Professional Documents
Culture Documents
JANUARY 2014
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On Our Cover: Folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) falls on hard times as he
struggles to crack the Greenwich Village music scene in Inside Llewyn Davis, shot by
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC. (Photo by Alison Rosa, courtesy of CBS Films.)
FEATURES
36
50
64
76
Folk Implosion
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC creates a 1960s vibe for
Inside Llewyn Davis
Daydream Believer
Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, NZCS blends drama and fantasy
on The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
A Curious Camera
Rob Hardy, BSC captures a 19th-century romance for
The Invisible Woman
64
76
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
16
22
86
88
92
93
94
95
96
50
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: Lu
Production Slate: The Book Thief American Hustle
Post Focus: HPA Awards
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Michael Bonvillain
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
In an exclusive online podcast, cinematographer Elliot Davis will discuss his creative approach to Man of Tai Chi, which
follows the spiritual journey of a young martial artist whose unparalleled skills lead him to compete in a brutal underground
fight club. The movie marks the directorial debut of actor Keanu Reeves, who also plays a key role.
THIS MONTHS ONLINE QUESTION: Whats your pick for the best-shot movie of 2013, and why?
Ignacio Aguilar: Prisoners. It seems that digital acquisition has allowed Roger Deakins [ASC,
BSC] to take more risks, [but] he still delivers a
natural and source-motivated look with tremendous contrast and very deep blacks. His
approach is low key, but adds a lot to the pictures narrative and atmosphere. Loved his
night-exterior scenes.
Victor Arias: Gravity, of course, though I really did enjoy Sofian El Fanis work in Blue Is the
Warmest Color. It was beautifully shot. The
Mac Eiteagain: Only God Forgives. Its dark as scenes between the two main characters were
hell, but the use of light, angles and shots adds shot mainly in close-ups, which helped give the
tension and suspense to give it a really gritty
film realism and a docu-type feeling.
look.
Ricardo Valdez Esquer: Stoker or Prisoners.
Juan Namnun: Rush the rain, the rain.
William Richard Borowski: Gravity, Only
Ysidro Sore: Metallica Through the Never
God Forgives and Spring Breakers are the three
because it brought the 3-D concert experience films of the year with the best cinematography,
to a whole new level both visually and storyin my opinion.
telling-wise. Also because the music rocks literally!
Matthew Smith: Larry Smiths work on Only
God Forgives shows a sophisticated eye for satScott Gleine: Maybe its not the flashiest pick, urated color that rivals the Italian greats of the
but Id like to acknowledge Adam Stones
70s, and also demonstrates that the man can
underrated work [in] Mud. There is a certain
produce a gorgeous image in all kinds of differtexture and nuance to the photography of that ent lighting situations.
film which really makes the viewer feel drawn
into the setting and tone of the story, making
Lizzie Ford-Madrid: 12 Years a Slave and
the overall experience more vivid and fulfilling. Spring Breakers.
J a n u a r y
2 0 1 4
V o l .
9 5 ,
N o .
Visit us online at
www.theasc.com
EDITORIAL
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Stephen Pizzello
SENIOR EDITOR Rachael K. Bosley
ASSOCIATE EDITOR Jon D. Witmer
TECHNICAL EDITOR Christopher Probst
PHOTO EDITOR Julie Sickel
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Benjamin B, Douglas Bankston, Robert S. Birchard,
John Calhoun, Michael Goldman, Simon Gray,
David Heuring, Jay Holben, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Iain Stasukevich,
Patricia Thomson
ART DEPARTMENT
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
323-936-3769 FAX 323-936-9188
e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net
ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Sanja Pearce
323-952-2114 FAX 323-876-4973
e-mail: sanja@ascmag.com
CLASSIFIEDS/ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Diella Peru
323-952-2124 FAX 323-876-4973
e-mail: diella@ascmag.com
Telecine &
Color Grading
Jod is a true artist with
a great passion for his craft.
John W. Simmons, ASC
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 94th 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.
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Sheridan Reprints at (800) 635-7181 ext. 8065 or by e-mail hrobinson@tsp.sheridan.com.
Copyright 2014 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.
OFFICERS - 2013/2014
Richard Crudo
President
Owen Roizman
Vice President
Lowell Peterson
Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
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Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Isidore Mankofsky
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
George Spiro Dibie
Richard Edlund
Fred Elmes
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael OShea
Lowell Peterson
Owen Roizman
Rodney Taylor
Haskell Wexler
ALTERNATES
Isidore Mankofsky
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Sol Negrin
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
10
Editors Note
Happy New Year, and the best of everything to you and yours during these next 12 months!
