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The International Journal of Motion Imaging
On Our Cover: A witch (Mila Kunis) and a circus magician ( James Franco) are drawn
together in Oz the Great and Powerful, shot by Peter Deming, ASC. (Photo by Merie
Weismiller Wallace, SMPSP, courtesy of Disney Enterprises, Inc.)
FEATURES
36
52
64
80
Hello, Yellow Brick Road

Peter Deming, ASC revisits a magical realm with
Oz the Great and Powerful
52
Hell on Wheels
Sean Bobbitt, BSC finds larceny in The Place Beyond the Pines
All In
John Hora, ASC and Douglas Knapp, SOC revive Cinerama
for In the Picture
6 Sundance Standouts
64
Stylish selections from Park City, Utah
DEPARTMENTS
10
12
14
20
104
114
115
116
118
120
Editors Note
Presidents Desk
Short Takes: 7x6x2
Production Slate: War Witch The Darkest Day
New Products & Services
International Marketplace
Classified Ads
Ad Index
Clubhouse News
ASC Close-Up: Christopher Baffa
VISIT WWW.THEASC.COM
80
THIS MONTHS ONLINE QUESTION:

Which past AC articles have you found the most
memorable or instructive?
Hidehito Takeuchi: The article about Robert Burks,
ASC and Rear Window [Feb. 54].
Steven Bradford: Peter Gibbons article on the Isolux
theory of lighting in the Oct. 77 issue.
SEE AND HEAR

MORE CINEMATOGRAPHY COVERAGE ON
WWW.THEASC.COM
Bryan Land: I was always partial to the Reflections

series in the late 1980s, in which a cinematographer
would take a class through a scene that theyve actually
shot. It was a very interesting breakdown of process that,
as a young fan, I couldnt find anywhere else.
Fabio Pirovano: What a poll! Definitely the most
instructive was Responsibilities of the Cinematographer
[Jan. 03]. Most memorable were the coverage of Heat
[Jan. 96] and Ali [Nov. 01].
Photo by
Darren Decker,
courtesy of AMPAS.
Blake Larson: I really enjoy the ASC Close-Ups with

Society members, detailing their inspirations, experiences
and how they got started in the business.
Ray McDonough: Any article involving Darius Khondji,
ASC, AFC.
Sridhar Reddy: The article about Anthony Dod Mantle
[ASC, BSC, DFF]s work on Slumdog Millionaire [Dec. 08]
was invaluable. Going into a digital production myself for
the first time, I was reassured by the complete workflow
breakdown for the SI-2K in the article, as well as the creative decisions to accommodate tight quarters and location shooting. For most upstart indie filmmakers, its probably the most applicable article, along with the piece on
Bellflower [July 11].
Will Getchell: The Oct. 10 cover story about Jeff Cronenweth, ASC and The Social Network is my all-time
favorite. Reading the well-written article about the production was so interesting [and] watching The Social Network made me say: I want to be a cinematographer.
Uri Carrasco and Andy Schwartz: Emmanuel
Lubezki, ASC, AMC on The Tree of Life [Aug. 11].
Tammay Toraskar: The May 12 historical on Boogie
Nights and Magnolia is insightful enough to get inside the
minds of P.T. Anderson and Robert Elswit, ASC; the same
goes for the piece about Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC and Brian
De Palma and Blow Out in the Nov. 11 issue. I always love
reading about the director-cinematographer process.
ACs online questions and reader responses
can be found on our Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/AmericanCinematographer
Revisit our online podcast with ASC member Claudio Miranda about
his Academy Award-winning cinematography for Ang Lees Life of Pi.
This movie was quite a beast to make, he said during his onstage
acceptance speech. I was really into Ang and the beautiful world that
we created.
Former AC editor and industry writer David Heuring will present his
new blog, Parallax View, a compendium of news and anecdotes from
ASC members that extends the focus beyond their professional projects
to their personal passions and labors of love. The inaugural post will
include a reminiscence of Arthur Miller, ASC by the Societys senior
member, Ralph Woolsey, who recently celebrated his 99th birthday.
Other entries will give readers a glimpse into Michael Watkins, ASCs
journeys to Afghanistan war zones; Paul Goldsmith, ASCs work on a
documentary about the early 1970s filmmaking collective that launched
his career; Paul Ryan, ASCs globetrotting work with Jesse Dylan on
behalf of various charities; and Jacek Laskus, ASCs adventures with a
still camera in Nepal, India, Rwanda and Uganda.
In 25 years of talking with ASC members, Ive found that they
all lead fascinating lives, says Heuring. Their curiosity and wide-ranging interests result in great personal stories. Thats the idea behind Parallax View.
A p r i l
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Visit us online at
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PUBLISHER Martha Winterhalter
EDITORIAL
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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, Mark Hope-Jones, Noah Kadner,
Jean Oppenheimer, Jon Silberg, Iain Stasukevich,
Patricia Thomson
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CREATIVE DIRECTOR Marion Kramer
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ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR Angie Gollmann
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e-mail: gollmann@pacbell.net
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CIRCULATION, BOOKS & PRODUCTS

CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Saul Molina
CIRCULATION MANAGER Alex Lopez
SHIPPING MANAGER Miguel Madrigal
ASC GENERAL MANAGER Brett Grauman

ASC EVENTS COORDINATOR Patricia Armacost
ASC PRESIDENTS ASSISTANT Delphine Figueras
ASC ACCOUNTING MANAGER Mila Basely
ASC ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE Nelson Sandoval
American Cinematographer (ISSN 0002-7928), established 1920 and in its 93rd 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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POSTMASTER: Send address change to American Cinematographer, P.O. Box 2230, Hollywood, CA 90078.
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American Society of Cinematographers

The ASC is not a labor union or a guild, but
an educational, cultural and professional
organization. Membership is by invitation
to those who are actively engaged as
directors of photography and have
demonstrated outstanding ability. ASC
membership has become one of the highest
honors that can be bestowed upon a
professional cinematographer a mark
of prestige and excellence.
OFFICERS - 2012/2013
Stephen Lighthill
President
Daryn Okada
Vice President
Richard Crudo
Vice President
Kees Van Oostrum

Vice President
Victor J. Kemper
Treasurer
Frederic Goodich
Secretary
Steven Fierberg
Sergeant At Arms
MEMBERS OF THE
BOARD
John Bailey
Stephen H. Burum
Curtis Clark
Richard Crudo
Dean Cundey
Fred Elmes
Michael Goi
Victor J. Kemper
Francis Kenny
Matthew Leonetti
Stephen Lighthill
Michael O'Shea
Robert Primes
Owen Roizman
Kees Van Oostrum
ALTERNATES
Ron Garcia
Julio Macat
Kenneth Zunder
Steven Fierberg
Karl Walter Lindenlaub
MUSEUM CURATOR
Steve Gainer
Editors Note
Stephen Pizzello
Executive Editor
10
Photo by Owen Roizman, ASC.
Movie magic is being conjured on several fronts this month.

After freaking out audiences with the frenetic horror film Drag
Me to Hell, ASC member Peter Deming and director Sam
Raimi reteamed to tackle a project fraught with high expectations: Oz the Great and Powerful, a prequel to the vibrant,
much-adored classic The Wizard of Oz. The new movie tells
the origin story of the man behind the curtain: circus magician
Oscar Diggs (James Franco), who is swept into the enchanted
land of witches, munchkins and flying monkeys by a tornado.
In an effort to give viewers a more personal tour of Oz, the
filmmakers shot in 3-D, using a Red Epic to blend live action
with extensive visual effects. CGI was only part of the creative
equation, however; the filmmakers werent in Kansas, but the production occupied all seven
stages at Michigan Motion Picture Studios, where enormous sets were constructed. Our
stages were literally wall-to-wall with set, Deming tells Iain Stasukevich (Hello, Yellow Brick
Road, page 36). Size wise, our sets were probably on par with those of The Wizard of Oz!
A remarkable effort was also mounted to shoot a new movie in Cinerama, a spectacular format that hadnt been used since 1962. Director David Strohmaier, who made the
documentary Cinerama Adventure, certainly tapped the right team for his latest excursion,
assembling a camera crew headed by John Hora, ASC and Douglas Knapp, SOC, both
passionate fans of the three-panel format. Our own in-house aficionado, associate editor Jon
Witmer, has penned a thorough account of the production, In the Picture (All In, page 64).
I never could have imagined that I would ever shoot Cinerama, says Knapp. I jumped at
the chance!
A guerrilla-filmmaking aesthetic was applied on The Place Beyond the Pines, a drama
that teamed BSC member Sean Bobbitt with director Derek Cianfrance. Bobbitts documentary experience served him well on the shoot, especially since Cianfrance sought a stripped
down approach to the production. Sometimes the machine of making the film can overwhelm the film itself, the director tells Michael Goldman (Hell on Wheels, page 52). On
this movie, we got rid of any kind of fluff and got by with the bare minimum.
Similarly Spartan strategies are frequently employed by the indie filmmakers who flock
to the Sundance Film Festival each year. This year we sent four pairs of eyeballs to Park City
(along with plenty of Visine), and senior editor Rachael Bosley, New York correspondent Pat
Thomson, Witmer and I managed to watch more than 60 movies during the 10-day event.
We have spotlighted a half-dozen in this issue (6 Sundance Standouts, page 80), and well
be covering more as they are released theatrically.
Finally, I would like to welcome a new editorial staffer to the fold: photo editor Julie
Sickel, who joined the AC team in January. Julie will be wrangling unit stills and all of our
other illustrations, so shell play a key role as the magazine moves forward.
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Presidents Desk
When a photographer (professional or amateur) takes a still picture and
immediately looks down to check the result on the LCD display on the
back of the camera, pros call this chimping. Thats because upon viewing the image, the photographer is likely to sound like a chimp as he or
she admires it: Uh! Uh! Uh!
The pros derision is based on a simple truth: a photographer
should be able to previsualize, to know the capabilities of the camera and
imagine the picture being taken. Of course, some DSLRs now have an
electronic viewfinder, not an optical one, so the photographer is viewing
an electronic display of the image; some photographers might think
this eliminates the need to be able to previsualize.
Why is the ability to be able to imagine an image an important
skill? Well, for many reasons. For one, the photographer who is confident
of the pictures being taken and is using an optical viewfinder can work
quickly, and does not need to stop and check the recording after each
press of the shutter button. For another, the photographer does not even
need a camera to recognize the photographic possibilities arrayed in front
of him or her.
For cinematographers, the ability to previsualize is essential in
preproduction, when the motion-picture camera is not available. On set,
the ability to shoot film or video without frequently referring to a monitor and inadvertently acting like a chimp is, in our opinion, essential. The cinematographer works quickly and is accessible to on-set collaborators when his or her head is not looking down at a screen, away from other members of the team. Of course, cinematographers have used previsualization aids for years; Polaroid cameras were an essential part of every kit, and Jerry Lewis invention, the video tap
(a video camera slaved to a film-camera optical system), has been in use for many decades. We are well aware that
a monitor on set, whether fed images from a video camera or slaved to a film camera, is an essential tool.
But isnt the ability to previsualize without any of that essential for a cinematographer, if only for the job
interview? And with all the displays on set, including the rather remarkable iPhone with built-in Sony camera, isnt
the ability to imagine images weakened when one no longer waits for film to be processed overnight?
Indeed, professional work as varied as that done by doctors and architects is being forever altered by
computer aids, and we believe this has resulted in a devaluation of many professions. For cinematographers, the
way forward is clear: We must be well educated in the arts in general, and we must have a comprehensive knowledge of all aspects of motion-picture production and a deep understanding of the art of visual storytelling.
Photo by Douglas Kirkland.
Stephen Lighthill
ASC President
12
April 2013
American Cinematographer
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Short Takes
7x6x2 Taps Sony F65 and PMW-F55 Prototype

By Jon D. Witmer
Deep inside a No-Zone on an unnamed planet, the galaxyweary war veteran Bryce (Joseph Aviel) has been contracted to repair
a terraforming Mek thats on the fritz. While working through the
cold desert night, hes joined by Swanson (Shawn Thomas), a
surveyor for Planetaria Geologica. When seven feral Rock People
move on their camp, only an antique carbine with six bullets stands
between the two men and certain death.
Such is the predicament set forth in the short film 7x6x2, a scifi Western that cinematographer Jesse Green captured with Sonys
F65 CineAlta digital camera and a prototype of the companys PMWF55 CineAlta. The project was co-directed by Sundance Institute alum
Sridhar Reddy and award-winning comic-book author Paul Pope.
7x6x2 marks Popes directorial debut and is adapted from a short
story in his comic-book series THB.
When I was a kid, Pope recounts, I used to shoot little
stop-motion films with my Super 8 camera. I read all the creatureeffects magazines, behind-the-scenes stuff, and scripts and storyboards, but I never considered directing to be a career. So it
remained until producers Gary Krieg and Matt Spangler approached
Pope to direct a short for Tribeca Enterprises. I wanted to do it, but
I wanted to bring in Sridhar, who has directed commercials, music
videos and two features [19 Revolutions and Lilith], as my co-director.
I knew we could make a good team.
The two met in 2009, when Reddy approached Pope about
adapting Popes The One Trick Rip-Off for the screen, and they kept
14
April 2013
in touch as Reddy went into production on Lilith. I bounced a lot of

ideas off Paul during Lilith, says Reddy. He has a tremendous film
knowledge. We talked about [Alejandro] Jodorowsky, [Andrei]
Tarkovsky, you name it; we have so many favorite films in common.
And, of course, his talents as an artist made him a great resource.
As Reddy and Pope began discussing 7x6x2, Tribeca reached
out to Sony, which was looking for unique projects that could utilize
a few F55 prototypes. In October 2012, with Sonys commitment in
place, Reddy and Pope received a greenlight. Working with production company Native Pictures, the filmmakers pulled together a crew
and secured locations during one week of prep; the timeframe was
so compressed because the project had to be previewed at a Sony
event that was scheduled for late November.
It was through Native Pictures that Green, a self-described
sci-fi, comic-book fan who grew up in the age of Star Wars, Blade
Runner and Heavy Metal, came to the project. In his first meeting
with the directors, the cinematographer arrived with a copy of Bill
Hensons book Lux et Nox. Sridhar said, Thats one of my favorite
books! Green recalls. We knew right away we were all on the
same page.
Green and the directors tested the prototype F55 at Sonys
Digital Motion Picture Center in Culver City. They were excited by
what they saw, particularly the cameras response to low light levels
and its handling of open flame. However, with a shooting schedule
that comprised only one afternoon and two nights, they knew they
would need to roll two cameras simultaneously to get all of their
coverage. Accordingly, Sony made an F65 available as the B camera.
As the production schedule was organized, Pope worked
Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Tribeca Enterprises and Sony. Additional images courtesy of the filmmakers.
Bryce (Joseph Aviel) sets up camp in a frame grab from the sci-fi Western 7x6x2, a short film shot by Jesse Green and co-directed
by Sridhar Reddy and Paul Pope.
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Top left: One of Popes concept drawings of the

films robotic Mek. Top right: Green frames up the
productions Sony F55. Bottom: Action around the
campfire was captured with the F55 and an F65,
both of which were kept on 4' sliders.
closely with production designer Mike

Conte, costume designer Susan Chan and
graphic designer Jim Pascoe to design the
elements that would bring the sci-fi environment to life onscreen. They all worked
from my concept sketches, says Pope. The
initial vision for the large, robotic Mek was
beyond the projects modest budget, so
we scaled things back and went for something a little more Star Trek or early Apollo
mission, he says.
The production schedule began with
a two-hour shoot in a Victorian home in
Lancaster, Calif. The scenes set there represent a sort of shining for Bryce; as his situa16
April 2013
tion in the desert worsens, he closes his eyes

and finds himself in the home with his aging
mother, Luana (Florence Klein). We
wanted [these scenes] to be free-flowing
and open, to feel almost like a cloud of
energy, says Reddy. We sent a skeleton
crew to the house, and we only had the F55
there. When we arrived, we walked around
for about 20 minutes to find the best places
to shoot, with strong windows and good
angles, and then the art department
brought in our hero props. We let the actors
do their own thing, and Jesse expressionistically followed them, letting the handheld
camera [rolling at 60 fps] be fluid and
revolve around them. He was so perceptive;

he knew where to be at just the right time,
and he really played off their performances.
That house was perfect, says
Green, and the F55 really enabled shooting with the available light. That camera
packs a lot of punch. I used a little 4-by
passive bounce and occasionally
augmented with a Litepanels [LED unit].
Litepanels loaned us a couple of Incas, two
traditional 1-by-1s and two Hilios. All of
these lights can be powered with a clip-on
Anton/Bauer battery. That was basically our
lighting package really nothing more
than a 1K Fresnel!
After wrapping in the house, the
crew drove for two hours to the Mojave
Desert to shoot Bryce and Swansons
dialogue at the campfire next to the Mek. In
the background, Green explains, he placed
the Litepanels to uplight and get some
detail in the rocks. We also used the Incas
for some edging [on the actors], and we
bounced a Hilio into an 8-by for a little
ambience.
The fire truly was my keylight for 80
percent of the film, he continues. When
the campfire burns out, the scene is keyed
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Top: Scenes with

Bryces mother,
Luana (Florence
Klein), were
shot in a
Victorian home,
predominantly
with available
light. Bottom:
Green takes the
F55 handheld to
follow Klein
through the
location.
by moonlight, a 500-watt China ball about

20 feet up on a Mombo Combo.
The production carried a set of
Arri/Zeiss Master Primes and two Fujinon 1885mm T2 Premiere PL Series zooms. That is
one beautiful zoom, enthuses Green, who
tended to use all of his lenses wide open. I
used [the zooms] as variable primes except
for when we went handheld; then, I used
the Master Primes.
Green and B-camera operator Brandon Musselman kept their cameras moving
on 4' sliders while shooting at the campfire.
Reddy notes, The movement was in large
part because so much was happening
offscreen. We wanted the cameras to be
like the Rock People, watching [Bryce and
Swanson].
Once the fire burns out, Bryce and
Swanson sneak into the nearby rocks. Turning back to see how many Rock People they
have to contend with, Bryce employs a
18
April 2013
night-vision scope that the filmmakers

emulated for a POV shot. We used a night
scope designed by Clairmont Camera,
Green explains. It has a PL mount behind a
real night scope, and on the front you can
mount manual-focus Nikkor AI still lenses.
The day before principal photography commenced, a hiccup with the F55s 4K
recording mode left the filmmakers feeling
more confident about using that camera at
2K. The codec was a bit hairy just because
it was a prototype, says Green. Thats
what comes with R&D. The F65 footage
was recorded in 4K and down-rezzed in post
to match the F55. Both cameras recorded to
internal Sony SxS cards. Just because you
shoot in 4K doesnt necessarily mean you
should deliver in 4K, Green observes. 4K
enables you to have what I call a really thick
neg for coloring and any post work. For
7x6x2, we actually delivered in HD.
On set, Green worked with digitalAmerican Cinematographer
imaging technician Will Chung, who monitored the footage in Rec 709. Green rated
both cameras at 1,000 ASA, but he notes
that for the night scenes in the desert, we
bumped up the dB to make it 2,000, which
was about the maximum before we started
to see noise.
The filmmakers chose to frame for
2.40:1 exhibition because, Green says, the
desert landscape was designed for 2.40:1.
The widescreen crop was overlaid by editorial-services company Final Cut, whose New
York and Los Angeles offices both worked
on the project. Sony was always with us on
the phone, guiding us through [the F55
workflow], says Reddy. Simultaneously,
visual-effects house Platige Image set to
work on a handful of creature-effects shots.
Lastly, colorist Alex Bickel performed the
final digital grade at Color Collective in New
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after we had the preview screening at Sony
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and letting them do their work. When you
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Production Slate
Child Soldiers in Africa

By Mark Dillon
On the African child-soldier drama War Witch (Rebelle),

writer/director Kim Nguyen and French-Canadian cinematographer
Nicolas Bolduc, CSC took an improvisational approach to a harrowing subject, and the results have garnered international acclaim,
including a Golden Frog for Bolduc at the 2012 Plus Camerimage
festival and an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign
Language Feature.
War Witch marks the third collaboration between Bolduc and
Nguyen, following Truffle (2008) and City of Shadows (2010). Based
in Montreal, the pair met as 16-year-olds in high school, after which
they attended film school together at Montreals Concordia University. Then our careers converged, and we started shooting
together, says Bolduc. Its fun shooting with someone you know
so well and to whom you can say anything.
Bolduc says he approaches each project like a fresh canvas.
Every film has its own energy, purpose and way of exploring filmmaking. The story and the script have a mind of their own, and we
try to follow it. He points to ASC members Gordon Willis, Anthony
Dod Mantle and Roger Deakins as providing inspiration. I love Willis
darkness; Deakins work is the perfection of the frame that tells a
story; and I love the way Dod Mantle creates beauty through chaos
he has done a lot with video thats crazy and experimental, and I
20
April 2013
admire that. I have these conversations with directors about always

exploring and trying to put yourself in a bit of danger and trying
something youve never tried. You dont know how far its going to
go or whether it will work, and thats very exciting. Its important to
do that every time you make a film.
Bolduc and his collaborators put themselves in danger both
artistically and physically on War Witch, which they shot over 32
days in and around Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo. The fictitious drama follows Komona (Rachel
Mwanza), a 12-year-old girl in an African village overcome by rebel
soldiers. They force her to kill her mother (Starlette Mathata) and
father (Alex Herabo), and then make her and other young villagers
join their fight against government forces. When rebel leader Great
Tiger (Mizinga Mwinga) learns of Komonas ability to see ghosts that
warn of danger, he makes her his protected war witch. Komona
falls in love with a fellow soldier, Magicien (Serge Kanyinda), but is
forced into a relationship with the Rebel Lieutenant (Alain Bastien),
who impregnates her. The films events are recounted by Komona to
her as-yet-unborn child.
Nguyen started writing the script a decade ago and toured
Africa in search of the ideal location. Congo was not the logical frontrunner; the nation has no production infrastructure, and the films
story is set predominantly in the jungle, a setting that is easy to find
throughout Africa. Congo does, however, have a reputation for
gang violence, rape, murder and other crimes. But in its corner was
War Witch photos courtesy of the filmmakers.
War Witch, shot

by Nicolas
Bolduc, CSC,
follows a 12year-old,
Komona (Rachel
Mwanza), after
she is kidnapped
by rebels and
forced to
become a child
soldier.
Top left: Komona in a moment of reflection.

Top right: Komona (middle) with her friend and
fellow child soldier Magicien (Serge Kanyinda, right).
Middle: Bolduc (behind camera) prepares a shot of
Mwanza. Bottom left: Crewmembers pose for a
photo on location.
a unique location near the town of Gbadolite: a jungle palace built in the style of
Chinas Forbidden City by former dictator
Mobutu Sese Seko. In the film, the large
complex of pagodas serves as Great Tigers
headquarters. That place was completely
abandoned when we got there, and
nobody had ever filmed there, says
Nguyen. You just couldnt find that
anywhere else.
Bolduc says he had a normal lowbudget crew on the production; they
included his frequent first assistant cameraman, Eric Benoussan, as well as 2nd AC
Jessica Servieres, gaffer Gatan St-Onge and
a Senegalese grip team led by Lamine
Camara and Pape Sarr. A few Congolese
also participated, recent school graduates
who, says Bolduc, wanted to learn about
filmmaking and were eager to work with
us. Some were employed as drivers, and
police and the military would accompany
them for protection. (Nguyen says the
production never ventured more than 5
miles outside Kinshasa.) The most demanding visual effects were the substantial
gunfire, supervised by French special-effects
technician Sbastien Roussel and weapons
coordinator Marc Leroyer.
22
April 2013
Above: Bolduc (left) and director Kim Nguyen

survey the landscape. Right: Komona
observes a group of albinos. Left (from left):
Bolduc, gaffer Gatan St-Onge, 1st AD Pierre
Magny and Nguyen on location.
Nguyen sought naturalistic performances from the actors, many of whom were
Congolese and had no professional experience. According to the director, Mwanza has
lived much of her life on the streets. He shot
chronologically and did not show the cast the
script because I tried to keep surprises. I
consider the camera almost a third character
in a scene. I like to keep things moving and
not have everything pre-planned and preblocked. If I [blocked] the actors, I would tell
them something else might happen. Then, we
could have a character shift to another spot,
not looking for marks, so the camera, like the
character, was adapting when something
happened. It was directed improvisation.
Kim would just talk to the actors, and
I would set up an environment where I could
shoot almost 360 degrees without any light24
April 2013
ing, says Bolduc. Wed choose our

moments on the day, and I would improvise
with the kids. When Kim would suggest
another take, Id suggest a wider [shot] so
he could cut, and then maybe something
tighter, and then wed try something different. It was completely on the fly.
Bolducs handheld camera and the
chaotic cutting lend War Witch a documentary feel. I was so close to the actors I was
in their bubble, the cinematographer
recalls. We chose to not shoot from far
away with 100mm, 150mm or 200mm
lenses. We wanted to be with them, which
creates such tension. He accomplished that
with 32mm and 40mm Zeiss Ultra Prime
lenses, although numerous shots with soft
backgrounds give the impression longer
focal lengths were used. Thats the magic
of Eric, my first AC, says Bolduc. He didnt
take any marks and never imposed any on
the actors. He just winged it with my T2.8 or
T2 on the barrel. I love to shoot pretty much
open. We shot a lot at T2.8, sometimes T4,
and to be that close at that kind of aperture,
the background just falls out of focus.
The actors skin tones and the spontaneous camerawork dictated few artificial
fixtures, he notes. Black actors have beautifully reflective skin, and if you put up a
light, you would see the light on them. I
couldnt put up a light, anyway, because I
never knew where I would be shooting the
actors! Also, I dont like to see the artificial

in lighting, not even bounce lights. I used a
bounce light once on one of the actors. The
rest was usually no movie lights at all. He
adds that he twisted polarizing filters in
exterior shots to remove undesirable
sunlight reflections from the actors, and to
add density and contrast and slightly bring
down the stop.
The most extensive use of lights was
a night scene in which the rebels, after a
successful days attack against the army,
celebrate at their camp by dancing, playing
soccer and firing their weapons. We
prepared for six hours and shot during one
night for about an hour and a half, improvising with everybody, just having fun,
Bolduc recalls. I could go 360 degrees
around with them. We just hung bulbs here
and there, a couple of neon lights, and we
turned cars toward us and turned on their
headlights, and that was the scene. It felt
real.
Facilitating such long, uninterrupted
shooting was the Arri Alexa, which was
recording in ProRes 4:4:4 to 32GB SxS
cards. Bolduc had shot most of his previous
features on film, but he felt that would have
been too restrictive on War Witch. I would
have had an Aaton on my shoulder with a
400-foot mag. Thats four minutes in
35mm, and reloading would have broken
the mood. I loved the idea that with the
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26
April 2013
A swordsman travels through the thick forest of northern Britain in The Darkest Day.
Capturing Vikings with

