enterprise has been able in 25 years to grow into the world’s most visible forum for the art of cinematography, one where camera stylists and artists from around the world merge annually to screen the best of their work, and to bond as brothers and sisters in this still uniquely sited celebration of the moving image.” Bailey currently serves as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
American Cinematographer
◗
Polish Hospitality this table with this tiny little turkey we somehow managed to find. That was our Thanksgiving. It was certainly one to remember! Paul Cameron, ASC: I’d heard about this mythological event that happened annually in Poland, but I was never able to go until 2012, when I was invited to judge the main competition and was sponsored by Red to run a master class. I was shocked at the number of peers, vendors and manufacturers from around the world who were walking through the main floor on opening night. The first party was packed with some of the best cinematographer talent in the world. It was empowering; for once, the cinematographers were the rock stars! I knew the week would be memorable. Guillermo Navarro, ASC (Golden Frog, Pan’s Labyrinth, 2006): My first impression was this profound sense of being in Europe in the winter — and the sense of how they honor film, and how film is really a cultural expression of the world. There, it’s more of an artistic rather than commercial understanding of what film is. There’s a sense of nobility, and that the work is taken seriously. Jacek Laskus, ASC, PSC: I believe I first heard of Camerimage the very first year it happened. Being a Polish-born cinematographer, it was music to my ears to hear that a festival dedicated to the art of cinematography would be held in Poland. Then, arriving from L.A. in November, my first
Christopher Doyle, HKSC “It always surprises me that most Americans put the accent on ‘camera’ in the word Camerimage. I put the accent on ‘image.’ A camera will record whatever s--or genius that is put in front of it. The image is what makes it a Moving Picture: an image that moves, in all senses of the term. “The ‘kids’ think we come to share ‘experience’ or to reveal some formula that will take them to the top. We know we come here — and come back, and even include a break for Camera Image in our shooting schedules — because those kids give us more than we could ever give them. They remind us how it is to be hungry. They remind us how naïve, innocent, even stupid questions lead to unexpected answers and resonant results. “Camera Image is the only place a cameraperson can let her hair down. “I am pissed off that the venues don’t hold more people. We need a stadium venue to celebrate all that Camera Image intends to share. “There is no answer or cure for our addiction to the image. The dope is so good. You will leave Camera Image so enriched, informed, and connected to the energy, confidence and trust that Camera People must find, that it will inform all your work.” impression was: It is cold out there. But that did not last long. The spirit of camaraderie, the warm welcome from Marek and Kazik and all the organizers, quickly made me forget the cold weather. Witold Sobocinski, PSC (Lifetime Achievement Award, 1994): I remember those initial years of the festival very fondly. We were not used to having a place where our work was celebrated to such an extent, where images were appreciated and respected for what they are and what they can become in capable hands. I remember the feeling of gratitude. Toru´ n, where the festival took place back then, was magical, too. Ellen Kuras, ASC: Those who were lucky enough to experience Toru´ n at that time remember lavish dinners in
Daniel Pearl, ASC “I was at the Open House for the ASC Awards in 2006, and [Camerimage managing director] Kazik Suwala stops me and introduces himself. He says, ‘I would like to invite you to a party that we’re having on Friday.’ So I go to the party, and Vilmos Zsigmond [ASC, HSC] is there, Laszlo Kovacs [ASC] is there — all these senior European cinematographers. Kazik and Marek take me off in a corner — and of course the vodka’s flowing like water — and they tell me they wanted to come up with an award for music-video cinematography. They go, ‘To inaugurate this idea, we want to give you an outstanding-achievement award for your work in music videos.’ “Keep in mind, this is January or February of 2006. And 62
November 2017
the beautiful 19th-century mansions, and winter-wonderland walks through the old city in the wee hours of the morning, after hours of chatting at parties. The setting has changed through the years, but the films and the Polish generosity still take the stage. Now it’s much bigger — there are many more exhibits, more sponsors, more master classes, more film categories, more jury members, more staff and more parties, but the intimacy and the chance to speak to world-renowned cinematographers on a very informal basis is still there. Stephen Lighthill, ASC: I really love going to Poland — and that was really my first impression of the festival, having a love affair with the country itself. Being set in a small town is a key
they say, ‘We’ll give you the award in 2007.’ Even though I have a little vodka in me, I’m thinking, ‘That’s 21 months away. What the f---? Nothing in my life has been planned that far out and actually happened.’ So now I think it’s all just pie in the sky. “We finally wrap it up, and as we’re shaking hands, Marek says, ‘By the way, what kind of a name is this, Pearl?’ And I said, ‘Well, the family name is Pereluk’ — and before I can even say that the guards at Ellis Island had changed it to Pearl, he screams out, ‘You’re Polish?! We give you the award this year!’” Pearl received the Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Music Videos in 2006.
American Cinematographer
•|•
“W
hat happens at the Polish Disco stays at the Polish Disco.” If you feel reassured by this oftrepeated mantra, then surely you’ve entered the Camerimage Festival’s Fourth Dimension: The Polish Disco, a soul-bending wormhole of time and space where the naïve commitment to “one quick drink” launches unsuspecting travelers on an epic journey of revelry that often lasts till dawn or beyond. Few who enter this bacchanalian netherworld emerge unaltered after they pass through its portal, marked by a pair of large inflatable pylons that resemble pointy, glowing devil horns. No tribute to Camerimage would be complete without a knowing toast to the Disco. Over the years, the festival has hosted this infinite-loop after-party at a variety of different venues. On my initial trip to Bydgoszcz, back in 2010, the gale-force festivities were unleashed in a downstairs banquet space at the Holiday Inn (a privileged lodging for filmmakers and other visitors held in high esteem), but moved elsewhere after more decorous guests complained about the Zebrówka-fueled din. The next venue was a scruffy nightspot called Club One, conveniently located just a short stumble from the Pod Orlem hotel. Club One had a delightfully seedy feel, with dim, Stygian passageways leading to and from a circular dance floor where onlookers could watch cinematography legends bust a move with fellow filmmakers, internationally famous actors, Polish models, wide-eyed students, and a rogue’s gallery of local characters who would look right at home in Suave Ben’s apartment from Blue Velvet. A long bar led from the dance floor to a “VIP lounge” hosted by festival honcho Marek Zydowicz, whose eminence lent the space an exclusivity envied by anyone who was denied entry by one of the club’s hulking Polish door guards. It was at Club One that I once spotted an Academy Award-winning
64
November 2017
Polish-Disco Fever ASC member loitering on the periphery of the packed dance floor, soaking up the manic vibe as I wearily headed for the exit — finally! — at 7 in the morning. The following dialogue ensued: Me: “You leavin’ anytime soon?” ASC Icon: “I don’t get to do this kind of thing too much anymore, so I think I’m gonna stick around. I’m enjoying it.” Me: “I know what you’re saying — there’s some serious Saturday Night Fever stuff happening on the floor. I don’t think anyone would mistake our Society guys for Tony Manero, though.” Icon (laughing): “Is anyone still back there in Marek’s VIP lounge?” Me: “Yup, but it’s getting a little nuts. A pair of Russian gaffers are armwrestling, and everyone else is on their fifth round of shots. You’re safer out here, trust me.” Later that evening, I ran into the Icon again at one of the nightly dinners hosted by various industry companies. “Hey, what time did you finally leave the Disco?” I asked, genuinely curious. His unabashed reply: “Oh, I dunno … maybe 10 or 11 a.m. No regrets!” The Icon’s wife, a renowned documentary filmmaker, captured the Polish Disco equivalent of a Bigfoot or Nessie photo when she snapped a rare shot of yours truly — a lifelong chorophobic — demonstrating my own dire lack of “Le Freak” after being dragged onto the Club One dance floor by Australian cinematographer Velinda Wardell, ACS. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve jumped into a scrum of world-class directors of photography going completely bonkers to the wallshaking strains of DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s “Turn Down for What.” (The song’s music video, shot by Larkin Seiple, earned the Golden Frog for Best Music Video in 2014.)
