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J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1 V O L . 9 2 N O . 1
On Our Cover: A divorced father of two (Javier Bardem) confronts his mortality
in Biutiful, shot by Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC. (Photo by José Haro, courtesy of
Roadside Attractions.)
FEATURES
30 Letting Go
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC and Alejandro González Iñárritu
make spiritual connections on Biutiful
42 Tough Love
42
DEPARTMENTS
8 Editor’s Note
10 President’s Desk 64
12 Short Takes: “Eye of the Storm”
18 Production Slate: The Tempest • All Good Things
78 Post Focus: EFilm at Universal• HPA Awards
82 Filmmakers’ Forum: Jody Lee Lipes
84 New Products & Services
88 International Marketplace
89 Classified Ads
90 Ad Index
92 In Memoriam: Michel Hugo, ASC
94 Clubhouse News
96 ASC Close-Up: Jack Couffer
Visit us online at
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EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Stephanie Argy, Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Bob Fisher, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray, Jim Hemphill,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner, Jean Oppenheimer,
John Pavlus, Chris Pizzello, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,
Kenneth Sweeney, Patricia Thomson
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American Society of Cine matographers
The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but
an educational, cultural and pro fes sion al
or ga ni za tion. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively en gaged as
di rec tors of photography and have
dem on strated out stand ing ability. ASC
membership has be come one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
pro fes sional cin e ma tog ra pher — a mark
of prestige and excellence.
OFFICERS - 2010/2011
Michael Goi
President
Richard Crudo
Vice President
Owen Roizman
Vice President
John C. Flinn III
Vice President
Matthew Leonetti
Treasurer
Rodney Taylor
Secretary
Ron Garcia
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Stephen Burum
Curtis Clark
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
John C. Flinn III
Michael Goi
Stephen Lighthill
Isidore Mankofsky
Daryn Okada
Robert Primes
Nancy Schreiber
Kees Van Oostrum
Haskell Wexler
Vilmos Zsigmond
ALTERNATES
Fred Elmes
Rodney Taylor
Michael D. O’Shea
Sol Negrin
Michael B. Negrin
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
6
Editor’s Note
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC is clearly held in high
esteem by his collaborators. Oliver Stone sang his praises
in our October coverage of Wall Street: Money Never
Sleeps, and within this month’s overview of Biutiful
(“Letting Go,”page 30), director Alejandro González Iñár-
ritu offers his own endorsement in a sidebar commentary
(“Iñárritu on Method,” page 38). “The visual grammar of
this film was very delicate and sophisticated because it
had to combine the social, the physical, the metaphysical
and a hyper-realistic approach,” Iñárritu notes. “To me,
Biutiful is by far Rodrigo’s most lyrical and poetic work.
Realistically and metaphorically, he found light in the dark-
est places possible.”
The film offered Prieto ample opportunity to be creative. The emotional journey of the
main character, Uxbal (Javier Bardem), led Prieto to suggest the unusual strategy of shifting
from 1.85:1 to anamorphic 2.40:1, with a transition point that combined the 1.85 format
with anamorphic lenses. “I suggested we test starting at 1.85 and eventually opening up to
2.40 to represent the transition from [Uxbal’s] tight control to ultimate release,” he says.
“There was some concern that the shift would be too jarring, but we decided it worked.”
That spirit of experimentation is also evident in David O. Russell’s boxing drama The
Fighter, which allowed cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema, NSC, FSF to blend drama
scenes shot on 2-perf 35mm with fight sequences shot on Betacam-SP. For the former, van
Hoytema used Aaton’s Penelope camera, and for the latter, he employed vintage Sony video
cameras. “When shooting 2-perf for [2.40:1] output, you expose far less negative than 4-
perf, saving a lot of money, and if you are interested in getting grain and texture, it’s the way
to go,” the cinematographer tells Michael Goldman (“Tough Love,” page 42).
The sci-fi spectacle Tron: Legacy required Claudio Miranda, ASC to combine a variety
of strategies, including 3-D camera rigs, LED and Electro Luminescent lighting technology,
high-speed cameras and face-replacement animation effects. As Miranda explains to Noah
Kadner (“Back to the Grid,” page 52), some of the lighting was built directly into the futur-
istic costumes worn by characters in the computer environment known as the Grid: “The
suits really drove the pastel look of the digital world. We wanted to see the suit lights cast-
ing interactive light from character to character and have everything look as luminous as
possible, like the glow of a computer monitor.” Further insights into the production are
offered in a sidebar Q&A with Digital Domain’s visual-effects supervisor, Eric Barba, and head
of animation, Steve Preeg (“Barba and Preeg on Tron: Legacy,” page 60).
This issue also offers a heartfelt salute to cinematographer Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC,
a longtime friend of the magazine who will receive the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award
on Feb. 13. Though still in his prime and shooting as artfully as ever, the seemingly tireless
Deakins has built a legacy of excellence that simply demanded the ASC’s highest honor. Pat
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
Thomson’s account of his remarkable career (“A League of His Own,” page 64) offers illu-
minating details about his formative years, insights earned after decades of experience, and
a sidebar on True Grit, Roger’s latest collaboration with the Coen brothers.
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
8
President’s Desk
As the new year kicks into gear, there is a lot happening in the industry: more new digital
cameras, higher-resolution post workflows, 3-D proceeding full steam, and more sophisticated
virtual production. How is a humble cinematographer supposed to keep up with all this? Because
the production and distribution of feature films, television programming and Web content are a
global business, it is more important than ever that we all be on the same page at the same time
on technology, and that we understand where the craft of cinematography is going.
For this reason, the ASC will host an International Cinematography Summit Conference from
May 2-5, 2011. Every cinematography society in the world has been invited to send a representa-
tive to this milestone event. This is not a film festival, nor is it a trade show. It is a work group of
the leading practitioners of our craft designed as a means to discover where our differences and
common ground lie; it is an opportunity to learn from the tools and techniques that are being used
on the other side of the world; and it is a forum to establish more open communication among
those who have chosen cinematography as our life passion.
The conference is especially significant at this moment, although it has been in the planning
stages for almost 18 months. When Mauro Fiore, ASC won the Oscar forAvatar last year, it seemed
to amplify speculation about the future of cinematography. This conference will address where we
are going and, more importantly, help all of us understand how changes and trends in our profes-
sion affect our countries’ industries. It is the necessary next step in coordinating our common goals.
Part of the conference will be devoted to demonstrations of current technology, such as virtual production and 3-D, and there
will be a detailed analysis of various film and digital archival methods used by innovators in the preservation field. The Acad emy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present a new capture-medium/post paradigm designed to enable the maximum input of a
camera’s resolution and color-space capabilities into a common post workflow. Leading developers of digital cameras and film emul-
sions will speak about what is coming in the next five years, not from a marketing perspective, but with an emphasis on stabili zing
the industry.
But the most important part of the ICSC will be the dialogue it will create among cinematographers worldwide. We’re not
inviting people to come and listen to a bunch of lectures; we want to hear what everyone has to say. There are issues and concerns
in some countries that other countries have already resolved. Let’s share that knowledge. Though we exist in a global industry, we
tend to work in an insular way. The extraordinarily innovative artistry that many of our fellow lighting masters have accomplis hed,
and the means by which they have achieved their results, may never be seen by the world or acknowledged for its originality. If we
are to live and grow as artists, and harness the potential that new technologies offer us, we must open our eyes to what our fellow
craftspeople are doing in other parts of the world.
I have been traveling a lot recently, speaking to cinematographers and students in many countries, and I have been amazed
by the common elements of our aesthetic approach, regardless of region, and by the bold visions of those who see the world from
a different perspective. Festivals such as Camerimage and the efforts of organizations such as Imago have kept the flame of vis ual
artistry burning brightly for many years. And the bond that the Korean Society of Cinematographers and the Japanese Society of
Cinematographers have shared over the last 25 years is truly inspiring. The artistic interchange that results from simple commu ni-
cation between countries opens the door for all of us to learn and grow, to reach for new forms of visual expression.
For the ICSC, each society has been asked to bring a five-minute reel of the best work its members have produced, spanning
the entire history of their industry. All of these pieces will be screened as part of our welcome dinner on the first night ofthe confer-
ence. If that evening has even a fraction of the magic I felt when I watched a young student’s cinematography during my trip to
Portrait by Owen Roizman, ASC.
Photos by Craig Cantey. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Soapbox Films.
The visual effects for “Eye of the Storm” called for the
creation of the airship and all of the weather effects, and also for
picking out specific details in Lovett’s costume and the props. Typi-
cally, this would be accomplished by chroma-keying the bluescreen
Best Picture
Best Cinematography
PLEA SE VISIT
www.thecompanymenfilm.com and www.twcawards.com
FOR MORE INFORM ATION
Artwork © 2010 The Weinstein Company. All Rights Reserved.