Canons C300
By Mark Hope-Jones
Set in northern Britain in the year

A.D. 793, The Darkest Day follows the journey of a young monk, Hereward (Marc Pickering), who must deliver a cherished holy
book to safety against a backdrop of
lawlessness, pagan sects and pursuing
Viking marauders. Directed by Chris Crow,
the film was shot by Alex Metcalfe, whose
credits include the features The Refuge
(2003) and Playing Burton (2011). The
Canon EOS C300 was released just prior to
Darkest Days 18-day shoot, and AC recently
spoke with Metcalfe about his experiences
using the new camera on this micro-budget
action film.
American Cinematographer :
What led you to choose the C300 for
this film?
Alex Metcalfe: As with most independent films, our budget was very low. A
period piece requires a lot of costume and
makeup, so the camera departments
budget shrank and shrank. We were shooting 12-hour days at the beginning of the
year without any movie lights, so all the

scenes were set during the day or at dusk or
were shot day-for-night. I knew I needed a
camera that would give me decent results
in low light at the darker end of the day,
and the C300s base sensitivity is 850 ASA.
Its a compressed format rather than a raw
format; it compresses in-camera at 4:2:2,
and you cant get out of that. But for me,
cinematography is not really about a clean
image; its more about offering up a picture
that people can get drawn into, and resolution is not necessarily the biggest part of
that. The C300 allowed us to move quickly
and get into little spaces that other cameras
couldnt have, so it opened up creative
options that, I think, will give the viewer a
much better experience than having fewer
angles but a 4K image. Dealing with the
compression and a slightly lower latitude is
really no different than shooting film 15
years ago, when we had much less latitude
on the print than on the neg, and our decisions on set had to take that into account.
What testing did you do?
Metcalfe: I bought a C300 myself,
but the delivery was delayed to the point
where Canon had to loan me one for the
The Darkest Day photos by Susan Plant. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Lindisfarne Films.
Alexa, I could film the kids without them

ever knowing when we would stop. I could
shoot for 14 minutes straight, and then I
would drop the camera to my knee, wed
pop in another card, and about 12 seconds
later Id start another 14-minute card.
Thats a great asset on a film where your
cast are non-actors, because if you stop
[shooting], you might miss the perfect
moments.
Bolduc did no color correction on
set. A local hire, Divita Wa Lusala, served as
the on-set digital-imaging technician,
downloading data from the cards.
Throughout the shoot, Bolduc used
camera-support handles from Montrealbased Shape that could be adjusted on the
fly. He also sometimes used an EasyRig. I
would bring the camera really low, almost
to my knees, and have it just hang [from]
the EasyRig. I could frame with the monitor
and have it between my legs or push with
it and walk with it smoothly. I never had it
on my shoulder. I was using it more for an
effect. The floating shots accomplished
with the EasyRig help express Komonas
state of mind when she trips on some
hallucinogenic tree sap, a scene that, along
with her ghostly visions, injects moments of
magical realism into the film.
For his part, Nguyen was sold on
the Alexas image quality. In testing, I
thought its image was really amazing, he
says. Its not necessarily about the definition; its about the poetry of the image.
Theres something very organic about it.
In the final grade, carried out in just
over a week at Vision Globale in Montreal,
Nguyen and Bolduc did little image manipulation. What Nicolas captured on the
cards was already so beautiful, says the
director. For me, the color correction was
really about paying tribute to his work on
the set. It wasnt about transforming it at
all.
CONGRATULATES
Roger Deakins, ASC, BSC

On receiving the
27th Annual ASC Award for
Outstanding Achievement in
Cinematography for
Skyfall
first week of the shoot, so we ended up

having only half a day of testing before principal photography. My priority was to find
out what the latitude of exposure was at
what point do we start losing things, and
when we do lose them, is it really ugly or
can it look nice? The other goal was to
establish what ASA rating we could go up
to before we started getting unacceptable
noise. The C300 is unbelievably flexible with
the ASA rating; you can use any ASA you
want on the same memory card. That was
terrific because when the light was diminishing at the end of the day, I was dialing in
fractions of a stop at a time to keep us
going!
What range of ASA ratings did
you work within?
Metcalfe: During the day, I would
run at 850 and use the internal NDs. If Id
said this five years ago, people would have
laughed, but the upper limit I was happy
shooting with was 3,200. We actually did
one scene at 10,000, and I could see more
on the monitor than I could with my eye,
which was nuts. At lower ASA ratings, the
clipping points are different, so having a
waveform on the cameras flip-out screen
and being able to see when youre starting
to lose things while youre recording is
invaluable.
How was your experience working with stills lenses?
Metcalfe: We mainly worked with
Canon lenses, which focus in the same
direction as cine lenses, but it was still a
nightmare for my poor focus puller, Andy
Trace, because we also had a couple of
Nikons and a Tamron zoom, and they rotate
the wrong way. He continually had to get
into a different mindset to focus in opposite
directions. By the end, he was brilliant at it.
He absolutely shone. The main problem
with stills lenses is that the physical distance
the lens travels from infinity to close focus is
much smaller than on film lenses, so Andys
focus pull would sometimes be just 2mm. It
was a definite learning curve, and its something I would warn people about, because
precise focus on those lenses is very, very
hard.
Did you allocate different lenses
to specific themes or sections in the
story?
Metcalfe: We didnt want it to be a
Top: The
mysterious
Aethulwulf (Mark
Lewis Jones), a
member of the
Warriors of the
Enduring
Kingdom, is
sworn to protect
the Gospels.
Middle and
bottom: The
Canon C300 puts
the viewer in the
middle of handto-hand combat
between
Aethulwulf and
Yngvarr (Paul
Jibson).
28
April 2013
Recipient of the
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film that just alternated between walking

and fighting. We wanted to introduce a
level of poetry to the traveling images by
creating layers between the audience and
the characters. One way we did this was to
use Canon lenses that dated back to the
1970s for these sections. Because the characters are walking through trees and long
grass, there are lots of uprights, and the
older lenses deal with those edges
differently, giving a slightly less real look.
Another thing we did was to shoot through
pieces of glass to create a layered, textured
image that took us even further away from
realism. Traveling is often a time of introspection, and introducing some abstraction
reflected the mental shifts the characters
were experiencing. We used anything that
refracted light in an interesting way, things
like cuboid pieces of glass and even drinking
glasses. The overall idea was to create a
mood piece, so although there are action
scenes, the pace of other parts is quite slow
and reflective.
What was your approach to the
fight scenes?
Metcalfe: We really wanted to put
the viewer in the middle of the fights, and
the C300 was great for that. There was one
shot I wanted to get with the camera on the
hilt of a sword and the macro lens shifting
focus up and down the blade as it swings. I
simply put my arms around the actor and
followed him as he moved, which I couldnt
After an attack on
their monastery, the
young monk
Hereward (Marc
Pickering, top left)
and his master,
Athelstan
(Christopher
Goodwin), flee from
Viking marauders.
Bottom: The crew
frames the action
with the C300.
30
April 2013
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Cinematographer Alex Metcalfe lines up a

high-angle shot in the trees.
have done with a bigger camera. I pulled my

own focus for the fight scenes, and Andy
acted as B-camera operator with a Canon
[EOS] 7D, looking for details on a longer
lens. Going handheld and doing unusual

things with the focus and composition
made sense for the fights because it created
moments of confusion, which is what it
would be like in a dirty fight.
You said you had no movie
lights at all. How did you make that
work?
Metcalfe: This was a fairly tribal and
lawless period in British history, and presenting that world with lots of saturated colors
just didnt make sense. So, Chris and I
decided to banish direct sunlight from the
film. Then, of course, we had to shoot
through three weeks of what was possibly
the sunniest winter in the history of Wales!
I had no sparks [electricians] at all, so I
bought a load of off-white canvas sheets,
and we put eyelets in them. Our production
designer knew a group of professional
climbers, and they would come in and go
up trees to rig these canvases. We were in
forests a lot of the time, so there was almost
always something to rig them to. The sheets
allowed us to take the light off the actors,
but, of course, the background then
became overexposed, so we had to be very

careful about where we set scenes.
So it became an exercise in
controlling the ambient light?
Metcalfe: Negative fill was a
watchword, which I think is becoming more
common with the sensitivity of todays
digital cameras. I had to be careful even
with that, though, because we didnt have
an enormous post budget, and I knew I
wouldnt be able to sit in a grading suite
removing reflections of blacks and flags
from the actors eyes. I had to be conscious
all the time of what was reflected in their
eyes, and if I could see something, I had to
decide if that was more off-putting than
having a flatter image. It was a continual
balance.
Tell us about the image workflow.
Metcalfe: The data file itself is in
the MXF format, which goes straight into
Final Cut Pro or Avid. Our days rushes
would be synced overnight and then given
to us on DVDs to view the next day. For editing, the rushes were converted to ProRes
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[120mb/s] files, which are lossless because

the originals are already compressed at
50mb/s. Chris and I would sit down at night
to view the rushes over a glass of wine and
discuss how things were going; this close
collaboration with him was a wonderful
experience. The ASA decisions I was making
on set and the grain were burned into the
image, and I treated color balance the same
way because I knew we wouldnt have long
in the grade. I adjusted the color balance
quite carefully for pretty much every scene.
What was the focus of your
work in the final grade?
Metcalfe: After sorting through
various complications, we graded in Final
Cut Color using the converted ProRes files.
Our focus was to emphasize the savagery of
this period in history by desaturating the
image but holding in the reds, so that
wounds feel real but the world feels cold
and foreboding. We also graded individual
sections within montages differently to
suggest that characters were moving in
place and time. Grading in the directors
house is not ideal, but, in fact, there was
A frame grab reveals Hereward in distress.
only so far we could go because so much

had been created in-camera. And, fortunately, Chris is very much a visual director, so
I really enjoyed working with him. In fact, all
of the department heads were outstanding.
I dont know how this group of people
came together on this budget, but it was a
great experience!
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Don Burgess, ASC
Hello, Yellow
Brick Road
Peter Deming, ASC reteams with
Sam Raimi on Oz the Great and
Powerful, the prequel to a beloved
Hollywood classic.
By Iain Stasukevich
|
dapted from L. Frank Baums series of books about the

magical land of Oz, the new film Oz the Great and
Powerful follows young circus magician Oscar Diggs
( James Franco), whose life is transformed after a sudden,
violent storm sends his hot-air balloon hurtling into the parallel world of Oz. There, he encounters three witches, Theodora
36
April 2013
(Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz) and Glinda (Michelle

Williams), who believe his destiny is to become the wizard
who will save Oz from the tyranny of the Wicked Witch.
The film reunited director Sam Raimi and cinematographer Peter Deming, ASC, who last collaborated on the
hyperkinetic horror film Drag Me to Hell (AC June 09). Both
filmmakers were new to 3-D digital capture, and in prep, they
tested both the Red Epic and the Arri Alexa with stereo rigs.
They opted to shoot with the Epic at 5K and 4:1 compression
(for a final 2.40:1 extraction) largely because of the pictures
extensive visual-effects work. Deming explains, The plan was
to release a 2K DCP, and this [capture method] enabled the
visual-effects team to punch in on frames by up to 50 percent
without any resolution loss at all.
Demings research included attending a cinematography workshop at Sony Pictures 3-D Technology Center, and
he also surrounded himself on set with some seasoned 3-D
Photos by Merie Weismiller Wallace, SMPSP.

Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures.
Opposite: Amateur magician Oscar Diggs (James Franco) approaches Emerald City with Theodora (Mila
Kunis) in Oz the Great and Powerful, shot by Peter Deming, ASC. This page: The filmmakers were tasked
with seamlessly blending images created on massive stages with digital effects added in post.
vets, including stereoscopic supervisor

Ed Marsh and main-unit stereographer
James Goldman. Between the two of
them, we covered all the bases involving
theory, practice and hardware, Deming
remarks.
Two Element Technica Atom
3-D rigs were assigned to the main unit,
with an additional one on a splinter unit
led by cinematographer Paul Sanchez.
Each rig employed a 3mm-thick beamsplitter mirror, which required a 1-stop
exposure compensation, as well as a
custom-size Quarter Wave Retarder,
which A-camera 1st AC David Eubank
describes as a filter that corrects polarization mismatches between the left-eye
camera and the right-eye one. This

imbalance could be glare from backlit
images or windows, or subtle differences such as highlights on an actors
face.
Deming shot the entire picture
with Primo prime lenses supplied by
Panavision Woodland Hills. We shot
primarily on the wide end of our lens
choices, he says. We rarely went to a
50mm except for extreme close-ups,
and we only used a 75mm or 100mm
for inserts. Most of the movie was shot
at 40mm or wider. This was a big
adjustment for me, particularly when
shooting coverage of beautiful women.
We were sometimes at 27mm for a
www.theasc.com
close-up, and youd never do that on a

2-D picture!
There was something about the
3-D image that was really forgiving, he
continues. Sometimes we would pull
back if we wanted to minimize the
distortion, to keep the image flat in
terms of facial features, knowing that
we could punch in during post without
losing resolution. At a focal length of
27mm, the interocular distance
contributes to expanding or reducing
the roundness of faces, and you can
really manipulate the size and shape of
round objects in 3-D.
The filmmakers shot parallel
stereo on set and converged in post
April 2013
37
When he arrives in Oz, Diggs is met by three witches: Glinda (Michelle Williams, top), Theodora and
Evanora (Rachel Weisz, bottom left).
mainly to help simplify Sony Pictures

Imageworks visual-effects work, which
was supervised by Scott Stokdyk. CG
shots are often complicated by the
image distortions, keystoning and
disparities caused by toeing in the
38
April 2013
cameras for converged capture. When

shooting parallel stereo, an interocular
distance is set between the left and right
eyes on set, and the convergence effect is
achieved in post by offsetting the left
and right eyes on the horizontal axis.
Deming was careful to add a 10-percent

pad to the edges of the frame because
when you converge in post, you lose
part of the shot. You cant assume you
will have the whole image.
Our 5K image was usually
down-sampled to 2276x1138, says
Marsh. That gave us 114 pixels on
each side of the image that could be
used for convergence, as well as additional information at the top and
bottom. When we didnt need it for
convergence, we still had the ability to
reposition images quite a lot, which
often helped during the editorial
process.
When you shoot parallel, you
still need the ability to converge the
image for viewing on set; otherwise,
everything appears to be forward of the
viewing plane, and that simply isnt
comfortable or artistically correct,
Marsh continues. We used Raptor to
converge our image feeds on set without
baking that choice into our raw camera
files.
Goldman notes that a few shots
were converged during capture. They
were shots that would have been a little
tougher to achieve in post, like when
the Winkie guards thrust their axes at
the camera, he explains. These were
the bigger 3-D moments, and Sam and
Peter wanted to make sure all of the
elements were right where they were
supposed to be in the shot.
Notes on lens sizes, convergence
and interaxial settings were downloaded
to a Filemaker Pro database designed by
Marsh. Metadata was transmitted from
the rigs through the Atoms 3-D IO
module to a MicroSD card, which was
then downloaded and integrated with
the digital dailies created specifically for
the Avid. Dailies were viewed in a
screening room. Our dailies had our
convergence choice baked in, but on
shots where that convergence point
needed to evolve with the shot, it was a
bit problematic, says Goldman. No
one has a system to track convergence
and re-create it after the fact when
youre shooting parallel. You can slide
stuff around with key frames in the
Avid, but its a lot of work to get it

where you want it.
When loaded with two Epics,
two lenses, the mirror box and a wireless
Cmotion Cvolution focus-control unit,
each rig weighed almost 85 pounds.
We werent going to subject anyone to
handholding that thing, quips key grip
Phil Sloan. The size and scope of the
sets mandated a 50' Technocrane as the
shows main camera support. A-camera
operator Patrick Rousseau was assisted
on the Technocrane by dolly grip Tim
Collins and crane operator Derlin
Brynford-Jones.
Oz was shot in Pontiac, Mich.,
entirely onstage at Michigan Motion
Picture Studios (known at the time as
Raleigh Studios), where the production
occupied all seven stages. Our stages
were literally wall-to-wall with set, says
Deming. Size wise, our sets were probably on par with those of The Wizard of
Oz! During a round of additional
shooting in Culver City, a Yellow Brick
Road stage was set up at Sony Studios,
located on the former site of MGM, on
the same stage where cinematographers
Hal Rosson, ASC and Allen B. Davey,
ASC filmed the original Yellow Brick
Road. That was a pretty cool coincidence, says Deming.
At Raleigh, four of the produc-
Evanora offers Diggs a piece of the royal treasure of Oz, but questions whether he is the
powerful wizard everyone has been expecting.
tions seven stages were completely

encircled in bluescreen from floor to
perms (45'), and a fifth was three-quarters encircled. This facilitated the
construction of large practical sets that
the Imageworks team could then
extend in any direction with CGI. We
chose bluescreen instead of greenscreen
because theres a lot of greenery in this
movie, and theres also an Emerald
City, says Deming. Plus, I think we
would have gone insane looking at all
that green for six months!
Oz opens with a black-and-white
www.theasc.com
sequence in Kansas, where Diggs is

performing with the Baum Bros.
Circus. Tired of playing to hayseeds, he
longs for the life of a great man. For
these scenes, the stereo effect is
reduced, and the action is presented in a
pillar-boxed 1.33:1 aspect ratio within
the 2.40:1 frame. A few magical
moments burst through that matte,
however, including a fire-breather spitting flames into the audience. Colors
dont always have the same brightness,
tone or density in black-and-white, so
to give the other departments an idea of
April 2013
39
Top: Diggs hot-air balloon crash lands in the

colorful world of Oz after being swept away
by a cyclone. Middle: A concept drawing of
Diggs upon his arrival in Whimsy Woods.
Bottom: Diggs and Theodora make their way
through Whimsy Woods.
how their colors would look in the final

image, I gave them a photo of a
Macbeth chart that I had completely
desaturated, says Deming.
Based on Demings notes, digitalimaging technician Ryan Nguyen used
an early version of FotoKems NextLab
Live application to create color-decision
lists for the raw output from each
camera rig. That data was passed to
data-management supervisor Kyle
Spicer, who used the NextLab mobile
system to apply color decisions for left
eye and right eye. Spicer also set the
convergence point, synced sound,
backed up data and packaged data so
that FotoKem could produce the deliverables.
Most of the action in the movie is
set outdoors, which meant Deming and
his crew had to light about 90,000
square feet of stage at a time. The lighting plan also had to accommodate quick
transitions motivated by Kansas
changeable weather. I read that The
40
April 2013
Diggs spends
time with Glinda,
ruler of the
South and the
most powerful
witch in Oz.
Wizard of Oz required so much light

that MGM had to pull extra power
from the Culver City substation, and
there were often brownouts in town
because of that, says Deming. (A
historical about the production
published in AC in Dec. 98 notes: The
Technicolor photography for Oz was
difficult because of the vastness of the
sets. It would have been next to impossible except that Technicolor had just
introduced its new, faster film, which
today would have an ASA rating of
about 50.)
The Epic is rated at ISO 800,
but thats primarily in a daylight
scenario, notes Deming. We were a
completely tungsten show, so we started
with a rating of ISO 640; that dropped
to 320 once the beam splitters and Wave
Retarders were taken into account. His
electric crew, led by gaffer Michael
Laviolette, provided an extra 60,000
amps of power by moving four additional transformers onto the Raleigh lot.
Deming shot most of the picture
at around a T4, with the night work
usually at a T2.8/T4. Sam originally
wanted to shoot the entire film at a T5.6

because when you actually shoot
outside, youre typically at a T5.6 or
higher; he thought that depth-of-field
would make the images feel a bit more
real to the viewer.
Deming started by establishing a
general overhead ambience, lit to about
T4, using hundreds of 1K Par heads up
in the stage perms. The lamp heads
were mounted to Par bars aimed
straight down at the floor. Production
wanted all the sets up and running at the
www.theasc.com
same time, notes Laviolette. Pars are

easy to rig and mount, and youll never
run out of them.
All told, rigging gaffer Roger
Meilink and key rigging grip Tracy
Neftzger hung 1,200 Par bars across five
stages, with each lamp on a separate
dimmer channel. To diffuse the Pars,
Sloans grip team hung 40'x60' sections
of Light Grid just beneath them, with
enough room for the rags to billow but
still hang tight to the ceiling. Sam
wanted a lot of wind during the farm
April 2013
41
On his quest to
distinguish
good from evil
and save Oz,
Diggs is joined
by a doll named
China Girl and a
flying monkey,
Finley.
sequences in Kansas, and the Light Grid

just billowed up and down, recalls
Sloan. It was perfect.
With a base ambience created,
Deming then needed to find a realistic
42
April 2013
Big Sun source that could span the

250' length of the larger stages. He
recalls, Michael [Laviolette] designed
these things called Par pods, which were
six 1K pars in a row that we could
arrange vertically or horizontally.

Laviolette adds, Theyre like Par bars,
but there are no yokes. The heads are
packed very tightly into a single pod,
and when you arrange these pods in an
erector-set fashion, you get 9 inches on
center from globe to globe in any direction, and you can build it out as big as
you want with perfect consistency.
The Big Sun was comprised of 28
Par pods, 168 lights in a cluster approximately 11' square. Wide lenses were
used along the bottom row for spread
and to keep the foreground from being
overlit and overheated, and medium
lenses were used on the rest of it to reach
as far as possible. Once we turned that
thing on, we felt the heat! recalls
Deming. Anything closer than 50 feet
just got too hot, and we needed a certain
amount of distance to the subject before
all those 1K bulbs merged into one
source. At 100 feet out, it was pretty
much a single shadow.
Although each lamp head was
connected to a dimmer channel, the Big
Sun was almost always deployed at full
strength. (Smaller setups employed a
Mini Sun, six 12-light Maxi-Brutes
packed together on a scissor lift.)
Diffusion rags and gels were stretched
across 20'x20' frames and treated with
fire retardant. In the early Kansas
scenes, Deming started with a white 14
silk to add a small amount of diffusion
Diggs and Finley follow the Yellow Brick Road to

China Town, where they find destruction and
devastation.
without losing more than half a stop off

the source. When the script called for a
storm to roll in, the 14 silk was swapped
for thicker 14 Grid and then, finally,
Full Grid.
When the storm hits, Diggs tries
to flee in his hot-air balloon, but the
craft is no match for a tornado, and
Diggs is sucked into the swirling vortex
and loses consciousness. When he
wakes, he peers over the edge of the
gondola and thrills to a landscape unlike
anything he has ever seen. In a moment
that echoes the transition from sepia to
color in The Wizard of Oz, the camera
sweeps 180 degrees around the balloon
to reveal Diggs view, the monochrome
image blooms into full color, the screen
expands from 1.33:1 to 2.40:1, the
stereo depth widens to maximum effect,
and the sound transitions from singlechannel mono to surround sound. Its a
moment, for sure, says Deming.
Raimi wanted to build as much
of Oz as possible mainly because he
was concerned that the actors wouldnt
know their environment [if everything
44
April 2013
Top: Diggs and

Theodora make
their way across
Oz together.
Bottom: Many
concept
drawings were
used to help the
filmmakers
envision the
fantastic
landscapes.
was virtual], says Deming. The only

place where we didnt do that, because it
didnt make sense, was the Yellow Brick
Road. Production designer Robert
Stromberg compares the design of Oz
to the work of the Hudson River School
in the late 19th century: They knew
photo-real paintings would just be
boring, so they added pools of light and
colored light and pushed their work into
a place between a dream and reality.
Raimi wanted to maintain a
continuity between the physical Oz and
the maps that appear in Baums books,
and in some instances, Deming needed
to make a camera move to or from
a landmark on the horizon that
46
April 2013
existed only virtually. An augmentedreality system called Encodacam

(from General Lift) helped them bridge
the gap. Sam, Rob Stromberg and the
previz team designed all of our
360-degree environments in the
computer, Deming explains. Then, the
Encodacam team came to the set and
did a complete survey of the stage space
and the sets. They put tracking mechanisms on the dollies and cranes, and they
did a live composite of the actual set
with the digital background while the
camera moved so the operator could see
it in his return, and Sam and I could
watch it at video village. To a certain
extent, it was a guide for visual effects,
but it was extremely helpful to us on set,

particularly for the sets that were mostly
virtual.
Much of Ozs topography
comprises forests, the first of which
Diggs encounters when his balloon
comes to rest on the banks of the
Whimsy Woods. There, he encounters
the good witch Theodora. Naturally, the
density of a given forest dictated the
crews approach to lighting effects, and
for Whimsy Woods, Deming created a
fanciful, dappled look, hanging four
30'x30' translucent Visqueen cucolori
below the Par bars Light Grid diffusion. Grips painted the Visqueen with
large, dark gobos and cut holes in it so
light could pass through. Weighted
plastic strips were hung from the
bottom of the cucolori to add subtle
motion to the shadows. Between the
cucolori and the Par bars, Deming used
up to six 20Ks and four 20K beam
projectors to create highlights around
the set.
For the more virtual stuff, wed
determine where the trees were and
make tape marks, knowing that the tree
would throw a shadow, he says.
Laviolette adds, After we marked out
our tree or forest, wed make our shadow
play with whatever plants the greensmen brought for us. A 40'-wide bran-
These concept drawings were used to help create Glindas castle.
chaloris pinwheel was often used to

create shadows across the set to simulate
motion.
Deming opened up the throttle
on his application of color to add to
Ozs sense of otherworldliness. Sam,
Rob [Stromberg], Scott [Stokdyk] and
I all needed to be comfortable with the
level of saturation, he notes. The Big
and Mini suns were gelled with heavy
color. Lee Deep Straw and Golden
Amber were a couple of the choices.
Lee 14 Minus Green was used to take
out a small green spike in the Deep
Straw. In order to fit the 20'x20' frame
48
April 2013
for the Big Sun, four complete rolls of a

single color were taped together with JLar transparent tape.
At night, Oz is dark and
contrasty, filled with mysterious fog and
ominous shadows, but we wanted to
see our great sets even at night, says
Deming. Thats very much Sams
sensibility: moody and dark, but not
pitch black. Its sort of an everlasting
dusk. Deming used Rosco Tipton Blue
for most of his night ambience, with 12
CTB on his fill.
When they spoke to AC, the
filmmakers were contractually obligated
to stay mum about the look of Emerald

City. However, Deming offered this:
Its a place where evil powers live.
Theyre not the best landlords, so its
initially a little rundown, but its still a
pretty spectacular place. Laviolette
adds, The brief I was given was that its
a metropolis, so we designed our
approach to not rely much on direct
sunlight. Its a little bit of a New York
look: toplight and building bounces.
Deming captured Diggs arrival
in Emerald City via long tracking shots
down the main thoroughfare. Diffused
toplight was our primary source, says

Director Sam
Raimi (left)
discusses shots
with Deming.
Sloan, but then we lined several 12-by12-foot bounces up along the full length
of the stage, capped them off so they
wouldnt fill back, and used 12-by-12
solid siders to keep the bounce going
one direction.
In Emerald City, the witch
Evanora reveals that all of Oz has been
waiting for a powerful wizard to deliver
them from the Wicked Witch, and she
50
speculates that Diggs is that wizard. But

the question is, which witch is the
wicked one? When Diggs sets off on a
quest to find her, he meets Glinda, a
witch of the North.
Deming describes the Wicked
Witchs dramatic arrival at Glindas
courtyard, which was built on one of the
productions larger stages: The sky
clouds over with dark smoke, and theres
a huge lighting change; we go from full

sun to overcast in the middle of a shot.
We came up with a pretty old-school
approach, dousing the Big Sun with
heavy diffusion and rigging 20-by-40foot and 30-by-40-foot black sail cloth
on cables that we could slide over the
ambient [light] to darken the whole set
on cue. We did this several different
times for different angles. We were left
with a soft overhead that was 112 to 2
stops down from what wed been shooting under.
The Big Sun was dimmed with
Full Grid, and the fixtures were then
dimmed to avoid burning the rag. On
the ground, Deming continued to key
with Maxi-Brutes and Mini-Brutes
bouncing into 12'x12' frames of white
Duvetyn so the actors faces wouldnt go
too dark or get shadows in the eye sockets. About 75 percent of the lights were
covered where the action was taking
place, says Sloan. It was about a foursecond transition between raising the
Full Grid up over the sun and pulling

the solids in under the toplight. Its
subtle; you feel it more than you see it.
The DI for Oz the Great and
Powerful was carried out at Company 3,
where Deming worked with colorist
Stephen Nakamura. I did a lot of
my color correction on set, says the
cinematographer, but we gave things a
little more mood in the final grade,
mainly with foreground shading and
vignetting. We did the 2-D grade first,
and then we did the 3-D color and
convergence pass, followed by Imax
3-D and 2K and 4K filmouts.
Noting that about 400 35mm
prints would be struck for the theatrical
release, Deming says he was careful to
take that format into consideration
before starting the DI. In prep, we
created a look-up table for the visualeffects artists and Stephen that put
constraints on the color to achieve our
film-emulation color space. Otherwise,
we knew there would be issues taking
Franco talks with