American Cinematographer
•|• For the past two years, the Polish Disco has been situated at the Savoy, a neon-infused, ’80s-style nightclub straight out of Scarface. In short order, the Savoy has cemented its reputation as a scene where Tony Montana would feel right at home. The hub of the action is a Vodka Platform hosted by a prominent talent agency, where perks include bottomless bottle service and the chance to receive invaluable career advice from whirling-dervish dance partners. Last year, one exuberant but incautious carouser tumbled headlong off the Platform and pitched forward five feet, flat onto his face. Fortunately, the hapless gent’s rubbery resilience helped him avoid plastic surgery. Other incidents I’ve witnessed include a pair of cinematographers engaging in a Dance-Off to the Death that left one with permanent scars on his arm; a burly Polish local in a skintight, powder-blue leisure suit doing an uncanny impersonation of the head-bobbing Butabi brothers from A Night at the Roxbury; and a brief but intense wrestling match in the coatcheck line, where lifelong friendships can be forged amid the occasional scuffle. (Mere minutes after this donnybrook, I saw the former combatants clinking vodka-and-apple-juice cocktails at the bar.) Lunacy aside, the importance of the Disco to the social fabric of Camerimage cannot be understated. Its schmoozers and minglers range from Oscar winners to Bydgoszcz locals and students from the National Film School in Lód´ z. If you’re seeking an informed conversation about cinematography, you can certainly have one if you’re willing to shout at top volume over a Polish deejay’s beats; if your goal is to find a mentor, or merely cadge an autograph, there are few better places to make it happen. Na zdrowie! — Stephen Pizzello
◗ Polish Hospitality
No day at Camerimage is complete without a late-night — or early-morning — journey across the dance floor at the “Polish Disco.”
to the festival’s success because there are no distractions. When you’re there, the thing that’s happening is the festival and the festival’s social life, and you just focus on that. I was also struck by how big the festival itself is. It’s such a comprehensive festival, and there are so many events going on at once. Seth Emmons (ASC associate, CW Sonderoptic): My most memorable moments are outside the bounds of polite conversation and all involve public figures in the industry, so I’ll just provide a few context-free word associations that conjure up a few moments: sunrise, balcony, bridge, ice-sculpture vodka luge, front-row center, uncontrollable laughter, buckets, crêperie, balloons. Kay: It’s like Vegas. You know, what happens in Bydgoszcz stays in Bydgoszcz. Robbie Greenberg, ASC: The stories about the drinking and staying up all night are all true. There are parties every night, and all the jurors and cinematographers are invited. Either you have gone out to dinner with a bunch of your cohorts and then go to one of these parties, or there is enough food at the parties to take care of dinner that night. Robert Yeoman, ASC: The evening parties are an opportunity to meet other cinematographers, directors, and cinema-related people from all over the world. Other than meetings at the
ASC, these types of interactions are rare. It feels like one large, happy — and inebriated — family! Kim Snyder (ASC associate, Panavision): The days and nights — and days and nights — blur into each other, but the relationships made are invaluable. One of my more memorable experiences was at our Panavision party last year. I found myself sitting between two amazing cinematographers: John Toll [ASC] and Nancy Schreiber. After asking the roaming photographer to take our picture, both Nancy and John immediately raised their hands over my head to more adequately light the shot. Priceless! Schreiber: There’s nothing like it. You’re going to late movies, and then the dinners don’t start until 10 at night, and of course people are eating and drinking well into the middle of the night. Then, if you’re on a jury, you have to get up to catch an early morning screening. If you think you’re going to get any rest there, forget it. Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS (Best Cinematography in a Music Video, How to Destroy Angels, “The Space in Between,” 2010; Golden Frog, Lion, 2016): It’s the social aspect: meeting other cinematographers, asking how they do it. ‘How did you shoot that scene? What lights did you use?’ Each night is spent having dinner with friends, or people I admired or only 65
◗
Polish Hospitality
Ed Lachman, ASC accepts the Golden Frog for his work on Carol, as AC editor-in-chief and publisher Stephen Pizzello (far left) grabs a photo.
knew through email. The parties are a great way to get to know people. You know someone by emailing for 10 years, or through reputation, but now you can buy them a drink, like old friends. John Seale, ASC, ACS (Lifetime Achievement Award, 2011): There are so many wonderful European cameramen whom I admire so much, and to be able to sit and talk and have a drink with them was so exciting. That’s the most exciting thing, I think: to be able to mix and mingle with other cinematographers. You are all cinematographers, and you are all equal. Frederick Elmes, ASC (Cinematographer-Director Duo Award, shared with David Lynch, 2000): It scared me before I went, because I only speak English. But when I got there, communication was so natural because you’re with other cinematographers and people who love cinematography. It’s something we all relate to. We’re all comrades; we’re all there because we love visualizing things, and the fact is we have a common visual language that helps us communicate. With the addition of a bunch of gesturing with your arms, you really can share ideas about film language. It’s a beautiful thing where you find you don’t really even need the words. Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC 66
November 2017
(Lifetime Achievement Award, 2009): Camerimage is like a distillation of whatever is really wonderful in our profession. You meet all these colleagues of yours whom you admire as people and
as professionals. And this meeting is without any stress and has a lot of cultural depth. It is about friendship and admiration. You meet friends amongst the people who make the technology, and it’s wonderful to see them there because you aren’t talking about work. You are away from the stress. Marek Zebrowski (Camerimage festival executive): That’s Marek [Zydowicz]’s idea: get people to be with each other, to swap stories, to interact. Let’s be social. Let’s not only transact business. Just like that motto from Howards End: ‘Only connect.’ Only connect; the rest takes care of itself. That’s how this world gets better. That’s the success of this festival. Fraser: When I was there in 2014, Ed Lachman [ASC] was there. I had met him before, but I had not gotten to know him well. To meet heroes like Ed, guys you don’t get to see every day — to meet and have a drink ➣ and talk, that was fantastic.