In the April 2006 issue of this magazine, I wrote a column addressing the problem of
excessive working hours and its terrible effect upon those of us who make our living on set.
Nothing has changed since then; if anything, the situation has gotten worse. Now, almost any
casual chat with a crewmember will come to mention the weariness and exhaustion inherent
in our way of life. Its sad that everyone seems to accept this as necessary, because its anything
but. Recent personal experience and discussions with colleagues across all the crafts suggest
that its once again time to put this troubling situation on everyones front burner.
A good place to start is with a statement made by a man who was one of the most
honored and respected individuals in the business, late ASC legend Conrad Hall. Speaking on
behalf of all cinematographers, I can assure you his words are as valid today as they were
when he issued them 11 years ago:
Our responsibility is to the visual image of the film, as well as the well-being of the
crew. The continuing and expanding practice of working extreme hours can compromise
both the quality of our work and the health and safety of others.
The reasons we work such punishing hours are varied and often illusory. Certainly, in
many instances, poor planning and incompetent scheduling can be blamed. Unchecked greed
on the part of studios and producers is also a default excuse. But whats happening to us is
much more insidious, and its similar in many ways to the story about the frog in the pot of water who becomes aware too late that
the temperature has been incrementally turned up to a boiling heat. Just compare the amount of work fit into the average day on
any production today to what it was a mere decade ago, and youll see what I mean.
We are doing more in less time than ever before. One popular weekly series with which Im familiar spends seven days shooting an episode that plays for 42 minutes on the air. To achieve that, the crew commonly spends up to 98 hours a week on the job
not including travel to and from the set. In terms of page count, theyre completing the equivalent of a full-length feature every
10 days. Ten years ago, that would have been unimaginable, but today, we accept it. Short of those involved in waging war, is there
another line of work that demands so much of people?
In a sense, we have only ourselves to blame. Weve become so good at our jobs that we make the delivery of a first-class
product look easy under any circumstances. Producers are keenly aware that people drawn to our profession are, by nature, Type
A problem solvers. They know we will rise to any challenge and go to almost any lengths to complete the task. They also know we
are freelancers and happy to be employed. This gives them a tremendous advantage, especially when they realize how easy it is to
use our passion against us.
No one who does our job was ever a 9-to-5 person. None of us is lazy, nor did we get into this thinking our jobs would have
any sense of normality as most people understand it. But at some point, our employers need to wise up and understand that whats
at stake is not only our safety and quality of life, but also the value of their product. Until someone high up in the food chain realizes how destructive unduly long working hours are, there is not much we can do. We should pray that it doesnt take someone
getting seriously hurt or killed, like Brent Hershman in 1997 to turn things around.
So, the beat goes on, at least for the time being: more work piled into less time than ever before, crewmembers walking
around like zombies, exhaustion as a way of life. Perhaps this will change only after we force the people who impose these conditions on us to stand by our side for every minute of our working shift.
Then again, they probably wouldnt last through lunch.
(For more on this issue, check out Who Needs Sleep?, an amazing documentary made by Haskell Wexler, ASC.)
Richard P. Crudo
ASC President
12
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Presidents Desk
Short Takes
Casualty of War
By Peter Tonguette
January 2014
based project for a faith-based festival, Ill try to have faith in your
choice of locations and just jump into it!
Lu is set primarily in a grimy motel room where ex-Marine
Luis Lu Larham (Nate Parker) grapples with memories of a horrific
incident he experienced during the war. When the filmmakers
arrived at the designated motel, they found themselves at odds with
the owner, who had developed cold feet about turning one of his
rooms over to the crew.
Fortunately, contingency arrangements had been made at a
second motel, so the team moved on. The second one turned out
to be much better, so that was lucky, says Madsen. Vandiver, whom
Madsen describes as a man of faith, did not call it luck. He was
always saying, Look, theres someone involved here who is helping
us, Madsen recalls. [My response] was, Yeah, okay, lets just
make the best of it.
Madsen brought his own Red Epic onto the project, which he
captured at 5K full frame. He says he appreciates the Epics ease of
use: I like a very stripped-down, simple, lightweight camera thats
also balanced, something that can sit on your shoulder easily for the
whole day. Ergonomics proved especially important on Lu, which
he shot entirely handheld. I love operating the camera myself,
especially on handheld shots, which become like an intimate dance
with the actors. You almost feel like a member of the cast.
The cinematographer used a set of Lomo Illumina S35 T1.3
prime lenses. Theyve been out in the field for four or five years, but
theyve been under almost everyones radar, Madsen observes.
They have their imperfections, but thats actually why I love them.