Production Slate
Prospera (Helen
Mirren) summons
all the forces of
nature to whip up
a storm and sink
her enemies’ ship
in The Tempest, a
production that
involved extensive
location work in
Hawaii.
The Tempest photos by Melinda Sue Gordon, SMPSP, courtesy of Tempest Productions, LLC.
Prospero, is usurped by his traitorous brother, Antonio, and Alonso, hand of Miranda (Felicity Jones), Prospera’s daughter. In the distance,
the king of Naples, and exiled to an island where, some years later, he a raging tempest threatens a ship carrying Antonio (Chris Cooper),
is able to exact his revenge. Julie Taymor’s film adaptation stars Helen Alonso (David Strathairn), some members of Alonso’s family, and
Mirren as Prospera, the wife of Milan’s duke. In this version of the tale, their entourage.
the duke is killed by Antonio, and Prospera is accused of murdering Prospera appears to command the elements, but it’s really the
her husband with witchcraft. She is exiled to a distant island, and from sprite Ariel (Ben Wishaw) who does her dirty work. Visual-effects
that point on, the story hews fairly closely to Shakespeare’s original supervisor Kyle Cooper directed the sequence in which Ariel, with the
plot. aid of computer-generated water, wind and fire, wrecks the CG ship.
The Tempest’s cinematographer, Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, and (The film’s visual effects were created by Cooper’s company, Prologue
production designer, Mark Friedberg, had worked together on a Films.) On Hawaii’s Big Island, Dryburgh shot the live-action portion
number of projects, including Taymor’s Across the Universe , shot by of the scene, which required a full-sized mockup of the period ship,
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC. (Dryburgh did some additional photog- complete with mast, deck and practical cabin. Dump tanks flooded
raphy on that film, collaborating closely with animation director Kyle the set with water and giant fans sprayed it in every direction, and
Cooper on the “Strawberry Fields” sequence.) When The Tempest’s 18K HMIs backlit a thick layer of smoke to create the impression of a
original director of photography, Christopher Doyle, HKSC, departed stormy day exterior.
the film after a few weeks of shooting, Friedberg campaigned on The Hawaiian island of Lanai, with its lava flows, craters and
Dryburgh’s behalf, and just two days after getting the call, Dryburgh rocky cliffs, stands in for Prospera’s isle. (All of the photography on
was on a plane to Hawaii with the script in hand. Lanai was done by Doyle. Dryburgh completed the location filming
He showed up to set the next morning and dove right in. “I on Big Island.) Throughout the shoot, the filmmakers exploited each
felt like I’d seen enough Shakespeare to know how it could work on location’s unique topography to accentuate the story’s supernatural
film,” says Dryburgh, citing Peter Brook’s King Lear, Franco Zeffirelli elements. “There’s a sense that the island is all things to all people,”
and Baz Luhrmann’s very different interpretations of Romeo and says Dryburgh. “It has a very diverse landscape: there’s seashore,
Juliet, and Taymor’s Titus (AC Feb. ’00) as notable cinematic transla- swamps, deep forests, high deserts, bare rock and orange-red earth.
tions of the Bard. We weren’t worried about one scene matching the next.” ➣
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Once location photography wrapped,
production moved to Steiner Studios in
Brooklyn, N.Y., where Dryburgh’s collabora-
tors included key grip Rick Maroquin, gaffer
Bill O’Leary, A-camera operator Lukasz
Jogalla, and B-camera/Steadicam operator
Carlos Guerra. (A-camera 1st AC Glenn
Kaplan stayed with the production from start
to finish.)
Taymor wanted to set The Tempest in
a fantasy world that would feature costumes
and imagery from many different periods of
history. Technical accuracy wasn’t as impor-
tant as the emotions the images would elicit.
“We went from a speck of rock in the middle
of the Pacific to an industrial warehouse in the
middle of Brooklyn, but Julie didn’t want us to
worry about discrepancies,” says Friedberg.
Rather, the director encouraged her lead
creatives to design their work to stand out.
The goal with the subterranean grotto
where Prospera and Miranda reside was a feel
that was “sparkly and magical, not dark and
scary,” says Dryburgh. “The cave and the
courtyard are almost 100-percent practical,
and a lot of my conversations with Mark were
about how to light the volcanic rock, which
was made of Styrofoam and paint.” To create
low, slanting sunlight, “as if the sun is just
peeping over the edge of the cliffs,” O’Leary
and his crew rigged four Nine-Light Maxi-
Brutes in a lift in a cross configuration “and
just peeked them over the set wall at quite a
shallow angle,” recalls the gaffer. “They were
through a light diffusion just to fuzz out the
edges, and an effect color was used instead
of the usual CTO to add warmth.” Dryburgh
adds, “We also used Maxi-Brutes through
diffusion to push ‘daylight’ through the
mouth of the cave, and we had narrow-beam
[Source Four] Lekos on a pipe grid overhead
to create small, intense beams of light to
Top: Rear projection suggest light creeping into the cave through
provides the
background in a shafts in the rock.”
flashback to Prospera’s Other scenes required a less realistic
life in Milan. Middle: approach. When Prospera recalls Antonio’s
Prospera counsels her
daughter (Felicity act of treason, the film flashes back to
Jones) in their the events in Milan, which appears to be
underground home. seen through a hazy filter. To create this
Bottom:
Cinematographer effect, Dryburgh actually placed sheets of
Stuart Dryburgh, ASC. scratched Mylar, supplied by the art depart-
ment in different patterns and textures, in
front of the lens. Friedberg had a miniature-
scale mockup built out of cardboard cutouts
in forced perspective. These models were
photographed and then digitally rear- any digital work at all. For scenes that show front of a greenscreen and multiplying the
projected or composited into full-size live- Prospera conversing with Ariel through the image.
action scenes. “I really like those scenes reflecting pool in her courtyard, the film- Dryburgh’s goal in the digital grade,
because I had complete control over the makers suspended a shallow, glass- which was handled by senior colorist Yvan
lighting, and the final effect is not quite bottomed water tank 4'-6' off the floor with Lucas at EFilm in Hollywood, was to let each
perfect, which gives it a lovely, magical feel,” pulleys, and Wishaw was placed beneath scene stand apart rather than try to tie every-
says Dryburgh. Friedberg concurs, “Some- the tank and photographed through a layer thing together visually. “Each location was
times you don’t have any option but to imply of rippling water. Rear-projected reflections chosen by Julie to convey the feeling she
things. It’s like poetry, and when you work on the water and the use of foreground wanted for that scene,” explains the cine-
with Julie, exercising poetic license is part of elements tie the effect into the real world. (In matographer. “In the DI, we tried to
the job.” most cases, however, some CG was used for enhance and support the ideas that were
Rendering the character of Ariel compositing purposes. All in all,The Tempest formulated in these choices; we tried to
required the combined efforts of the cine- contains approximately 330 visual-effects support the uniqueness of each location
matographer, production designer and shots.) with our grading choices.”
visual-effects team. Wishaw was unable to Just as Ariel takes the shape of the Dryburgh supervised Lucas’ work
travel to Hawaii, but he appears in many of elements, he can also transform into other from New York, transmitting notes and then
the island’s exterior scenes, where Ariel creatures. A key sequence sees him lure the assessing the results. “It was more like work-
frequently interacts with Prospera. Taymor king and his men onto a barren volcanic ing with the old-time film timers, where
was keen to film these scenes with both shelf with a mirage of lavish food and drink. you’d look at the work print, discuss the
Mirren and Wishaw present, so only back- When the men try to pick up the food, the look, and then say, ‘See you in three days
ground plates and a few wide shots were banquet table explodes, revealing Ariel in when the first print is ready.’ Even when I
photographed on location. Dryburgh filmed the form of a horrifying, black harpy. The can physically supervise the grade, I prefer to
the actors together at Steiner, and Cooper transformation begins when Prospera drops let the colorist make a contribution based on
later separated them. “We tried to not over- a black feather into a vial of strange liquid. my briefing, rather than sit there and call
lap them physically, because those effects The glass explodes in slow motion (shot at every light. If you’re working with someone
can be more difficult,” Dryburgh remarks. 1,000 fps with a Phantom HD by 2nd-unit who knows his stuff, you’d do well to let his
Difficult or not, Cooper approached cinematographer David Dunlap), and the knowledge and creativity come into play.”
the process with a strictly can-do attitude. single feather becomes many, each taking
“Julie had a lot of fantastic ideas — they the shape of an individual Ariel. TECHNICAL SPECS
were good and also kind of outrageous,” he “Then we cut to Ben in his costume,
says. “Some of the things she described covered in black, oily makeup with these 2.40:1
would have called for industrial-strength huge wings suspended on cables from the 3-perf Super 35mm
effects were it not for her affinity for a hand- roof, and he’s sitting on a pile of Mark’s Arricam Lite
crafted look. The goal wasn’t seamless, high- glassy volcanic rock in front of a green- Angenieux and Cooke lenses
gloss visual effects. It was about something screen,” explains Dryburgh. Creating the Fujifilm Eterna 500 8573;
more spirited.” hundreds of screeching harpies was as Kodak Vision3 500T 5219
Some character effects didn’t involve simple as capturing Wishaw on a wire rig in Digital Intermediate ➣
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Its unique design and tiny form factor provide easy mounting to cameras or tripods. An optional Ki Pro Mini
mounting plate offers a wide variety of bolt patterns for mating to virtually any camera accessory or shoe adapter.