Dick Pope, BSC “In 1993 I was invited to the very first Camerimage in Toru´ n, as Naked had been chosen to be screened, but not in competition. Along with other guests, I was picked up at the Warsaw airport, and we all crammed into an old minibus — I remember the heater not working. We embarked on a marathon five-hour journey through heavy snow. I did wonder what I had gotten myself into. “There was a huge student presence, and Naked played to a packed auditorium. Many of the audience were wearing headphones because, in those days, interpreters sat in sound booths giving live Polish translation. The film is a pretty serious affair, but sporadically during the screening the audience kept breaking into laughter. I thought they must hate the film, and were finding it hysterical for all the wrong reasons. But when it ended, the positive response was overwhelming; they’d loved it. “Confused, I later asked some students why they had reacted to certain scenes in the film with such amusement, only to be told that the mirth had been directed at the young English-to-Polish interpreter, who had been audibly squirming in the sound booth, unable to utter the Polish equivalent of certain truly profane English words that are spoken in the film. “At the closing ceremony, a group of film students stormed the stage, took the microphone, and said they wanted to award their own best-film prize — and to my utter amazement, they announced my name for Naked. The prize was a beautiful stained-glass panel that featured a rosebud, an homage to Citizen Kane. It remains one of my most treasured possessions. One of the students who took to the stage was Hoyte van Hoytema [now ASC, FSF, NSC]. The entire experience empowered me with so much confidence. It changed my life.” Pope received the Golden Frog in 1996, for Secrets & Lies; the DirectorCinematographer Duo Award in 1999, shared with Mike Leigh; the Golden Frog in 2004, for Vera Drake; and the Silver Frog in 2006, for The Illusionist. American Cinematographer
◗
Polish Hospitality Nigel Walters, BSC “I have been attending Camerimage for 13 years. The festival of 2005 was an unforgettable occasion. It was such a privilege to share a cramped room with Vilmos Zsigmond [ASC, HSC] and Lazlo Kovacs [ASC], and to listen to an impressive ASC member, Kees van Oostrum, speak with passion and eloquence on how to improve the working conditions of cinematographers. “In 2008, when Anthony Dod Mantle [ASC, BSC, DFF] returned to his seat alongside me after the screening in Lód´ z of Slumdog Millionaire, I told him to remember the applause, as he would never experience anything like it again; the film had brought the roof down! He replied, simply, ‘I know.’ “One humorous experience was Bill Murray being waved aside, unrecognized, after waiting his turn patiently to have a drink at the bar in Lód´ z in 2009. “There was hardly a dry eye in the auditorium in 2015 Matthew Libatique, ASC: My favorite story was when Ed won the Golden Frog for Carol. He got up faster than I’d ever seen him move to make it down [to the stage]. All the cameras and attention were turned on Ed. I was so happy for him. Charles Herzfeld (ASC associate): Ed Lachman for me has always been the mayor of Camerimage. He is an icon at the festival. Like the late Vilmos Zsigmond [ASC, HSC], he has been a continuous presence, rarely missing a year. Ed Lachman, ASC (Silver Frog, Far From Heaven, 2002; Bronze Frog, I’m Not There, 2007; Cinematographer-Director Duo Award, shared with Todd Haynes, 2011; Golden Frog, Carol, 2015): Cinematographers don’t really meet other cinematographers all that often, so it’s a wonderful opportunity to spend time with so many people who have had similar experiences and whom we respect and honor. I become a student myself, spending time with people whose work I’m in awe of — so many people, like Chris Menges [ASC, BSC], Peter Biziou [BSC], Chris Doyle [HKSC] and Slawomir Idziak [PSC]. It’s always rejuvenating to be there, to be around students who are so interested in cinematography, and cinematographers whose work you respect. Of course, they
68
November 2017
when three great servants of film were brought to the stage. Firstly, the modest Chris Menges, ASC, BSC, for his Lifetime Achievement Award. Then the world’s most popular cinematographer, Ed Lachman, ASC, to receive the Golden Frog for Carol. They were followed by the man responsible for founding Camerimage, [honorary ASC member] Marek Zydowicz. In 25 years of the festival, I doubt there has ever been anything as emotionally charged as the standing ovation which greeted them that evening in Bydgoszcz. “Marek has created a festival of which all cinematographers can be proud. It has introduced all ages to the generosity and friendship — indeed, the very soul — of this remarkable profession.” Walters is a former president of Imago, the European Federation of Cinematographers, which will celebrate its own 25th anniversary this December.
also honor directors, production designers and actors, but the focus is primarily on cinematography and how the others contribute to what our work is about. I think all of us who have gone appreciate that about the festival. Albert Hughes (director): I don’t want to hang out with actors or producers — it’s the cameramen that interest me. I got to know the personalities of the cameramen, and spend time in the jury room with them. There are guys I love bumping into over there, like Michael Seresin [BSC], Phil Méheux [BSC], and especially Dick Pope [BSC] — he’s my favorite. Dick is such a sweet man, but he has no filter! I grew up like that, expressing my opinions in a very direct way, so I almost never meet a guy who beats me in that department. [In the jury room] I was glad he kept beating me to it, because then I didn’t have to say those things. Karl Walter Lindenlaub, ASC: The intense hours of watching movies for their cinematic qualities, discussing them in a jury, and then meeting until the late and sometimes early hours at parties have made for unforgettable memories. Never before had I spent this much quality time with fellow cinematographers and students from all over the world. I think I have gone seven times by now, and I am looking forward to another visit this year. Hopefully I’ll American Cinematographer
see Ed Lachman and Steve Fierberg [ASC], who always have the most stamina for visiting with students at the disco. Roberto Schaefer, ASC, AIC (Cinematographer-Director Duo Award, shared with Marc Forster, 2013): It is the best week of the year. Where else can you meet and get to know so many of the world’s most interesting people in our sector of the business, and talk casually, and watch an amazing variety of movies — all placed on an even playing field — and have our art be the center of attention? It’s an opportunity for small films from faraway places to be appreciated on a world stage. I tell every cinematographer, operator and AC that I meet to do whatever they have to and attend Camerimage at least once. Kuras: Go with an open heart and a notebook. Get lots of sleep beforehand so that you can watch loads of films, and be prepared to stay up until 4 a.m. every night! Hoffman: If you think you love cinematography, this is the most important film festival in the world. Full stop. Herzfeld: Bravo to Marek and Kazik! Laskus: Dzieki, dzieki, dzieki. For more Camerimage memories, visit ascmag.com in November. ●
A Storied
70
Camera November 2017
American Cinematographer
Images courtesy of Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK and the AC archives. Photo of Gainer by Sam Urdank.