With modern digital cameras, the image can be almost clinical. I try
American Cinematographer
Unit photography by Louis Kreusel. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of the filmmakers.
Luis (Nate
Parker), an Iraq
War veteran,
holes up in a
motel room to
grapple with
post-traumaticstress disorder in
Lu, a 10-minute
short written,
shot and edited
in 168 hours.
T1.4
T2.8
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T2.0
CookeOpticsLimited
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Top: A flashback reveals the source of the vets torment. Bottom: Lu rides out a long night at the motel.
January 2014
January 2014
approach to filmmaking.
GO WHEREVER THE
STORY TAKES YOU.
2013 Canon U.S.A., Inc. All rights reserved. Canon and EOS are registered trademarks of Canon Inc. in the United States and may also be registered trademarks or trademarks in other countries.
Production Slate
January 2014
American Cinematographer
The Book Thief photos by Jules Heath, courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
Liesl (Sophie
Nlisse) tries
out her new
reading skills
alongside
Max (Ben
Schnetzer), a
Jewish
refugee, in
The Book
Thief.
Top: Hans
Hubermann
(Geoffrey Rush)
leads his wife,
Rosa (Emily
Watson), and
Liesl through
the train
station. Middle:
Hans entertains
Liesl and Rosa
in the kitchen.
Bottom: The
familys
basement is
another key
setting.
24
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Top: A Nazi is
silhouetted by
the flames of
burning books at
a rally in Liesls
village. Middle: A
Technocrane is
used to capture a
shot of the
event. Bottom:
Cinematographer
Florian Ballhaus,
ASC on the set.
January 2014
American Cinematographer
www.arri.com/qr/asc/ana
Gaffer Janosch
Voss provides
fill with a
China ball
during a walkand-talk.
January 2014
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa, Alexa XT
Leica Summilux-C and Angenieux Optimo
From left: Sidney (Amy Adams), FBI Agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), New Jersey politician
Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and Irving and Rosalyn Rosenfeld (Christian Bale and Jennifer
Lawrence) are the players in an FBI sting in American Hustle, shot by Linus Sandgren, FSF.
January 2014
American Hustle photos by Franois Duhamel, SMPSP, courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Top: DiMaso
and Rosenfeld
discuss artistry
and more at a
local museum.
Bottom: With
gaffer Patrick
Murray
wielding an
LED China ball
to provide fill,
the filmmakers
capture the
scene.
January 2014
was the favorite, given the mostly tight locations and Russells compositional style. I
love a face way up in the foreground and
then people two or three layers deep, the
director says. Sandgren adds, A wider lens
is better if you want to see whats going on
in the background, and there were always a
lot of people in our shots. However, we
didnt want it to look distorted, and it felt
like the 24mm was perfect on 2-perf.
Sometimes we changed it for a tighter lens,
but generally we just moved in [with the
24mm] because wed basically shoot whole
scenes in one take all the angles.
American Hustle was shot on Fujifilm
Eterna Vivid 500 8547 and Vivid 250D
8546, both of which were discontinued in
March 2013, just as the production got out
the door. Sandgren notes that on Vivid
stocks, light from Cool White fluorescent
tubes reads as rich green-and-blue hues.
We used it as a positive color, he says. In
real life, the fluorescent tubes in most places
say, in the subways of New York are
dirty looking. But with Vivid we got a swimming-pool color, which we used to a great
extent in the backgrounds.
Russells shooting style necessitated
lighting for 360 degrees, so in prep, Sandgren worked with Becker and set decorator
Heather Loeffler to incorporate golden and
warm white practicals into the sets to serve
as keylights. He credits Murray and key grip
Anthony Cady with extensive pre-lighting
and pre-rigging; their crews gelled windows
with NDs to balance interiors with exteriors,
and supplemented natural daylight from
outside with a mix of ArriMax 18s, ArriMax
M40s and ArriSun 60s through diffusion
frames and silks. We also often
augmented with daylight 2-by-4-bank Kino
Flos over windows, which complemented
the golden practicals or Cool White tubes
nicely, adds Sandgren.
At night, we usually used Condors
with 12-light Maxis gelled with urban vapor,
backlit to camera. I was always trying to mix
colors to help give the rooms depth for
example, tungsten with 103 as one color
and mercury-vapor as another. To simulate
mercury vapor, we used Cool White fluorescents or tungsten with CTB and Plus
Green, or HMIs with CTO and Plus
Green.
My strategy was to light the set so
Top: Rosenfeld
and Sidney, his
mistress, get
close amid some
dry cleaning in
this frame grab.
Bottom (from
left): Script
supervisor Tracy
Scott, Sandgren
and director
David O. Russell
watch Bale and
Lawrence play a
scene.