B e c a u s e i t m a t t e r s .
all have a shred of that person in us.”
After interviewing a number of young
cinematographers for All Good Things ,
Jarecki decided he wanted a cameraman
with considerable experience. “The young
ones seemed like they would come up with
clever ideas every second, and I felt the film
might become gimmicky,” he explains. He
thought of Michael Seresin, BSC, and called
Alan Parker ( Angel Heart ) and Alfonso
Cuarón ( Harry Potter and the Prisoner of
Azkaban; AC June ’04), who said his instinct
was correct. “Michael’s powerful images in
films like Angel Heart and Angela’s Ashes ,
and even The Prisoner of Azkaban , which I
feel is the most cinematic of the Potter films,
show that he is someone who cares deeply
about the mystery of film,” Jarecki observes.
“His work suggests that he thinks a film
should not just be a continuation of reality.”
After several long-distance discus-
Above: Katie
sions about the script — with Jarecki in New
(Kirsten Dunst) York and Seresin at home in New Zealand —
becomes Seresin decided to sign on. “I like a dark story
increasingly
unhappy in her
because it demands more from an audi-
marriage to ence,” says the cinematographer. “I like
David (Ryan movies that gravitate toward the underlit,
Gosling) in All
Good Things,
darker side of life. When there are a lot of
shot by Michael shadows, the audience isn’t quite sure if they
Seresin, BSC. can see something or not, and their imagina-
Right: The early
days of the
tion starts to work.”
young couple’s The story covers about 30 years, from
marriage are the mid-1970s to 2001, and Seresin was
rendered in a
brighter, more
keen to differentiate the periods subtly. “I
colorful palette. very consciously did not want the film to have
a ‘then’ and ‘now’ feel in terms of a grainier
Seventies and a slicker present day — that
would have been too intrusive,” he says.
www.clairmont.com
Moviecam Compact. For the home-movie
footage, Seresin used a Bolex H-16 Rex-5
“and mostly a 10mm Switar lens. That
seemed truer and more appropriate than
shooting 35mm and degrading it in post.
“Cameras are not a big deal to me,”
Seresin continues. “I like the new Arris, but to
be dead honest, if I had a chip in my head
and could just imagine the picture and then
download it, I would. I’m not the world’s
most technical cinematographer!” Lenses
are another matter, however. “I have a set of
Cooke S4 primes and Cooke zooms that
follow me everywhere. They came out of JDC
[Joe Dunton Co.]. Joe is a technical genius
and a great friend, and I’ve used his spherical
and anamorphic lenses on pretty much every
movie I’ve done.” On All Good Things ,
Seresin used a full set of S4s and the Cooke
18-100mm zoom.
Although the shoot took place in
Connecticut and New York, Seresin was able
to bring Peter Bloor, his longtime gaffer in
Above: David
reluctantly takes Great Britain, aboard as the lighting consul-
a position at his tant. “Peter and I first worked together on
father’s multi- Midnight Express when he was just an elec-
million-dollar
business. Right: trician,” notes the cinematographer. “I finally
Katie offers persuaded him to work as a gaffer, and
comfort as the we’ve done more than a dozen movies
stress of his
job starts to together.” Seresin has high praise for the
take a toll. rest of the crew, which included A-
camera/Steadicam operator Gerard Sava, A-
camera 1st AC Stanley Fernandez, B-camera
operator Tom Weston and B-camera 1st AC
Paul Colangelo, all out of New York. “I am
suggest something a bit darker to the audi- Seresin decided to shoot All Good Things on tough on a crew, and they were brilliant,”
ence. We get more and more into night Kodak Vision3 500T 5219. “I love some of says Seresin. “We had a lot of handheld and
photography as the story gets darker.” the older film stocks because you can get a Steadicam work, and a lot of location work.
During prep, Seresin did extensive sort of lovely patina — some call it grain — Some days we had two [company] moves, so
testing at Technicolor New York, “more to and I was tempted to try and find some you end up working at the speed of your
show Andrew a few ideas for the look of older stock [for this movie], but I decided I slowest truck. We were filming at a time
the film,” he says. “Tech New York is family, preferred the challenge of working with a when everyone was taking advantage of
and I love working with them.” Seresin modern stock,” he observes. “I think so New York’s tax breaks, so we were lucky to
tested the digital equivalent of Technicolor’s much of today’s film stock looks too perfect, get such a great team.” Bloor agrees, adding,
ENR process, but, he notes, “this was more too glossy, and I think we managed to get “We worked some incredible hours, and the
of a guide for lighting contrast ratios, and some of that patina in 5219. Somehow, it crew never moaned or groaned; we just all
reminded me of an approach rather than arrived. got on with it.”
serving as a blueprint for the look of the “I recently had a showing of Angel Connecticut stood in for much of the
film. I love the photochemical ENR process, Heart on film, and it looks so different from New York photography, with a large, vacant
which is hard to do these days. But the digi- the DVD,” he adds. “The digital transfer house standing in for three different loca-
tal version is getting close.” (The final digital looks so slick, smooth and sharp. It’s missing tions: David and Katie’s Manhattan apart-
grade was done at Company 3 by colorist that texture from the film stock.” ment, Sanford Marks’ stately home, and the
Matt Turner.) The production’s camera package, den where David practices “scream therapy.”
Apart from some home-movie provided by Panavision, comprised an Arri- Of the latter room, Seresin recalls, “There
footage, which was shot on Super 16mm, cam Studio and Lite and a backup was a crazy quality to the design of the ceil-
cookeoptics.com
28
sourced by streetlights. “I suggested that we her and then look straight back at him. But ERRATA
instead try to find a disused railway bridge, as I was walking past Ryan, I caught a glint
which are pretty common in upstate New from the glasses he was wearing, and I Some of the text in our November
York and Connecticut,” says Seresin. “We thought it made him look really evil. I usually tribute to William A. Fraker, ASC, BSC
spotted one when we were driving back to don’t like asking actors to do stuff for the (“King of Cool,” p. 64) was altered and/or
the hotel one day and did a quick U-turn to camera, but I asked him, ‘Have you ever omitted because of a production error. The
check it out. That scene was big-scale cinema seen Rear Window?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, a statement by Fraker that begins at the
for a film with this budget!” According to long time ago.’ And I said, ‘Remember how bottom of page 67 should read, “And that’s
Bloor, the crew rigged a mix of 12K and 6K the reflection on Thorwald’s glasses made one thing that’s lacking in some of the films
HMIs, “anything we could get our hands him look really evil? Do you mind if I just ask I’ve seen lately — there’s a vague plot, but
on,” to light the bridge from the side oppo- you to move your head a bit left?’ He said, you don’t care about the characters.” The
site the action. “We actually had a very ‘No, that’s fine.’ So we shot him in profile sentence after that should read, “In another
limited area to light because the goal was to using a long lens to isolate him from the career-spanning interview with Bob Fisher,
make it creepy,” says Bloor. Seresin adds, background. It strongly suggests that he stressed the single-mindedness required
“What’s great is that we got a sharp outline underneath it all, David really is quite evil.” to succeed in such a glamorous but
of the profile of the bridge against the night demanding profession.” Also, a quote from
sky with mist and smoke.” TECHNICAL SPECS Warren Beatty that begins at the bottom of
Seresin says he was particularly page 76 should read, “To Billy’s credit, we
pleased to work with Gosling and Dunst. 1.85:1 got it done. The crowd had no idea what
“What I love about actors like Ryan and 35mm and 16mm was going on when two teams came out
Kirsten is that they sort of suggest stuff to you Arricam Studio, Lite; Moviecam Compact; wearing different uniforms.”