Opposite: Writerdirector-actor Orson Welles points the way from behind a Mitchell BNC camera during production of the feature Citizen Kane. This page, left: At some point during its storied history, the Mitchell BNC No. 2 was given a blue finish by the rental house of Mark Armistead. Below: Cinematographer Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK is the curator of the ASC Museum. He supervised the restoration of the Mitchell No. 2 after it was generously donated to the Museum by James A. Contner.
Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK pursued his own “Rosebud” to find and restore the historic Mitchell BNC camera that Gregg Toland, ASC had used on Citizen Kane. By David Alexander Willis •|•
L
aying the foundation for a mystery that would unfold over more than two decades, Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK began collecting antique movie equipment in the early 1990s. In the years since, he’s come to serve as the longtime curator of the ASC Museum, and he’s found, identified and restored many a cinema camera from around the world and throughout the history of motion pictures. In that time, however,
one particular camera has always been on his mind: the Mitchell BNC with serial number 2, the camera that legendary cinematographer Gregg Toland, ASC had used to shoot Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane and other classic films. Gainer’s association with the ASC museum began in 1996, when he found out that a trove of cameras, lenses and other equipment was sitting www.ascmag.com
unkempt in the ASC Clubhouse. He jumped at the opportunity to assist the Society, undertaking what he foresaw as a six-month project to get the collection in order. “It was a tinge of Indiana Jones, you know?” Gainer reflects with a laugh while speaking to AC from New Orleans, where he’s in production on the Netflix project The Last Laugh, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Chevy Chase November 2017
71
◗
A Storied Camera and Andie MacDowell. “It was exciting — but it was also demoralizing at the same time because there were so many things to photograph, and to barcode, and to give a serial number to. Before I started there, the cameras were in old pawnshop cases, like the ones you’d see at Salvation Army. And all the labels were on the wrong cameras!” That only accounted for what was on display inside the Clubhouse. “Under the building, there were dozens of handcrank cameras just sitting on the ground,” Gainer continues. “It was unbelievable. Astonishingly, thanks to the arid climate — and the fact that under the house, in that section, it had apparently never flooded — none of the cameras were harmed. As far as I know, they’d been under the Clubhouse for 40 years — at least!” In the course of working with the collection, Gainer identified historic models such as Edward H. Amet’s AudoMoto-Photo from 1911; the camera-andprojector system also incorporated a phonograph recorder, making it one of the first “sound” cameras. There was also a camera that had been used by cinematographer G.W. “Billy” Bitzer on D.W. Griffith’s silent features The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance. Having made such discoveries, Gainer decided to donate his own collection to the ASC. Further, even though he was not a member and was, in fact, just beginning his own career behind the camera, he volunteered to curate the Society’s collection. The ASC Museum was established in 1953 by Arthur C. Miller, ASC, who also served as its first curator ahead of his run as ASC president from 1954-’56. Miller’s career behind the camera brought him three Oscars for cinematography — for the features How Green Was My Valley, The Song of Bernadette and Anna and the King of Siam — and his own 1912 35mm Pathé Studio camera was just donated to the ASC Museum this past May. [Ed. note: Visit bit.ly/2qRzECH to read how Gainer came to accept that camera from Jim Mitchell.] Following Miller, Charles G.
Top: Cinematographer Gregg Toland, ASC (standing, center, with back to camera) discusses a scene with a heavily made-up Welles on the set of Citizen Kane. Middle: The Mitchell plate — with serial number 2 — displayed on the camera body, still with the Armistead finish. Bottom: The body housing once it was stripped of the finish.
72
November 2017
American Cinematographer
Clarke, ASC took over curatorial duties, eventually handing the reins to fellow Society member Kemp Niver. “All of us, bar none, have been working cinematographers,” Gainer stresses, acknowledging that this is why the Museum’s collection hasn’t always been afforded as much attention as one might hope. For the last five years or so, Gainer’s busy shooting schedule has often kept him out of town and away from the Clubhouse. “It makes it difficult to donate a lot of your life to it,” he says. “You rely on the help of other people. One of the people who has helped me the most is [AC circulation manager and jack-of-alltrades] Alex Lopez. He’s learned a lot about the collection, and he’s responsible for everything when I’m not there.” Beyond Miller’s Pathé camera, the Museum has received a number of significant donations of late. In May, Red Digital Cinema founder and ASC associate Jim Jannard bequeathed his Mitchell Standard 35mm camera with serial number 5; that camera was originally owned by George S. Barnes, ASC. [Ed note: That story can be read at bit.ly/2w1PkIm.] Donations have also funded museum-quality cabinets to properly display curated selections from the overall collection; those cabinets are currently being customized for the ASC by the same company that has made such cases for the Getty Museum. Throughout all of this, Gainer always kept an eye out for any hint regarding Toland’s famous Mitchell BNC. His quest involved poring over old records and receipts in an effort to trace the path of the camera that had been so instrumental in the annals of Hollywood moviemaking. “I knew from the Mitchell records that BNC cameras Number 1 and Number 2 had been sold to Samuel Goldwyn,” Gainer recounts. “Number 1 was kind of a homemade-looking job, but Number 2 was the first camera that actually looked like a Mitchell BNC. “Goldwyn’s favorite cameraman was Gregg Toland — followed closely by George Barnes [ASC],” Gainer adds. That close relationship meant that Toland was frequently able to work with
◗
A Storied Camera Goldwyn’s Mitchell No. 2. Gainer would often mention the camera to his friends and colleagues in the industry. Ultimately, it was one of those friends — Sol Negrin, ASC — who had a kernel of information about the camera. “It had belonged to a gentleman named J. Burgi Contner [ASC],” Gainer says. “He was a cinematographer, and he owned a rental company, too.” Negrin, who passed away in March, worked as a camera operator on a number of series that Contner photographed, including Naked City, The Defenders and Car 54, Where Are You? “Sol told me that he had used the camera,” Gainer marvels. “Sol had even operated on the original Kojak with it!” Another conversation — this time with Roy H. Wagner, ASC — brought to light that Contner’s son, television director James A. Contner, still owned the camera. Introductions were made, arrangements were discussed, and the younger Contner eventually donated the camera to the ASC Museum. “The donation was entirely arranged by Roy,” Gainer emphasizes, with obvious gratitude for his fellow ASC member’s efforts. The camera was in good condition but — unsurprisingly, given its long career in feature films and television — it had undergone several modifications since Goldwyn had first purchased it from the Mitchell Camera Corp. “At some point it had been painted kind of a marble-blue color by a rental house,” Gainer details. “The camera had originally been Mitchell’s black ‘crinkle’ color. Also, it had been reflexed. The Mitchell was originally just a BNC camera, not a BNC-R. Someone had put a pellicle mirror in the viewing system, which allows you to look through the lens when you’re shooting — which is obviously very helpful to the operator, but it’s not original.” In restoring the camera to its factory form, Gainer found that matching the crinkle finish was among the most difficult aspects. He chipped the blue paint from the camera, but then found that most companies had stopped making crinkle black paint due to the carcinogens
Top: Toland sits beside a Mitchell camera mounted on a hydraulic tripod. Middle: The crinkle finish is applied to the blimp. Bottom: The matte box has its finish removed.