TECHNICAL SPECS
that when you stood in the middle of it, the
background was properly illuminated, he
continues. But in some cases, if that had
been the extent of the illumination, the
actors would have looked too dark, and we
wanted them to shine. The solution was a
China ball full of LED LiteRibbon that was
34
January 2014
American Cinematographer
2.40:1
2-perf Super 35mm
Arricam Lite, Studio
Canon K35 and Zeiss Standard Speed
Fujifilm Eterna Vivid 500 8547, 250D 8546
Digital Intermediate
ERRATUM
On page 34 of our Oct. 13 issue,
we incorrectly identified the crewmember pictured with Don Jon director
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the films cinematographer, Thomas Kloss. Kloss is not
in the photo.
Here is a photo of Kloss at work
on the production.
Folk
Implosion
Bruno Delbonnel, ASC, AFC
and colorist Peter Doyle create a
unique visual tone for the Coens
Inside Llewyn Davis.
By Benjamin B
|
January 2014
friends apartment. Davis also goes on a car trip to see an influential manager in Chicago in an attempt to jump-start his
career.
Despite flashes of humor, a sense of sadness and
pessimism pervade the story, and this is underscored by the
bleak, muted cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel, ASC,
AFC. In fact, Delbonnel describes the film as a kind of
requiem for Davis late singing partner, Mike, who has
committed suicide before the story begins. When I read the
script, I thought it was like a folk song, and it seems to me that
American folk songs have something very sad and unhappy in
their stories, he observes. That was the idea behind the look
of the movie: How to convey this sadness?
The cinematographer recalls that the visual brief from
the Coen brothers was deceptively simple. They said they
wanted a slushy New York. When I suggested the album cover
for The Freewheelin Bob Dylan, they said they had that image
in mind as well. In that picture, Dylan walks with a woman
on a New York street under a wintry sky. He is wearing a
jacket that doesnt seem quite warm enough, and they are
treading on dirty, melted snow. We had to feel the winter and
American Cinematographer
Unit photography by Alison Rosa. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of CBS Films.
Opposite: Llewyn
Davis (Oscar
Isaac) takes the
stage at the
Gaslight. This
page, top: In a
frame grab
from the film,
Davis arrives
in Chicago.
Bottom:
Cinematographer
Bruno Delbonnel,
ASC, AFC films
the opening
shot.
Dec. 12), and the French cinematographer was able to work with two of
Deakins regular collaborators, gaffer
William OLeary and key grip Mitch
Lillian. Lillian recalls that Delbonnel
quickly became part of the family.
www.theasc.com
37
Folk Implosion
Davis is saddled
with a friends cat
after he
accidentally lets it
out of the
apartment.
January 2014
39
Folk Implosion
Top: Davis, Jim (Justin Timberlake) and Jean watch a performance in the Gaslight Caf.
Middle: Davis meets Jim and Al Cody (Adam Driver) for a recording session.
Bottom: Delbonnel and co-director Joel Coen prep a dinner scene.
40
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Top: Davis travels to Chicago with eccentric musician Roland Turner (John Goodman). Bottom:
Davis and Turners driver, Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund), wait for Turner at a gas station.
www.theasc.com
January 2014
41
Folk Implosion
Right and
bottom left:
Davis plays for
Bud Grossman
(F. Murray
Abraham) at the
Gate of Horn in
Chicago in these
frame grabs.
Bottom right:
Isaac confers
with Joel Coen.
January 2014
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Hustler IV
Folk Implosion
Top: Davis
thumbs for a
ride along the
highway.
Bottom: The
exhausted
singer rests
on the bus.
January 2014
Folk Implosion
January 2014
Most scenes
have a very low
contrast ratio,
maybe 5 stops
from the whites
to the blacks.
Folk Implosion
48
above with a grid of about 2,000 15watt bulbs on the ceiling. That gave
me a fill-light base, so I didnt have to
spend my time adding fill. I needed to
modulate this fill, so we turned these
strings of bulbs on and off by sections.
The fill light was my exposure reference, at 2 stops under.
When Davis is onstage,
Delbonnel added two hard sources, a
1K Par 64 pointing straight down, and
an 800-watt follow spot from the side,
with beams that fell near the actor without lighting him directly. The cinematographer filled the space with
smoke to make the dark areas more
readable.
In another Gaslight scene, Davis
and Jean are seated in the audience and
joined by Jim ( Justin Timberlake).