— you watch them, and you suddenly get an Bolex H-16 Rex-5
idea,” he says. “For instance, for the scene Cooke and Switar lenses
where David drags Katie out of her family’s Kodak Vision3 500T 5219/7219,
party by her hair, the conventional way to Vision2 50D 7201
shoot it would have been to look straight at Digital Intermediate ●
29
LettingGo
T
he new film Biutiful is the latest collaboration between
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC director Alejandro González Iñárritu and cinematogra-
discusses his approach to Biutiful, pher Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC, and although it does
his latest collaboration with director not feature the kind of fractured narrative that character-
ized their previous features, Amores Perros (AC April ’01), 21
Alejandro González Iñárritu. Grams (AC Dec. ’03) and Babel (AC Nov. ’06), it nonetheless
offers a similarly rich tapestry of characters and subplots. The
film focuses on Uxbal (Javier Bardem), a divorced father of
By Benjamin B two, who hustles a living in Barcelona by selling goods from a
Chinese sweatshop to African street vendors, and by moon-
lighting as a kind of messenger between the dead and the
•|•
living — he possesses the eerie ability to see ghosts. When
Uxbal learns that he has a terminal illness, he struggles to
come to terms with his fate, all the while concealing his ill-
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 31
◗ Letting Go
Top: Prieto
(shouldering a
Panaflex
Millennium XL2)
and 1st AC Arturo
Castañeda (center,
with his back to
camera) stay close
to the action as
Ekweme (Cheikh
Ndiaye, far left)
and other African
street vendors
scatter during a
police raid. Typical
of his work with
director Alejandro
González Iñárritu,
Prieto shot most
of Biutiful
handheld. Bottom:
Prieto captures the
climax of the
police chase.
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 33
◗ Letting Go
wanted to use different techniques to
create the sense that things are out of
balance, that he’s confused and doesn’t
know where to go or what to do. We
wanted to create images that weren’t
straightforward, so we would, for exam-
ple, pass split diopters in front of the lens
to defocus some elements in the frame.
The film has a very rough,
powerful texture and a grainy, satu-
rated image. How did you achieve
that?
Prieto: From the beginning,
Alejandro felt it was important to have
film grain permeating the air. In part, it
was his reaction to all the digital devel-
opments — he feels that more and
more, movies tend to look too clean and
plastic. But film grain has actually been
an important part of the visual palette in
all our films, going back to Amores
Perros. Because Biutiful tells one story, I
didn’t want to mix as many film stocks as
I have on our other films. The stock I
tested in the beginning was Kodak
[Vision 500T] 5279, which we liked,
but it was being discontinued. So we
used [Kodak Vision2 500T] 5260,
which is similar to 5279 but has better
color reproduction. We found that
pushing 5260 by 1 stop, combined with
the USZ MKII lenses, gave us a texture
that we really loved. Pushing enhanced
the grain but also enhanced the contrast
and the color saturation, and that
became an integral part of the movie’s
look. However, I found that for night
scenes, when there’s a lot of black in the
frame, the pushed 5260 became a little
too milky and a little too blue in the
blacks. So for those scenes, I used
[Kodak Vision3 500T] 5219 pushed 1
stop; that gave the night scenes a little
less grain, but in the very dark, high-
contrast night scenes, it delivered deeper,
cleaner blacks. I rated both film stocks at
640 ASA. The film is bookended by
scenes set in the snow, and for those I
used [Kodak Vision2 50D] 5201, which
has a very clean grain. It’s the only part
The HD frame grabs on these pages show a late-afternoon interlude in which Uxbal and Marambra enjoy ice
cream with their children, and then quiet time as the day comes to an end. The filmmakers’ sleight of hand in of the movie that’s not pushed. I wanted
this location included placing greenscreen outside the window for the sunset scene and comping in the those scenes to be clean and pristine, to
background later, and shooting the evening scene day-for-night to accommodate child actors Bouchaib and have a very different feel.
Guillermo Estrella.
Like all of your films with
Kino Flo bulbs to rig either on ceilings well as the 1K [Lowel] Rifa light. I use but allowing direct sunlight on Tito. I
or, for sidelight in tight spaces, against a Dedolights for accent lighting. used the sheers on the window to bloom
wall. I also used 1-by-1 Litepanels LED How did you light the scene that the light coming in, which created a soft
units configured in a square of four, introduces us to Uxbal’s ex-wife, ambient light. So with one light source,
usually diffused with Full Grid, to simu- Marambra, where she bursts into we had soft light for Marambra and a
late soft lamp light, hiding the shallow Tito’s bedroom, dances on the bed and hard light for Tito. We put white show
fixture behind lampshades or tucking it pours wine on him? cards on the ceiling to create fill, and
behind bedside tables. For HMIs, I used Prieto: That location was a tiny when the camera came around on
the K5600 400-watt and 800-watt room on the sixth floor that had a Marambra, we opened up the lens 2
Jokers extensively; I can bounce them balcony. My only lighting opportunity stops, ending up with a fill light that was
for fill, or I’ll use the soft tube adapter, was the window. The camera basically 2 stops under. My focus puller, Arturo
which creates a powerful but narrow does a 270-degree move in the scene. I Castañeda, has a feel for focus that’s just
light source that’s easily hidden behind a started on Tito waking up with my back incredible, and that gives me the confi-
doorframe. The 4K Alpha came in to the window, so we begin with frontal dence to move freely. Luis Lattanzi, the
handy to light through Full Grid diffu- light, and then I end up on the other second AC, was doing the stop change.
sion frames of different sizes. We used side of the bed, facing Marambra, with It was a very small room, and they all
18K HMI Fresnels through windows to the window behind her. We placed an danced behind me as I moved around
create sunlight. For tungsten, I also used 18K Fresnel on the balcony about 10 with the camera, along with the boom
the Barger-Baglite DV-3 with Chimera feet from the window, with a flag operator. We encountered this kind of
Medium Video Pro Shallow Bank, as cutting the direct light on Marambra situation often in the cramped locations,
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 35
◗ Letting Go
At a key moment
late in the film,
Ekweme’s wife,
Igé (Diaryatou
Daff), opens the
shutters in Uxbal’s
bedroom. Light
from two 18Ks
outside the
windows, diffused
by the sheer
curtains, flares the
lens as she opens
the shutters.
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•|• Iñárritu on Method •|•
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Digital V ision ar
Vision aree ggrateful
rateful to our customer
customerss who continuall
who continuallyy
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everything. We brought in most of the Uxbal talks to the woman in the booth? reality. Peering into another dimension
lighting, gelling most of the units with Prieto: We lit the booth with two is what Uxbal does; it’s his gift. We took
Rosco 90 Green and Storaro Orange. 4-by-8 Martin LC series RGB LED that all the way in the last scene, which
We had robotic Mac 2000s projecting panels that we positioned overhead. We is the ultimate mirror shot. But we can’t
patterns and colors throughout the club, could program the panels with digital talk about that because it would be a
many pulsing Par cans, and a few strobe video images, and I ended up choosing spoiler! ●
lights. As Uxbal enters the room, he is waves of colors. What I liked about it
bathed in ultraviolet ‘black light,’ and we was that it didn’t have the hard edge of
shot without a UV filter on the camera, standard nightclub lighting — there’s a
which creates a hazy, atmospheric, softer texture to the light — and we
indigo light that contrasts with the could shift the colors as the scene TECHNICAL SPECS
orange and green of the first part of the progressed. Mostly, I lit that area with
1.85:1 and 2.40:1
scene. I also used a video projector with this sort of blue cyan with waves of
bubbly images for one of the strippers purple that I felt was more in tune with 35mm
climbing up a wall. To emphasize the Uxbal’s despair, until a red light flashes
otherworldly feel, we wanted more as the music changes and they move to Panaflex Millennium XL2
dramatic lens flares, so we used the the dance floor.
Panavision USZ MKII, G-Series
special Panavision C-Series ‘Flare’ Mirrors seem to be a recurring and C-Series lenses
lenses in the club. I also used these motif in the film. They figure in several
lenses for the scene after the club, where scenes, including the last one. Kodak Vision2 500T 5260,
a drunken Uxbal goes back home to Prieto: We didn’t make a 50D 5201; Vision3 500T 5219
discover that his son has been left alone conscious decision to use mirrors, but I
Digital Intermediate
by Marambra. think that the feeling you get through-
What about the very saturated out the movie is like Through the Looking Printed on Kodak Vision
blue light that bathes the scene when Glass, as though the mirror is another Premier 2393
Hoyte van Hoytema,
NSC, FSF mixes 2-perf
Super 35mm and
Betacam-SP for the
period boxing drama
The Fighter.
By Michael Goldman
•|•
Tough F
rom the earliest moments that producer/actor Mark
Wahlberg and director David O. Russell partnered to
develop The Fighter, they had raw and uniquely American
visuals in mind. Ironically, they turned to a European
Love
cinematographer, Hoyte van Hoytema, NSC, FSF, to get that
job done. Russell was impressed by van Hoytema’s work on
the Swedish feature Let the Right One In, and on the black-
and-white Swedish television show How Soon is Now?