Raimi on set.
color from a linear space to a film

output. It hemmed us in a little bit, but
we were fine. This picture has plenty of
color!
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1 and 1.33:1
3-D Digital Capture
Red Epic
Panavision Primo
Hell onWheels
Director Derek Cianfrance and
cinematographer Sean Bobbitt, BSC
meld a guerrilla-filmmaking
aesthetic with an epic canvas for
The Place Beyond the Pines.
By Michael Goldman
|
ne day in August 2011, on location in Schenectady,

N.Y., not long after forging an intense camaraderie with
Sean Bobbitt, BSC, director Derek Cianfrance faced a
troubling few seconds wondering whether Bobbitt had
badly hurt himself during their joint pursuit of realistic visuals
for the production at hand, The Place Beyond the Pines. They
were shooting part of the opening sequence, the so-called
Death Cage scene, in which Luke (Ryan Gosling) performs
a motorcycle stunt with two other bikers in a round, steel cage
as part of a carnival act. The stunt comes at the conclusion of
a long, one-take tracking shot that follows Luke through the
carnival grounds, onto a motorcycle and into the cage.
Bobbitt, who was doing his own operating, insisted that
52
April 2013
he film the action from the bottom of the cage himself as the
three motorcycles crisscrossed above him. Cianfrance recalls,
Sean was covered in armor in there he looked like
Robocop with a camera. We started filming, and then my
handheld monitor went static, I heard a gasp from the crowd,
and I saw Sean under three motorcycles. We opened the cage
and got the bikes off him, and he was okay, just mad that he
didnt get the shot. He wanted to try it again. We did, and
then my monitor blacked out again. Motorcycles had stalled
in midair, one fell on him, and Sean was on the bottom of the
pile again. This time, he was shaken up and went to the hospital. We got the shot [from outside the cage] the next day, but
I think he was mad at me for not letting him back into the
cage. Hes a cinema warrior.
Both filmmakers agree that Bobbitts documentary
background, including stints in war zones, was helpful on The
Place Beyond the Pines. Though the movie is epic in scale,
covering the interactions between two generations of two
families over a couple of decades, it is intimate in style and
approach. Shooting 2-perf Super 35mm, Bobbitt captured all
but a few shots in the picture himself with a handheld
Arricam Lite.
The first half of the film chronicles Lukes attempts to
change his career path after he learns that a former girlfriend,
Romina (Eva Mendes), bore his child. In an effort to support
her and his child, he transitions to robbing banks. The consequences of that decision then reverberate through a number of
Photos by Atsushi Nishijima. Photos and frame grabs courtesy of Focus Features.
Opposite:
Motorcycle stunt
rider Luke
Glanton (Ryan
Gosling) turns to
a life of crime in
The Place Beyond
the Pines. This
page, top and
middle: Glanton
finds himself in
Schenectady, N.Y.,
as part of
a traveling
carnival. Bottom:
The filmmakers
capture Lukes
encounter with
an old girlfriend,
Romina (Eva
Mendes).
lives, including that of a local policeman, Avery Cross (Bradley Cooper),

whose story unfolds in the latter half of
the picture.
Cianfrance knew from the beginning that he would have to strip down
his filmmaking infrastructure to get his
epic drama made without epic
resources. Sometimes the machine of
making the film can overwhelm the
film itself, he observes. On this movie,
we got rid of any kind of fluff and got by
with the bare minimum. For instance,
we decided we didnt need a dolly
because we could shoot on sticks and
Seans strong shoulders instead!
The director wanted the handheld camera to mimic the movements
of the actors, and in his first meeting
with Bobbitt, he realized they were on
the same page. Sean started telling me
about the way he likes to film someone
walking down the street: he tries to
mirror the way the person is walking
and just walk in step with him. No
Steadicam, because the move would be
too smooth. He prefers to experience
the scene with the actor; theres a physical engagement. Thats exactly the way
I liked to work when I was a cinematographer. (One of Cianfrances
cinematography credits was Quattro
www.theasc.com
April 2013
53
Hell on Wheels
Top: Glanton rides

through the
woods to clear his
head after
deciding to stay in
Schenectady.
Bottom: Crew
members in an
ATV shadow a
stunt rider.
Noza, which won a cinematography

prize at Sundance; see AC April 03.)
For his part, Bobbitt calls himself an
intimate observer of the sequence who
always follows and never leaves the
action.
He and Cianfrance were also in
sync on the idea that Pines should be
shot on film. Bobbitt says shooting
2-perf matched their chosen aesthetic
and worked efficiently throughout the
shoot. Its an epic film, and we very
much wanted to shoot in a widescreen
format, he says. With 2-perf, it can be
affordable to shoot film, because youre
cutting your costs in half. Ive shot five
feature films on 2-perf, and I have never
54
April 2013
had a problem with [the format]. For

this movie, it made great aesthetic and
economic sense.
The camera package included
Cooke S4 prime lenses (ranging from
12mm to 135mm) and an Angenieux
Optimo 24-290mm zoom, but that was
pretty much it no Steadicam, no
cranes, no remote heads and no
B camera. Im a great fan of the S4s
and have used them extensively over the
last 12 years, says Bobbitt. I think the
way that the focus falls off with them is
quite unique. Its subjective, but I see a
certain warmth and softness in them
compared to other lenses, which I think
can be a bit too hard and too sharp. It
goes against the grain today, because

everyone wants things really sharp, with
lots of resolution. But I think theres
something more romantic in that
impression of softness.
Cianfrance was keen to make
Schenectady a character in the story,
and the summertime shoot determined
the films color palette. Its incredibly
green in Schenectady in the summer,
he says. One thing Sean and I both
learned working on documentary films
over the years is that the real world cant
be controlled you shoot a vrit
scene, something happens, and you
cant repeat it and get the same results.
The colors we found in the locations we
chose put us in those worlds. We always
wanted to design around what was
already there.
Extended motorcycle stunts
dominate various sections of the film.
One such sequence is a race through the
forest where Luke is spotted by a local
criminal, Robin (Ben Mendelsohn), for
the first time. The action was put
together with long, extended takes and
was shot as bare bones as possible.
Cianfrance says his inspiration for this
approach was TVs Cops and Americas
Wildest Police Chases. The idea was to
shoot such wild rides simply, in long
takes, with the camera quietly along for
the ride. These days, Bobbitt
observes, most stunt and action
sequences are composed of many short
shots edited together. But as soon as you
put an edit in, subconsciously the view-
Top: Police
officers led by
Deluca (Ray
Liotta, left)
invade Rominas
home in search of
money they
suspect Glanton
left with her.
Bottom: The
filmmakers
capture the scene.
ers are reminded that they are watching

a film. We tried to do everything in one
shot as best we could. The shot goes on
and on without an edit, so the viewer is
drawn into the action.
For the forest race, which used
two stunt riders and choreography from
stunt coordinator Brian Smyj, the filmmakers asked key grip Rob Harlow to
rig an Arri 235 to the front and then the
rear of the camera bike for two separate
runs. Bobbitt explains, Rob simply
strapped an Arri 235 onto the fork of
the follow motorcycle, and we let the
chips fall where they may. Our riders,
Ricky Miller and Louis Franco, were
phenomenal; they were on trail bikes
going full tilt through the woods, with
Louis following Ricky as closely as
possible. The camera on the front fork
of Louis bike made it incredibly unbalanced and difficult to ride, yet they did
jumps and other stunts just as choreographed. We then mounted the camera
to the rear of Louis bike and had Ricky
follow him. We adjusted the shutter
angle at least 90 degrees to give it a
kinetic feel, to get that choppy sharpness. Combined with the real jumpiness
of the motorcycles bouncing up and

down, its visceral and believable.
The other crucial and extended
motorcycle stunt happens later in the
film, when Luke is hotly pursued by
Averys police car. The stunt bike (again
driven by Miller) speeds through traffic
and intersections, wipes out at a barrier,
is picked up by the rider, and continues
racing through a residential neighborwww.theasc.com
hood before crashing again, at which

point Luke sets off on foot and runs
into a nearby house.
The chase is presented primarily
from Averys POV, through his windshield. Cooper did his own driving
while, next to him, Bobbitt filmed the
stuntman racing just ahead. Again, we
shot long takes with a handheld
camera, says the cinematographer. I
April 2013
55
Hell on Wheels
Avery Cross
(Bradley Cooper)
uses his early
run-ins with
Glanton and
Deluca to
advance his
career. Bottom
right: Director
Derek Cianfrance
(left) and
cinematographer
Sean Bobbitt, BSC
(center) on set.
was wedged in there, holding on for dear

life! Its all happening in real time.
When the action evolved into a
foot chase, with Avery following Luke
into the house, simplicity continued to
be the operating philosophy. For a key
shot that had to follow a character out a
window, says Bobbitt, I literally poked
the camera out the window. It was a
rather odd angle because if Id panned
the camera left, I would have literally
tilted up. As the police arrive, the frame
is vertical. As they approach the body, it
becomes a normal point of view. We
56
April 2013
didnt have the money for a crane, but

from an aesthetic point of view, we didnt
want that kind of shot, anyway. We
wanted it to feel more unusual.
The lighting department was also
lean and mean. Simplicity and speed
were important in terms of lighting,
says Bobbitt. Ive always felt that if a
light exists that is good and usable, then
I should use it. I want to find the reality
of the light on that location and then
manipulate it to reflect the emotion of
the scene. Then, I want to hold that
[look] for the length of time it takes to
film the scene. If it looks natural and

unlit, then we have succeeded.
Gaffer James P. Dolan notes that
Pines required extensive lighting setups
at a few key interior locations, such as a
house where a shooting takes place.
There, the crew surrounded the house
with a web of HMIs. It was important
to keep lights outside the windows so as
not to restrict the camera, since it was all
handheld, Dolan explains. We had
the occasional Kino Flo or Pocket Par
hidden to bounce light off the ceiling or
into a corner, but mostly it was outside
Hell on Wheels
Top: A.J. (Emory

Cohen, left) and
Jason (Dane
DeHaan), the
teenage sons of
Glanton and
Cross, befriend
one another
without realizing
the history
between their
fathers. Bottom:
The crew films
the boys talking
about their
home lives.
lighting 4Ks, 6Ks and compact

12Ks.
The 12Ks were the largest units
in the lighting package. Bobbitt made
extensive use of two Arri M18 1.8K
Pars, two 4'x4-bank Kino Flos, and
some 1K Par cans and 1,200-watt
Firestarters. He also used small instru58
April 2013
ments like Rosco LED LitePads and

15" Kinos for car interiors. Nine-light
Fay Lights with front hoods and gel
frames (with 013 Straw Tint gels) were
used for nighttime boosts and to simulate streetlights during chase scenes.
But the biggest lighting setup in
the picture was created for a brief, tense
sequence in which Avery is lured to a

meeting deep in the woods by a crooked
cop, Deluca (Ray Liotta). The scene
takes place just after dark, with Avery
driving down a dirt road and seeing
Deluca get out of his parked car. To
make the action visible yet also give the
impression of dusky woods, Dolans
team rigged a series of movable space
lights on aircraft cables between various
pine trees, controlling them with
pulleys. We couldnt get lifts into the
woods, and we knew Sean would be
shooting 360 degrees, says the gaffer.
We hung space lights at different
points between the trees, about 100
yards apart and 60 feet in the air, and
pulled them into various lighting positions. They were easily adjustable, and it
created a nice overhead soft light. In the
deep background, we placed some Par
cans with CTB on Beaver Boards for
uplighting the pines. We worked with
broad strokes where we could to allow
Derek and Sean as much freedom as
possible when setting shots. This kind
of overhead lighting was not restrictive.
We had two circuits to control, and it
was dimmable and half blue. By the
Hell on Wheels
The filmmakers
unusually
intimate
approach to
action sequences
led to a variety
of stripped-down
techniques.
Middle: Bobbitt
lines up a shot.
Bottom: The
cinematographer
takes to a
motorcycle to
capture Gosling
on the road.
time we dimmed it down, we still had

the feeling of moonlight.
Dolan notes that in the old-fashioned banks where Lukes crimes take
place, there were lots of spots to hide
lights corners and balconies where
we could push through with a 6K or
12K. We also changed the overhead
fluorescents to the correct color whenever we could. We supplemented with
Kinos or, when we were going for a
cooler look, some hard HMI lighting.
Because Bobbitts camera was
constantly seeing 360 degrees of
unchoreographed action in those
scenes, each bank location posed its
own problems, says the cinematographer. In one bank, it was just a matter
of opening and closing blinds on
windows, because in the scene, Ryan
jumps onto the bank counter and I was
down very low, seeing the whole of the
ceiling, so I couldnt bounce anything
[up there]. That was a matter of exposing properly and playing with the
curtains! In other banks, we did bounce
things into the ceiling to try and amp
ambient light inside; we used lights on
hidden stands, balconies or wherever we
could.
During one of the robberies,
Luke moves from a sunlit exterior to
the banks dark interior in a long single
take. That required about an 8-stop
change, Bobbitt says. It was a combination of our first AC, Ludovic Littee,
and second AC, Spencer Gillis, changing shutter angle and iris at the same
60
April 2013
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Hell on Wheels
Left: Bobbitt films

Gosling and
Mendes out for a
ride. Right: A
smaller fixture is
deployed to
enhance the
ambience for a
night scene.
time as we swept into and out of the

building. They did it so well you dont
even notice it as we move from exterior
to interior without a cut. Again, we
wanted to maintain that sense of reality.
We were going from an 11.2-
62
degree shutter with a T5.6 outside to a

180-degree shutter and a T2.8 inside,
adds Littee. The tough part was
hiding it. We would try to hide the
[iris/shutter change] as the camera
wiped through a wall or as Sean was
turning a corner. I was pulling focus
and the iris as Spencer did the shutter

pull. We would rack at different
moments so it wouldnt be shocking to
the eye. And, because we were doing
single takes, we had to repeat it on the
way out!
Colorist Tom Poole graded the
productions dailies and the final picture

at Company 3 in New York. Early in
prep, Cianfrance and Bobbitt worked
with Poole to set a template that stayed
consistent through the final color
process. We definitely did not do
desaturation, recalls Poole, who
worked on a DaVinci Resolve. We
tried to emulate a deep, print-y
aesthetic, keeping colors strong and
bold. From a color standpoint, we kept
most scenes true to the natural color
temperature of the environment. It was
important to Derek and Sean to retain
the color of the lush greenery around
Schenectady in the summer. The lighting and composition were superb, so
[the color correction] was more about
where to put dynamics where to
make an exposure adjustment in the
color across a shot. On long shots, like
the opening tracking shot of Luke
walking through the carnival, we did
put a few subtle dynamics in, but we
definitely were not afraid to keep things
natural and let him go into darkness.

Sean captured density and mood, and
we just helped a little with that in various places by enhancing edgelight with
some highlight keys.
One of the challenges in the
grade sprang from the films many long,
continuous takes. If a character went
from a light area to a dark area in the
same shot, we did not bring the dark
area up too much, notes Poole. But if
the character started outside and then
went inside, wed color balance to adjust
from daylight to tungsten or daylight to
fluorescent. It was mostly corrective
color-temperature dynamics.
Cianfrance says he is thrilled
with Bobbitts contribution to the films
unconventional aesthetic. Sean
brought beauty and scope to the whole
thing he made it epic through his
photography and incredible sense of
composition. The action was real and
really happening, but he saw it the way
only he could.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.40:1
2-perf Super 35mm
Arricam Lite
Cooke and Angenieux
Kodak Vision2 50D 5201;
Vision3 250D 5207, 500T 5219
Digital Intermediate
63
All In
In the Picture, shot by John Hora, ASC
and Douglas Knapp, SOC, marks
the return of Cinerama after a
50-year absence.
By Jon D. Witmer
|
64
April 2013
n Sept. 30, 2012, 60 years to the day since This is

Cinerama first wowed an audience in New York City, a
packed house at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in
Hollywood witnessed the premiere of In the Picture, the
first new Cinerama film made since 1962. Spearheaded by
director/editor David Strohmaier (Cinerama Adventure, AC
Sept. 02), the 26-minute short film attracted a crew of
passionate devotees of the three-panel format, including cinematographers John Hora, ASC and Douglas Knapp, SOC.
Cinerama was invented by Fred Waller, who also
counted an early optical printer and the Waller Gunnery
Trainer (which projected five synchronized 35mm filmstrips
onto a hemispherical screen) among his creations. In his quest
to create a theatrical-presentation format that would place the
audience in the picture by approximating the scope of
natural human vision and hearing, Waller landed upon using
three 6-perf-tall 35mm film strips that, when projected onto
a curved screen via three synced projectors, presented a single
image with a field-of-view 146 degrees wide by 55 degrees
high. Cinerama also introduced seven-channel surround
In the Picture photos by Michael Bulbenko, Michael J. Cahill, Harrison Engle and Anthony Saenz, courtesy of David Strohmaier. Additional photos courtesy of Lincoln Morrison.
Opposite: The ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood as seen through the tri-lensed Cinerama
directors viewfinder. This page, clockwise from top: A combined frame from In the Picture
shows the brigantine Exy Johnson under sail; the A-, B- and C-panel film strips; the In the
Picture crew included (from left) John Sittig; co-cinematographers John Hora, ASC and Douglas
Knapp, SOC; camera operator Lance Fisher, SOC; David Tondeur; Ken Stone; director David
Strohmaier; Jon Stone; and Kurt Wahlner.
sound to viewers who had previously

only known monaural theatrical audio.
As designed by Waller, the
Cinerama camera body houses three
non-removable 27mm Kodak Ektar
lenses set at 48-degree angles to one
another. A single shutter with a 165degree opening rotates 1116" in front of
the three lenses, where their lines of
view converge. Three 1,000' magazines
each mount to its own movement (or
camera, in Cineramas vernacular),
which in turn mounts to the main

camera body. Fully loaded, the system
weighs more than 200 pounds.
When one looks at the screen,
the A panel is on the left, the B panel is
in the center, and the C panel is on the
right. Because the A and C lenses look
diagonally across one another, when one
looks at the back of the camera body,
the C magazine is on the left, with B in
the middle and A on the right. The
cameras focus knob is located between
www.theasc.com
the B and C magazines, and the aperture knob is positioned between the A
and B magazines, at the top of the
camera; both controls adjust all three
lenses simultaneously.
Strohmaier describes making In
the Picture as an act of cinema forensics
that required Hora, Knapp and the rest
of the crew to learn this long-dormant
format anew. The opportunity to make
the short arose when John H. Sittig of
the ArcLight Cinema Co. and Pacific
April 2013
65
All In
Clockwise from left: In the Picture was shot with Cinerama Camera #3, which
was last used on 1962s How the West Was Won; with the magazines
and movements removed, viewing tubes can be affixed directly behind each of
the cameras three taking lenses; Knapp inspects the camera with two
magazines mounted.
Theatres, which now owns Cinerama,

began planning a retrospective in honor
of the formats 60th anniversary. For his
subject, Strohmaier decided to hark
back to the Cinerama travelogues of
old, particularly Cinerama Holiday (AC
June 54), which followed a young Swiss
couple around the United States and a
young American couple through
Switzerland and France. I said, Its got
to be something we can shoot in L.A.
66
April 2013
because we cant afford to travel, and it

would be great if we dont need
permits, Strohmaier recalls. I knew
Stanley Livingston, who was in How the
West Was Won, and I thought he and his
wife, Paula, could show a younger
couple [Matthew Brewbaker and
Elizabeth Dominguez] around Los
Angeles, talking about Cinerama along
the route.
Hora, who has notched credits
with a number of specialty formats,

including Imax and Imax 3-D, was
quick to come aboard In the Picture, and
he invited Knapp to sign on as the cocinematographer. I immediately said
yes, says Knapp, whose cinematography credits include episodes of the series
Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek:
Enterprise. I never could have imagined
that I would ever shoot Cinerama, he
adds. I jumped at the chance!
The crew worked with Cinerama
Camera #3, which served on every
three-panel Cinerama feature from
Cinerama Holiday (1955) to How the
West Was Won (1962). Upon Horas
recommendation, Strohmaier tasked
Ken Stone of Stone Cinema
Engineering with refurbishing the
camera system. Stone recalls that the
cameras condition was extremely
rough. It didnt turn over, and I had to
make some parts and machine new
shafts for the camera motor couplers. I
also installed a new shutter gear and
new bearings in all three [camera movements].
Stone also mounted a 6"x6" filter
tray from an Arri mattebox directly to
the front of the camera. The 6"x6" size
was just barely big enough to cover the

shutter opening in front of the lenses,
says Knapp. We didnt use them a lot,
just for NDs a few times.
Stone enlisted Bill Feemster to
help with the camera systems electronics. Stone explains, Most cameras run
on 24 to 30 volts, but this one took 120.
We ran three batteries in a series and
were able to get 120 volts DC, and that
got the camera up to 26 fps.
26 fps was the speed Waller chose
in order to mitigate flicker in the audiences peripheral vision. All of the
Cinerama travelogues were filmed at
this frame rate, but when Cinerama
partnered with MGM for the narrative
features The Wonderful World of the
Brothers Grimm (AC Sept. 62) and How
the West Was Won (AC Jan. 62, Oct. 83),
the studio insisted on 24-fps recording
to facilitate anamorphic 35mm optical
composite prints from the three-panel
original negative for standard theatrical
exhibition. For In the Picture,
Strohmaier says, I thought it would be
clever to use the real speed so we could
say we were faithful to the travelogues.
However, affixing the camera
with a working crystal speed control
was beyond the means of the projects
modest budget, so the filmmakers had
Top: A
three-panel slate
is positioned in
frame while
shooting at the
Hollywood
Heritage
Museum.
Middle:
Strohmaier finds
a shot using the
Cinerama
viewfinder.
Bottom: A closer
look at the
vintage
viewfinder.
www.theasc.com
April 2013
67
All In
to contend with a wild motor. There
was a fine and a coarse adjustment, says
Knapp, and [camera assistant] David
Tondeur would play with those to hold
the speed during the take.
David worked five features as an
assistant for Jack Cardiff [BSC],
Knapp continues. His classical training
meant we always had the proper
settings and perfect reports for the lab,
and never a camera jam. The camera
crew also included Kurt Wahlner, who
was a lifesaver, says Strohmaier. His
credit was assistant cameraman, but he
was also a grip and an all-around utility
guy. He was there every day of the
shoot, always on time and with a smile!
To help acquaint the crew with
the camera, Strohmaier assembled a
manual from documents originally put
together by Peter Gibbons, who was
with Cinerama throughout the
companys 10 years of production.
That manual detailed not only the
workings of the camera, but also some
of the philosophy about the angles you
can and cant get away with, and where
to place the focus regarding crossover
points between the three panels, says
Knapp.
Because of the way the optics are
set up, wherever youre focused, you get
a satisfactory blend, Hora explains. So,
if the subject is 12 feet away and the
focus is at 12 feet, he can walk across the
frame and nothing bad happens.
However, if the focus is in front of an
actor on the blend line, he might wind
up with a second nose, and if the focus
is behind the actor, at least part of the
subject will disappear.
Additionally, the format has
remarkably little depth-of-field, says
Hora. Even though its a 27mm lens,
the image is so large you dont have any
room for error. Its like shooting 65mm
or even [15-perf 65mm] Imax. It was a
very demanding format in almost every
respect.
Furthermore, the cameras B lens
was visibly less sharp than the A and C
lenses. These are certainly not modern
optics, says Knapp. They had a
yellowish coating, not the nice blue or
Top: The Cinerama

clapper is placed
in the picture.
Middle: Knapp
and Strohmaier
prepare to take a
ride with the
camera. Bottom:
With the camera
mounted on a
Shotmaker
camera car, Fisher
and Knapp discuss
their plan for the
days work.
68
April 2013
purple coating were used to seeing.

Despite all of this, spirits soared
when the filmmakers test footage was
screened at the Dome. We were
amazed, says camera operator Lance
Fisher, SOC. It was just a camera test,
but it was the first new Cinerama
footage to be screened in 50 years!
Working with Fujifilm marketing
manager Michael Bulbenko, the filmmakers shot In the Picture on two
Fujifilm stocks, F-64D 8522 and
Eterna 250D 8563. The Fuji people
were thrilled with the project and very
helpful, says Hora, but its funny: this
is the only Cinerama film in history that
wasnt shot with Kodak!
Fisher notes that the Cinerama
camera is very top heavy. Instead of
being low and long, its kind of narrow
and high. The center of gravity is terrible. To support the camera body,
Cinerama had its own friction tripod
heads, one of which was used on In the
Picture. Fisher observes, It had no drag
whatsoever; it was either on or off.
The Cinerama cameras also had
their own sound blimps, but none of
those survives. That saved us a couple
hundred pounds, Hora notes wryly.
But we were recording a scratch track
so Dave could loop the sound afterwards, and the actors couldnt even hear
each other because of the camera noise!
It sounded like a coffee grinder
mated with a lawn mower, says soundman Lincoln Morrison, who nevertheless recorded a usable reference track
with a combination of radio mics and a
boom fed through a mixer to a twotrack hard-disc recorder. Morrison
learned of the production from his
uncle, Jim Morrison, who had worked
on This is Cinerama and Seven Wonders
of the World. Lincoln recalls, I got an email from my Uncle Jim, saying, Hey,
they broke out the old Cinerama
camera! I contacted David Strohmaier
right away. I wanted to be part of
Cineramas unique history, and Im
proud to be able to say that members of
my family worked with this groundbreaking format at its inception as well
as its probable finale.
Principal photography began in

January and ran through April, with
shooting days every other weekend,
more or less, with some extra stuff
thrown in every once in awhile, says
Hora. We usually did two or three
[locations] in a day.
Strohmaier storyboarded nearly
the entire film, and on location he lined
up the shots using a vintage Cinerama
viewfinder, a box-like apparatus with
one viewing hole on the back and three

lenses on the front that gives an approximation of the three-panel frame. The
camera was then brought into place
with the magazines and movements
removed so that a viewing tube could be
mounted directly behind each taking
lens. Once all three magazines were on,
one of the viewing tubes would be
attached to a rotating viewfinder lens
atop the camera body. Knapp explains,
All In
You can pull a little pin and swing the

viewing tube to the left, right or center;
there are discreet cut-out marks where it
locks into place that are supposed to
represent the field-of-view the lenses are
seeing. Fisher adds, Its not very
precise. Theres a parallax issue, so what
you see is not exactly what you get. Also,
its on top of the camera, so getting your
70
April 2013
eye to it can be challenging.