Delbonnel lit the table with a 1K
Dedoflex Octodome on the right of
frame. Its very soft and diffused, he
notes. The backlight in the background
was provided by a 2K open-faced
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite
Cooke S4
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219
Digital Intermediate
Daydream
Believer
50
January 2014
American Cinematographer
By Iain Stasukevich
|
Unit photography by Wilson Webb. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
Opposite: Mild-mannered Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is drawn into an amazing adventure in The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty. This page, top: Mitty works in the Life photo archive with Hernando (Adrian
Martinez). Bottom: Stiller dons his directors cap to work out a shot with Stuart Dryburgh, ASC, NZCS.
51
Daydream Believer
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Top: Mittys
nemesis, Ted (Adam
Scott, foreground
left), prepares to
interrupt Mittys
reverie. Middle: A
200' crane is
deployed to
capture an unusual
shot for an action
scene. Bottom: The
team films Stiller
for another part of
the sequence.
January 2014
53
Daydream Believer
The filmmakers
utilize the Mitty
Mobile, a tracking
vehicle designed by
2nd-unit director Phil
Neilson, to film part
of Ted and Walters
battle over a Stretch
Armstrong doll.
January 2014
Mitty lands at a
bar in
Greenland,
where he finds a
pilot willing to
assist him in his
search for a
missing Life
photographer.
55
Daydream Believer
Mitty leaps
from a
helicopter into a
stormy, sharkinfested sea in
this frame grab.
January 2014
Iceland is a small
country but has an
amazing range of
landscapes.
57
Daydream Believer
the story featured the earthier shades of
its higher plains. Our approach wasnt
about applying a look apart from some
subtle grading choices, says Dryburgh.
We celebrated and accentuated the
colors of the landscapes and the sky as
they were.
Icelands northerly latitude
initially offered the production long
days of low sunlight. Whats hard is
that the sun is always coming and going
because of all the clouds, says Flam,
and when the light does change, it
changes rapidly. In early August 2012,
the sun rose at 4:30 a.m. and set at
10:30 p.m., but by the end of
September, daylight had already shortened to 11 hours. We had to be light
and fast in Iceland the word nimble
came up a lot! Dryburgh recalls.
Flam used a small HMI and
tungsten lighting package augmented
with a number of MacTech LED units.
The MacTechs dont use a lot of
power, but they pack a lot of punch, he
says. For 10 or 20 amps, you seem to
get five times what youd get with a
Top: Mitty is
guided through
the hills in
Iceland. Bottom:
The filmmakers
prep a crane
move for a
key scene.
58
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Iceland has a
lot of miniature
landscapes that
photograph
very large.
Daydream Believer
January 2014
Daydream Believer
Stiller confers with Dryburgh (second from left) and other collaborators.
and four MacTech 960s. Wed sometimes use two or three side-by-side to
create a large wide source with Full or
Light Grid diffusion, says Flam. We
62
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
35mm
Arricam Studio, Lite;
Arri 435, 235
Cooke S4, Vantage Hawk V-Lite,
Angenieux Optimo
Kodak Vision3 500T 5219,
250D 5207, 50D 5203
Digital Intermediate
63
A
Curious
Camera
64
January 2014
American Cinematographer
Unit photography by David Appleby, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics. Additional photos and illustrations courtesy of the filmmakers.
Opposite: Charles
Dickens (Ralph
Fiennes) and
Nelly Ternan
(Felicity Jones)
share an intimate
moment. This
page, top: Many
years later, Nelly
considers
unburdening
herself to a
kindly preacher
(John Kavanagh).
Bottom: Fiennes
eyes a setup with
director of
photography
Rob Hardy, BSC.
65
A Curious Camera
January 2014
www.theasc.com
January 2014
67
A Curious Camera
Top: Nelly exchanges confidences with Dickens for the first time. Middle: Dickens wife (Joanna
Scanlan, right) confronts him with gossip about his affair. Bottom: Nelly celebrates her birthday
with loved ones.
68
January 2014
American Cinematographer
69
A Curious Camera
Fiennes and
Hardy prep an
interior setup.
Ill always have
a dolly, a slider
and a handheld
kit those are
my get out of
jail free card,
says Hardy.
January 2014
A Curious Camera
This page: A few of the location stills Hardy took with his Fujifilm X100 while scouting with Fiennes and
production designer Maria Djurkovic (who serve as the stand-ins). Theyre really just immediate
reactions to the locations on my part, a way of finding a physical proximity within the spaces, a sort of
study of how we could potentially block scenes, says Hardy. Opposite page: Some of Fiennes drawings,
which he combined with Hardys stills and assorted period references on the mood board referenced
by the team throughout the shoot.