74
November 2017
American Cinematographer
◗
A Storied Camera
All parts of the camera are seen here completely stripped of the blue finish, ready to be repainted in the camera’s original style.
that were used to produce the texture. Gainer tried several similar-looking coatings intended for motorcycle parts, but found that the finish didn’t settle correctly on the camera. “After I had tried and failed, and stripped the camera again, I had someone else try — and we had to strip it again,” he says. “It was redone about three or four times until we hit a finish that looked very close to the original Mitchell crinkle. I think anyone who hadn’t spent time with their head crammed up against an original Mitchell would never be able to tell the difference. 76
November 2017
“In the midst of all of this,” Gainer adds, “I had Ken Stone, from Stone Cinema Engineering in Frazier Park, California, ‘un-reflex’ the camera.” Over the years, Gainer has supervised and personally performed restorations on a number of pieces in the ASC Museum’s collection, even going so far as to burnish metal at aircraft plants for the sake of authenticity. Keeping the Toland camera restoration largely under wraps, he took his time to ensure that Mitchell No. 2 would once again be true to its original specs. “As it stands now, the camera looks absolutely perfect,” he American Cinematographer
enthuses. “It is a gorgeous camera — and a striking early example of the Mitchell BNCs. “It’s also so historic,” Gainer continues. “Gregg Toland used it on Citizen Kane. He used it on The Grapes of Wrath. He used it on The Best Years of Our Lives. I mean, the camera was a hot rod!” Toland had photographed nearly 70 features by the time he passed away in 1948 at the age of 44. He won an Oscar for his work on Wuthering Heights and was nominated five other times, for Les Misérables, Dead End, Intermezzo: A Love Story, The Long Voyage Home and Citizen Kane. Complementing his work as a cinematographer, Toland was also a considerable engineer as well as an early adopter of new tools and techniques. For example, he employed the latest in filmmaking technologies, including the Vard “Opticoat” non-glare lens coating, which increased the lens speed and helped enable the extreme depth of field that Citizen Kane required. Toward the same end, he used Eastman Super-XX highspeed emulsion so that he could stop down even further. Toland had given Kodak his feedback on that stock prior to its release in 1938. Welles had a sincere appreciation for the contributions that Toland brought to Citizen Kane, going so far as to share the screen for their credits on the film. Throughout his life, the multihyphenate filmmaker referred to Toland as the best and fastest cameraman with whom he had ever worked. “It’s a treasure for the ASC to have this camera,” says Gainer, his decades-long quest at last happily resolved. “I think it’s going to enrich the lives of everyone who gets to see it. When you stand next to it, and you realize that Orson Welles stood with it and Gregg Toland stood with it, it becomes a profound experience.” For an exclusive gallery of images revealing Toland’s Mitchell BNC in its restored glory, visit the AC site at bit.ly/tolandbnc. ●
NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES • SUBMISSION INFORMATION - Please email New Products/Services releases to
[email protected] and include full contact information and product images. Photos must be TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
ASC associate members Eliott Peck (far left) and Tim Smith (left) celebrate the opening of Canon Burbank.
Canon Opens Burbank Center By David Alexander Willis Canon’s Hollywood Professional Technology & Support Center, formerly located on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, has been relocated to a custom-built facility in Burbank. The versatile 12,000-square-foot space serves as a center for expedited repairs and technical advice as well as educational events, new-product demos, seminars, and one-on-one sessions with Canon experts.
With Monday-Friday hours of 9 a.m.-5 p.m., walk-in consultations and service drop-offs are welcome. “This is an investment,” says ASC associate Eliott Peck, executive vice president and general manager of the Imaging Technologies & Communications Group at Canon USA Inc. “We made this to help those who create. When you get a tour of the facility and see what we’re capable of doing, this validates the commitment that we made back in 2011 [with Canon’s facility in Hollywood], that it’s service and support first. If you ask the product people, they’re going to say it’s technology first — but, actually, this is an integration of both. Because you can’t have the technology without supporting the community.” Peck adds, “This was a tremendous effort by many, many 78
November 2017
people to not only open the facility but to take us to the next iteration of our products and support.” Canon Burbank has roughly double the staff and nearly double the size of Canon Hollywood. With acquisition and workflows changing on a regular basis, one of the company’s goals with Canon Burbank is to be able to serve camera and equipment testing across a spectrum of new technologies while, at the same facility, allowing customers to seek advice and even purchase needed gear. AC recently toured the space, beginning with the repair area, which offers full support for Canon gear up to and including the top-of-the-line EOS C700 cinema camera, as well as Canon’s cine primes and zooms. For precise alignment and testing, the space also incorporates calibration charts and several feet of track. The fully staffed room of factory-trained Canon technicians currently offers a two-day turnaround on repairs for cinema-level Canon Professional Services members. (Depending on membership level, CPS members can receive phone and email support, discounted equipment maintenance, expedited repairs, on-site support, discounts on select Canon Live Learning seminars and workshops, and more. Canon has also initiated an Enterprise CPS program for high-volume support.) Next to the reception area, printing bays and shooting stage, there is a lounge, which opens to a patio that can also be used for camera testing. Pointing toward a specular metal sculpture visible in
American Cinematographer
the courtyard below, ASC associate Tim Smith — senior advisor for film and television production with Canon — says the piece has proven useful for HDR testing. Canon Burbank’s multipurpose room and camera-prep room are designed for an array of functions, including large classes, tutorials, training sessions and screenings. For example, the Canon Live Learning series of presentations and gear deep-dives — which cover everything from preproduction through final workflows — will continue at Canon Burbank, with multiple classes and presentations every week. The side curtains can be drawn in both the prep room and the multipurpose room to completely black out any external light. Thanks to sliding air walls, wireless networking and 25' of cable beneath the floor, the two rooms can also be connected for the testing needs of longer lenses. “We can check focus at every point on just about every lens that we’ve got, except the 501,000mm,” says Smith. “That’s where we’re going to have to go out on the balcony. It’s going to be tough to focus at 1,000mm inside a building.” The sophisticated routing and delivery system is made by Crestron. With control panels in every room, the network is Wi-Fi-accessible for remote changes to everything from room lighting to deliverables. Thanks to the networking and fibercabling, Canon can control files and edits with immediate transfer and playback across the Burbank facility’s prep bay, editing bay, DI suite, and any of the displays throughout the space, including in the screening room and color-grading suite, which feature a 4K Barco DP4K-P projector and SGO Mistika color-grading system. In the Multipurpose room, a Canon Realis 4K600STZ laser projector will run videos for screenings. With four racks of audio and digitalvideo equipment, including an AJA Kumo