Things were also difficult in front
of the camera, where the actors, because
of the different angles of the three
taking lenses, had to cheat their eyelines
away from the camera when standing in
different panels in order to appear as if
they were making eye contact.
Furthermore, Strohmaier rarely had a
clear view of the action. Fisher recalls,

We all learned very quickly that because
of the 146-degree horizontal view, if
youre standing next to the camera, your
shoulder will be in [the frame] and ruin
the shot. So David had to go up on a
ladder behind the camera or look
through the tripod legs underneath.
We settled into a formula for
Bottom left photo courtesy of Litepanels/Lewis Communications.
Top: The director

leads his crew on
location at the
Griffith Park
merry-go-round.
Bottom left:
Filming on the ride
required two
Litepanels 1x1
LEDs to be
mounted above
the camera.
Bottom right: The
filmmakers
prepare to shoot
at the Griffith
Observatory.
All In
Top: Shooting In the Picture took the crew all

around Los Angeles, including stops at the Walt
Disney Concert Hall (left) and City Hall (right).
Bottom: Taking advantage of the Action Dolly,
Fisher lines up a shot in Chinatown.
blocking that was not very adventuresome, but it worked pretty well, says
Hora. We had people enter from both
sides of the camera into the side panels,
and the view [they were looking at] was
in the center panel. That kept us out of
a certain amount of trouble, but I wish
we had let things play and develop
within one continuous shot more
often.
The filmmakers did manage an
occasional dolly shot thanks to the
Action Dolly, which was loaned to us by
Randy Burgess, my former Star Trek key
grip, says Knapp. It has pneumatic
tires, so its really smooth. We put a baby
tripod on the dolly, and the points on
72
April 2013
the tripod legs could be locked into

place. The dolly is compact enough
that it could be transported in a van, and
at most locations, the crew would build
the camera right on the dolly so that
they could simply roll the rig from one
setup to the next.
In the Picture begins at a scenic
overlook along Mulholland Drive.
After enjoying the view, the two couples
settle into a van to drive down the
winding road. To get shots of the four
passengers with the road visible through
the windshield, the camera was
squeezed into the back and propped up
on pieces of plywood so the lenses could
see above the back seat. To achieve
unobstructed POV driving shots, the

production employed a Shotmaker
camera car provided by Leo Landa.
We also did some shots in Beverly
Hills, Santa Monica and Hollywood
out of the back of the van, says Knapp.
I sat in the rear passenger seat, and the
camera was on a special slider that I
built to fit in the van. It had two heavyduty slider rollers on it, so I could slide
the camera farther back than it could be
when the back door was closed.
The driving tour brings the
couples to Griffith Park, where they
take a ride on the merry-go-round. The
Cinerama camera, set up on a tripod,
was positioned where one of the rides
horses happened to have been removed.
However, with the four actors, the
camera, an operator and an assistant all
on one side of the carousel, the ride was
terribly unbalanced, so a lot of [the
crew] rode on the far side, exactly opposite the camera, to serve as ballast, says
Hora.
Looking out across the carousel
All In
with that 146-degree view, we were
bound to see screaming-hot backgrounds, says Knapp. Fortunately, we
had two battery-powered Litepanels
[1x1 Bi-Color LED units], and we
used mafer clamps to position the
lights where we could to light our four
actors. That gave us just enough light,
and we were able to get an eyelight in
there.
The format tested the team in
every location, but Angels Flight was
the most challenging, says Fisher. A
landmark in downtown Los Angeles,
Angels Flight is a funicular that travels
up and down a steep track. Fisher
continues, Ken Stone attached these
carrying handles to the camera that
Doug called noggin knockers, because
wed always hit our heads on them, and
they were wider than the entrance door.
We had to be very meticulous to get set
up.
The funicular cars are
constructed at an angle to match the
track; to keep the passengers level, the
cars interiors incorporate a series of
steps. We had to have the front leg [of
the tripod] on a higher level than the
back two legs, says Knapp. We used a
piece of rubber matting with holes, the
kind you find in restaurant kitchens, as
a flexible spreader. We put the tripod
points in the holes in the back, then
rolled the mat up onto the next level,
put the front tripod spike in that, and
then sandbagged everything.
A literal high-water mark in the
film finds the couples sailing aboard
the brigantine Exy Johnson, a scene that
recalls the Cinemiracle feature
Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian
Radich (AC April 58). (Cinemiracle
was a rival three-panel format that was
ultimately purchased by Cinerama.) Ed
Steiner of the TopSail Youth Program
made the vessel available to the production. We couldnt storyboard [the
sequence] because I dont know that
much nautically, says Strohmaier. I
just knew we needed a lot of coverage
to make the sequence work.
Getting that coverage required
three shooting days, including two on
Top: Fisher and

Wahlner inspect
one of the
magazines and its
corresponding
movement.
Middle: Knapp
positions a
bounce board for
a shot aboard the
Exy Johnson.
Bottom: Fisher
trains the camera
on the Angels
Gate lighthouse.
74
April 2013
All In
Top left: Hora takes

a light reading as
Knapp frames the
exterior of the
Dome. Top right:
Inside the theater
lobby, In the
Picture soundman
Lincoln Morrison
(left) takes five
with his uncle, Jim
Morrison, who
worked on the
Cinerama features
This is Cinerama
and Seven
Wonders of the
World. Bottom: The
crew films a test
inside the theater.
deck and one from the vantage of

another boat looking back at the Exy
Johnson as it sailed alongside its sister
vessel, the Irving Johnson. We had our
camera set up at the back of the camera
boat, and we had these two beautiful
brigantines just dancing behind us, says
Knapp. I would have preferred to shoot
with the camera tilted a little higher,
because we were cutting off the top of
the sails and had a lot of water in the
foreground. But weird things start to
happen with the crossover points when
you tilt the camera things bow out at
weird angles. If youre going to do something with a tilt, you have to get very
extreme, and then youll accept it as a
graphic style. We had a couple of shots
on deck where we were on a baby
tripod, tilted up to watch the riggers
climb up the rope ladders, and on one of
76
April 2013
the side panels, you see water going

uphill at about 45 degrees!
The couples end their day with a
movie at the Cinerama Dome, and in
the lobby, they run into Debbie
Reynolds, who played Aunt Lilith to
Livingstons Prescott Rawlings in How
the West Was Won. Knapp notes,
Because theres a glass wall at the front
of the lobby, youre going to get daylight
no matter what, but we actually took
advantage of our two Litepanels dualcolor capability and switched one of
them to tungsten so it had a nice warm
glow behind Debbie.
The crew later returned to the
ArcLight to shoot inside the Dome,
where the couples are surprised to see
their adventures projected on the screen
in glorious Cinerama. For filming in the
theater, Knapp explains, we again used
the Litepanels, which we tuned to

daylight to match the three Cinerama
projectors. Also, [cinematographer/
research technologist] Joe di Gennaro of
the Academys Sci-Tech Council
brought out a couple of TruColor Foton
and TruColor HS units [borrowed from
Trisha Maas of Production Resource
Group]. The TruColor HS looks like a
2K Zip light; its daylight balanced, you
plug it straight into the wall, and its got
a dimmer. Its really nice.
Finally, to emulate a projector
backlighting the audience, Morrison
contacted Dave Azzoto of Leonetti Co.
to secure a 1,800-watt Arri M18 HMI,
which was positioned inside the projection booth. That made a big difference, Knapp enthuses. It gave us a
beautiful rimlight and backlit the
chairs.
FotoKem processed all of the
productions footage. Knapp recalls,
Wed load the same roll number from
the same emulsion batch in all three
magazines, and when we took the film
to FotoKem, we requested, Please
process these three cans together, one
right after another, in the same tank. Do
not split them up. So, we were confident that our negative was as close to
neutral for this process as possible.
The crew gathered in the
Cinerama Dome to screen dailies
throughout the production. Strohmaier
ran the projectors for the screenings
alongside Sittig. Hora explains, We
were always looking for the sharpness,
The moment everything

you shoot becomes cinema.
This is the moment we work for.
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All In
Hora checks
his meter and
Knapp frames
the camera as
the crew readies
a shot from the
dock alongside
the Exy
Johnson.
especially with that middle lens, so

Dave would have to run down to look at
it, and sometimes the panels would end
up misframed rather dramatically until
Dave could get back to the booth to
correct it. It was chaotic, but we did see
printed film dailies!
Strohmaier also set up a video
camera to shoot the projected dailies off
78
the Domes curved screen. He used

that [video] to make his editorial decisions, says Hora. It was an amazingly
roundabout system.
How do you explain this to
anybody? Strohmaier muses, considering In the Pictures post workflow. With
a laugh, he adds, And whos the idiot
whos actually doing this, and why? He
edited the digital footage he shot off the

Cinerama screen and printed screen
grabs at each cut point; he then took
those screen grabs into his garage, where
he was set up to edit the actual work
print, and searched for the corresponding film frames. There was no time
code that related to what was on the
film, he says. It was all visual.
Because of the wild motor, the
audio files for each take had to be
trimmed or stretched in multiple places
in order to sync with the actors. Once
the audio appeared in sync with the
image, Strohmaier burned CDs for the
actors so they could practice the rhythm
of their lines, and then the actors came
to Strohmaiers home, where Morrison
recorded the individual ADR sessions.
Finally, the edited ADR file was taken
to Chace Audio, where the digital audio
was laid onto 35mm magnetic film at 26
fps for presentation in the Dome. The
people at Chace said, In theory, this is
supposed to work, says Strohmaier.
Had it not, we would have had a silent

movie!
Once the picture was locked,
Strohmaier and Knapp returned to
FotoKem for the photochemical color
timing, which they did with Kristen
Zimmerman. Knapp explains, Kristen
would start with the B panel and do a
first pass to balance the color there.
Once that was printed, we took it to
the Dome and ran the timed B panel
with the A and C panels from the work
print. Kristen came to the Dome to see
that, and then worked on the B and C
panels. We then printed everything,
screened it at the Dome again, and
Kristen made a few additional changes
for the final print.
Since its premiere, In the Picture
has played a few more times at the
Dome, where it will likely play again
when the theater programs one of its
annual screenings of How the West Was
Won or This is Cinerama. At press time,
the film was slated to have its European
premiere on April 27 at the U.K.

National Media Museums Pictureville
Cinema in Bradford, England. The only
other venues capable of screening true
three-panel Cinerama are the Seattle
Cinerama Theatre in Washington and a
Cinerama installation that John H.
Mitchell constructed in his backyard in
Sydney, Australia.
Right around the time we were
finishing this movie, Fuji announced it
was no longer going to produce camera
negative, so this was an entirely bittersweet project, says Fisher. Making In
the Picture reminded us of our roots. It
reminded us to be meticulous and to
have a diligent approach to our craft. It
took such care, planning and attention
to detail to pull it off.
Although all of the filmmakers
concede another Cinerama project isnt
likely to happen, Knapp speaks for the
entire crew when he enthuses, I was
honored to be a part of it, and Id do it
again in a second.
TECHNICAL SPECS
2.65:1 (approximate)
3-strip 6-perf 35mm
Cinerama Camera #3
Kodak Ektar lenses
Fujifilm Super F-64D 8522,
Eterna 250D 8563
79
6 Sundance
Standouts
The cinematographers behind some

of the festivals most evocative
entries detail their approaches.
By Rachael K. Bosley, Jean Oppenheimer,
Stephen Pizzello and Patricia Thomson
|
wo of the films covered in this Sundance roundup,

Mother of George and Fruitvale, won prizes in the U.S.
Dramatic Competition, which was judged by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC; producer
Tom Rothman; film critic Wesley Morris; British Film
Institute programmer Clare Stewart; and filmmaker Ed
Burns. In a Sundance first, the categorys cinematography
prize was given to one cinematographer, Bradford Young, for
two films, Mother of George and Aint Them Bodies Saints.
Fruitvale was honored with the competitions Grand Jury
Prize and Audience Award.
Other films that caught our eyes this year included the
World Dramatic Competition entry Houston; the U.S.
Documentary Competition entry Narco Cultura; and Big Sur
and No, which both screened out of competition.
Mother of George
Cinematographer: Bradford Young
Director: Andrew Dosunmu
Commenting on the U.S. Dramatic Competition jurys
decision to award the cinematography prize to Bradford
Young for two very different films, Mother of George and Aint
Them Bodies Saints, juror Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC noted:
80
April 2013
We noticed that Bradfords work on both films had something in common: deep, atmospheric lighting and strong
compositions that enhanced the storytelling and helped
follow the emotional states of the characters. His use of light,
shadow and color was very expressive and powerful. I especially liked that the lighting felt very naturalistic and real, but
I could see a strong design and intention in the imagery.
Speaking to AC shortly after the festival, Young was
quick to share the credit with the films directors, Andrew
Dosunmu on Mother of George and David Lowery on Aint
Them Bodies Saints: I was working with two directors who
are extremely visual, so both films were true collaborations.
Mother of George is actually Youngs second feature with
Dosunmu, whom he has admired since his college days at
Howard University. Young recalls that he first noticed
Dosunmus work in 2000, when he saw the music video for
Commons The 6th Sense. A decade later, Young found
himself shooting Dosunmus first feature, Restless City. The
fellow New Yorkers subsequently stayed in close touch and
collaborated on several music videos. About a year later, they
were at work on Mother of George.
Set in the Nigerian immigrant community in
Brooklyn, the film begins with a traditional wedding: New
arrival Adenike (Danai Gurira) marries Ayodele (Isaach De
Bankol), the owner of a local Nigerian restaurant. Ayodeles
mother immediately demands a grandchild, whom she
preemptively names George. As the months roll by, no child
arrives, and Adenike is shamed by this failure. Meanwhile,
her husband ducks the fertility question, and her mother-inlaws haranguing increases. Out of desperation, Adenike
takes some misguided advice about how to conceive a child.
Filmed over 22 days on practical locations in Brooklyn,
Mother of George takes full advantage of the bold colors of
African textiles and the dark skin tones of its cast. For visual
inspiration, the filmmakers turned to contemporary painters,
especially Chris Ofili and his Harem watercolor series, which
uses a palette of aqua, pink, yellow and cyan that just blew us
Mother of George photos courtesy of Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Set in Brooklyns
Nigerian
immigrant
community,
Mother of George
follows newly
married Adenike
Balogun (Danai
Gurira) as she
struggles to
conceive a child
with her husband.
away, says Young. This was someone

paying close attention to the rich tapestry of skin tones within the African
diaspora, [and that was] married with
the festive, celebratory, intricate design
quality of African textiles.
Additionally, Young looked to
the paintings of Lynette YiadomBoakye, whose oil portraits are often
dark-on-dark, with ebony complexions
melting into abstract brown and black
backgrounds while an article of clothing
white collar, red stockings, blue dress
pops out. Both artists were playing
with what we wanted to play with: How
far can we bury these bodies in darkness
to heighten their skin-tone value, but
also pull them out through wardrobe
and lighting? says Young.
The filmmakers sole day of testing was devoted to seeing how extreme
we could go with color, and then how
that color would look against our actors
skin tones, he continues. We put that
smack-dab in the middle of normal
New York City spaces to test the relationship between a striking-looking
human being with very striking color
and the city, which has a graphic quality
to it. We wanted Mother of George to

feel intentional, but not contrived.
Having shot Restless City on a
Red One, Young and Dosunmu
decided to continue with the brand.
We found that the Red did a lot of
interesting things with skin tone when
we let it fall off in deep shadow, says
Young. For Mother of George, they chose
a Red Epic, shooting 5K at 3:1
compression for a final extraction of
2.40:1. Pleased with the image quality
of the raw file, Young was ecstatic when
he saw what colorist Alex Bickel could
achieve in the grade at Manhattan post
house Color Collective. Bickel
enriched the look by mixing colored
versions of the same image together
using the DaVinci Resolves layer mixer
nodes. We tried to grade as if we were
using traditional printer lights, says
Young. Alex brought a technique and a
photographic sensibility to the grading
that gave more texture to the image and
made Mother of George fly.
Young shot the picture mostly on
Cooke S4 prime lenses. He used an
Angenieux Optimo 24-290mm zoom
very sparingly, and a Canon EF
www.theasc.com
400mm for many day exteriors. The

50mm, 65mm and 100mm primes
were his workhorse lenses, however, and
close-ups were emphasized. Young
explains, The idea of marginalization is
very important to our story. Andrew
always talks about how New York is a
place of great diversity, but were not in
communication with each other. We
filled the frame up with faces that New
Yorkers see every day, but dont really
see, even though they might live next
door.
For lighting, he continues, we
stayed away from HMIs and tungsten
and used only fluorescents. We wanted
the film to feel slightly futuristic, like
youre looking at something 20 years in
the future. Also, in Africa, Asia and
Latin America, light sources are usually
fluorescent. Ive often been struck by
how unusual certain skin tones can look
in that light.
Young also emphasized toplight,
which not only allowed the camera to
move freely through cramped locations,
but also gave him the ability to subtly
shift the lighting as the story progressed
while retaining consistency. We
April 2013
81
Top: Adenike
tries to put her
time to good
use. Bottom:
Director Andrew
Dosunmu
(left) and
cinematographer
Bradford Young
(right, with back
to camera) work
out a scene with
actress Yaya
Alafia.
thought we might want to bury the eyes

a little bit more as the story starts to
decay, he says. The idea was to work
those fixtures back behind the character
and not necessarily focus in on face, but
on posture.
He never used eyelight. We
didnt want bounce boards or any of that
stuff. We wanted to keep these eyes
deep and rich. We also didnt feel these
82
April 2013
actresses needed to be separated from

their male counterparts. We wanted to
have a more egalitarian approach.
To create their toplight, Young
and gaffer Matt Zschoche designed
8'x8' soft banks containing 12 Kino Flo
bulbs pushed through muslin. Bulbs
were sometimes wrapped in cyan gel for
a more futuristic feel. All the bulbs were
on separate circuits. We could control
each bulb individually, which made the

lighting more nuanced, and that was
appropriate for Mother of George because
the story is so nuanced, Young says.
We could see which angle worked best
at the time. For a person sitting on the
edge of a bed, for instance, wed find the
light that modeled the body in a realistic way rather than picking the one closest to the camera.
Practical fixtures do a fair
amount of work in the movie, but the
overall ambience that gives you that
shiny, rich, futuristic quality comes from
the fluorescents in the ceiling, he adds.
Young says that although he and
Dosunmu had worked together many
times, the director brought challenges
to me every day, challenges in framing as
well as lighting. His attitude was, Were
going to find a new grammar. We both
wanted to create something that was
better than what wed done before, to
beat our own personal best. Andrew
would say, I see I got 98 percent out of
you, and I need another 2 percent. And
hed drag it out of me every day!
Patricia Thomson
Fruitvale frame grab and photos courtesy of the filmmakers and The Weinstein Co.
Fruitvale
Cinematographer:
Rachel Morrison
Director: Ryan Coogler
Winner of both the Grand Jury
Prize and the Audience Award in the
U.S. Dramatic category, Fruitvale
imagines the last day in the life of Oscar
Grant (Michael B. Jordan), the 22year-old black man whose death at the
hands of a white transit cop in
Oakland, Calif., in January 2009 made
national headlines after video footage of
his shooting went viral, sparking
demonstrations and riots in the Bay
Area. The films title comes from the
BART stop where transit police
detained, beat and shot Grant in front
of dozens of bystanders, several of
whom captured the incident with their
cell-phone cameras.
University of Southern California film student Ryan Coogler, an
Oakland native who was Grants age at
the time, followed the events closely,
and after he graduated, he set about
writing a script that would restore
some of Oscars identity, who he was as
a person, he explained to an audience
at Sundance. You cant see his face that
well in the videos, and I thought it
could have been any young black man.
It could have been me.
Three years later, after conducting extensive interviews with Grants
Top: Oscar (Michael B. Jordan) enjoys time with his daughter (Ariana Neal) in a frame from Fruitvale.
Bottom: Cinematographer Rachel Morrison and director Ryan Coogler confer on set.
family and friends, Coogler took his

Fruitvale script to the Sundance
Institutes Screenwriters Lab. When
financing fell into place shortly thereafter, he turned to Ilyse McKimmie,
director of Sundances feature-film labs
program, for advice on a cinematographer. McKimmie recommended
Rachel Morrison, an American Film
Institute graduate whose credits include
the indie features Any Day Now and
Sound of My Voice (a Sundance 2011
selection).
Speaking to AC shortly after the
www.theasc.com
festival, Coogler says, The cinematographers the labs recommend are all very
good, but I chose Rachel because when
I met her, it really felt right. We first met
over Skype, and we hit it off and ended
up talking for two hours. We had a
passion for the same films, and we
talked a lot about life. There was a real
connection there.
I dont think Ive ever had an
interview like that, where I was so
excited by the end of it to work with that
director, says Morrison, a Boston native
who is based in Los Angeles. We saw
April 2013
83
Top: The
filmmakers get
ready to shoot
on the BART
platform.
Bottom:
Morrison and
Coogler prep for
a night exterior.
the film the same way, had many of the

same references and really connected on
a much deeper level.
I was affected by Ryans script
from the get-go, she continues. I cried
at the end of it, and it usually takes the
end product to evoke a response that
strong. But I also knew it was going to
take a miracle to bring everything
together and have the film unfold as
poignantly as the script read just
because it was such a small movie, and it
was very ambitious for the resources we
84
April 2013
had. It was a 20-day shoot involving an

ensemble cast, stunts, firearms, extras,
kids, dogs and visual effects.
Something
Coogler
and
Morrison bonded over immediately was
the conviction that Fruitvale should be
shot on film, which they believed
would lend an air of authenticity to the
image, says Morrison. Theres just
something tangible, evocative and
organic about films moving grain structure that was right for this story. We
wanted the granularity to be visible.
Production was not excited about what

they perceived to be an added expense,
but I pushed for film, and Ryan really
went to bat for it.
Referencing such shared favorites
as City of God, A Prophet, Fish Tank and
Amores Perros, Morrison and Coogler
then tested and debated 35mm and
16mm. I learned on Super 16, and I
love the look of it, says Coogler. With
all the advances in film stocks and DI
technology, its often hard for even a
highly trained eye to tell whether somethings been shot on 35mm or with the
newest digital cameras, but Super 16
has an apparent, in-your-face grain
structure. Also, I came up watching
documentaries shot on 16mm, so I
interpret that look as reality a little
more.
Both filmmakers were concerned
about Super 16s greater depth-of-field,
however. Losing shallow depth-offield as a tool in my visual arsenal was
actually terrifying for me, says
Morrison. I thought shooting 2-perf
Super 35, underexposing and push
processing to bring up the grain would
give us the best of both worlds. But
Ryan wasnt really sold on a 2.35:1
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aspect ratio Fruitvale is a really intimate portrait, and we wanted to be close
to our subject so we went back-andforth in a very constructive, deliberate
way right up to the last day we could
order the film stock.
Arri really championed the
project and took us under their wing,
she continues, noting that Arri CSC
provided an Arri 416 and Zeiss Ultra 16
primes and charged only for shipping. I
chose the [T1.3] Ultra 16s because I
wanted to shoot relatively wide open to
help mitigate depth-of-field, and they
stay sharper at wider apertures than
Zeiss Superspeeds, says the cinematographer.
She shot the entire picture on
Kodak Vision3 500T 7219 rated at a
base EI of 320. Super 16 exposed properly and developed normally felt like the
right amount of grain, she says, adding,
I knew wed be working with a lot of
mixed lighting, and I think 7219
handles that exceptionally well.
Morrisons work in the nonfiction
arena has honed her skill and instincts
as a camera operator, and this was especially useful on Fruitvale, which
Coogler wanted to shoot entirely handheld. My most important tool for
working handheld is my hip resting
my elbow on my hip creates a third
point thats very steadying, Morrison
says. Ryan had so much trust in me
that he hardly ever looked at the monitor, but we werent seeing dailies till
weeks later, so I finally asked him to
[look at some footage] to make sure
what I was doing was what he had in
mind. His only note to me was to make
it feel a little more handheld, a little
rougher.
Because I learned on the Arri
16-S, which doesnt have a video out, I
dont look at the monitors much during
takes, Coogler acknowledges. I was
taught to really be there for the actor, so
it was important to get a cinematographer I trusted as an operator. Rachel is a
strong operator, and her instincts are
very good. I like to use long takes, so it
was important for her to be able to feel
out where to go. Sometimes I was close
86
April 2013
enough that I could tap her on the

shoulder and talk to her, but often, I let
her feel it out while I watched the
actors.
Morrison credits her years of
working fast on small budgets with
teaching her something else that proved
useful on Fruitvale: how to walk into a
new location and quickly determine
where to hide small fixtures to augment
the existing light. For better or for
worse, I know every unit under 1,200
watts like the back of my hand, she says
wryly.
On Fruitvale, our locations were
either dictated by where the actual
events took place, or they were generously donated by Ryans family, she
continues. In smaller spaces, the challenge was finding ways to augment the
practical lighting and make it evocative
when there wasnt much room to hide
our units. This meant pushing as much
from windows as possible and then
using polecats, wall spreaders, mogul
adapters, scissor clamps and a host of
other grip tools to hide lights just out of
shot. I always ask production designers
to give me options for architectural and
under-cabinet lighting because that can
be a motivating source more often than
you think.
A birthday dinner for Grants
mother, Wanda (Octavia Spencer), was
shot in a ground-floor location
Morrison describes as about the size of
my pinky, and it involved seven characters who move around in the small
kitchen and the adjacent living room.
She recalls, There were eight to 10 of
us dancing around each other, and just
outside every frame was a light wedged
into a very small space. Theres a [4-foot
2-bank] Kino Flo overhead on a wall
spreader flaring the lens occasionally;
another Kino behind [me] on a wall
spreader; a tungsten source pushing
through the window visible at the back
of the house; a color-corrected M18
bouncing into a 12-by UltraBounce
outside the living-room window; and a
daylight Kino through 216 cheating for
a TV in the living room, with a grip
doing the grip dance with two nets to
simulate a subtle flicker from the screen.