72
January 2014
American Cinematographer
January 2014
73
A Curious Camera
time. It starts with the camera very still
on the two figures in the room, and
then, when she goes to him, we go
handheld and the camera invades them,
exploring them physically, as it were. Its
like its trying to understand, trying to
get under the skin and between the
fingers and lips of these two people.
That was the most challenging
scene for me in terms of lighting, and
visually, its also the scene I am proudest
of, says Hardy. At first, as they stand
on opposite sides of the room, looking
at each other, Nellys back is to the
camera and she is softly edged with
light, her face hidden, while Dickens
inhabits only the periphery of the light
softly bathing the room. Then she goes
to him, into the shadows, their frisson
happening in complete silhouette, only
their eyes betraying sentiment as they
peer from the edge of the darkness. I
wanted it to feel captured, real and,
most importantly, illicit, as it would
have felt between them.
74
liked the darkness of the scene and positively encouraged it. The wide shot of
them on opposite sides of the frame
reminds me of a cross between
Viscontis The Leopard and an unrestored Rembrandt thats been festering
in someones attic for a hundred or so
years: beautiful!
Fiennes also wanted to create a
sense of direct intimacy between
Dickens and Nelly in scenes showing
them together in France, perhaps the
happiest interlude in their relationship.
For most of this material, Hardy operated an Arri 3-C, and for a sequence in
which the pair walks through a field, he
encouraged the actors to take turns
operating the camera themselves. It
gives the brief but slightly bizarre effect
of a home-movie perspective approximately 100 or so years before home
movies were part of life, the cinematographer observes. I love the 3-C
because it forces you to operate the
camera in a very different way it
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
35mm Anamorphic
Panaflex Millennium XL2; Arri 3-C
Panavision G Series
Kodak Vision3 200T 5213,
500T 5219; Fujifilm Super F-64D 8522
Digital Intermediate
75
And
SheWas
Her, shot by
Hoyte van Hoytema, FSF, NSC
and directed by Spike Jonze, finds
poetry in a virtual romance.
By Michael Goldman
|
January 2014
He is a great listener. Yes, he had his own ideas, but first and
foremost, he asked me a lot of questions. He always wanted
to know what I was thinking, and why. If I had an idea about
how to shoot something, he wanted to understand it, and
then take that idea and make it better. If he didnt understand it, he kept pushing and bending the logic until he
could. I think hes an incredible artist.
Her takes place in a warm, inviting Los Angeles that
poses a contrast to the lonely life of its main character,
Theodore ( Joaquin Phoenix). Recovering from a divorce
and wanting to find love again, Theodore discovers a new
technology that appears to solve his problem: a sophisticated
operating system named Samantha. As Samantha evolves, it
becomes so interactive that the two fall in love.
Van Hoytema and Jonze recently discussed the project
with AC in separate interviews. What follows are excerpts
from those conversations.
American Cinematographer: Please describe how you
saw the world of Her.
Spike Jonze: It had to be a utopia warm and
comfortable and yet it also had to suggest how someone
like Theodore could feel lonely there. His world feels very
warm, but he is disconnected and lonely, and in a way, that
makes him feel worse because its a world you should not
feel lonely in.
Hoyte van Hoytema, FSF, NSC: Spikes script was a
very verbal one, but it had little pointers in it. We agreed
American Cinematographer
Unit photography by Sam Zhu and Merrick Morton, SMPSP. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Warner Bros.
Opposite: The
recently divorced
Theodore (Joaquin
Phoenix) struggles
with loneliness in his
futuristic
surroundings.
Cinematographer
Hoyt van Hoytema,
FSF, NSC made the
most of Los Angeles
ambient night
lighting in the
practical location. This
page, top: Theodore
downloads his new
operating system,
Samantha. Middle:
Theodore enjoys a
walk-and-talk with
Samantha, to whom
he connects via
earpiece. Bottom:
Roiling with
emotions, Theodore
checks his smart
phone for messages
from his OS lover.
January 2014
77
Shortly after downloading Samantha, Theodore tests the systems programming (top), but it
isnt long before he finds himself smitten with its intelligence and intuition (bottom).
January 2014
Top: Theodore
spends his days
composing love
letters for
strangers.
Middle and
bottom: Van
Hoytema at
work in the
office location.
January 2014
79
Top: Theodore
heads home after
another days
work. Bottom: As
director Spike
Jonze (far right)
looks on, Van
Hoytema frames
up a shot of
Phoenix and Amy
Adams on a
rooftop in China,
which provided
some of the
films futuristiclooking locations.
January 2014
The advances at play in media and entertainment have created unprecedented opportunity for you
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Eager to give
Samantha new
experiences,
Theodore takes
her to the beach
for a day.