64x64 3G-SDI router and a 250TB main bank of online storage, each of the three server rooms can support two full, uncompressed 4K streams at the same time, meaning the entire system can run six streams of uncompressed 4K or one stream of uncompressed 8K. From HDR monitors to consumer displays and Mac and PC computer systems, most NLE systems — including Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve, Apple’s Final Cut Pro X, the entire Adobe Creative Cloud suite, and Avid’s Media Composer — are available for testing looks with footage. “This room is all about integration,” explains Loren Simons, senior field application engineer for Canon Burbank. He points out Canon 4K 24" DP-V2420 and 30" DPV3010 reference monitors, as well as consumer-grade models that allow filmmakers to check the look of their projects in the way that most viewers will end up seeing it. Simons also mentions that the DPX files he was using to show off the system were located centrally on the Canon Burbank server. “All of the major NLEs are on a system here, so a filmmaker can say, ‘Hey, I’ve got some footage, and I want to look at it in my workflow and my environment,’” Simons says. “Showing them how simple it is to integrate our products into their existing workflows is key. “I work with the studios and the production companies to show how we can integrate our cameras into their existing workflows,” he continues. “Filmmakers are a finicky bunch. They want to keep things the way that they are comfortable and familiar with. We want to show them that they can use our cameras [and] they can integrate them right into existing postproduction workflows.” Canon Burbank, Smith adds, “is where people get a chance to really experience a camera as deep as they have to go. We could do, in this building, a blockbuster film, from lens to delivery. Between the edit bays and the projection system, we’re a complete unit for that. This is big for us.” Canon Burbank is located at 3400 West Olive Avenue, Burbank, Calif., 91505. For additional information, visit www.usa.canon.com. ➣
Edelkrone Enables App Support Edelkrone’s SliderPlus app is now available for Android users, providing wireless control over focus, tilt, pan, and object or subject tracking with the company’s SliderPlus motion-control slider systems. A focus button locks a target, and from there up to five more points can be set for automatic rack focusing. With settings for duration and speed, the target can be shifted manually through the graphic interface thumbwheel. Lens information and focal points can all be stored and repeated. Custom thumbnails, transition durations, and in and out points can be set, and manual moves, including pan and tilt, can be recorded and played back with programmable, tapered stops and starts. Motions can also be converted into time-lapse through a “convert to stop-motion” button, and the time-lapse can be set for several days. Communication is performed through a low-power-consumption Bluetooth connection, and operations are accessible from a single screen via a graphic thumbwheel interface. The SliderPlus app and program executions can run in the background so the user can simultaneously access other phone applications. There are three primary components to the SliderPlus motion-control system: the Slide Module, the Head Module and the Focus Module. Edelkrone’s SliderPlus X Short offers 1.6' of travel and is built to accommodate professional camera setups up to 30 pounds; the SliderPlus X Long can support up to 22 pounds across 2.9' of travel. The compact SliderPlus M Short will carry smaller camcorders and DSLR systems weighing up to 17 pounds for up to 1.3', and the SliderPlus M Long will carry systems up to 9 pounds for up to 2.6'. The SliderPlus models can also be used as standalone tabletop dollies thanks to their flip-down, independently adjustable legs. Edelkrone makes a number of other camera-slider devices, like the SurfaceOne two-axis tabletop dolly, which also works with the Edelkrone SliderPlus app, and the SliderOne, which is available with a Motion Module for up to 20 pounds of support and 80
November 2017
6" of travel. Additionally, the company offers the compact FocusOne focus puller and the three-wheel PocketSkater, which supports smaller cameras of up to 5.5 pounds for tabletop dolly moves and closeup, wide-angle arcs. Thanks to two front wheels and Edelkrone’s Flextilt head, the PocketSkater can also be used in a compact mode, without wheels extended, for smartphones and action cams. For additional information, visit www.edelkrone.com. Panasonic Adds Compact Cine Camera Panasonic has unveiled the AU-EVA1 EF-mount compact cinema camera, which features a 5.7K Super 35 sensor for 4K, 10bit 4:2:2 recording. Weighing 2.64 pounds and measuring 6.69"x5.31"x5.23", the camera boasts an imaging engine capable of up to 14 stops of dynamic range, as well as high-frame-rate abilities including 4K recording at up to 60 fps, and a cropped image area at up to 240 fps. At 24.60mm x 12.97mm, the sensor has an effective pixel count of 5720x3016 for nearly twice the image information of the DCI 4K standard (4096x2160); the 5.7K sensor yields a higher-resolving image when down-sampled to 4K, UHD, 2K or even 720p. Additionally, the increased color information results in a finer, more accurate finished image. Available codecs include 4:2:2 10-bit and 4:2:0 8-bit Long GOP, with bit rates of up to 150 Mbps. A promised update will bring 4:2:2 10-bit Intra as well as 400 Mbps capture when using SD cards with the latest Video Speed Class V60 (60 MB/s) or V90 (90 MB/s) ratings. Panasonic has announced
American Cinematographer
raw output as an update that will be made available in the near future. Like Panasonic’s VariCam camera systems, the AU-EVA1 boasts a dual native ISO with minimized noise and artifacts — in this case, 800 and 2,500, whereas the VariCam line offers 800 and 5,000. Colorimetry is based on the same color science as the VariCam line, with V-Log provided for plotting the conventional log curves of filmnegative scans, and V-Gamut capturing a high enough amount of color information to cover the BT.2020 color space. For run-and-gun applications, Electronic Image Stabilization provides motion compensation. The detachable handle and rotary grip, as well as numerous threaded mounts along the body, have been designed to make the AU-EVA1 suitable for use on drones, jibs, gimbals and other rigs. The IR cut filter can be disengaged with the press of a button. There is also internal ND filtration in clear, 0.6, 1.2 and 1.8 densities. Positioned by Panasonic as an affordable but advanced solution for videographers looking to take the next step into professional work, the AU-EVA1 also incorporates dual XLR inputs and Dolby Audio encoding. With standard time code, the HDMI and SDI outputs can channel 4K as well as HD streams for external recorders, viewfinders and monitors. The Panasonic AU-EVA1 comes with the AG-VBR59 battery for approximately an hour and a half of continuous operating time. An optional AG-VBR118 battery extends that operation to more than three hours. The touch-panel LCD monitor provides peaking, image zoom, waveform, zebras, spot-meter, “focus squares” focusassist, and more. For additional information, visit www.panasonic.com. New Products & Services is compiled by David Alexander Willis. For more, visit ● ascmag.com/articles/new-product.