On bigger, institutional locations, we didnt have the time or
manpower to change out every bulb, so
it was often about figuring out what
color the existing light was and gelling
our lights to match. My color-temp
meter saved my ass on this show.
Three days were devoted to filming on the BART platform and at
Fruitvale station, but they were fourhour days because BART didnt want
anyone to know what we were doing
we could only shoot from 1:15 to 5:15
a.m., notes Morrison. Action on the
train was filmed in a stationary car
surrounded by greenscreen in the
BART maintenance facility; Bay Area
footage and moving lights were
composited in later.
Visual effects were finished just
two days before Fruitvales premiere,
and time for the color correction was
short. (FotoKem processed the Super
16 negative and transferred it to
HDCam-SR, and the picture stayed in
that format through color correction at
Spy Post. The Sundance deliverable was
HDCam.) Our colorist, Chris Martin,
was lovely his instincts were excellent, and we had a really open dialogue,
says Morrison. We didnt have much
time, and we spent a lot of it navigating
bigger concepts, like how to ride that
line between real and cinematic, than
we did on shot-to-shot matching.
When I researched this movie, I
went to the actual locations, including
the hospital where Oscar died and the
morgue where Wanda identified his
body, and what was most unnerving to
me was how banal those places looked,
says Coogler. People go there for terrible reasons, but they dont look dramatic
at all. I thought wed impact the audience more on a gut level if we stayed
true to that.
Ultimately, says Morrison, the
challenge was finding a delicate balance,
creating imagery that had an air of
cinema but at the same time felt very
raw and real.
Rachael K. Bosley
Big Sur
Cinematographer:
M. David Mullen, ASC
Director: Michael Polish
The Beats are a popular subject
nowadays, but few films have put as
much stake in the power of their words
as Big Sur. Based on Jack Kerouacs
autobiographical novel, the production
reunited cinematographer M. David
Mullen, ASC and writer/director
Michael Polish, CalArts alumni who
have collaborated on seven features,
including Twin Falls Idaho (AC Aug.
99), Northfork (AC May 03) and The
Astronaut Farmer (AC Feb. 07).
Kerouac wrote Big Sur five years
after On the Road, and it shows the
writer struggling with his newfound
fame. Overwhelmed, he seeks refuge
from fans and publishing pressures in
Big Sur, Calif., and alcohol, but neither
successfully tames his demons.
Mullen explains that Polishs idea
was to make a Kerouac movie, not a
movie about Kerouac. Polish rejected a
draft of the script that had turned
Kerouacs observations into dialogue,
endless five-character scenes with
people talking amongst themselves,
says Mullen. Michael wanted something more visual. Polish went back to
the original manuscript, obtained from
88
April 2013
Kerouacs estate, and decided that

Kerouac (played by Jean-Marc Barr)
would provide voiceover narration that
incorporated large swaths of the writers
prose.
The biggest challenge was the
density of the script, which was full of
descriptive details, says Mullen. We
wondered if we could even come close
to capturing all the detail Kerouac
would point out in his narration. It was
very difficult on a 21-day schedule.
There was also the question
about what to cover, as some scenes
only contained narration, with no
action described. Do we shoot what
hes talking about, or do we shoot in
counterpoint? says Mullen. It was very
creatively stimulating.
One thing was certain: Big Sur
would be given all due respect photographically. Michael wanted the Big
Sur sequences to have an epic quality,
something like a photograph by
Edward Weston or Ansel Adams, says
Mullen. My feeling was that the wide
shots should have a semi-monochrome
look and be extremely detailed.
The projects low budget was a
constraint, however. In prep, I thought
one approach might be to mix formats
and styles, like shooting Super 16mm
handheld and then capturing very
sharp, epic wide shots with a largeAmerican Cinematographer
format camera. But Michael was

concerned that would look too trendy
and artificial. He was more interested in
an overall approach that was elegant
and classic, and playing certain things
[like Kerouacs alcoholism] in counterpoint.
They explored using VistaVision
for exteriors and 2-perf 35mm for the
rest of the material, but because of
budget constraints, they had to find a
digital solution. As it happened, the
Red Epic was just becoming available,
and the filmmakers found that its 5K
Mysterium-X sensor, combined with an
enhanced processor, could capture wide
shots with Weston-level detail. Whats
more, the Epics HDRx feature would
record even more information in the
highlights, which would be helpful for
such situations as sun-dappled forests
and seascapes with sun reflecting off the
water. For every original frame, HDRx
records a separate frame with a shorter
shutter speed; that underexposed frame
can then be combined with the original
in post, augmenting highlight detail.
Framing for 2.40:1, Mullen
teamed the Epic with Arri/Zeiss
Master Primes, an Angenieux Optimo
24-290mm zoom, and a few Zeiss
Ultra Primes (for when a B camera split
off ). For monitoring purposes, he
lowered the Epics chroma settings and
Big Sur photos and frame grabs courtesy of 3311 Productions.
Big Sur depicts a rough chapter in the life of Jack Kerouac (played by Jean-Marc Barr) and is based on his autobiographical novel. The film reunited
cinematographer M. David Mullen, ASC and director Michael Polish.
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The film takes place five years after On The Road was released and follows Kerouac as he
attempts to find an escape from the pressures of fame. An aesthetic goal for some scenes was to
capture the halation of old black-and-white movie prints.
90
April 2013
crushed the blacks for shots he planned

to desaturate in post. Dailies colorist
Dave Brehm replicated the metadata
look on a Colorfront system in the
camera truck.
But Mullen had another trick up
his sleeve. To suggest the halation of oldtime black-and-white movie prints, I
suggested we fog the blacks in post, so
the blacks smeared and glowed into the
highlights, the opposite of what a
normal diffusion filter would do. The
trick was doing that without impacting
the sharpness of shadow detail in the
wide shots. To convey this idea to his
collaborators, Mullen first worked in
Photoshop. For every camera setup,
Brehm provided a 5K single-frame
TIFF pulled off the original Red-file
footage, with desaturation added;
Mullen would adjust these images in
Photoshop and then e-mail them to
Polish every night. You can achieve [the
black-fog effect] easily enough in
Photoshop by doing a Gaussian blur of a
layer, then overlaying that on the original, says Mullen. That diffuses both
the whites and blacks, and thats layered
over a sharp image, so you get some
diffusion effect in both the highlights
and shadows.
For the DI at Light Iron, colorist
Ian Vertovec created a process that simulated the Gaussian-blur overlay without
letting the shadow details go mushy. It
meant working with keys over the
shadow layer and diffusing those, then
applying them back over the whole
image, Mullen says.
Occasionally counterpointing the
pristine, epic look of Big Sur is a slurry
alcohol look that suggests Kerouacs
searing hangovers. For these shots,
Mullen used a Lensbaby that he had
bought at an expendables store for $300.
Its Slinky-like rubber mount provided
just the right amount of instability for
select POV shots. Another visual cue for
Kerouacs hangovers is blinding sunlight.
In one such scene, Kerouac is awakened
by some friends making breakfast in the
cabin where he is holed up, and sunlight
hits his face. As it happened, this had to
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Above: Kerouac jots

down some notes
above the crashing
surf. Far right: The
crew sets up on the
beach. Near right:
Mullen (left) and
director Michael Polish
on location.
out the cabin windows and allowed

them to be extremely overexposed. All
the windows were flaring the lenses, and
it looked appropriately harsh, says the
cinematographer. But it was a way to
make lemonade from lemons!
Shooting in Bixby Creek
Canyon, where a hunting cabin stood in
for Kerouacs crash pad, posed its share
of challenges. Rockslides along Route 1
were just the beginning of natures
headaches. Getting gear to the cabin
entailed crossing the same creek eight
times in a 4WD vehicle. At one point,
the water almost reached our windshield, says Mullen. Once the filmmakers arrived, they found that the
weathered cabin barely held atmospherics even when ND gels were stapled to
the glassless windows. Mother Nature
was stingy with her special effects,
offering only one day with misty, overcast weather; portable smoke machines
had to provide the rest.
92
April 2013
Hardest of all were night exteriors. Day-for-night was out because the
scenes required bonfires. The tree
canopy, uneven terrain and unpaved
roads meant towers and Condors
werent possible. My original idea was
to use the pine trees to my advantage,
says Mullen. I thought we could have a
tree-climber haul a 20-by frame of
string lights up to the treetops with a
rope-and-pulley system to give us a soft
toplight over the cabin. Ive always liked
those Italian-wedding string lights you
see at festivals. I was going to screw in
small Cool White compact fluorescents
to get a cyan moonlight effect.
Unfortunately, the day we got to the
cabin, the property owner refused to let
us climb the trees. Instead, Mullen sent
his grips up a steep, rocky hill with a 6K
and cables, and then repeated the exercise the next night on the opposite hill.
Most frustrating was the lack of
time to film nature in all her moods.
Mullen recalls that on Northfork,

another period film with big landscapes,
he had five days to roam Montana and
capture wintry establishing shots. There
was no such luxury on Big Sur. Mullen
went out in the morning before the
actors arrived and sent out the B unit
whenever they could be spared.
But he had the good fortune to
have two special aides: time-lapse
photographer Tom Lowe and B-camera
operator Josh Bleibtreu. Tom provided
time-lapse shots of clouds over the
ocean, stars moving over the horizon
and pine trees [swaying], plus a few
landscape shots, says Mullen. Josh was
the second-unit director of photography
on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and
by coincidence, he actually grew up in
Big Sur and lives there. So when he
heard we were doing a film there, he
agreed to help out as B-camera operator
and second-unit cinematographer for
several days. I had him hike down to the
ocean and shoot while we were at the
cabin.
Looking at the whole film, its
hard to know which of us shot some of
the cutaways to nature, because whenever anyone had a free moment, theyd
shoot something. The trick with nature
is you have to have time and patience.
Its hard to do on a tight schedule.
Patricia Thomson
Houston
Cinematographer:
Michael Kotschi
Director: Bastian Gnther
In Houston, corporate headhunter
and closet alcoholic Clemens Trunschka
(Ulrich Tukur) is tasked with tracking
down Steve Ringer ( Jason Douglas),
the CEO of an American oil company,
and offering him a job as chief executive
of a German car manufacturer.
Trunschkas pursuit takes him to
Houston, Texas, where the strangeness
of his new surroundings compels him to
the hotel bar. There, a boorish American
businessman (played by Garret
Dillahunt) latches onto him like a
barnacle. Lumbered with his abrasive
alter ego and thwarted by Ringers stateof-the-art security, Trunschka seeks
solace in the bottle and begins spiraling
toward a breakdown.
Leavening its drama with bursts
of humor, Houston emphasizes the
drunkards disorientation with a striking
variety of lens flares and other aberrations that cause the anamorphic
compositions to crowd in on Trunschka,
making him appear trapped within a
boozy bubble. During a Sundance
Q&A, director Bastian Gnther singled
out cinematographer Michael Kotschi
for praise, noting that the imagery
provides elegant subtext for the movies
themes. One of the goals was to draw
subtle parallels between the worlds
dependence on oil and Trunschkas
addiction to alcohol; Kotschi helps
convey these ideas via ominous visual
portents: empty parking lots and other
desolate settings, or frames in which
Houstons futuristic-looking skyscrapers
loom threateningly behind the protagonist.
The striking building shots
benefit from Kotschis experience as
an assistant to German architectural
photographer Reinhard Grner in
1998. Two years later, Kotschi enrolled
at the German Film and Television
Academy Berlin, where he met
Gnther. Before university, I was a
carpenters apprentice, but I decided to
go to film school because I was always

interested in pictures and photography,
Kotschi recounts. I met Bastian during
our first year of school, where we shot
two shorts together. As a student,
Kotschi arranged to shadow Michael
Ballhaus, ASC on the sets of Uptown
Girls and The Departed, and he later
took a cinematography master class
in Hungary taught by ASC members Vilmos Zsigmond and John
Schwartzman. After graduating, he and
Gnther collaborated on their first
feature together, Autopilots (2007).
Part of the filmmakers inspiration for Houston came from New
Hollywood films of the 1970s, including Monte Hellmans Two-Lane
Blacktop; more recent influences were
Carlos Reygadas Silent Light and the
films of Turkish director Nuri Bilge
Ceylan. Kotschi offers, We watched
various films with the visual style we had
94
April 2013
in mind, but we especially liked the New

Hollywood films because they offered
critiques of politics and society.
Kotschi shot Houston with a set of
four anamorphic Russian Lomo lenses
that dated back to the 1980s. I wanted
the lenses to be integral to the storys
themes rather than just present a look,
he says. We used a 35mm, a 50mm, a
75mm and a 100mm. I found two of
them in Berlin, but the others I tracked
down in Germany didnt match so well,
so I got the one from a collector in
Holland, and we rented another from a
source in Los Angeles.
I chose the Lomos mainly for
their defects, which create nice flares
and quite obvious corner distortions.
Our main character is in every scene,
and we often positioned him right in the
middle of the frame not just because
hes our leading man, but also because
he would have been out of focus if wed
moved him toward the corners! The

flares give the film an almost romantic
aura and a dreamy ambience. I think an
alcoholic is in some ways a dreamer who
is not interested in reality, and I felt the
look we got from the Lomos expressed
this quite well.
Early scenes that establish
Trunschkas character and set the plot in
motion were shot in Germany. The rest
of the picture was shot in Houston,
where Kotschi enjoyed 3 months of
prep. Bastian and I scouted all the locations together, and we were always
looking to see how the settings would
work for particular scenes. I took stills
and then used Photoshop to destroy
them a bit to see what our Lomos
would do to the locations. We would
then decide if a particular location
would work.
The lengthy prep also allowed
the filmmakers to plan their shots for
the perfect times of day, when the sun
would create the most beautiful light
and lens flares. Bastian really understood the importance of shooting at the
right times for a movie like this,
Kotschi notes with gratitude. It was
sometimes difficult for the actors, but
Bastian explained to them why we were
doing it. The shooting schedule was
created with sun-position timetables. It
was hard, because we had a very indie
budget and we needed to find the right
light and the right atmosphere for our
exterior wide shots. The crew was small,
Houston frame grabs courtesy of Lichtblick Media. Photo on page 96 by Katharina John.
Top: German
corporate
headhunter
Clemens Trunschka
(Ulrich Tukur)
struggles with his
alcoholism during
a tough
assignment in
Houston. Bottom:
While tracking an
oil-company CEO
in Texas,
Trunschka meets
Wagner (Garret
Dillahunt), an
obnoxious
American who
proves difficult to
elude.

WWW
Cinematographer Michael Kotschi used a set of Russian Lomo lenses to create a variety of lens flares
and distortions that emphasize Trunschkas feelings of isolation and displacement.
though. We traveled around with 28

people altogether. It was very fast and
very efficient.
Kotschi says he and Gnther
prefer to use old-school methods on
the set. We had a monitor set up for the
crew, but Bastian and I didnt really use
it. I would set up a shot, he would take a
look, and then we would discuss it,
adjust the framing together and shoot it.
Everything was done in-camera. We
did a lot with natural light, which was
easy in Texas!
For interiors, we tried to minimize the light. We wanted to give the
actors complete freedom of movement
and wide spaces to work in, so on locations, we hung most of our lights,
mainly small tungsten fixtures, from the
ceiling. So, the lighting was always preset for us when we arrived in the morning to shoot. Other than that, our gaffer,
Barry Strickland, owned a small fixture

he called a razor light, which we used as
an eyelight right next to the camera.
The biggest lighting challenge
was a night scene in which Trunschka
surveils Ringers villa. We lit the villa
with HMIs to create this big, fancy
sheen on its exterior walls, and we used
special fixtures in the existing streetlamps to pump up the light they
produced. All of our other lighting for
that sequence was accomplished with
three Kino Flos attached to Trunschkas
car; they illuminated the backgrounds as
he drove.
Trunschkas car is so present in
the whole movie that we tried to use
interesting angles to keep the driving
scenes from becoming too boring, but
the framing and rigging those shots
required gave me a lot of headaches, he
continues. Bastian and I dont like to
E^>s

g

K,^
KD
'
W
T g T
Top: Desolate
settings
underscore
Trunschkas
discomfort. Right:
Kotschi sets up a
car shot.
shoot with a process trailer, so we

wound up shooting a lot of those scenes
with a hostess tray attached to the car in
various configurations. It was always
difficult to find ways to rig things safely
and stably because the Lomos were very
heavy, especially in combination with a
camera and a big magazine.
After testing the Lomos with
film and digital cameras, the filmmakers
decided to shoot 35mm with an Arri
package: a Lite, a Studio and a 235.
The digital cameras couldnt really
create the dreamy ambience we were
seeking, Kotschi explains. On digital
cameras, the Lomos defects looked
more like real defects instead of desired
defects. The flares didnt look as nice,
either. Films softness and grain brought
out the look we wanted much, much
better. In fact, it was so beautiful I didnt
use any filtration other than NDs. We
owe a big debt to our producer at
Lichtblick Media Berlin, Martin
Heisler, who totally supported our
96
April 2013
creative choices.
Kotschi employed two Kodak
Vision3 stocks, 250D 5207 for day
scenes and 500T 5219 for night footage.
I really would have liked to use a
50-ASA daylight stock, but it wasnt
available in the Vision3 line at the time,
he notes. The stocks we chose gave us
everything we needed, though. Even
when we had hot sunlight pouring into
an interior, we were able to get a reading
outside the windows.
Trunschka finally sets up a meeting with Ringer at an isolated railroad
crossing, where he waits for hours before
a group of thugs pulls up and beats him
senseless. For the start of the sequence,
we managed to execute a 320-degree
pan that ends with a train passing
behind Trunschka. We had to use about
80 feet of dolly track, but that single
shot contains everything we were trying
to achieve look wise, including some
great flares. We got very lucky, because
we hadnt seen a train go by for two
days! While I was operating the shot, I

could hear a train approaching, and so
could Ulrich. He knew it would make a
great shot, and he started moving very
slowly and deliberately so I could catch
the train passing behind him.
In a later shot, as Trunschka
regains consciousness, the camera begins
on a POV shot of the sky before tilting
90 degrees into a close-up of Trunschkas
face. Kotschi recalls, We initially did
that shot off a tripod on a dolly, but it
looked too clean, so I asked the dolly
grip to put a chair on the dolly so I could
sit down and do the shot handheld. I
wanted to bring the audience very close
to the character.
The filmmakers old-school
approach extended to another evocative
shot in which Trunschka peers out his
hotel-room window at the strange sight
of a mans shirt falling from the sky and
twisting in the wind as it sails toward the
ground. That shot was very complicated
to do, Kotschi recalls. The first time we
tried it, the shirt just flew miles away in
the wind that was gusting between the
buildings. It probably ended up in
Arizona! To get the shot, we had some
crew stand on top of this 80-story high
rise with a fishing line, and others stand
down on the street with another fishing
line. I shot at 48 fps, and they pulled on
the fishing lines to position the shirt
where it needed to be. I could then pan
over to Ulrich as he watched the falling
shirt with this dreamy expression on his
face, like he was looking into the future.
For the final grade, Kotschi
worked with colorist Goran Mikic at
CinePostproduction in Berlin. Most of
their work involved bringing the films
bright highlights back into the desired
range and matching shots achieved with
different focal lengths. Each of the
lenses created different kinds of dark
spots in the corners of the frame, so
when we cut from one lens to another,
we had to adjust the look of those
defects, says the cinematographer. It
became quite complicated because the
lenses were matched color wise, but not
contrast wise.
Stephen Pizzello
Film & Digital
SPECIALTY
PRODUCTS
This frame grab from No illustrates the unconventional look the filmmakers achieved by shooting
with 1980s-era Ikegami video cameras.
No frame grab and photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
No
Cinematographer:
Sergio Armstrong
Director: Pablo Larran
In 1988, Chile held a national
plebiscite to determine whether dictator
Augusto Pinochet, who had ruled the
country for 15 years, would remain in
power. Similar referendums had been
staged during his reign, but their
outcomes were never in doubt. In 1988,
however, thanks in part to an unconventional advertising campaign, the No
side of the contest won 55 percent of the
vote. The details of that contest are
recounted in No, directed by Pablo
Larran and shot by Chilean cinematographer Sergio Armstrong (The
Maid).
The No campaign was the
brainchild of young ad executive Ren
Saavedra (Gael Garca Bernal), who
successfully argued that the ads should
emphasize happiness and a better future
rather than focusing on the horrific
deeds and hard times associated with
the repressive Pinochet regime.
According to Armstrong (who spoke to
AC with the assistance of translators
Antonio Maca and Xavier Grobet,

ASC, AMC), the filmmakers chief
visual inspiration was news footage of
the period, most of which had been shot
with cameras that recorded onto UMatic videotape. We wanted the whole
film to look as if it had been shot during
the 1980s, says Armstrong, and we
tested a variety of formats and cameras:
35mm, 16mm, the Sony F3, the Arri
Alexa, and a three-tube Ikegami HL79EAL camera from the mid-1980s.
Working with technical consultant
Daniel Henriquez Ilic, they chose the
Ikegamis.
It wasnt possible to find at least
two Ikegami HL-79EAL cameras in
good working condition in Chile, so we
turned to a specialized source, Lou
Claude at BroadcastStore.com, says
Henriquez. Based in Chatsworth,
Calif., Claude searched the United
States and tracked down several HL79EALs manufactured in 1983, and he
created three functional bodies for the
production using the Ikegamis working
parts and any spare parts he could find,
including Fujinon and Canon zoom
lenses. Lou did a great job rebuilding
the cameras, says Henriquez. It was a
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Left: In this unit still, Saavedra (Gael Garca Bernal) shares a moment with his estranged wife, Vernica (Antnia Zagers).
Right: Cinematographer Sergio Armstrong.
real challenge to use video technology

that was almost 30 years old, and he was
available for tech support throughout
our shoot. He even located an original
user guide for the camera, a big book
from 1983!
Armstrong and his crew had no
previous experience with the cameras.
I didnt even know how to turn them
on! says the cinematographer. But I
interviewed two cameramen who had
worked with them, Pablo Valds and
Pablo Salas, and they helped me learn
the cameras technical aspects.
Henriquez designed the capture
workflow, whose goal was to record
the NTSC analog output of the
camera as purely as possible, without
compression, he says. He assigned an
AJA D10AD mini-converter and a
Blackmagic Design HyperDeck
Shuttle to each camera. In this way, the
Ikegamis analog signal was converted
to SDI. Footage was recorded in the
native 640x480i format as QuickTime
uncompressed 4:2:2 10-bit files.
Although the filmmakers
wanted to give the picture a newsreel
look, they also planned to incorporate
cinematic language such as close-ups.
Working
entirely
handheld,
Armstrong operated the A camera.
98
April 2013
When a second camera was called for,

Larran operated it. I handled the
more formal material while Pablo
favored a more documentary, roving
style, grabbing shots here and there,
says Armstrong. Larran wanted to
include zooms as part of the aesthetic,
so shots often settle into focus while
being reframed or otherwise adjusted.
Pablo gave the actors constant direction, says Armstrong, but the camera
was free to improvise during the
scene.
Because Armstrong likes working with shallow depth-of-field, he
favored a wide-open stop. He notes
that the Fujinon zoom was faster and
had better definition than the Canon
zoom. The widest stop on the Canon
was f2.1, whereas the Fujinon started at
f1.6. By way of comparison, he offers,
The widest [focal length] we used was
equivalent to an 18mm when shooting
35mm film, and the longest was equivalent to a 150mm.
Many dialogue scenes were
designed as master shots. For a conversation between Ren and Guzman
(Alfredo Castro), Rens boss at the ad
agency and a supporter of the Yes
campaign, the camera simply pans
back-and-forth between the two. A
medium-wide shot of a dozen people

sitting around a table discussing the
No campaign moved around to show
different individuals talking or listening. Pablo would tap me on the shoulder when he wanted me to pan over to
another actor or to the other side of the
room, says Armstrong.
In general, we tried to center
the characters and, in the close-ups, to
create space above their heads. Having
headroom was important to Pablo.
Also, the eyelines were very tight; the
actors were almost looking into the
lens. With the wider shots, we were
always trying to balance the frame, so if
we were shooting a conversation, we
would have the table in the middle and
the characters on either side of the
table.
In addition to capturing a scene
from a few different angles, the filmmakers staged and shot entire scenes in
three or four different locations. This
allowed Larran to extend a sequence
over several scenes, starting a conversation in one location, picking it up midstream in a second location, and then
finishing it off in a third. This gave
the impression that the same issues
were being discussed throughout the
day, which is exactly what he wanted to
suggest, says Armstrong.

Our best ally outside was the
sun, he continues, noting that day
exteriors usually relied exclusively on
available light. In prep, we made sure
to find locations that were very bright.
This was equally important indoors
because the Ikegamis required a lot of
light. One especially dark interior was
the restaurant where Ren lunches
with a colleague (Luis Gnecco). Two
windows are in the background. We
used a couple of 1980s-era 2K Lowel
lights [to augment] the light coming
through the windows, recalls
Armstrong. We set the camera to
tungsten so the interior wouldnt look
too warm, but that made the light too
blue and produced a kind of blue halo.
We used a screwdriver to manually
tweak the electronics inside the camera
to shift the colors. In the old days, you
could adjust colors and brightness with
a screwdriver, producing a kind of
Instagram effect.
The filmmakers tried to stick
with lighting fixtures and techniques
that were available in the 1980s. The
2K Lowels were 3,200K, and
Armstrong wanted to shoot at
4,300K. Basically, we color corrected
the lights so they were still a little
warm, but it lessened the amount of
blue on the windows.
Perhaps the biggest problem
with the cameras was that the white
balance was constantly shifting. The
colors would fluctuate throughout the
day depending upon climate conditions and [atmospheric] temperature,
and we had to constantly recalibrate
between scenes, says Armstrong.
They did this the old-fashioned way.
We placed a white surface with
enough light in front of the camera, set
the diaphragm on automatic and
pressed White Balance. Once a day, we
also did a black balance.
Everything was shot on practical
locations, even the campaign commercials, which were staged in a studio
exactly as they had been during the
original campaign. One memorable ad
reveals a bucolic pasture and smiling
people enjoying a picnic. The setting

and the tonality of the colors contrast
with everything else in the movie.
Armstrong explains, The No
campaign was trying to sell a Chile
that didnt exist. The colors and the
beauty of the landscape were fictitious
to make voters believe it was possible
to end the dictatorship. To achieve this
look, we simply used the standard
settings on the camera rather than
realigning them with a screwdriver.
Cristin Echeverria Larrain, the
post supervisor on No, detailed the
projects complicated post path via email: We copied the files from the
SSD disks to regular hard disks after
every scene. Then, we created offline
files in ProRes 4:2:2 and 29.97 to do
the cut. Once the film was edited,
colorist Ismael Cabrera did a first pass
with Scratch, basically trying to match
the three different cameras that had
been used during the shoot. After the
color correction, we used a kinescope
[made by Filmosonido] to project the
movie on opaque paper, like an A-4
size, with a powerful HD projector at
29.97 fps, continues Echeverria. We
recorded the projection with a Sony
F3 and a 50mm Zeiss lens. The
camera had the 4:4:4 S-Log option, so
we recorded directly to an HDCamSR VTR at 24 fps.
Because we recorded in S-Log
neutral, which looks foggy and white,
we went back to the Scratch and
applied color curves to get back to the
original levels. Once the color was
[correct], we exported everything to
DPX, and a DCP was our deliverable
at Cannes. The filmout was done with
an Arrilaser at Technicolor in
Canada.
Given the technical considerations, No was certainly one of the most
unusual projects of Armstrongs career,
and he is very grateful to my team for
their great work. He adds that he is
thrilled to speak to AC. In Chile,
magazines are only interested in
[movie] stars!
Jean Oppenheimer
99
Narco Cultura
Director/Cinematographer:
Shaul Schwarz
The moment Israeli photojournalist Shaul Schwarz first laid eyes on
video footage from the Canon EOS
5D Mark II, he knew he had stepped
through a life-changing portal. I
flicked the button and couldnt believe
it it looked like a moving still, he
says. I immediately knew it was what I
had been waiting for. Within a week,
he gave up his Nikon sponsorship,
bought a 5D, and set off on a parallel
career track as a documentary filmmaker.
One of the results is the documentary feature Narco Cultura,
Schwarzs intimate look at the Mexican
drug cartels and how they are glorified
in popular culture. Over a period of five
years, Schwarz burrowed inside opposing camps, following crime-scene
investigator Richi Soto in Jurez,
Mexico, and rising narcocorrido musician Edgar Quintera in Los Angeles.
Filming was risky in the border town,
100
April 2013
and the 5D was just the kind of inconspicuous tool he needed. Most people
didnt know we were filming; they
thought we were taking pictures, he
says. Another big plus is the cameras
phenomenal low-light ability. We
couldnt use any lights in that environment, and we didnt need to.
Schwarz, who is based in New
York City, started doing still photography while serving in Israels air force,
and he went on to do it professionally
for Jerusalem photo agency Flash90
and then for various international news
outlets. In 2005, while covering the
evacuation of a settlement in Gaza for
Time magazine, he came across a story
with legs, and was frustrated by his
editors suggestion to put it in a
caption. With zero experience, he set
out to make a documentary using a
borrowed Sony PD-150, and, later, his
own Panasonic DVX-100. Other than
a good run in a Tel Aviv art house, the
film, The Block, went nowhere. I was
nave, he admits. I jumped into a
feature documentary without knowing
what I was doing.
Schwarz returned to photojournalism and reaped top prizes, including