What Russell hired van Hoytema to shoot was, at its
core, a gritty, reality-based drama. Wahlberg stars as Boston
boxer “Irish” Micky Ward, who learns how to be a champion
from his half brother, Dickie (Christian Bale), even as Dickie
battles drug addiction. The movie is built around the frame-
work of a real 1995 HBO documentary that covered Dickie’s
descent, portions of which were re-created by the filmmakers
Lowell, Mass., The Fighter includes use of Super 16mm.) The cinematogra-
extended boxing sequences choreo- pher was accustomed to shooting 2-perf
graphed and shot to mimic Ward’s real in Europe, and felt he could use the
fights in the late 1980s and early 1990s format to more successfully accommo-
as they were broadcast on HBO. date Russell’s desire to shoot mostly
Because of Wahlberg’s relation- handheld or with a Steadicam in small
ship with HBO via his series Entourage, locations, often in limited light, while
the Fighter team was given full access to working extremely fast. (Principal
the network’s sports-broadcasting unit photography took 38 days.) This
so they could accurately re-create approach would also enable the film-
portions of some of these fights. HBO makers to capture grainy images to suit
lent the production some personnel, and the story.
the filmmakers’ equipment included “When shooting 2-perf for
period-correct Betacam-SP standard- [2.40:1] output, you expose far less
definition ENG cameras (supplied by negative than 4-perf, saving a lot of
Pittsburgh’s NEP Supershooters). money, and if you are interested in
The filmmakers also took an getting grain and texture, it’s the way to
unorthodox approach to the drama go,” says van Hoytema. “I prefer 2-perf
surrounding the boxing. Russell and van over all the digital cameras I’ve tested.
Hoytema both wanted to be improvisa- “I find that workflows and proven
tional to a large degree — going hand- working methods are harder to change
held, mobile and as light as possible — or adapt in an established industry like
and when creative requirements and Hollywood’s, which may be why 2-perf
budget considerations appeared to hasn’t really been used here,” he adds.
suggest a digital format for principal “In that respect, Europe seems a bit Opposite: Trainer Dickie Eklund (Christian Bale) raises
the arm of his half-brother, “Irish” Micky Ward (Mark
photography, van Hoytema instead more flexible — in a smaller industry, Wahlberg),after a big win. This page, top: Ward
suggested using Aaton’s Penelope you need to be able to adapt.” takes a shine to Charlene (Amy Adams), a sharp-
cameras to shoot 2-perf Super 35mm, Abel Cine Tech provided the tongued bartender. Bottom: Cinematographer Hoyte
van Hoytema, NSC, FSF shoulders an Aaton Penelope.
an unusual move for a U.S. studio production with three new Penelopes,
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 43
◗ Tough Love
Right: During a
key bout, Eklund
urges Ward to
dig deeper and
follow their
fight strategy.
Below: Ward’s
feisty mother,
Alice (Melissa
Leo), also serves
as his manager,
but he
eventually
concludes that
her career
guidance isn’t
optimizing his
prospects.
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 45
◗ Tough Love
Right: Ward goes
nose-to-nose with
WBU champion
Shea Neary
(Anthony Molinari)
during the prefight
introductions for
their2000 light-
welterweight title
bout in England.
The production
lent the fight
scenes extra
authenticity by
employingperiod-
correct Betacam-SP
standard-definition
cameras, which are
frequently visible
in frame. Below:
Ward exults after
defeating Neary
on an eighth-
round technical
knockout.
In the
shimmering
heat, a glassy
surface will
soon be
shattered. 352
Think LEE
www.leefilters.com
50
conversion box, and then later converted made their lives so much easier in he regards the cinematographer as
all the video material to DPX files to be production for this kind of a movie.” “someone I think I can work with for a
incorporated into the DI files, retaining The DI, handled by colorist Tony long time. He’s a very special guy. I like
the noise and imperfections of the orig- Dustin, was the first of Russell’s career. people with a fresh eye who are not
inal Beta-SP. It was an enormous under- This time, in a departure from the cynical or hungry.” ●
taking largely because they shot six to extensive post manipulation he has
eight video cameras inside the arena; requested on films like Three Kings (AC
organizing all that footage was challeng- Nov. ’99), the director asked Dustin to
ing. The tapes were actually sent to Los be subtle, because he was satisfied that TECHNICAL SPECS
Angeles, where the conversion work was van Hoytema had largely achieved the
done by Technicolor Creative Services.” desired look in-camera. That was true 2.40:1
As far as massaging the 2-perf even with the Betacam footage, which
2-perf Super 35mm and
35mm footage went, Kulikowski van Hoytema describes as “strangely Digital Capture
suggests that today’s DI tools have made sharp and rough at the same time” on
those adjustments fairly straightforward. the big screen — exactly what he and Aaton Penelope; Sony BVP-900,
“The DI requires everything to be Russell wanted. “Something really BVP-950
turned into a 4-perf anamorphic nega- interesting happens with the texture
Angenieux Optimo and
tive and print, so the optical-blowup when you convert Betacam to film,” Arri Master Prime lenses
issue has gone away,” he says. “As far as says the cinematographer, “and when we
removing imperfections, you treat it like tested it in prep, David and I thought Fujifilm Eterna 250T 8553,
a visual-effects sequence and paint those that looked better than the HD tests we 250D 8563, 500T 8573
out. Technicolor has great restoration made. We felt this was an obvious and
Digital Intermediate
tools for that sort of work. Shooting 2- quite logical way to do it, actually.”
perf means you have to take some more Russell says his creative synergy Printed on Fujifilm
time in post, but on the other hand, it with van Hoytema was so complete that Eterna-CP 3514DI
51
Tron: Legacy, shot by
Claudio Miranda, ASC,
mixes 2-D and 3-D
to update the
environments of the
1982 sci-fi hit.
By Noah Kadner
•|•
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 53
◗ Back to the Grid
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 55
◗ Back to the Grid
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 61
◗ Back to the Grid
to create a Steadicam-style feel.
Operated by the extravagant
Castor (Michael Sheen), the End of
Line club features interlocking LED
panels laid directly into the walls and
ceiling. The club’s floor, measuring
Kosinski (lying approximately 20'x20', was fitted with
on the floor) Barco panels, and the media the film-
works out an
angle with makers ran was clouds. “We also used
Miranda (right) the Barcos to simulate elevator effects,”
and Hedlund. notes Miranda. “We used two 4-by-20-
foot Barco panels placed to the actors’
left and right, and on those panels we
ran media to simulate the elevator trav-
eling up or down. This was a lighting
effect only and not in shot.”
Miranda and Kosinski monitored
their work in 3-D while shooting with
partial sets surrounded by bluescreen in thought of doing some handheld or specially calibrated 50" Hyundai
large-scale visual-effects movies, the Steadicam shots leading into the club, HDTV monitors that offered a half-
filmmakers chose to construct almost but the rig’s weight made that too chal- resolution representation of their work.
the entire set with a minimum of blue- lenging,” says Miranda. Instead, They also watched full-resolution 3-D
screen outside the club’s windows, Miranda and key grip Kim Olson dailies each day in Pace’s 3-D mobile-
providing a more realistic stage for the employed the overhead Graphlite rig, projection trailer, which was parked just
performers and camera. “We initially programming it with automated moves outside the stage. “The on-set monitors
62
allowed us to see what was working in within the Grid, Miranda typically lit on down. This was truly one of the best
2-D vs. 3-D in real time,” says Kosinski, for a 5,500°K color temperature and teams I’ve worked with, and it feels like
“but the projected dailies we watched at kept the camera balanced for 3,200°K. there’s a lot of excitement for this movie
lunchtime were where we’d really get a “I wouldn’t recommend that strategy for out there.” ●
feeling for what we were getting in other digital cameras,” he cautions, “but
terms of depth and detail.” the F35 is really soft in that transition.