INTERNATIONAL MARKETPLACE
82
November 2017
American Cinematographer
CLASSIFIEDS CLASSIFIED AD RATES
All classifications are $4.50 per word. Words set in bold face or all capitals are $5.00 per word. First word of ad and advertiser’s name can be set in capitals without extra charge. No agency commission or discounts on classified advertising.PAYMENT MUST ACCOMPANY ORDER. VISA, Mastercard, AmEx and Discover card are accepted. Send ad to Classified Advertising, American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078. Or FAX (323) 876-4973. Deadline for payment and copy must be in the office by 15th of second month preceding publication. Subject matter is limited to items and services pertaining to filmmaking and video production. Words used are subject to magazine style abbreviation. Minimum amount per ad: $45
OTHER
DoP , alexa mini + red helium , grip & lighting truck , FAA remote pilot . Cel: +1(786)6411717 Ralph www.thebridgesproductions.com
SERVICES AVAILABLE DP/Gaffer + Lighting Truck + Alexa Mini (+ 5 Panasonic Varicams) Greg Kendrick www.waywest.tv
www.ascmag.com
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE 4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A Good Box Rental 818-763-8547 World’s SUPERMARKET of USED MOTION PICTURE EQUIPMENT! Buy, Sell, Trade. CAMERAS, LENSES, SUPPORT, AKS & MORE! Visual Products, Inc. www.visualproducts.com Call 440.647.4999
November 2017
83
ADVERTISER’S INDEX Abel Cine Tech 27 AC 82, 83 Adorama 11, 37 AFI/American Film Institute 77 Aja Video Systems, Inc. 25 Alan Gordon Enterprises 83 Arri 7, 41 ASC Film Manual 22 ASC Master Class 69
DJI Creative Studio 19, 51
B&H Photo-Video-Pro Audio 67 Backstage Equipment, Inc. 73 Blackmagic Design, Inc. 9
Hexolux/Visionsmith 82
Camerimage 87 Carl Zeiss 35 Cavision Enterprises 82 Chapman/Leonard Studio Equip. 43 Cinekinetic 82 Cinelease, Inc. 17 Cinematography Electronics 73 Cooke Optics 15 CW Sonderoptic Gmbh 23
Lee Filters 44 Lights! Action! Co. 82 Lindsey Optics, LLC 73 Log Workstation 83
Eastman Kodak C4 Filmotechnic USA 65 Fluotec 79 Glidecam 53 Government Video Technology Expo 81 Gripandelectric.com, LLC. 82 J.L. Fisher 45 Kino Flo 57 Koto Electric Co., LTD. 61
Mels Studios and Postproduction/ Groupe TVA 63 Mole-Richardson/Studio Depot 82 Movietech AG 83 NBC/Universal 13
84
P+S Technik Feinmechanik Gmbh 83 Panavision 48a-b Paralinx C3 PED Denz 83 Pille Filmgeraeteverleih Gmbh 82 Pixipixel Limited 82, 83 Pro8mm 82 Production Resource Group/PRG 39 Rag Place, The 56 Red Digital Cinema 21 Schneider Optics 2 Selected Tables 84 Super16, Inc. 82 Teradek, LLC C2-1 Tilta 8 University of North Carolina 55 VER Los Angeles 5 Vitec Creative Solutions C2-1, C3 Willy’s Widgets 82 www.ascmag.com 82 XEEN by Rokinon 29
IN MEMORIAM
Vincent G. Cox, ASC, SASC, 1933-2017
“I did not break into the business,” Vincent G. Cox, ASC, SASC told American Cinematographer for the April 2007 issue. “I tripped and fell, and rather like a duckling takes to water, I swam.” Cox, who passed away over the summer, had been an active member of the ASC since July 5, 1977, after having been proposed for membership by Society members Eric Horvitch and David Millin. The following remembrance was submitted by Cox’s friend and associate Lionel Friedberg, a Los Angeles-based cinematographer, producer and bestselling author. *** Director of photography Vincent George Cox, ASC, SASC passed away in Johannesburg on July 30, 2017, at the age of 83. One of only three ASC members to permanently reside in South Africa, he was not only a supremely talented cinematographer but a remarkable innovator and pioneer who helped forge an industry on a continent during changing and challenging times. Born in Johannesburg on Oct. 17, 1933, Cox was educated at King Edward VII School before joining the film-processing labs and then the camera department at the Killarney Film Studios in Johannesburg in the early ’50s. He worked as a gofer and then a clapper-loader and focus puller on many feature films, including some of the studio’s early Afrikaans-language productions, some of which were the first to be shot in color. In the mid-’50s, Cox went to England to gain further experience in the industry and worked in uncredited roles as loader and focus puller on such productions as director Roy Ward Baker’s A Night to Remember (1958), on which he served under Geoffrey Unsworth, BSC. He also worked on filmed TV series including Dial 999, The Adventures of Robin Hood and The Saint. After returning to South Africa, Cox
freelanced as a camera assistant and operator on numerous productions, including Satanskoraal (Satan’s Coral) in 1959 for legendary local producer and multi-hyphenate filmmaker Jamie Uys (best known for The Gods Must Be Crazy). In 1962, Cox returned to the U.K. to expand his career and worked on a variety of feature films and television shows before again returning to South Africa in 1965, where he got his first credit as director of photography on the drama-comedy King Hendrik for director Emil Nofal. This led to a long and productive relationship with Nofal and with Jans Rautenbach, two of South Africa’s outstanding directorial talents at that time. The films he photographed during this period included the romantic adventure Wild Season (1967), directed by Nofal and produced by Rautenbach, as well as the political thriller Die Kandidaat (The Candidate, 1968) and the sophisticated sociopolitical drama Katrina (1969), both directed by Rautenbach and produced by Nofal; Katrina remains a classic of apartheid-era South African cinema, while Die Kandidaat was a showcase of Cox’s extraordinary gift for creating mood with low light at a time when film stocks and lenses were slow and unforgiving. He invested in his own equipment and used his immaculately restored Mitchell NC camera in a Raby blimp to shoot numerous features during the 1960s and ’70s. A stickler for all things mechanical and optical, www.ascmag.com
he loved engines, lenses and precision-engineered equipment — a passion that he extended to restoring vintage cars, boats and aircraft. He held a private pilot’s license and often flew the skies of Africa in his own beautifully maintained de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane and Chipmunk monoplane trainer aircraft. During the 1970s, his skills and talents were noticed by producers and directors from London and Hollywood, and he was engaged to shoot many international productions that were shooting on location in Africa, beginning in 1970 with Creatures the World Forgot for director Don Chaffey. This led to location-unit work on international features such as Killer Force (aka The Diamond Mercenaries, 1976) and Zulu Dawn (1979), as well as first-unit cinematography duties on Flashpoint Africa (1980), Rage to Kill (1988), Space Mutiny (1988), Act of Piracy (1988), Any Man’s Death (1990), Terminator Woman (1993), The Secret Force (1995), The Last Leprechaun (1998), Merlin: The Return (2000) and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (2001). Always cool, calm and collected under the most adverse circumstances, Cox’s friendly disposition and reassuring smile were a calming influence on both cast and crew. Among the scores of films and television productions he worked on — including during an extensive period in Hollywood during the mid-1980s — he photographed a number of features for directors David Lister and Paul Matthews. Cox is survived by his second wife, producer Debi Cox (née Nethersole), and four children: Vinca, Gitta, Lars and Macaire, all of whom professionally entered the industry. For more about Cox, and to read his ASC Close-Up from the April 2007 issue of AC, visit bit.ly/VincentGCox. ● November 2017
85
CLUBHOUSE NEWS