January 2014
Top: Van Hoytema goes handheld while shooting Phoenix and Olivia Wilde for a sequence
depicting one of Theodores unsuccessful blind dates.
84
TECHNICAL SPECS
1.85:1
Digital Capture
Arri Alexa Studio, Alexa XT
Cooke Panchro,
Zeiss Superspeed MKII,
Canon K35
Jonze and Van Hoytema study the monitor in one of the productions vibrant locations.
Think LEE
ZZZOHHOWHUVFRP
85
Post Focus
Hollywood Post Alliance President Leon Silverman addresses a packed house at the Skirball Cultural Center during the HPA Awards ceremony.
January 2014
American Cinematographer
January 2014
87
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Please e-mail New Products/Services releases to
newproducts@ascmag.com and include full contact
information and product images. Photos must be
TIFF or JPEG files of at least 300dpi.
includes the Fisheye, which offers 180 degrees of view with a larger
image circle and sharper images; the Super Wide, which doubles
the field of view of the iPhones built-in lens; the Wide Angle, which
features edge-to-edge sharpness; the Macro, for detailed close-ups;
and the 2X Tele, specially designed for the higher-resolution iPhone
5 camera.
Users who own the original iPro lens series for the iPhone 4
and 4S will be able to use their existing lenses on the iPhone 5 by
upgrading to the new iPro 5 Series 1 case. The slide-on, two-section
case features a bayonet mount to accept both the original iPro
optics and the Series 2 lenses.
For more information, visit www.schneiderkreuznach.com
and www.iprolens.com.
January 2014
Fujifilm Extends
Zoom Range
Fujifilm
North
America Corp., Optical
Devices Division has extended
the range of the Premier PL 14-35mm
Cabrio ZK2.5x14 wide-angle lens from its
initial debut.
The new 14-35mm Cabrio was designed with
the latest customer feedback, especially regarding focal
length, says Thom Calabro, director of marketing and product
development for the Optical Devices Division of Fujifilm North America Corp. As with all of our Cabrio lenses, the 14-35mm lens is
lightweight and comfortable to use with todays smaller 4K
cameras, but weve expanded the focal-length range from its initial
NAB showing to 14-35mm at T2.9, with 200-degree focus rotation.
For shooters looking for a lightweight zoom that can be used as a
handheld, capturing wide angles in tight spaces, its ideal.
The PL 14-35mm Cabrio lens has a detachable digital servo
drive and can be used as a self-contained ENG-style lens or cine-style
lens. When used without the drive, industry-standard cine motors
can be fitted.
The digital servos 16-bit encoding assures operators that all
lens data output including the position of the zoom, iris and
focus is accurate. The PL 14-35mm lens supports Lens Data
System and /i metadata formats, and can be controlled using standard wireless controllers, as well as existing Fujinon wired and wireless units.
The Cabrio series also includes the recently introduced
Premier PL 19-90mm and the PL 85-300mm lenses.
For more information, visit www.fujifilmusa.com.
American Cinematographer
90
camera tracking
systems. The versatile systems are
ideal for capturing
unique perspectives from angles unreachable by conventional handheld, tripod or full-sized
remote-controlled
camera-support
systems. Blackcams can be installed in,
around or above a stage or set (overslung
or underslung) for dynamic moving shots.
BlackcamSystems are controlled via
cable or a wireless remote. They are available in three sizes to accommodate a variety of cameras. The full-sized Blackcam
model B40 accepts a range of cameras,
including Arri Alexa M, Red Epic and Scarlet, and Sony F5/F55/P1. The B40 is also
compatible with a 3-D mirror rig. The midsized B20 is compatible with Bradleys
Camball HDC 15, and DSLR cameras such
as the Canon 5D. The super-compact B10
fits in a suitcase-style carrier for on-board air
transport and is ideal for tiny HD cameras
like GoPro, Modula Baby MKII, SinaCam
and Indiecam.
91
Cameras
Film
Processing
Scanning
(SD/HD/2K)
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92
January 2014
www.danadolly.com
International Marketplace
((623)
623) 5561-6490
61-66490
American Cinematographer
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 advertisers 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
CLASSIFIEDS ON-LINE
Ads may now also be placed in the on-line Classifieds at the ASC web site.
Internet ads are seen around the world at the
same great rate as in print, or for slightly more you
can appear both online and in print.
For
more
information
please
visit
www.theasc.com/advertiser, or e-mail: classifieds@theasc.com.