the Visa dor in Perpignan and two
World Press Awards for his work in
Haiti. But by the time the 5D hit the
market, he was hungry to shoot
video, he says. This time he started
small, making a series of shorts that
were posted on Time.com (now
LightBox). Thats where Narco Cultura
had its start. As I was shooting it, I was
already looking for money to make a
feature-length doc, says Schwarz.
Based on his experience shooting
stills in Jurez, he knew from the outset
that his film would focus on two sides
of the same coin. One would be the
bloodshed, extortion and social collapse
happening under the drug cartels in
Jurez; Soto would be his entry point.
He recalls, I went to the Semefo
[Servicio Mdico Forense] because I
thought it would lead to great access to
crime scenes and be a safe way to do it.
In shooting Sotos grim rounds,
Schwarz pulls no punches, showing the
grisly reality of bullet-riddled corpses
and dismembered bodies.
Narco Cultura photos by Shaul Schwarz, courtesy of Strategy PR.
Shaul Schwarz
shot and
directed the
documentary
Narco Cultura,
which steps
inside the world
of Mexican drug
cartels to
examine how
these groups
are glorified in
popular culture.
Narcocorrido musicians pose at a scenic spot

in Los Angeles.
The flip side of the coin comprises the music, the direct-to-video
action flicks, and the grandiose
mausoleums that glorify drug traffickers and turn them into a kind of folk
hero. The main figure representing this
world is Quintera, lead singer of
Buknas de Culiacan. A first-generation
Mexican-American living in L.A., his
lyrics celebrate the vicious feats of cartel
members while his tunes have the
buoyancy of corrido music. Its a new
Pancho Villa, Schwarz observes. The
old history of Mexico doesnt speak to
them, and for these guys, it was much
more obvious than trying to be a
rapper. As the film shows, narcocorrido
is spreading like wildfire among club
kids, finding audiences not only close
to the border but also in Seattle,
Chicago and North Carolina, among
other places.
What interested me was the
cycle: How the drug war influences
culture, how culture influences people,
and how that spreads way beyond
cartels killing each other, says
Schwarz. What angered me was that
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A Buknas de
Culiacan band
member strolls
down an L.A.
street.
no matter what we did journalistically,

no matter what we printed or
photographed, people would say, This
is just gangs killing gangs.
Schwarz sought a visual
metaphor for these parallel worlds, and
he devised something he and his
editors dubbed The Machine. The idea
came to him while he was trailing Soto
102
through Semefo headquarters a

visually boring place, by Schwarzs
account. Not allowed into the labs and
allowed just one short visit to the
morgue, we ended up in a small room
with fluorescent lights and a bunch of
guys looking at computers and yawning, he recalls. All I could see them do
all day was paperwork. Schwarz had a
brainstorm watching them file reports

that never went anywhere: he decided
to use the same detail shots of mechanical action here and in the music world.
Each CD, each label being made, the
sweatshop people sewing their
costumes its all the same language
as the CSI room and lab. In the CSI
room, this boring thing turns into the
way everything gets filed away and
forgotten; in the music, its the way
everything gets glorified.
Schwarz shot Narco Cultura (and
an accompanying book of stills) entirely
with his 5D. Honestly, Im a 5D boy. I
like that it gives you stills and video in
one camera. I like that its the lenses I
know so well. I like the shallow depthof-field. And Im not bothered by most
of its typical problems: sound, focus,
shuttering. I adapted to them a long
time ago.
In the field, Schwarz carried two
cameras, and on his final trip, he
replaced one with a Mark III, whose
100-25,600 ISO range gave him

greater latitude on night scenes. (He
never pushed the Mark IIs ISO
beyond 3,200.) He and his soundman,
Juan Bertran, traveled light, never
carrying a boom, camera rig or lighting
unit. Schwarz did bring a tripod,
however. Even though there was a lot
of action, we always made a point of
trying to keep the frame somewhat
composed.
In his camera bag, he had a few
Canon EF lenses: a 24-105mm f4
zoom; a 70-200mm f2.8 zoom; a
35mm f1.4 wide-angle prime; and,
occasionally, a rented 300mm f2.8 telephoto. He also carried a Canon TS-E
45mm f2.8 Tilt-Shift lens. The TiltShift is actually used a lot in the movie
its a style we chose, he says. At
first, he used it only in the crime scenes
that Soto investigated. Tilt-Shift
makes things look a little unreal, and
we wanted to put the audience inside
Richies head and feel that everything is
sort of plastic, like a pre-set game, and

only the bodies are real. Gradually, this
visual syntax bled into other parts of
Jurez and beyond. As the movie goes
deeper, you get more of this Tilt-Shift
and gradually sink into this nightmarish, everything-is-off feeling, says
Schwarz. Toward the end, we start to
use the Tilt-Shift for the musicians
story. We wanted to make everything
connect, to show that its all a cycle.
But the most important ingredients in Narco Culturas look are
Schwarzs acute eye for framing and
small details and his intimacy with his
subjects. This movie feels like my stills
in a weird way. The 5D allows me to get
extremely close to my subjects, and
thats as important to me as the overall
look.
Patricia Thomson
Director/cinematographer Shaul Schwarz.
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103
New Products & Services
Arri Launches Alexa XT Line

Arri has introduced the Alexa Xtended Technology camera
line, which incorporates new features inspired by feedback from
professional users. The Alexa XT, XT M, XT Plus and XT Studio
cameras will replace all previous models except for the original
Alexa. Owners of existing Alexa cameras will be able to purchase
individual upgrades that deliver most of the features of the XT
configuration.
All Alexa XT models come with the new XR Module, a side
panel that was co-developed with Codex to replace the previous SxS
Module. The result is a smaller, lighter, more affordable and cablefree camera package that records Arriraw, the Alexas highest quality image output, inside the camera. The Alexa can now capture
Arriraw at up to 120 fps onto fast and rugged 512 GB Codex XR
Capture Drives.
The In-camera Filter Module IFM-1 allows Alexa CT models
to be rated at the base sensitivity of EI 800 without the need for
external neutral density filters, even in bright sunlight. Filtering
behind the lens rather than in front saves time and reduces weight
and reflections. The precision IRND filters used with the IFM-1 assure
high image quality and perfect color balance at all of the eight available densities, from ND 0.3 to ND 2.4.
For the most effective use of anamorphic lenses, each Alexa
XT is equipped with a 4:3 sensor, the same size and shape as a Super
35mm film frame. An anamorphic de-squeeze license is included
with all XT cameras, as is a high-speed license for filming at up to
120 fps. The 4:3 sensor will also be useful on non-anamorphic
productions as it permits significant reframing of the image in post,
similar to shooting 4-perf 35mm.
All Alexa XT models are equipped with an Arri Lens Data
System lens mount. The LDS reads the position of all lens rings and
writes them into metadata in every format the Alexa can record. LDS
is a built-in feature with more than 40 lens models, including the
Arri/Zeiss Master Anamorphic, Master Prime and LDS Ultra Prime
series, the Master Macro 100 and the Arri/Fujinon Alura Lightweight
104
April 2013
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.
Zooms. For all other lenses, it is possible to store the lens table inside
the Alexa by using the Lens Data Archive feature.
To provide maximum comfort for the operator, the new
Viewfinder Mounting Bracket VMB-3 has a much stronger and
more rigid design, partially achieved through the use of two 15mm
lightweight rods. These rods also facilitate rapid changes in camera
support, such as from a tripod to a crane or Steadicam, because
accessories such as lens motors or follow-focus units can be hung
from the rods rather than cluttering the base plate. Additionally, the
Viewfinder Extension Bracket VEB-3, which features a fold-out arm
that holds the viewfinder securely in place when moving the
camera, is available as a separate accessory.
Additionally, an even quieter fan has been incorporated into
the Alexa XT models.
For existing Alexas, Arri is offering upgrades that will provide
most of the functionality of the XT cameras. These upgrades include
the XR Module, In-Camera Filter Module IFM-1, Viewfinder Mounting Bracket VMB-3, Viewfinder Extension Bracket VEB-3, XT Fan and
the anamorphic de-squeeze and high-speed licenses.
For additional information, visit www.arri.com.
Codex, Arri Partner for XR Capture Drives
Building on the successful pairing of Arri Alexa cameras with
Codex recorders, Codex and Arri have developed the Xtended
Recording Module for Alexa cameras. Designed to replace the
Alexas SxS Module, the XR Module is an affordable side panel that
incorporates Codex recording technology directly into the camera,
facilitating untethered shooting, making the overall camera package
smaller and lighter, and further simplifying Arriraw recording.
The XR Module provides several recording options in a single
package. Arriraw can be recorded at up to 120 fps (1.78:1) onto a
high-performance, 512 GB, 6.7 Gb/s Codex XR Capture Drive,
which contains highly reliable solid-state drive technology in a small
and rugged aluminum housing. Additionally, Apple ProRes or Avid
DNxHD can be recorded to a Capture Drive, making longer recording times possible (up to 2.1 hours of ProRes 4444), or to an SxS Pro
card with an SxS adapter.
The Codex XR Capture Drives are identical in form to the
current Codex Capture Drives and are compatible with the Codex
Vault, Codex Capture Drive Transfer Station and Codex Capture
Drive Dock (USB-3). The small and affordable USB-3 Single Dock
allows quick and safe copying of data onto a laptop; the Dual Dock
can make clones of XR Capture Drives and connect to a Mac Pro via
a high-speed SAS interface for speedy copying, archiving or dailies
creation; and the Codex Vault offers a modular, rugged, all-in-one
solution for fast and easy copying, archiving, reporting or dailies
creation on or near set.
Codex and Arri have formed a strong partnership over the
last couple of years, and this was the obvious next step, says Marc Dando, managing
director of Codex. Weve listened to our
customers who love the Arri/Codex combination but wanted a higher-performance
package.
Franz Kraus, Arris managing director,
adds, Working with the right technology
partners has been a key element of Arris
success for many years and across all business units. In Codex, we have found a
collaborator that has understood and
responded to the need for simple, dependable image pipeline solutions on high-end
productions. The Codex workflow is one
that filmmakers can trust, and the fact that
Arriraw can now be recorded internally with
Alexa cameras will lead to an even broader
range of productions embracing the
format.
For additional information, visit
www.codexdigital.com and www.arri.com.
Codex Vault Supports
Expanded Camera Range
Codex has announced that its Vault
system now supports the Sony F65 and F55
camera systems.
The Sony module for the Codex Vault
supports raw workflows with SR Memory,
providing a proven, reliable workflow for the
Sony F65. Additionally, the Vaults Process
module supports the F55s XAVC format,
which can be recorded to SxS cards, as well
as Sonys AXSM memory cards, which are
used to record the F55s raw output to the
Sony AXS-R5 recorder.
As the number of camera choices
proliferates, Codex is committed to providing a simple, robust workflow no matter
what camera you shoot with, says Marc
Dando, Codexs managing director. Sony
has demonstrated their commitment to this
market with these cameras, and we are
happy to support them.
www.codexdigital.com.
ONE TO FOUR-WEEK FILMMAKING WORKSHOPS | 12-WEEK

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PHOTO 2012 MARK EDWARD DAWSON
Movcam Cages Sony F5, F55

Movcam has introduced a cage
accessory system for Sonys PMW-F5 and
PMW-F55 modular, 4K-capable cameras.
The affordable, intelligently designed
Movcam Cage system comprises the Top
105
of the Top Handle depending on the operators preference.

The Movcam Cage system is available
through 16x9 Inc. for $1,950. The system is
compatible with all existing Movcam camera
accessories, such as handgrips, mattebox,
follow focus and battery bracket and
converter.
www.16x9inc.
Plate, Top Handle Kit, Side Handles, LWS

Base Plate, Shoulder Pad, LWS Dovetail Plate
and EVF Mount; the system ergonomically
envelopes the F5 or F55 in a rigid framework of mounting options with " and 38"
threaded holes.
The Top Plate mounts on top of the
camera and features numerous " and 38"
threaded holes to mount accessories. The
front of the plate has a mounting bracket
for 15mm mini rods, which lock independently. The top of the Top Plate has a
Weaver rail mount, which secures the Top
Handle to the plate and allows for incremental adjustment of the handle position
for better balance. The Top Handle features
front and rear extensions that combine for a
total handle length of 15". The Top Handle
Kit is also covered in threaded holes for
more accessory-mounting options.
The Side Handles, which are also
peppered with mounting points, reinforce
the Cage system to support the fully loaded
camera. Completing the framework, the
Lightweight Support Base Plate mounts to
the bottom of the camera and provides
locking 15mm mini rod supports as well as
left- and right-side rosettes to affix accessories such as handgrips.
The Shoulder Pad mounts to the LWS
Base Plate via the 15mm rods, allowing the
pad to slide to best fit the camera operators
shoulder. The top of the pad has a flat
aluminum surface that provides additional
support to the F5/F55s modular backend
accessories, such as an onboard recorder.
The LWS Dovetail Plate allows the
camera to be balanced properly on a tripod.
The Electronic Viewfinder Mount may be
positioned on the front or the rear stanchion
106
April 2013
Zacuto Accessorizes Sony FS700

Zacuto has introduced the FS700
Grip Relocator and the FS700 Shooter Rig
for the Sony NEX-FS700 digital camera
system.
The FS700 Grip Relocator takes the removable
camera grip and attaches
it to any 15mm rod with
Zacutos Zwivel technology,
which allows the user to position the handle at any angle
for comfort and better rig
compatibility. The FS700
handle screws into the Relocator with a -20 screw and is
secured in place with a standard Arri rosette.
With the Grip Relocator, operators can
control start/stop, photo, 4x/8x expandable
focus and push-button auto iris without
removing a hand from the rig.
The FS700 Shooter Rig is a shouldermounted kit that offers the convenience of
an ENG-style camera. The rig incorporates
Zacutos Mini Baseplate, Shoulder Pad, a
7-pound weight for counterbalance, and
the FS700 Grip Relocator. The rig quickreleases on and off a tripod and is designed
for use with an offset monitor or electronic
viewfinder. The Shooter Rig is also compatible with standard 15mm accessories such as
Zacutos Z-focus and Matte Box.
www.zacuto.com.
Grip Factory Munich Offers
Dovetail Support
Grip Factory Munich has introduced a
24" dovetail Camera Support Plate.
CNC machined from high-grade
aluminum and hard coated to provide a
scratch-proof finish, the support plate
mounts on all 150mm and Mitchell heads
such as those available from OConnor,
Sachtler,
Ronford and
Cartoni, and it accepts
almost all regular cine-,
bridge- and lens-support plates.
Bridge and lens-support adapters
can be mounted from either end of the
plate as each end is angled and equipped
with a spring-loaded release pin. The precision machining and hard-coat finish
provide a smooth surface that enables
exact adjustments and repositioning of the
adapters. Two floating, captive 3 8"
threaded inserts on the underside of the
plate allow users to mount the plate on
most heads or adapter plates. The inserts
are fitted with friction adjusters to eliminate
any unwanted movement.
Grip Factory Munich has also introduced an updated Grip Kit that now
includes an optional Mitchell base plate
along with the standard Euro-adapter base
plate. The new base plate enables lower
and more compact mounting with
Mitchell-based fluid and geared heads. The
Grip Kit can be used with all GFM Grip Kit
Extension Legs and Scaffold Mounts.
www.g-f-m.net.
Denz Goes Long with Lens
Support Plate
Denz has introduced the 600mmlong (23.62") Lens Support Plate, which is
suited for use with long and heavy zoom
lenses. Made of Konstruktal aluminum, the
plate boasts an extremely lightweight
design with enhanced stability.
Equipped with a dovetail profile, the
Lens Support Plate allows users to mount
the Denz BP Multi or base plates from
other manufacturers. Other accessories,
such as the Denz Lens Support, Denz
Support Slide or Denz 19mm Deluxe
Carbon Fiber Support Rods can be
mounted as well. All of these can
slide onto the plate from
either the front or back.
The Lens Support
Plate comes with
quick-release
push buttons
on both ends.
The bottom of the Lens Support

Plate incorporates two sliding blocks with a
" thread that allows mounting several
wedge plates. The guiding surfaces are
coated to reduce abrasion and guarantee
smooth operation while shooting.
www.denz-deniz.com.
CineBags Unpacks
Cinematographer,
Lens Smuggler
CineBags has introduced the CB10
Cinematographer Bag and the CB27 Lens
Smuggler.
The CB10 Cinematographer Bag is
designed to keep tools such as light, spot
and color meters, as well as a digital
camera, lenses, viewfinder, laptop, tablet,
script and shot list organized and protected
on the stage or on location. The bag
features a customizable interior that can be
designed around the tools needed. Additional features include waterproof fabric,
reinforced bottom fabric, padded shoulder
strap, laptop compartment, front organizer,
removable padded divider and a 3-D back
molding that can slip over the users telescoping luggage arm for easy transportation.
The CB27 Lens Smuggler is designed
for travelers who want to carry multiple
DSLR bodies, lenses and a laptop with them
throughout their journeys. The low-profile
camera bag meets airlines carry-on dimensions, and a 3-D back molding allows the
bag to be slipped over the telescoping arm
of the travelers wheeled luggage. Other
features include an adjustable shoulder
strap, small see-through pouches for accessories, and waterproof fabric construction.
www.cinebags.com.
Vinten Grows Vision Blue Family

Vinten, part of Vitec Videocom, a
Vitec Group company, has announced the
third pan-and-tilt head of its Vision Blue
range: the Vision Blue3, which is designed
for intermediate-weight 1 3"-chip camcorders and highly accessorized DSLRs.
The Vision Blue3 balances payloads
between 6.6 and 14.6 pounds and sits
between the original Vision Blue (which has
a payload range of 4.6-11 pounds) and the
Vision Blue5 (payload range of 12.1-26.5
pounds). The Vision Blue range offers
camera operators all of the features associated with Vinten heads, including infinitely
adjustable Perfect Balance and LF Drag technology to provide smooth control and
consistent movement quality.
Were very proud of the feedback
that weve had from global operators who
choose Vision Blue heads for their highperformance support, designed to match
the broadcast-quality performance of
todays compact, lightweight cameras, says
Andrew Butler, strategic planning and
project manager at Vinten. The Vision Blue
range has been designed to make the filming process effortless, enabling the camera
operator to release his or her creativity. The
new Vision Blue3 completes the range and
brings uncompromised professional performance to the broadest range of users,
regardless of the payload of the camcorder
and its accessories.
www.vinten.com.
Cartonis Magnum, Jibo

Make Smooth Moves
Cartoni has introduced the Magnum
Fluid Head, a compact fluid head that incorporates a patented counterbalance system
and an advanced fluid damping module, as
well as the Fluid Action version of the Jibo
lightweight jib arm, which incorporates a
viscous damp to both pan and lift movements for extra smooth shooting.
The Magnums counterbalance
system is designed to operate with cameras
that feature a high center of gravity and
weigh 22-176 pounds; cameras within this
range will balance through the entire 130degree tilt angle. The counterbalance knob,
located on the side of the fluid head, is calibrated with a variable adjustment
connected to a digital readout display.
Manufactured with ultra-strong aircraftgrade aluminum alloy, the Magnum
provides precise movements and a consistently high drag output.
The frictionless fluid damping
modules perform over an extended

temperature range, with smooth and
precise movements. The continuously variable fluid control knobs on the sides of the
head feature a flip-folding design, are easy
to reach and connect to a digital readout to
enable quick setup even in low-light conditions. The control brakes on both pan and
tilt are located on the front left side of the
control panel and can be operated with a
single hand. The Magnum interfaces with
any Mitchell or 150mm bowl base and can
be easily mounted on top of any pedestal
with 4-hole bores. The wedge camera plate
has an ergonomic quick-release and a wide
range of centering for micrometric balance
setting.
The three-section Jibo fits into a
durable, portable wheeled case and can be
assembled in less than 3 minutes. The jib
arm weighs only 25 pounds and folds
down to 38" in length for packing. When
assembled, it can lift the camera from
ground level to 78" high.
The rear part of the Jibo arm holds
the counterweights and can adjust in and
out for accurate camera balancing. The
front telescopic arm allows the Jibo to work
in a wide variety of shooting positions,
including normal, underslung and sideways. A horizontal lock enables easy and
safe setup of the arm. The Jibo attaches to
any 100mm bowl-base tripod; for heavier
setups, a Mitchell base adapter is available.
www.cartoni.com.
Elation Shines Light on
TVL1000 LED
Elation Professional has introduced
the TVL1000 white LED panel with variable
color temperature and a battery-power
option. The compact, lightweight panel
features 200 warm white and 200 cool
white LEDs, which can be blended to create
any shade of white from cool, natural-looking daylight to soft, warm tungsten.
Using either onboard controls or a
standard DMX-512 controller, lighting
professionals can quickly adjust color
temperature from 3,200K to 6,500K. The
TVL1000s variable color temperature
capability makes it possible to instantly
customize studio lighting to complement
any skin tone or scenic/production environ-
108
April 2013
ment with a soft, even output.

Other features of the TVL1000
include a 30-degree beam angle, full 0-100percent dimming capability, a four-way
barn door, and a built-in magnetic
gel/filter holder. The unit measures
15.9"x13.7"x4.4", weighs 13.6 pounds
and draws 66 watts of electricity. Up to 12
panels can be linked together via the units
IEC AC in/outs for daisy-chaining power.
The fixture also includes 3- and 5-pin in/out
DMX connectors and can be run in three
different DMX channel modes; it includes
an easy-to-use display menu for DMX
addressing. The units color temperature
can also be controlled manually via knobs
on the rear of the unit.
The TVL1000 panel can run as a
cordless battery-powered unit with the
addition of an optional accessory, the TVL1000BAT (sold separately). The battery is
rechargeable and incorporates a lowbattery indicator light.
www.elationlighting.com.
Cine Meter App Shines
Technical services provider Adam
Wilt has introduced the Cine Meter, a
professional film/video/photo application
for the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch that uses
the devices built-in camera to provide a
shutter-priority reflected light meter, an RGB

waveform monitor and a false-color picture
mode. In addition to providing exposure
information, Cine Meter offers an at-a-glance
view of how evenly a greenscreen is lit, and
where high-contrast hotspots and shadows
might pose a problem. Cine Meter gives
users a simple means of lighting and checking their sets.
Cine Meter works on any iDevice
with a camera running iOS 5.0 or higher. The
app is available now through Apples App
Store for $4.99.
www.adamwilt.com/cinemeter.
Sound Devices Enables
4:4:4 Recording
Sound Devices has introduced the
version 3.0 firmware update to the
companys Pix 240 and Pix 240i production
video recorders. Available free of charge for
all Pix customers, this update enables Apple
ProRes 4444 recording from video sources
over 3G-SDI (4:4:4 RGB or YCbCr). Recording
4:4:4 offers productions superior color precision for applications in chroma-keying, colorgrading and multi-generational editing.
Additional features available in this
update include time code and recording
status displays on the SDI and HDMI outputs,
up to 500 ms of audio delay to compensate
for multi-device picture delay, and selectable
4:4:4 or 4:2:2 video output independent
from the source material.
Users can connect the Pix 240 or Pix
240i to cameras with HD-SDI, 3G-SDI or
HDMI outputs and record directly to QuickTime files using a range of different Apple
ProRes or Avid DNxHD codecs, including
Apple ProRes 4444. Files recorded in the field
can then be used directly in post, making for
simpler, more efficient workflows.
110
April 2013
Drylab Creates, Views Dailies

Drylab R&D has introduced two software tools, Dailies Creator and Dailies
Viewer. Dailies Creator is a drag-and-drop
application that generates encrypted dailies
with embedded metadata. The video clips
are securely distributed through Dropbox
and can be downloaded to the Dailies
Viewer application for secure playback on an
iPad.
I have always been concerned
about the importance of sharing creative
and technical information amongst the
crew, says cinematographer John Christian
Rosenlund, the founder of Drylab R&D.
Cam Report was our first step to gather
on-set metadata. With Cam Report, you
write [the camera report] on an iPhone or
iPod Touch. That metadata can now be
shared with Dailies Creator, which automatically merges the reports with the video files,
allowing users to immediately gain access to
a searchable archive that relates to day,
scene, shot, slate and tags. Rosenlund adds,
If you dont use Cam Report for collecting
metadata on set, you can easily add the
metadata directly in Dailies Creator.
The Pix 240is high-performance 5"

IPS-based LCD display is an accurate field
monitor that provides users with immediate
confirmation of framing, exposure, focus,
audio metering and setup menu selections.
It offers excellent color accuracy, contrast
and off-axis visibility, as well as accurate
motion tracking.
The built-in hardware scaler and
frame-rate converter allow the Pix to output
and record material at different resolutions
and frame rates than are supported by the
camera. Conversion between HD and SD,
with and without anamorphic conversion, is
also available.
The audio circuitry in the Pix
recorders is based on Sound Devices
award-winning 7-Series digital audio
recorders. The low-noise (-128 dBu EIN),
high-headroom, high-bandwidth inputs are
mic/line switchable and include limiters,
high-pass filters and phantom power.
The HDMI-only Pix 220 and Pix 220i
video recorders also gain new features from
the version 3.0 update, including Apple
ProRes 4444 recording, time-code and
Once the metadata has been

combined with the video files, Dailies
Creator begins producing H.264 encrypted
dailies and automatically sends them to the
users Dropbox account. For security, Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is used for all
communication between the devices, and
each iPad needs to be paired with Dailies
Creator before the user can see anything in
his or her Dropbox; the pairing includes a
unique encryption key.
Once the video clips have been
posted to the users Dropbox, Dailies Viewer
automatically starts to download the files.
Individual takes can then be easily searched
for using the metadata tagging.
www.drylab.no.
recording-status displays on HDMI outputs,

and up to 500 ms of audio delay to compensate for multi-picture delay.
www.sounddevices.com.
MTI Film Transcodes with
Cortex Convey
Adding to its family of products for
managing media from the set to the screen,
MTI Film has released the standalone
transcoding application Cortex Convey.
Cortex Convey supports input of all popular
camera file formats, editorial files and intermediate file formats, including DPX,
OpenEXR and H.264 for transcoding to
review, editorial and intermediate formats
such as Avid DNxHD/MXF 1:1, DPX file
sequences and QuickTime, as well as fully
authored DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
More than five years ago, we introduced this deliverables software as a sister
application to Control Dailies Enterprise,
says Belinda S. Merritt, MTI Films director of
business development. Even then,
customers wanted to purchase it as a stand-
alone product. Cortex Convey not only

delivers on this need, but as part of the
Cortex platform, offers a simple and intuitive user interface on top of an extremely
powerful and versatile transcoding engine
that can be used in every step of postproduction, not just dailies.
David McClure, vice president of
product development, adds, [Cortex
Convey is] comprehensive, supporting all
file formats, in and out, for dailies, assemblies, dubs, [visual-effects] pulls and other
applications. Its also easy to use. The intuitive project manager allows users to quickly
set up professional-quality transcoding
projects without the need for deep knowledge of each and every codec. For technical
users, it includes an XML API for integration
into other render farms or workflow
automation systems.
Cortex Convey takes advantage of
both CPU and GPU processing with Nvidia
Cuda to transcode most files at real time or
faster (including many at more than 100
fps). Template-driven automation removes
the need for time consuming, repetitive
tasks and ensures consistent results from job
to job.
www.mtifilm.com.
Sony Colorworks Posts 4K TV