AC was invited into the Pace I’d also occasionally take a piece of
trailer to review an assembly of dailies in footage and grade it myself in Apple’s TECHNICAL SPECS
3-D, as well as special-unit still photog- Color as a reference.” The final digital
2.40:1
raphy also shot in 3-D. Miranda and grade was completed at Laser Pacific
Kosinski pointed out that because the with colorist David Cole. “I was able to 3-D and 2-D Digital Capture
Pace trailer uses two optically inter- sit in on a few of the sessions and gave
linked projectors, they could actually some notes,” says Miranda. “I did not Sony F35; Vision Research
alter the convergence of footage after spend as much time there as I would Phantom HD
filming to determine where shots might have liked, however, because I was Arri Master Prime lenses
work better with a different level of committed to another project.”
depth. After working on Legacy for Digital Intermediate
During prep, Miranda developed nearly four years, Kosinski enthuses,
a look-up table that the filmmakers “I’m really impressed with the work the
could toggle on and off on their moni- entire team has done; their level of
tors during production to get a sense of commitment exceeded my expectations.
the intended look. “It added a bit of It’s been a tremendous, fun challenge,
contrast to the raw footage and served and I’m very happy with how things
as a one-light correction for our dailies,” worked out.” Miranda adds, “There was
he says. To emphasize the cool feel a unified camaraderie from the studio
63
A League
of
His
Own
A
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC receives fter four decades behind the camera, Roger Deakins,
ASC, BSC, is at the top of his game. “I think I’m doing
the Society’s Lifetime Achievement work now that’s as good as I’ve ever done,” he says. His
Award for a body of work that peers in the ASC clearly agree, as they will honor him
reflects vision, purpose and a next month with the Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
The ASC honor is the latest in an incredible run that has
personal perspective. included double ASC Award nominations for two consecu-
tive years, 2008 (for Revolutionary Road and The Reader) and
2007 (for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert
By Patricia Thomson Ford and No Country for Old Men). Indeed, Deakins’ presence
looms so large at these ceremonies that when Robert Elswit,
•|• ASC accepted the 2007 ASC Award for There Will Be Blood,
he suggested that the Society establish a special category for
“films shot by Roger Deakins.”
The four films that earned Deakins his double nomina-
tions reflect his special niche as a shape-shifting cinematogra-
while working on
one of his first
auteurs; he has shot 11 films for them documentaries for
since Barton Fink (1991), including the British TV, about a
current release True Grit. yacht race that
circumnavigated
None of this was in the crystal ball the globe. Top
when Deakins was a young lad in right: As a student
Torquay, a fishing town on England’s at England’s
National Film
southwest coast. Once a Victorian School, Deakins (at
resort, the town didn’t offer many career far left) works on
options for a youth with artistic inclina- The Penal Colony
(1972/1973),
tions. Deakins’ father ran a construction directed by Neil
company, and his grandfather was a fish- Levenson (at
erman. “My dad wanted me to take over camera). Middle: In
another Penal
his business,” Deakins recalls. “For many Colony still,
years,when I was working in London in Deakins preps a
the film industry, my father still thought dolly shot. Bottom:
During filming of
I’d come back and take over!” Alex Cox’s Sid and
Instead, Deakins took after his Nancy (1986),
artistically inclined mother, an actress Deakins practices
his punk-rock sneer
and amateur painter. He also took up the while surrounded
brush, painting realistic renderings of by actors (from left)
people and landscapes. “They were Tony London, Gary
Oldman and
pretty depressing, actually,” he says. But Graham Fletcher-
they led him to still photography. “I Cook.
suppose I took up still photography
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 65
◗ A League of His Own
just wandering around towns and
seaside communities taking pictures.”
He even pinched the school’s darkroom
key to make a copy for himself.
Curiously, photography itself was not
part of Bath’s curriculum. “It was just a
way of recording images to be used in
graphic design— if you were designing
book covers, for instance,” says Deakins.
When the academy brought in
professional photographers as guest
teachers, Deakins soaked up the lessons,
particularly those imparted by Roger
Mayne. “He was one of the first
photographers to go out in the street
and photograph the lives of people in
London,” says Deakins. “He was quite a
big influence on the way I started to see
things.”
After college, Deakins wasn’t sure
what to do. A friend told him about a
new school opening up in London
called the National Film School. “I
thought that really made sense, because
Top: Director
my photography was tending towards
John Sayles documentary, so I applied along with
works out a shot my friend,” he says. Neither of them got
with Deakins on
location for
in. Deakins made an appointment with
Passion Fish the school’s headmaster, Colin Young,
(1992). Right: The to find out why. He recalls, “On the wall
cinematographer
at work on
behind Colin’s deskwas this photo-
Michael Apted’s graph of a horse and car. It was blurred
Thunderheart because it was a time exposure. Colin
(1992).
said, ‘Well,your photographs are not
really very filmic.’ He pointed to the
photo behind him and said, ‘ That’s
filmic.’ I said, ‘No, that’s a blurred
photograph.’” Deakins laughs at his
youthful chutzpah. “I disputed his idea
of what was filmic and what wasn’t.”
because I always had an interest in Intending to become a painter, he Because it was the school’s first
[seeing] people within their environ- enrolled in the Bath Academy of Art, year, it was seeking an entry class of 25
ments.” Deakins had the opportunity to but found himself assigned to the students who already had some film-
soak up art-house movies through the graphic-design department. “I guess making experience and could self-start
Torquay film society. He and his brother they didn’t like my naturalistic paint- in an unstructured educational environ-
trudged miles to watch everything from ings,” he says. “Abstract was in, and I ment. So, with the implicit promise that
Italian neorealist films to Peter Watkins’ didn’t do much of that.” But there was a he would be admitted the next year if he
faux vérité documentaries. Seeing a small film department. “I wanted to get acquired some practical experience,
woman faint during TheWar Game , involved in that, but only two or three Deakins looked for a job. The Bath
Watkins’ vivid scenario about a nuclear students were allowed to play with film Academy principal told him about an
explosion in London, deeply impressed cameras, and I didn’t get the chance.” arts center that wanted to create a
Deakins, but the idea of making a career Instead, he discovered still photography photographic record of rural life in
out of film hadn’t yet coalesced in his — in a big way. “I used to spend nights North Devon. For the next year,
mind. in a darkroom printing, then days out, Deakins wandered around the country-
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 67
◗ A League of His Own
Deakins prepares to
take to the skies to
capture a shot for
Courage Under Fire
(1996), his first
collaboration with
director Ed Zwick.
They reteamed two
years later for The
Siege (1998).
months on a yacht during an around- that what I was doing was very ning to direct his first theatrical feature,
the-world race. He came under mortar voyeuristic,” he recalls. “I questioned Another Time, Another Place, a love trian-
fire in Ethiopia during its guerrilla war. how much effect I was having, or gle set in Scotland during World War II,
He filmed anthropological documen- whether it was just me trying to further and he’d been impressed by Deakins’
taries in India and Sudan. Working with work on the miniseries. “It was also an
16mm and an Éclair NPR, he became instinct that he was going to deliver,”
increasingly adept as a camera operator. says Radford, who adds with a laugh,
Radford was among his early “Then I had terrible second thoughts!
collaborators. One of their documen-
taries followed Van Morrison on tour “I’ve had no formal I thought, ‘What am I doing? I know
the guy, I’ve seen this TV series, but it
through Ireland( Van Morrison in
Ireland). “Roger’s camerawork was
training, even though I doesn’t tell me anything,really,about
what we’re going to do now.’But in the
amazing,” the director says. “For the first went to film school end, the decision paid off in spades. The
concert in Belfast, we’d hired six film worked very well, and not at all
cameramen, and they all missed the and art college. Both solely because of my direction, but
plane, so Roger literally shot the first because of Roger’s stunning photogra-
half of the concert on his own, and every were places of phy— in Super 16mm! At that time,
single foot of it was useful!‘How to
shoot a concert with one camera’ was anarchy, really.” Super 16 was very marginal. You had
about half a stop of variation on it, so
what that lesson was about.” Roger had to light very precisely, with a
For Deakins, a turning point forest of little lights in these very tiny
came on a documentary about schizo- spaces. The film was a real success in
phrenia that followed eight patients Europe; it got a 10-minute standing
after their release from a London hospi- my own career. I was quite conflicted. ovation at Cannes. It was really a big
tal. When one suffered a horrendous So when I got the chance to shoot break for both of us.”
breakdown in her apartment, his part- dramas, I decided that was more me.” “I never looked back after that,”
ner wanted to keep filming, but Deakins His first dramatic project was a says Deakins. He reteamed with
instead put the camera down to assist TV miniseries called Wolcott, which Radford on 1984, an adaptation of
the woman. After that, he stopped came through a friend of a friend. Soon George Orwell’s novel. “That was a big
shooting documentaries. “I began to feel thereafter, Radford called. He was plan- movie,” says Radford.“I remember
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 69
•|• Displaying True Grit •|•
True Grit photos by Lorey Sebastian and Wilson Webb, courtesy of Paramount Pictures.
his own reasons for hunting Chaney, you really had to float with it.” wasn’t using them all at once!” says the
who is hiding in Indian Territory with True Grit required extremes of cinematographer. Rather, they were
his gang. lighting: minimal (flame-lit cabins) and divided among three hillside platforms,
Deakins found Portis’ book maximal (nighttime gunfights and each stretching 120'-150'and holding
“meditative and melancholy, gritty and other action). “Imagine you’re on an more than 20 12Ks and 18Ks. The crew
real,” and the Coens’ script called for a electric cart with a stabilizing head then leapfrogged the lights. “We had
bleak, wintry look. Shooting on location tracking with a galloping horse at night, the first and second sequence ready to
in the Southwest, the filmmakers got some of it through forest and some of it go, and then,while we were shooting
what they wished for, but impetuous on an open, empty plain — and you’ve the second sequence, our rigging crew
weather, far-flung locations and harsh got to light it!” Deakins says, wincing. was moving lights from the first position
terrain created a challenging 55-day “The only way to do that is to get as big to the third,” says Deakins.
shoot.“People were saying, ‘It’s three a light as you can afford and put it as far “It’s hard to move around at
people and their horses. What could be away as you can.” night, especially on the side of a rocky
so difficult?’” Deakins recalls with some That was his approach to a major hill. That’s when preparation really
amusement. sequence in which Mattie and her counts.”