Classifieds
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE
4X5 85 Glass Filters, Diffusion, Polas etc. A
Good Box Rental 818-763-8547
14,000+ USED EQUIPMENT ITEMS. PRO VIDEO
& FILM EQUIPMENT COMPANY. 50 YEARS
EXPERIENCE. New: iLLUMiFLEX LIGHTS &
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CALL BILL 972 869 9990, 888 869 9998.
SERVICES AVAILABLE
STEADICAM ARM QUALITY SERVICE OVERHAUL AND UPDATES. QUICK TURNAROUND.
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MISCELLANEOUS
HIRING manager for Red, Epic, Scarlet rental house,
Burbank area
Call: 626-674-7999 e-mail: 37887392@qq.com
www.theasc.com
January 2014
93
Advertisers Index
AC Chemical Wedding 83
Adorama 29, 45
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 31
Alan Gordon 93
Arri 27
AZGrip 92
Backstage Equipment, Inc. 8
Birns & Sawyer 92
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 25
Canon USA Video 21
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 19
Cavision Enterprises 92
CBS Films 5
Chapman/Leonard Studio
Equipment Inc. 43
Cinebags Inc. 93
Cine Gear Expo 71
Cinematography
Electronics 89
Cinekinetic 92
Convergent 35
Cooke Optics 17
Creative Handbook 84
CTT 74
Eastman Kodak C4
Jod Soraci 6
Technocrane 61
Kino Flo 63
Koerner Camera Systems 8
Willys Widgets 92
www.theasc.com 90, 94
Glidecam Industries 33
Grip Factory Munich/GFM 8
Lee Filters 85
Lights! Action! Co. 93
Maccam 62
Matthews Studio
Equipment/MSE 92
M.M. Mukhi & Sons 93
Movie Tech AG 92, 93
NAB 81
NBC Universal 59
Nevada Film Commission 48
Next Shot 47
No Subtitles Necessary 90
Panavision, Inc. C3
Panther Gmbh 49
Paramount Pictures 9, 13
Pille Filmgeraeteverleih
Gmbh 92
Pro8mm 92
94
Clubhouse News
Szalay Joins Society
New member Attila Szalay, ASC,
CSC, HSC was born in Budapest, Hungary.
His family moved to England for a year
before settling in Alberta, Canada, where
Szalay became interested in filmmaking. He
studied film production and cinematography
at Sheridan College in Toronto.
After graduating in 1982, Szalay
began working as a camera assistant on
National Film Board documentaries, TV
dramas and music videos. Between 1990
and 1996, he worked with his mentor, Laszlo
George, CSC, HSC, on more than 30 projects
as an A-camera operator. Szalay became a
director of photography in the mid-1990s.
His film and television credits include
The Outer Limits, The X-Files, Smallville, The L
Word, Peacemakers, Touching Evil, The
Mountain, Masters of Horror, Iron Road, Fear
Itself, The Pillars of the Earth, Defiance and
Cult. He has received multiple nods for Best
Cinematography from the CSC as well as a
2011 Emmy nomination for his work on The
Pillars of the Earth. He is currently filming the
series The Bridge in Los Angeles.
Kodak Places Navarro in
Residence at UCLA
Guillermo Navarro, ASC has been
named the 2013 Kodak cinematographer-inresidence at the University of California, Los
Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television.
The program, sponsored by Eastman
Kodak Company, began in 2000 to enhance
the learning experience of students with
insight from renowned cinematographers.
Navarro will work with students over the
course of 10 weeks.
Previously honored cinematographers
include: Richard Crudo, ASC; Roger Deakins,
ASC, BSC; Dante Spinotti, ASC, AIC; John
Bailey, ASC; Stephen H. Burum, ASC; Vilmos
Zsigmond, ASC; Victor J. Kemper, ASC; Joan
Churchill, ASC; Laszlo Kovacs, ASC; Owen
Roizman, ASC; Conrad L. Hall, ASC; Dean
Cundey, ASC and Allen Daviau, ASC.
January 2014
95
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
The Wizard of Oz (1939).
Which cinematographers, past or present, do you most
admire?
Bob Richardson [ASC], for his great taste, his eclectic body of work,
and the way he makes outrageously hot toplight look natural.
Gordon Willis [ASC], for his impeccable control and his work with Francis
Coppola and Woody Allen, among
many others. Vittorio Storaro [ASC,
AIC], because if hed shot nothing
besides Apocalypse Now, hed still be
a hero. Its such a beautiful hallucination. Also, Roger Deakins [ASC, BSC],
John
Alton
[ASC],
Gregg
Toland [ASC], Emmanuel Lubezki
[ASC, AMC] too many to list, actually. One of the things they all have in
common is that theyve worked with
great directors and made classic
movies.
January 2014
American Cinematographer
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