Sony Pictures Colorworks has
opened a facility focused on 4K television
postproduction. Located in the Capra Building on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City,
Calif., Colorworks 4K Television will provide
post services for original programming shot
in 4K and remastering services for film-originated media. The facility will deliver both
HD masters for current distribution and 4K
masters for future use.
The recent introduction of 4K Ultra
Shotgun Combines Products

Shotgun Software has combined three of its previously independent products
Shotgun, Revolver and Tank into a single package. The Shotgun package now features
production tracking, scheduling, review and approval, and asset management.
Our mission is to provide every studio in the world with the essential collaboration,
management and pipeline tools they need to deliver mind-blowing work while maintaining
a healthy bottom line, says Don Parker, CEO of Shotgun Software. Hundreds of studios
have invested in helping us build and refine these tools on thousands of productions over
the last seven years. We are pleased to invest back in their success and the future of the
industry.
The previous Shotgun model was already a leading production-management system
for the visual effects, animation and game industries. Shotgun Software said it surveyed
more than 300 studios to arrive at the combined package model, which is priced at $49.00
per seat, per month.
For additional information, visit www.shotgunsoftware.com.
Krakatoa, Thinkbox Softwares volumetric particle renderer, was previously available for the Autodesk 3ds Max 3D software.
It is CPU-based, multi-threaded and can be
used on most hardware running Windows
or Linux operating systems.
Krakatoa My connects Autodesk
Maya with the Krakatoa renderer and
provides a number of features designed to
accelerate artists workflow when manipulating millions of particles. Those features
include point or voxel representation of
particle data, simultaneous support of both
additive and volumetric shading models,
support for various light scattering algorithms, high-quality self-shadowing and
occlusions from both geometry and DTEX
Thinkbox Releases Krakatoa My

Thinkbox Software has released
Krakatoa My, a high-volume particle
renderer for Autodesk Maya 3D software
running on Microsoft Windows and Linux
operating systems.
112
April 2013
maps, particle partitioning tools for caching

multiple versions of the same simulation to
combine into high-density particle clouds,
and repopulation for render-time conversion
of low-count simulations into high-count
particle clouds.
Versatility and performance have
made Krakatoa a favorite tool among
studios of all sizes for years, says Chris
Bond, founder of Thinkbox Software. With
the release of Krakatoa My, we are thrilled
to bring Maya users access to an efficient
pipeline for particle-effects creation, something they have been requesting for some
time.
www.thinkboxsoftware.com.
Thinkbox image courtesy of Adam Guzowski/Evermotion.
HD TVs and such 4K camera systems as

Sonys F65 and F55 has prompted more television productions to capture in 4K, which, in
turn, has created a growing demand for 4K
post services, according to Bob Bailey, Colorworks senior vice president. Sony Pictures
Entertainment and Colorworks are supporting the growth of 4K television by providing
producers with a seamless solution for
mastering their shows in the format of the
future, 4K, says Bailey. Our new television
facility has been designed and built to move
and process 4K data as easily as HD.
Colorworks 4K Television will work
closely with other units on the Sony Pictures
lot, including picture editorial, sound editorial, sound mixing and visual effects, to
provide productions shooting on the lot and
elsewhere with an efficient, one-stop solution. Special packaging is available for
productions taking advantage of inclusive
services.
The ability to collaborate across all
segments of postproduction makes the solution that we offer unique, says Ben
Benedetti, Sony Pictures Entertainments
executive director of Sound and Digital
Services. Additionally, our experience with
Sony during the development of the F65 and
F55 cameras makes our facilities uniquely
well qualified to service 4K television.
The Colorworks 4K Television facility
features two 4K color-grading suites and a
4K editorial finishing suite. The facility
employs the latest 4K imaging technology,
including FilmLights Baselight Eight colorgrading systems. Each room also includes 4K
Sony projection systems, high-resolution
digital monitors and support gear required
by high-level postproduction.
Grading and finishing suites are
directly connected to Sony Pictures Television Backbone, providing colorists and
editors with immediate access to original
production media, metadata and other critical production and post data.
www.sonypicturescolorworks.com.
International Marketplace
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114
April 2013
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115
Advertisers Index
16x9, Inc. 107, 115
Abel Cine Tech 61
AC 105
Adorama 17, 43
AJA Video Systems, Inc. 45
Anton/Bauer, Inc. 50
Arri 13
ASC 1
AZGrip 114
Backstage Equipment, Inc.
6
Band Pro Film & Digital 71
Barger-Lite 93, 115
Birns & Sawyer 114
Blackmagic Design, Inc. 31
Brain Emo 114
Cammate 111
Canon USA Video 7
Carl Zeiss SBE, LLC 77
Cavision Enterprises 59
Chapman/Leonard Studio
Equipment Inc. 85
Chimera 89
Cinebags Inc. 115
Cine Gear Expo 119
Cinematography
Electronics 8
Cinekinetic 114
Codex Digital Ltd. C3
Congo Films S.A. 63
Convergent Design 21
Cooke Optics 19
CTT Exp & Rentals 93
Deluxe C2
Denecke 115
Duclos Lenses 8
Eastman Kodak 80a-l, C4
EFD USA, Inc. 49
Film Gear 101
Filmotechnic USA 62
Filmtools 99
Freefly Systems 75
Fujifilm North America 9
General Dynamics Global
Imaging Technology 91
Glidecam Industries 73
Grip Factory Munich/GFM
111
Hive Lighting 78
Huesca Film Office/HUFO 109
J.L. Fisher Inc. 79
K5600 113
Kino Flo 32
Koerner Camera Systems 107
Lights! Action! Co. 114
Lite Panels 5
Lowell 15
Maccam 114
Maine Media 105
Manios Optical 114
Matthews Studio Equipment
114
Movcam 87
Movie Tech AG 114, 115
NBC Universal 69
Nila Inc. 109
Oppenheimer Camera Prod.
97, 114
Otto Nemenz 27
Outsight 47
116
Panavision, Inc. 23
Panther Gmbh 51
PED Denz 95
Pille Film Gmbh 114
Polecam 101
Powermills 115
Pro8mm 114
Red Digital Cinema 34-35
Rosco Laboratories Inc. 102
Samys DV & Edit 25, 33
Schneider Optics 2,
Servicevision USA 103
Super16 Inc. 115
Thales Angenieux 11
Tiffen Company 29
T-Pars 8
VF Gadgets, Inc. 115
Vimeo 57
Visionary Forces 109
Visual Products 107
Welch Integrated 117
Willys Widgets 115
www.theasc.com 99, 116
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Clubhouse News
118
April 2013
Tiffen Discusses
Photographys Future
In a panel at the 2013 PMA@CES in
Las Vegas, ASC associate Steve Tiffen
joined representatives from Sony, Samsung
and Mikes Camera to discuss the future of
the photography industry. Antonio Neves of
ThinqAction interviewed panelists on topics
such as consumer interests, education, and
the direction of the camera market.
Gagnon Becomes Associate

New associate member Claude
Gagnon, the president of Technicolor
Creative Services, has been working in the
film industry since the mid-1970s, when he
began as a technician and cameraman. He
founded Covitec in 1986, and it grew into
Canadas leading technical-services
company. Gagnon joined Technicolor in
2000 when the company acquired Covitec.
Burgess, Zemeckis Discuss

Collaboration on TCM
Turner Classic Movies and the American Film Institute featured Don Burgess,
ASC and director Robert Zemeckis in an
episode of TCM Presents: AFI Master Class
The Art of Collaboration that premiered
on TCM Jan. 14. Burgess and Zemeckis
have worked together for more than two
decades; their shared credits include Flight,
Cast Away, Contact and Forrest Gump.
Kuras Judges Berlinale

Ellen Kuras, ASC recently served on
the jury for the Berlinale Competition. Hong
Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-wai was president of the jury, and serving alongside him
and Kuras were filmmakers Susanne Bier,
Andreas Dresen, Shirin Neshat, Tim Robbins
and Athina Rachel Tsangari.
Hurlbut Speaks at Samys

Shane Hurlbut, ASC helped introduce Canons 2013 line of EOS cameras
and lenses at a recent seminar at Samys DV
& Edit in Los Angeles. Attendees were able
to try out Canons C500, C300 and C100
cameras; the EOS-1D C Cinema DSLR; and
the companys Cinema lenses.
Poster Joins Canon
Live Learning Event
Steven Poster, ASC recently joined
optics expert Larry Thorpe at a Canon
U.S.A. Live Learning presentation. Poster
discussed his recent experiences shooting
with Canons prime and zoom Cinema
lenses.
Photo of Clubhouse by Isidore Mankofsky, ASC; lighting by Donald M. Morgan, ASC.
From top: Uta Briesewitz, ASC;

associate member Claude Gagnon;
associate member Steve Tiffen.
Society Welcomes Briesewitz

New active member Uta Briesewitz, ASC was born in Leverkusen,
Germany, to an architect and a teacher.
From a young age she exhibited an interest
in painting, and she considered becoming
an artist before she fell in love with cinema.
She studied both painting and cinematography, taking special interest in Italian
Neorealism and the French New Wave.
Briesewitz interned for a televisionproduction company before studying at the
Berlin Film and Television Academy. Then,
she moved to Los Angeles to study cinematography at the American Film Institute.
She won AFIs Mary Pickford Foundation
Award for outstanding work in her field.
Briesewitzs work on independent
features with director Brad Anderson
caught the eye of producer Robert Colesberry, who hired her to shoot the HBO series
The Wire. Her TV credits also include Homeless to Harvard, Thief, Life Support, United
States of Tara and Hung. Briesewitz was
featured in Varietys 10 Cinematographers
to Watch report in 2008. She won a
Women in Film Kodak Vision Award in
2007.
Close-up
Christopher Baffa, ASC
When you were a child, what film made the strongest impression on you?
The original Planet of the Apes (1968), photographed by Leon Shamroy, ASC. The fascinating world the filmmakers created and the innovative and timely script made a tremendous
impression on me. I still remember the amazing,
isolating shots of the men traversing the alien
desert landscapes. I remain fascinated by science
fictions ability to provide a safe window through
which to examine such dangerous topics as hate,
prejudice and oppression.
Have you made any memorable blunders?

While operating a camera in 2.35:1 on a big stunt for the first time,
I accidentally panned in to another camera team. The frame was just
so endless!
What is the best professional advice youve
ever received?
Lead through respect, not intimidation. Words of
wisdom from Dad.
What recent books, films or artworks have
inspired you?
I recently visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art
and literally wept in the Van Gogh section such
a powerful symbiosis of beauty and pain. I was
stunned by the light in works by John Singer
Sargent and Frans Hals. Also, I recently saw Skyfall
and was once again amazed by Roger Deakins
work.
Which cinematographers, past or present,

do you most admire?
All of them! But I am especially drawn to the
sensitivity, courage and creativity of ASC
members Owen Roizman, Vittorio Storaro, Roger
Deakins, Emmanuel Lubezki, Allen Daviau, John
Toll, John Schwartzman, Chris Menges, Robert
Elswit, Robert Richardson and Wally Pfister.
What sparked your interest in photography?
My father shot 8mm movies of our family, and seeing a vacation or
a place like Disneyland come to Kodachromatic life in our living room
a week later was truly magical.
Where did you train and/or study?
The University of Southern California School of Cinema/Television.
Who were your early teachers or mentors?
My father, without question. Also, Woody Omens, ASC, an adviser
at USC, has been a great source of knowledge, friendship and
support, as well as an overall role model. I am also grateful for Allen
Daviaus support and encyclopedic knowledge of film.
What are some of your key artistic influences?
I am a tremendous art lover. I love soft light, shadow and contrast,
so Rembrandts work is quite powerful to me. I also envy Van Goghs
emotionally bold use of color. I aspire to be that courageous.
How did you get your first break in the business?
John Aronson, a dear friend from USC, landed his first feature as a
cinematographer and was gracious enough to ask me to photograph second unit for him.
Do you have any favorite genres, or genres you would like to

try?
Any period project. I would especially love to shoot a Western and,
of course, science fiction.
If you werent a cinematographer, what might you be doing
instead?
Archaeology, interior design or architecture.
Which ASC cinematographers recommended you for
membership?
Owen Roizman, John Schwartzman and Aaron Schneider.
How has ASC membership impacted your life and career?
The honor is still overwhelming! The privilege of belonging to a
group so dedicated to the preservation and expansion of this
beloved craft is a blessing and a source of tremendous pride. Cinematographers are a unique breed, and the friendships I have forged
as a result of ASC membership are truly precious. Through the Society, I have enjoyed the opportunity to meet, converse with and learn
from my idols. The joy of that, and the wealth of knowledge, talent
and grace they offer, are impossible to describe.
What has been your most satisfying moment on a project?

Meeting (on separate occasions) Warren Beatty and Robert Elswit,
ASC, two men whose work I greatly admire, and hearing them
compliment my contribution to Running with Scissors.
120
April 2013
ONFILM
B U D DY S Q U I R E S
Film handles the subtleties and range of

natural light beautifully with a wonderfully
smooth rendering of highlights and
shadows. And the process is entirely
simple and direct. Shots are composed
looking through a high-quality optical
viewnder that shows color, contrast
and the qualities of light exactly as they
exist in nature without any electronic
intermediary. There is a direct connection
between ones brain and an image coming
through the lens and off of a mirror. For
work that should last through the ages, I
love lm and I intend to keep shooting it
for a long time.
Buddy Squires is an Oscar-nominated
lmmaker and Emmy-winning director
of photography best known for his
cinematography on the lms of Ken Burns.
Squires cinematography credits include
seven Oscar-nominated lms with two
Academy Award winners. He has 10
Primetime Emmy nominations to his
name. In 2007 Squires was awarded the
International Documentary Associations
Career Achievement Award. His credits
include The Civil War, Jazz, The Central Park
Five, The National Parks, Ethel, New York,
The Donner Party, Ansel Adams, Mark Twain,
Nanking, The War, Lewis & Clark: The Journey
of the Corps of Discovery, Strangers No More,
Baseball, Prohibition, The Dust Bowl, and the
upcoming Salinger.
For an extended Q&A with Buddy Squires,
visit www.kodak.com/go/onlm.
To order Kodak motion picture lm,

call (800) 621-lm.
Eastman Kodak Company, 2012.
Photography: 2012 Douglas Kirkland
April 2013
There is no more venerated name in the world of cinema

than Alfred Hitchcock. His movies and methods have been
studied and emulated by lmmakers around the world,
and his impact on the art of directing is unsurpassed. The
master of suspense made lms in the United Kingdom and
in Hollywood, demonstrating the adage that moving images
speak a global language.
Surprisingly, in light of these facts, Hitchcocks very early
silent era work lms that offer a fascinating glimpse
into the development of his style has been in bad shape.
Deluxe and the British Film Institute (BFI) have corrected this,
gathering as many elements of these early lms as possible
and using the latest restoration techniques to resurrect them.
The project required thousands of hours of painstaking work.
Hitchcock fans have rejoiced.
Hitchcock acionados of future generations will also be
certain to benet, as the BFI and Deluxe used lm technology
to safely archive and future-proof the restored classics.
Archivists note that these movies would not exist today had
they been stored on a less reliable medium. Black-and-white
archival emulsions promise centuries of easy and accurate
reproduction of these cultural treasures, regardless of future
display formats.
The lms were made in the UK between 1925 and 1929,
and the titles include The Ring, The Manxman, Blackmail, The
Farmers Wife, Champagne, Easy Virtue, The Lodger, The

Pleasure Garden and Downhill.
The Lodger was previously the best known of the
bunch, and that lm is cited by lm historians as a
turning point, displaying many characteristics that
would later come to be called Hitchcockian and
enjoying a degree of commercial success that
boosted the directors career trajectory.
The BFI one of the worlds largest
collections of lm and television with over
180,000 titles laid a strong foundation
for the restorations with
technical and
means that highly ammable nitrate materials are not exposed

to any heat during the scan. Dry-and wet-gate scanning are also
options, depending on the type and condition of the materials.
Sometimes a double-ash technique was used to better capture
the rich tonal range on the nitrate material.
The next stage was a 2K digital intermediate, graded by Deluxe
restoration colorists Stephen Bearman and Trevor Brown, again
with supervision by the BFI. The graded, conformed scans were
then digitally restored to remove defects such as scratches,
warping, uctuations, mold and frame damage. Newly re-created
polyester inter-titles were incorporated based on existing prints
and extensive research.
Three of the lms were originally released as tinted and toned
prints. Tinting and toning were early color processes used to add
expressive colors to black-and-white images. In the days before
color lm, these colors were applied by dyes and toning baths
after the printing stage. We worked to reproduce those colors in
the digital grade and the color management translated them to
intermediate negative and new prints, says Kieron Webb, lm
conservation manager for the BFI.
curatorial research, gathering elements from its own archives

as well as from various collections around the world. Under the
direction of the BFI, Deluxe carefully catalogued the images
from delicate and irreplaceable source material, and assembled
versions based on the best scholarship.
Deluxe used cutting edge restoration and preservation
technology and a staff of two senior graders and eight digital
restoration artists. Some of the lms were scanned by the BFI
itself, and others were digitized at Deluxes London restoration
facility. The task was made more delicate by some highly
ammable nitrate negatives. Elements gathered also included
nitrate, acetate and polyester ne grain positives, and nitrate
prints. After examination, preparation and cleaning, each element
was scanned through ARRISCAN or Spirit 4K scanners to create
2K data les (in DPX format). BFI archivists reconstructed the
lms shot by shot.
As would be expected with lms made on nitrate and other
unstable lms stocks of that era, the original source material had
seen a fair amount of wear and tear as prints were repeatedly
made from the original negative, says Deluxes Paul Collard. The
celluloid had degraded and parts of the lm were either lost or
unusable. In places where the original celluloid had deteriorated
too far, we seamlessly replaced it with copy material. The key was
not to try to improve or enhance the original in any way, but to
present it authentically, in the way it would have been seen by our
grandparents and great-grandparents.
The ARRISCAN scanner has a number of adaptations that
make it perfect for this delicate work. The registration
pin can be disabled and the LED illumination
After a nal review screening with the BFI, a 35mm fully

restored color or black-and-white polyester digital negative
was recorded out to KODAK Film frame-by-frame on the latest
ARRILASER lm recorders. Show prints of the new restorations
were made along with a 2K data archive of all scans and restored
les, a digital cinema package and television masters.
Webb says that several restoration masters were produced,
including lm, digital cinema, HD video and data. In our full
restoration projects, we always make a new lm negative,
says Webb. This is important not only for the long-term
conservation of the lm and the restoration work, in addition
to the preservation data, but also for the creation of excellent
35mm show prints which are screened internationally. Early
in the Hitchcock project, we carried out extensive comparison
tests in conjunction with Deluxe of the various blackand-white intermediate stocks. Deluxe recorded the new
negatives on their ARRILASERs and we processed and printed
them in the archives lab.
Echoing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences
Digital Dilemma reports, Collard notes the challenges of
storing and archiving larger and larger data les as the demand
grows for 4K and greater resolution in feature lms. What
better permanent, low-cost solution could you have than a lm
recording of the nal 4K master data onto black-and-white
separation masters, ready for re-scanning back to data up to 200
years into the future? he asks.
In June and July 2012, The Pleasure Garden, Blackmail,
The Ring and The Lodger were presented with specially
commissioned scores in a series of screenings during the
London 2012 Festival, part of the Cultural Olympiad. Newly
restored prints of those lms, as well as Downhill, Easy
Virtue, Champagne, The Farmers Wife and The Manxman were
presented as part of a major Hitchcock retrospective at BFI
Southbank from August to October 2012.
Archives are working incredibly hard to ensure our
moving image heritage is reproduced as accurately as
possible, says Webb. And theres always something very
reassuring about being happy with the new print at
the conclusion of a restoration
project.
Photos Cover Top: The Ring,

Right: All from The Pleasure Garden
This page Top: The Lodger Bottom
left: The Lodger, Bottom middle:
Blackmail, Bottom right: The Pleasure
Garden. (All Photos: BFI National
Archive)
Enlightened showcases a fascinating collaboration between series

co-creator Mike White and lead actor Laura Dern, who also serves
as co-creator and executive producer. Dern portrays Amy Jellicoe, a
self-destructive woman who undergoes a breakdown, followed by a
spiritual awakening, and emerges determined to live an enlightened
life. This of course creates a wealth of comedic situations in her work
and home life. At the ofce, she tries to enlist the meek Tyler
played by White in her jargon-lled schemes to seize the day.
Xavier Grobet, ASC, AMC shot the second season of
Enlightened, which began airing on HBO earlier this year. In addition
to the rst season of Enlightened, his credits include The Woodsman,
I Love You Phillip Morris, Nacho Libre and The Back-up Plan.
On Enlightened, Grobet uses KODAK VISION3 500T Color
Negative Film 5219 and KODAK VISION2 200T Color Negative
Film 5217 in the 3-perf Super 35 format. He shoots ARRICAM
LT cameras usually two and relies on COOKE S4 prime and
ANGENIEUX OPTIMO zoom lenses.
We like the quality of lm, as well as the practicality, says Grobet.
We like the lm feel and lm grain. Taking care of my actors is
whats most important for me. Especially with Laura, I always want
her to look good and I think lm helps that way. Its gentle compared
to digital. And I have more freedom in terms of staging and lighting.
The cinematographer also notes that he nds lm to be a
more efcient way of working. White was also strongly in favor
of originating on lm. Its much more practical, Grobet relates.
Theres less technology and less paraphernalia around the
camera to deal with. Its easier to handle. Film is reliable. The
technology is so advanced that you feel very condent about it.
One of the problems I have with the digital world is that it tries to
go into perfection in terms of the quality and the denition, Grobet
observes. Sometimes thats not what youre looking for. I think its
best to use the texture and light. When something is too sharp and
too dened and too perfect, it loses the emotion in a way. When
theres no texture, theres a certain rejection, at least on my part.
The set depicting Jellicoes workplace, Cogentiva, is a
predominantly white environment. Grobet has rigged two layers
of light practicals, and above them, recessed movie light
xtures. On wider shots, the white room is comparatively high-key,
but Grobet modulates somewhat on close-ups, creating more
contrast and volume on faces depending on the scene. I can
go with different levels or turn off light in certain areas, he says.
Sometimes Ill kill all the lights
behind me so that the faces stand out
against the bright background.
The show is split between sets on
stages and practical location shooting.
Given the tight TV schedule an
episode is often accomplished in six
days or less Grobet often comes
into a set for the rst time the day
before he must shoot in it. You have
to come up with something without
a lot of time to think things through,
he notes. You have to be creative
and make it work. It makes you think
outside the box, experiment, and
go beyond what youd do in a more
controlled situation. When you have
to make it work, you do.
Grobet says that lm gives him the condence to push the
boundaries. You know how the lm will react, he explains.
You know how much you can push it. You can trust the lm,
and thats a good feeling.
White writes the show entirely and directs about half of the
episodes. The opportunity to work with a rotating roster of
directors, including Jonathan Demme, Nicole Holofcener and
Miguel Arteta, appeals to Grobet. But Mike makes the show
special and fullling, emphasizes Grobet. He puts a lot of heart
into the project. It doesnt feel like a TV production. Each episode
is almost like an independent lm, made with care. Thats what is
fantastic about HBO you have the freedom to create.
Photos Top: Mike White and Laura Dern on the set of Enlightened. Bottom: Dermot Mulroney
and Laura Dern. Right: Xavier Grobet, ASC, AMC. (All Photos: Lacey Terrell/HBO)
Stephen Windon, ACS is

best known for some of the
most widely seen images
depicting World War II in
HBOs The Pacic. Windon
shared credit with Remi
Adefarasin, BSC on the
miniseries, and his work
on the episode Okinawa
earned an ASC Outstanding
Achievement Award, as well
as an EMMY nomination. His
credits include two lms in the
Fast and Furious franchise, as
well as Deep Blue Sea and The
Patriot, among others.
In shooting The Pacic,
Windon was focused on
honesty and believability,
down to the beads of sweat
on a malaria-stricken soldiers
face. This time around,
Windon is back in war mode,
and while G.I. Joe: Retaliation
leaves a bit more room for
dramatization and even
playfulness, the early talks
with director Jon M. Chu and
producers Herb Gains and
Lorenzo di Bonaventura were
centered around creating a
realistic look on which to base
the action and adventure.
Jon wanted to make
everything feel as real as
possible, says Windon. Even
though there are extensive
visual effects in the lm, he
wanted the characters to
seem like people you might
come across in real life. He
wanted a very organic style
with nothing forced or too
clean and polished. We

talked about making it fun,
without distracting from our
characters.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation was Chus
rst foray into the action genre,
after successes like The League
of Extraordinary Dancers and
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.
HBO initially suggested that
lm was the right origination
medium for G.I. Joe: Retaliation,
but left the decision up the
lmmakers. Windon and Chu
were all for it.
Film just seemed right,
Windon explains. Jon was
very pro-lm. For the time,
the look we wanted, and
the texture, it was the right
decision.
Windon shot in the Super
35 format to achieve a wide
2.40:1 aspect ratio. For most
shots, he used PANAVISION
cameras and PRIMO lenses,
although for overcranked,
slow-motion shots he used
an ARRI 435. He also made
extensive use of the small
ARRI 235 camera.
I like to use the 235 at
hip level, and its just great
at that, he says. I used that
technique quite a bit on The
Pacic, with a little monitor
onboard and no eyepiece. Its
literally shoot from the hip.
That was in keeping
with the shooting style
that evolved, which prized
continuous movement. We
just kept driving into things

and getting whisked along,
Windon describes. The
lm takes place in different
countries with different
governments, events and
strategies. That was the fun
thing for me there were so
many distinctive looks in the
lm. Its quite a journey.
Almost the entire movie,
aside from some mountain
shots photographed in British
Columbia, was done in
Louisiana. Windon estimates
that 85 percent of the lm was
produced on sets, many of
which were built at a hulking
former NASA facility east
of New Orleans called the
Michoud Assembly Facility.
Ive never seen buildings
as big as these, remarks
Windon. We were lming
in these massive chambers,
if you like, and they became
our sound stages. One of
them looked so good that
we ended up using it as a set
itself, a place where huge

missiles are being made. It
was fun to light.
These big spaces required
plenty of lighting repower.
The production used an
abundance of 20Ks and large
Fresnel units. Dinos and
Maxis were used to create
strong beams of light coming
in windows.
Another sequence done
at Michoud depicts a Tokyo
rooftop. Windon shot with a
360-degree TransLite. The
nearby Greenwood Plantation
stood in for the U.S.
Presidents vacation home.
Fort Pike was the location for
a climactic confrontation in
Act III. A corner of City Park
in New Orleans was used
as a nighttime entryway
into an underground lab.
There, Windon played with a
mixture of sodium vapor and
tungsten light.
He says that the KODAK
Film stocks mostly KODAK
The 5219 is my favorite stock. I love grading it, and

seeing all the details it captures. I love big, hot practical
lights and overexposure, and contrasting that with dark
areas in the frame. And you cant break that stock. Its
really cool. It loves all the color.
VISION3 500T Color Negative
Film 5219 in that situation
handled the mixed color
temperatures well. The
(52)19 is my favorite stock. I
love grading it, and seeing all
the details it captures. I love
big, hot practical lights and
overexposure, and contrasting
that with dark areas in the
frame. And you cant break
that stock. Its really cool. It
loves all the color.
Windon and Chu leaned
toward a cyan-to-cool color
palette for the majority of the
movie. The front-end lab was
Cineworks in New Orleans.
There was a cyan-ish base in
the dark areas and the blacks,
notes Windon. We kept that
in mind with the lighting and
also with the color timing
at Company 3 with Stefan
Sonnenfeld. That was fun.
Lenses were generally
medium-wide, with the 27mm
and 21mm getting heavy
use. That opened up the
background, and Jon really
loved that, says Windon. He
had not worked with the wide,
2.40 frame before, and he
really embraced it.
Windon also made use of

a daylight-balanced stock,
KODAK VISION3 50D Color
Negative Film 5203. Prior to G.I.
Joe, his predilection in daylight
situations was for shooting
tungsten-balanced stock
without a correction lter and
adjusting in color correction.
He says the result can be an
appealingly gritty look. But
for this lm, I wanted really
ne grain, and that really clean
crispness, especially for the
beautiful sequences that take
place in the Himalayas. Ive
used it on commercials, but
this was the rst time Ive shot
a feature with it. I really liked it,
and Jon loved it.
One amazing sequence

shows a number of ninja
ghters hanging off the side
of a Himalayan mountain,
ghting each other while
swinging and swooping from
their mountain-climbing ropes.
The sequences required weeks
of rehearsal. The scenes were
shot on the big stages against
a green screen background.
It was the most technically
complex sequence of the
80-day shoot.
Normally, I would prefer
to shoot something like that
outside and really ght with
Mother Nature because thats
what youd have to do in a real
environment, says Windon.