The pattern was set on day one, compatriots seek refuge from a snow- — Patricia Thomson
when the filmmakers woke up to storm in a mountain cabin. When they
discover that a nighttime blizzard had discover that the dwelling is occupied by
dumped 2' of snow on them. “I looked two members of Chaney’s gang, they set
around and thought, ‘What the hell can up a stakeout on the surrounding hills.
we shoot today?’” recalls Deakins. Only When the rest of the gang arrives, a
ww.theasc.com
w January 2011 71
◗ A League of His Own
Top: Deakins and
Harris capture a
close-up of Frances
McDormand’s legs
for a scene in the
Coens’ period noir
comedy The Man
Who Wasn’t There
(2001), which
brought Deakins
his second ASC
Award. Bottom:
Deakins lines up a
shot of Jennifer
Connelly for Vadim
Perelman’s House
of Sand and Fog
(2003), which
required the
creation of some
convincing
exteriors onstage
at Culver Studios.
76
the more organized you are at the
beginning, the more freedom it gives
you to play around when you’re on set.”
Gaffer Christopher Napolitano recalls
that on House of Sand and Fog , “Roger
handed me a stack of notes, I rigged On location in
everything to his notes, and nothing New Mexico for
the Coens’ True
ever changed, which seemed really Grit (2010),
unique. He had everything down to Deakins
exactly how many lights he wanted captures some
river action,
somewhere, and he used every one of assisted by
them.” Harris.
That kind of precision is possible
on a single-camera production, another
common thread in Deakins’ work, along
with his preference for prime lenses.
“[Shooting with primes] forces you to
move the camera and think about where
the camera needs to be,” he says. rules,’” he says. “Every shot and every from somebody else. It’s not just tech-
Filming only with zooms, he contends, movie is different. There’s no right and nique. In fact, it’s less about technique
is “a sloppy way of shooting.” wrong. Cinematography is personal; it’s and more about a way of seeing.” ●
Since 2005, Deakins has freely something you have to develop yourself,
shared his opinions and advice in a and there’s no easy way to do that. It’s
forum on his website. “Most of my just a matter of spending time on your
comments end with, ‘There are no ownand finding it. You can’t learn it
77
Post Focus
have to drive across town to sign
off on a simple task,” says Josh
Haynie, EFilm’s vice president of
operations.
EFilm recently Interactive sessions with EFilm
opened a DI
suite within and Deluxe Laboratories’ other
Universal locations in New York and London
Studios’ post are also possible, allowing real-time
facility, allowing
filmmakers to access to scans and media over a
digitally grade secure, private, dedicated fiber-
their projects optic connection that is fully
under the same
roof as encrypted. “We can transmit
Universal’s full anywhere we need to go,” says
sound services. Haynie. “We just had a session
where we piped information over
to a cinematographer in London.
EFilm photo by Gary Krueger, courtesy of Deluxe and Universal. HPA photos by Ryan Miller, courtesy of Capture Imaging.
He worked on images, all with
absolute accuracy, while we were
watching at EFilm in Hollywood.”
80
which utilizes 16-bit “Half Float” OpenEXRs ously on set, while Lightstream distributes
to support true, real-time high-dynamic- those files.
range content grading. Additionally, Texas Capping the evening’s festivities, Ted
Instruments earned a special recognition for Gagliano, 20th Century Fox’s president of
its DLP Cinema Technology, which is used feature post, was presented with the Life-
for color management and mastering in time Achievement Award. Since joining Fox
post facilities around the globe. in 1991, Gagliano has shepherded more
Four HPA Judges Awards for than 600 features through post, including
Creativity and Innovation in Postproduction Titanic, the X-Men series, the special
were also handed out during the ceremony. editions of the original Star Wars trilogy,
FotoKem picked up an award for its Next- and Avatar. Deluxe President and CEO Cyril
Lab Mobile proprietary software and Drabinsky, an ASC associate member,
commodity hardware system, which shared the stage with producer Jon Landau
presents an advanced toolset for file-based and composer Patrick Doyle to introduce
post. Reliance MediaWorks earned an Gagliano by way of personal anecdotes
award for its Custom Image Processing from years of collaboration and friendship.
software applications for film, video and “Movies are still light and sound [in combi-
HPA President Leon Silverman reprised his
digital sources. Gradient Effects earned an nation with] great stories — science inter- role as the awards’ master of ceremonies.
award for its Gradient Location-Optimized twined with art,” Gagliano enthused as he
Workflow (GLOW) previsualization and accepted the award. Pledging to return to
nonlinear production system for 2-D and the office the next morning to begin “the
stereoscopic 3-D. Additionally, LightIron second half” of his career, Gagliano also
Digital picked up an award for its Outpost noted, “Movies are harder to make now
and Lightstream systems; Outpost allows than ever; the stakes are higher, yet the
operators to verify, backup, render one rewards have never been so great.” ●
lights of and transcode footage simultane-
Filmmakers’ Forum
Left: Writer/director Lena Dunham (holding cage) and cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes (at camera) line up a shot for the the feat ure film Tiny Furniture, which was
shot with the Canon EOS 7D. Right: Dunham also stars in the film as Aura, who develops a crush on her co-worker Keith (David Ca ll).
I
The Challenges of Shooting a Feature With mostly the latter.
the Canon 7D I often tried to use the architecture of the location to give
By Jody Lee Lipes shots more visual interest. One example is the scene in which Aura
(played by Lena) and Jed, the Nietzschean Cowboy (Alex Karpovsky),
One of the reasons I was interested in working on Tiny Furni- visit her apartment. They enter through Aura’s mother’s studio, and
ture is that it’s a very traditional story in a lot of ways, and I respond it’s a wide shot that shows them coming in and turning on the lights
to films that are plotted in a conventional way but use unconven- in this big, white space. To us, the wide shot tells the story best
tional methods of visualizing the story. Most of the features I’ve because it forces the audience to think about the characters in their
worked on, nonfiction and fiction, have been more abstract, and with environment, and it also enhances the comedic moment with the
an abstract screenplay, most of the time you’re working against the dead hamster; you can’t see it but want to, and hearing them
story to help it make more sense to the audience. describe it in detail makes that moment funnier.
Writer/director Lena Dunham’s script was dialogue heavy, with For the scene between Aura and her sister (played by Lena’s
very little action, so we asked ourselves how we could turn that into sister, Grace), I set up the camera in such a way that the wall between
a visual experience. We both like Woody Allen’s films,so we decided their rooms splits the shot down the middle. That’s where the camera
that talking about Manhattan was a good place to start. On that film, had to be to convey that their two bedrooms are basically the same
Gordon Willis, ASC and Woody Allen did a great job of making bold room, but divided. There was no other way to illustrate the proxim-
visual choices that make the audience forget they’re essentially ity of their rooms, which says a lot about their relationship.
watching people have conversations. One great example is the epic We wanted to give Tiny Furniture a clean, high-key look. We
Photos by Joe Anderson, courtesy of IFC Films.
shot of the Queensboro Bridge right before the sun rises. It’s a shot day interiors at 200 ASA and used fast Canon EF lenses, all
dialogue scene between two people sitting, but we only see their primes, which got us into a bit of trouble because we didn’t have a
backs in a single extreme-wide shot. It becomes more about the envi- chance to test them, and they ended up distorting the image around
ronment and the tone than the specific words and facial expressions the edges when we opened them up. Joe Anderson, my friend, first
that are often emphasized in this kind of scene. assistant and operator, did an amazing job pulling focus with a very
For Tiny Furniture, we decided we should also strive to keep difficult camera system.
things wide and do a lot of one-shot scenes. We chose to shoot on We used a lot of natural light or added to what was there
the Canon EOS 7D two weeks after it was released. When we with a couple of Kino Flos, paper lanterns or very small tungsten
watched our tests projected off HDCam-SR at Technicolor New York, lamps. We shot night interiors at 400 ASA. Most of the action takes
the camera’s CMOS rolling shutter was very apparent, so we were place in Aura’s all-white apartment, and it looks kind of like an art
hesitant to move the camera. We also couldn’t afford a Steadicam or gallery. We generally wanted soft light, so we bounced lamps or
dolly of any kind, so the shots were either handheld or locked off, pushed through 8-by rags and used a lot of practicals to light deep
TM
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In Memoriam
Michel Hugo, ASC, 1930-2010
Emmy-nominated cinematographer feature,” he told AC. “Good lighting, in my
Michel Hugo, ASC, an affiliate assistant opinion, is pure logic, pure common
professor in the film department at the sense.” He also shot more than 30 telefilms
University of Nevada-Las Vegas, died Oct. 12 over the course of his career, including The
after a brief battle with Forgotten Man , A
cancer. He was 80 Tattered Web , Thief,
years old. The Night Stalker and
Hugo was born Climb an Angry
on Jan. 13, 1930,in Mountain.