Elmes, Miller, Morano, Morgan Win Emmys The Television Academy recently presented the 69th annual Emmy Awards. Reed Morano, ASC won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, for her work on The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred” (AC June ’17). Donald A. Morgan, ASC won in the Outstanding Cinematography for a MultiCamera Series category, for his work on The Ranch, “Easy Come, Easy Go”; also nominated for this category were ASC members Gary Baum and Christian La Fountaine. David Miller, ASC won in the Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series (Half-Hour) for his work on Veep, “Qatar”; Morano and fellow ASC members Rodney Taylor and Tim Suhrstedt were also nominated in the category. For Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie, Frederick Elmes, ASC won for his work on The Night Of, “Ordinary Death,” with ASC members Seamus McGarvey and Dana Gonzales also nominated. In addition, ASC members Adriano Goldman, John Toll and Paul Cameron were nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a SingleCamera Series (One Hour). Coffee, Conversation in Hollywood The Society recently held several “Coffee and Conversation” events at the Clubhouse in Hollywood. The events featured Adriano Goldman, ASC, ABC, 86
November 2017
who discussed his work on the Netflix series The Crown; Jules O’Loughlin, ASC, ACS, who discussed his work on the actioncomedy feature The Hitman’s Bodyguard (AC Sept. ’17); and Mandy Walker, ASC, ACS, who discussed her work on the dramatic feature The Mountain Between Us. The discussions were moderated by AC contributor Jim Hemphill. Medencevic Shows Stills Suki Medencevic, ASC recently unveiled a photo exhibit — titled “Windows to the World, Windows to the Soul” — at the Perfect Exposure Gallery in Los Angeles. Sponsored by Alternative Rentals Los Angeles, the exhibit represented Medencevic’s most recent works in documentary and portrait photography. ASC Houses Photo Exhibit The Society recently held its second ASC Photo Gallery exhibit at the Clubhouse in Hollywood. The nine participating photographers were ASC members Antonio Calvache, Richard Crudo, Frederick Elmes, Denis Lenoir, Charlie Lieberman, Karl Walter Lindenlaub, Suki Medencevic, Steven B. Poster and Robert Primes. The representative 45 images — five from each contributor — were curated by Paris Chong, manager of the Leica Gallery Los Angeles. Lieberman, who coordinated the previous photo gallery, personally printed all the photos on American Cinematographer
display, working closely with his fellow photographers to ensure their work looked perfect on opening night. “Originally, we thought our first show’s theme was ‘portraits’ and this second one would be ‘landscapes,’ but I like to think of them as ‘faces’ and ‘places,’” says Lieberman. “These categories aren’t so mutually exclusive or restrictive; often we see subjects in their environment, so it may not technically be a pure portrait image. Conversely, people are often key components to a landscape and help define the space.” Prints and box sets are available for purchase at the Clubhouse or online. Lachman Offers Insights Ed Lachman, ASC was among the eight tutors for the IDFAcademy Summer School in Amsterdam. Alongside fellow industry luminaries, Lachman gave guidance to a select group of up-and-coming international filmmaking talents. In addition, Lachman was recently a guest at the seventh edition of Terre Di Cinema – International Cinematographers Days, a film festival held in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily. The festival included screenings of the feature films Far From Heaven (AC Dec. ’02) and Carol (AC Nov. ’15), both of which Lachman shot for director Todd Haynes. For further coverage and additional news, visit theasc.com/asc/news. ●
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC. Reed Morano, ASC photo by Phil McCarten. All Emmy images courtesy of Invision, AP Images and the Television Academy.
From left: ASC members Reed Morano, Donald A. Morgan, David Miller (left), Frederick Elmes.
CLOSE-UP
Oliver Bokelberg, ASC, BVK
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you? I loved watching Swedish and Czech children’s films on German television. When I was 12, I started collecting VHS copies of Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock movies.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project? Being at Sundance with The Station Agent. The audience loved our little movie, which happened to jump-start the careers of many of us involved with the film — and we are all still such good friends!
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most admire? [ASC members] Karl W. Freund, Willy Kurant, Néstor Almendros, Vilmos Zsigmond, Robert Elswit.
Have you made any memorable blunders? I was nervous and forgot to give credit to my director Jay Anania when accepting the 2000 Kodak Vision Award for the film The Citizen. I am still embarrassed about that. We are a collaborative art form. None of us does it alone.
What sparked your interest in photography? My father has been a photographer since before I was born, and I grew up in his studio. He was also a collector of photography, so I became familiar with, and inspired by, Fox Talbot, Nadar, Nègre, Steichen, Westen and others.
What is the best professional advice you’ve ever received? Be positive!
Who were your early teachers or mentors? My father, for sure. Later on, it was my film instructor Boris Frumin, and then there are the early directors I worked with, like my dear friend Michael Kreihsl. What are some of your key artistic influences? Jean-Luc Godard, Charlie Chaplin, Johannes Vermeer, Max Beckmann, Edward Hopper, Degas’ sculptures. How did you get your first break in the business? A high-contrast experimental film that I made in film school was chosen to be the background plates for a Stereo MCs music video. Instead of getting paid for the footage, I asked to be hired as cinematographer to film the group in front of a greenscreen. I’d never shot with a greenscreen before, but luckily it worked out.
88
November 2017
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to try? I think the beauty of being a cinematographer is that I can jump between genres. I would love to do science fiction, a Western and a children’s film — or a movie in space or underwater. I am eager to explore VR. Every project brings its own challenges and opportunities, and I just love finding the truths within each of them. If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing instead? If I had the talent, I would love to be a musical conductor. But I think I might be tone deaf, so I’ll stick with my eyes. Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for membership? Checco Varese, Michael Watkins and Sol Negrin. How has ASC membership impacted your life and career? Becoming a member of the ASC was a milestone. When I found out I was accepted, I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had not felt before. I still have a lot to learn, but now I can do it together with my fellow cinematographers and friends at the ASC. ●
American Cinematographer
Photo by Dana Ross.
Where did you train and/or study? I attended the undergraduate Film and Television program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. I graduated in 1988, which was the year that Yo! MTV Raps premiered, thus creating a demand for music videos. I got hired as a man with a camera, and was able to experiment and practice while rolling hundreds of thousands of feet of film through my Arri 16SR-2.
What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you? Kerry James Marshall, Ragnar Kjartansson’s video installation “The Visitors,” Hamilton.