And thats the way I prefer to
do daytime greenscreen. But
because we were shooting in
New Orleans, theres always
the chance of hurricanes and
bad weather, so we decided to
do it indoors. I cant remember
the number of 24Ks we had
in this set, but there were
many. The shots were so big
that I was using a Russian arm
on a pursuit camera car as
the dolly. That was the most
technically challenging part of
the project.
Since he wrapped G.I.
Joe: Retaliation, Windon has
moved on to Fast and Furious
6 with director Justin Lin
also originating on 35 mm
KODAK Film.
Photos Left page, top Left: Dwayne

Johnson plays Roadblock in G.I. JOE:
RETALIATION, from Paramount Pictures,
MGM, and Skydance Productions. Center:
Windon (far right) on the set This page top:
Johnson (left) and Bruce Willis as Colton
(center) Bottom: Left to right: Ray Park
plays Snake Eyes and Elodie Yung plays
Jinx (Photos: Jaimie Trueblood 2013
Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
Hasbro and its logo, G.I. JOE and all related
characters are Trademarks of Hasbro and
used with permission. All Rights Reserved.)
This Aint California is a unique movie that straddles the

line between documentary and narrative lmmaking. The
project depicts the skateboard subculture in East Germany
in the 1980s, which is presented as a manifestation of a
yearning for freedom. In the lm, skaters from the era now
approaching middle age look back on that time wistfully.
They saw skateboarding as a rebellious act, and a way of
doing something completely nonproductive, just for fun, in a
politicized society where such actions were not only frowned
upon but actively repressed, and in extreme cases, could land
you in prison.
The kids loved their Super 8

cameras almost as much as
their homemade skateboards.
One skater in particular is recalled by all as a catalyst for

the scene. Identied at a young age as a gifted athlete, he
is put into the East German training pipeline by a driven,
competitive father, and by age 13 he is training 35 hours a
week as a swimmer. Eventually he rebels, drops out, takes the
street name Panik, and becomes a superlative skater who is
constantly provoking confrontations with authority.
This Aint California won the top documentary prize at the

2012 Warsaw Film Festival, and at the Berlin International Film
Festival the lm was honored with the Dialog en perspective
prize, which honors lms that foster international dialog.
The jury cited the lms visual strength and the stylistic
condence of its editing. With gripping dynamics, it mixes
personal history with the collective memory of the German
Democratic Republic (GDR). Weve rarely been so splendidly
manipulated.
The kids are put under surveillance by the Stasi, and the
government, after rst decrying the sport as decadent and
Western. The skaters from the East make contact with their
opposite numbers on the other side of the Iron Curtain,
and travel to Prague for a major competition that includes
legendary skaters from the West. Their journey home is
bittersweet, as they realize the full extent of the repression
theyve been living under. At the same time, East Berlin is
home.
The story is told with a combination of actual home movies
the kids loved their Super 8 cameras almost as much as
their homemade skateboards archival footage, and new
footage designed to mimic the older images shot by the kids.
The Super 8mm imagery is often blurry, with colors that bloom
and smear. The result is an impressionistic lm that conjures a
feeling of memory, an idyllic past that is simultaneously tinged
with regret and lost innocence.
Cinematographer Felix Leiburg and director Marten Persiel

initially looked at some digital formats, but the feeling wasnt
right. They both made Super 8 lms as kids, which included
at least 20 interviews with former skaters that they used for
background and as the basis for a script.
We could have made a normal documentary from these
interviews, but Marten had a vision for a different kind of lm,
says Leiburg. He created Panik out of three or four actual
people based on what he learned in these interviews.
For the new footage, the lmmakers used skaters and
friends who were carefully dressed and made up in styles from
the 1980s. They found locations in East Berlin that echoed the
hulking concrete forms of GDR architecture.
The main cameras were two BEAULIEU 6008 Super 8
cameras. The BEAULIEU cameras could take Super 16 lenses, but
most of the time Leiburg stayed with the sheye 5.6mm lens that
comes standard. Two BRAUN NIZO 501s served as crash cams
that could be mounted directly on the decks of the skateboards.
The NIZO cameras were capable of overcranking and ramping at
54 frames per second. Most of the skating footage was done with
only natural light.
It was a fun shoot, Leiburg recalls. It was more of a team
feeling. I became a character in the script, the kid who always
had the camera. It was an interesting experience, because
normally Im telling people what to do, but here I was one of
them, reacting with what they did. To get convincing footage
that felt like home movies, I had to forget all my experience and
studies and become an amateur again.
Leiburg shot 300 rolls of Super 8mm lm. About half was
KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative Film 7219, and the rest
was on KODAK VISION3 200T Color Negative Film 7213. Leiburg
chose negative because it gave him more control over contrast.
Often he was imitating the look of ORWO stocks available in
that time and place, which delivered more pastel colors and less
crispness than todays lm stocks.
the idea. We tested HD cameras, but we found the only way to

make it really look believable and true was to actually shoot it
on Super 8. Also, that was the only way to get all the ramping
and other crazy stuff we did, like stopping the camera and
shooting again, shooting with and then without correction.
We would open the door and close it while lming. We tried
to make as many mistakes as we could. Most of the time, I
underexposed two or even three stops. Sometimes, I found
out that I could underexpose ve or six stops, and even then
it looked great. I really loved that experience, and the chance
to do everything wrong. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Leiburg adds that sometimes the method that delivers
maximum resolution is not what is right for a given story.
Super 8 doesnt show a lot of detail, so its very forgiving.
What you see with your eyes and the footage are completely
different worlds. When the rst footage came back, we drank
a few beers and watched it. We were so relieved that our
strategy worked out.
This Aint California has garnered positive notice at dozens of
lm festivals around the world, including the Plus Camerimage
International Festival of the Art of Cinematography in Poland,
and the Cannes Independent Film Festival, where it was named
best documentary.
For scenes like the competition in Prague, Leiburg shot Super

16, often at high frame rates. A shot re-creating the fall
of the Berlin Wall used a vintage cathode
ray video camera borrowed
from a museum. For some
scenes, including a campre
scene where the older skaters
reunite and recall the glory
days, CANON 5Ds were used.
Typically, the skaters words are
a mix of actual recollections and
scripted reminiscences.
All the Super 8 footage was
transferred to HD ProRes 4:4:4
format at Screenshot in Berlin,
chosen after tests at three different
labs. We didnt need to do a lot of
grading, says Leiburg. That was
Photos Left page: Skateboarding in

the 80s (Harald Schmitt). This page
bottom left: Skateboarding was seen
as a rebellious act in East Gemany.
(Wildfremd Production GmbHD.)
Middle: Felix Leiburg and Marten Persiel
on the set ( Wildfremd Production
GmbHD). Right: Scene from This Aint
California ( Harald Schmitt.)
Kees Van Oostrum, ASC got an interesting call recently

from producer Richard Middleton, whose credits include The
Artist and Hitchcock. Richard and I go way back, and he often
calls me when he has something unusual or challenging, says
Van Oostrum. The EMMY-nominated cinematographer has
compiled more than 70 narrative credits, including Gods and
Generals, Return to Lonesome Dove, and the forthcoming Civil
War-set feature Copperhead.
Middleton told Van Oostrum about an interview project for
Serious Jibber-Jabber with Conan OBrien, a non-comedic chat
show on OBriens website. The interview subject was to be the
GRAMMY-winning musician/producer Jack White.
White, who is well known as a connoisseur and collector of
things analog, makes his music recordings using tape and tube
technologies, insisting that the resulting sound is warmer, less
harsh, and fuller. White had agreed to the interview on one
condition: that it be done on lm.
Normally the Jibber-Jabber interviews are done on a stage
with electronic cameras. The Jibber-Jabber format emphasizes
lengthy interviews with minimal interruptions.
Van Oostrum originally recommended shooting 35mm,
3-perf. When we thought about it some more, we realized
we only need the center extraction, which actually made
2-perf an even better option. We found a system designed by
PANAVISION that used 2,000-foot mags. We thought that if
we could combine the 2,000-foot mags and the 2-perf format,
we would have 32 minutes of run time.
PANAVISION got onboard and set up some PANAFLEX
bodies with 2-perf movements. The cameras were equipped
with 11:1 zooms. The lm stock was KODAK VISION3 500T
Color Negative Film 5219.
The next thing we knew, we were shooting 2-perf with
three cameras on the stage as Conan interviewed Jack
White, says Van Oostrum. The interview went 110 minutes,
which we shot with two magazine changes. It worked
brilliantly. They ran quietly, which was important because it
was a pretty small room.
Van Oostrum and Bennett

joked with OBrien that in
100 years, this could be
the only trace left of his
television legacy.
Bill Bennett, ASC operated one of the other cameras. The
third camera was handled by one of the shows regular camera
operators. The cameras were mounted on lm-style dollies
as opposed to pedestal-style dollies that are standard for
talk show production. The interview plays out against a black
background a la Charlie Rose.
Van Oostrum and Bennett joked with OBrien that in 100
years, this could be the only trace left of his television legacy.
It was a reference, of course, to lms archival stability, and
digitals short shelf life, both in terms of storage instability and
format obsolescence.
FotoKem did a simple color correction under Van Oostrums
eye, and extracted the 16x9 image from the 2.4:1 2-perf frame.
We emulated their normal look in terms of the black, says
Van Oostrum. It looked identical, except it was lm, so it was
much gentler and not so sharp and harsh as video.
The wide-ranging interview covers Whites early musical
endeavors, and the effects of a Catholic upbringing and a
background in upholstery on his work.
OBrien was reportedly enthusiastic. At rst, it looked
daunting, and we needed to work out the issues in terms of
mag length and run time, says Van Oostrum. But in the end,
it was absolutely smooth, and everyone was excited about the
results.
See the entire interview at http://teamcoco.com/video/
serious-jibber-jabber-04-jack-white.
Photo: Jack White and Conan OBrien. Photo credit: Will Becton/Team Coco
Set against the backdrop of Indias breathtaking landscape of

mountains, rivers, valleys and forests, Ballad of Rustom is a story
about seemingly ordinary people who are in fact quite extraordinary.
Rustom is a young, imaginative man working in a small
government telephone ofce in a remote township in India. On
the surface, Rustom leads a mundane life xing telephone lines,
but on his adventures he travels into his dream world in the
beautiful and magical countryside that is slowly disappearing as
the town is eroded by development.
This lm does not rely on the usual storytelling devices,
explains director Ajita Suchitra Veera. Rather it works on a very
different psychological plane. Its traditional cinema, but where
the narrative is pushed to the background and whats important
is the cinematic experience created through the characters
states of minds.
could not have used articial lighting to gain the authenticity

both he and Veera were trying to achieve.
Ballad of Rustom was shot entirely on 35mm KODAK Film

in the CinemaScope format. Veera and cinematographer
Shanti Bhushan Roy shot over six months, allowing them to
capture the transition of seasons in natural light. Locations
included Southern Indias exquisite coffee countryside with their
undulating landscape of blue hills and dense vegetation.
We went for push-processing and a bleach bypass to increase

the grain, and to get rich, charcoal blacks and washed out colors,
says Roy, explaining that they wanted to dene the landscape in the
lm as a character of its own. This was only possible because of
Kodaks ability to handle both under-exposure and over-exposure,
and still maintain the details in these areas.
The lm contains different episodes of

Rustoms journeys, which alternate between
his real and imaginary worlds. Veera worked
diligently to utilize the desaturated colors
of the landscape, the dialogues between
different characters, and the constant
presence of nature to tell the story.
Ballad of Rustom draws attention to
those ideas and conicts that are very
much part of our lives and our existence
in the contemporary world, and which
connect us to an uncertain future as we
become more and more disconnected from nature with the
disappearance of our natural worlds, says Veera.
Thus, the director chose to shoot Ballad of Rustom on lm
stock not only for its aesthetic, but for what it represents.
KODAK [Film] has always given me great choices as a visual
artist, offers Veera. Im a photographer myself and I love playing
with images, light, color, contrast and texture, to bring an idea a
story to life cinematically. Film emulsion is very important
in expressing moods, feelings and ideas without saying much.
Complexity in a scene and characters states of minds can be visually
communicated with contrast and light, and emulsion is crucial in this
respect. KODAK Films give me that freedom and latitude.
Roy explains that with the KODAK VISION3 250D Color
Negative Film 5207 and KODAK VISION3 500T Color Negative
Film 5219 stocks they could shoot with minimal lights and
extend daytime scenes. They ended up shooting a lot of magic
hours early morning shots and many interiors where they
The bleach bypass was a very strong

aesthetic choice for Veera. She had
previously experimented with it on her
graduate thesis lm in 2004, and was keen
on a high contrast, desaturated look for
Ballad of Rustom. In fact, Veera reveals that
the imagery of the story came to her much
ahead of the narrative storyline.
I often have images playing in my
mind that later are dened by a storyline,
says Veera. I was particular about this
desaturated color palette with a heightened
sense of monochrome to create the surreal atmosphere of
Rustoms dream world of technology, nature and his own
subconscious and also to subtly blend the reality and dream
sections in the lm, since it constantly moves between the stark
reality of Rustoms everyday life and his dream world.
The cinematographer under-exposed the entire lm by three
stops and pushed the stock by two stops with bleach bypass on
the entire negative to attain their specic look.
The 500T and 250D really helped to nd the image quality
we had in mind, since both have a layered grain structure which
makes it possible to extract details even with ve to seven
stops of underexposure, explains Roy. We knew the structure
of Kodak motion picture emulsion and its ability to produce
true colors and tones would allow us to manipulate the image
accordingly to suit the story.
Photos Top: A scene from Ballad of Rustom Right: Cinematographer Shanti Bhushan Roy
Middle: Director Ajita Suchitra Veera (Photos courtesy of IMAGINEM CINEMA Pvt Ltd India)
New Mobile Aspect

Ratio App Available
on iTunes
A new Aspect Ratio app is now available
as part of the KODAK Cinema Tools
application. This suite of apps from Kodak
can be downloaded for free from iTunes.
The Aspect Ratio App lets lmmakers
see how different aspect ratios affect a
shot. The app allows you to select a photo
from your device and overlay it with 2-perf,
3-perf, 4-perf and 16mm motion picture
lm formats and popular aspect ratios.
The KODAK Cinema Tools App also

includes:
Lab Locator: Find a lab or transfer
house while on the go! Using a current
location and selecting the service
needed, the Lab Locator tool will nd
a service provider nearby and provide
contact information as well as a map.
Sun Calculator: Helps lmmakers take
the guesswork out of capturing sunrise
and sunset scenes.
Film Calculator: Information can be
entered into elds where data is known:
format, length, run time and frame rate.
The app then calculates and supplies
the other variables. Film length can be
measured in feet or meters.
Depth of Field Calculator: Assists
lmmakers in determining the settings
they need to get the focus they want. The
app is designed to be used with any lm
format, including Super 8, 16, 35 and 65
mm. F-stops range from F1.4 F22, with
1/3 stops included.
InCamera: Our mobile-friendly
magazine. Read about lm productions
around the world.
Film Products: Lets lmmakers
view product descriptions, technical
information, sample footage, and
provides ordering details.
Glossary of Motion Picture Terms:
Search and view denitions for hundreds
of lmmaking terms.
How To Read A Film Can: All the letters
and numbers on a lm can are explained
in full detail on this interactive label.
Guides & References: Kodak
proudly offers its most popular
publications in mobile-friendly
formats, including The Essential
Reference Guide for Filmmakers
and Cinematographers Field
Guide.
Contact a Sales Rep: Whether
its a quick question or help with
a current or future production,
lmmakers can get in touch with
a Kodak representative online.
Director Michael Haussman

and cinematographer
Paolo Roberto Caimi have
collaborated on a collection
of commercials for the Italian
jeweler and luxury goods
retailer BVLGARI. Their latest
effort is a black-and-white
spot that takes place in Rome.
The audience follows a young,
beautiful couple spending
a romantic weekend in the
eternal city.
When Michael called me
to explain the storyline of the
commercial, I was pleased to
hear that the nal result would
be in black and white, says
Caimi. We chose to shoot on
lm stock because we wanted
the look to be very classical,
and everlasting like Rome.
Caimi explains they decided
to shoot in color to have a
wider choice of stocks, and
given their schedule, they
needed to take advantage
of every single minute of
the daylight. They chose
KODAK VISION3 500T Color
Negative Film 5219 for the
speed and the latitude, and
KODAK VISION3 250D Color
Negative Film 5207 for the
ne grain and balance needed
for exteriors and daylight
interiors.
While I was shooting, I
was aware of the fact that
the lm would eventually
be transferred in black and

white, notes Caimi, but
I felt more comfortable
knowing that my negative was
balanced in terms of color
temperature.
Panalight in Rome provided
an ARRI 435 Xtreme and
a set of COOKE S3 lenses
that Caimi describes as
perfect to reproduce a
black-and-white look that was
contemporary and classic at
the same time.
A STEADICAM captured
the perspective for audiences,
and takes the viewers on
an intimate tour of Rome.
Instead of visiting the citys
hallmark sites, they visit
small cafes and hotels, and
the trip ends with a BVLGARI

engagement ring.
Every shot for the
commercial was with either
a STEADICAM or on a
dolly, Caimi says. We
didnt want anything to be
static, but for our couple
to be constantly moving
through time and places.
Elegance was really our
mandate for this spot, and
everything needed to fall into
a place of style and class,
which made lm the perfect
choice, he adds.
Photos Top: Paolo Roberto Caimi.

Bottom: Caimi and his crew. (Photos courtesy
of Paolo Roberto Caimi)
We didnt change anything

about her actual training,
except the background.
Road to London is a visual

poem that highlights the
lyrical beauty of high-level
gymnastics, and the erce
dedication required of an
OLYMPIC athlete. Goksu
Uctas started learning
gymnastics at age 5, and at
age 6, she moved to a city in
western Turkey to continue.
She spent years training twice
a day, and endured a series of
injuries, including a dislocated
elbow and a painful neck
hernia. Not to be deterred,
Uctas persevered and became
the rst athlete in history to
represent Turkey in the eld
of artistic gymnastics at the
OLYMPICS. She competed at
the 2012 OLYMPIC Games in
London. Despite her heroic
story, she is not especially
well known in her country.
Director Efe Oztezdogan
enlisted cinematographer
Meryem Yavuz to help
document Uctass training
regimen. Yavuz studied at the
Turkish National Film School,
and has shot several features
and more than 50 short lms
over the past seven years. She
has also worked as a loader
and electrician on bigger
international co-productions.
I prefer to shoot lm
when possible, says Yavuz.
Film was denitely the right
medium for Road to London.
Also, the lm postproduction
path is well established
in Turkey, whereas
digital workows are less
dependable.
To prepare for Road to
London, the lmmakers
studied iconic sports
documentaries like
director Kon Ichikawas
Tokyo Olympiad (1965).
They planned their project
carefully, because Uctas
could not perform limitless
takes. They spent a generous
amount of time getting to
know the athlete.
You can feel her aura
when you enter the room,
says producer Cem
Doruk. She has
a strong will.
More than 1,000 square

yards of black cloth were hung
around the training to isolate
Uctas against black as she
performed her routines on the
uneven parallel bars and other
equipment at the gym. Each
shot and angle was planned
out ahead of time to minimize
wasted takes.
Yavuz shot with two ARRI
435 cameras loaded with
KODAK VISION3 500T
Color Negative Film 5219, and
equipped with MASTER PRIME
lenses. Once the decision was
made to render black-andwhite images, Yavuz felt free
to light with daylight-balanced
light usually a single 6K
lamp, perfectly placed
which rendered a subtly
different quality of light that
she preferred over light from a
tungsten lamp.
Slow motion was also a key

aspect of the cinematography.
The over-cranked images slow
the gymnasts movements and
emphasize her grace, power
and beauty. One camera
was usually running at 25
frames per second, a rate
that works well with the post
infrastructure in Turkey. The
second camera was mounted
on a JIMMY JIB, a small crane,
and ran at 150 frames per
second. About 30 100-foot
rolls of lm were exposed.
After a 2K transfer, the
color was drained from the
images digitally. Film prints
and DCPs were made.
Representatives of one of
the largest theater chains
in Turkey saw the lm and
were sufciently impressed
to show it before the main
feature in their theaters
all across Turkey. Road to
London was also screened at
the 2012 Plus Camerimage
International Festival of the
Art of Cinematography in a
special category devoted to
documentaries on sports,
gaining the lmmakers
positive notice and
international exposure.
We plan to make more
lms about amateur athletes,
says Doruk. We hope to make
longer lms that examine the
personalities of the athletes.
Photos Courtesy of Cem Doruk
Actor. Writer. Director. Producer. There isnt much that Timothy Van
Patten cant do. After getting his start in front of the camera on The
White Shadow (1978), Van Patten went on to appear in a number of
lms and television shows, including The Master and True Blue.
In 1992, the Brooklyn native earned his rst off-screen credit for
directing an episode of Home Fires. Since then, Van Patten has become
a xture of the small screen, directing hit shows like Sex and the City
and The Wire. He cut his teeth producing on Steven Spielberg and Tom
Hanks miniseries The Pacic. And his work on The Sopranos earned him
ve EMMY nominations.
Today, Van Patten is the executive producer and oft-director of
Boardwalk Empire. Here, Van Patten talks about the Prohibition-set hit,
how to nd beauty in violence, and the discipline lm requires.
Its almost become a clich to talk about lms cinematic look,
but it really seems the most appropriate way to describe Boardwalk
Empire. While theres a consistency to the look, it also changes
with each episode. How do you work with your cinematographer to
match the story to the visuals?
In the best case scenario, we do have conversations before every
episode begins. And this dates back to the rst episode, when
Jonathan Freeman (ASC) was our lead DP. We shaped the series
through referencing art, photography and other lms. As the episodes
went on, we tried to attach a look to the theme of the episode and
yet stay within the overall theme for the series.
Television moves fast, so its challenging. You dont always have the
luxury of time to nd the subtle nuances. But we really make our best
attempt to do so and its thrilling when it comes off.
kodak.com/go/motion
@Kodak_ShootFilm
KodakShootFilm
KodakMotionPictureFilm
From a visual standpoint, the shows recent season nale really

stood out. Theres a lot of violence in the episode but, like Raging
Bull, the violence is beautiful to watch. Was there a specic
reference for that episode?
Yes. That episode was shot by Bill Coleman, who came up as an
operator; I worked with him on The Sopranos for many seasons. Hes been
a DP for two seasons now and the level of work hes doing is astounding.
We had a very quick turnaround for that episode and had to think
fast. So when it came to the montage of violence, I thought, Im going
to throw the kitchen sink at this thing! Its going to be Sam Fuller,
Sam Peckinpah and Walter Hill; Im going to reference Raoul Walshs
old gangster pictures of the 30s and, of course, we always reference
Marty Scorseses movies. I wanted to really make it cinematic.
There was a ton of work to do in a short amount of time, so a lot of
those montage pieces were shot from the hip. Wed literally say, Get
me ve bad guys, get me this character, lets go over to this alley and
have them go by in two cars and spray bullets at magic hour! The
crew reacts so quickly and so efciently that we can pull it together,
and lms latitude allows us all to work speedily.
Why is it important for you to shoot Boardwalk Empire on lm?
I feel like Boardwalk Empire is sort of a throwback in the way it is
presented. With digital, it sometimes feels like theres too much
information on the screen. With lm, we can control the image much
more. It just feels much more personal.
Whats the biggest misconception about shooting on lm?
I think it boils down to the budget. Digital is faster and cheaper and
thats not always a good thing. We can move around quickly and do
multiple takes and never cut, but that has its downside as well. Theres a
lot of discipline in lm.
Why is it important for you to know the images you create will be
viable decades from now?
Its cultural. You look back at lms. Its history!
As much as audiences might hate it, its always impressive when a
show isnt afraid to kill off a central character. Even in a show that takes
place in a world of violence, is it difcult to make those decisions?
We fall in love with these cast members, but the story wants what
it wants, and we cant just hold on to an actor because we like him or
her. Sometimes its necessary to kill one off. We just go with the story.
Of all the characters youve ever killed off, who has been the toughest?
Adriana on The Sopranos. The day we did that, it was absolutely
reverential. No one could deal with the fact that our beloved friend
and a beloved character wasnt going to be there anymore.
Anything you can tell us about Boardwalks upcoming season?
Theres going to be a heavy body count!
Photos Top: Timothy Van Patten (L) discusses a scene with Shea Whigham (R). Lower right: Kelly
Macdonald and Steve Buscemi star in Boardwalk Empire. (All photos: Macall B. Polay / HBO)
InCamera is published by Eastman Kodak Company. To see our expanded online edition, go to www.kodak.com/go/incamera. To be
featured in the magazine, please contact your local representative. You will nd your Kodak representative contact information at
www.kodak.com/go/motioncontact.
Kodak, 2013. KODAK, EASTMAN, VISION, VISION2, VISION3, and the lm numbers are trademarks. OSCAR is a trademark of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. EMMY is a trademark of, and copyrighted by, the National Academy and American Academy
of Television Arts and Sciences. Imax is a registered trademark of the Imax Corporation.
The opinions expressed by individuals quoted in articles in InCamera do not necessarily represent those of Kodak Limited, Eastman Kodak
Company or the editors of InCamera. Because of our constant endeavour to improve quality and design, modications may be made to
products from time to time. Details of stock availability and specications given in this publication are subject to change without notice.

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A P R I L 2 013

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