Paris, France. As a Hugo joined the
teenager, he aided the ASC in 1972, after
French Resistance being recommended
during World War II. by Society fellow Ted
After the war, he Voigtlander. Through
attended the Vaugirard that decade, Hugo
film school in Paris, continued to juggle
where he focused on theatrical features
cinematography, and MOWs, and he
following in his father’s also returned to
footsteps behind the episodic TV on the
camera. Hugo gradu- series The Streets of
ated in 1951 and quickly found steady work San Francisco and Tales of the Unexpected.
as a camera assistant on numerous French He was nominated for an Emmy Award for
productions. Before long, he climbed the his work on the 1978 miniseries The Awak-
ranks and began notching professional cred- ening Land. In the 1980s, Hugo enjoyed a
its as a director of photography. long run as cinematographer on the popu-
In 1956, Hugo moved to Los Angeles, lar series Dynasty, and he repeated the feat
Calif., and essentially began again at the in the following decade on Melrose Place.
bottom of the ladder. “I don’t regret it,” he Hugo was also a member of the
told AC in January 1990. “I just pushed Directors Guild of America, the Academy of
ahead. I never looked behind. Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and the
“I always had great admiration for Society of Motion Picture and Television
the technology of American movies,” he Engineers. He retired from filmmaking after
added. “I was overwhelmed by the abun- Melrose Place came to an end, but in 2000,
dance of equipment, the size of the stages. he began a new career as a teacher at
Taking a golf cart to move from stage to UNLV. He frequented his students’ sets and
stage in a big studio — this was paradise!” was often heard to say, “Always check the
In 1960, Hugo became a U.S. citizen camera lens to make sure no one has left a
and was admitted into the camera union, Dagwood sandwich in there,” his own,
then known as IATSE Local 659. By 1967, he unique way of encouraging students to
Photo courtesy of Francisco Menendez.
was once again ranked as a director of take care of the tools of their craft.
photography, and he was working on the hit Hugo is survived by his wife, Gloria;
television series Mission: Impossible. a daughter; two sons; and two grandchil-
Following Mission: Impossible, Hugo dren.
transitioned to features, where he worked — Jon D. Witmer
with such directors as Bob Rafelson ( Head), ●
Jacques Demy ( Model Shop), Stuart Rosen-
berg (April Fools) and Stanley Kramer (R.P.M.
and Bless the Beasts & Children ). “Lighting
for television is no different from lighting a
92
Luke Lynch (E ‘09) Editor Nick Simon (D ‘08) Director/Writer
Thomas Mahoney (P ‘08) Producer
Chady Eli Mattar (P ‘08) Producer
Georgia Archer (P ‘98) Producer/Director/
Writer Hayden Roush (P ‘08) Producer
Anthony Dominici (D ‘99) Executive Scott C. Silver (E ’08) Producer/
Producer Additional Editor
Matt Kregor (E ‘99) Co-Producer/Editor Robert Konowalow (P ’10) Line Producer
Jose Pulido (E ‘99) Editor Daniel Meersand (S ’08) Writer
Sam Harowitz (C ‘09) Production Manager Kevin Duggin (C ’08) Cinematographer
Katy Skjerping (E ‘ 08) Editor
Noah Rosenthal (C ’08) Second Unit
Darren Aronofsky (D ‘92) Director Director
Jon Avnet (D ’72) Executive Producer
Matthew Libatique (C ‘92) Director of
Photography Andrew J. Spieler (D ‘09) Director/Writer
Marina Stabile (P ‘09) Producer/Writer
Samuel Harowitz (C ‘09) Cinematographer
David Lynch (D ‘70) Producer/Director/ Vegard H. Sorby (E ‘09) Editor
Writer/Editor/Production Designer
Harrison Yurkiw (PD ‘09) Production
Frederick Elmes (D ’72) Cinematographer Designer
For more information about AFI Fest, AFI Conservatory and other
AFI programs, go to AFI.com.
Clubhouse News
honing his eye for light and composition “The Cinematography Program at AFI.”
before returning to the United States and ASC associate Kristin Petrovich
attending the Maine Photographic Work- Kennedy, president of Createasphere,
shop. Mooradian notched his first credit as a noted, “We have the privilege of working
Right: Eagle director of photography on the feature Pris- and mingling with some of the smartest,
Egilsson, ASC. oner of Rio, and has since photographed such most interesting people in any business,
Below: George
Mooradian, ASC.
features as Retroactive, Crazy as Hell and The anywhere. Our show grows because the
Circle. He has earned Emmy nominations four expos shine a spotlight on the broad spec-
years in a row for his work on the series trum of content creators and the companies
According to Jim. working with them as they push the enve-
lope of technology and creativity, every
Manaki Brothers single day.”
Honor Zsigmond Following the exhibition, Createas-
Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC received the phere also hosted a two-day Postproduction
Golden Camera 300 Lifetime Achievement Master Class. ASC associate Joshua Pines
Award at the 31st Manaki Brothers Interna- participated in the class’ keynote kickoff, and
tional Cinematographers’ Film Festival in David Stump, ASC added insight to the
Bitola, Republic of Macedonia. During the “Camera to Post” roundtable.
festival, Zsigmond led a cinematography
master class and also headed the festival’s Wexler Rides Wild River
awards jury, which presented the Golden Haskell Wexler, ASCrecently joined
Camera 300 award to Martin Gschlacht for Michael Pogorzelski, director of the Acad-
the film Women Without Men. Awards were emy Film Archive; Schawn Belston, senior
Society Welcomes also presented to Benoît Debie, AFC, forEnter vice president of library and technical services
Egilsson, Mooradian the Void (AC Oct. ’10); Giora Bejach, for for Fox Filmed Entertainment; and actor
Eagle Egilsson and George Moora- Lebanon (AC April ’10); Thierry Godefroy, for Bruce Dern for a panel discussion about Elia
dian have joined the Society as active Winter’s Beginning ; Christoph Beaucarne, Kazan’s Wild River (1960) at the Academy’s
members. AFC, for Mr. Nobody; Ádám Fillenz, for Pál Samuel Goldwyn Theater. Wexler served as
Eagle Egilsson, ASC was born in Adrienn; and Daniël Bouquet, for Nothing an additional photographer on the 20th
Reykjavik, Iceland. From his father, he Personal. Century Fox film, which was recently
Where did you train and/or study? What recent books, films or artworks have inspired you?
I went to the University of Southern California on the GI Bill intending a Winged Migration made me jealous — all the new technology I’ve
serious study of biology. I found myself next to a student named Conrad missed out on!
Hall in a make-up English class. The idea of a career in the movie busi-
ness wasn’t even a spark in my head, nor in Conrad’s. He hoped to walk Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to
in the footsteps of his father, a well-known writer. Just for kicks, Con try?
suggested that we audit a class in the new Department of Cinema Arts. The niche I have happily occupied has been predominantly films with
We sat in on one lecture by Slavko Vorkapich and were seriously hooked. humans interacting with animals. Well-trained animals are very good
at hitting their marks.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
Aside from Vorkapich, for mentors I’ve got to go way back in time to If you weren’t a cinematographer, what might you be doing
Floyd Crosby, ASC. He was the next most important person in the work instead?
that would become my lifetime world. And I was an assistant for Karl I would have been a stuffy biology teacher in some second-rate high
Freund, ASC, a great gentleman from whom I learned a lot. How school in an out-of-the-way place. Thank you, Slavko Vorkapich.
couldn’t I?
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for member-
What are some of your key artistic influences? ship?
I looked to the representational painters of the so-called California Conrad Hall and Haskell Wexler.
Photo by Mike Couffer.
School, watercolorists of the 1930s and early 1950s — Rex Brandt, Tom
Craig, Vernon Nye and Emil Kosa. I loved their use of color and compo- How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
sition. In those days, when mist-shrouded scenes, focused subjects seen I am proud to be a member of such a respected group, and at the
through fuzzy foregrounds, and sun flares all went automatically into same time sad not to have contributed more. My only excuse is that
the trash, I learned from New York cameraman Larry Madison about the I’ve been based outside the country, hiding under a mossy stone, for
inherent value of these often stunning ‘mistakes.’ most of my career. ●